Russian Giants
Fyodor Dostoevsky
A monumental novel on faith, doubt, suffering, family, freedom, guilt, and moral responsibility.
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At a glance
A monumental novel on faith, doubt, suffering, family, freedom, guilt, and moral responsibility.
Spoiler-free
A monumental novel on faith, doubt, suffering, family, freedom, guilt, and moral responsibility.
Interpretation
Recurring concerns and concepts identified across the indexed text.
The History Of A Family . . . . . . . . . . . . The Second Marriage And The Sec- ond Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“The History Of A Family . . . . . . . . . . . .”
“The Second Marriage And The Sec- ond Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .”
“Conversations And Exhortations Of Father Zossima . . . . . . . . . . . . . .”
Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov's action was similarly, no doubt, an echo of other people's ideas, and was due to the irritation caused by lack of mental freedom. In the first place, this Mitya, or rather Dmitri Fyodorovitch, was the only one of Fyodor Pavlovitch's three sons who grew up in the belief that he had property, and that he would be independent on coming of age.
“Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov's action was similarly, no doubt, an echo of other people's ideas, and was due to the irritation caused by lack of mental freedom.”
“In the first place, this Mitya, or rather Dmitri Fyodorovitch, was the only one of Fyodor Pavlovitch's three sons who grew up in the belief that he had property, and that he would be independent on coming of age.”
“Though Fyodor Pavlovitch was a drunkard and a vicious debauchee he never neglected investing his capital, and managed his business affairs very successfully, though, no doubt, not over- scrupulously.”
As for mutual love it did not exist apparently, either in the bride or in him, in spite of Adelaïda Ivanovna's beauty. What seemed to gratify him and flatter his self-love most was to play the ridiculous part of the injured husband, and to parade his woes with embellishments.
“As for mutual love it did not exist apparently, either in the bride or in him, in spite of Adelaïda Ivanovna's beauty.”
“What seemed to gratify him and flatter his self-love most was to play the ridiculous part of the injured husband, and to parade his woes with embellishments.”
“The Third Son, Alyosha 17 of worldly wickedness to the light of love.”
For the present I will only say that this “landowner”—for so we used to call him, although he hardly spent a day of his life on his own estate—was a strange type, yet one pretty frequently to be met with, a type abject and vicious and at the same time senseless. At the same time, he was all his life one of the most senseless, fantastical fellows in the whole district.
“For the present I will only say that this “landowner”—for so we used to call him, although he hardly spent a day of his life on his own estate—was a strange type, yet one pretty frequently to be met with, a type abject and vicious and at the same time senseless.”
“At the same time, he was all his life one of the most senseless, fantastical fellows in the whole district.”
“This was, perhaps, a unique case of the kind in the life of Fyodor Pavlovitch, who was always of a voluptuous temper, and ready to run after any petticoat on the slightest encouragement.”
If there's no ceiling there can be no hooks, and if there are no hooks it all breaks down, which is unlikely again, for then there would be none to drag me down to hell, and if they don't drag me down what justice is there in the world? That he did not finish his studies is true, but to say that he was stupid or dull would be a great injustice.
“If there's no ceiling there can be no hooks, and if there are no hooks it all breaks down, which is unlikely again, for then there would be none to drag me down to hell, and if they don't drag me down what justice is there in the world?”
“That he did not finish his studies is true, but to say that he was stupid or dull would be a great injustice.”
“Oh! he understood that for the humble soul of the Russian peasant, worn out by grief and toil, and still more by the everlasting injustice and everlasting sin, his own and the world's, it was the greatest need and comfort to find some one or something holy to fall down before and worship.”
It was said that so many people had for years past come to confess their sins to Father Zossima and to entreat him for words of advice and healing, that he had acquired the keenest intuition and could tell from an unknown face what a new-comer wanted, and what was the suffering on his conscience. Oh! he understood that for the humble soul of the Russian peasant, worn out by grief and toil, and still more by the everlasting injustice and everlasting sin, his own and the world's, it was the greatest need and comfort to find some one or something holy to fall down before and worship.
“It was said that so many people had for years past come to confess their sins to Father Zossima and to entreat him for words of advice and healing, that he had acquired the keenest intuition and could tell from an unknown face what a new-comer wanted, and what was the suffering on his conscience.”
“Oh! he understood that for the humble soul of the Russian peasant, worn out by grief and toil, and still more by the everlasting injustice and everlasting sin, his own and the world's, it was the greatest need and comfort to find some one or something holy to fall down before and worship.”
“Peasant Women Who Have Faith 53 normal and unassisted labor in childbirth, and from the hopeless misery, from beatings, and so on, which some women were not able to endure like others.”
He regarded it as his duty as a citizen and a man of culture to open an attack upon the “clericals.” Hearing all about Adelaïda Ivanovna, whom he, of course, remembered, and in whom he had at one time been interested, and learning of the existence of Mitya, he intervened, in spite of all his youthful indignation and contempt for Fyodor Pavlovitch. But the Patriarch replied that not only was he unable to release him, but there was not and could not be on earth a power which could release him except the elder who had himself laid that duty upon him.
“He regarded it as his duty as a citizen and a man of culture to open an attack upon the “clericals.” Hearing all about Adelaïda Ivanovna, whom he, of course, remembered, and in whom he had at one time been interested, and learning of the existence of Mitya, he intervened, in spite of all his youthful indignation and contempt for Fyodor Pavlovitch.”
“But the Patriarch replied that not only was he unable to release him, but there was not and could not be on earth a power which could release him except the elder who had himself laid that duty upon him.”
“It was said that so many people had for years past come to confess their sins to Father Zossima and to entreat him for words of advice and healing, that he had acquired the keenest intuition and could tell from an unknown face what a new-comer wanted, and what was the suffering on his conscience.”
Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov's action was similarly, no doubt, an echo of other people's ideas, and was due to the irritation caused by lack of mental freedom. When you choose an elder, you renounce your own will and yield it to him in complete submission, complete self-abnegation.
“Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov's action was similarly, no doubt, an echo of other people's ideas, and was due to the irritation caused by lack of mental freedom.”
“When you choose an elder, you renounce your own will and yield it to him in complete submission, complete self-abnegation.”
“This novitiate, this terrible school of abnegation, is undertaken voluntarily, in the hope of self-conquest, of self-mastery, in order, after a life of obedience, to attain perfect freedom, that is, from self; to escape the lot of those who have lived their whole life without Chapter V.”
Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov's action was similarly, no doubt, an echo of other people's ideas, and was due to the irritation caused by lack of mental freedom. Though Fyodor Pavlovitch was a drunkard and a vicious debauchee he never neglected investing his capital, and managed his business affairs very successfully, though, no doubt, not over- scrupulously.
“Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov's action was similarly, no doubt, an echo of other people's ideas, and was due to the irritation caused by lack of mental freedom.”
“Though Fyodor Pavlovitch was a drunkard and a vicious debauchee he never neglected investing his capital, and managed his business affairs very successfully, though, no doubt, not over- scrupulously.”
“There is very little doubt that she would not on any account have married him if she had known a little more about him in time.”
Both the women who supported her and the invalid herself fully believed as a truth beyond question that the evil spirit in possession of her could not hold out if the sick woman were brought to the sacrament and made to bow down before it. A Lady Of Little Faith 67 overmuch even at your evil actions.
“Both the women who supported her and the invalid herself fully believed as a truth beyond question that the evil spirit in possession of her could not hold out if the sick woman were brought to the sacrament and made to bow down before it.”
“A Lady Of Little Faith 67 overmuch even at your evil actions.”
““If it were not for the Church of Christ there would be nothing to restrain the criminal from evil-doing, no real chastisement for it afterwards; none, that is, but the mechanical punishment spoken of just now, which in the majority of cases only embitters the heart; and not the real punishment, the only effectual one, the only deterrent and softening one, which lies in the recognition of sin by conscience.”[065] “How is that, may one inquire?” asked Miüsov, with lively curiosity.”
Faith does not, in the realist, spring from the miracle but the miracle from faith. There, after great exploits, he was found worthy at last to suffer torture and a martyr's death for the faith.
“Faith does not, in the realist, spring from the miracle but the miracle from faith.”
“There, after great exploits, he was found worthy at last to suffer torture and a martyr's death for the faith.”
“Alyosha had unquestioning faith in the miraculous power of the elder, just as he had unquestioning faith in the story of the coffin that flew out of the church.”
Structure
Section 1
Chunk 2
Section 2
Chunk 2
Section 3
Chunk 2
Section 4
Chunk 2
Section 5
Chunk 2
Section 6
Chunk 2
Section 7
Chunk 2
Section 8
Chunk 2
Section 9
Chunk 2
Section 10
Chunk 2
Section 11
Chunk 2
Section 12
Chunk 2
Section 13
Chunk 2
Section 14
Chunk 2
Section 15
Chunk 2
Section 16
Chunk 2
Section 17
Chunk 2
Section 18
Chunk 2
Section 19
Chunk 2
Section 20
Chunk 2
Section 21
Chunk 2
Section 22
Chunk 2
Section 23
Chunk 2
Section 24
Chunk 2
Section 25
Chunk 2
Section 26
Chunk 3
Section 27
Chunk 3
Section 28
Chunk 3
Section 29
Chunk 3
Section 30
Chunk 3
Section 31
Chunk 3
Section 32
Chunk 3
Section 33
Chunk 3
Section 34
Chunk 3
Section 35
Chunk 3
Section 36
Chunk 3
Section 37
Chunk 3
Section 38
Chunk 3
Section 39
Chunk 3
Section 40
Chunk 3
Section 41
Chunk 3
Section 42
Chunk 3
Section 43
Chunk 3
Section 44
Chunk 3
Section 45
Chunk 3
Section 46
Chunk 3
Section 47
Chunk 3
Section 48
Chunk 3
Section 49
Chunk 3
Section 50
Chunk 3
Section 51
Chunk 3
Section 52
Chunk 3
Section 53
Chunk 3
Section 54
Chunk 3
Section 55
Chunk 3
Section 56
Chunk 3
Section 57
Chunk 3
Section 58
Chunk 4
Section 59
Chunk 4
Section 60
Chunk 4
Section 61
Chunk 4
Section 62
Chunk 4
Section 63
Chunk 4
Section 64
Chunk 4
Section 65
Chunk 4
Section 66
Chunk 4
Section 67
Chunk 4
Section 68
Chunk 4
Section 69
Chunk 4
Section 70
Chunk 4
Section 71
Chunk 4
Section 72
Chunk 4
Section 73
Chunk 4
Section 74
Chunk 4
Section 75
Chunk 4
Section 76
Chunk 4
Section 77
Chunk 4
Section 78
Chunk 4
Section 79
Chunk 4
Section 80
Chunk 4
Section 81
Chunk 4
Section 82
Chunk 4
Section 83
Chunk 4
Section 84
Chunk 4
Section 85
Chunk 4
Section 86
Chunk 4
Section 87
Chunk 4
Section 88
Chunk 5
Section 89
Chunk 5
Section 90
Chunk 5
Section 91
Chunk 5
Section 92
Chunk 5
Section 93
Chunk 5
Section 94
Chunk 5
Section 95
Chunk 5
Section 96
Chunk 5
Section 97
Chunk 5
Section 98
Chunk 5
Section 99
Chunk 5
Section 100
Chunk 5
Close reading
“Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov Alexey Fyodorovitch Karamazov was the third son of Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov, a land owner well known in our district in his own day, and still remembered among us owing to his gloomy and tragic death, which happened thirteen years ago, and which I shall describe in its proper place.”
This passage relates to Family.
“For the present I will only say that this “landowner”—for so we used to call him, although he hardly spent a day of his life on his own estate—was a strange type, yet one pretty frequently to be met with, a type abject and vicious and at the same time senseless.”
This passage relates to Meaning.
“At the same time, he was all his life one of the most senseless, fantastical fellows in the whole district.”
This passage relates to Meaning.
“Fyodor Pavlovitch's first wife, Adelaïda Ivanovna, belonged to a fairly rich and distinguished noble family, also landowners in our district, the Miüsovs.”
This passage relates to Family.
“Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov's action was similarly, no doubt, an echo of other people's ideas, and was due to the irritation caused by lack of mental freedom.”
This passage relates to Freedom, Faith and doubt.
“She wanted, perhaps, to show her feminine independence, to override class distinctions and the despotism of her family.”
This passage relates to Family.
“As for mutual love it did not exist apparently, either in the bride or in him, in spite of Adelaïda Ivanovna's beauty.”
This passage relates to Love and compassion.
“This was, perhaps, a unique case of the kind in the life of Fyodor Pavlovitch, who was always of a voluptuous temper, and ready to run after any petticoat on the slightest encouragement.”
This passage relates to Meaning.
“Although the family accepted the event pretty quickly and apportioned the runaway bride her dowry,[003] the husband and wife began to lead a most disorderly life, and there were everlasting scenes between them.”
This passage relates to Meaning, Family.
“In the intervals he used to drive all over the province, complaining tearfully to each and all of Adelaïda Ivanovna's having left him, going into details too disgraceful for a husband to mention in regard to his own married life.”
This passage relates to Meaning.
“What seemed to gratify him and flatter his self-love most was to play the ridiculous part of the injured husband, and to parade his woes with embellishments.”
This passage relates to Love and compassion.
“The poor woman turned out to be in Petersburg, where she had gone with her divinity student, and where she had thrown herself into a life of complete emancipation.”
This passage relates to Meaning.
Literary reading
Sketches Of Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . She had died quite suddenly in a garret, according to one story, of typhus, or as another version had it, of starvation. Fyodor Pavlovitch was drunk when he heard of his wife's death, and the story is that he ran out into the street and began shouting with joy, raising his hands to Heaven: “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,” but others say he wept without restraint like a little child, so much so that people were sorry for him, in spite of the repulsion he inspired.
Sketches Of Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
She had died quite suddenly in a garret, according to one story, of typhus, or as another version had it, of starvation.
Fyodor Pavlovitch was drunk when he heard of his wife's death, and the story is that he ran out into the street and began shouting with joy, raising his hands to Heaven: “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,” but others say he wept without restraint like a little child, so much so that people were sorry for him, in spite of the repulsion he inspired.
The story may have been exaggerated, yet it must have been something like the truth.
I won't enlarge upon that now, as I shall have much to tell later of Fyodor Pavlovitch's firstborn, and must confine myself now to the most essential facts about him, without which I could not begin my story.
And, indeed, this circumstance led to the catastrophe, the account of which forms the subject of my first introductory story, or rather the external side of it.
Ideas
Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov's action was similarly, no doubt, an echo of other people's ideas, and was due to the irritation caused by lack of mental freedom. He would probably have succeeded, merely from her moral fatigue and desire to get rid of him, and from the contempt and loathing he aroused by his persistent and shameless importunity. But if his father had[005] remembered him (he could not, indeed, have been altogether unaware of his existence) he would have sent him back to the cottage, as the child would only have been in the way of his debaucheries.
Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov's action was similarly, no doubt, an echo of other people's ideas, and was due to the irritation caused by lack of mental freedom.
He would probably have succeeded, merely from her moral fatigue and desire to get rid of him, and from the contempt and loathing he aroused by his persistent and shameless importunity.
But if his father had[005] remembered him (he could not, indeed, have been altogether unaware of his existence) he would have sent him back to the cottage, as the child would only have been in the way of his debaucheries.
He regarded it as his duty as a citizen and a man of culture to open an attack upon the “clericals.” Hearing all about Adelaïda Ivanovna, whom he, of course, remembered, and in whom he had at one time been interested, and learning of the existence of Mitya, he intervened, in spite of all his youthful indignation and contempt for Fyodor Pavlovitch.
The story may have been exaggerated, yet it must have been something like the truth.
They [013] get on so well together!” That was the truth; the young man had an unmistakable in- fluence over his father, who positively appeared to be behaving more decently and even seemed at times ready to obey his son, though often extremely and even spitefully perverse.
Context
The History Of A Family . . . . . . . . . . . . He Gets Rid Of His Eldest Son 7 very fond of describing the three days of the Paris Revolution of February 1848, hinting that he himself had almost taken part in the fighting on the barricades. It came to pass that, settling permanently in Paris he, too, forgot the child, especially when the Revolution of February broke out, making an impression on his mind that he remembered all the rest of his life.
The History Of A Family . . . . . . . . . . . .
He Gets Rid Of His Eldest Son 7 very fond of describing the three days of the Paris Revolution of February 1848, hinting that he himself had almost taken part in the fighting on the barricades.
It came to pass that, settling permanently in Paris he, too, forgot the child, especially when the Revolution of February broke out, making an impression on his mind that he remembered all the rest of his life.
Many of the Church party regarded him unquestioningly as on their side.
It is maintained that it existed in ancient[024] times in Russia also, but through the calamities which overtook Russia—the Tartars, civil war, the interruption of relations with the East after the destruction of Constantinople—this institution fell into oblivion.
It was revived among us towards the end of last century by one of the great “ascetics,” as they called him, Païssy Velitchkovsky, and his disciples.
Reflection
theological
Examine how belief is tested by suffering, doubt, reason and human relationships.
philosophical
Notice where institutional justice agrees or conflicts with conscience and truth.
ethical
Compare the different ways characters respond to pain, loss and injustice.
ethical
Consider the relationship between thought, intention, action, guilt and shared responsibility.
philosophical
Consider whether freedom is presented as liberation, burden, temptation or moral obligation.
theological
Examine how belief is tested by suffering, doubt, reason and human relationships.
Your reading
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Your reading
Passages
“Father, show me that I must love you,’ and if that father is able to answer him and show him good reason, we have a real, normal, parental relation, not resting on mystical prejudice, but on a rational, responsible and strictly humanitarian basis.”
“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.”
A central Dostoevsky theme: meaning, suffering, and moral responsibility.
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The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for. A central Dostoevsky theme: meaning, suffering, and moral responsibility. The Brothers Karamazov
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