Overview---Raskolnikov goes to the house where Sonya lives. A long and heart-wrenching conversation ensues. R discovers Sonya does not feel anger towards Katerina Ivanovna (who pushed her towards prostitution), but rather has sympathy for her.
-R berates Sonya about her faith in God, and about the depravity of her life. He makes Sonya read to him from the Bible (which was incidentally given to her by the murdered Lizaveta). She reads the story of Lazarus from the book of John.
-He infers that they are two of a kind, that he has singled her out to be with him, as though they deserved each other. He says that he will tell her who killed Lizaveta. He leaves her in a state.
-We discover that strange Svidrigailov has been listening to the whole conversation, with great enjoyment, from the next room..
-Raskolnikov goes to see Porfiry. A long conversation ensues. In a nutshell Porfiry is inquiring about the murders, and accusing R, but it is all done in a strange, roundabout way, almost like a joke between friends. R is not fooled by Porfiry's intentions, but is still sucked in by the clever questioning. He is very nervous, and on the brink of saying too much. He loses his composure completely.
-Porfiry shows that he knows R revisited the murder scene and asked about the blood, and also knows several other details that R had tried to keep secret.
-Unexpectedly Porfiry's questioning gets interrupted, as from the adjoining room bursts in Nikolai, one of the decorators who had been in the building, the day of the murders. He confesses to having committed the murders! R is shocked, P is very frustrated.
-R is visited by the Artisan who the day before had accused him of murder. He now apologises, and reveals that he was one of the people R had encountered when R went back to the murder scene. He had been to see Porfiry after that.
-Part 4 ends with R feeling more optimistic that nobody really has anything to pin on him.
Hypocrite--
It made me angry that Raskolnikov completely berated the poor Sonya, pushing her to her limits, and then had the hide to get all up in arms when Porfiry kind of did the same thing to him. How quickly he turned from being this clever, in control schemer, to a big sook who so easily cracked and cried 'it's not fair, leave me alone'.
Lazarus--
Maybe I am a bit slow, but I don't think I quite got the significance of the Lazarus passage. Why did Ras choose this story in particular for Sonya to read out? Is it about life after death??
Not The Same--
I hate that R has singled out Sonya, and that she now has to put up with him. As if her life is not hard enough as it is. And I hate that he gets on his high horse about her life as a prostitute, and implies that him being a murderer puts them in the same boat. I see her as far more a victim of circumstance, and as standing strong in the face of massive heartache, whereas he has chosen his path, and completely dug his own hole. They are NOT the same.
Christianity--
I read in this book I am reading, The Doors of The Sea, that Dostoevsky was very much a christian. I had not really realised this, and it makes me think about things a bit differently. I look forward to having read the whole book, so I can see what exactly the point of it is.
For Next Week-- Read Part Five, i-iii
5 comments:
I read this book earlier this year. As for the significance of Lazarus - I think Dostoevsky is saying that Raskolnikov is dead in spirit, and the story is that of his resurrection.
But the question is, why does Ras ask for the story, what does he think?
Some options:
1) He's hoping to expose Sonya's faith as ridiculous. Suggested by how he sees into Sonya's thinking at this point, 'holy fool' etc.
2) He is himself obsessed with death and new life, and had previously been meditating on the story (remember his ruminations on the bridge), but interprets it in a non-theological way.
3) Related, he sees both Sonya and himself as dead - they have both 'stepped over' etc.
4) He himself does not know, but is haunted by the possibility of new life.
Any other thoughts?
Hi w.o.o -- thanks for commenting. I checked out yr blog --good to read yr post on Doors of the Sea.
Yeah, I think that could be what the author is saying, but I don't know why Raskolnikov requested it..
Hey Drew-- Interesting options. I think picking up on your third idea, and the idea of 'stepping over', one thought that occurred to me, is that maybe R compares stepping over, and rebirth to what he has done in turning himself from 'ordinary' to 'extraordinary'. He was dead and normal like the majority, but now has stepped over the barrier, so the normal rules and restraints no longer apply to him. So the laws of death no longer apply, as he is reborn to his new status..
Crazy?
I am terrible - have not read my chapters yet!!
Don't count me out - I am determined to see this through...
Don't worry, Soph- these posts will still be here when you're ready:)
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