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The Brothers Karamazov

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Novels

   CAPTION: The Brothers Karamazov

   Pevear & Volokhonsky Translation of The Brothers Karamazov.
   Pevear & Volokhonsky Translation of The Brothers Karamazov
   Author Fyodor Dostoevsky
   Original title (if not in English) (Братья Карамазовы in Russian,
   /'bratʲjə karə'mazəvɨ/)
   Country Russia
   Language Russian
   Genre(s) Novel
   Publisher The Russian Messenger (as Serial)
   Released November 1880
   Media Type Print ( Hardback & Paperback)
   ISBN NA

   The Brothers Karamazov (Братья Карамазовы in Russian, /'bratʲjə
   karə'mazəvɨ/) is the last novel by the Russian author Fyodor
   Dostoevsky, generally considered the culmination of his life's work.
   Dostoevsky spent nearly two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which
   was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger and completed in
   November of 1880. Dostoevsky intended it to be the first part in an
   epic story titled The Life of a Great Sinner, but he died fewer than
   four months after publication.

   The book is written on two levels: on the surface it is the story of a
   patricide in which all of a murdered man's sons share varying degrees
   of complicity but, on a deeper level, it is a spiritual drama of the
   moral struggles between faith, doubt, reason, and free will. The novel
   was composed mostly in Staraya Russa, which is also the main setting of
   the book.

   Since its publication, it has been acclaimed all over the world by
   thinkers as diverse as Sigmund Freud, Andrew R. MacAndrew, Konstantin
   Mochulsky, Albert Einstein, and Pope Benedict XVI as one of the supreme
   achievements in world literature.

Context and background

   Dostoevsky's notes for Chapter 5 of The Brothers Karamazov
   Enlarge
   Dostoevsky's notes for Chapter 5 of The Brothers Karamazov

   Dostoevsky began his first notes for The Brothers Karamazov in April of
   1878. Several influences can be gleaned from the very early stages of
   the novel's genesis. The first involved the profound effect the Russian
   philosopher and thinker Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov had on Dostoevsky
   at this time of his life. Fyodorov advocated a Christianity in which
   human redemption and resurrection could occur on earth through sons
   redeeming the sins of their fathers to create human unity through a
   universal family. The tragedy of patricide in this novel becomes much
   more poignant as a result because it is a complete inversion of this
   ideology. The brothers in the story do not resurrect their father but
   instead are complicit in his murder, which in itself represents
   complete human disunity for Dostoevsky.

   Though religion and philosophy profoundly influenced Dostoevsky in his
   life and in The Brothers Karamazov, a much more personal tragedy
   altered the course of this work. In May of 1878 Dostoevsky's novel was
   interrupted by the death of his three-year-old son Alyosha. As tragic
   as this would be under any circumstances, Alyosha's death was
   especially devastating for Dostoevsky because the child died of
   epilepsy, a condition he inherited from his father. The novelist's
   grief for his young son is readily apparent throughout the book;
   Dostoevsky made Alyosha the name of the stated hero of the novel, as
   well as imbuing him with all of the qualities he himself most admired
   and sought after. This heartbreak also appears in the novel as the
   story of Captain Snegiryov and his young son Ilyusha.

   A very personal experience also influenced Dostoevsky's choice for a
   patricide to dominate the external action of the novel. While serving
   his katorga (forced labor) sentence in Siberia for circulating
   politically subversive texts in the 1850s, Dostoevsky encountered the
   young man Ilyinsky who had been convicted of killing his father to
   acquire an inheritance. Nearly ten years after this encounter
   Dostoevsky learned that Ilyinsky had been falsely convicted and later
   exonerated when the actual murderer confessed to the crime. The impact
   of this encounter on the author is readily apparent in the novel, as it
   serves as much of the driving force for the plot. Many of the physical
   and emotional characteristics of the character Dmitri Karamazov are
   closely paralleled to those of Ilyinsky.

Structure

   Although it was written in the 19th century, The Brothers Karamazov
   displays a number of modern elements. Dostoevsky composed the book with
   a variety of literary techniques that led many of his critics to
   characterize his work as "slipshod". The most poignant example that
   comes across to the reader is the omniscient narrator. Though he is
   privy to many of the thoughts and feelings of the protagonists, he is a
   self-proclaimed writer, and characterizes his own mannerisms so often
   throughout the novel that he becomes a character himself. Through his
   descriptions the narrator's voice merges imperceptively into the tone
   of the people he is describing. Thus there is no voice of authority in
   the story (see Mikhail Bakhtin "Problems of Dostoyevsky’s Art:
   Polyphony and Unfinalizability" for more on the relationship between
   Dostoevsky and his characters). This technique enhances the theme of
   truth, making the tale itself completely subjective.

   Speech is another technique that Dostoevsky employs uniquely in this
   work. Every character has a unique manner of speaking which expresses
   much of the inner personality of each person. For example, "The
   attorney Fetyukovich habitually says 'robbed' when he means 'stolen',
   and at one point declares five possible suspects in the murder
   'completely irresponsible.' " The reader can therefore perceive that
   this attorney is attempting to sound more learned than he really is,
   which causes him to use words incorrectly. There are also several plot
   digressions that help provide insight into other characters who may not
   initially seem important to the reader. For example, the narrative in
   Book Six is almost entirely devoted to the story of Zosima's biography,
   which in itself contains a confession from a man Zosima met many years
   before who seems to have nothing at all to do with the events
   chronicled in the main plot.

Translation

   The diverse array of literary techniques and distinct voices in the
   novel makes the translation of special importance. The Brothers
   Karamazov has been translated from the original Russian into a number
   of languages. In English, the translation by Constance Garnett probably
   continues to be the most widely read. However, some have criticized
   Garnett for taking too much liberty with Dostoevsky's text while
   translating the novel in a Victorian manner. A case in point is that in
   Garnett's translation the lower class characters speak in Cockney
   English. Therefore, it would serve the reader well to sample many
   translations before deciding on a particular text. In 1990 Richard
   Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky released a new translation that strove
   to come closer to the stylistic quality of the original and has been
   met with much critical and academic acclaim from such sources as The
   New York Times and the University of Illinois.
   Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

List of major characters

Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov

   Is a 55-year-old sponger and buffoon who had sired 3 sons during the
   course of his two marriages. He is also rumored to have fathered a
   fourth, illegitimate son, Pavel Smerdyakov (see proper section) whom he
   employed as his servant. Fyodor took no interest in any of his sons. As
   a result, they were all raised apart from each other and their father.
   The murder of Fyodor and the ensuing implication of his oldest son
   provides much of the plot in the novel.

Dmitri Fyodorovich Karamazov

   Dmitri (Mitya, Mitka, Mitenka, Mitri) is Fyodor's eldest son and the
   only offspring of his first marriage. Dmitri is a sensualist much like
   his father, and the two men's personalities often clash. Dmitri loves
   to spend large amounts of money on debauchery filled nights with plenty
   of champagne, women, and whatever entertainment and stimulation money
   can buy, soon exhausting any source of cash he comes across. This leads
   to further conflict with his father, and his lack of money will cast
   suspicion upon him in the murder investigation. He finally comes to the
   brink of murdering his father when they begin fighting over the same
   woman, Grushenka.

Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov

   Variously called Vanya, Vanka, and Vanechka, Ivan is the middle son and
   first by Fyodor's second marriage. He is a fervent rationalist,
   disturbed especially by the apparently senseless suffering in the
   world. As he says to Alyosha in the chapter "Rebellion" (Bk. 5, Ch. 4),
   "It's not God that I don't accept, Alyosha, only I most respectfully
   return him the ticket [to salvation]."

   From an early age Ivan was sullen and isolated from everyone around
   him. He carries a hatred for his father that is not openly expressed
   but which leads to his own moral guilt over Fyodor's murder and
   contributes to his later insanity. Some of the most memorable and
   acclaimed passages of the novel involve Ivan, including the chapter
   "Rebellion," his "poem" " The Grand Inquisitor" immediately following,
   and his nightmare of the devil (Bk. 11, Ch. 9).

Alexei Fyodorovich Karamazov

   Variously referred to as Alyosha, Alyoshka, Alyoshenka, Alyoshechka,
   Alexeichik, Lyosha, and Lyoshenka, Alexei is the youngest of the
   Karamazov brothers. He is proclaimed as the hero of the novel by the
   narrator in the opening chapter (as well as the author in his preface).
   At the outset of the events chronicled in the story Alyosha is a novice
   in the local monastery. In this way Alyosha's beliefs act as a
   counterbalance to his brother Ivan's atheism. He is sent out into the
   world by his Elder and subsequently becomes embroiled in the sordid
   details of his family's dysfunction. Alyosha is also involved in a side
   story in which he befriends a group of school boys whose fate adds a
   hopeful message to the conclusion of an otherwise tragic novel.
   Alyosha's place in the novel is usually that of a messenger or witness
   to the actions of his brothers and others.

Pavel Fyodorovich 'Smerdyakov'

   Was born from "Stinking Lizaveta," a mute woman of the street, from
   which his name came--'Son of the stinking one'. He is widely rumoured
   to be the illegitimate son of Fyodor Karamazov. When the novel begins
   Smerdyakov is Fyodor's lackey and cook. He is a very morose and sullen
   man, and, like Dostoevsky himself, is epileptic. As a child he would
   collect stray cats so he could hang and later bury them. Smerdyakov is
   aloof with most people but holds a special admiration for Ivan and
   shares his atheistic ideology. He later confesses to Ivan that he and
   not Dmitri was the murderer of Fyodor and claims to have acted with
   Ivan's blessing. His name means something similar to "shithead" in
   Russian.

Agrafena Alexandrovna Svetlova

   Variously called Grushenka, Grusha, and Grushka, Agrafena Alexandrovna
   is the local Jezebel and has an uncanny charm among men. She was jilted
   by a Polish officer in her youth and came under the protection of a
   tyrannical miser. Grushenka inspires complete admiration and lust in
   both Fyodor and Dmitri Karamazov. Their rivalry for her affection is
   one of the most damaging circumstances that leads to Dmitri's
   conviction for his father's murder. She seeks to torment and then
   deride both Dmitri and Fyodor as a wicked amusement, a way to inflict
   upon others the pain she’s felt at the hands of her ‘former and
   indisputable one’. As the book progresses, she becomes almost
   magnanimous.

Katerina Ivanovna Verkhovtseva

   Called Katya, Katka, and Katenka, Katerina Ivanovna is Dmitri's
   fiancée, despite his very open forays with Grushenka. She became
   engaged to Dmitri after he bailed her father out of a debt. Katerina
   produces a further love triangle among the Karamazov brothers as Ivan
   falls in love with her, although she is characterized as exceedingly
   proud. We are given Katya as a beacon of nobility, generosity, and
   magnanimity early in the book, and as a stark reminder of everyone’s
   guilt ‘before all and for all’ as her downfall progresses. By the end
   of the trial, it’s evident that she’s as base as any of the characters.
   Even in the epilogue, after she’s confessed to Mitya and agreed to
   direct his escape, she can’t subdue her pride after Grushenka enters
   the hospital room.

Zosima, the elder

   Father Zosìma is Alyosha's teacher in the town monastery, the Elder. He
   is something of a celebrity among the townspeople as he displays
   certain prophetic and healing abilities. This fact inspires both
   admiration and jealousy amidst his fellow monks. Zosima is included
   partially as a refutation to Ivan's atheistic arguments, but he was
   included mostly to develop and explain Alyosha’s character. Ivan’s
   arguments for amoralism are dodgy at best, and are an indication of his
   character and upbringing. Zosima’s teachings shape the way Alyosha
   deals with the young boys he meets in the Ilyusha storyline.

Ilyusha

   Ilyusha, Ilyushechka, or simply Ilusha in some translations, is one of
   the local schoolboys, and the protagonist of the most important subplot
   in the novel. His father, Captain Snegiryov, is an impoverished officer
   who is insulted by Dmitri when Fyodor hires him to threaten the latter
   over his debts, and the family is brought to shame as a result. We are
   led to believe that it is partly because of this Ilyusha falls ill, and
   eventually dies (his funeral is the concluding chapter of the novel),
   undoubtedly to illustrate the theme that even minor actions can touch
   heavily on the lives of others, and that we are "all responsible for
   one another".

Synopsis

Book One: A Nice Little Family

   Introduces the Karamazov family and relates the story of their distant
   and recent past. The details of Fyodor's two marriages as well as his
   indifference to his three children's upbringing is chronicled. The
   narrator also establishes the widely varying personalities of the three
   brothers and the circumstances that have led to their return to
   Fyodor's town. The first book concludes by describing the mysterious
   religious order of Elders to which Alyosha has become devoted.

Book Two: An Inappropriate Gathering

   Begins as the Karamazov family arrives at the local monastery so that
   the Elder Zosima can act as a mediator between Dmitri and his father
   Fyodor in their dispute over Dmitri's inheritance. Ironically it was
   the atheist Ivan's idea to have the meeting take place in such a holy
   place in the presence of the famous Elder. Dmitri, in appropriate
   fashion for him, arrives late and the gathering soon degenerates and
   only exacerbates the feud between Dmitri and Fyodor. This book also
   contains a touching scene when the Elder Zosima consoles a woman
   mourning the death of her three year old son. The poor woman's grief
   parallels Dostoevsky's own tragedy at the loss of his young son
   Alyosha.
   An original page of book 3, chapter 3 of The Brothers Karamazov.
   Enlarge
   An original page of book 3, chapter 3 of The Brothers Karamazov.

Book Three: Sensualists

   Provides more detail into the love triangle that has erupted between
   Fyodor, his son Dmitri, and Grushenka. Dmitri's personality is explored
   in the conversation between him and Alyosha as Dmitri hides near his
   father's home to see if Grushenka will arrive. Later that evening,
   Dmitri bursts into his father's house and assaults him while
   threatening to come back and kill him in the future. This book also
   introduces Smerdyakov and his origins, as well as the story of his
   mother Stinking Lizaveta. At the conclusion of this book Alyosha is
   witness to Grushenka's bitter humiliation of Dmitri's betrothed
   Katerina, resulting in terrible embarrassment and scandal for this
   proud woman.

Book Four: Strains

   Introduces a side story to the novel which will show up again in more
   detail later in the novel. It begins with Alyosha observing a group of
   schoolboys throwing rocks at a sickly one of their peers named Ilyusha.
   When Alyosha admonishes the boys and tries to help, Ilyusha bites
   Alyosha's finger. It is later learned that Ilyusha's father, a former
   staff-captain named Snegiryov, was assaulted by Dmitri, who dragged him
   by the beard out of a bar. Alyosha soon learns of the further hardships
   present in the Snegiryov household and offers the former staff captain
   money as an apology for his brother and to help Snegiryov's ailing wife
   and children. After initially accepting the money with joy, Snegiryov
   throws the money back at Alyosha out of pride and runs back into his
   home.

Book Five: Pro and Contra

   Was described by Dostoevsky as the culminating point in the novel. The
   rationalist and nihilistic ideology that permeated Russia at this time
   is defended and espoused passionately by Ivan Karamazov while meeting
   his brother Alyosha at a café. In the chapter titled "Rebellion" Ivan
   proclaims that he rejects the world that God has created because it is
   built on a foundation of suffering by innocent children. In perhaps the
   most famous chapter in the novel, " The Grand Inquisitor", Ivan
   narrates to Alyosha his imagined poem that describes a leader from the
   Spanish Inquisition and his encounter with Jesus, who has made his
   return to earth. The Inquisitor chastises Jesus for giving humanity
   free will, inevitably dooming them to misery and despair. The
   Inquisitor's plan for humanity (in contradiction to Christ) is for the
   species to be enslaved under a Church autocracy, thus rendering them
   happy without choice.

Book Six: The Russian Monk

   Relates the life and history of the Elder Zosima as he lies near death
   in his cell. Zosima describes his rebellious youth and how he found his
   faith while in the middle of a duel, consequently deciding to become a
   monk. Some of Zosima's homilies and teachings are then described which
   preach that people must forgive others by acknowledging their own sins
   and guilt before others. He explains that no sin is isolated, making
   everyone responsible for their neighbour's sins. Zosima represents a
   philosophy opposite to Ivan's, which challenges God's creation in the
   previous book.

Book Seven: Alyosha

   Begins immediately following the death of Zosima. It is a commonly held
   perception in the town, and the monastery as well, that true holy men's
   bodies do not succumb to putrefaction. Thus the expectation for the
   Elder Zosima is that his deceased body will also not decompose. It
   comes as a great shock to the entire town that Zosima's body not only
   decays, but begins the process almost immediately following his death.
   Within the first day the smell of Zosima's body is already unbearable.
   For many this calls into question their previous respect and admiration
   for Zosima. Alyosha is particularly devastated by the sullying of
   Zosima's name due to nothing more than the corruption of his dead body.
   One of Alyosha's companions in the monastery named Rakitin uses
   Alyosha's vulnerability to set up a meeting between him and Grushenka.
   The book ends with the spiritual regeneration of Alyosha as he embraces
   the earth outside the monastery and cries convulsively until finally
   going back out into the world, renewed.

Book Eight: Mitya

   Deals primarily with Dmitri's wild and distraught pursuit of money so
   he can run away with Grushenka. Dmitri owes money to his fiancée
   Katerina and will believe himself to be a thief if he does not find the
   money to pay her back before embarking on his quest for Grushenka. This
   mad dash for money takes Dmitri from Grushenka's benefactor to a
   neighboring town on a fabricated promise of a business deal. All the
   while Dmitri is petrified that Grushenka may go to his father Fyodor
   and marry him because he already has the monetary means to satisfy her.
   When Dmitri returns from his failed dealing in the neighboring town, he
   escorts Grushenka to her benefactor's home, but quickly discovers she
   deceived him and left early. Furious, he runs to his father's home with
   a brass pestle in his hand, and spies on him from the window. He takes
   the pestle from his pocket. Then, there is a discontinuity in the
   action, and Dmitri is suddenly running away off his father's property,
   knocking the servant Gregory in the head with the pestle. Dmitri is
   next seen in a daze on the street, covered in blood, with thousands of
   rubles in his hand. He soon learns that Grushenka's former betrothed
   has returned and taken her to a lodge near where Dmitri just was. Upon
   learning this, Dmitri loads a cart full of food and wine and pays for a
   huge orgy to finally confront Grushenka in the presence of her old
   flame, intending all the while to kill himself at dawn. The "first and
   rightful lover", however, is a boorish Pole who cheats the party at a
   game of cards. When his chicanery is revealed, he runs away, and
   Grushenka soon reveals to Dmitri that she really is in love with him.
   The party rages on, and just as Dmitri and Grushenka are about to
   consummate their love, the police enter the lodge and inform Dmitri
   that he is under arrest for the murder of his father.

Book Nine: The Preliminary Investigation

   Introduces the details of Fyodor's murder and describes the
   interrogation of Dmitri as he is questioned for the crime he maintains
   he did not commit. The alleged motive for the crime is robbery. Dmitri
   was known to have been completely destitute earlier that evening, but
   is suddenly seen on the street with thousands of roubles shortly after
   his father's murder. Meanwhile, the three thousand roubles that Fyodor
   Karamazov had set aside for Grushenka has disappeared. Dmitri explains
   that the money he spent that evening came from three thousand roubles
   Katerina gave him to send to her sister. He spent half that at his
   first meeting with Grushenka--another drunken orgy--and sewed up the
   rest in a cloth, intending to give it back to Katerina in the name of
   honour, he says. The lawyers are not convinced by this. All of the
   evidence points against Dmitri; the only other person in the house at
   the time of the murder was Smerdyakov, who was incapacitated due to an
   epileptic seizure he apparently suffered the day before. As a result of
   the overwhelming evidence against him, Dmitri is formally charged with
   the patricide and taken away to prison to await trial.

Book Ten: Boys

   Reintroduces the story of the schoolboys and Ilyusha last referred to
   in Book Four. The book begins with the introduction of the young boy
   Kolya Krasotkin. Kolya is a brilliant boy who proclaims his atheism,
   socialism, and beliefs in the ideas of Europe. He seems destined to
   follow in the spiritual footsteps of Ivan Karamazov; Dostoevsky uses
   Kolya's beliefs especially in a conversation with Alyosha to pick fun
   at his Westernizer critics by putting their beliefs in what appears to
   be a young boy who doesn't exactly know what he is talking about. Kolya
   is bored with life and constantly torments his poor mother by putting
   himself in danger. As part of a prank Kolya lies underneath railroad
   tracks as a train passes over and becomes something of a legend for the
   feat. All the other boys look up to Kolya, especially Ilyusha. Since
   the narrative left Ilyusha in Book Four, his illness has progressively
   worsened and the doctor states that he will not recover. Kolya and
   Ilyusha had a falling out over Ilyusha's father's humiliation by
   Dmitri. But thanks to Alyosha's intervention the other schoolboys have
   reconciled with Ilyusha, and Kolya soon joins them at his bedside. It
   is here that Kolya first meets Alyosha and begins to reassess his
   nihilist beliefs.

Book Eleven: Brother Ivan Fyodorovich

   Chronicles Ivan Karamazov's destructive influence on those around him
   and his descent into madness. It is in this book that Ivan meets three
   times with Smerdyakov, the final meeting culminating in Smerdyakov's
   dramatic confession that he had faked the fit, murdered Fyodor
   Karamazov, and stolen the money, which he presents to Ivan. Smerdyakov
   expresses disbelief at Ivan's professed ignorance and surprise.
   Smerdyakov claims that Ivan was complicit in the murder by telling
   Smerdyakov when he would be leaving Fyodor's house, and more
   importantly by instilling in Smerdyakov the belief that in a world
   without God "everything is permitted." The book ends with Ivan having a
   hallucination in which he is visited by the devil, who torments Ivan by
   mocking his beliefs. Alyosha finds Ivan raving and informs him that
   Smerdyakov killed himself shortly after their final meeting.

Book Twelve: A Judicial Error

   Details the trial of Dmitri Karamazov for the murder of his father
   Fyodor. The courtroom drama is sharply satirized by Dostoevsky. The men
   in the crowd are presented as resentful and spiteful, and the women are
   irrationally drawn to the romanticism of Dmitri's love triangle between
   himself, Katerina, and Grushenka. Ivan's madness takes its final hold
   over him and he is carried away from the courtroom after telling of his
   final meeting with Smerdyakov and the aforementioned confession. The
   turning point in the trial is Katerina's damning testimony against
   Dmitri. Impassioned by Ivan's illness which she believes is a result of
   her assumed love for Dmitri, she reproduces a drunken letter Dmitri
   wrote to her saying that he would kill Fyodor. The book concludes with
   the impassioned closing remarks of the prosecutor and the defense, and
   the final verdict that Dmitri is guilty.

Epilogue

   Opens with an ambiguous plan developed for Dmitri's escape from his
   sentence of twenty years of hard labor in Siberia. Dmitri and Katerina
   meet while Dmitri is in the hospital, recovering from an illness before
   he is due to be taken away. They agree to love each other for that one
   moment, and say they will love each other forever, even though they
   both love other people now. The novel concludes at Ilyusha's funeral,
   where Ilyusha's schoolboy friends listen to Alyosha's "Speech by the
   Stone." Alyosha promises to remember Kolya, Ilyusha, and all the boys
   and keep them close in his heart, even though he will have to leave
   them and may not see them again until many years have passed. He
   implores them to love each other and to always remember Ilyusha, and to
   keep his memory alive in their hearts, and to remember this moment at
   the stone when they were all together and they all loved each other. In
   tears, the boys promise Alyosha that they will keep each other in their
   memories forever, join hands, and return to the Snegirov household for
   the funeral dinner, chanting, "Hurrah for Karamazov!"

Analysis/Themes

   The novel explores the existence of God, the nature of truth, and the
   importance of forgiveness through the actions of its characters. The
   murder trial can be seen as a literal expression of whether or not any
   one man (Dmitri) can be held accountable for the death of another
   (Fyodor), a belief that directly contrasts with Zosima's maxim that
   everyone is guilty for every crime. Each of the brothers played a part
   in his father's murder: Dmitri had the motive, Ivan could justify the
   killing through rationalism, Smerdyakov finally carried it out, and
   Alyosha, an otherwise benign character, did not prevent the actions of
   his brothers although he clearly knew their true desires. Dmitri's
   sentence and the gleeful behaviour of the trial's spectators mirrors
   Ivan's argument in The Grand Inquisitor, that man is fundamentally weak
   and wants to be told the true nature of right and wrong (here supplied
   by the jury).

   However, the novel can also be viewed as a parody of the argument of
   the existence of a supreme being. If the trial is the deciding of
   whether God exists or not, then the childish debate of the prosecutor
   and the defense lawyer can be seen as the pointless nature of arguing a
   problem unanswerable by pure logic. Alyosha's final "Speech by the
   Stone," the last chapter in the book, does not attempt to answer the
   question and merely implores the children to love each other and to
   never forget Ilyusha or each other, even while Ilyusha's death mirrors
   Ivan's argument that God cannot exist because of the death of children.
   Thus, the book's ultimate theological viewpoint may be seen as
   agnostic. However, this is only one interpretation, and the reader's
   true decision as to what philosophy the book endorses is a question of
   personal bias. Dostoyevsky was clearly aware of this, as the novel
   explores the concept of truth extensively, most prominently in the
   aformentioned example of who Fyodor Karamazov's true killer was.

   It is important to note that no voice of authority explains who truly
   killed Fyodor. Most of the novel's major characters ultimately feel
   Smerdyakov killed him, which even Smerdyakov confesses to, but the
   choice to condemn one brother over another is, again, the reader's
   decision. (Though Smerdyakov's possession of the three thousand roubles
   is not otherwise explained.) This may imply that whichever brother
   actually killed Fyodor is meaningless, and that all must be forgiven if
   happiness is to exist after the act.

The novel's influence

   The Brothers Karamazov has had a deep influence on some of the greatest
   writers and philosophers that followed it. Sigmund Freud called it "The
   most magnificent novel ever written" and was fascinated with the book
   for its Oedipal themes. In 1928 Freud published a paper titled
   "Dostoevsky and Patricide" in which he investigated Dostoevsky's own
   neuroses and how they contributed to the novel. Freud claimed that
   Dostoevsky's epilepsy was not a natural condition but instead a
   physical manifestation of the author's hidden guilt over his father's
   death. According to Freud, Dostoevsky (and all sons for that matter)
   wished for the death of his father because of latent desire for his
   mother; and as evidence Freud cites the fact that Dostoevsky's
   epileptic fits did not begin until he turned 18, the year his father
   died. The themes of patricide and guilt, especially in the form of
   moral guilt illustrated by Ivan Karamazov, would then obviously follow
   for Freud as literary evidence of this theory.

   Franz Kafka is another writer who felt immensely indebted to Dostoevsky
   and The Brothers Karamazov for influencing his own work. Kafka called
   himself and Dostoevsky "blood relatives," perhaps because of
   Dostoevsky's existential motifs. Another interesting parallel between
   the two authors was their strained relationships with their fathers.
   Kafka felt immensely drawn to the hatred Fyodor's sons demonstrate
   toward him in The Brothers Karamazov and dealt with the theme of
   fathers and sons himself in many of his works, most explicitly in his
   short story "The Judgment".

   In Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five, the eccentric Eliot
   Rosewater, a science-fiction savant, says that "everything there was to
   know about life was in The Brothers Karamazov, by Feodor Dostoevsky
   [sic]."
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brothers_Karamazov"
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