In a novel with six parts and an epilogue, one can easily argue that the first part is a prologue because only that part is devoted to the crime and the remaining parts are devoted to the punishment that begins immediately with his hatred of the blood on his clothes and especially on his socks, and the loss of his ability to retain complete control over all of his faculties.
Crime therefore is a demanding, troublesome matter that becomes a colossal nuisance. And crime is accompanied by various types of illnesses — with Raskolnikov, it is expressed in his temperature, his inability to function normally, and his dread of the very blood that he has just shed. When it is necessary to put on the bloody socks, his repulsion indicates his dread of or living with his murder. This scene contrasts well with the later scene when he is splattered with blood from the death of Marmeladov. In this later scene, he had no qualms about touching blood per se.
When he receives the police summons, his mind is in such a state of agitation that he forgets that Nastasya had told him earlier that his landlady was going to have him summoned.
As he approaches the police station, he thinks of confessing for the third time. At the police station, he needs to confess something; therefore, he tells of the most intimate event in his past life, that is, the engagement to his landlady's daughter. He even confesses that she was not attractive. This is the fourth time he considers confession, and his engagement to the landlady's daughter shows his empathy with suffering humanity. Shortly after this his fifth thought of confession follows when he thinks that he should confess everything: "to get up at once, to go up to Nikodim Fomitch, and tell him everything." The tenseness and fear of being summoned to the police station for the murder prompt these thoughts of confession.
At the end of the chapter, Raskolnikov's fainting spell is a result of the tension caused by the summons; the oppressive smell of the new paint, which reminds him of the murder scene; the crowded conditions with its lack of fresh air; and finally the discussion of the murder of Alyona Ivanovna. This fainting spell will later become a cause of suspicion and will be used by Porfiry.
