Crime and Punishment Ch. 36: Dunya's Revolver

Summary

Raskolnikov follows Svidrigailov from the Hay Market, refusing to lose sight of him because the half-tipsy marriage stories have not ended his designs on Dunya, especially after her letter that morning. They measure strength on the pavement; Svidrigailov mocks calling the police, then invites him home for money before the Islands, while Raskolnikov insists he will see Sonia about the funeral. Svidrigailov boasts of funding the Marmeladov orphans and sending Sonia to a patroness at the X Hotel, then trades barbs about listening at doors and murdering old women versus listening at doors, taunts the Schiller in revolt, offers fare to America, and leads him through Madame Resslich's flat, bonds, and empty rooms before Raskolnikov refuses the cab and turns back in disgust, crying that he could not seek help from such a brute.

If he had looked behind him he would have seen Svidrigailov leave the carriage at once; instead he sinks into thought on the bridge while Dunya, who passed him unseen, is approached by Svidrigailov signaling from the Hay Market side. She steals past her brother and goes with him, demanding they speak in the street; he insists on Sonia, papers, and the curious secret of her beloved brother in his keeping. At his lodging he shows the chair by the locked door where he sat listening two successive evenings and learned Raskolnikov's full confession to Sonia: the pawnbroker and Lizaveta killed with an axe, money hidden under a stone, the extraordinary-man theory, Napoleon, pride without three thousand roubles.

Dunya rejects the story until he details robbery and overheard words, recites the extraordinary-man article she read through Razumihin, and mocks Russian breadth without genius. She rushes toward Sonia, collapses, and hears him offer to send Raskolnikov abroad with passports, then slide into pleading love, kiss her dress, and beg one word from you and he is saved. When she shakes the locked door he explains five empty rooms, Kapernaumovs away, and how even betrayal would prove nothing. She barricades herself, pulls Marfa Petrovna's revolver, fires and grazes his temple; he laughs, she misses fire, then flings the gun away. He gives her the key without turning from the window; she flees toward the canal and X Bridge while he stands three minutes at the glass, washes blood, picks up the revolver with two charges left, and goes out.

She flings the revolver away. She’s dropped it, Svidrigailov says with surprise, and draws a deep breath. Dunya runs. Marfa Petrovna’s revolver is in his pocket as he walks out.

In this chapter: Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Refusing Blackmail Disguised as Rescue

A private confession overheard through a door can become a trap for your family, not only your shame. Svidrigailov lures Dunya with her brother's secret, locks the flat, and trades passports for power until she shoots and runs.

Do not meet alone to hear proof; bring allies, an exit plan, and the willingness to leave before bargaining with your body.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: Svidrigailov

He locks the flat and offers her brother's secret as the price of the key. The shot only grazes him, and what ends his pleasure is not the wound. A bargain she refuses is no longer a bargain he can enjoy, so he lets her go.

Continue this thoughtSvidrigailov Lives the Theory Without the Fever

Coming Up in Chapter 37

He spent that evening till ten o’clock going from one low haunt to another. Katia too turned up and sang another gutter song, how a certain villain and tyrant began kissing Katia. He treated Katia and the organ-grinder.

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Original text

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Chapter 36

Dunya's Revolver

Raskolnikov walked after him. “What’s this?” cried Svidrigaïlov turning round, “I thought I said...” “It means that I am not going to lose sight of you now.” “What?” Both stood still and gazed at one another, as though measuring their strength. “From all your half tipsy stories,” Raskolnikov observed harshly, “I am positive that you have not given up your designs on my sister, but are pursuing them more actively than ever. I have learnt that my sister received a letter this morning. You have hardly been able to sit still all this time.... You may have unearthed a wife…

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Dunya's Revolver

Summary

Why This Matters