The Brothers Karamazov Book 2, Chapter 7 Summary

A Seminarist-Careerist

  • After the guests leave, Alyosha accompanies the feeble Zosima to his cell. There, Zosima tells Alyosha that he will have to leave the monastery and endure life out in the real world before he returns to the monastery. Zosima tells Alyosha to "seek happiness in sorrow" and then to leave his cell to join his brothers.
  • Outside Alyosha encounters Rakitin, another novice. Rakitin is a cynical type, and interprets Zosima's bow to Dmitri as a fake prediction of a crime that's about to be committed in the Karamazov family. Alyosha is shocked, but Rakitin thinks it's obvious that the Karamazovs are all headed toward some awful deed.
  • According to Rakitin, Dmitri will do anything for Grushenka, the woman he's having an affair with. But Fyodor also has the hots for Grushenka. Meanwhile, Ivan is circling over Katerina, Dmitri's wealthy and dignified fiancée.
  • Rakitin has the inside scoop because he's Grushenka's confidante, but Alyosha suggests that Rakitin is also in love with Katerina.
  • Just then, Rakitin points out that Fyodor is running out of the Father Superior's quarters, followed by Ivan, Miusov, and the landowner Maximov. Fyodor and Father Isidore are shouting at each other.