Epilogue · Chapter 1

Siberia. On the banks of a wide, lonely river stands a town, one of Russia’s main administrative hubs. In the town is a fortress, and in the fortress, a prison. In the prison, Rodion Raskolnikov, a second-class convict, has been locked up for nine months.

Almost a year and a half has passed since his crime.

His trial hadn’t been much of a struggle. The criminal stuck to his story - exactly, firmly, and clearly. He didn’t confuse or misrepresent the facts, didn’t try to soften them to his advantage, and didn’t leave out a single detail.

He explained every part of the murder, the secret of the pledge (the piece of wood with metal) found in the murdered woman’s hand. He described in detail how he’s taken her keys, what they looked like, as well as the chest and what was inside.

He explained the mystery of Lizaveta’s murder, described how Koch and, after him, the student knocked, and repeated everything they said to each other. He described how he ran downstairs and heard Nikolay and Dmitri yelling, how he hid in the empty apartment, and then went home.

He ended by pointing out the stone in the yard off Voznesensky Prospect where he hid the purse and the jewelry. Everything was pretty clear.

The lawyers and judges were really struck, among other things, by the fact that he’s hidden the jewelry and the purse under a stone, without using them, and that he didn’t even remember what the jewelry looked like, or how many pieces there were.

It seemed crazy that he’s never opened the purse and didn’t even know how much money was inside. There turned out to be three hundred and seventeen roubles and sixty copecks in the purse. Some of the most valuable notes, lying face up, were damaged by the dampness from being under the stone so long.

They spent a while trying to figure out why the accused man would lie about this when he’s been honest about everything else. Finally, some of the lawyers who knew psychology admitted that it was possible he hadn’t actually looked in the purse and therefore didn’t know what was inside when he hid it.

But they immediately concluded that the crime could only have been committed during a temporary mental breakdown, a homicidal episode without a clear goal or desire for money. This fit in with the newest, trendy theory about temporary insanity, which was often applied in criminal cases these days.

Plus, Raskolnikov’s hypochondria was proven by many witnesses - Dr. Zossimov, his former classmates, his landlady, and her servant. All of this pointed to the idea that Raskolnikov wasn’t just an ordinary murderer and robber; there was something else going on.

To the frustration of those who believed this, the criminal barely tried to defend himself.

When asked what made him commit the murder and robbery, he answered very bluntly that it was his terrible situation, his poverty and helplessness, and his desire to get started in life with the three thousand roubles he expected to find.

He’s been driven to the murder by his shallow and cowardly nature, which was made worse by hardship and failure. When asked why he confessed, he answered that it was his heartfelt regret. It all seemed a little rough...

The sentence turned out to be way less harsh than anyone expected, maybe because the criminal hadn’t tried to defend himself, but instead seemed to want to exaggerate his guilt. All the weird and unusual details about the crime were taken into account.

There was no doubt that the criminal was in a really messed-up and broke-down state at the time. The fact that he didnn't spend any of the money he stole was partly blamed on feeling bad, and partly on his messed-up mental state during the crime.

It turned out the murder of Lizaveta really confirmed that idea: a guy commits two murders and forgets the door is open!

Finally, his confession - right when the case was totally confused by the false evidence Nikolay gave because he was feeling down and obsessed - and when there was literally no proof against the real criminal, not even any suspicions (Porfiry Petrovitch kept his word) - all that helped soften the sentence.

Other things in the prisoner’s favor came out totally unexpectedly. Razumihin somehow found out and proved that while Raskolnikov was at college, he’d helped a poor classmate who was seriously ill and spent his last penny supporting him for six months.

And when that student died, leaving a super old, struggling dad he’s supported since he was thirteen, Raskolnikov got the old man into a hospital and paid for his funeral when he passed.

Raskolnikov’s landlady even testified that when they lived in another place near Five Corners, Raskolnikov had rescued two little kids from a burning house and got burned himself in the process. That was checked out and confirmed by a bunch of witnesses. Those facts made a good impression.

And in the end, because of all the good stuff going for him, the criminal was sentenced to eight years of hard labor - the second-lowest level.

Right at the start of the trial, Raskolnikov’s mom got sick. Dounia and Razumihin managed to get her out of Petersburg during the trial.

Razumihin chose a town on the train line not far from Petersburg, so he could follow every detail of the trial and still see Avdotya Romanovna as often as possible. Pulcheria Alexandrovna’s illness was a weird nervous thing and came with some confusion.

When Dounia got back from her last talk with her brother, she found her mom already sick, running a fever and delirious.

That evening, Razumihin and she agreed on what answers they’d give her mom about Raskolnikov and made up a whole story about him having to go away to a distant part of Russia on a business trip, which would eventually bring him money and a good reputation.

But they were struck by the fact that Pulcheria Alexandrovna never asked them anything about it, neither then nor later.

On the contrary, she had her own idea about her son’s sudden departure; she told them through tears how he’d come to say goodbye, hinting that she alone knew a lot of mysterious and important facts, and that Rodya had a lot of really powerful enemies, so it was necessary for him to hide.

As for his future career, she had no doubt that it would be brilliant once certain bad influences were gone. She assured Razumihin that her son would be a great statesman one day, that his article and brilliant writing talent proved it.

She was constantly reading that article, even took it to bed with her, but barely asked where Rodya was, even though everyone was obviously avoiding the topic, which might have been enough to spark her suspicions.

They started to freak out a little, noticing how quiet Pulcheria Alexandrovna was about certain things. For example, she didn't even complain about not getting any letters from him, even though she used to live for them from her beloved Rodya.

This really stressed Dounia out; she thought her mom suspected something terrible had happened to her son and was scared to ask, afraid she’s hear something even worse. Either way, Dounia realized her mom wasn’t really herself.

But sometimes, Pulcheria Alexandrovna would steer the conversation in a way that made it impossible to answer without mentioning where Rodya was. And when she got vague or suspicious answers, she’d just get super gloomy and quiet, and stay that way for a long time.

Dounia realized it was hard to pull the wool over her eyes and decided it was better to just not talk about certain things. But it became more and more obvious that the poor mom suspected something seriously bad.

Dounia remembered her brother telling her that their mom had overheard her talking in her sleep after her meeting with Svidrigaïlov and before everything went down - had she picked up on something then?

Sometimes, days or even weeks of gloomy silence and tears would be followed by a period of total freak-out, and the invalid would start talking non-stop about her son, her hopes for his future... Her ideas were sometimes totally out there.

They played along, pretended to agree (she probably saw through it), but she kept going.

Five months after Raskolnikov’s confession, he got sentenced. Razumihin and Sonia visited him in prison as much as they could. Finally, it was time to say goodbye. Dounia promised her brother that this separation wouldn’t be forever, and Razumihin made the same promise.

Razumihin, full of youthful energy, had already decided to get a secure job and save up money to move to Siberia within the next three or four years - a country loaded with resources and desperate for workers, active people, and money.

They'd settle down near where Rodya was and start a whole new life together. Everyone cried when they parted.

Raskolnikov had been acting super spacey for a few days before. He kept asking about his mom and was constantly worried about her. He was so stressed about her that it scared Dounia. When he heard about his mom’s illness, he got really down. He was especially distant with Sonia.

Thanks to the money Svidrigaïlov left her, Sonia had already made plans to follow the group of prisoners being sent to Siberia. Not a word was exchanged between Raskolnikov and her about it, but they both knew it was going to happen.

At their final goodbye, he gave his sister and Razumihin a strange smile about their excited plans for a happy future when he got out of prison. He predicted that their mom’s illness would have a fatal ending. Sonia and he finally headed off.

Two months later, Dounia got married to Razumihin. It was a low-key, sad wedding; Porfiry Petrovitch and Zossimov were invited, though. Throughout this whole time, Razumihin had a look of serious determination.

Dounia completely trusted him to follow through on his plans, and she couldn't help but believe in him. He showed a rare strength of will. He even started going back to university to finish his degree.

They were constantly making plans for the future; they both planned on settling in Siberia within five years at least. Until then, they were counting on Sonia.

Pulcheria Alexandrovna was thrilled to give her blessing to Dounia’s marriage with Razumihin; but after the wedding, she got even more down and worried.

To make her happy, Razumihin told her how Raskolnikov had looked after the struggling student and his frail, old dad, and how a year ago he’s been burned and hurt saving two little kids from a fire. These stories really fired up Pulcheria Alexandrovna’s already chaotic imagination.

She was constantly talking about them, even striking up conversations with strangers on the street, though Dounia always went with her.

On buses and in stores, whenever she could find someone to listen, she’s start talking about her son, his article, how he helped the student, how he got burned at the fire, and so on! Dounia didn't know how to stop her.

Besides the risk of her getting too worked up, there was also the worry that someone would remember Raskolnikov’s name and bring up the recent trial. Pulcheria Alexandrovna found out the address of the mom of the two kids her son had saved and insisted on visiting her.

Eventually, her restlessness got totally out of control. She's sometimes just burst into tears and was often sick and delirious with a fever.

One morning, she declared that, according to her calculations, Rodya should be coming home soon, and that she remembered when he said goodbye, he said they should expect him back in nine months.

She started getting ready for his arrival, started tidying up her room for him, cleaning the furniture, washing and hanging up new curtains, and so on. Dounia was nervous, but didn’t say anything and helped her arrange the room.

After a long, exhausting day filled with fantasies, happy daydreams, and tears, Pulcheria Alexandrovna got sick during the night and by morning, she was feverish and delirious. It was a brain fever. She died within a couple of weeks.

During her delirium, she mumbled things that showed she knew way more about her son’s awful fate than they’d thought.

For a long time, Raskolnikov didn’t know about his mother’s death, even though they’d been having regular mail from the time he got to Siberia. Sonia was handling the correspondence, writing to the Razumihins every month and getting an answer without fail.

At first, they thought Sonia’s letters were kind of dry and not very helpful, but later they realized the letters couldn’t have been better, because from them they got a complete picture of their unfortunate brother’s life.

Sonia’s letters were full of straightforward details, the clearest descriptions of all Raskolnikov’s surroundings as a convict. There was nothing about her own hopes, no guessing about the future, no description of her feelings.

Instead of trying to figure out his state of mind or inner life, she just gave the facts - like, his own words, an exact account of his health, what he asked for when they met, what tasks he gave her, and so on. She gave all these details with incredible accuracy.

The picture of their unhappy brother finally came into sharp focus. There was no room for misinterpretation, because only the facts were presented.

But Dounia and her husband couldn't really find any comfort in the news, especially at first. Sonia wrote that he was constantly moody and didn't want to talk, that he barely seemed interested in the updates she gave him from their letters.

He sometimes asked about his mom, and when, realizing he knew the truth, she finally told him about her death, she was surprised he didn’t seem that affected by it - at least, not on the outside.

She told them that, even though he seemed so wrapped up in himself and, like, totally shut off from everyone, he had a really straightforward view of his new life.

He understood his situation, wasn't expecting anything better for now, didn't have any unrealistic hopes (like people often do in his position) and barely seemed surprised by anything around him, which was so unlike anything he’s ever known.

She wrote that his health was okay; he did his work without complaining or trying to do more. He was almost totally indifferent about food, but except on Sundays and holidays, the food was so bad that he eventually accepted some money from her, Sonia, to have his own tea every day.

He begged her not to worry about anything else, saying all this fuss about him just annoyed him.

Sonia wrote further that in prison he shared a room with everyone else. She hadn’t seen inside their barracks, but guessed they were crowded, miserable, and unhealthy. He slept on a plank bed with a rug underneath and didn’t want to make any other arrangements.

But he lived so poorly and roughly, not because he planned it, but just because he didn't pay attention or care.

Sonia simply wrote that he had at first shown no interest in her visits, almost seemed annoyed that she was even coming, unwilling to talk and rude to her.

But eventually, these visits became a habit and almost a necessity for him, so that he was really upset when she was sick for a few days and couldn't visit him. She used to see him on holidays at the prison gates or in the guard room, where they'd have a few minutes together.

On working days she would go see him at work, either at the workshops or at the brick kilns, or at the sheds on the banks of the Irtish.

About herself, Sonia wrote that she’d made some friends in town, that she did sewing, and, since there was hardly a dressmaker in town, she was considered essential in many houses.

But she didn’t mention that the authorities were, through her, keeping an eye on Raskolnikov; that his workload was lighter and all that.

Finally, the news came (Dounia had noticed signs of worry and anxiety in the previous letters) that he was keeping to himself, that his fellow prisoners didn’t like him, that he would be silent for days at a time and was getting really pale.

In the last letter, Sonia wrote that he’d been taken very seriously ill and was in the convict ward of the hospital.