Madie's Reaction

This chapter was very interesting. The entire chapter involves Raskolnikovs meeting with Sonya (Marmeladov's daughter) and their conversation. During their conversation, Sonya's distress on her family's financial situation becomes even more clear. Here we find out that Sonya, is so desperate to believe everything will be alright that she places her faith in religion, saying that God will ultimately protect her family and ensure their well-being. This contrasts Raskolnikov's general attitude and so it is intriguing that he is finding, a sort of refuge in Sonya's bedroom. He seems to relate to her on some level, perhaps since she is a prostitute he feels that she has also done something immoral, and thus they share something. Or it might be that he shares her values for family. Whatever the case may be, he seems to share something with her. Further, the story of Lazarus from the Bible seemed to move both of them. I am not sure fully what the story was about or why it effected them so strongly, but both of them seemed to be quite moved by Sonya's reading of it. By the end of the chapter, the plot slips back to Raskolnikov and the murder, when he tells Sonya that she will soon learn who committed the murders. This is an obvious foreshadowing of his confession to come, however Svidrigailov is also eavesdropping from the door! I don't think this will be good for Raskolnikov. He is hinting that he knows who did it, and now Svidrigailov knows that he knows. I am intrigued to see if Raskolnikov confesses or if perhaps Svidrigailov will accuse him before he can.

- Madie