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children, K.I. nonetheless forces her son Kolya to sing a song or at least recite some verses. Among the spectators, K.I. thinks she recognizes the student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov whom she respects and considers a full-fledged professor. Somewhere nearby she also sees Amalia Ivanovna (a.k.a. Amalia Ludvigowna), whom she either thanks graciously or ridicules for her greed, her stupidity and her German accent. Whether or not Amalia Ivanovna truly is guilty before K.I. for anything is impossible to say. But that does not stop the harried, grieving woman: "I asked her to invite some decent guests", she rants, "but look who she dragged in here! Fools! Morons!" K.I. attempts to prove she is "of aristocratic stock” by forcing her children to speak and sing in French. She herself can only barely utter a few phrases in French. She hopes the memorial dinner will be attended by people of importance but, of course, none ever come. Throughout the entire monologue, two things particularly give K.I. no peace: the absurd death of her