full title · The Brothers Karamazov
author · Fyodor Dostoevsky
type of work · Novel
genre · Realist novel; novel of ideas; symbolic novel;
dynastic novel
language · Russian
time and place written · 1879-1880; Russia, primarily
St. Petersburg
date of first publication · 1879–1880
publisher · The Russian Messenger began publishing
the novel serially in 1879.
narrator · An unnamed, first-person narrator who acts as a storyteller, relating
events in which he plays no part. The narrator frequently refers
to himself as “I,” and his erratic voice leaves a noticeable sardonic
mark on an otherwise serious novel.
point of view · The point of view shifts between characters, including
Alyosha, Ivan, Dmitri, and the
narrator himself.
tone · The narrator’s tone is one of serious comedy. He takes
his story seriously and comprehends the importance of the questions
it raises, but nevertheless writes with a warm linguistic inventiveness
that sometimes masks the coldness of his subject.
tense · Past
setting (time) · Mid-nineteenth century
setting (place) · A town in Russia
protagonist · Alyosha Karamazov
major conflict · Dmitri and Fyodor Pavlovich’s rivalry over Grushenka,
Ivan’s inner turmoil, and Alyosha’s good-hearted attempts to help those
he loves find happiness dramatize the philosophical conflict between
religious faith and doubt.
rising action · Fyodor Pavlovich and Dmitri begin to fight over the
family inheritance just before Alyosha’s faith is shaken by the
death of Zosima. Ivan expresses his philosophical viewpoint through
the story of the Grand Inquisitor, and Dmitri becomes increasingly desperate
to win Grushenka.
climax · Ivan’s nervous breakdown in Book XI after the revelation
that Smerdyakov is the murderer represents the final collapse of
the psychology of doubt and the moment at which the position of faith
seems inarguably superior, at least within the logic of the novel.
falling action · Dmitri is wrongly convicted of murdering his father,
and Dmitri and Katerina reconcile their differences. Alyosha’s final
speech to the schoolboys at the funeral of Ilyusha illustrates that
he has taken on the role of Zosima.
themes · The conflict between faith and doubt; the pervasiveness
of moral responsibility; the burden of free will
motifs · Crime and justice; the profound gesture; redemption
through suffering
symbols · Characters who represent ideas, as Ivan represents
doubt; Zosima’s corpse
foreshadowing · The narrator’s many leading comments; Zosima’s prediction
that Dmitri will suffer greatly; the anecdote of the murderer in Zosima’s
deathbed speech; Smerdyakov’s subtle clues that he intends either
to have Dmitri murder Fyodor Pavlovich or to murder Fyodor Pavlovich
himself.
