The Brothers Karamazov Part 2, Book IV
Book IV - Crack Ups
The next morning, Father Zosima delivers a sermon in a haphazard and broken manner, but he is filled with ecstasy. Zosima sees Alyosha and asks him about his duties outside the church, and he practically compels him to go out into the world. Alyosha heads over to his father’s house, but Fyodor appears to be in a foul mood. Fyodor begins to rant about how he wishes to indulge fully in life until the end of his days, and to him, this means being with women. He understands that to have women at an age like his, he needs to have a lot of money. He is mistrustful of both Ivan and Dmitri, both of whom are attempting to prevent him from being with Grushenka. Fyodor loves Alyosha and tells him so. Alyosha departs and goes over to the Khokhlakov household to meet with Lise.
On the way, he meets a group of schoolboys throwing stones at one another. He tries to help the boy, Ilyusha, who seems to be fighting the boys all at once, but Alyosha is hit with a stone. The boys tell him that Ilyusha had stabbed someone, and witnesses Ilyusha being hit in the chest with a stone. Alyosha attempts to help the boy, but Ilyusha bites him very severely after learning his name is Karamazov and immediately flees. Alyosha arrives at the Khokhlakov household where he meets the chatty Mrs. Khokhlakov once again. In private, Alyosha claims that he loves her and plans to marry her when they both come of age, she giggles, and he departs to meet with Katerina, who is also at the Khokhlakov house. Alyosha is led to see Katerina Ivanovnna and he finds her having a conversation with Ivan. She reveals that she has suffered too great an insult and she no longer wishes to marry Dmitri. She now intends to remain loyal to him her whole life as a sister, and even claims that Ivan agrees with her. Katerina is moved to tears thinking about the insult she had suffered from Grushenka as she dwells on it. Suddenly, Ivan intercedes and tells her that he needs to go to Moscow, which causes her to jump up with happiness. She explains that she can now communicate with her benefactress in Russia since Ivan could explain the situation to her.
Alyosha cannot handle Katerina’s treatment of Ivan and he reluctantly tells her that she loves neither Ivan nor Dmitri. He believes that she sees Ivan’s love and tortures him deliberately, both Ivan and lady Khokhlakov are greatly pleased with him while Katerina appears dumbfounded. Ivan tells them all that he has never confessed his love to her, and yet he knows that she is aware of his feelings. He also believes that she loves Dmitri because he insults her with his behavior, and she craves that disrespect because of her pride. Ivan departs and Katerina Ivanova appeals to Alyosha for a favor, she asks him to give some money to the second grade captain, Snegirov, whom Dmitri had beaten in the streets because of Grushenka.
Alyosha heads to the Snegirov’s house and finds a poor family sharing a single room. The family includes the captain’s mad wife, two daughters, and a son, Ilyusha. They lead a life of truly decrepit poverty. The son turns out to be the same child who had bitten Alyosha’s hand, and they think he’s there to report the fault of the child
Snegirov apologizes profusely and offers to cut his fingers rather than whip his son. Alyosha and he go out for a walk and Alyosha reveals that he has come to him with an errand. Snegirov intercedes and leads the discussion to his son’s troubles at school which are linked to Dmitri’s altercation with him. Dmitri had hauled him out in the streets by the beard. His son had seen this and come running to try to save his father, he had kissed Dmitri’s hand and begged for forgiveness. Snegirov tells Alyosha so while crying. Over the following days, the incident caused a great deal of anguish to the child and led to some bullying in the school. He had tried to convince his father that they needed to avenge him with a duel, and Dmitri had offered to duel the man as well But the poor man could not risk losing his life or getting maimed because his wife, daughters, and son depended on him. He had explained this to the child and Ilyusha had come to understand the value of money in the world. He had continued to grow very depressed and he had then suggested that they move away somewhere. He had agreed with him and they had conjured fantasies about how they would buy a horse and cart after he had saved up enough money. Alyosha curses his brother and promises him that Dmitri will certainly apologize to him on his knees. He then offers him the money that Katerina had sent and explains that no one will know of the money and that Katerina had sent it as a sister, as someone who had been similarly wronged by Dmitri. At first, he is nearly ecstatic at the sum being offered since it's a lot of money for him and it would solve most of his problems and allow him to move away. As Alyosha offers him even more money, Snegirov rejects the money and runs away with tears in his eyes.
Analysis
In this section, we are introduced to a division in the monastic order of the town in the book. This division consists primarily of monks like Father Ferapont whose faith is fixed on a fear of the devil, demonstrated through his hallucination of the devil around him, while the faith of Elder Zosima is fixed on the love of mankind as well as God. This division is the author’s means of exploring one of the most important existential questions that the novel raises i.e. what is the function of faith in the modern world of science?
Alyosha’s love for Lise contrasts the tumultuous relationships that the other Karamazov brothers have with their paramours. Alyosha’s confession of love to her and his plans to marry her is straightforward and without any malice. On the other hand, the other Karamazov brothers are all unsuccessful in their search for a loving partner.
The Brothers Karamazov was originally written as a childhood novel, and the author begins the expansion of this plot line through the story about Ilyusha. In the same plot line, he also explores another crucial theme of the novel, that of Poverty and the lives of the impoverished. Snegirov and his family live at the very bottom wrung of the social order. Alyosha’s conversation with Snegirov about Ilyusha’s reaction to his father’s dishonor truly highlights the humiliation and despair of poverty. Yet, this severely low moment serves as a powerful moment for love, between father and son as they are described sobbing in each other’s arms over shared pain. This father-son pair serves as the foil to the dynamic that Dmitri shares with his father.
