Fate in Ordinary Coincidences

A series of accidental encounters seems to narrow Raskolnikov’s choices, while his sense of predestination grows alongside his responsibility for acting.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

An Address Remembered

An Address Remembered The Pawnbroker’s Name A student once gives Raskolnikov Alyona Ivanovna’s address in case he needs to pawn something. He retains it, then recalls it when poverty makes his father’s watch and his sister’s ring useful as pledges. The address begins as practical information. In retrospect, Raskolnikov treats its availability as one link in a chain of events that seems to lead toward the crime.

A Conversation Overheard

A Conversation Overheard An Idea Given Voice In a tavern, Raskolnikov hears a student discuss Alyona Ivanovna’s wealth and speculate that killing her could benefit many people. The speaker’s words resemble an idea already forming in Raskolnikov’s mind. He later wonders why the conversation came to him at that moment. Its coincidence feels like confirmation, though the speaker himself refuses to undertake the act.

The Scheduled Absence

The Scheduled Absence Chance Opens a Door Raskolnikov overhears Lizaveta Ivanovna agree to visit the huckster the next evening. He learns, without asking, when Alyona Ivanovna is likely to be alone. The timing appears almost perfectly suited to his plan. He reads the news as a decisive sign, although it remains an ordinary appointment made for an unrelated errand.

Axe Beneath the Bench

Axe Beneath the Bench An Unplanned Opportunity Nastasya’s presence prevents Raskolnikov from taking an axe from the kitchen. As he hesitates in the gateway, he notices an axe beneath a bench in the porter’s room. The discovery revives his confidence, and he thinks that the devil helps when reason fails. His interpretation of chance turns an obstacle into encouragement without removing his responsibility for what follows.

The Chance That Changes Everything

The Chance That Changes Everything Lizaveta’s Arrival Raskolnikov’s plan depends on Lizaveta Ivanovna being away, but she returns while he is in the apartment. Her unforeseen arrival produces the second murder. The same pattern of coincidence that seemed to smooth his way now brings an innocent witness into immediate danger. The outcome challenges his habit of treating chance as a guiding permission rather than an unpredictable consequence.

Six weeks before the first pawnshop visit

Several weeks before the murders

The evening before the murders, at Hay Market

The next evening, after Nastasya is seen in the kitchen

That evening, during the killings