What happens in Part II – Aftermath of the Crime of Crime and Punishment?
In the immediate aftermath of the double murder, Raskolnikov rushes back to his apartment, feeling feverishly agitated. He stashes the stolen items—a purse and a few trinkets taken from Alyona Ivanovna—under a loose stone in a courtyard, barely taking the time to examine them. The burden of his actions fractures his mind: he sleeps fitfully, wakes in a daze, and is visited by his landlady's servant, Nastasya, who brings him tea and observes him with quiet concern. A summons arrives from the police bureau, and Raskolnikov, fearing he’s about to be arrested, drags himself there, only to find out that the visit is about an unpaid debt to his landlady. The relief is fleeting. At the bureau, he overhears officers discussing the murders at the pawnbroker's flat and nearly confesses before fainting. He is helped home, where his worsening condition intensifies. The chapter ends with Raskolnikov slipping into a long delirious fever, the stolen items still hidden, untouched, and—importantly—worthless to him.
Analysis
Dostoevsky opens Part II with a deep exploration of psychological breakdown, using thriller elements like hidden evidence and police summons to reveal the internal collapse of Raskolnikov's "extraordinary man" theory. The chapter's main irony lies in its structure: the crime intended to prove his superiority instead turns Raskolnikov into a being driven by instinct, hiding stolen goods he can't even use and nearly confessing to crimes that no one suspects him of yet. Dostoevsky's writing reflects this breakdown through free indirect discourse, seamlessly shifting between Raskolnikov's rationalizations and his raw, sensory panic—immersing the reader in a mind that has lost its reliability.
The scene at the police bureau exemplifies dramatic irony. Raskolnikov's fear of being caught stems entirely from his own mind; the officers show no interest in him. His near-confession doesn't stem from guilt in a traditional sense but from the crushing weight of his failing theory—he realizes he can't be the cold Napoleon he envisioned if he trembles at a clerk's desk.
The fever that closes this chapter goes beyond mere physical illness. It serves as a narrative pivot: this sickness gives Raskolnikov a brief escape from self-reflection while allowing Dostoevsky to introduce the larger social context of the novel—Nastasya's genuine compassion and the indifferent city outside—which will serve as a backdrop for Raskolnikov's self-obsession. The hidden, worthless trinkets beneath the stone encapsulate the chapter's main theme: a transgression that brings no gain, representing a theft of identity as much as of physical property.
Key quotes from Part II – Aftermath of the Crime
“"I am trembling like a leaf, but that is nothing. That is simply nerves."”
Raskolnikov mutters this to himself while forcing his body toward the police bureau, rationalising his physical terror as a manageable symptom rather than evidence of guilt.
“"Good God! Can it be, can it be, that I shall really take an axe, that I shall strike her on the head, split her skull open... that I shall tread in the sticky warm blood... hide, all trembling, covered with blood... with the axe..."”
This earlier intrusive thought resurfaces in Raskolnikov's feverish memory during Part II, collapsing the boundary between pre-crime fantasy and post-crime reality.
“"He was not completely unconscious, however, all the time he was ill; he was in a feverish state, sometimes delirious, sometimes half conscious."”
The narrator's clinical detachment here contrasts sharply with the preceding chaos of Raskolnikov's perspective, marking the shift into the novel's fever interlude.