Crime and Punishment Suffering Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Constance Garnett's translation.

Quote #1

[Raskolnikov] was crushed by poverty, but the anxieties of his position had of late ceased to weigh upon him. (1.1.3)

This shows layers of suffering. The suffering Raskolnikov is experiencing as a result of the bad idea that won't leave him alone is so great that he doesn't feel the suffering he's experiencing as a result of his poverty.

Quote #2

[Raskolnikov:] "I did not bow down to you [Sonia], I bowed down to all the suffering of humanity," he said wildly and walked away to the window. (4.4.99)

We say elsewhere that Raskolnikov isn't very romantic to Sonia. That's not entirely true. He throws himself at her feet an awful lot, though he usually follows it with this kind of comment. More importantly, this passage shows that Raskolnikov sees Sonia as a symbol of everybody's suffering.

Quote #3

[Andrey Semyonovitch:] "Even as it is, she was quite right: she was suffering and that was her asset, so to speak, her capital which she had a perfect right to dispose of." (5.1.26)

Andrey Semyonovitch has a different take on Sonia's prostitution. He sees it as a practical move to alleviate suffering. The suffering of prostitution, in his mind, is better than the suffering of starvation.