Independently Published

The Brothers Karamazov Independently Published

The opening of the novel introduces the Karamazov family and tells the story of their recent and distant past. The details of Fyodor Pavlovich's two marriages are recounted, as well as his indifference to raising his three children. The narrator also establishes the very diverse personalities of the three brothers and the circumstances that led them to return to their father's city. The first book concludes by describing the mysterious Eastern Orthodox tradition of the Elders. Alyosha has become a devotee of the Elder at the local monastery. Book Two begins when the Karamazov family arrives at the monastery so that the elderly Zosima can act as a mediator between Dmitri and his father in their dispute over the inheritance. It was the father's idea, apparently in jest, that the meeting should take place in such a sacred place in the presence of the famous Old Man. Fyodor Pavlovich's deliberately insulting and provocative behavior destroys any chance of conciliation, and the meeting only results in heightened hatred and scandal.