But hesitation, anxiety, the struggle
between belief and disbelief—all that is sometimes such a torment
for a conscientious man like yourself, that it’s better to hang oneself.
. . .
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Summary—Chapter 1: At Grushenka’s
On a wintry day almost two months after Dmitri’s arrest,
Alyosha travels to visit Grushenka. Alyosha and Grushenka have grown closer
since Dmitri’s arrest, and are now close friends. Grushenka fell
ill three days after the arrest, but is now almost fully recovered. As
her friendship with Alyosha has deepened, Grushenka has begun to
show signs of spiritual redemption as well. Her fiery temper and her
pride are still intact, but her eyes now shine with a new light
of gentleness. She tells Alyosha that she and Dmitri have had an
argument, and that she fears that Dmitri is in love with Katerina
again, even though Katerina has not once visited him in prison.
Grushenka also believes that Dmitri and Ivan are hiding something
from her. She asks Alyosha to find out what it is, and Alyosha agrees
to do so.
Summary—Chapter 2: An Ailing Little Foot
Before Alyosha speaks to Dmitri, he must pay
a visit to Madame Khokhlakov and Lise. Madame Khokhlakov speaks
to him before he sees Lise, and tells him something very curious:
Ivan has recently paid a visit to Lise, after which Lise’s already
erratic moods have become even more unbalanced. Madame Khokhlakov
asks Alyosha to find out what is troubling Lise and to tell her
after he has found out.
Summary—Chapter 3: A Little Demon
Lise is nearly hysterical when Alyosha goes in to see
her. After they decided to become engaged, she changed her mind
and broke off the engagement, and now, she says, she does not even
respect Alyosha, because she cannot respect anyone or anything.
She says that she wants to die because the world is so loathsome.
She describes speaking to a “certain man” about this subject and
says that the man laughed at her and left. She asks if the man despised
her, and Alyosha says that he did not. As Alyosha rises to leave,
Lise gives him a note for Ivan. When Alyosha is gone, she slams
her finger in the door, crushing her fingernail. As she looks down
at the blackened, bloody nail, she whispers to herself that she
is mean.
Summary—Chapter 4: A Hymn and a Secret
Alyosha goes to the prison, where Rakitin has
just visited Dmitri. Perplexed, Alyosha asks Dmitri about the visit,
and Dmitri says Rakitin wants to write an article alleging that,
because of his circumstances, Dmitri could not have helped but kill
his father. Dmitri says he holds Rakitin in contempt, but allows
him to visit so he can laugh at his ideas. Sobering, Dmitri tells
Alyosha that even though he is not guilty of the crime of which
he is accused, he has come to terms with the burden of sin he has
created for himself and longs to do penance and redeem himself.
He is only afraid that Grushenka will not be allowed to travel with him
to his exile in Siberia, and that without her, he will lack the
strength necessary for his spiritual renewal.
Dmitri says that Ivan has recently offered him a plan
for his escape, even though Ivan believes Dmitri to be guilty of
the murder. This plan is the secret that they have been keeping
from Grushenka. Tormented with grief and guilt, Dmitri refuses to
escape before the trial. He asks Alyosha what he believes, and Alyosha
says that he has never believed Dmitri to be guilty. This declaration
from his younger brother fills Dmitri with courage and hope.
Summary—Chapter 5: Not You! Not You!
Alyosha finds Ivan outside Katerina’s. Ivan tells
him that Katerina has a letter from Dmitri that proves he is the
murderer. Alyosha does not believe it. He insists that Dmitri is
innocent. Ivan asks cuttingly who the murderer could be, if it is
not Dmitri. Alyosha says that Ivan obviously considers
himself indirectly responsible for the crime, and Alyosha reassures
him that he is not. He says that God has sent him to soothe Ivan’s
conscience. Ivan is troubled by Alyosha’s religiosity and storms
away.
