Part V - Chapter III Practice Quiz — Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoevsky — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Part V - Chapter III
Why does Luzhin come to Katerina Ivanovna's memorial dinner?
He comes not for the dinner, but to speak with Sonia. He plans to publicly accuse her of stealing a hundred-rouble note from his room.
What does Luzhin claim happened when Sonia visited his room?
He claims that after giving Sonia ten roubles for charity, he discovered a hundred-rouble note missing from his table, and accuses Sonia of stealing it during her visit.
How is the planted hundred-rouble note discovered?
Katerina Ivanovna angrily turns out Sonia's pockets to prove her innocence. A folded hundred-rouble note flies out of the right pocket, falling at Luzhin's feet.
Who exposes Luzhin's scheme and how?
Lebeziatnikov, Luzhin's roommate, reveals that he saw Luzhin secretly slip the note into Sonia's pocket with his left hand while shaking her hand goodbye with his right.
What explanation does Raskolnikov give for Luzhin's motive?
Raskolnikov explains that Luzhin wanted to prove Sonia a thief to vindicate his earlier insinuations to Dunya and their mother, hoping to restore his broken engagement and estrange Raskolnikov from his family.
What happens to Luzhin after he is exposed?
Luzhin retreats amid threats and abuse from the crowd. He threatens legal action and calls Lebeziatnikov and Raskolnikov "infidels" and "atheists," but is forced to leave. He vacates his room within half an hour.
What happens to Katerina Ivanovna after Luzhin leaves?
Amalia Ivanovna evicts her from the lodgings, throwing her belongings on the floor. Katerina rushes out into the street with a "vague intention" of seeking justice, leaving her children behind.
How does the chapter end?
Raskolnikov resolves to follow Sonia to her lodgings, thinking: "Well, Sofya Semyonovna, we shall see what you'll say now!" This sets up his confession to her.
How does Katerina Ivanovna defend Sonia against Luzhin's accusation?
She calls Luzhin an idiot and pettifogging lawyer, reminds everyone that Sonia sold herself to feed the family, threatens to go to the Tsar himself, and physically shakes Luzhin while demanding Sonia be searched.
What initially made Lebeziatnikov think Luzhin was being charitable?
He assumed Luzhin was secretly giving Sonia extra money out of kindness and modesty, and he considered several reasons Luzhin might hide the gift -- from wanting to surprise her to not wanting the "right hand to know" what the left was doing.
How does Sonia react to being accused and then vindicated?
She is terrified and nearly unconscious during the accusation. Even after vindication, she feels the "helplessness and wrong done to her" so deeply that she breaks down in hysterical weeping and flees to her own lodgings.
What does Amalia Ivanovna do during and after the confrontation?
She immediately declares "I knew she was the thief!" when the note is found, and after Luzhin's departure and a glass is thrown, she evicts Katerina Ivanovna from the lodgings in a rage.
How does Raskolnikov's demeanor during his speech contrast with Lebeziatnikov's?
Raskolnikov is firm, composed, and calm, delivering his explanation with the precision of a legal argument. Lebeziatnikov is breathless, perspiring, and "almost emaciated" with exhaustion from his long-winded, passionate testimony.
How does the chapter explore the theme of justice versus manipulation?
Luzhin weaponizes social respectability and legal threat against Sonia, the most vulnerable person in the room. True justice comes not from institutions but from eyewitness testimony by an unlikely hero (Lebeziatnikov) and the logical reasoning of Raskolnikov.
What does Katerina Ivanovna's reference to Sonia's "yellow passport" reveal about self-sacrifice?
She invokes it not as a mark of shame but as proof of Sonia's devotion: "She has the yellow passport because my children were starving, she sold herself for us!" It transforms Sonia's prostitution from a social disgrace into evidence of selfless love.
How does the chapter illustrate the theme of public shame and judgment?
The gathered lodgers function as an improvised court, their sympathies swinging from suspicion of Sonia to outrage at Luzhin. The entire plot depends on the power of public opinion -- Luzhin needs witnesses to condemn Sonia, and the same witnesses ultimately condemn him.
What does Luzhin's downfall suggest about power based on calculation?
Luzhin's meticulously planned scheme collapses because he underestimated both Lebeziatnikov's observational skills and Raskolnikov's ability to expose his motive. Dostoevsky suggests that cold calculation fails against genuine moral conviction.
How does Dostoevsky employ dramatic irony in Luzhin's accusation of Sonia?
Luzhin's excessively detailed and self-serving speech -- recounting every moment of Sonia's visit -- is meant to sound convincing, but its very precision signals to attentive readers (and eventually to Lebeziatnikov) that the accusation was premeditated rather than spontaneous.
How does the chapter function as a courtroom drama?
Luzhin serves as prosecutor, Sonia as the silent defendant, Katerina as passionate advocate, Lebeziatnikov as surprise witness, and Raskolnikov as defense counsel who explains motive. The lodgers become jury and audience, and the verdict is delivered through public opinion.
What is the symbolic significance of the note "describing a parabola in the air"?
Dostoevsky describes the planted note falling with almost scientific precision -- "describing a parabola" -- which underscores the cold, mathematical calculation behind Luzhin's scheme. It contrasts the mechanical nature of his plot with the raw emotions of the people he victimizes.
What does "pettifogging" mean in Katerina's insult to Luzhin?
Pettifogging means engaging in dishonest or trivial legal quibbling. Katerina calls Luzhin a "pettifogging lawyer" to dismiss his elaborate legal rhetoric as the manipulative trickery of a small-minded schemer.
What does the Polish exclamation "lajdak" mean?
Lajdak is a Polish word meaning scoundrel or rogue. The three Polish lodgers shout it at Luzhin along with other threats, calling him "The pan is a lajdak!" (The gentleman is a scoundrel!).
Who says: "She has the yellow passport because my children were starving, she sold herself for us!"?
Katerina Ivanovna says this while defending Sonia, publicly revealing that Sonia became a prostitute to feed the family. She transforms a fact of social disgrace into a testament of maternal sacrifice.
What does Raskolnikov think at the very end of the chapter?
"Well, Sofya Semyonovna, we shall see what you'll say now!" -- he resolves to go to Sonia's lodgings, foreshadowing his confession of the murders in the next chapter.