Plot Summary
Part I, Chapter IV opens with Raskolnikov reeling from his mother's letter, which revealed that his sister Dunya plans to marry Pyotr Petrovitch Luzhin, a prosperous but stingy businessman. Raskolnikov furiously resolves that the marriage will never take place while he lives. He dissects every detail of the arrangement, noting Luzhin's cheapness in making his bride and her mother travel third class while he ships his own luggage, and his ominous theory that wives should be grateful to husbands who rescue them from poverty. Raskolnikov recognizes that Dunya is sacrificing herself for his sake, and he explicitly compares her situation to Sonya Marmeladova's prostitution, declaring that Dunya's "respectable" marriage is no better and perhaps worse.
This agonized reflection leads Raskolnikov to a critical turning point: a thought he once dismissed as a mere dream now takes on "a new menacing and quite unfamiliar shape." As he wanders the K---- Boulevard in turmoil, he encounters a young girl of about fifteen or sixteen, visibly drunk, her dress torn and clumsily put on by someone else's hands. A well-dressed gentleman lurks nearby, clearly waiting to prey upon her. Raskolnikov confronts the man, nearly fights him, and enlists a passing police constable to protect the girl, giving the officer his last twenty kopecks for a cab. Then, in a sudden reversal, Raskolnikov shouts after the policeman to let them all be, declaring it is none of his business. Left alone, he bitterly reflects on the girl's likely fate and the cold statistical logic of "percentages" that society uses to dismiss such suffering. The chapter closes with Raskolnikov remembering his intention to visit his old university friend Razumikhin, whose cheerful resilience and generous nature are described as a stark contrast to Raskolnikov's own brooding isolation.
Character Development
This chapter reveals the war within Raskolnikov between compassion and cold rationality. His passionate defense of Dunya and his instinctive protection of the drunk girl demonstrate genuine moral feeling, yet his abrupt reversal—telling the policeman to abandon the girl—shows the nihilistic ideology already taking hold in his mind. Raskolnikov's internal monologue also exposes his wounded pride: he rages against the marriage partly because it frames him as the helpless beneficiary of his family's sacrifice. The introduction of Razumikhin as a foil—a man who endures equal poverty with warmth, humor, and social connection—highlights how far Raskolnikov has withdrawn from ordinary human fellowship.
Themes and Motifs
The chapter weaves together several central themes of the novel. The motif of female sacrifice dominates, as Raskolnikov draws explicit parallels between Dunya's planned marriage, Sonya's prostitution, and the fate of the anonymous drunk girl—all women victimized by economic desperation and male exploitation. The theme of moral ambivalence emerges powerfully in Raskolnikov's reversal on the boulevard, foreshadowing his later oscillation between guilt and justification after the murder. Dostoevsky also introduces the "percentage" argument—the rationalist notion that a fixed number of lives must be sacrificed for social order—which Raskolnikov both invokes and recoils from, anticipating the utilitarian logic behind his planned crime.
Literary Devices
Dostoevsky employs extended interior monologue throughout much of the chapter, allowing readers direct access to Raskolnikov's feverish reasoning. The technique of dramatic irony appears when Raskolnikov shouts "You Svidrigaïlov!" at the stranger pursuing the drunk girl, unconsciously linking the predatory man to the figure who exploited his own sister. The juxtaposition of Raskolnikov and Razumikhin serves as characterization through contrast, while the image of the violated girl on the boulevard functions as a symbolic mirror reflecting the broader exploitation of women that drives Raskolnikov toward his fateful decision.