The Question
Who killed Fyodor Karamazov, and what happens to his sons? The book answers the first question about eighty percent of the way through. Then the court does not believe the answer. This is the ending of The Brothers Karamazov explained, so it spoils everything, including the last page.
I am using Constance Garnett’s translation, Project Gutenberg ebook number twenty-eight thousand and fifty-four. I read Smerdyakov’s confession, Ivan’s testimony and the verdict at the trial, and most of the epilogue. I did not read the lawyers’ speeches in full, so for those I go by the chapter titles and what the book says around them.
The Short Answer
Here is the short answer, and then I will earn it. Smerdyakov, Fyodor’s servant, says he killed him. Mitya, the eldest son, is convicted of the murder anyway. Ivan, who may have set it going, falls into a brain fever. Ilusha, a schoolboy, dies. And the book ends with Alyosha, the youngest brother, speaking to a group of boys at a stone.
What Mitya Did That Night
Start with what Mitya did, because he did a lot. He is desperate for three thousand roubles and he thinks Grushenka is at his father’s. He climbs the fence into the garden and goes to the window.
He taps the secret signal that means Grushenka has come, twice slowly and three times quickly. Fyodor leans out and says her name. Mitya sees that his father is alone, and a rush of hatred makes him pull a brass pestle from his pocket.
Then the scene turns. Old Grigory has woken, seen the garden gate open, and chased a running shadow to the fence. He grabs Mitya’s leg and shouts parricide. Mitya hits him on the head with the pestle and drops it on the path. He tries to wipe the blood with a handkerchief and runs. He says afterwards that God was watching over him. He thinks he may have killed Grigory. He did not.
What the Police Found
Fyodor is found dead in his bedroom with his skull battered in. An envelope that held three thousand roubles for Grushenka lies torn open and empty on the floor, with a pink ribbon beside it. The pestle is found on the garden path, in a very visible place.
Mitya is arrested at Mokroe the same night. That is why he looks guilty. He had been hunting for three thousand roubles all evening, he had spoken of killing his father, and the brass pestle lay on the garden path.
Smerdyakov’s Version
Now the confession. In the third and last interview, Smerdyakov tells Ivan that the killer was him, using Ivan’s own words. He fell down the cellar steps in a sham fit, he says, so he would be out of the way. He expected Mitya to come and perhaps kill his father, and had told him about the knocks.
When Mitya did not do it, Smerdyakov went to the window and tapped the same signal himself. Fyodor opened the door, believing Grushenka had come. Smerdyakov says he picked up an iron paper-weight from the table and hit the old man on the head three times. Then he took the money from behind the ikons, tore the envelope and left it on the floor, so it would look like Mitya.
He hides the money in an apple tree, collects it later, and brings it to Ivan in a roll in his stocking. Three thousand roubles, he says, and all of it is there.
Ivan’s Part
Why does Smerdyakov tell Ivan? Because he says Ivan is the real killer. He claims Ivan’s going away was a signal that he would not stop it. Ivan first calls it a lie, then asks for every detail. In the end he says he may have had a secret desire for his father’s death, and swears he did not urge him on.
Smerdyakov also says Ivan is more like Fyodor than any of his children, with the same soul. That stings, because Ivan has just admitted the wish. Then Smerdyakov says Ivan taught him that everything is lawful. He says he no longer believes in God and does not want the money. Then he hangs himself that night, leaving a note that he ended his own life of his own will.
Ivan goes home and meets a visitor who is only in his mind, a devil. In my reading, the devil is Ivan’s own doubt. It says what he already half believes.
The Trial
At the trial, Ivan steps forward as a witness. He pulls out a roll of notes and says Smerdyakov did it and he incited him. He has no proof. The only witness he can name is the devil, and by the end he is removed, ill.
Katerina Ivanovna then produces a letter that Mitya wrote at a tavern, in which he describes killing his father. She means it to save Ivan, whom she thinks is sacrificing himself. In the book’s words she betrayed Mitya and herself.
The prosecutor builds a long case. The defense lawyer, Fetyukovitch, argues that there was no money, no robbery, and no murder by his client, and tells the jury it is better to acquit ten guilty men than punish one innocent man. They are out for exactly one hour. The verdict is guilty on every question, with no recommendation of mercy. Mitya cries out that he is innocent and forgives Katya.
Does the Confession Hold Up?
Is Smerdyakov telling the truth? Look at what fits. He knew about the knocks, and so did Fyodor. He knew where the money was hidden, and says he moved it behind the ikons. The envelope was opened and left on the floor, which he says was on purpose, because Mitya would have torn it open in a hurry.
He also has an answer for the one odd fact. Grigory says he saw the garden door open before he was struck. Smerdyakov says that is only Grigory’s fancy, and calls him an obstinate mule. And the roll of three thousand roubles is on the table in front of Ivan.
What does not fit is proof. Ivan has none. Smerdyakov even warns him that no one will believe it, since Ivan has plenty of money of his own and could have taken it from his cash-box. That is exactly what happens.
Why the Jury Says Guilty
Why does the jury still convict? The narrator says the prosecutor’s speech gathers up everything the earlier witnesses said, and one of its chapters is called The Galloping Troika. Then comes the late evidence: the letter, and an ill witness who has no proof.
The crowd shows you the mood. Before the verdict, one voice in the hall guesses they will acquit Mitya, and says he will drink for ten days. After it, many men seemed pleased, and the ones who wanted acquittal seemed crushed. One man says the peasants stood firm. In the book’s own words, almost everyone had expected a recommendation of mercy at least.
The Epilogue
The epilogue is three chapters. Ivan lies unconscious in Katerina’s house, and doctors cannot promise he will live. She and Alyosha plan Mitya’s escape, to be carried out on the road to Siberia. Ivan had already left Katerina money, nearly ten thousand roubles, for the plan before he fell ill. Alyosha does not oppose it. He tells Mitya he is innocent and that the cross of punishment is not for him if he is not ready.
Katerina comes to Mitya’s room in the hospital. She says love is over, but lets what might have been come true for one minute. Then Grushenka walks in, and Katerina says forgive me. Grushenka answers that they are both full of hatred, and says if Katerina saves him she will forgive her everything.
Ilusha and the Stone
Ilusha died two days after Mitya was sentenced. At the funeral, Kolya asks Alyosha if his brother is guilty, and Alyosha says the valet killed him. In the room, Alyosha notices there is no smell of decay from the boy’s body. I read that as a quiet echo of what happened to the elder.
At the stone, Alyosha tells the boys that the best education is a good memory, especially of childhood and home, and that if they keep one good memory they will be safe to the end of their days. Kolya asks if they will all rise again and see each other. Alyosha says yes. The book ends with the boys shouting hurrah for Karamazov.
What the Book Leaves Open
The book leaves three things open. Does Mitya escape? The novel does not say. Does Ivan recover? The doctors will not promise. And is Smerdyakov telling the truth? The book treats him as truthful, since Alyosha says it to Kolya as a fact, but he is dead and only the money and Ivan’s word are left.
Here is my reading, and it is an opinion. The mystery is not the point. The book answers the whodunit with a confession and then spends a whole fifth on a court getting it wrong. What it leaves us with is Alyosha and the boys, a promise to remember one good thing.
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