The Three Brothers and Interacting with Alyosha

Fyodor

Fyodor is a self-aggrandizing, detestable character that fathers Dmitry by his first wife and Ivan and Alyosha by his second wife. He is deeply sensual and perceptive to attractive women, and is completely unfaithful to both of his wives during marriage. His infidelity to his wives is matched in insolence only by his ignorance of his three sons, for whom he refuses to give money to, and even more importantly, remember. Despite his iniquitous nature, he develops relationships with both Ivan and Alyosha later in his life. Furthermore, his sentimental behavior during his drunken rants and his genuine development of feelings for both his sons are revealing that he does not exist completely without a heart, which, as the in-class, introductory sample from the novel indicates, becomes the crux of a later chapter – whether a person is capable of making immoral, sinful decisions without thinking twice.

Dmitry

Dmitry is the reckless, unconventional brother of the three. Born of the first mother, he had a series of four different guardians and was continually forgotten about by the majority of them. Dmitry did not have a full education like his other two brothers. He never finished high school. He spends rampantly and has several debt problems.

Ivan

Ivan is the older son of Fyodor’s second wife. He is sensitively aware of his dependence on the charity of others, particularly the charity of Yefim Petrovich Polenov, and is eager to earn his own way in life. Ivan is also exceedingly intelligent as a learner. Additionally, he proves himself to be shrewd in general matters, successfully fending for himself and attending university for two years without support. His ability to capture the love and attention of his father also marks the natural affinity people have towards him.

Alyosha

Alyosha, even more so than his brother, and by completely natural, uncalculated means, is well-loved by everyone he encounters. Money, the offenses of others, the charity of others, and other things that normally would yield an effect on a person, do not faze Alyosha. His only, perhaps, negative characteristic in the view of fellow men, is his abstemious nature, specifically with respect to sexual discussions that many of his male counterparts frequently indulge in.

The character I am most intrigued by is Alyosha. He is the most unconventional of three characters (followed by Fyodor), and is an extremely odd character in general. His stoic attitude in regard to the offenses of others, and the narrator’s testaments that this is a result of his nature and not an attempt to be “brave,” puzzles me the most. Alyosha is reminiscent of several of the enlightened characters in Siddhartha, who many people fail to understand and appear to be at peace with the world. Alyosha is described as being unusually accepting of all his surroundings. I would react most likely to meeting him as I would react to meeting any great mind. I would speak few words, and observe him as closely as I could, trying to understand him as I am trying to understand him through reading this novel. If it is not clear, this is a positive assessment of the character.