From the beginning of the book it appears that Rascolnikov has very little communication with the outside world. Probably, the only person he really talked to during the weeks prior to the meeting was himself. He certainly listened to a lot of people talk, but he never communicated his own ideas and thoughts. This lack of communication was ultimately one of the contributing factors to his eventual choice to murder. In this case words neither empowered nor limited him simply because he chose not to use them. Rascolnikov chooses his isolation and as such finds difficulty doing anything after the crime because he never thought through what would happen afterwards. Once he’s murdered the old woman, and after his fever, Raskolnikov becomes much more talkative. He eventually informs Porfiry of everything he did, pretending it’s hypothetical. They discuss it at length his idea about extraordinary people and ordinary people and firmly cements in Porfiry’s mind that he is guilty. Although Rascolnikov feels at first that he has ‘won’ the conversation because he was clever enough not get caught in Porfiry’s simple trick at the end, but then begins to feel uneasy and flees from Razumihin. When he does finally share with Sounia his crime, it seems that words limit him. He tries to explain why he killed her to Sounia, and lies a couple of times but she knows he lies. When he finally gives the real reason he thinks, “he no longer cared whether she understood or not. The fever had complete hold of him; he was in a sort of gloomy ecstasy (he certainly had been too long without talking to anyone)” (Dostoevsky 359). In the end when he finally reveals the truth he doesn’t even care if she understands his words. His desire to share his ideas, which he should have given into earlier is so great that he can’t even contain himself. In this way communication had power over him. Unlike the previous books, words don’t really empower or limit him, because he is so focused on controlling them, he doesn’t realize that they control him. In the end, Rascolnikov chooses confessing over suicide. He struggles to say the words but he does and it is his imprisonment and discussions with Sounia that ultimately begin his renewal. For Raskolnikov, lack of communication led him to ruin himself, and it was communication that helped him to begin to heal.
Sounia’s ability to use language is limited by her status in their society. Because she is a woman, a prostitute, and of low class, Luzhin could easily accuse her of stealing from him and win. It was only with Rascolnikov and Lebeziatnikov, both men, that she was able to avoid the consequences of stealing. When she speaks to Raskolnikov, many of her thoughts he dismisses as childish. Ultimately however he does follow her advice and they lead him to prison rather than death. Sounia’s words, at the time had very little effect on Rascolnikov, but on his way to prison he recalls them: “He suddenly recalled Sounia’s words, ‘Go to the cross-roads, bow down to the people, kiss the earth, for you have sinned against it too, and say aloud to the whole world, ‘I am a murderer.’ ’ He trembled remembering that… Everything in him softened at once and the tears started into his eyes. He fell to the earth on the spot…” (Dostoevsky 452). At the end for Raskolnikov, Sounia’s words are the words that he remembers and are the ones that have an effect on it. Sounia’s words and her presence have a power that lets her help Rascolnikov. In this way she is empowered by her language.
