Literature Notes

Part IV Book Ten: Boys

Chap. 1 Kolya Krasotkin

We are introduced to a young boy who is evidently unusually precocious and head-strong. Earlier in the novel the boy Ilyusha had stabbed Kolya in the thigh with a penknife while defending his father's honor.

Chap. 2 Kids

Kolya is babysitting some kids but must leave on an important matter.

Chap. 3 A Schoolboy

Kolya meets with a school friend Smurnov who has brought Kolya's dog Perezvon. We are informed that Ilyusha is seriously ill and that Kolya is going to visit him.

Chap. 4 Zuchka

We learn that Ilyusha had recently given a piece of meet with a needle in it to a dog called Zuchka, who then disappeared. This appears to be the reason Ilyusha is ill - it is out of remorse for what he has done.

Chap. 5 At Ilyusha's Bedside

Ilyusha is over-joyed that Kolya had come to visit him. Kolya reveals that he has befriended this stray dog Perezvon and that it is really Zuchka.

Chap. 6 Precocity

Kolya and Alyosha have a serious talk and find that they both admire one another.

Chap. 7 Ilyusha

The local doctor indicates that Ilyusha does not have much longer to live.

SUMMARY of the session: This section introduces a new character into the novel - Kolya Krasotkin. Why? What does he have to do with the story? I assume that he is connected in some way with the murder. But whether directly or indirectly by simply knowing something about it remains to be seen.

 

Literature Notes

Part III Book Nine: The Preliminary Investigation

Chap. 1 The Start of the Official Perkhotin's Career

Pyotr Ilyich Perkhotin, whom Dmitri had gone to when he still had blood on his hands, decides to investigate a little further before going to the police. He visits Fenya who tells him that she also had seen him with his hands all bloody and that Dmitri had said that he had just killed a man (thinking of Grigory). Pyotr then goes to Madame Khokhlakov's where he determines that she did not lend him three thousand roubles.

Chap. 2 The Alarm

Pyotr then goes to the district commissioner where he finds him as well as the district attorney and the assistant police chief and that they had just been informed that Fyodor Karamazov had just been murdered. They go to his house where they find his body with his head smashed in.

Chap. 3 The Soul's Journey Of Torments. The First Torment

The story now continues with all the town's officials interrogating Mitya about what he had been doing that evening. Mitya still thinks he has killed Grigory but claims he is innocent of murdering his father. Mitya is more concerned about Grushenka's situation than he is about his own. They ask about why he had so often said he would like to kill his father.

Chap. 4 The Second Torment

They then focus on the mortar pestle (the assumed murder weapon) and why he had taken it.

Chap. 5 The Third Torment

Now they focu on how he had obtained the 3,000 roubles, which Mitya refuses to divulge on a matter of honor.

Chap. 6 The Prosecutor Catches Mitya

The prosecutor says that the door was open when they arrived, yet Mitya says that he had never entered the house.

Chap. 7 Mitya's Great Secret. Met With Hisses

Mitya reveals that he had always had the money in a small bag that he had around his neck, but no one believes him.

Chap. 8 The Evidence Of The Witnesses. The Wee One.

A number of other witnesses describe remembering Mitya spending money lavishly.

Chap. 9 Mitya Is Taken Away

Mitya is formally charged with the murder of his father.

 

SUMMARY of the session: The entire manner of the initial investigation was very civilized and Mitya was counselled at every moment about the seriousness of the situation and why the prosecutors were having trouble believing his story. Everyone seems seriously to be trying to figure out what exactly had happened, but Mitya's version is simply not supported by any of the evidence. As the reader, it seems highly likely that Mitya did not do it, but that is still a genuine possibility as he is so distraught that his own memory is suspect. That leads to who else might have committed it. There are two dimensions to this: who had the opportunity and who had the motive. Finally, why has the narrator of the story said at the outset that the hero of the novel is Alyosha? This is a captivating story.

 

Literature Notes

Part III Book Eight: Mitya

Chap. 1 Kuzma Samsonov

Mitya is in torment as he tries to figure out if Mitya loves him. He clearly is madly and totally in love with her, even though he hardly knows her. Mitya goes to Grushenka's patron, Samsonov, to ask for a loan of 3,000 roubles so he can marry her and begin life anew. Samsonov dispises Mitya and tells him to ask Lygavy.

Chap. 2 Lyagavy

Mitya goes to Lygavy who also refuses to listen to him.

Chap. 3 Gold Mines

Mitya then approaches Madame Khokhlakov to ask for the money. She is willing to give it to him if he will work for her in managing some gold mines, but it then turns out that she has no money to lend. Mitya is beside himself with grief and tries to find Grushenka

Chap. 4 In The Dark

Mitya assumes Grushenka is with his father Fyodor and rushes there. He is spying on his father through a window trying to see if Grushenka is there. The old servant Grigory sees him and rushes at him thinking that Mitya is about to kill his father. They have a brief scuffle and Mitya hits Grigory on the head knocking him unconscious and causing a lot of blood to flow. He rushes away.

Chap. 5 A Sudden Decision

Mitya rushes back to Madame Khokhlakov's house where the servants tell him that Grushenka has left with the man she was engaged to five years ago. There is blood all over Mitya from Grigory's wound. And he is holding a wad of 3,000 roubles which seems to surprise him a little. He is in a daze and only seems to be partially aware of what he is doing.

Chap. 6 Here I Come!

Mitya decides to go after Grushenka, bringing a large amount of liquor and food for a huge party. He is going to celebrate her happiness, not to prevent her leaving.

Chap. 7 The Former And Indisputable One

Mitya meets Grushenka and her former fiance but finds him to be a unpleasant bore.

Chap. 8 Delirium

Grushenka realizes that she has made a mistake and tells Mitya that she really loves him. They are just beginning to think about their life together when the police arrive and charge Mitya with the murder of his father.

 

SUMMARY of the session: This "book"of 8 chapters is the first time that we focus on Mitya. He is an impulsive emotional man who is often unaware of what he really wants or is doing. The logic of the situation is perfect and I look forward to seeing how this turns out. I have been surprised, and disappointed, at how few sentences I have marked as being worth noting. This is a fine murder mystery, with superb character portrayals, but so far there has been little philosophy about life in general.

 

Literature Notes

Part III Book Six: The Russian Monk

Chap. 1 The Elder Zosima and His Visitors

Aloysha returns to the monestary and finds that Zosima is still alive, and in fact appears much more alert than when he left in the morning.

Chap. 2 From the Life of the Hiermonk and Elder Zosima

This is a description of the personal background of Zosima. It describes a duel that he fought when he was young and of the effect of his actions on another man.

Chap. 3 From Talks and Homilies of the Elder Zosima

This is a description of many of the speeches and conversations of Zosima that Alyosha put down in writing. At the end of this description, Zosima dies.

"They have science, and in science only that which is subject to the senses. But the spiritual world, the higher half of man's being, is altogether rejected, banished with a sort of triumph, even with hatred." [p. 313] "But what comes of this right to increase one's needs? For the rich, isolation and spiritual suicide; for the poor, envy and murder, for they have been given rights, but have not been shown any way of satisfying their needs." [p. 313] "We are assured that the world is becoming more and more united, is being formed into brotherly communion, by the shortening of distances, by the transforming of thoughts through the air. Alas, do not believe in such a union of people. Taking freedom to mean the increase and prompt satisfaction of needs, they distort their own nature, for they generate many meaningless and foolish desires, habits, and the most absurd fancies in themselves. They live only for mutual envy, for pleasure-seeking and self-display. ... They have succeeded in amassing more and more things, but have less and less joy." [p. 313 - 314]

SUMMARY of the session: These three chapters are unlike anything one would see in a modern novel. The entire section is an aside that provides a detailed view of religion in Russia in the nineteenth century. As such it makes fascinating reading today. Much of it is timeless. But it appears to have very little with the story itself.

 

Part III Book Seven: Alyosha

Chap. 1 The Odor of Corruption

Zosima's body is prepared for burial but it begins to smell due to decomposition while they are still saying prayers over it. Many interpret this as a sign that the monk did not have favor with God. Alyosha seems devastated by this development and leaves the monastery.

Chap. 2 An Opportune Moment

Alyosha remains steadfast in his belief in Zosima, but is dismayed that others are abandoning his teachings. Rakitin meets Alyosha and convinces him to accompany him as they go to visit Grushenka.

Chap. 3 An Onion

The title of this chapter refers to a story where God gives someone in need an onion that can be used to pull one out of trouble if they are steadfast. Alyosha gives Grushenka such "an onion" by realizing that she is fundamentally good, even though she is a prostitute.

Chap. 4 Cana of Galilee

Alyosha returns to the monastery and falls asleep beside Zosima's coffin. He has a dream about Christ and the wedding with a poor family and is visited by an image of Zosima. Alosha believes that his soul was visited at that moment and that he would be strong in the days ahead with the confidence that comes from total belief. Aloysha then leaves the monastery in accordance with the words of Zosima.

 

SUMMARY of the session: These four chapters focus on Alyosha and describe the pivotal events surrounding the death of Zosima and the strengthening of his belief in Zosima as he leaves the monastery to continue his life in the world.