Summary
The Dream of the Mare
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Raskolnikov wanders the city in a feverish state, his mind circling around the terrible decision he's been contemplating. He realizes with growing horror that he's already mentally committed to murdering the pawnbroker - he catches himself thinking about what he'll do 'the day after It.' Exhausted, he drinks vodka and falls asleep in a park, where he experiences one of literature's most powerful dreams. He's a child again, watching drunken peasants beat a horse to death. The owner, Mikolka, insists the horse can pull an impossible load, then kills it in rage when it can't. Young Raskolnikov weeps and throws himself at the dead mare, kissing her bleeding head. He wakes up gasping, horrified by the dream's obvious message. 'Can it be that I shall really take an axe, that I shall strike her on the head, split her skull open?' He feels his humanity recoiling against the plan. For a moment, he experiences genuine relief - 'Freedom, freedom!' He renounces his 'accursed dream,' feeling as though a terrible burden has lifted. He crosses a bridge feeling peaceful, believing he's escaped the obsession that's been consuming him. But then fate intervenes in a way he'll later see as supernatural. Walking through the Hay Market (a route he had no reason to take), he accidentally overhears Lizaveta talking to street vendors. They're asking her to come tomorrow at seven o'clock - which means the old pawnbroker will be home alone. The realization hits him like a thunderbolt. He returns to his room 'like a man condemned to death,' feeling that his freedom of choice has been stripped away. Everything is now 'suddenly and irrevocably decided.' The chapter brilliantly captures how we can rationalize away our own agency, telling ourselves that circumstances or fate are forcing our hand. Raskolnikov's conscience made one last stand through the dream, but he allows 'coincidence' to override his moral revulsion.
Coming Up in Chapter 6
Raskolnikov prepares for the murder with mechanical precision, crafting clever tools and justifications. But even as he steals the axe and walks to the pawnbroker's door, part of him knows he'll never actually go through with it - until he does.
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An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
O“f course, I’ve been meaning lately to go to Razumihin’s to ask for work, to ask him to get me lessons or something...” Raskolnikov thought, “but what help can he be to me now? Suppose he gets me lessons, suppose he shares his last farthing with me, if he has any farthings, so that I could get some boots and make myself tidy enough to give lessons... hm... Well and what then? What shall I do with the few coppers I earn? That’s not what I want now. It’s really absurd for me to go to Razumihin....” The question why he was now going to Razumihin agitated him even more than he was himself aware; he kept uneasily seeking for some sinister significance in this apparently ordinary action. “Could I have expected to set it all straight and to find a way out by means of Razumihin alone?” he asked himself in perplexity. He pondered and rubbed his forehead, and, strange to say, after long musing, suddenly, as if it were spontaneously and by chance, a fantastic thought came into his head. “Hm... to Razumihin’s,” he said all at once, calmly, as though he had reached a final determination. “I shall go to Razumihin’s of course, but... not now. I shall go to him... on the next day after It, when It will be over and everything will begin afresh....” And suddenly he realised what he was thinking. “After It,” he shouted, jumping up from the seat, “but is It really going to happen? Is it possible it really will happen?” He left the seat, and went off almost at a run; he meant to turn back, homewards, but the thought of going home suddenly filled him with intense loathing; in that hole, in that awful little cupboard of his, all _this_ had for a month past been growing up in him; and he walked on at random. His nervous shudder had passed into a fever that made him feel shivering; in spite of the heat he felt cold. With a kind of effort he began almost unconsciously, from some inner craving, to stare at all the objects before him, as though looking for something to distract his attention; but he did not succeed, and kept dropping every moment into brooding. When with a start he lifted his head again and looked round, he forgot at once what he had just been thinking about and even where he was going. In this way he walked right across Vassilyevsky Ostrov, came out on to the Lesser Neva, crossed the bridge and turned towards the islands. The greenness and freshness were at first restful to his weary eyes after the dust of the town and the huge houses that hemmed him in and weighed upon him. Here there were no taverns, no stifling closeness, no stench. But soon these new pleasant sensations passed into morbid irritability. Sometimes he stood still before a brightly painted summer villa standing among green foliage, he gazed...
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how crossing moral boundaries creates predictable patterns of guilt, paranoia, and physical symptoms that can be identified and managed.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Psychological realism
A writing style that focuses on the inner mental and emotional life of characters rather than just external events. Dostoevsky pioneered this approach, showing how guilt and trauma actually affect the mind and body in realistic ways.
Nihilism
A philosophical belief that life has no inherent meaning or moral values. This was spreading among Russian intellectuals in the 1860s, and Raskolnikov has been influenced by these ideas to justify his actions.
Fever dreams
The confused, disoriented mental state that comes with illness or extreme stress. Raskolnikov's physical and mental symptoms show how his body is rebelling against what his mind tried to rationalize.
Paranoia
An irrational fear that everyone is watching you or plotting against you. Raskolnikov's guilt makes him see threats everywhere, turning ordinary interactions into sources of terror.
Moral transgression
Crossing a line that violates your deepest beliefs about right and wrong. Once Raskolnikov commits murder, he discovers he cannot simply return to who he was before.
Police state mentality
Living under a system where authorities have extensive power and citizens feel constantly watched. In 19th century Russia, even minor infractions could lead to serious consequences, making any police contact frightening.
Characters in This Chapter
Raskolnikov
Tormented protagonist
Wakes up physically and mentally shattered after the murders. His fevered state and obsessive behavior reveal that his theory about being above moral law was completely wrong - he's falling apart.
Nastasya
Servant/messenger
The landlady's servant who brings Raskolnikov the police summons. Her ordinary presence terrifies him because his guilt makes every interaction feel dangerous and suspicious.
Praskovya Pavlovna
Landlady
Raskolnikov's landlady who has summoned him to court over unpaid rent. Her mundane legal action becomes a source of panic for Raskolnikov, showing how guilt distorts perception of normal life.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"Am I going out of my mind?"
Context: He questions his mental state while trying to remember what happened and check for evidence
This shows Raskolnikov's shocked realization that he cannot control his mind the way he thought. His rational plan has left him completely irrational and vulnerable.
"They want me at the police station... What for?"
Context: When he receives the summons, before learning it's just about rent
His immediate panic reveals how guilt has made him paranoid. Every official contact now feels like a trap, showing how crime isolates you from normal society.
"Hide the things! Hide the traces!"
Context: His frantic thoughts as he searches for bloodstains and stolen items
This repetitive, obsessive thinking shows his mental breakdown. The 'extraordinary man' who planned a perfect crime is now desperately scrambling to cover basic mistakes.
Thematic Threads
Identity
In This Chapter
Raskolnikov struggles to recognize himself after the murder, alternating between justification and horror
Development
Deepens from earlier intellectual pride—now his sense of self is fundamentally fractured
Guilt
In This Chapter
Physical and psychological symptoms manifest immediately—fever, paranoia, obsessive checking for evidence
Development
Introduced here as the immediate aftermath of crossing moral boundaries
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
Must perform normalcy while internally collapsing—the police summons becomes terrifying because he must appear innocent
Development
Evolves from earlier disdain for society to desperate need to blend in
Class
In This Chapter
Even his guilt is shaped by class—the police summons about rent reminds him of his powerless position
Development
Continues theme of how poverty creates vulnerability and shame
Isolation
In This Chapter
Withdraws further into his cramped apartment, unable to process the trauma with others
Development
Intensifies from earlier social withdrawal—now isolation becomes psychological prison
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What physical and mental symptoms does Raskolnikov experience after the murders, and how do these affect his behavior?
- 2
Why does a simple police summons about unpaid rent terrify Raskolnikov so much, and what does this reveal about guilt's effect on perception?
- 3
Where have you seen people become paranoid or hypervigilant after doing something they knew was wrong, even in everyday situations?
- 4
If someone you cared about was trapped in this guilt-paranoia spiral, what practical steps would you suggest to help them break the cycle?
- 5
What does Raskolnikov's immediate psychological breakdown tell us about whether humans can really separate actions from consequences in their own minds?
Critical Thinking Exercise
Track Your Own Guilt Signals
Think of a time you did something that violated your own values - maybe a lie, breaking a promise, or hurting someone. Write down the physical sensations you remember (racing heart, sleeplessness, stomach issues) and how you interpreted other people's normal behavior during that period. Did you read suspicion into innocent comments or avoid certain people entirely?
Consider:
- •Notice how guilt changed your body, not just your thoughts
- •Identify which fears were based on evidence versus imagination
- •Consider how isolation versus connection affected your recovery from the incident
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 6: Overhearing Fate
As the story unfolds, you'll explore 'signs' reinforce decisions we've already made, while uncovering the psychology of feeling chosen or destined. These lessons connect the classic to contemporary challenges we all face.