A father is murdered, three sons stand accused, and one kiss decides everything.
Who drives the story
The youngest son, a novice monk raised partly by the servant Grigory, who becomes the novel's quiet center. He wants to love actively, and after his faith is shaken and restored, he carries Zosima's message to the boys at Ilyusha's stone.
The passionate eldest son, a former army officer about twenty-eight, torn between his honor-bound engagement to Katerina Ivanovna and his wild love for Grushenka. He is wrongly convicted of his father's murder and sentenced to twenty years of hard labor in Siberia.
The middle son, the intellectual atheist who rejects God's world over the suffering of children. His 'everything is permitted' becomes Smerdyakov's license to kill, and Ivan collapses into brain fever under the guilt.
The buffoonish, dissolute landowner father who married twice for money and neglected his sons. He feuds with Dmitri over the inheritance and is murdered with a brass pestle.
The epileptic lackey, Fyodor's probable illegitimate son, who commits the murder using the signal agreed with Dmitri. He tells Ivan he was only the instrument of Ivan's philosophy, then hangs himself.
The monastery elder whose bow to Dmitri prophesies suffering, and whose dying teachings, everyone is guilty before everyone, active love over miracle, anchor the book. His rapid decay after death nearly destroys Alyosha's faith.
The woman both father and son pursue, who tells Alyosha the tale of the onion and confesses herself the wicked woman of it. At Mokroye she chooses Dmitri over her Polish lover and declares her love.
The proud beauty Dmitri rescued from humiliation with 3,000 rubles and then engaged. At the trial she produces his drunken letter threatening to kill his father and declares she will save Ivan.
The small, proud schoolboy tormented by his classmates because Dmitri dragged his father, Captain Snegiryov, by the beard from a tavern. He dies young, and his funeral becomes the novel's last scene.
Also in the story
The proud thirteen-year-old leader among the boys who had been tormenting Ilyusha. He brings Perezvon, the dog Ilyusha thought he had killed with a pin in bread, and the reunion is overwhelming.
How they are connected
He wants to love actively, and after his faith is shaken and restored, he carries Zosima's message to the boys at Ilyusha's stone.
Alyosha KaramazovIlyusha Snegiryov
He wants to love actively, and after his faith is shaken and restored, he carries Zosima's message to the boys at Ilyusha's stone.
The passionate eldest son, a former army officer about twenty-eight, torn between his honor-bound engagement to Katerina Ivanovna and his wild love for Grushenka.
Dmitri KaramazovKaterina Ivanovna
The passionate eldest son, a former army officer about twenty-eight, torn between his honor-bound engagement to Katerina Ivanovna and his wild love for Grushenka.
His 'everything is permitted' becomes Smerdyakov's license to kill, and Ivan collapses into brain fever under the guilt.
Fyodor Pavlovitch KaramazovDmitri Karamazov
He feuds with Dmitri over the inheritance and is murdered with a brass pestle.
The epileptic lackey, Fyodor's probable illegitimate son, who commits the murder using the signal agreed with Dmitri.
SmerdyakovFyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov
The epileptic lackey, Fyodor's probable illegitimate son, who commits the murder using the signal agreed with Dmitri.
The monastery elder whose bow to Dmitri prophesies suffering, and whose dying teachings, everyone is guilty before everyone, active love over miracle, anchor the book.
The woman both father and son pursue, who tells Alyosha the tale of the onion and confesses herself the wicked woman of it.
Katerina IvanovnaIvan Karamazov
At the trial she produces his drunken letter threatening to kill his father and declares she will save Ivan.
Ilyusha SnegiryovDmitri Karamazov
The small, proud schoolboy tormented by his classmates because Dmitri dragged his father, Captain Snegiryov, by the beard from a tavern.
Go deeper
If there is no God, everything is lawful · The suffering of children · Everyone is responsible for everyone else · Active love versus miracle
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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