The Brothers Karamazov is the last and perhaps greatest work of the 19th century Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky also wrote Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Possessed.
The Brothers Karamazov is about three brothers, Dmitri, Ivan, and Alyosha, plus the illegitimate half-brother Smerdyakov, who become involved in the murder of their father, Fyodor Karamazov, one of the most loathsome figures in all of literature. Along the way it tackles such weighty issues as the existence of God, what constitutes a real father, and the question of whether or not we bear the responsibility for others’ sins and shortcomings.
Each of the three brothers represents a certain facet of human nature. Dmitri, an impulsive, pleasure-seeking sensualist, represents the flesh. Ivan, a brilliant intellectual and atheistic philosopher, represents the mind. Alyosha, a gentle, honest spiritual seeker and a novice at the local monastery, represents the spirit.
All three brothers are involved in the murder in some fashion. Dmitri has the most compelling reason, since he suspects that Fyodor has cheated him out of a large portion of his inheritance, and suspicion falls directly on him when the murder is committed. Ivan and Alyosha are involved in the murder too, since they are absent from Fyodor’s house at a critical time when their presence might have averted the murder. Ivan’s atheistic philosophy provides the moral justification for the murder (”If there is no God then everything is permissible”), and his leaving town the day before the murder is deliberately calculated to send the message that he doesn’t care whether his father lives or dies. Alyosha was absent because of a crisis of faith brought on by the events surrounding the death of his elder Father Zossima the night before the murder.
The number 3, a symbolic tie-in with the threefold nature of man–flesh, mind, and spirit–is a recurring motif throughout the story. Three brothers, three thousand roubles–a debt which Dmitri is desperate to repay to his ex-fiancee Katerina, which constitutes a critical element in the plot. Several chapters appear in groupings of three–for instance, “The Confession of a Passionate Heart–in Verse, in Anecdote, and ‘Heels Up’”, the three ordeals in “The Sufferings of a Soul” in Book IX, and the three interviews with Smerdyakov in Book XI. Three dreams or visions appear in the story–one for each brother. Alyosha’s dream is of Father Zossima inviting him to the banquet of Christ, and it restores his faith and motivates him toward obedience to Father Zossima’s command for him to leave the monastery upon his death. Dmitri’s dream is of a starving mother and baby in a burned-out village in Siberia, and it motivates him toward repentance for his involvement in the death of his father. Ivan’s vision is of the devil, who appears as a middle-aged Russian gentleman, and it drives him to insanity.
One of the high points of this story is the chapter entitled “The Grand Inquisitor.” In the previous chapter Ivan shares with Alyosha the reasons for his disbelief in God, of which the principal reason is the suffering of innocent children. Ivan says that he would not want to live in an ideal world if that world were built upon the suffering of even one innocent victim. Alyosha responds that Jesus is the innocent victim who willingly suffered in order to creae the ideal world. Ivan responds to this by launching into his “Grand Inquisitor” speech, a prose poem in which Jesus returns to the earth during the height of the Spanish Inquisition and is condemned as a heretic. The Grand Inquisitor questions Jesus, stating that the gift of freedom which He sought to provide for men is too great a burden for them to bear, and that the Church has corrected His work by taking that burden upon itself.
The plot ambles along at a leisurely pace for much of the story, yet the characterization is extremely vivid. Dostoyevsky does an excellent job of creating complex and intricate characters whom I would love to be able to meet in real life. I would love, for instance, to debate the existence of God with Ivan over lunch at the Metropolis tavern, hang out with Dmitri at the summerhouse, walk with Alyosha around the town, or visit Father Zossima at the monastery.
The struggles which the characters face are struggles which I can relate to in my own life. I can relate to Alyosha when he, in attempting to reoncile Ivan and Katerina, wound up only causing distress and unhappiness. I can relate to Dmitri’s frantic desperation in attempting to come up with the three thousand roubles to repay Katerina. I can relate to Ivan’s doubts fo the existence of God, his feeling that human happiness should not be founded upon innocent suffering, and his belief that Jesus Christ’s gift of freedom is too great a burden for men to bear.
The Brothers Karamazov is one of the greatest and most enduring works in all of literature. There is much in this story that speaks to me in my own life. Perhaps I will explore this in future posts. Stay tuned.
