Summary—Chapter 1: Kuzma Samsonov
Dmitri is desperate for money. Even if he could persuade
Grushenka to marry him, he would still be bound to repay the 3,000 rubles
he owes Katerina first. But he is unable to obtain from his father
the money he believes to be rightfully his, and he has no real income.
In a last-ditch effort to raise the funds he needs, he visits Samsonov
and attempts to strike a deal with him. He says that if the old
merchant will give him the money, Dmitri will give him the rights
to some land that he might be able to win from his father in court.
Samsonov has no interest in this shabby deal, and cruelly attempts
to dupe Dmitri. He suggests that the young man visit a different
merchant to sell his land—a merchant who, unbeknownst to Dmitri,
is even now planning to buy this same property from Fyodor Pavlovich.
Summary—Chapter 2: Lyagavy
Dmitri travels to the merchant’s town, pawning his watch
to pay for the transportation, but finds the man drunk. When the
man has not sobered up the next day, Dmitri returns to town, desperate
and uncertain of how to proceed.
Summary—Chapter 3: Gold Mines
Dmitri asks Madame Khokhlakov to lend him the money, but
she refuses and suggests that he should go to work in the gold mines instead.
He runs into Grushenka’s servant and finds out that she is not at
home. The servant refuses to tell him where she has gone.
Summary—Chapter 4: In the Dark
Enraged, Dmitri takes a brass pestle—a small
club-shaped tool used for grinding powder—to use as a weapon and
hurries to Fyodor Pavlovich’s house, certain that Grushenka has
gone to be with his father. But when he spies through the
window, he sees that Fyodor Pavlovich is alone, and when he taps
out Grushenka’s secret signal, Fyodor Pavlovich rushes to the window.
Dmitri concludes that Grushenka is not with his father.
Grigory happens by at this moment and sees Dmitri sneaking around
in the garden. He accosts him, and the men scuffle. Dmitri hits
Grigory with the pestle, and Grigory falls to the ground, blood pooling
beneath him. Dmitri, in a panic, tries to tend the wound, staining
his clothes in the process. But then he throws the pestle into the
darkness and flees the scene.
Summary—Chapter 5: A Sudden Decision
Dmitri storms back to Grushenka’s house and forces the
servants to tell him where Grushenka has gone. When he hears that
she has joined her former lover, he is devastated. He realizes that
she will never be his. Thinking that his life is meaningless without
Grushenka, he decides to visit her one last time and then kill himself.
