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[SPOILER ALERT!] If you read The Brothers Karamazov, do you think Dmitri killed his father?

Asked by jfos (7392points) March 19th, 2010

In The Brothers Karamazov, Dmitri pleads not guilty to killing his father or taking his money. If you recall the scene where he was standing outside of his father’s(Fyodor’s) window, there is a gap in action. He is looking in the window, thinking about how much he hates his father, with his brass pestle in hand, wondering if his love (Grushenka) is inside. The next action is him running from the window, as he finally decided not to do it by some “blessing”.

As Dmitri tries to hop over the fence, the servant Grigory, who cared for Dmitri as a child, grabs his leg. Dmitri his Grigory in the head with the pestle rendering him unconscious (Dmitri thought he had killed him).

Later on, the servant and potential illegitimate child of Fyodor, Smerdyakov, admits to Ivan that he killed Fyodor after Dmitri had fled.

Without expanding my question anymore, I’ll stop here.

Do you think Dmitri was innocent, and that Smerdyakov was the actual murderer of Fyodor? OR Do you think that Dmitri blacked out and killed his father, and that Smerdyakov lied about it to Ivan in order to make Ivan feel guilty and partially responsible?

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