Most people all think that because Zosima was so holy, his body will not decay, and some miracle will happen. It shocks everybody when Zosima’s body begins to have a bad smell and decay very quickly after his death. His enemies rudely say this means Zosima was not a saint but an evil person in disguise: for instance, crazily tries to make demons go out of Zosima’s room. Alyosha is very, very shocked and feels even angry that God could let such a wise,holy and good man like Zosima be so humiliated. He feels doubtful and sad, and without thinking, says yes when Rakitin makes him visit Grushenka. Rakitin and Grushenka both wanted Alyosha to be “sinful” like them. But instead of his becoming defiled (dirty), Alyosha and Grushenka become comforted by each other. They become friends: Grushenka makes Alyosha have faith and hope again after Zosima’s death, and Alyosha helps the confused Grushenka spiritually. That night, he sees Zosima in a dream, and Zosima tells him he has done a good deed for Grushenka. He wakes up standing, and going outside, falls down and kisses the earth, like how Zosima died: “He did not know why he was hugging the earth, why he could not kiss it enough, why he longed (wanted) to kiss it all…He kissed it again and again, drenching (making wet) with his tears, vowing (promising) to love it always, always…He was a weak youth when he fell on the ground, and he rose a strong and determined fighter. He knew it…And never, never thereafter (after that) would Alyosha forget that moment.”
Dmitry tries all kinds of things wildly to try to pay Katerina the money he has stolen from her. No one will lend him the money, and he has nothing to sell. Finally he goes to Grushenka’s house, and when he finds she is not there, he rushes to his father’s house. There, he is caught by Gregory, an old servant, and panicking, he hits Gregory and leaves him bloody and . He goes back to Grushenka’s house, and is shocked when he hears that Grushenka went back to her old lover. He decides he must kill himself, but wants to see Grushenka one last time before he does. However, when he goes to see Grushenka, her “real lover” is actually a silly, old and ugly Pole who cheats at cards. When Grushenka sees him cheat and hears the coarse and mean things he says, she realizes she actually loves Dmitry, not the Pole. When he insults her, Dmitry locks him up in the room. They begin a wild party with fruit and wine he has bought with thousands of rubles he mysteriously and suddenly has gotten, and he and Grushenka plan their future together. Dmitry is still worried about paying Katerina back, and he is afraid Gregory might die. Suddenly, some officers rush in and arrest him. Fyodor Karamazov has been murdered, and they think Dmitry did it.
The police question Dmitry, and are very suspicious of him because he has suddenly gotten so much money, and because everybody said he had blood on his hands as soon as he came out of his father's house. They say he must stand on trial. Dmitry says that the money he had was gotten this way: when he had stolen money from Katerina, he had spent only half of it and sewed the rest secretly into a little bag, and when he had heard Grushenka had run off with the Pole, he had decided to just spend the rest of it in a wild party before he killed himself; however, nobody believes him, and he is put in jail.
Meanwhile, Alyosha has made friends with the schoolboys who had been throwing rocks at Ilyusha, and makes them be friends again. Alyosha helps Ilyusha’s family, and all the boys love him very much. He becomes friends with Kolya, a boy about two years older than Ilyusha, who is proud and “immensely enjoyed” bossing the younger boys around. Kolya is very impressed with Alyosha, and says, “…there’s only one person in the world who can tell Kolya Krasotkin what to do,” meaning Alyosha; he even cries, “Oh, Karamazov, we’ll become very close friends. And shall I tell you what I like most about you? It’s that you treat me just like an equal. But we are not equals—you are by far my superior (better than me)!” Kolya is very clever and knows it, but when he talks to Alyosha about what he thinks of life, Alyosha quickly sees that his “philosophy” is just lots of ideas mixed up together from Rakitin; however, Alyosha respectfully listens to him and tells him clearly what "he" thinks about life. A doctor that Katerina sent comes and says that Ilyusha will die, and Kolya finally begins to cry out loud at the sight of his sick, unhappy friend.
Alyosha visits Grushenka, who has changed spiritually. Even though she is still fiery-tempered and proud, there is a new gentleness in her. He also visits Lise, who has become extremely hysterical. She says she does not want to marry him, and often laughs and cries for no reason. She says she hates the world and wants to die. When he leaves, she slams the door on her finger and whispers, “I’m a vile, vile, vile (evil), creature.”
Alyosha meets Ivan, and tells Ivan that he knows that Ivan thinks that he is involved in the murder of his father, and says, “It was not you who killed father…it was not you, not you! God has sent me to tell you this.” Surprised and troubled, Ivan hurries angrily away.
Ivan has been visiting Smerdyakov, who keeps on saying he knows that Ivan secretly wanted Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov to die. Feeling worried and guilty, he goes to visit Katerina, who shows him a letter written by Dmitry when he was drunk, threatening to kill his father and get the 3,000 rubles. Ivan decides that Dmitry has killed his father, until he visits Smerdyakov again – and Smerdyakov openly admits that he killed Fyodor Pavlovich. Smerdyakov also says that he was able to do this because of Ivan’s ideas that “everything was allowed.” Ivan is horrified and so guilty he sees a devil that keeps on taunting him, and finally goes mad on the day Smerdyakov hangs himself.
The next day, the trial of Dmitry Karamazov opened in the court. Katerina tells the story of Dmitry helping her father and giving her money without saying anything bad about him. The clever lawyer, Fetyukovich, makes all the witnesses who think Dmitry is guilty look silly. Dmitry’s case seems to be going well until Ivan comes and says that he has murdered his father, which makes everybody confused. Then Katerina, horrified, jumps up and screams that Ivan is innocent, and shows everybody the letter Dmitry wrote to her, doing the very opposite of her first . Immediately after this she feels so guilty and sad for “betraying” Dmitry that she goes into hysterics. The prosecutor, Ippolit Kirrillovich, say that Dmitry is guilty, not crazy, and that he has done the worst sin – a son killing his own father. On the other hand, the lawyer Fetyukovich says that there is no real proof that Dmitry is guilty, and that Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov was never a real father to Dmitry; he also says that the only way for Dmitry to start a new life is to be set free. Almost everybody thinks Dmitry is innocent, feels sorry for him, and thinks he will be set free. However, the jury says he is guilty, and he is put into jail to wait for his to Siberia.
After the trial, Katerina takes Ivan to her house and nurses him. Alyosha asks her to see Dmitry, who has decided to escape, and she agrees. She goes to see Dmitry, and they forgive each other. Grushenka suddenly comes in and is shocked to see Katerina. Katerina asks her to forgive her, too, but Grushenka angrily says no. Katerina hurries away, and Alyosha, who has seen everything, goes to Ilyusha’s funeral – he has died. There, he says a speech to the schoolboys about love and forgiveness, asking them to remember this day always, and the book ends hopefully with the boys cheering, “Three cheers for Karamazov!”
Also called: Alyoshka, Alyoshenka, Alyoshechka, Alxeichick, Lyosha, Lyoshenka
Dostoevsky calls him the “hero” of "The Brothers Karamazov". At the beginning of the book, Dostoevsky describes him: