In any case, it's amazing how much Myshkin and Rogozhin have gotten closer after that time lapse. They apparently had a lot of heart-to-hearts in Moscow, which is why Rogozhin calls Myshkin "brother" and "Lev Nikolayevich" (which no one else in the book does!) and Myshkin calls him "brother Parfen." Myshkin even asserts that he is not Rogozhin's enemy, but rather truly loves him. And then there's the emotional scene where, after making fun of faith, Rogozhin asks Myshkin to exchange crosses with him and introduces him to his mother. And then he hugs him and tells him to go after N.F.
But this section is full of paradoxes. Myshkin assures Rogozhin that he has come to Petersburg after N. F. to convince her to get some psychiatric treatment abroad, but that if they're getting married now for sure, he won't even go to see her. And then of course he does! To top it all off, Rogozhin suspects just as much and so follows him and later tries to kill him! There must be something in their "friendly" conversations that I'm not picking up on, something between the lines. Or perhaps it's just an internal battle that causes both men to express only certain things to each other, perhaps many of the emotions that are later revealed were simply unconscious before.
Also, a quick note on religion. I think it's very significant that Rogozhin has members of the eunuch sect (skoptsy) among his renters. The violence of their beliefs goes along quite well with his passionate nature and his desire to "cut up" N. F. What I'm not clear on is the significance of his father's old believer tendencies, which Myshkin says that Rogozhin has inherited. Is the connection just a general breaking away from the faith, which Rogozhin experiences in his own way, or is there something particular about old believers that characterizes Rogozhin? If anyone knows more about them, do share.
Lastly, Myshkin mentions in Chapter 3 that he loves N. F. with the love of pity. But, based on Rogozhin's description of the episode in which he knelt and fasted in her room for hours after beating her, perhaps she feels the same pity for Rogozhin. After disdaining this supposed show of humility and repentance, she says that he is not a lackey after all and that she will marry him and be faithful to him. The scene in which she greets his mother also suggests a certain sympathy. At the same time, she is scared of him and constantly runs away from him. But I think that she ultimately always returns because, as Rogozhin tries to make Myshkin see, she no longer values her own life and prefers to die at his hands rather than burdening Myshkin.
None of this behavior is very logical, but I think that's one of Dostoevsky's chief attributes: he shows the true idiosyncrasies of humanity.
