Dostoevsky and the Brothers Karamazov

The book begins with a survey of all of Dostoevsky’s important works up until the time he began writing The Brothers Karamazov in order to suggest not only the development of his artistic maturity but the development of his religious thought, which culminates in The Brothers Karamazov. The following chapters analyze the major characters, including Dmitri, Ivan, and Alyosha, as well as lesser characters like Father Zossima, Old Karamazov, Rakitin, Captain Snegiryov, Katerina, Smerdyakov, and Grushenka in order to suggest the powerful dialectic in the novel which becomes a ringing defense of Christianity. Such repeated statements as Ivan’s conclusion that “If there is no God-and-immortality, there is no virtue and everything is lawful” and “man is not good enough to get along without God” are representative of Dostoevsky’s beliefs and are illustrated in the plot of the novel time and again, including the famous Legend of the Grand Inquisitor.

The book also includes a chapter entitled “Comrade Dostoevsky,” which describes how badly Dostoevsky fared during the Soviet regime, and it ends with the chapter entitled “Dostoevsky and the Contemporary World,” which suggests the relevance of his thinking to the 21st century.