Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov

In The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky displays how a paternal relationship can affect a child’s outcome. Fyodor Pavlovich bore four sons of three different women, Dmitri, Ivan, Alyosha, and Smerdyakov. The four sons’ upbringings were not ideal as it fell upon other people, like servants and distant relatives to raise them , instead of their real parents. Due to Pavlovich’s absence in his son’s lives, the boys were raised in turmoil without a solid parental figure to lean on for support. Despite being raised in a tumultuous environment, they grew up and became independent individuals who made separate lives for themselves. Eventually they were forced to interact more due to their relationship with Fyodor. The middle son, Ivan Karamazov, …show more content…
Ivan does not necessarily have the fondest of feelings towards Dmitri, but he always comes back to him in the end. Even though Ivan is not as close with Dmitri as with his full brother, Alyosha, he still cares about him. Whenever Dmitri needed help, he could rely on Ivan to drop whatever he was doing and come home. Their relationship is not full of love, but they do care even if they would rather not admit it. Ivan came to Dmitri’s side when he was in a disagreement with Fyodor, and when he was wrongly arrested and convicted of murder. “Let us say a word or two of Ivan’s feelings to his brother Dmitri. He positively disliked him; at most, felt sometimes a compassion for him, and even that was mixed with great contempt, almost repugnance. Mitya’s whole personality, even his appearance, was extremely unattractive to him… yet he went to see Mitya on the first day of his arrival” (Dostoyevsky 561). Even though Ivan felt this way towards Dmitri, possibly because he reminded him of his father, he still went to hear what his brother had to say. He even offered the possibility of an escape, even when he believed in his guilt. Later, Ivan learns that Smerdyakov is the real murderer and reveals these facts at the trial. They both experienced a very similar childhood so they both understand the flaws of one another. They do not have to like each other in order to be willing to help out when needed. Ivan did not have the best brotherly relationship with Dmitri, but he did have a better one with