The Brothers Karamazov

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1879

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Part 2, Book 6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2, Book 6 Summary: “The Russian Monk”

This section covers the following chapters: “The Elder Zosima and His Visitors,” “From the Life of the Hieromonk and Elder Zosima,” and “From Talks and Homilies of the Elder Zosima.”

Alyosha returns to the monastery to visit Zosima, who is still weak but now sitting up and alert. Others are also in the room talking with the elder. Zosima urges Alyosha to go back to his family because doing so may prevent something terrible from happening. He also explains to Alyosha that earlier, when Zosima had bowed to Dmitri, he’d done so to acknowledge Dmitri’s suffering; Dmitri’s face had had an ominous expression, and it had worried Zosima.

The narrator explains that Zosima dies soon after this conversation, but the narrator first explains that before Zosima’s death, Alyosha combines Zosima’s last words with notes from earlier stories from his life and homilies to create a portrait of the elder’s life and thoughts. The chapter “From the Life of the Hieromonk and Elder Zosima,” describes Zosima’s life as a child and young man and how these experiences led him to become a monk:

When Zosima was a child, he had an older brother Markel who died at the age of 17. Zosima remarks that when Markel was slowly dying, he began to view religion differently and talk about God and spirituality frequently. Markel once told the family’s servants that “if God were to have mercy on me and let me live, I would begin serving you, for we must all serve each other” (289), and these words resounded with Zosima for the rest of his life.

Zosima’s mother sent him to the Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg. He fell in love with a young woman, then learned that she was already married. He challenged her husband to a duel. Before the duel, he felt shame, and realized he felt ashamed because he had beaten Afanasy, his servant, the day before. Remembering his brother Markel’s words to the servants, he begged for Afanasy’s forgiveness, falling to his knees before him. Afanasy forgave him. Everyone was appalled, saying this was “disgraceful” (299). Zosima ended up quitting the military and decided to become a monk.

Zosima met a local official named Mikhail, who asked Zosima how he was able to face public scorn. Zosima told him about what happened with Afanasy and that this made it easier for him. Mikhail revealed that he had a “secret purpose” (302) in visiting Zosima but didn’t explain until a month later when he told Zosima that he’d murdered a woman 14 years earlier. He hadn’t been caught, and he’d tried to escape his guilt by being a good husband, father, and philanthropist—but the more respect he gained from others, the greater his suffering. He told Zosima he had considered suicide. He was terrified of confessing.

The next day, the official confessed, and no one believed him. They thought he had “gone mad,” and his wife came to Zosima and angrily told him that this was his fault. The official died shortly after confessing, and he thanked Zosima for giving him the strength to confess. He also told Zosima that the night before he confessed, he was very close to murdering Zosima. He told him: “[Y]ou have never been closer to death” than that moment (312).

In the notes that Alyosha takes, there are Zosima’s words: “Fathers and teachers, I ask myself: ‘What is hell?’ And I answer thus: ‘The suffering of being no longer able to love’” (322). He is uncertain whether a material hell exists. The narrator explains that much of the notes are fragmentary and that before Zosima can finish his stories, he suddenly feels a pain in his chest and dies.

Part 2, Book 6 Analysis

This discussion of Zosima’s life journey presents a complex portrait of his life and how his spiritual faith arose from his experiences of loss and grief (at the death of his brother Markel). Zosima’s youthful hedonistic, wild days in the military sound very similar to Dmitri’s military days, but he resolved to become a monk; the character arc is drastic and unexpected.

Zosima’s discussion of Scripture shows the influence that his biblical knowledge had on his understanding of God and faith. He discusses at length the Book of Job and how this story in particular inspired his deep faith in the mystery of God. He discusses that the easiest way to plant the “seed” of faith in people is by reading to them from Scripture (294). He says that in the story of Job, Job’s strong faith in the face of great suffering reveals how the “eternal” nature of God is shown in the temporary “earthly image” (292). He sees in the example of Job’s unshakeable faith an example of God’s mystery, but also his goodness and mercy by providing Job with a happy life after his long period of suffering and allowing him to fulfill his destiny. Though Job lost his family, Zosima explains that God made it possible for “old grief” to “gradually [pass] into quiet, tender joy” (292). Zosima is connecting Job’s resilience despite his grief to show how suffering can strengthen one’s faith in God. For Zosima, suffering is a part of every human life, but faith provides a respite from this suffering by showing humans that earth is not a vale of tears but a “paradise” (290), as his brother Markel stated before he passed away.

Zosima’s wild youth and love for his brother was the foundation for his wisdom about human nature: Because he himself had been a sinner and confessed his sins before everyone, and had then been shamed even for “the most righteous act” (301), he could understand those who came to visit him. He could see how Markel’s loving nature allowed him to understand the nature of God, and he constantly refers to Markel’s comments before his death.

The local official’s and Zosima’s conversation about the meaning of life reveals that Zosima believes isolation is a form of “spiritual suicide” (303). The local official’s isolation from his family and community is due to his secret guilt over murdering a woman. The hell that he is living in reveals the terrible effect that immoral acts have on the human heart. His fear of humiliation prevents him from forming loving relationships with anyone, as he feels completely cut off from the rest of humanity due to the weight on his conscience. Zosima’s action of stopping the duel, despite the scorn and contempt he would face, inspired the local official to reach out to him to find the strength to leave the hell he had created for himself and rejoin humanity.

Zosima’s chance meeting with the local official creates a parallel with the story of the Ivan, Dmitri, and Fyodor, as the local official is a murderer who wishes to redeem himself. The story of the local official highlights the level of fear he feels, to the point that he nearly murders Zosima to escape Zosima’s judgment and live without anyone knowing his secret shame. The official tells Zosima on his death bed: “[T]he thought that you were alive and knew everything and were judging me would […] have been unbearable. I hated you […] But my Lord defeated the devil in my heart” (312). The story of how the official overcomes the evil in his heart by being honest with everyone, rather than covering up his crime with yet another murder, highlights the nature of immorality and the way that immoral actions compound upon themselves. This is relevant to Ivan’s contemplations as he uses his intellect to justify killing his father, for “everything is permitted” if there is no God.

Zosima’s experiences give him the wisdom to understand his fellow humans, as he is not perfect and is aware of the mistakes he made in his youth. He has seen the depths of suffering that evil creates through his encounter with Mikhail, the local official. He holds on to the love he felt for his departed brother, Markel, throughout his life, and cherishes the wisdom of Markel’s words, which are what initially lead him to the path of goodness and away from the path of evil. This gives him the empathy and compassion that he uses to inspire others to follow God.