Crime and Punishment Ch. 17: Blood and the Letter

Summary

Zossimov greets the family with he is well, quite well, but Raskolnikov in the corner looks like a wounded man performing a duty. Dressed and combed, he kisses mother and sister without joy; Zossimov sees bitter endurance, not reunion. Talk of university and morbid causes irritates him. Pulcheria thanks the doctor for last night; Rodya flinches at payment and special attention. He reaches to Dunya at last, and for a moment real feeling breaks through the lesson-learned phrases.

Then blood on his clothes forces the truth he can partly tell. He gave the money last night to the widow, a woman in consumption, crushed with trouble, not on the pretext of a funeral but to pay for it. Dunya says no, that is not right. Marfa Petrovna's sudden death fills the room; Rodya snaps at gossip, and Dunya answers that they are afraid of me. Pulcheria dreamed of open talk on the train; now he knows he will never speak freely of everything. He rouses them with forced gaiety, praises Zossimov and Razumihin, jokes about Dunya's watch from Marfa Petrovna, and drifts into the landlady's sick daughter he once meant to marry.

The urgent matter he saved for the end: Listen, Dunya, it is me or Luzhin. If you marry him, I cease to look on you as a sister. He calls himself a scoundrel but forbids her sacrifice. Dunya answers coldly that she marries for her own sake, not charity, and will do what Pyotr Petrovitch expects honestly. He grins that she is lying, selling herself for money; she flushes with anger and asks why he demands heroism he may not have. He nearly faints; the room holds its breath.

Pulcheria hands him Luzhin's letter. Suddenly he says Marry whom you like, then reads twice and dissects its legal tone: blame yourselves, threat to abandon them, the slander about notorious behaviour and the twenty-five roubles he gave to the widow, not the daughter. He warns Dunya that Luzhin does not esteem her. When Pulcheria asks if he will come tonight though barred, he leaves it to Dunya, who decides he must attend and invites Razumihin at eight o'clock. He says yes. Part III's family war is scheduled: the interview, the brother present, the fiancé's letter already poisoning the room before Sonia walks in. Nastasya listens throughout; every word seems to touch a sore place. Rodya thinks they fear him yet feels love in their absence. The lie that he could ever speak freely of everything nearly drives him to the door. Razumihin blushes when asked if Dunya likes him; Pulcheria still fears her strange son. Dunya awaits the evening to prove she can respect Luzhin, while Rodya has shown how the letter betrays contempt. The chapter ends with agreement, not peace: eight o'clock, all three, and Razumihin beside them.

In this chapter: Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Partial Truth at a Family Reunion

Notice when someone admits real details (blood, money) while withholding the central harm, and when a formal letter reframes their charity. Dostoevsky shows Rodya correct Luzhin's slander yet still cannot speak freely.

That skill matters whenever you return to family after crisis without being able to tell everything.

Coming Up in Chapter 18

Sonia will walk into the crowded room, the family will leave for dinner, and Raskolnikov will head toward Porfiry with Razumihin while tonight's eight o'clock meeting with Luzhin still hangs over them The door opens and a shy girl in a plain dress enters a room already crowded with mother, sister, doctor, and friend. Raskolnikov barely recognises Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladov from last night, then.

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Original text

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Chapter 17

Blood and the Letter

“He is well, quite well!” Zossimov cried cheerfully as they entered. He had come in ten minutes earlier and was sitting in the same place as before, on the sofa. Raskolnikov was sitting in the opposite corner, fully dressed and carefully washed and combed, as he had not been for some time past. The room was immediately crowded, yet Nastasya managed to follow the visitors in and stayed to listen. Raskolnikov really was almost well, as compared with his condition the day before, but he was still pale, listless, and sombre. He looked like a wounded man or one who…

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Critical Thinking Exercise

Map Partial Truth

List what Raskolnikov tells his family in this chapter versus what he still hides. Then read Luzhin's letter (in the summary or source) and note each accusation and threat. Write what you would correct publicly before attending a meeting on the writer's terms.

Consider:

•Separate admitted facts from the central secret
•Treat legal or formal tone as a signal of control
•Ask who should be in the room when power is uneven

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Blood and the Letter

Summary