Part V - Chapter IV Practice Quiz — Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoevsky — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Part V - Chapter IV
What is Raskolnikov's purpose in visiting Sonia at the start of Part V, Chapter IV?
He intends to confess to her that he murdered the pawnbroker Alyona Ivanovna and her half-sister Lizaveta.
What moral hypothetical does Raskolnikov pose to Sonia before confessing?
He asks whether she would choose to let Luzhin live and continue doing evil, or let Katerina Ivanovna and the children die—essentially asking who has the right to decide who lives and dies.
How does Raskolnikov finally reveal the murderer's identity to Sonia?
Rather than stating it directly, he says "Guess" and tells her to "Take a good look" at him, forcing her to read the truth from his face and manner.
What is Sonia's immediate physical reaction when she realizes Raskolnikov is the killer?
She lets out an "awful wail," collapses on the bed, then quickly seizes both his hands and searches his face desperately for any sign it is not true.
What does Sonia do after accepting that Raskolnikov is the murderer?
She flings herself on his neck, embraces him, and cries: "What have you done—what have you done to yourself?" She calls him the most unhappy person in the world and vows to follow him everywhere, even to Siberia.
What does Raskolnikov tell Sonia about the stolen items?
He says he took a chamois leather purse and some chains and trinkets but never looked inside the purse. He buried everything under a stone in a yard off the V— Prospect, where they remain.
Who arrives at Sonia's door at the very end of the chapter?
Lebeziatnikov knocks and asks to come in, interrupting the intense private scene between Raskolnikov and Sonia.
How does Sonia's reaction to the confession differ from what Raskolnikov expected?
Instead of condemning him or recoiling in horror, Sonia responds with compassion for his suffering, seeing him as a victim of his own crime rather than simply a criminal.
What does Raskolnikov say is the reason he came to Sonia?
"I asked you to go with me yesterday because you are all I have left."—He sees Sonia as the only person who can understand and share his suffering.
What contradictory feeling does Raskolnikov experience toward Sonia during the confession?
A sudden wave of "bitter hatred" passes through his heart, but when he looks at her eyes full of love, it vanishes—he had mistaken one feeling for the other.
How does Raskolnikov react when Sonia mentions Siberia?
He recoils with a hostile, haughty smile and says, "Perhaps I don't want to go to Siberia yet, Sonia."—His pride resists the idea of surrender and punishment.
What is Raskolnikov's assessment of himself by the end of the chapter?
He wavers: at times he calls himself "just such a louse as all the rest," but then reconsiders, saying "perhaps after all I am a man and not a louse and I've been in too great a hurry to condemn myself."
How does the chapter dramatize the theme of redemption through suffering?
Sonia urges Raskolnikov to confess publicly, kiss the defiled earth, and accept punishment. She promises that "God will send you life again"—echoing the Lazarus story of resurrection after death.
How does the Napoleon theory collapse in this chapter?
Raskolnikov admits that his constant agonizing over whether the murder was justified proves he is not an extraordinary man: "if I worried myself all those days, wondering whether Napoleon would have done it or not, I felt clearly of course that I wasn't Napoleon."
What does the chapter reveal about alienation versus human connection?
Raskolnikov has cut himself off from all humanity through his crime. His confession to Sonia is his first genuine act of vulnerability and connection, and her compassionate response begins to break through his isolation.
How does Dostoevsky connect Raskolnikov and Sonia as moral counterparts?
Both have transgressed society's moral codes—he through murder, she through prostitution—yet Sonia's compassionate faith represents the moral alternative to Raskolnikov's nihilistic intellectualism.
What powerful parallel does Dostoevsky draw between Raskolnikov's confession and his original crime?
Raskolnikov's sensations at the moment of confession are described as "terribly like the moment when he had stood over the old woman with the axe in his hand"—linking truth-telling to the violence of the murder itself.
How does Dostoevsky use mirroring when Sonia realizes the truth?
Sonia's terrified face is compared to Lizaveta's face at the moment of her murder—both show the same childlike helplessness and terror, pressing back with an outstretched hand.
What role does dramatic irony play in the confession scene?
The reader has known since Part I that Raskolnikov is the killer, making Sonia's gradual realization excruciating to witness as she moves from confusion to dawning horror.
How does the chapter's dialogue structure reflect its psychological content?
The conversation is full of false starts, evasions, and circling approaches—Raskolnikov offers multiple justifications before reaching the truth, mimicking the psychological difficulty of confession.
What does "casuistry" mean as Raskolnikov uses it?
Overly subtle or deceptive reasoning used to justify morally questionable actions. Raskolnikov says he "wanted to murder without casuistry"—without elaborate philosophical justifications.
What does "expiate" mean in Sonia's command to Raskolnikov?
To make amends for guilt or wrongdoing, especially through suffering or punishment. Sonia tells him: "Suffer and expiate your sin by it."
What does "vouchsafed" mean in Raskolnikov's speech about power?
Granted or given, often by a higher authority or as a special favor. Raskolnikov says "power is only vouchsafed to the man who dares to stoop and pick it up."
Who says: "What have you done—what have you done to yourself?"
Sonia, upon fully realizing Raskolnikov is the murderer. Her words reveal that she sees the crime as self-destruction rather than simply an act against others.
Who says: "I've only killed a louse, Sonia, a useless, loathsome, harmful creature"?
Raskolnikov, attempting to justify the murder by dehumanizing the pawnbroker. Sonia immediately counters: "A human being—a louse!"
Who says: "Go at once, this very minute, stand at the cross-roads, bow down, first kiss the earth which you have defiled"?
Sonia, in her passionate plea for Raskolnikov to confess publicly. She promises that if he does, "God will send you life again."