Smerdyakov
Dostoevsky first presents Smerdyakov, in The Brothers Karamazov, in Book 3 of Part 1. The author divulges details of the conception of the fourth son of Fyodor Pavovich Karamazov. Late on a September evening, a drunk Fyodor, by modern standards, "rapes" a homeless woman. Stinking Lizaveta, the victim of Fyodor's violence, was a legend in the town. Regardless of her unattractive and dirty appearance, her poverty, and homelessness, the townspeople regarded her with sympathy and compassion. Fyodor, on the other hand, treated Lizaveta as an insubordinate who was undeserving of even an ounce of respect. He and his friends mock her. He, then, rapes her. And, as if these actions are not cruel and offensive enough, he vehemently denies any of it happening. Later, when Lizaveta gives birth to Fyodor's illegitimate son, it is Grigory and Marfa who take the boy in, baptize him, and decide to raise the child. The townspeople mistakenly credit Fyodor for taking the dead woman's child into his house. All of these disturbing actions on the part of Fyodor are cause for his punishment. While Fyodor neglected his fatherly duties to his other three sons, to this fourth, he rejects them completely. He finds the controvers
Smerdyakov then places the guilt of the murder onto Ivan. Smerdyakov plays on his obsession with knowledge and his persistence in gaining it. It is not until Ivan comes to him for the third time that Smerdyakov hands him the truth, the proof (the money), and the responsibility of the murder. Smerdyakov says continuously throughout the book, "it's always interesting to talk with an intelligent man." He mocks Ivan's intelligence because he knows that Ivan cannot handle certain truths. Ivan, indeed, becomes so burdened with this knowledge that he becomes insane. Smerdyakov handles the destruction of his third brother a little differently. Alexei cares to an extreme extent about others. He is deeply affected by the suffering of Ilyusha and the other schoolboys. Smerdyakov knows that by simply affecting the two brothers whom Alexei loves, he is also affecting Alexei. Alexei, to no avail, attempts to save what remains of his brothers' dehumanized states. The second Karamazov, Ivan, is passionate about his intellect. He is known as an educated and intellectual man. He is the only son to have graduated from college. Ivan's reviews of books are published and his name is familiar in literary circles. He takes great pride in his talented mind. He is consumed by his love for books. y around the mystery of the boy's conception amusing. He employs his own son as one of his servants, as his "lackey." Although incredible attention to detail is paid to the story of Lizaveta, Dostoevsky waits to speak of the boy himself. It is as if the author is all ready separating this last son. Dostoevsky claims to not want to go into detail about Smerdyakov so as not to distract the reader from the story. However, it is an intention set-up on the part of the author. So, quite predictably, we find out in the sixth chapter of Book 3, that Smerdyakov is, to say the least, bitter about his mistreatment. Smerdyakov seems to be innately aware of the violence, disrespect, and cruelty from which he was conceived. He is outwardly cold and passionless. Inwardly, he has a lot of anger. As a child, he maliciously unleashes this inward wrath in the ceremonial killing of cats. Thanks to a frank and mean-spirited admonition by Grigory, he is fully aware of his position as a subordinate in the house of his father. Dostoevsky, quite effectively, shows that this son is not only treated differently from the other sons, but is also very different in character. Smerdyakov cleverly devises the plan to have Dmitri appear as the main suspect while he himself is able to carry out the actual murder. After years of obeying the humiliating commands of his master/father, Smerdyakov takes revenge into his own hands. He cracks open his fathers cruel a
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1856
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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