One should read The Brothers Karamazov for the challenge of approaching some of life’s most difficult questions
SANJEEVY RAJA
Birth of Dostoevsky the writer
In 1849, a young writer had been arrested along with other members of a secret utopian society, in the court the accused even expressed that there was no conspiracy behind their thoughts but everything was in vain, they were sentenced to death. Fortunately, the emperor changed the sentence but ordered that the reprieve be announced only at the last minute to the prisoners. After eight months, on 22nd December, the young writer along with other members were taken out to what
they thought would be their execution. They were driven to a parade ground in St. Petersburg. There the death sentence was announced, they were all given a cross to kiss. First, three of them were set against the posts to carry out the execution. They were summoned in threes; the young writer was in the second row and there was not more than a minute left to live.
The man who was a standing first in the first row, looked down to see his mother land one last time and expressed, “My life is going to be taken, it is going to end, I am going to be shot”. The order was going to be followed by the soldiers. The young writer who was standing in the second row, was 28 years old, he was in silence, he wasn’t showing any emotions but the young writer in his mind remembered his brother, at the last minute, it was him, him alone, and it was only then that he realized how much he loves him, then he also succeeded in bade farewell to his friends who were beside him.
Finally, the death sentence was repealed, they read to them that His Imperial Majesty granted them their lives. On hearing the grant, the first one in the first row knelt down to
the ground with heavy heart and kissed his motherland with tears. With shivers the young writer thought to himself, “To be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart — that’s what life is all about, that’s its task.”
Dostoevsky the writer was born at the moment with a courage to face this world, he believed he can live in this world, the actual sentence that he received was 8 years of penal servitude which the emperor reduced to four years followed by exile, conditions in the Siberian prison, where he served the first part of his sentence, were much worse but he knew life is a gift to be lived, celebrated and cherished with love. His life wasn’t easy at all even after leaving the prison but the same life has become the subject of The Brothers Karamazov and his other masterpieces like The Idiot, Crime and Punishment, Notes from Underground, etc.
The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov does have moments of humour which erupts at the most unexpected moments but there is greed, lust, suffering and known darkness of unknown depth in souls. The Brothers Karamazov is more than an account of murder, investigation, trial; whose story is told to extract readers senses. Dimitri
Karamazov, the son of his father’s first marriage, is sensual, impulsive, a Hedonist, he enjoys gambling, women and alcohol but at the same time he believes in God. So constantly he has the internal conflict in him, he has two half bothers who equally are his opposites: Ivan, the atheist intellectual student, and Alyosha who is a compassionate young novice who wants to be a priest. But their father Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, the “wicked and sentimental” who haven’t raised them is the victim of the murder. And there is Smerdyakov who is rumoured to be Fyodor Pavlovich’s illegitimate son. The conflicts within this family and in them are tied in the first half of the novel, the consequences
of their passion and suffering are released in
the second half of the novel. Again, this novel
is book of great contrast, you have horror
and suffering on one side, and you have two beams of light on the other side that say how
to fix the world. The greater part of the novel is made up of dialogues and monologues hence Dostoevsky’s characters emerge independent
of him. Dostoevsky introduces the readers his poetic flights, indefinite expressions, wandering syntax in moments of pain and suffering. The coexistence of faith and unbelief is prevailed
in the novel but its artistic expression appears in the opposed figures of elder Zosima and the Grand Inquisitor. The Grand Inquisition is
an important part of the novel as it expresses ideas about human nature and freedom and its fundamental ambiguity. Each major character in the novel has a distinct way of speaking because their narration is from a personal angle. One of the major Character in the novel is Alyosha, who is not much of a speaker but he is a hearer of words, a messenger with a compelling directness which comes from humility. Memory becomes the motif of the final chapter for one of the few reasons,Alyosha is saved at his darkest moment by his memory of the elder Zosima, as Zosima was saved by the memory of his brother’s voice. Finally, one should read the Brothers Karamazov for the challenge of approaching some of life’s most difficult questions.
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