Raskolnikov reflects on his impending reintegration into society. He thinks about his time as a student who had to drop out of school for lack of money. Similarly, he has to "run away" from his room to avoid being seen by his landlady because he owes back rent. Marmeladov, a government official, approaches him and speaks to him, mistaking him for a colleague. Raskolnikov disabuses him of this notion and initially feels a desire to talk with him; instantly, he longs for his solitude again. Marmeladov tells him about his wife, Katharina, his daughter, Sonya, Katharina's other children, and their once aristocratic past. Marmeladov's unrestrained drinking led to his ruin. Katharina initially disapproved of her stepdaughter, who soon had to work. Katharina was fired from her job. Marmeladov himself took their savings and quickly drank them all away. Marmeladov invites Raskolnikov to his home. Upon arriving, he finds Katherine, who looks emaciated, suffering from tubercul...