"The Chess Players" Book Three Chapter Five We were assigned a chapter of Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky had to find major motifs in the chapter.

The Written Word: When something is written, be it by hand, typed, or printed, it becomes tangible evidence. It carries more weight than that which is given by word of mouth. Dostoyevsky's use of the written word in this chapter shows the avoidable. Porfiry knew that Raskolnikov was a client of Alonia's b/c "Both items, the ring and the watch, were at her place, wrapped up in the same sheet of paper on which …

…he has committed to wrong, Porfiry easily does not take his eyes off of Raskolnikov (pg 248), but later on Raskolnikov struggles to look him straight in the eye (pg 250). If the eyes are the window into the soul, with all that Raskolnikov has to hide, he cannot afford to let anyone or anything look in. "He [Raskolnikov] stood there with his back to his audience, scowling terribly, staring through the window, and seeing nothing." (pg 247).