What happens in Part IV – Sonia and the Gospel; Svidrigailov Arrives of Crime and Punishment?
Part IV begins with Raskolnikov's second visit to Sonia Marmeladova's small, cramped lodgings. He bombards her with cold, almost clinical questions about how she copes with her degraded life, highlighting the clash between his nihilism and her unwavering faith. The scene reaches a peak when Raskolnikov insists that Sonia read aloud the story of Lazarus from the New Testament—a passage she knows by heart. As her voice quivers over the words of resurrection, the atmosphere between them shifts. Raskolnikov then tells her he will reveal who murdered Lizaveta, tying her to his secret without revealing his identity. The chapter takes a sharp turn as Svidrigailov, Dunya's former employer and tormentor, shows up at Raskolnikov's door. He claims to be in Petersburg for legitimate business and suggests a meeting, mentioning a mysterious inheritance left to Dunya by his late wife, Marfa Petrovna. Raskolnikov becomes instantly suspicious and repulsed. Svidrigailov is disturbingly friendly, hinting that he overheard Raskolnikov's confession to Sonia through the thin wall separating their rooms—a revelation that leaves Raskolnikov feeling trapped, as the walls of his world close in from both sides.
Analysis
Dostoevsky structures this chapter as a diptych, and the contrast plays a significant role. The scene with Sonia feels intimate, almost sacred: the reading of Lazarus acts as a text within the text, its themes of death and rebirth reflecting Raskolnikov's spiritual crisis. Here, Dostoevsky slows down the prose to a near halt; the candle-lit room and Sonia's trembling voice create a moment of sacred time amidst the novel's otherwise frantic pace. Choosing Lazarus isn’t random—it serves as the chapter's main idea, suggesting that resurrection is the only way out of Raskolnikov's self-imposed tomb.
When Svidrigailov arrives, the shift in tone is almost jarring. Sonia symbolizes suffering that is willingly embraced and redeemed through faith, while Svidrigailov represents desire without morals—a dark reflection of Raskolnikov's own "extraordinary man" theory, but without its intellectual facade. His effortless charm and the detail about the shared wall are brilliant plot devices: Dostoevsky turns the physical layout of Petersburg's cramped tenements into a metaphor for the inescapability of private guilt. Svidrigailov's awareness becomes a new burden, and the chapter concludes not with violence but with the subtler dread of being watched. The motif of thresholds—Raskolnikov entering Sonia's room and Svidrigailov stepping into Raskolnikov's—highlights the novel's ongoing tension regarding transgression and the spaces we cannot escape.
Key quotes from Part IV – Sonia and the Gospel; Svidrigailov Arrives
“'Read to me,' he said suddenly, sitting down. 'I want you to read me about Lazarus.'”
Raskolnikov makes this demand of Sonia mid-conversation, redirecting her tentative spiritual defences into a direct confrontation with the resurrection narrative.
“'She is a lunatic,' he thought, 'reading to a murderer about the raising of Lazarus. What does she expect from me?'”
Raskolnikov's interior monologue during the reading captures his simultaneous contempt and involuntary susceptibility to Sonia's faith.
“'We are both accursed, so let us go together!'”
Raskolnikov's declaration to Sonia near the scene's close fuses their fates and signals his first, oblique acknowledgement that he cannot carry his crime in isolation.