1.1 “How could I even think of such a monstrous thing?”
July 7, 1865. The heat on this day reached 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit). Towards the evening, Raskolnikov goes to the old moneylender woman
From the first chapter, we know that a young, handsome man named Raskolnikov is contemplating some kind of crime. However, Dostoevsky does not yet reveal what it is or why thinking about it torments Raskolnikov so much.
Where did he get the idea to commit a crime, and for what purpose?
Does he want to rob the old woman, or is it something worse?
Raskolnikov walks through the hot evening in St. Petersburg, in a poor, commercial district. This area is close to the wealthy part of Petersburg and the Winter Palace, but it is strikingly different.
On this map based on the first chapter, I have highlighted the places that are mentioned in it. The purple line is the route Raskolnikov took according to the book's description. The yellow one is the shortest route that can be covered in 730 steps.
These routes do not match. This isn't because Dostoevsky didn't know the city well; it's likely because the protagonist's mind is already becoming confused. He mixes up his real actions, observations, and memories. Even his surname — RASKOLnikov, which comes from the word “раскол (raskol) / "split," hints to the reader that something is wrong with him. We don't even know his first name, but we already understand that something is wrong.
Number 1 on the map is the supposed house of Raskolnikov. Dostoevsky does not give us an exact address, and several fit the description, but it was decided to designate this house as Raskolnikov’s dwelling, and there is a commemorative plaque on it.
Number 2 is the Kokushkin Bridge, towards which the hero walked. And near Sennaya Square, he turns towards the old woman's house.
Number 3 — The house of Alyona Ivanovna is precisely identified.
On the Google map, you can look at this house — HERE
Number 4 is the crossroads where the drinking den must have been, where Raskolnikov ends up at the end.
Continuous thoughts about future crime
The first chapter only whets our interest. Together with Raskolnikov, we arrive at Alyona Ivanovna's home. And together with him, we examine her apartment. In reality, she has only two rooms with old furniture, and the entrance is from the back stairs. Not from the main stairs, like in wealthy apartments, but from the one used by servants and workers. However, even such surroundings look wealthy to Raskolnikov. Poverty has deprived him of the ability to think rationally.
The chapter states that he spent a month in a room with a low ceiling and barely larger than a closet — in such a room, different thoughts indeed start to overwhelm you — it’s like a prison, like solitary confinement. Dostoevsky had to sit in prison cells of that size, which is why he emphasises the room's size — in such confined spaces, mad thoughts come.
At the old woman Alyona Ivanovna's place, we learn that a month ago Raskolnikov first pawned a ring with her. And she gave him two rubles for it (Two little tickets — see further about the money of that time). And then Raskolnikov, apparently, lived on those two rubles for an entire month, rarely leaving his room.
What could his inner state be? For a month, he had obsessive thoughts about committing a crime. He thought it over and continues to do so, noting the details.
When he walks towards the moneylender’s house, he is mockingly called out:
“Hey you, German hat.”
The drunk man's remark is the first occurrence of the element of the “people’s choir” in the novel. Of course, it’s not about Raskolnikov's hat itself. In Russian, a German (”Немец / Niemec”) initially referred to any foreigner, i.e., someone who did not speak Russian, as it derives from the word “mute” (немой / niemoj). Raskolnikov's intended enterprise comes into conflict with the Russian national spirit, leading him to detach from the people's roots. Often in Dostoevsky's works, “words are wiser than those who utter them”.
He remembers who lives on the staircase with the old woman. Notes that her neighbours have left.
Observes how the sun shines in the window of Alyona Ivanovna's apartment and thinks that he will return to her at the same hour next time.
Contemplates the keys and where Alyona Ivanovna keeps the pawned items. Listens to which drawers she opens.
His mind continues to notice details. And after such diligence, Raskolnikov falls into doubt again, those exhausting arguments with himself. And instead of going to buy food with the money earned from pawning the watch, he goes to the tavern to drink beer. He hasn't eaten for several days and drinks alcohol. He only worsens the state of his mind.
About the money question
There were no paper money in the familiar sense in the 19th century. At that time, all money was backed by precious metals.
In Russia, the monetary unit is the ruble (or rouble). One ruble is equal to 100 kopecks.
There were things similar to banknotes - assignations / tickets - and they were introduced during the reign of Catherine II; they were supposed to be immediately exchangeable for coins made of precious metals. Over time, more and more assignations were printed, and the government could no longer redeem them at face value. However, it acknowledged its debt and promised that someday it would repay the population.
In 1856, the exchange for silver was discontinued, and the value of the paper ruble wavered: the ruble note that Alyona Ivanovna gave to Raskolnikov was worth 80–90 kopecks in silver.
"Dostoyevsky's 'little yellow piece of paper" refers to the ruble in his novel. There were also green (three-ruble), blue (five-ruble), and red (ten-ruble) notes.
Silver coins: 5, 10, 15, 25 kopecks, half-ruble, and ruble. But the quality of the metal deteriorated. In 1860, the purity of silver coins was reduced to 72, and in 1867 to 48 (modern 500).
What were the prices at this time? Rye bread cost 3 kopecks per 1 kg (2 pounds).
Moneylender Alena Ivanovna explains her financial policy to Raskolnikov:
"Here, we are, mister. If it’s a 10 kopecks a month for one rouble, then for a rouble and a half it’ll be fifteen kopecks, one month in advance."
Is this a lot or a little? That is, the old woman's profit from each payment is 10%. In the 1830s, a limit was introduced - no more than 6% interest per month. For violations of these rules, verbal warnings were issued. After a repeated complaint, a fine or arrest followed. In 1864, a new legislative act was issued, allowing up to 10% per month from pawnbrokers. Therefore, Alena Ivanovna is in some sense a sign of the times. The old woman becomes an expression of the new economic reality, which causes indignation among her clients.
For a Petersburg resident of the 1860s, the old moneylender woman is a quite recognizable type. Small usury (as we would now say, microloans) became very common at this time: the inhabitants of slums, the top floors of tenement houses, workers, students, and officials - all lived poorly.
The conditions for redeeming pledges were harsh, but Dostoevsky makes his old woman uncharacteristically stingy: she "gives four times less than the item is worth" and withholds interest in advance.
However, the old moneylender woman could have had one quite specific, non-literary prototype - the writer's aunt, merchant Alexandra Kumanina. She was very rich, but she bequeathed all her money "for the decoration of churches and remembrance of the soul," refusing to help the orphaned children of Mikhail Dostoevsky, the writer's brother. Alena Ivanovna also bequeathed her money to a monastery (as we learn a little later).
Dostoevsky had reasons to be grateful to his aunt (she financially contributed to his admission to the Engineering School), but later he was burdened by the question of "her inheritance." The last time he spoke about this was with his sister Vera: she asked him to give up his share in the deceased aunt's estate in favor of her children. This heavy conversation so shocked Dostoevsky that he began to bleed from his throat, and two days later he died.
Interesting translation variations
I recommend watching the video of
, a fan of Russian literature, who is also currently reading Crime and Punishment on his substack, where he examines the differences in 8 translations! And he reads them all. WOW!Check out this excerpt about Tsar Gorokh.
For me, the closest translation is by Katz – “once-upon-a-time”, where the emphasis is on something that happened long ago, in better times. Tsar Gorokh (King Pea) was like a saying — "so long ago, during Tsar Gorokh's reign," meaning we don't even remember exactly when, but it was in some good old times.
And for the first time, the "author's" Tsar Gorokh appeared in 1834 in a certain parody of a scientific debate. In 1856, the poet Vyazemsky wrote a poem about the "golden age" that was during Tsar Gorokh's time. But Tsar Gorokh became a literary character only in 1904, that is, after Dostoevsky's death.
In the translation which I read (Pasternak Slater), Tsar Gorokh became Jack and the Beanstalk. Why the translator chose him, I do not understand, perhaps simply because of the association with leguminous plants.
And now I'll show you pages from my reading notebook.
We are clearly not starting out in Anna Pavlovna's St. Petersburg! This Raskolnikov fellow is seriously sus from the get-go, counting steps, analyzing keys, etc. What have we gotten ourselves into? I trust the details of his backstory will come out as we move along.
Very nice summary and "virtual tour", and super fun sketches!
This first chapter reminded me of an experience I had, although, unlike Raskalnikov, mine had a positive outcome. Raskalnikov is rehearsing his thoughts and ideas in this chapter, even though he is horrified by those ideas, He is under the great pressure of his extreme poverty.
Many years ago, under the pressure of what to do next, when I was compulsorily retired from a job I loved at age 46, I toyed with the idea of going to university. I had left school at age 15, year 10. I thought about it, and did mention it to friends for about a year. That was long enough for me to talk myself into it. I enrolled in regional university and moved from the city to the seaside town where I am now lucky enough to have lived for 30+ years. I first created a landscape in my head that.made it easy to move into.
Raskalnikov's thoughts, his spying out the land, will all inexorably create a reality in his mind that will lead to the execution of the plan which presently horrifies him.