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The Two Sufferers to Deterioration
Many argue about the main theme or idea that Fyodor Dostoevsky presents in his novel “Brothers Karamazov”. Some say that his main idea or the “hero” of the book is love and others might say it’s the debate between good and evil. However, suffering is the hero of Dostoevsky’s novel. Suffering is a normal condition that everyone goes through either psychologically or spiritually or even emotionally. Dostoevsky presents suffering in two different ways in his novel. The first way is through redemption, in which characters that suffer redeem themselves and improve their religious beliefs.
The second way is through despair, the characters that suffer, but because of their selfishness they remain despondent. If you read through the novel, you would have noticed that many of the characters develop inner struggles or in other words suffer. Nonetheless, if you examined the novel closely, you would have realized that those sufferings or struggles either caused redemption or despair. In the novel, suffering is a method for the characters to either seek moral redemption or cause eternal despair. In my essay, I will be analyzing three characters that suffered and redeemed themselves and two other characters that suffered in deterioration.
Zosima: The Saint
In book 6 “The Russian Monk”, chapter 2 page 11 shows that the character Zosima who is known for being wise and pure had a dark past. He had a moment where he suffered in his life, which then caused him to redeem himself. In the novel, it is mentioned that in his youth he was a “wild” and “cruel” man.
This is a shocking revelation, since Zosima is shown at the beginning as wise and pure. In addition, it is mentioned that he read a lot of books, but the bible was never one of them! This proves that Zosima was a completely different character before he “redeemed” himself. When he learned that the girl he loved got married, he challenged her husband for a duel.
One night before the duel, he was full of rage and anger that he struck his orderly Afanasy violently. The moment Zosima struck his servant; you realize that he was suffering emotionally. When he woke up the next day he saw the beauty of life and felt that there was something mean and shameful in his soul and then he remembered what his brother had told him, which is to love all things (Langbauer, 2008, p.94). After he realized what he did, he gained his faith in God and realized that the duel was wrong. However, he did not surrender the duel, but he made the other guy shoot first and then he asked for forgiveness.
This is as if Zosima is resurrected and transformed into a completely different person. What Dostoevsky is trying to prove in Zosima’s background story is that even saints suffer, and that behind each person’s suffering is a great purpose. Also, he is showing the reader that suffering is not avoidable; however, it can provide a positive effect on a person’s life. In addition, it is ironic because in my opinion Zosima’s previous personality is similar to Dimitri, Alyosha’s brother. They are both impulsive and they both compete for a woman’s love. In addition, they both have brothers who guided them spiritually (Alyosha and Zosima’s brother …). Zosima even mentions in the novel that Alyosha reminds him of his brother.
After the death of Zosima, his body oozes a strong bad stench, which disappointed the people of the monastery including Alyosha. Alyosha begins to wonder why God allowed this to happen (Book seven, chapter 1). Alyosha mentions in book seven, chapter 2 “An Opportune Moment”, page 341, that he does not accept God’s world! This shows that he was suffering after the discovery of Zosima’s death and the failed “miracle” everyone was anticipating (Jacobs, 2007, p.274). Alyosha even drinks vodka and eats sausage, which is forbidden for monks. He then agrees to Ratakin’s idea, which is to visit Grushenka.
This chapter is nerve-racking and depressing to the readers because Alyosha, who believes in God and wants to join the monastery, is misbehaving to his monastery teachings. Dostoevsky parallels this story to Zosima’s past, revealing that suffering can cause redemption. When he met Grushenka and realized how good she was, they develop a bond between each other, thus causing him to restore his faith. In Chapter 4, Zosima appears in Alyosha’s dream notifying him to be happy because he redeemed Grushenka and now she will be able to find salvation. When Alyosha wakes up, he feels that he has come to a deeper realization of life, God and faith.
Ivan is one of the characters who face real suffering in the Brothers Karamazov story. (Book eleven, chapter three), Ivan is a bright student who suffers trying to reconcile the harsh situation created by human suffering and mostly suffering of children. Young children should not have any chance to suffer despite the prevailing circumstances. Ivan’s knowledge is to be blamed for his languishing in unending despair in life. He strongly argues that God does not exist and really doubts his existence (Holland, 2007, p.83). He therefore acquires a non-human character of torturing people and he seems to enjoy everything that he does.
In addition, he believes that human understanding about morality should only be relied on if a person is guaranteed of an eternal life. Therefore, he tries to imply that people should not worry about doing what is right and wrong since it all leads to the feeling of pressure and freedom whereas pain and suffering awaits them in the next world.
Since Ivan does not believe in God at any one time, he also fails to believe in immortality nature of the soul. (Book eleven, chapter 9). As a result, he does everything he wishes to do because doing either good or evil leads to the same thing which is eternal suffering. Ivan continues to despair, although it reaches a point that he tries to reconsider his opinions due to his love of humanity.
He condemns Floydor Pavlovich’s behavior, saying that it is inhuman although Ivan does not change his belief about God (Book eleven, chapter 10). The compelling life of believing good and evil makes him take away another person’s life. From this character, individuals should learn that life is one’s choice. Therefore, one should decide what is good and what is evil by considering the welfare of other human beings in the society. The story ending, however, indicates that Ivan found redemption from his despair.
The Two Sufferers to Deterioration
Lizaveta_Book Three
Lizaveta, who is known as “Stinking Lizaveta” by the villagers lives a very miserable life full of suffering. In book three, chapter 1, she was considered an idiot because she could not express herself clearly. She is a daughter to a very violent man considered to be a drunkard throughout his life. People in the village would offer food and clothing, but everything changed when they realized that she was pregnant.
This meant that there would be no more food and clothing supply. Grigory, a loyal servant to Fyodor gets a child with his wife Marfa. They are very unfortunate as the child dies after only two weeks. The child was extraordinary because it had six fingers. Its death caused suffering to both Grigory and Marfa as explained in chapter 3 of book three.
While burying the child, Grigory hears the sound of a crying child in a nearby bush and he thinks that he is hallucinating. He decided to follow the sound which led him to the discovery of miserable Lizaveta lying on the ground with a child beside her. The woman was in great pain and suffering. Her child was a boy and Grigory decided to take it to Fyodor Karamazov, who was seen as the only person who could take advantage of the poor Lizaveta as explained in book three; chapter 3.
The boy was adopted and named Smerdyakov by Fyodor. The name Smerdyakov meant “the stinking one” and this was quite unfair to the poor boy. Lizaveta did not survive after giving birth, indicating that her suffering had no ending (Holland, 2007, p.82). This chapter is full of grief and nothing seems to end well and hence it is suitable in explaining the relevance of the characters who suffered in deterioration such as Lizaveta.
Smerdyakov is another character who suffers both psychologically and emotionally, although he does not redeem himself just like the mother. After being adopted and given a demoralizing name, Smerdyakov continues to live a miserable life in Fyodor’s home. He therefore plans to ruin Fyodor’s life by stealing part of the wealth and killing him as explained in book 11, chapter 5. He, however, decides to keep this secret such that not even Ivan will know about it.
Smerdyakov has the capability of faking seizures and thus he had planned that during the night of the murder, he would fake one and Ivan would be considered as the killer. As Fyodor leaned on the window, Smerdyakov struck him dead and faked a seizure to prevent Ivan and Dmitri from knowing the truth. He experiences personal struggles with guilt and later admits to Katerina that he killed Fyodor. In book eleven, chapter 7, they go to court for the first time and no evidence comes out. When he finally realizes that Ivan knows about the murder, he decides to give him the 3,000 rubles that he had stolen in order to be covered up .
Dmitri is held custody for the murder of Fyodor. In book twelve, chapter 1, however, Dmitri later learns about this and he is relentless to ensure that justice for his father prevails. At this point, Smerdyakov becomes confused and confesses to have killed Fyodor (Langbauer, 2008, p.93). After realizing that the court will not forgive him, he commits suicides. This indicates the unending suffering that Smerdyakov leads until his ultimatum.
In conclusion, suffering has serious consequences in a person’s life. In Dostoevsky’s novel, suffering is a hero theme where many characters experience different kinds of suffering. The person suffering may end up redeeming him or herself while a number of the characters end up suffering forever. In many cases, the suffering end up being a moral lesson to the character and hence change his beliefs about God.
References
Holland, (2007). “Novelizing Religious Experience: The Generic Landscape of The Brothers Karamazov.” Slavic Review. 66.1: 63-81.
Jacobs, T. (2007). The Brothers Incandenza: Translating Ideology in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. Texas Studies in Literature and Language, 49(3), 265-292.
Langbauer, L. (2008). Ethics and Theory: Suffering Children in Dickens, Dostoevsky, and Le Guin. ELH, 75(1), 89-108.