Character Analysis
Rakitin is a young seminarian and general gossip with a nose for scandal. Ambitious and cynical, he's eager to make his mark on the world as a critic and espouses numerous fashionable modern ideas such as socialism and psychology. He gets his big break with Dmitri's trial, which gives him ample fodder for newspaper articles. The prosecutor, Kirillovich, even cites from Rakitin's articles to support his explanation of the different psychological motivations for everyone involved in the Karamazov case. Despite his obvious interest in exploiting the case, Rakitin is reluctant to publicize the fact that he is related to Grushenka.