Literature Notes

Part I Book Two: An Inappropriate Gathering

Chap. 1 They Arrive at the Monastery

Fyodor and Ivan arrive in one carriage, Pyotr Miusov and a distant relative, and friend of Alexei, Pyotr Fomich Kalganov, arrive in another carriaage. They are directed to a hermitage just outside the monastery grounds. Pyotr Miusov warns Fyodor to behave himself, but already Fyodor is chirping away about what life must be like in the monastery. Pyotr is getting more upset the longer they are together and Fyodor seems to be baiting him. Dimitri has not yet arrived.

Chap. 2 The Old Buffoon

Fyodor, Ivan, Pyotr Miusov and Pyotr Kalganov all arrive at the elder's cell at the same moment as the elder and Alyosha arrive. Fyodor immediately begins chattering about some irrelevant matters and Pyotor Miusov becomes more upset. They begin to bicker between themselves and the whole meeting is beginning to degenerate. But the elder calms everyone down and then asks them to wait a few minutes while he meets with another group.

"That is exactly how it all seems to me, when I walk into a room, that I'm lower than anyone else, and that everyone takes me for a buffoon, so 'Why not, indeed, play the buffoon ... " [p. 43] "You've known for a long time what you should do; you have sense enough: do not give yourself up to drunkenness and verbal incontinence ... " [p. 44] "Above all, do not lie to yourself. A man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point where he does not discern any truth either in himself or anywhere around him, and thus falls into disrespect towards himself and others." [p. 44]

Chap. 3 Women of Faith

The elder, Zosima, meets with about 20 women and bestows various blessings and advice on them.

"There is among the people a silent, long-suffering grief; it withdraws into itself and is silent. But there is also a grief that is strained; a moment comes when it breaks through with tears, and from that moment on it pours itself out in lamentations. ... Lamentations ease the heart only by straining and exacerbating it more and more. Such grief does not even want consolation; it is simply nourished by the sense of its unquenchableness. Lamentations are simply the need to constantly irritate the wound." [p. 48]

Chap. 4 A Lady of Little Faith

Zosima then meets a lady and her daughter who have returned saying that the daughter is now showing remarkable signs of recovery, and that they wish to thank him. The daughter gives a message to Alyosha which asks him to visit a Katerina Ivanova and that it has something to do with Dimitri.

"But if you spoke with me so sincerely just now in order to be praised, as I have praised you, for your truthfulness, then of course you will get nowhere with your efforts at active love; it will all remain merely a dream, and your whole life will flit by like a phantom." [p. 57]

Chap. 5 So Be It! So Be It!

This entire chapter is a discussion about the appropriate roles of the Church and the State. Ivan had written an article arguing that the State and the Church should not be separate and the discussion presents a number of well reasoned points on both sides of the argument. The debate is an active one today as well, with some Islamic countries arguing along lines similar to Ivan's. At the end of the discussion, Dmitri suddenly arrives.

Chap. 6 Why Is Such a Man Alive!

Dmitri apologizes for being late, explaining that his father Fyodor had given him the wrong time. Pyotr Miusov ends the previous discussion with a brief anecdote about Ivan which Dmitri then summarizes as "Evildoing should not only be permitted but even shsould be acknowledged as the most necessary and most intelligent solution for the situation of every godless person". Fyodor then begins to discuss the real reason for the meeting, explaining that they are here to resolve the disagreement between him and his son Dmitri whom he is seeking justice against. Dmitri and Fyodor quickly engage in a shouting match and the meeting disintegrates. Dmitri accuses his father of encouraging a woman who is seeing Dmitri to help arrange for his incarceration. Dmitri ends with "Why is such a man alive!". Zosima suddenly bows down in front of Dmitri and says, " Forgive me! Forgive me, all of you! Dmitri is dumbstuck for a few moments and then rushes from the room. Everyone leaves the hemitage and Fyodor says that he will not stay for dinner with the Father Superior, but Ivan and Pyotr Miusov indicate they will attend.

Chap 7 A Seminarist-Careerist

Alyosha returned with Zosima to his bedroom where Zosima indicates that he expects to die shortly. He then shocks Alyosha by telling him that as soon as he dies, Alyosha should leave the monastery for good - this is not the place for him. Rakitin, a servant, meets Alyosha on his way to the dinner, and wants to satisfy his curiousity about the display in the meeting a few minutes earlier when Zosima bowed down in front of Dmitri. Rakitin suggests that it means that Zosima thinks that Dmitri will soon kill his father. Alyosha disagrees, saying it won't come to that. Rakitin says that Dmitri, Ivan and Fyodor are all at loggerheads and that something terrible is bound to happen. Rakitin points out that Dmitri has turned away from his fiance (Katerina Ivanovna - beautiful, rich, aristocratic, a colonel's daughter) and is now spending time with a bar maid called Grushenka. Ivan is showing an interest in K as well, so it may be in Dmitri's interest to let Ivan court his fiance. Rakitin also mentions that Fyodor is also showing an interest in Grushenka. Grushenka seems to be playing Fyodor and Ivan against each other, uncertain who might provide her with the best future. Alyosha mentions that Ratikin is related to Grushenko, but he angrily denies this even though he admits visiting her often (for reasons which he does not disclose). They then notice that everyone seems to be leaving the Father Superior's building without waiting for dinner.

"You still have much journeying before you And you will have to marry - yes, you will. You will have to endure everything before you come back again. And there will be much work to do. But I have no doubt of you, that is why I am sending you." [p. 77]

Chap 8 Scandal

Miusov, Kalganov, and Ivan were entering the Superior's rooms when Miusov finally got control of his emotions and had decided to apologise for the debacle in the Elder's room a few minutes earlier. Rakitin is portrayed as a man with a restless and covetous heart who connections and spies everywhere but Alyosha still considered him a friend. Just as Miusov had explained Fyodor's absence in very respectful terms, Fyodor appears. Miusov immediately goes into a rage. Fyodor addresses Maximov as a shady character in a well-known book and severely insults him. Ivan and Kalgonov begin to leave but Fyodor continues to insult everyone. The Superior tries to mediate and calm Fyodor down, but Fyodor will have none of it and insults him as well. Fyodor and Ivan leave in the same carriage, but Ivan will not have another word with his father.

"He [Fyodor] wanted to revenge himself on all of them for his own nasty tricks." [p. 86] "Since I've started it, I may as well finish it." [p. 86]

 

SUMMARY of the session: The basic difficulties within the Karamazov family have now been introduced. It is difficult to imagine how this will all turn out, but certainly there is room for much trouble ahead. I thoroughly love the language of the novel. I can hardly put it down to write these summaries. On the other hand, as I have noted before, in long intricate novels, such notes highten my level of appreciation considerably as I read totally differently when I know that I will have to make a few notes at the end of each chapter.