The Brothers Karamazov

This section covers the following chapters: “A Betrothal,” “Smerdyakov with a Guitar,” “The Brothers Get Acquainted,” “Rebellion,” “The Grand Inquisitor,” “A Rather Obscure One for the Moment,” and “‘It’s Always Interesting to Talk with an Intelligent Man.’”

Alyosha and Lise discuss their future together, and Lise tells him that she doesn’t like Ivan. Later in his father’s garden, Alyosha sees Smerdyakov strumming a guitar and singing verses for the landlord’s daughter. He asks Smerdyakov where Dmitri might be, and Smerdyakov tells him that Dmitri was planning to meet with Ivan at the Metropolis tavern.

Alyosha goes to the tavern, but only Ivan is there. Ivan invites Alyosha to talk with him, seeming happy at the opportunity to get to know Alyosha a bit better. He confesses that he doesn’t always agree with Alyosha’s life philosophies but that he respects how Alyosha stands his ground. He says he wants to discuss the “everlasting questions” that all “Russian boys” are discussing (233-34).

This begins Ivan’s philosophical rant about the existence of God. After digressions about geometry and infinity, Ivan says that he believes in order, in meaning, in “eternal harmony”—and he even accepts the concept of God. He cannot, however, accept the world of God’s creation, which he calls an “offensive comedy” of incongruity; even if the concept of harmony exists, the world makes it impossible to achieve.