Crime and Punishment follows a young man who murders two women. In the part of the book that I am on, Raskolnikov is just now leaving Porfiry's after being 'interrogated'. Him and Razumikhin are walking to Bakaleev's, which is where they are to meet Dunya, Pulkheria, and Luzhin. However, when they arrive, Raskolnikov runs home to look for stolen objects in his house, in fear that he may have dropped something the day that he moved all of the stolen items. When he gets there, the porter points out Raskolnikov to a man, who mysteriously looks at him and then walks away without saying a word. Raskolnikov ran to catch up to him, but when he did, the man just called him a 'murderer' and then kept going without another word. This mystery man imposes the questions in the reader's mind 'Who is this man?' and 'What does he know about the murders?'. After this, Raskolnikov returns home and is so flustered that he lies down and ends up falling asleep. He then has a dream that the mysterious man leads him to the Ivanovna's house and then disappears. Raskolnikov finds himself in their flat, and encounters Alena sitting in a chair with her head down. Suddenly, Raskolnikov takes an axe and strikes her head with it, but her only reaction to the blow was laughter. He kept striking her with it, but she only laughed more and more. Soon, Raskolnikov was hearing whispers and laughter everywhere, and finally woke up. I think this dream symbolizes his paranoia and how he felt like Porfiry was mocking him and trying to 'trap' him by asking certain questions about the day the women were murdered.
When Raskolnikov awoke from this dream, a man was standing outside of his door. He welcomed himself in and introduced himself as Svidigaylov. This is the man that Dunya used to work for, but was fired because he fell in love with her (although she didn't love him back). He talked about his dead wife, and how he wanted to speak to Dunya. He also kept telling Raskolnikov that 'they'd become good frineds' and that 'he finds himself in Raskolnikov'. This makes Raskolnikov angry because Svidigaylov is not a good man. The man gives Raskolnikov a message to give to Dunya, which Raskolnikov is reluctant about at first, but then decides sto do so just to keep Svidigaylov away from Dunya. The quote "'They say that you drove Marfa Petrovna into her grave' is that so?' rudely interrupted Raskolnikov" deomnstrates situational irony. This is because Raskolnikov finds fault in Svidigaylov for his wife's death and holds it against him, even though he has killed two women himself. The conversation between the two of them end abruptly, since Raskolnikov had to meet his mother, sister, and her fiancee at dinner.
When Raskolnikov awoke from this dream, a man was standing outside of his door. He welcomed himself in and introduced himself as Svidigaylov. This is the man that Dunya used to work for, but was fired because he fell in love with her (although she didn't love him back). He talked about his dead wife, and how he wanted to speak to Dunya. He also kept telling Raskolnikov that 'they'd become good frineds' and that 'he finds himself in Raskolnikov'. This makes Raskolnikov angry because Svidigaylov is not a good man. The man gives Raskolnikov a message to give to Dunya, which Raskolnikov is reluctant about at first, but then decides sto do so just to keep Svidigaylov away from Dunya. The quote "'They say that you drove Marfa Petrovna into her grave' is that so?' rudely interrupted Raskolnikov" deomnstrates situational irony. This is because Raskolnikov finds fault in Svidigaylov for his wife's death and holds it against him, even though he has killed two women himself. The conversation between the two of them end abruptly, since Raskolnikov had to meet his mother, sister, and her fiancee at dinner.
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