- Views on The Brothers Karamazov -

On a letter to A. N. Lyubimov, written in 1879, Dostoevsky talks about elder Zosima. This letter is of invaluable help to anyone whoīs read the book, for the author takes the responsability for the views expressed by his character:

"Many of the teachings of elder Zosima (or should I rather say, his way of expressing them), are inherent to his personality, i. e., in the manner in which the character is portrayed. And although I fully share the thoughts he expresses, I were to express them myself, in my own name, I would do so in some other language, and in another form. But he could not express himself in any other language, nor in any other spirit than the ones I have ascribed to him. Otherwise, I would have failed to create a live literary character. This is true, for example, of Zosimaīs discourses on what is a monk, or on servants and masters, or wether one can sit in judgement over another man, etc. I have modeled this charcater and figure on the ancient Russian monks and holymen: along with their profound humility they had limitless and naive hopes for Russiaīs future, for her moral and even political destiny."

On a letter toN. A. Lyubimov, written on August 1880, Dostoevsky refers to Ivanīs hallucinations:

But I assure you, I was not just trying to be original! I feel, however, duty-bound to tell you that I checked with doctors (several of them) long ago and they confirm that not only nightmares but also hallucinations are possible, before bouts of "white fever". My hero, of course, has hallucinations, too, but he confuses them with his nightmares. Itīs a question not only of a physical (pathological) phenomenon, in which a person begins to lose, at times, the ability to distinguish between the real and the imaginary (something that happens at least to everyone once is his life), but also of a psychological trait that is in keeping the keeping with the character of my hero: Although he denies the reality of the apparition, as soon as the apparition vanishes, he insists it was real. Suffering as he is from his inability to believe, he at the same time wishes (uncounsciously) that the apparition should not be a figment of his imagination, but something that was actually there.
But why am I telling you all this? You will judge for yourself when you read, highly esteemed Nikolay Alekseyevich. You must, however, forgive me my devil: It is only a minor devil, not Satan with his "singed wings."

For those who like to remember every single sigh and comma a certain character utters - do you remember the story of the onion, told by Gruchenka? If you donīt, itīs on part III, chapter III:

"Much esteemed Nikolay Alekseyevich, I beg you to be specially thorough when correcting the proofs concerning the legend of the onion . This is a jewel I wrote down as it was told to me by a peasent woman, and certainly itīs the first time it has been ever written down. At least, I had never heard of it before myself."

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