Book IV of The Brothers Karamazov, in maintaining a similar line of development to that of the earlier Books, involves the various wanderings and assignments of Aleksey Fyodorovich. Our poor hero continues to move from household to household within the village on a seamlessly unending journey of intrigue and frustration.
In the opening section of this portion of the text, Aleksey Fyodorovich is confronted with a rather fragmented speech from Elder Zosima. This speech concentrates on dispelling the notion that monastery life is above that of secular pursuits. Importantly, Elder Zosima states,
Do not be proud before the small, and do not be proud before the great, either. Do not hate those who reject you, defame you, revile you and slander you. Do not hate the atheists, the teachers of evil, the materialists, even the wicked among them, not only the good, for in their midst there are many that are good, especially in our time.”[1]
This quote from Elder Zosima is striking in that thus far, very few, if any of the characters in The Brothers Karamazov could be described as wholly good. In many respects the vices that Elder Zosima speaks of allude to many of the vices that have been expressed through the characters that the narrator has already introduced. Between Smerdyakov, Rakitin, Ivan, Fyodor, and even the dressmaker, it is clear that “our village” is full of slanderers, atheists, and materialists. According to the Elder however, there are many good individuals within the midst of all the schemers and those captivated by possessions.
I cannot help but think that potentially, the Snegiryov family is the “good” trapped in the midst. It is clear that the Sengiryovs live in poverty following dismissal of Second Grade Captain Snegiryov from the armed forces. Despite the hardship that Dostoyevsky displays in association with the family, it is quite clear that the members are bonded in a far stronger relationship than that of the other families and characters introduced thus far. The relationship between father and son is particularly strong, to the point that young Ilyusha seeks to defend the honor of his name against the far older Dmitri following the incident in front of the inn.
Up until this point it seemed that Aleksey Fyodorovich had been the perpetual good throughout the course of the novel. The last chapter of Book IV however, seems to have reversed this role for Aleksey Fyodorovich, instead proposing that the actions of Ilyusha and Second Grade Captain Snegiryov as consisting of far nobler substance. Aleksey Fyodorovich’s act of apology was out of sympathy, whereas Segiryov’s act of defying the duel and Ilyusha’s defense of his father were out of familial love and connection.
Aleksey Fyodorovich is still in a phase of learning. He has little understanding of the concept of the love and compassion that can exist between fellow human beings. He is sympathetic, but his position is often that of a high moral station, not that of a humble individual acting out of mutual compassion. In many ways I feel that his constant “expulsion” from the monastery by Elder Zosima is an attempt by the Elder to ensure that Aleksey Fyodorovich has the ability to observe and learn from the goodness that exists outside the walls of the monastery.
Although Snegiryov ultimately refuses the aid, I cannot help but lay down Book IV feeling that Ilyusha and the elder Snegiryov have demonstrated the strongest bond that has existed in The Brothers Karamazov up until this point. Their relationship is bound by an almost dutiful love of family. It will be interesting as the text progresses to understand the full extent the Snegiryov encounter has on our young hero.
[1]Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, Translated by David McDuff (New York: Penguin Group, 2003), 216.
I also found the scene at the little house of the Snegiryov's to be one illustrating the most genuine kind of emotion Dostoyevsky has thus shown us. It's almost a relief. Although, I still stand firm that the way the Elder treated the women he spoke with was genuine, the love between Ilyusha and his father are certainly the purest.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think that in the Elder's quote above, he might have been implying that even in those who do evil and who teach wicked things, there exists goodness. I believe that Elder Zosima has dedicated a part of his life at the monastery to finding the good in all people he meets. This is shown by how he treats every other character, including Fyodor Pavlovich.
I can see where your idea is coming from, but I think that Alyosha's goodness is just without knowledge. It does not seem like he has had many experiences in the world even though it states earlier in the book that he could be placed anywhere and get along just fine. It is clear from this reading that that hypothesis was not true. But I feel that it is because Snegiryov comes from a differnt back ground that there is a different form of kindness in him. Alyosha still does what he thinks is genuine and good but it fails because of his lack of knowledge. Alyosha does not receive the same love from his family that Snegiryov gives to his. Thus he can not understand it and would not know what to do around it. The Snegiryov family may be the good that the Elder predicts is in the world, but so far I have only seen their love for each other but not for the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteI think it's easy for us to assume that the poor/exploited/victims are automatically "good" because they're down and out, but I don't think that Snegiryov's financial or class situation has any real bearing on his morality or worth as a person. At any rate, he must have been a person of some means at some point to have been an officer (the military's version of an aristocracy), so what happened? Could it be that he is in this position through every fault of his own? The book says he was discharged from the service because of something HE did. I think it's pretty clear that his son is a lion of a young man but I also think that, frankly, his son is FAR too good for him.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned this bizarre dichotomy in another blog (I don't recall which exactly), but Snegiryov in one instance (with Dmitry) decides that dishonor by refusing to duel is worthwhile because if he dies or is maimed his family is so much the worse off. Yet he tells Aleksey that he just very recently spent the last of his family's money getting drunk. And if he's so willing to sacrifice his pride for his family, why the hell wouldn't he do so when faced with enough money to actually do his family some good? Suddenly in the face of two hundred roubles he's a man of pride and dignity? What a joke!
You bring up an excellent point Ben! To this point, every family we have seen, every form of brotherly love, makes the American dysfunctional family seem not all that dysfunctional. The relationship between Fyodr and his three sons is worse than if there was no connection at all. The affection displayed by Sneryigov for his wife and kids seems unparalleled. Although, a major fault I see in the Captain's behavior is his addiction to alcohol. I'm sure that he does in fact love his family dearly, but he I believe he is an alcoholic. For this reason he was probably demoted, and for this reason the family is poor and suffering. I'm sure Snegiryov regrets his actions but he is so far in at this point there is no way for him to take a step back...
ReplyDeleteI very much like the idea of Alyosha still having things he needs to learn not just about the world...but *from* the world as you point out. And there's no question that those scenes Snegiryov describes of him going out on the long walks with his son as they talk and think together contains some of the most touching moments and the strongest indicators of a genuine bond existing between two people in this novel.
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