Nekhludoff's decision to go to Petersburg

Nekhludoff's decision to travel to Petersburg crystallizes the moral crisis that began in the courtroom. Having witnessed the conviction of Katerina Maslova—the woman he seduced and abandoned years earlier—he can no longer remain passive. The journey is not merely a legal errand but a deliberate break from his former life of privilege and self-deception. He intends to petition the Senate, appeal to the Emperor if necessary, and simultaneously pursue several other cases of injustice he has encountered: the sectarians exiled for reading the Gospels, the political prisoner Vera Doukhova's requests, and the plight of Theodosia Birukoff. This decision forces him to navigate the very institutions he has come to despise, exposing the chasm between his newfound moral convictions and the society he still belongs to.

Motives and Moral Imperative

The impetus for the journey is rooted in Nekhludoff's recognition of his own guilt. He recalls the moment he thrust a 100-rouble note into Katusha's apron after betraying her, an act he now regards as the epitome of his cowardice and depravity. The memory of that night—the mist, the breaking ice on the river, the waning moon—returns to him with visceral force, and he understands that he cannot atone merely by paying an advocate. He must act publicly. He tells the Procureur that he intends to follow Maslova to Siberia and marry her if she will have him, a declaration that shocks the official but also solidifies Nekhludoff's own resolve. The decision to go to Petersburg is thus an extension of this inner reckoning: he will use his name, his connections, and his remaining influence to challenge the verdict, not only for Maslova but for the principle that the innocent should not suffer.

The Burden of Connections

Nekhludoff's plan forces him to rely on the very aristocratic network he now finds repugnant. He stays with his aunt, Countess Katerina Ivanovna Tcharsky, a woman who embodies the frivolous, self-satisfied world he is trying to leave behind. She teases him about his "Howard-like" philanthropy and offers to place Maslova in a Magdalene Home, revealing how little she understands the gravity of his mission. Her husband, Count Ivan Michaelovitch, a former minister, provides letters of introduction to Senator Wolf and to an influential member of the Petition Committee. Nekhludoff accepts these favors with growing discomfort, aware that he is trading on the very privileges he now condemns. The Petersburg air itself, he reflects, has a "physically invigorating and mentally dulling effect," and he fears being drawn back into the old, thoughtless rhythm of high society.

The Legal and Political Landscape

In Petersburg, Nekhludoff confronts the machinery of injustice at its highest levels. He meets Senator Wolf, a man who prides himself on being "un homme tres comme il faut" and who regards the law as a set of formalities to be manipulated rather than a vehicle for truth. Wolf dismisses the possibility that the Senate can consider the merits of Maslova's case, insisting it can only review the application of legal procedures. Nekhludoff also visits the old General in charge of the fortress, a man who has spent a lifetime enforcing regulations without regard for their human cost, and who speaks of the prisoners' comforts—three-course dinners, a library—as if the institution were a benevolent boarding house. The advocate Fanarin, whom Nekhludoff consults, cynically observes that the prosecutors and judges are merely officials concerned with their salaries, and that any educated man could be sent to Siberia if the authorities chose to enforce the laws selectively. These encounters deepen Nekhludoff's conviction that the entire system is built on a lie, and that his personal appeal is only a small, perhaps futile, gesture against a vast edifice of cruelty.

The Temptation of the Old Life

While in Petersburg, Nekhludoff is drawn into the orbit of Mariette, a beautiful and clever woman who flatters him and seems to understand his mission. She secures the release of Lydia Shoustova, a political prisoner, with a single word to her husband, demonstrating how arbitrary the system's mercy can be. Nekhludoff is both grateful and disgusted: the same network that crushes the innocent can, on a whim, set them free. He attends the theatre with Mariette, and in her box, surrounded by the glittering elite, he feels the pull of his former self. He recognizes that her charm, like that of the prostitute he passes on the Nevski, is a form of power that he must resist. The decision to go to Petersburg is thus also a test of his integrity: he must use the tools of the world he rejects without being corrupted by them.

Outcome and Significance

The Petersburg journey ultimately fails to achieve its primary goal: the Senate rejects Maslova's appeal, and Nekhludoff must turn to a petition to the Emperor. Yet the experience is transformative. He sees with new clarity that the law is not a neutral arbiter of justice but an instrument of class interest, designed to protect the powerful and punish the weak. The decision to go to Petersburg marks the point at which Nekhludoff ceases to be a passive observer of his own guilt and becomes an active, if imperfect, agent of change. It sets the stage for his final break with aristocratic society and his decision to follow the convicts to Siberia, where he will confront the full horror of the penal system and, ultimately, find a new basis for life in the teachings of the Gospels.