Predictions

Upon reaching the midway point of the novel, I have some predictions of how the story will continue. First, to recap the main points of what has happened: Raskolnikov has killed not only the feeble pawnbroker, but also her sister. Thoroughly shocked by his unexpected second murder, he narrowly escapes without being seen. The next day Raskolnikov is summoned to the police station, not for murder charges, but for being in debt to his landlady. However, at the station, he meets some people who get suspicious of him. After leaving the station, he wanders to his old friend Razumikhin’s house. He doesn’t stay long but enough to get Razumikhin interested in Raskolnikov’s life again… By now, the mere mention of the murders of the pawnbroker and her sister cause Raskolnikov to be agitated, or at most, faint. At the Porfiry’s house, Raskolnikov’s nervousness about the murder case is evident making him a suspect in Porfiry’s and Zamyotov’s eyes.
Based on the information presented so far, I believe that Dunya isn’t going to marry Luzhin. Razumikhin, although trying to deny his feelings for her, is going to interfere in the relationship. Within days of meeting her, he has already tried to get the doctor to fall in love with the landlady to eliminate him as competition. Also, I don’t think that Svidrigailov is completely out of the novel yet. Too much time was spent on that story to leave him wallowing in self pity back home. Whether or not a man vies for Dunya’s hand, Raskolnikov is obsessed with exposing Luzhin as a fraud and stopping the wedding himself.
Raskolnikov and Razumikhin seem to have gotten closer from the time they first met again. I think if there is anyone that Raskolnikov might confess to it’s him. In the second half of the novel, Raskolnikov is going to be overcome by guilt and the suspicion everyone has towards him. If he doesn’t trust Razumikhin, he might go insane having to keep the secret. This may be the start of his descent into paranoia, hallucinations, overanalyzing details and most of all, distrust of everyone.
posted by Kayla H.