The Brothers Karamazov

The Brothers Karamazov

"The Brothers Karamazov" is a very well written novel. Fyodor Dostoevsky has a way of writing about his characters so that you understand them. In the beginning of the story, all the characters are described briefly and in a way may have even seemed shallow. But the further the story goes; you also get deeper into the characters thoughts and feelings.

Alyosha in the beginning is obviously religious and a completely genuine person. But the author doesn't go into great detail until later on in the story. This also goes with the rest of the characters. We as readers do not get the full effect of the characters mindsets until the later chapters of the novel.

For example, Fyodor Pavlovich is terribly crude, greedy, foul and vulgar. But in no way did I think that he could sink to a lower level. Not until the chapter titled Lizaveta, then Fyodors' true personality really comes through. To do anything sexual with a mentally challenged person, who cannot think for herself, that is seriously low, very messed up. The author of this novel really develops the characters well. They in a way grow with you as you get to know them better. This is very strategic, because when people first become friends, you don't really get to know them right away. You learn from them and get to know them little by little; slowly you start to find out all the details about them. And this is the way that Fyodor wanted to make the readers feel like. Like they really know the characters.

The reason that Fyodor describes the characters so well is so the reader can understand them. There are so many love triangles that go on in this novel and so many evil deceptions that it may become hard to follow and may get to be confusing. For instance, at first, Dmitri is in love with Grushenka, but then he falls for Katerina, and then Ivan loves Katerina. But then Fyodor loves Grushenka and then Dmitri loves her again. It all sounds very confusing, but when you understand the character, it makes a lot more sense. This is why the characters are so well described and developed along the course of the novel, so that you don't get lost.

This impacts me as a reader because I got to know the characters a lot. I got to know Alyosha and relate to him. We are both religious and I understand what he was going through. This is why I liked this novel.