Crime and Punishment & Other Great Novels of Dostoevsky
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Contents
Crime and Punishment — Part IV — Chapter IV
Overview
Raskolnikov visits Sonia’s squalid room, confronts her about suffering and faith, and has her read the raising of Lazarus. He breaks with his mother and sister and declares he and Sonia are bound on the same accursed path, promising to reveal Lizaveta’s killer. Unbeknownst to them, Svidrigaïlov secretly listens next door.
Summary
Raskolnikov seeks out Sonia at her impoverished lodging, scrutinizing her room and pressing her about Katerina Ivanovna and the children’s desperate situation. He probes Sonia’s sacrifices, taunts her fears of illness and destitution, and cruelly questions God’s existence, driving her to tears.
His mood veers from scorn to homage; he kisses Sonia’s foot, declaring he bows to human suffering. Fixated on her faith, he notices her New Testament and compels her to read the raising of Lazarus. Sonia, trembling yet exultant, reads, investing it with hope of redemption and belief that even the unbelieving can be moved.
Afterwards Raskolnikov announces he has severed ties with his mother and sister and insists he needs Sonia; both are “accursed,” he says, and must go the same road. He urges breaking what must be broken and hints at a philosophy of power, promising that if he returns he will tell her who killed Lizaveta.
Sonia, shaken and feverish, spends the night in anguished confusion over his words. Meanwhile, in the adjoining empty room, Svidrigaïlov, having overheard their entire conversation through the door, prepares to continue eavesdropping in comfort.
Who Appears
- Rodion RaskolnikovVisits Sonia, alternately mocks and venerates her faith, has her read Lazarus, renounces his family, and hints at revealing Lizaveta’s killer.
- Sofya (Sonia) MarmeladovReceives Raskolnikov, defends Katerina Ivanovna, reads the Lazarus story with fervor, and reels from his cryptic vow.
- Arkady Ivanovich SvidrigaïlovSecretly eavesdrops on Raskolnikov and Sonia from the adjoining empty room, intrigued and preparing to listen again.
- Katerina IvanovnaOffstage, gravely ill and unstable; her plight and the children’s future drive Sonia’s sacrifices.
- Lizaveta IvanovnaRemembered as Sonia’s gentle acquaintance; her murder and the requiem, and the Lazarus reading, frame the scene.
- PolenkaSonia’s half-sister; her vulnerable future is central to Sonia’s fears and choices.