PART I, CHAPTER 3

Summary

On waking up in his apartment the next morning, Raskolnikov is in a bad mood. His room has a very low ceiling and is covered with faded yellow wallpaper. Nastasya, the landlady's cook, gives him a letter from his mother. She also tells him that the landlady has complained to the police about his rent. Raskolnikov is excited to receive the letter and opens it quickly.

In the letter, Pulcheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikov, his mother, reveals how his sister, Dounia (Avdotia), had become a governess for the Svidrigailovs in order to help pay for Raskolnikov's studies. Svidrigailov had made unsolicited advances towards her. Marfa Petrovna, Svidrigailov's wife, accused Dounia of bad behavior and fired her from her job. Later, Svidrigailov confessed that he was to blame, and Dounia's good name was restored in the community. Peter Petrovitch Luzhin, a relative of Marfa Petrovna and a court counselor (an officer of the seventh class in the Russian bureaucracy), had come as a suitor to meet Dounia. Luzhin wishes to open a solicitor's office in St. Petersburg and Pulcheria Alexandrovna hopes that her son, Rodion, may find work there as Luzhin's secretary.

Pulcheria ends her letter by informing Raskolnikov that she and Dounia will be arriving in St. Petersburg some time in August. She promises to send Raskolnikov more money. Raskolnikov cries throughout as he reads the letter, but when he completes it, he smiles in a "sardonic" and "malicious" manner. He leaves his room and walks out towards Vassilevsky Island.

Notes

In this chapter Dostoevsky makes use of the epistolary (written in the form of a letter) method to inform the reader about Raskolnikov's family and to pave the way for future events. Pulcheria Alexandrovna appears to be a determined woman who wants the best for her son. Her daughter, Dounia, makes the most noble sacrifices so that Raskolnikov can pursue his studies in St. Petersburg. The people who are mentioned in the letter, Svidrigailov and Luzhin, are of importance, as they appear later in the novel. Both of these characters try to control Dounia's life.

One can observe Raskolnikov's deep love for his mother from the fact that he weeps as he reads the letter. However, the letter has obviously disturbed him, for after he has finished it, he appears "pale and convulsed," and he wanders out towards Vassilevsky Island. Here, rich Russian aristocrats have their summer homes.

The landlady threatens Raskolnikov with a police complaint for not paying his rent. He forgets about this, so when he is called to police headquarters on the day after the murder, he naturally assumes that he has been caught.

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