The Brothers Karamazov

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1879

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Part 4, EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4, Epilogue Summary

This section covers the following chapters: “Plans to Save Mitya,” “For a Moment the Lie Became Truth,” and “Ilyushechka’s Funeral. The Speech at the Stone.”

Ivan, still very ill, is staying with Katerina. She tells Alyosha that Ivan gave her money to help Dmitri escape. Alyosha goes to visit Dmitri, and Dmitri asks Alyosha his opinion on whether he should escape to America. Katerina comes to see Dmitri, and they reconcile. When Grushenka walks in, Katerina asks for her forgiveness, but she refuses to grant it until Katerina helps Dmitri escape.

Alyosha goes to Ilyusha’s funeral. The entire family is deeply grieving, and all the schoolboys are there. Snegiryov wanted to bury Ilyusha next to a stone outside his house, but Katerina paid for a nice plot in the churchyard. Ilyusha’s mother asks her husband, Snegiryov, to give her one of the flowers that is in Ilyusha’s hands, and Snegiryov becomes angry with her for asking. He begins sobbing because he remembers when Ilyusha gave his mother the toy cannon. During the funeral service, Snegiryov grabs flowers from the coffin. They all go home, and Snegiryov gives his wife flowers. Snegiryov begins sobbing at the sight of Ilyusha’s boots. Alyosha and the schoolboys step outside to give the family privacy while they wait to attend the memorial dinner for Ilyusha. They stand next to the stone that Snegiryov wanted to bury Ilyusha under. Alyosha delivers his first sermon, telling the boys that they must never forget Ilyusha and never forget each other.

Part 4, Epilogue Analysis

Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount parallels Alyosha’s first sermon to the schoolboys at the stone following Ilyusha’s funeral. The Sermon on the Mount communicates many core Christian beliefs, such as the Beatitudes. In Alyosha’s speech, he expounds upon a core belief in the power for childhood memories to offer spiritual understanding throughout life. Alyosha says that a single memory can carry someone throughout the rest of their life and can be the thread of salvation on which one clings. The schoolboys parallel Jesus’s 12 disciples in this scene; they have chosen to believe Alyosha and to be taught by him. Kolya’s questioning of the rituals and tradition, such as eating pancakes following such a sad event, shows his independent, inquisitive nature. The pancakes symbolize communion and unity in the face of death, and the sharing of food shows the joy for life that one must cherish despite so much suffering. Ilyusha’s death, in turn, represents the suffering that is a necessary part of life.

The flower for Ilyusha’s mother represents how Snegiryov and his wife will continue to love each other in the face of their grief. Initially, Snegiryov refuses to give his wife the flower, which represents his bitterness toward her over her taking the toy cannon from Ilyusha shortly before his death. However, when Snegiryov is sitting in the church during the funeral, he has a change of heart. He forgives his wife for taking the toy cannon, and he gives her the flower to show that forgiveness. This act of love shows how suffering can bring people closer together rather than isolating them.