An excerpt from the original text.(complete · 2059 words)
he Sensualists
Grigory and Smerdyakov ran into the room after Dmitri. They had been
struggling with him in the passage, refusing to admit him, acting on
instructions given them by Fyodor Pavlovitch some days before. Taking
advantage of the fact that Dmitri stopped a moment on entering the room
to look about him, Grigory ran round the table, closed the double doors
on the opposite side of the room leading to the inner apartments, and
stood before the closed doors, stretching wide his arms, prepared to
defend the entrance, so to speak, with the last drop of his blood.
Seeing this, Dmitri uttered a scream rather than a shout and rushed at
Grigory.
“Then she’s there! She’s hidden there! Out of the way, scoundrel!”
He tried to pull Grigory away, but the old servant pushed him back.
Beside himself with fury, Dmitri struck out, and hit Grigory with all
his might. The old man fell like a log, and Dmitri, leaping over him,
broke in the door. Smerdyakov remained pale and trembling at the other
end of the room, huddling close to Fyodor Pavlovitch.
“She’s here!” shouted Dmitri. “I saw her turn towards the house just
now, but I couldn’t catch her. Where is she? Where is she?”
That shout, “She’s here!” produced an indescribable effect on Fyodor
Pavlovitch. All his terror left him.
“Hold him! Hold him!” he cried, and dashed after Dmitri. Meanwhile
Grigory had got up from the floor, but still seemed stunned. Ivan and
Alyosha ran after their father. In the third room something was heard
to fall on the floor with a ringing crash: it was a large glass
vase—not an expensive one—on a marble pedestal which Dmitri had upset
as he ran past it.
“At him!” shouted the old man. “Help!”
Ivan and Alyosha caught the old man and were forcibly bringing him
back.
“Why do you run after him? He’ll murder you outright,” Ivan cried
wrathfully at his father.
“Ivan! Alyosha! She must be here. Grushenka’s here. He said he saw her
himself, running.”
He was choking. He was not expecting Grushenka at the time, and the
sudden news that she was here made him beside himself. He was trembling
all over. He seemed frantic.
“But you’ve seen for yourself that she hasn’t come,” cried Ivan.
“But she may have come by that other entrance.”
“You know that entrance is locked, and you have the key.”
Dmitri suddenly reappeared in the drawing‐room. He had, of course,
found the other entrance locked, and the key actually was in Fyodor
Pavlovitch’s pocket. The windows of all the rooms were also closed, so
Grushenka could not have come in anywhere nor have run out anywhere.
“Hold him!” shrieked Fyodor Pavlovitch, as soon as he saw him again.
“He’s been stealing money in my bedroom.” And tearing himself from Ivan
he rushed again at Dmitri. But Dmitri threw up both hands and suddenly
clutched the old man by the two tufts of hair that remained on his
temples, tugged at them, and flung him with a crash on the floor. He
kicked him two or three times with his heel in the face. The old man
moaned shrilly. Ivan, though not so strong as Dmitri, threw his arms
round him, and with all his might pulled him away. Alyosha helped him
with his slender strength, holding Dmitri in front.
“Madman! You’ve killed him!” cried Ivan.
“Serve him right!” shouted Dmitri breathlessly. “If I haven’t killed
him, I’ll come again and kill him. You can’t protect him!”
“Dmitri! Go away at once!” cried Alyosha commandingly.
“Alexey! You tell me. It’s only you I can believe; was she here just
now, or not? I saw her myself creeping this way by the fence from the
lane. I shouted, she ran away.”
“I swear she’s not been here, and no one expected her.”
“But I saw her.... So she must ... I’ll find out at once where she
is.... Good‐by, Alexey! Not a word to Æsop about the money now. But go
to Katerina Ivanovna at once and be sure to say, ‘He sends his
compliments to you!’ Compliments, his compliments! Just compliments and
farewell! Describe the scene to her.”
Meanwhile Ivan and Grigory had raised the old man and seated him in an
arm‐chair. His face was covered with blood, but he was conscious and
listened greedily to Dmitri’s cries. He was still fancying that
Grushenka really was somewhere in the house. Dmitri looked at him with
hatred as he went out.
“I don’t repent shedding your blood!” he cried. “Beware, old man,
beware of your dream, for I have my dream, too. I curse you, and disown
you altogether.”
He ran out of the room.
“She’s here. She must be here. Smerdyakov! Smerdyakov!” the old man
wheezed, scarcely audibly, beckoning to him with his finger.
“No, she’s not here, you old lunatic!” Ivan shouted at him angrily.
“Here, he’s fainting! Water! A towel! Make haste, Smerdyakov!”
Smerdyakov ran for water. At last they got the old man undressed, and
put him to bed. They wrapped a wet towel round his head. Exhausted by
the brandy, by his violent emotion, and the blows he had received, he
shut his eyes and fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.
Ivan and Alyosha went back to the drawing‐room. Smerdyakov removed the
fragments of the broken vase, while Grigory stood by the table looking
gloomily at the floor.
“Shouldn’t you put a wet bandage on your head and go to bed, too?”
Alyosha said to him. “We’ll look after him. My brother gave you a
terrible blow—on the head.”
“He’s insulted me!” Grigory articulated gloomily and distinctly.
“He’s ‘insulted’ his father, not only you,” observed Ivan with a forced
smile.
“I used to wash him in his tub. He’s insulted me,” repeated Grigory.
“Damn it all, if I hadn’t pulled him away perhaps he’d have murdered
him. It wouldn’t take much to do for Æsop, would it?” whispered Ivan to
Alyosha.
“God forbid!” cried Alyosha.
“Why should He forbid?” Ivan went on in the same whisper, with a
malignant grimace. “One reptile will devour the other. And serve them
both right, too.”
Alyosha shuddered.
“Of course I won’t let him be murdered as I didn’t just now. Stay here,
Alyosha, I’ll go for a turn in the yard. My head’s begun to ache.”
Alyosha went to his father’s bedroom and sat by his bedside behind the
screen for about an hour. The old man suddenly opened his eyes and
gazed for a long while at Alyosha, evidently remembering and
meditating. All at once his face betrayed extraordinary excitement.
“Alyosha,” he whispered apprehensively, “where’s Ivan?”
“In the yard. He’s got a headache. He’s on the watch.”
“Give me that looking‐glass. It stands over there. Give it me.”
Alyosha gave him a little round folding looking‐glass which stood on
the chest of drawers. The old man looked at himself in it; his nose was
considerably swollen, and on the left side of his forehead there was a
rather large crimson bruise.
“What does Ivan say? Alyosha, my dear, my only son, I’m afraid of Ivan.
I’m more afraid of Ivan than the other. You’re the only one I’m not
afraid of....”
“Don’t be afraid of Ivan either. He is angry, but he’ll defend you.”
“Alyosha, and what of the other? He’s run to Grushenka. My angel, tell
me the truth, was she here just now or not?”
“No one has seen her. It was a mistake. She has not been here.”
“You know Mitya wants to marry her, to marry her.”
“She won’t marry him.”
“She won’t. She won’t. She won’t. She won’t on any account!”
The old man fairly fluttered with joy, as though nothing more
comforting could have been said to him. In his delight he seized
Alyosha’s hand and pressed it warmly to his heart. Tears positively
glittered in his eyes.
“That image of the Mother of God of which I was telling you just now,”
he said. “Take it home and keep it for yourself. And I’ll let you go
back to the monastery.... I was joking this morning, don’t be angry
with me. My head aches, Alyosha.... Alyosha, comfort my heart. Be an
angel and tell me the truth!”
“You’re still asking whether she has been here or not?” Alyosha said
sorrowfully.
“No, no, no. I believe you. I’ll tell you what it is: you go to
Grushenka yourself, or see her somehow; make haste and ask her; see for
yourself, which she means to choose, him or me. Eh? What? Can you?”
“If I see her I’ll ask her,” Alyosha muttered, embarrassed.
“No, she won’t tell you,” the old man interrupted, “she’s a rogue.
She’ll begin kissing you and say that it’s you she wants. She’s a
deceitful, shameless hussy. You mustn’t go to her, you mustn’t!”
“No, father, and it wouldn’t be suitable, it wouldn’t be right at all.”
“Where was he sending you just now? He shouted ‘Go’ as he ran away.”
“To Katerina Ivanovna.”
“For money? To ask her for money?”
“No. Not for money.”
“He’s no money; not a farthing. I’ll settle down for the night, and
think things over, and you can go. Perhaps you’ll meet her.... Only be
sure to come to me to‐morrow in the morning. Be sure to. I have a word
to say to you to‐morrow. Will you come?”
“Yes.”
“When you come, pretend you’ve come of your own accord to ask after me.
Don’t tell any one I told you to. Don’t say a word to Ivan.”
“Very well.”
“Good‐by, my angel. You stood up for me, just now. I shall never forget
it. I’ve a word to say to you to‐morrow—but I must think about it.”
“And how do you feel now?”
“I shall get up to‐morrow and go out, perfectly well, perfectly well!”
Crossing the yard Alyosha found Ivan sitting on the bench at the
gateway. He was sitting writing something in pencil in his note‐book.
Alyosha told Ivan that their father had waked up, was conscious, and
had let him go back to sleep at the monastery.
“Alyosha, I should be very glad to meet you to‐morrow morning,” said
Ivan cordially, standing up. His cordiality was a complete surprise to
Alyosha.
“I shall be at the Hohlakovs’ to‐morrow,” answered Alyosha, “I may be
at Katerina Ivanovna’s, too, if I don’t find her now.”
“But you’re going to her now, anyway? For that ‘compliments and
farewell,’ ” said Ivan smiling. Alyosha was disconcerted.
“I think I quite understand his exclamations just now, and part of what
went before. Dmitri has asked you to go to her and say that he—well, in
fact—takes his leave of her?”
“Brother, how will all this horror end between father and Dmitri?”
exclaimed Alyosha.
“One can’t tell for certain. Perhaps in nothing: it may all fizzle out.
That woman is a beast. In any case we must keep the old man indoors and
not let Dmitri in the house.”
“Brother, let me ask one thing more: has any man a right to look at
other men and decide which is worthy to live?”
“Why bring in the question of worth? The matter is most often decided
in men’s hearts on other grounds much more natural. And as for
rights—who has not the right to wish?”
“Not for another man’s death?”
“What even if for another man’s death? Why lie to oneself since all men
live so and perhaps cannot help living so. Are you referring to what I
said just now—that one reptile will devour the other? In that case let
me ask you, do you think me like Dmitri capable of shedding Æsop’s
blood, murdering him, eh?”
“What are you saying, Ivan? Such an idea never crossed my mind. I don’t
think Dmitri is capable of it, either.”
“Thanks, if only for that,” smiled Ivan. “Be sure, I should always
defend him. But in my wishes I reserve myself full latitude in this
case. Good‐by till to‐morrow. Don’t condemn me, and don’t look on me as
a villain,” he added with a smile.
They shook hands warmly as they had never done before. Alyosha felt
that his brother had taken the first step towards him, and that he had
certainly done this with some definite motive.
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Let's Analyse the Pattern
When people feel powerless, they often increase destructive behavior, believing more force will solve their problems, but each escalation actually makes the original problem worse.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to spot when desperation is driving someone toward increasingly destructive behavior.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you or someone around you starts using phrases like 'I'll show them' or 'They can't do this to me'—these are warning signs that escalation is taking over rational thinking.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"Then she's there! She's hidden there! Out of the way, scoundrel!"
Context: Dmitri shouts this while attacking Grigory, convinced Grushenka is hidden in the house
This shows how jealousy and obsession can make someone violent toward innocent people. Dmitri calls the loyal servant a 'scoundrel' simply for doing his job, revealing how twisted his thinking has become.
In Today's Words:
I know she's in there! Get out of my way, you piece of garbage!
"I wouldn't mind if one reptile devoured the other"
Context: Ivan whispers this to Alyosha while watching their father and brother fight
Ivan's cold detachment is chilling - he sees both his father and brother as 'reptiles' and would be relieved if they destroyed each other. This reveals how family dysfunction can kill empathy even in intelligent people.
In Today's Words:
Honestly, I wouldn't care if they just killed each other
"Hold him! Hold him!"
Context: Fyodor screams this after Dmitri breaks through the doors, calling for help
Even in crisis, Fyodor can only think of controlling and restraining his son rather than trying to understand or communicate. His first instinct is always domination, which created this mess in the first place.
In Today's Words:
Someone stop him! Don't let him do this to me!
Thematic Threads
Violence
In This Chapter
Dmitri's physical assault on his father and servant reveals how quickly desperation turns to brutality
Development
Escalated from verbal threats in earlier chapters to actual physical violence
In Your Life:
You might see this in relationships where arguments escalate from words to thrown objects or broken trust.
Family
In This Chapter
The Karamazov family dysfunction reaches a breaking point with son attacking father
Development
Built from earlier tensions to complete breakdown of family bonds
In Your Life:
You might recognize this in families where old resentments finally explode into permanent damage.
Control
In This Chapter
Dmitri's violent search for Grushenka shows his desperate need to control her location and choices
Development
His obsession with controlling Grushenka has grown more desperate throughout the story
In Your Life:
You might see this in your own attempts to control outcomes that are ultimately beyond your power.
Moral Boundaries
In This Chapter
Dmitri crosses the line from anger to physical violence, abandoning his moral compass
Development
His moral deterioration has been gradual but reaches a critical point here
In Your Life:
You might notice this when stress pushes you to do things you never thought you would do.
Corruption
In This Chapter
Ivan's cold reaction to the violence shows how the family's toxicity has infected even the intellectual brother
Development
Ivan's moral detachment has been building and now reveals itself fully
In Your Life:
You might see this in how toxic environments gradually change your own values and reactions.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What specific actions does Dmitri take when he storms into his father's house, and what is he looking for?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does Dmitri's violence escalate throughout the scene, and what does this reveal about his emotional state?
analysis • medium - 3
Where have you seen this pattern of 'escalating when desperate' in your own life or workplace - someone getting more aggressive when they feel powerless?
application • medium - 4
If you were Alyosha watching this unfold, what would you do to de-escalate the situation without making it worse?
application • deep - 5
What does Ivan's cold reaction ('one reptile devouring the other') teach us about how toxic family dynamics can corrupt even intelligent people?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map Your Escalation Triggers
Think about a recent situation where you felt powerless or unheard. Write down what you actually wanted versus what you actually did. Then trace the escalation: what was your first response, second response, and where it could have led if unchecked. Finally, identify the moment you could have paused and tried a different approach.
Consider:
- •Notice the difference between what you wanted and what your actions actually achieved
- •Identify the specific moment when you felt most powerless - that's usually the escalation trigger
- •Consider what you really needed to feel heard or valued in that situation
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you successfully avoided escalating a conflict. What did you do differently, and how can you remember to use that strategy when you feel desperate or cornered again?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 23: When Two Worlds Collide
The aftermath of the violent confrontation continues to ripple through the family as secrets and motivations become clearer. Two characters will have a crucial meeting that could change everything.
