Further into Crime and Punishment, we see the arrival of Raskolnikov's mother and sister in part three. Raskolnikov treats them with disdain and immediately makes his dislike of Dunya's fiancee, Pyotr Pertrovich Luzhin, known and causes a row between the three of them. It is here that Razumikhin begins to act as Raskolnikov's replacement, advising and protecting Pulcheria Alexandrovna and Dunya. Later in part four, more of Luzhin and Dunya's characters are revealed when Raskolnikov exposes Luzhin's intentions to cause a fight between him and his family and to have them in his complete power through promised financial help. The reader begins to be exposed to the vulgarity of Luzhin' character and to Dunya's pride, bravery, and most of all, her temper. She breaks off her engagement with Luzhin, but Dostoevsky leaves us with the impression that, unfortunately, we may see him again.
At the beginning of part four, we are introduced to another character, Svidrigailov, Dunya's former employer and pursuer, appears in Raskolnikov's apartment apparently waiting for him. Raskolnikov judges him as possibly mad and a danger both to him and Dunya. It is obvious that he is still in love with Dunya and has the intention to try to pursue her, but he tries to convey to Raskolnikov that he is no threat and even wished to leave her with ten thousand rubles.
My favorite part of the novel so far is Raskolnikov's interrogation by Porfiry Petrovich near the end of part four. The intellectual reasoning that Porfiry discusses with him with a touch of mockery shakes Raskolnikov up so much that he is on the verge of confessing before he is saved by a disruption. Perhaps it bothered him so much because he was witnessing his view of himself as an "extraordinary" individual beginning to crack as Pofiry was able to mess with his head.
Mikaela M.
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I liked this post because i found it funny that his mother spoke so highly of him when he had done wrong and he thought of himself as highly as well because Alyona's murder but he hatedit when his mother said so.
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The scene between Porfiry and Raskolnikov is defnitely one of my favorite parts as well. It is at this point that Raskolnikov starts to feel that everything he had planned was starting to fall apart. Prior to this meeting, Rodion thought everyone was suspicious (unknowingly, he added to their suspicions with his strange behavior). But now he was positive that Porfiry was on to him. Based on his theory of the "ordinary" and "extraordinary" people of the world, him placing himself as an "extraordinary" being was no longer valid, he could see himself potentially cracking under the pressure. Also, this is one of the most suspenseful scenes in the book, in my opinion.
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