The Brothers Karamazov

This section covers the following chapters: “At Grushenka’s,” “An Ailing Little Foot,” “A Little Demon,” “A Hymn and a Secret,” “Not You! Not You!,” “The First Meeting with Smerdyakov,” “The Second Visit to Smerdyakov,” “The Third and Last Meeting with Smerdyakov,” “The Devil. Ivan Fyodorovich’s Nightmare,” and “‘He Said That!’.”

Grushenka tells Alyosha that Ivan has been visiting Dmitri, and she’s worried they’re up to something and keeping secrets from her. She asks Alyosha to investigate, and he agrees to visit Dmitri.

Before he visits his brother, however, Alyosha stops to visit Lise. He finds her in a feverish, erratic state, almost seeming possessed. She says she’s broken off the engagement with Alyosha because she no longer respects him—in fact, she no longer respects anything. She confesses that she’s been having destructive urges and praying to God to punish her. She makes an enigmatic remark about talking to a “man” about her troubles, but this man laughed at her. Alyosha realizes she’s talking about Ivan. She tells Alyosha to leave but first gives him a note for Ivan. After Alyosha leaves, she slams the door on her own finger.

Alyosha visits Dmitri in jail and is surprised that Dmitri is talking about God rather than his upcoming trial.