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What crime does Raskolnikov commit?
A) Theft
B) Murder
C) Arson
D) Fraud
B) Murder
Who is the kind-hearted woman who serves as Raskolnikov’s moral compass?
A) Dunya
B) Katerina
C) Sonia
D) Lizaveta
C) Sonia
Who investigates the murder using psychological tactics?
A) Zossimov
B) Razumikhin
C) Porfiry Petrovich
D) Svidrigailov
C) Porfiry Petrovich
What city is the novel set in?
A) Moscow
B) Kiev
C) St. Petersburg
D) Odessa
C) St. Petersburg
What literary genre best fits Crime and Punishment?
A) Romanticism
B) Psychological realism
C) Gothic fiction
D) Magical realism
B) Psychological realism
What symbol represents Raskolnikov’s cold rationalization of violence?
A) The axe
B) Blood
C) The cross
D) The stairway
A) The axe
What does the oppressive, decaying city of St. Petersburg symbolize?
A) Raskolnikov’s desire to leave
B) The decline of Russian aristocracy
C) His mental and moral decay
D) Industrial pollution
C) His mental and moral decay
What moment symbolizes Raskolnikov’s spiritual awakening and surrender?
A) His dream about the horse
B) His conversation with Porfiry
C) His final conversation with Sonia
D) Bowing down in the square and kissing the earth
D) Bowing down in the square and kissing the earth
Which motif frequently appears during psychological tension or moral transition?
A) Rain
B) Thresholds and stairs
C) Dreams of flying
D) Children crying
B) Thresholds and stairs
What does Raskolnikov mean when he says, “I didn’t kill a human being, but a principle”?
A) He believes people are expendable
B) He sees his crime as symbolic, not personal
C) He’s trying to deny the act
D) He wants Porfiry to pity him
B) He sees his crime as symbolic, not personal
According to the novel’s deeper themes, what is worse than legal punishment?
A) Social ostracization
B) Being hunted
C) Inner guilt and moral torment
D) Being exiled from St. Petersburg
C) Inner guilt and moral torment
What does the symbol of blood represent in the novel?
A) Life and fertility
B) Russia’s violent history
C) Guilt and moral corruption
D) Brotherhood among characters
C) Guilt and moral corruption
What is the significance of the number three in the novel’s structure and symbolism?
A) It represents the three parts of Raskolnikov’s plan
B) It hints at Christian themes of resurrection and transformation
C) It symbolizes his family’s fate
D) It’s the number of times he revisits the crime scene
B) It hints at Christian themes of resurrection and transformation
What literary technique does Dostoevsky use to immerse readers into Raskolnikov’s psyche?
A) Allegorical narrative
B) Direct address
C) Stream-of-consciousness and interior monologue
D) Epistolary format
C) Stream-of-consciousness and interior monologue
What specific quote marks Raskolnikov’s confession?
A) “I am not a murderer, I am a thinker.”
B) “I did it, and I would do it again.”
C) “It was I who killed the old pawnbroker woman and her sister Lizaveta with an axe and robbed them.”
D) “This city holds no secrets from me anymore.”
C) "It was I who killed the old pawnbroker woman and her sister Lizaveta with an axe and robbed them."
During what historical period was the novel written and published?
A) The Napoleonic Era
B) Tsarist Reformation
C) 1860s Russia, during a time of radical social change
D) Bolshevik Revolution
C) 1860s Russia, during a time of radical social change
Raskolnikov’s fluctuating attitudes toward Sonia can best be interpreted as what narrative device?
A) An externalization of his repressed guilt and longing for salvation
B) A romantic subplot meant to soften the novel’s darkness
C) A critique of religious institutions’ role in society
D) A representation of pre-modern gender roles in Russia
A) An externalization of his repressed guilt and longing for salvation
What is the significance of Raskolnikov’s dream about the peasant beating the horse to death?
A) It’s a foreshadowing of his eventual punishment
B) It symbolizes his buried compassion and emotional trauma masked by ideology
C) It reflects Dostoevsky’s belief in the animalistic nature of man
D) It illustrates Raskolnikov’s disdain for the weak
B) It symbolizes his buried compassion and emotional trauma masked by ideology
How does the character of Svidrigailov function as a thematic foil to Raskolnikov?
A) He embodies the success of the “extraordinary man” theory
B) He represents a hedonistic nihilism that reveals the void behind Raskolnikov’s logic
C) He is a satirical critique of the Russian upper class
D) He reflects the benevolent side of self-interest
B) He represents a hedonistic nihilism that reveals the void behind Raskolnikov's logic
Why is the motif of thresholds and crossing spaces (e.g., doors, stairs, streets) repeatedly emphasized in the novel?
A) To highlight the barriers between social classes
B) To symbolize the liminal state between guilt and redemption
C) To stress the instability of 19th-century Russian urban life
D) To represent the fragmentation of narrative voice
B) To symbolize the liminal state between guilt and redemption
How does Dostoevsky subvert the idea of the “rational man” through Raskolnikov’s character arc?
A) By showing that rationality leads to isolation rather than power
B) By using satire to mock Western philosophies of reason
C) By portraying reason as incompatible with Russian identity
D) By replacing logic with religious zealotry by the novel’s end
A) By showing that rationality leads to isolation rather than power
What ultimately leads Raskolnikov to confess his crime?
A) Sonia’s pressure
B) Porfiry’s investigation
C) His guilt
D) His desire to be punished
None of the above. His confession is the result of a complex interplay between guilt, Sonia’s influence, his philosophical collapse, and the need for rebirth.
Why does Raskolnikov murder the pawnbroker?
A) For money
B) To test his “extraordinary man” theory
C) Out of desperation
D) To protect his family
Ostensibly B, but the real reason is probably a combination of emotional instability, resentment, buried trauma, and self-hatred.
What role does Sonia play in Raskolnikov’s life?
A) Love interest
B) Confidante
C) Savior
D) Passive witness
All of the above and none alone. Sonia is the embodiment of spiritual resilience, a symbol of redemptive suffering, and the mirror in which Raskolnikov sees his potential salvation. She's not just a character - she’s his turning point.
What is the author's name?
A) Родион Романович Раскольников
B) Софья Семёновна Мармеладова
C) Авдотья Романовна Раскольникова
D) Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский
D) Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский