Crime and Punishment

The door opens, and Raskolnikov's philosophical theory collides with brutal reality. The old woman Alyona Ivanovna eyes him suspiciously, but lets him in. As she turns to examine his fake pledge, he pulls out the axe and strikes her on the head - once, twice, three times. Blood gushes 'as from an overturned glass.' She falls dead. But there's no time for reflection. He frantically searches for her keys, finds them, and runs to the bedroom to open her strongbox. He's filling his pockets with valuables when he hears a sound that stops his heart: someone is in the other room. Lizaveta, the gentle sister who was supposed to be away, has returned. She stands frozen in horror, staring at her murdered sister. Raskolnikov rushes at her with the axe raised. She doesn't even try to defend herself - 'this hapless Lizaveta was so simple and had been so thoroughly crushed and scared that she did not even raise a hand to guard her face.' The axe splits her skull. He has now killed two people, one of them an innocent he never meant to harm. Panic takes over. He tries to wash blood from his hands and the axe. Then comes another nightmare: loud knocking at the door. Two men have come to see the pawnbroker - Koch and his young companion. They knock, ring, argue about why no one answers. The young man realizes something is wrong: 'The hook is clanking! They must be inside!' Raskolnikov crouches behind the door, clutching the bloody axe, barely breathing. The men discuss getting the porter. Just as they leave, Raskolnikov makes his escape - only to hear them returning with others. At the last second, he ducks into an empty apartment where painters have been working. He waits, trembling, as the men discover the murders just above him. Then he simply walks out, down the stairs, into the street. In a daze, he makes it back to his building, returns the axe to the porter's room, and collapses in his room in a state of shock. The calculated act of an 'extraordinary man' has become a butchery that will haunt him forever. Theory met reality, and theory lost.