Bureaucratic Distraction

In Book IX of the Brothers Karamazov Dostoyevsky concentrates on the interrogation of Dmitry Fyodorovich by the police and prosecutorial staff following the murder of his father.  What I find so intriguing about this Book in particular is the behavior of Dmitry.  Throughout Book IX Dmitry seems to provide the prosecutorial staff with the incriminating motives and methods that would result in the filing of formal charges.  Although I doubt that Dmitry was the actual facilitator of Fyodor’s murder, I feel that Dmitry ultimately hurt his claim of innocence due to the forthright nature in which he described his intentions concerning the physical harm of his father. 

Dmitry also hurts his innocence by vehemently protesting at the questioning of the state officers, which he finds to be trivial in nature.  The simple questions that could ultimately shed some light on his own innocence are ignored, being favored by his thorough and rather incriminating accounts of his own feelings.

Throughout the interrogation Dmitry is able to steer the course of the questioning by divulging the details that would delight any state prosecutor, but he is able to prolong the affair by withholding certain pertinent details.  I am still attempting to understand Dmitry’s ultimate motive concerning his behavior during the interrogation.  His lack of cooperation with the authorities is recognized later by the state officers, who initiate a more thorough search of his possessions and are less accommodating to his wishes.  The curiousness of Dmitry’s actions may be a resultant of his own complex of superiority, especially given the many references in which Dmitry likens himself to the nobility.  In refusing to continually pledge his innocence Dmitry is seeking to demonstrate his honor by completing divulging his flaws and connections.  He is not hiding from the corrective forces of the state, but openly submitting himself to them. 

In addition to Dmitry’s behavior, another interesting facet of Book IX was the conduct of the prosecutorial staff.  Just as in Book VIII, the physical appearances and odd behaviors of the state officers are important in Dosotoyevsky’s descriptions.  In this Book the state officers are portrayed as incapable of maintaining control over the interrogation.  The officers are portrayed as attached to procedure and seem preoccupied with concern over the maintenance of their important social status.  At times it even seems that they are distracted from the fulfillment of their duties, even talking about the details and merits of the case openly in front of Dmitry.  This immediately brings to question Dostoyevsky’s own perceptions of the Russian civil service and the professionalism of the service as a whole. 

Another interesting part of the bureaucratic commentary in Book IX is evident in the first chapter of Book IX which is aptly entitled “The Beginning of the Civil Servant Perkhotin’s Career”.  The whole determining factor behind Pyotr Ilyich’s behavior during the first portion of Book IX was to alert the authorities of the potential murder of Fyodor Pavlovich without risking the creation of a scandal.  Instead of concentrating on utilizing the proper channels, Pyotr Ilyich focused on pursuing the question of Dmitry’s actions while simultaneously minimizing the ability for his actions to be channeled back to him.  Apparently the ability for Pyotr Ilyich to successfully initiate the investigation without risking scandal was the mark of a successful career.  It seems clear that Dostoyevsky is critical of the civil service.  The distinction he makes seems to be that the Russian civil service is heavily focused on self-interest.  Proper channels and dedication to the position seem to be portrayed as secondary to maintenance of social position and insulation from scandal.