Crime and Punishment — Part I — Chapter II

Seeking company despite his usual aversion, Raskolnikov remains in a foul tavern and notices a drunk, seedy clerk, Semyon Marmeladov, who eagerly engages him. Marmeladov, grandiose and broken, declares poverty a torment and beggary a vice, revealing his own ruin and a compulsion toward humiliation.

Marmeladov details his wife Katerina Ivanovna’s proud background, their dire living conditions, and his repeated failures and drinking. He recounts how his daughter, Sofya (Sonia), driven by hunger and debt, took a yellow ticket to support the family, bringing home money in silence. He exalts Sonia’s compassion and imagines divine forgiveness for the disgraced.

Revived momentarily by a brief reinstatement at work, Marmeladov confesses he then stole the last of his wages, pawned his uniform, and drank. He boasts shamefully that Sonia gave him her last coins that very morning. His speech crescendos into a vision of Judgment Day where Sonia—and even drunkards like him—are forgiven for their suffering.

Raskolnikov escorts Marmeladov to their squalid lodging. Katerina Ivanovna, feverish and desperate, discovers there is no money, beats Marmeladov, and the neighbors jeer. Slipping away, Raskolnikov secretly leaves his change on the window, then regrets it but does not return. Walking home, he mocks their dependence on Sonia and abruptly questions whether humanity is truly base or if moral barriers are only prejudices.