Dmitry's Treatment of his Father

Dmitry’s treatment of his father is scoundrel-like, yet taking into account his father’s iniquitous nature, and the effect that this has yielded on Dmitry, it is difficult to full-heartedly call Dmitry a scoundrel. His perfervid emotions of anger and hate directed at his father are more tragic than dastardly, thus it is not appropriate to characterize Dmitry as a scoundrel in relation to his actions against his father. Dmitry’s actions are tragic as he is a character born of original sin and he has a direct rivalry with his father.

The nefarious Fyodor is representative of all that is selfish, immoral, and iniquitous, as a result, those around him or those who he yields the greatest influence on are his sons including Dmitry. The fact that Dmitry has progressed away from the antics of his father is a feat to be commended not demeaned. Although Dmitry should not seek out his father primarily as a source of money, the precedence his father has set him is a poor one, and Dmitry cannot be held completely responsible for his actions. Yet, he should still strive to be more like his brother Alyosha with respect to trying to bring a truth and morality in his father instead of rebelling against the disgusting nature of his father.

Dmitry’s selfish and sinful acts against his father are further made more understandable, not necessarily right, by the rivalry he maintains with him over Gruschenka. Both he and his father are infatuated by the same scandalous woman, and as most men naturally do, completely disregard understanding attempts to understand the other man. Although Dmitry’s disrespect toward his father is still wrong, considering his situation, he is unequivocally not a scoundrel.

Dmitry is not a scoundrel as his level of self-concern has not reached the level of a scoundrel, which would be the level that Fyodor is at. Although he, like his father, is at the same stage of recognizing what it is that he done wrong, he, unlike his father, repents for his wrongs deeply. Fyodor, on the other hand, pains himself more by committing even more wrongs in attempt to appease his oppressed feelings of guilt.