In this blog post, I will systematically summarize and introduce the plot of Dostoevsky’s novel ‘Crime and Punishment’.

The Introduction and Raskolnikov’s Inner Conflict

Readers who do not want to know the ending in advance are advised to read this later.
In July of the 1860s, on a stiflingly hot day, Raskolnikov, a law student on leave, wanders the streets of St. Petersburg, consumed by strange thoughts. Convincing himself that “it is permissible to commit an evil act for the sake of a greater good,” he hatches a plan to murder Alyona Ivanovna, an elderly pawnbroker. Though Raskolnikov himself knows his plan is despicable and vile, he is caught in a psychological split, attempting to justify what he considers a “crime for a noble cause.”
On his way to the pawnshop, a chance encounter in a tavern with Marmeladov, a retired civil servant, and his daughter Sonya further shakes Raskolnikov’s inner world. Marmeladov has driven his family to the brink of ruin through alcoholism and poverty, and his eldest daughter, Sonya, has even endured the humiliation of becoming a prostitute to support the family. Raskolnikov helps Marmeladov back to his home, where he witnesses firsthand how poverty, illness, and despair have shattered the family. This scene has a profound impact on his view of the world and morality.

The Crime and the Confusion That Follows

The next day, a letter from his mother reveals another source of conflict. The letter details how his younger sister, Dunya, was subjected to inappropriate advances by her employer, Svidrigailov, and was subsequently dismissed; it also announces that she has since met a wealthy lawyer named Luzhin, who has proposed to her, and that she is now set to marry. On the surface, Dunya’s marriage is a way out of poverty, but Raskolnikov believes that, morally and humanely, it is no different from the Marmeladov family selling Sonya to make ends meet. While he realizes he cannot prevent Dunya’s marriage, he feels deep despair at the fact that he lacks the ability to support a family.
One day at Senaya Square, he happens to learn that Lizaveta will be away from home the following evening. This news presents him with an opportunity, and he eventually puts his plan into action. He prepares an axe and forges a pawn ticket, then breaks into the old woman’s apartment, murders Alyona, and steals the pawn ticket and money. However, Lizaveta returns home unexpectedly, forcing him to kill her as well, and Raskolnikov commits a double murder. Even after committing the crime, he manages to escape unnoticed, but collapses unconscious from the shock.
The next day, he receives a summons at the police station, but it is because his landlord has filed a complaint against him for unpaid rent. As he leaves the police station to catch his breath, he hears news of the old woman’s murder and collapses in shock. While those around him worry about his nervous breakdown, Porfiry, the investigating judge in charge of the case, senses from Raskolnikov’s writings that he possesses the ideological background and disposition capable of committing murder, and begins to psychologically pressure him.
At first, he hides the stolen items in a corner of his room, but driven by guilt and fear, he goes to the riverbank and eventually buries them under a rock in a corner of the yard. Though horrified by his own actions, he attempts to resolve the situation with Razumikhin’s help, yet a part of him repeatedly engages in behavior that stirs the police’s suspicion and drives him toward self-destruction. In a fever of anxiety, he deliberately visits the crime scene or goes to Porfiry to test whether he suspects him. Such self-destructive behavior fuels his inner conflict.

The Conflicts of the Supporting Characters and the Final Decision

Meanwhile, Marmeladov is seriously injured after being hit by a carriage while drunk, and Raskolnikov, having accidentally witnessed the scene, helps him in his final moments. At this time, Raskolnikov encounters Sonya again, and she asks him to attend her father’s memorial service as a token of her gratitude. Raskolnikov accepts her request, and he and Sonya gradually begin to have deeper conversations. Sonya is a deeply devout and pure-hearted soul who has a profound influence on Raskolnikov regarding sin, atonement, and human salvation.
The conflict surrounding Dunya also intensifies. Luzhin is a calculating and materialistic man who thinks only of his own security through Dunya’s marriage. Svidrigailov returns to the city to seduce Dunya again and forms a strange bond with Raskolnikov, feeling that they are alike. Svidrigailov overhears Raskolnikov confessing his crime to Sonya and attempts to exploit this, but is thwarted by Dunya’s firm rejection; in the end, driven to utter despair, he commits suicide.
Raskolnikov eventually confesses his crime to Sonya, and she kisses the ground he has defiled, urging him to turn himself in. Investigating Judge Porfiry, though lacking physical evidence, harbors a strong suspicion against Raskolnikov and attempts to persuade him. Porfiry proposes that if Raskolnikov turns himself in, he will help ensure the verdict is based on the crime being an accidental act caused by poverty and illness, rather than ideological motives. After much internal conflict, Raskolnikov, encouraged by Sonya, goes to the police station and confesses his crime.
Ultimately, influenced by Porfiry and the social context, he is sentenced to eight years of hard labor in Siberia. Dunya marries Razumikhin and plans a new start in Siberia using the 3,000 rubles she inherited from Svidrigailov’s wife. Raskolnikov’s mother, unaware of her son’s plight, dies of a fever after suffering greatly, and following her stepmother’s death, Sonya uses the money given to her by Svidrigailov to resolve her half-siblings’ issues and prepares to follow Raskolnikov to Siberia.
Even while serving his sentence, Raskolnikov initially feels only self-reproach for failing to prove himself a great man and a keen awareness of his limitations as a criminal. However, Sonya’s devoted love and the voice of his conscience gradually transform him, and through the Bible she gave him, he slowly comes to realize his sin.
Ultimately, he takes his first steps toward repentance and salvation, catching a glimpse of the possibility of a new life—that is, spiritual resurrection.