Part IV - Chapter IV Practice Quiz — Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoevsky — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Part IV - Chapter IV
Where does Sonia live when Raskolnikov visits her in Part IV, Chapter IV?
She rents a room from the Kapernaumov family in an old green house of three storeys on the canal bank. Her room is a large but low-pitched irregular quadrangle that looks like a barn.
What does Raskolnikov do when Sonia breaks down weeping over the fate of the children?
He drops to the ground, kisses her foot, and declares: "I did not bow down to you, I bowed down to all the suffering of humanity."
What does Raskolnikov ask Sonia to read to him?
The story of the raising of Lazarus from the Gospel of John (Chapter 11), which he finds in a worn New Testament lying on Sonia's chest of drawers.
What does Raskolnikov promise Sonia before leaving?
He promises that if he comes to see her tomorrow, he will tell her who killed Lizaveta.
What is revealed in the final paragraph of Part IV, Chapter IV?
Svidrigaïlov has been eavesdropping on the entire conversation from an adjoining empty room, and he brings a chair so he can listen more comfortably next time.
What does Raskolnikov tell Sonia about his family after the Lazarus reading?
He tells her he has abandoned his mother and sister completely and that Sonia is the only person he has left: "I have only you now . . . Let us go together."
What story does Sonia tell about the collars that made her feel cruel?
Sonia refused to give Katerina Ivanovna some cheap embroidered collars she had bought from Lizaveta. Katerina Ivanovna was grieved not by the refusal of the collars but by Sonia's unwillingness to share, and Sonia has been wracked with guilt ever since.
How does Sonia answer when Raskolnikov asks "What should I be without God?"
She whispers it "rapidly, forcibly, glancing at him with suddenly flashing eyes, and squeezing his hand" — revealing her absolute, unwavering faith as the foundation of her existence.
How does Raskolnikov characterize Sonia after observing her faith?
He calls her "a religious maniac" and repeats it to himself, viewing her intense faith with a mixture of fascination, skepticism, and growing respect.
Who are the Kapernaumovs?
Sonia's landlords — a kind family whose father stammers and is lame, whose mother cannot speak plainly, and who have seven children. They provided all of Sonia's furniture.
What connection does Sonia have to Lizaveta, the murdered woman?
Lizaveta was Sonia's friend who used to visit her. They read together and talked. Lizaveta gave Sonia the New Testament, and Sonia had a requiem service said for her in church.
How does Sonia describe Katerina Ivanovna's plans for the future?
Katerina Ivanovna fantasizes about borrowing money, moving to her native town, and setting up a boarding school for gentlemen's daughters with Sonia as superintendent — plans built on desperate faith in impossible fancies.
How does the Lazarus story parallel Raskolnikov's situation?
Just as Lazarus was dead for four days and raised by Christ, Raskolnikov is spiritually dead after the murder and can potentially be "resurrected" through faith, confession, and suffering — with Sonia serving as his path back to moral life.
What three fates does Raskolnikov identify for Sonia?
"The canal, the madhouse, or . . . at last to sink into depravity which obscures the mind and turns the heart to stone" — suicide, insanity, or moral corruption. He cannot understand what alternative keeps her going.
How does Raskolnikov equate his transgression with Sonia's?
He tells her: "You, too, have transgressed . . . you have destroyed a life . . . your own (it's all the same!)." He sees both of them as having crossed moral boundaries that separate them from ordinary society.
What keeps Sonia from suicide, madness, or moral corruption according to the chapter?
Her faith in God and her responsibility to the children. When Raskolnikov suggests there may be no God, she looks at him "with unutterable reproach" and breaks into bitter sobs, revealing that faith is her lifeline.
What literary device does Dostoevsky use by having Svidrigaïlov eavesdrop without Raskolnikov knowing?
Dramatic irony — the reader learns that what Raskolnikov believes is a private, intimate exchange is being overheard by one of the novel's most morally ambiguous characters, setting up future plot complications.
How does the setting of Sonia's room function as a literary device?
It serves as a visual metaphor: the grotesque angles, dim candlelight, poverty, and barn-like appearance reflect Sonia's distorted social position — a morally pure woman trapped in a degraded existence.
What narrative technique does Dostoevsky use when Sonia reads the Lazarus story?
A story-within-a-story (embedded narrative). The biblical text about resurrection from death functions as a parable that mirrors the novel's larger arc and comments directly on Raskolnikov's spiritual condition.
What does "insatiable" mean in the context of Sonia's compassion?
Impossible to satisfy or fulfill. The narrator describes "a sort of insatiable compassion" reflected in Sonia's features, meaning her capacity for empathy and pity is limitless and can never be exhausted.
What does Raskolnikov mean by calling Sonia's faith "infectious"?
He fears her intense religious conviction could spread to him like a disease: "I shall be a religious maniac myself soon! It's infectious!" He uses the word mockingly, but it reveals his growing susceptibility to her influence.
Who says "I did not bow down to you, I bowed down to all the suffering of humanity" and in what context?
Raskolnikov says this to Sonia after kissing her foot. He means that his gesture honors not Sonia personally but the universal human suffering she embodies through her self-sacrifice.
Who says "Be silent! Don't ask! You don't deserve!" and why?
Sonia says this to Raskolnikov when he asks what God does for her. She rebukes him with sudden wrath because she considers him unworthy of questioning God's role in her life, given his unbelief.
What is the significance of Raskolnikov's parting words: "Freedom and power, and above all, power! Over all trembling creation and all the ant-heap!"?
These words echo his "extraordinary man" theory from earlier in the novel, suggesting he still clings to his philosophical justification for the murder even as he is drawn toward confession and redemption through Sonia.