I recently finished Part I of The Brothers Karamazov by, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Crude Fyodor Karamazov can’t seem to say no to a glass of liquor and his four sons: Dmitry (who comes across to me as being turbulent, thought well meaning), Ivan (the intellectual atheist, who ironically writes texts in supporting religion), Aleksey (the religious, quiet, introverted brother who wants his family to get along), and Smerdyakov (the bastard half-brother who is currently weirding me out).
An idea that I’m musing over in Part I is the concept of the father-figure. Fyodor is neglectful of his sons and he mistreated his two wives. Fyodor’s neglect is evident in the brother’s behaviors and even though they all have someone who attempted to care for them, love and nurture from a parent is invaluable. I’ll be curious to see how this continues to develop throughout the rest of the novel, especially since it’s known going into this novel that Fyodor will be murdered.
Dostoyevsky spends a lot of time providing background information on each character and their personalities. I think one reason he does this is because he’s showing how each son carries specific personality traits that can be traced back to Fyodor and his wives. How much of our personalities are engrained in us and even if we try to rectify some of our issues, can we ever really escape genetic dispositions? I’m particularly interested in Aleksey; he’s seen as the innocent, kind brother and yet the narrator is constantly harkening to something dark bubbling beneath the surface.
“You’re a dark horse Alyosha, my lad, I agree that you’re a saint, but you’re a dark horse, and the devil only knows the things you’re thought about, the things you know about!”
The Brothers Karamazov is known for its religious and philosophical debates. In Part I, Dostoyevsky gives the reader plenty to chew on, mainly about religion, the role of the church, socialism, and the Church vs. the State. I have to take a moment and applaud Dostoyevsky for his ability to write debates and play Devil’s Advocate. It’s easy for long-winded conversations, in which there are literally pages of one character speaking with no paragraph breaks, to be tedious. This is not tedious at all! It’s so readable and engaging that once I’m sucked in, I’m flying through the pages.
Dostoyevsky makes several jabs at socialism. Dostoyevsky was imprisoned in Siberia and his time there really helped solidified his views on socialism. I actually studied Marxism in school and I’m actually in the process revisiting his writings (a slow, arduous process as Marx makes me cringe). Dostoyevsky would argue that socialism dismisses man’s spiritual nature and focuses on man’s material needs. Though in The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoyevsky does critique religion and the church, he also argues that the church provides society with a moral compass and a means for the problematic in society to be rehabilitated.
“If Christ’s Church did not exist at present there would be nothing to restrain the criminal from his wrongdoing, or even any punishment to follow it…”
Marx believed that religion caused man to be alienated from himself. “Man was not the personification of spirit; rather spirit was the thought process taking place in man.” Marx was an atheist, however there are studies that actually argue that he wasn’t atheist, but rather, he was a Satanist; go read his poetry, it’s beyond dark. So, Dostoyevsky’s comments about how socialism destroys society’s spirituality are spot on when you consider Marxism socialism. I like Dostoyevsky’s balanced arguments; he knew what it was like it be the considered an enemy of the state for going against the narrative.
So far, I’m really enjoying The Brothers Karamazov. Reading Dostoyevsky is like having a conversation with a relatable genius who going to force you to think for yourself. I’ve also come up with an OG name for Dostoyevsky: D-Sky Fresh (with the help of my friend Rebekah). Once an author gets a rapper name, they’ve become a favorite.
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