Obedience, fasting, and prayer are laughed
at, yet they alone constitute the way to real and true freedom.
. . .
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Summary—Chapter 1: The Elder Zosima and His Visitors
When Alyosha returns to the monastery, he finds Zosima
sitting in bed with a group of his students and followers around
him. Zosima asks how Dmitri is doing and tells Alyosha that he bowed
to Dmitri as he did because he foresees that Dmitri will soon undergo
a great trial of pain and suffering. Zosima says that Dmitri’s destiny
is not Alyosha’s, and encourages Alyosha again to leave the monastery and
do good in the world.
Summary—Chapter 2: From the Life of the Hieromonk
and Elder Zosima, Departed in God, Composed from His Own Words by
Alexei Fyodorovich Karamazov
Zosima says that he holds Alyosha very dear to his heart
because Alyosha reminds him of his older brother, who was a great
spiritual influence on him. Zosima’s brother was a critic of religion
until he came down with consumption at the age of seventeen, at
which point he underwent a powerful spiritual change. In the months before
he died, he talked continually about loving God’s creation and all
living things.
Zosima says that, in addition to his brother, the greatest
influence on his life has been the Bible. But he did not discover
the Bible until he was a grown man. In fact, he was a military officer,
rather like Dmitri. When the woman Zosima loved married another
man, Zosima challenged him to a duel and planned to kill him. But
when he woke up on the morning of the duel, he saw the beauty of
the world and remembered his brother’s commandment to love all living
things. He did not back out of the duel, however. Instead, he allowed
the other man to take the first shot, and then fell to his knees and
began to beg for his forgiveness. Zosima quickly left the army and
decided to become a monk.
Zosima tells of one night in the past when he
received a mysterious visitor, a prominent philanthropist. After
asking Zosima about his conversion, and after paying him several
more visits, the philanthropist confesses a great crime. He says
that he once killed a woman he loved, and another man was arrested
for the crime. The man who was arrested died before his trial, and
the philanthropist was free. But he tells Zosima that, despite his
success in life and his loving family, he has never been satisfied,
because he has always longed to make a confession. Zosima encourages
him to confess to the people, and after a great deal of soul-searching,
the man agrees. He holds a huge birthday party, and, in front of
all his guests, reads a statement of guilt. But no one believes
him. It is decided that he has gone mad. Soon after, the man falls
ill, and Zosima visits him at his deathbed. There, the man tells Zosima
that he almost killed Zosima after he confessed his crime. But God,
he says, defeated the devil in his heart. A week later, the man
died, and Zosima has kept his secret until now.
Summary—Chapter 3: From Talks and Homilies of the
Elder Zosima
Zosima tells Alyosha about the importance of
monks in Russian life. He says that the monk is closer to the common
people than anyone else, and that the faith of the common people
is the hope of Russia. He says that all people are equal in spirit,
and that all people should be meek with one another, so that there
are no more masters and servants.
Like his brother before him, Zosima urges all who hear
him to love all mankind and all of God’s creation. He says that
no one should judge anyone else, even criminals. Instead, people
should pray for the salvation of the wayward, to save them from
spiritual hell. Zosima lowers himself to the floor, and, reaching
out his arms as though to embrace the world, he dies.
