He is special because of his very deep faith in God, his unselfishness, and his love for all humans. He refuses (does not) to judge people, and often is very to other people’s feelings. He is gentle, modest (not proud), and very kind, but never foolish or naïve, and because of this almost everybody likes and trusts him. “The gift of making people love him was inherent in him; he gained people’s affection directly and effortlessly; it was part of his nature.” Dmitry calls him “the cherub”; Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov “…had come to love his son deeply and sincerely; in fact, his feelings for Alyosha were such as a man like him could never have expected to have for anyone.” He says to Alyosha, “…with you alone I feel like a decent person at certain moments…”, and that Alyosha is his “only true son…the only one I’m not afraid of.” Ivan says that he likes Alyosha because he has strong beliefs, and is one of the only people he talks really sincerely to. While Ivan is horrified at children’s sufferings and says that this is one of the reasons why he cannot believe in God, Alyosha actively helps and loves children, like Kolya and Ilyusha. He is almost a symbol of love and forgiveness, and represents the spiritual part of mankind. He influences the schoolboys and teaches them what Zosima taught him.
Also called: Dmitri, Mitka, Mitenka, Mitri Fyodorovich
He is described as “unruly as a boy and as a young man…irresponsible (not responsible), violent, passionate (with strong emotions), unruly, impatient…” He has Alyosha’s good heart, but his father’s sensuality. He is usually controlled by his strong emotions, like when he runs madly after Grushenka even after he had engaged with, and sincerely even loved, Katerina. He is a symbol of humans and their struggle between good and evil (bad), and more especially the bodily part of mankind. The prosecutor in the book says, "...Dmitry Karamazov represents Russia directly, as it is today...she is all there, our old mother Russia; we can smell her! Oh, like him, we are such a...sincere people; we are an amazing mixture of good and evil; we love enlightenment and Schiller, but we also love to rage and storm in and to tear out the beards of our drunken drinking companions." He becomes a better and stronger man in the end, and this shows the writer’s belief in hope for humankind.
Also called: Vanka, Vanechka
The brother of Alyosha by the same mother, Sofia, Ivan is perhaps one of the most complicated characters in the story. He is an extremely clever student, (it is probable that he represents, in the novel, the intellectual part of mankind) and is proud and filled with doubt. Dmitry calls him “silent as the grave.” He cannot believe in God, or thinks that if God is real, he must be a very mean God who doesn’t care about humans. He says that “everything is possible” – there is no “good” or “bad.” However, he is disgusted at the life of his father, which logically is right according to his beliefs. He is too proud to follow his own happiness by acting on his own love for Katerina. His final madness shows the novel’s rejection of his beliefs. The sad problem with Ivan is that “his head is not in harmony with his heart”: with his feelings he loves God’s world, although with his reason he can’t accept it. Ivan has both a strong sense of justice, like Alyosha, and is unhappy at the suffering of children; but, unlike Alyosha, who actively makes friends with and helps children, Ivan does not do anything about it. It is unclear what will happen to him: but the novel ends so cheerfully it suggests he will probably find some way of spiritual redemption.
The father of Dmitry, Ivan, Alyosha, and probably Smerdyakov. Lustful, vulgar, lying, coarse, and without caring about who he hurts, he is extremely selfish and cares only about his own desires. He is more afraid of Ivan than Dmitry, but he likes Alyosha, even though he likes to tease and scare him. He does not care much about his sons or his wives. Joyce Carol Oates describes him as "...a certain perverse (strange) blend (mix) of the and the spiritual, a brilliant comic creation who cannot sit down to drink without questioning the meaning of life." However, together with his lustfulness, there is a surprising simpleness in him:
Also called: Grusha, Grushka
Betrayed when she was young by a lover, she comes to town and makes almost all the men in the town fall in love with her. Dmitry and Fyodor Karamazov both love her and hate each other because of her. The book says “…in all fairness, it must be said, she was very, very beautiful and her beauty was that typical Russian beauty which inspires (creates) passion in so many men… She was twenty-two and she looked exactly her age.” She is very clever, for instance. She saves up money very well, proud, and actually much purer than most people think. She likes to torture both Dmitry and his father for fun, to laugh at them, and to have revenge for the hurt she received from her first lover; she can also be quite cruel, like when she lied to Katerina, hurting and insulting her. However, a hidden gentleness, sincerity, and kindness inside her opens up and begins to grow after she becomes friends with Alyosha. Alyosha said, “I expected to find a wicked soul…But instead I have found a true sister, a treasure, a loving soul…”
Silent, cunning. Smerdyakov is the son of an idiot woman named “Stinking Lizaveta,” which is where his name comes from. He was brought up by the servants, Martha and Gregory, and later became Fyodor Karamazov’s cook. He has epilepsy and is very mean, sometimes showing his evil openly, and sometimes pretending to be very humble and afraid. He sometimes plays the guitar to Maria, the landlady’s daughter. He has great respect for Ivan, and Ivan’s beliefs strongly influence his murder of Mr. Karamazov. He is Ivan's "shadow", and puts into action all Ivan's secret thoughts and wishes. He hangs himself later.
Smerdyakov is almost Ivan's "double" at times; when Alyosha asks him politely if he knows where Dmitry is, he replies coldly, "It's not as if I were his keeper" (p. 269). A few pages later, Ivan says, "'You are always harping upon it! What have I to do with it? Am I my brother Dmitri's keeper?'" (p. 275) Later, when Fyodor Pavlovich is drunkenly talking about how he made Alyosha's mother, Sofya, become unhappy by insulting her God, Ivan angrily reminds him that Sofya was his mother, too. Fyodor exclaims in surprise:
It is possible that he was thinking that Ivan was Lizaveta's son - perhaps he even confused Ivan with Smerdyakov himself.
Also called: Katka, Katenka
An extremely proud, beautiful, and sensitive young woman who is Dmitry’s fiancée. She has a pale oval face, black eyes, and is very tall – even taller than Grushenka. She tries to pretend to be a martyr and by being very loyal and suffering a lot, wants everybody to see the evil of the people around her. She loves Ivan, but does not admit it, even to herself, until the end of the novel.
The kind, loving, “rather cheerful” and wise elder who is Alyosha’s mentor and teacher before he dies. His real and sincere goodness shows the faults of other people – even the very good Alyosha is embarrassed and awkward around Lise and his father, while Zosima is quiet, kind, and calm. He sees people clearly. Alyosha is influenced by his teachings and uses them to teach the schoolboys he becomes friends with. It is probable that his character was inspired by Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk. Dostoevsky wrote to poet A. Maikov, "To you alone I make this confession...I am going to portray (picture) the real Tikhon of Zadonsk, whom I long ago received into my heart with real delight." When he first wrote "The Brothers Karamazov", the name "Tikhon" was inside, and was later replaced by "Elder Zosima".