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RUSSIAN SUMMARIES

Crime and Punishment

Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky

Time period: Romantic

Language: English

Plot:

  • Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, an impoverished former student in St. Petersburg, Russia, murders the pawnbroker Alyona Ivanovna and her sister Lizaveta Ivanovna

  • Motivated by a theory of the “extraordinary man” (that some men have the moral right to transgress laws for higher purposes, inspired by Napoleon)

  • After the murder, Raskolnikov becomes physically ill, paranoid, and alienated, alternating between guilt and self-justification

  • Befriends Razumikhin (cheerful and loyal friend) and meets Sonya Marmeladova, a meek prostitute

  • Raskolnikov is pursued psychologically by Porfiry Petrovich, the magistrate who suspects him but plays mind games rather than arresting him outright

  • Luzhin, Dunya’s fiancé, represents materialistic hypocrisy; Svidrigailov, Dunya’s former employer, represents depravity and nihilism

  • Raskolnikov ultimately confesses to Sonya, then publicly confesses to the police after witnessing Svidrigailov’s suicide

  • Sentenced to eight years of hard labor in Siberia, where Sonya follows him.

  • Ends with Raskolnikov’s spiritual awakening where he embraces Sonya’s love and begins true repentance

 

Characters & Key Facts

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov

  • Name root “raskol” = “schism” in Russian 

  • Former law student; lives in a tiny garret

  • Murders Alyona and Lizaveta with an axe

  • Hides stolen goods under a rock in a courtyard

  • Suffers fevers, nightmares, and delirium throughout the novel, including a dream of the beating of a horse​

  • Develops the Napoleonic theory of “extraordinary men” justified in breaking moral laws

  • Confesses to Sonya first, then to police official Ilya Petrovich (“Gunpowder”)

Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova (Sonya)

  • Daughter of Semyon Marmeladov and Katerina Ivanovna.

  • Forced into prostitution (carries a yellow ticket, a license for prostitutes)

  • Reads the resurrection of Lazarus to Raskolnikov (John 11)

  • Moves to Siberia to stay near Raskolnikov; catalyst for his spiritual rebirth.

Alyona Ivanovna

  • Old, miserly pawnbroker; Raskolnikov’s victim.

  • Known for her greed and cruelty

  • Sister: Lizaveta Ivanovna, kind and simple-minded and is murdered accidentally.

Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov

  • Alcoholic ex-government clerk; delivers long drunken monologue early in the novel.

  • Tells Raskolnikov about Sonya’s prostitution

  • Run over by a carriage and dies in Sonya’s arms

  • His death prompts Raskolnikov to give the family twenty rubles

Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladova

  • Marmeladov’s sickly wife; obsessed with social status.

  • Dies of consumption and madness after public humiliation.

Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova (Dunya)

  • Raskolnikov’s sister

  • Engaged to Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin for financial security

  • Formerly employed by Svidrigailov, who lusted after her.

  • Ultimately marries Razumikhin

  • Fends off Svidrigailov’s attempted coercion; he later kills himself

Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin

  • Dunya’s fiancé; self-serving utilitarianism

  • Lawyer and government official; wants a wife who will feel indebted to him

  • Frames Sonya for theft to discredit Raskolnikov, exposed by Lebezyatnikov

Porfiry Petrovich

  • Magistrate investigating the murders

  • Psychological cat-and-mouse interrogations with Raskolnikov

  • Admits lack of proof but urges confession

Dmitri Prokofych Razumikhin

  • Raskolnikov’s loyal friend (“Razum” = “reason” in Russian)

  • Hardworking, honest, cheerful foil to Raskolnikov

  • Marries Dunya

Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov

  • Dunya’s former employer; lecherous, nihilistic, possibly insane

  • Claims to see the ghost of his wife, Marfa Petrovna

  • Offers Dunya 10,000 rubles; stalks her; later commits suicide with a pistol

  • Dreams of a five-year-old girl who transforms into a "shameless face of a French harlot"

Andrei Semyonovich Lebezyatnikov

  • Luzhin’s liberal, progressive roommate; advocates for “new ideas”

  • Witnesses Luzhin planting money on Sonya → exposes him

Ilya Petrovich (“Gunpowder”)

  • Hot-tempered police official

  • The man to whom Raskolnikov finally confesses

  • Initial title idea was The Drunkards or The Honest Thief, and Dostoevsky conceived it while living in Geneva, paying off gambling debts

  • Epigraph: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

  • Color motif: yellow → sickness, moral decay (Sonya’s yellow ticket, yellow walls, yellow dress).

  • Nikolai (the painter) falsely confesses to the murder

  • Raskolnikov’s final transformation: he accepts Sonya’s cross → moral resurrection.

​

  • Poverty and Desperation → St. Petersburg as moral and physical hell.

  • Double Motif → Raskolnikov vs. Svidrigailov; Sonya vs. Dunya; intellect vs. emotion.

The Overcoat

Author: Nikolai Gogol

Time period: 1842

Language: Russian

 

Characters

  • Akakiy Akakievitch – low-ranking titular councillor in St. Petersburg; devoted to copying documents; poor, timid, and socially ostracized; obsessed with work and eventually with acquiring a new overcoat.

  • Petrovitch – One-eyed tailor in Akakievitch’s building; often drunk but skilled; repairs Akakievitch’s old coat and crafts the new overcoat.

  • Landlady – Akakievitch’s landlady; gives practical advice, urges him to report the stolen overcoat.

  • Young officials / coworkers – Mock and belittle Akakievitch at work; throw trash on him and tease him; contrast with Akakievitch’s dedication to his clerical work.

  • Department sub-chief – Offers to “christen” Akakievitch’s new coat with a party; represents superficial recognition and social hierarchy.

  • District chief / police – Ineffectual in helping Akakievitch recover the stolen overcoat; represents bureaucratic incompetence.

  • Prominent personage – High-ranking official; dismissive and condescending to Akakievitch; later targeted by Akakievitch’s ghost, learns humility.

  • Gang of thieves / muggers – Steal Akakievitch’s new overcoat in a town square at night.

  • Ghost of Akakiy Akakievitch – Returns after death to haunt St. Petersburg; seeks justice for the stolen overcoat; eventually reforms the prominent personage.

​

Plot

  • Akakiy Akakievitch, a clerk in St. Petersburg, leads a solitary, monotonous life, devoted to copying official documents.

  • Mocked and belittled by coworkers, he barely notices life around him, living frugally and with little social contact.

  • He cries out “Leave me alone!” when distracted at work, leaving a deep impression on one coworker.

  • In winter, his old overcoat is too shabby; he takes it to tailor Petrovitch, who refuses to mend it, forcing Akakievitch to save for a new overcoat.

  • Akakievitch lives extremely frugally for months, carefully conserving money and even avoiding candles and tea.

  • He finally purchases a new overcoat, crafted from the best fabric he can afford; the tailor proudly follows him to admire it.

  • At work, Akakievitch’s coworkers notice and praise the coat, and a sub-chief offers an evening “christening” party.

  • That night, after attending the party, Akakievitch is mugged by a gang in a dimly lit square; the overcoat is stolen.

  • Efforts to reclaim the coat through the police, district chief, and a prominent personage fail; bureaucratic inefficiency and social hierarchy leave Akakievitch powerless.

  • He falls ill from a fever and despair, and dies shortly afterward; his office barely notices, and his replacement is unskilled.

  • After death, Akakievitch’s ghost haunts St. Petersburg, appearing on Kalinkin Bridge demanding the return of the stolen overcoat.

  • The ghost eventually accosts the prominent personage, ripping off his fancy cloak, terrifying him; the experience reforms the official’s attitude toward those of lower rank.

  • Other ghostly apparitions appear later, but they are distinct from Akakievitch, suggesting the continuation of supernatural justice in the city.​

Crime and Punishment

Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky

Time period: 1866

Language: Russian

 

Major Characters

  • Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov – lecherous, greedy, and cynical patriarch; obsessed with money and women. Mocking and vulgar; neglects his children. Murdered later in the novel.

  • Dmitri (Mitya) Karamazov – Eldest son, passionate and impulsive; former soldier. Obsessed with honor and sensual pleasure. Torn between his fiancée Katerina Ivanovna and Grushenka.

  • Ivan Karamazov – Intellectual middle brother; skeptical of religion and morality. His ideas about the nonexistence of God indirectly inspire Smerdyakov’s crime. Suffers hallucinations and guilt.

  • Alyosha (Alexei) Karamazov – Youngest brother; kind, spiritual, and devoted to Elder Zosima. Serves as the novel’s moral center and a figure of redemption.

  • Smerdyakov – Fyodor’s illegitimate son by a mentally disabled woman. Servant in the household. Epileptic, manipulative, philosophical, and eventually the true murderer of Fyodor.

  • Grushenka (Agrafena Alexandrovna Svetlova) – A seductive yet redeemable woman loved by both Dmitri and Fyodor. Evolves spiritually through Alyosha’s kindness.

  • Katerina Ivanovna – Dmitri’s proud, intelligent fiancée; torn between love and resentment. Emotionally drawn to Ivan.

  • Elder Zosima – Alyosha’s spiritual mentor at the monastery; preaches universal love and forgiveness. His body’s decay after death tests the monks’ faith.

  • Grigory Vasilievich – Loyal old servant of Fyodor Pavlovich; moral and stern. Wounded by Dmitri on the night of the murder but survives.

  • Marfa Ignatievna – Grigory’s wife; gossip-loving servant who helped raise Smerdyakov.

  • Rakitin – Cynical young seminarian who mocks Alyosha and tries to tempt him with Grushenka; acts as a foil to Alyosha’s faith.

  • Ilyusha (Ilyushechka) – A sickly schoolboy befriended by Alyosha. 

  • Captain Snegiryov – Ilyusha’s impoverished father, humiliated early in the novel by Dmitri, later helped by Alyosha.

​

Summary

  • Fyodor Pavlovich’s miserly and debauched youth sets the tone for his sons’ spiritual conflicts.

  • Each son represents a facet of human nature: Dmitri (passion), Ivan (reason), Alyosha (faith), and Smerdyakov (nihilistic corruption).

  • The inheritance dispute between Fyodor and Dmitri reveals greed and mirrored lust (both men desire Grushenka).

  • The meeting at the monastery is a microcosm of the novel’s spiritual battle: Fyodor mocks the monks’ sanctity, Dmitri rages, and Elder Zosima humbles himself before Dmitri, foreseeing his suffering.

  • Ivan’s philosophical dialogue with Smerdyakov becomes the moral pivot of the novel (“if God is dead, everything is permitted” transforms into action through Smerdyakov’s crime).

  • “Grand Inquisitor” poem encapsulates Ivan’s crisis.

  • Zosima’s death without miracle scandalizes the monastery, exposing human pettiness and testing Alyosha’s faith.

  • Dmitri steals 3,000 rubles; he’s guilty of theft and violence, and innocent of patricide.

  • During the murder night, Dmitri’s beating of Grigory and his bloody shirt serve as circumstantial evidence sealing his fate.

  • Smerdyakov’s simulated epileptic fits before and after the murder conceal his guilt while exploiting others’ pity.

  • The trial showcases social hypocrisy. Despite evidence, Dmitri’s moral “odor of guilt” convicts him in the jury’s eyes.

  • After the trial, forgiveness and redemption emerge

  • Katerina forgives Dmitri, plans his escape with Grushenka, and Ivan collapses from guilt.

  • Alyosha’s friendship with Ilyusha and his funeral speech conclude the novel’s moral arc.

  • Boys’ final cry  is “Hurrah for Karamazov!”

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