The Brothers Karamazov

This section covers the following chapters: “Father Ferapont,” “At His Father’s,” “He Gets Involved with Schoolboys,” “At the Khokhlakovs’,” “Strain in the Drawing Room,” “Strain in the Cottage,” and “And in the Fresh Air.”

Father Zosima’s illness is worse, and he nears death. His friends from the monastery, including Alyosha, gather around him. He speaks to them at length, and though his speech is mostly incoherent due to his weakness, he reminds them to love one another; to not be prideful; to not look down on nonbelievers; that monks are not morally superior to others; and that all humans share in the responsibility for the sin of the world.

Later, Alyosha thinks of how the religious community is expecting something miraculous to follow Zosima’s death; because the elder is so holy, people assume this holiness will somehow spectacularly manifest. The monastery’s Father Ferapont, however, does not even visit Zosima’s bedside. Ferapont has never liked Zosima; while Zosima believes faith is about finding God in the world and embracing that living divine presence, Ferapont believes faith should be centered on a fear of Satan. He claims that he sees devils and that he is visited by the Holy Spirit. Alyosha later returns to Zosima’s bedside, and Zosima tells him to go to his family, so Alyosha returns home.