The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky

Shayan writes:
I finally finished the Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. It was a very long book, but in the end it was worth reading. When I last wrote I was towards the beginning of the book so I have a lot to cover in a short space, so I will try to do a quick summary of the events.

            At the monastery, Fyodor Pavlovich and Dmitri continue arguing and the reader finds out that they are both after the same girl, Grushenka. Fyodor has offered her 3,000 rubles. Meanwhile, Dmitri is trying to raise 3,000 rubles so that he can pay back his former love, Katerina, from whom he had borrowed money. He is trying to clear his conscience so he can be fully devoted to Grushenka, so he asks Aloysha to break the engagement for him.

            At this point in the story, Dostoevsky reveals that Fyodor has yet another son, Smerdyakov. The Karamazov’s servants Grigory and his wife Marfa once had a child that had six fingers and had lived only two weeks. On the night of his burial, Grigory heard a girl crying and found a dying young girl and her child next to her. The mother was Lizaveta, a slow, dim-witted girl. The town was outraged and horrified that someone would seduce the helpless girl and they concluded the only person perverted enough to do it was Fyodor Pavlovich. Grigory and his wife adopted him.

            Dmitri tries going to a nearby town to get the money but he returns empty handed. Upon arriving back to his town, he can’t find Grushenka and concludes she must be at his father’s house. He quickly searches the house and he can’t find her. As he is leaving, Grigory stops him and Dmitri strikes him with a club leaving him bloody and unconscious. He runs to her house and is informed that she is with her former lover again. Dmitri is overcome with grief. He decides he will set out to see her for the last time and the he will kill himself.      

When he finds the two, he sees that they were a bit awkward together and in the end, Grushenka decides that Dmitri is her true love. Soon after this however, Dmitri is arrested by the police and is convicted of killing his father. There is a lot of evidence against him, especially his bloody clothes, and he is indicted. The trial, reminds me of the trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird. Even though they are both innocent, they are both convicted.

The story resumes a few months later. Smerdyakov has been sick ever since the murder and Ivan goes to visit him and discuss theories. On the first and second visits, Smerdyakov says that Ivan knew that Dmitri was going to kill their father and that he didn’t do anything about it because he internally wanted his father to die and because he wanted the fortune. Ivan gradually is convinced that he is partly to blame. On the third visit however, Smerdyakov confesses that he actually murdered Fyodor Pavlovich, but Ivan is to blame too, for he gave a new understanding of morality to Smerdyakov which allowed him to kill. Smerdyakov kills himself shortly after.

            The day of the trial arrives and Dmitri puts up a good defense. However, Katerina shows the court a letter that Dmitri wrote to her. In the letter, Dmitri says that he might have to kill his father to get the 3,000 rubles to pay her back. The court convicts Dmitri. After the trial, Katerina is upset by her betrayal of Dmitri and they formulate a plan to help him escape. Aloysha goes to the jail and tell Dmitri of the plan and he only agrees so that he can be reunited with Grushenka. He however, will have to move to America, but he promises to return to his homeland.

            This is how the story ends. Overall it was a very interesting story about good, evil, religion, the existence of God, and morality. I think that Dostoyevsky believes that you don’t have to believe in God and life after death to do good in the world. He also brings up a good point, however, that if one doesn’t fear consequences for ones’ actions, he will live immorally.