Well that's it for the business. It is completed. Except for it's not. I was turning the next page to make sure that really was the end. I wanted to know what happened. Did Dmitry really escape? Does Alyosha really leave? Does Ivan live and does Katerina finally come to her senses and love Ivan properly? I do think it is somewhat appropriate now that we revisited the foreward, because it kind of explained the ending, There was a second book planned. The answers to our questions were most likely going to be included in that book. Or maybe not. You never know with Dostoyevsky it seems. While I don't have plans to reread this novel I would have read the second one. Kind of sad we will never get to read it. Thankfully my imagination usually takes care of my curiosity by coming up with it's own ending for The Brothers.
I just want to touch upon Alyosha and Lise. First of all, I think this is something that I think might have been in the next book and I really want to find this out. Isham put out the thought that maybe Lise had come to her senses and that is why she had sent the flowers and that they must have spoken lately and made up. I don't think that sending flowers means that any of that happened. I want to believe that, because I like these two. It's just that the last time we saw her she had good moments and then turned around and lost it. How do we know this just wasn't one of her good moments?
I think there may be some significance in the fact that the little boy's body did not smell. It, of course, brought me back to the whole issue of Zosima's body and it's scandalous stench. Did Ilyucha's body not smell because he was truly innocent? Does that mean that Zosima wasn't? Or it could just likely mean that it depends on other circumstances and it may just be up to chance.
The Deal is Done
Author: Katarina /
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2 comments:
Another blog I read pointed out that maybe Ilyusha’s body didn’t smell because he wasn’t exposed to as much corruption as the Elder Zosima was. I agree with this theory and I’m guessing it might suggest something about Russia in general. Maybe Dostoyevsky’s hinting at the idea that old Russia, even though it was wise is decaying away and a new Russia is more pure and not rotting at this point. That thought may be kind of “out there” but I think it makes sense in a weird way.
I totally agree! It is so tragic that we will never find out what Dostoyevsky was planning for the second book. There are so many loose ends that weren't tied up. I really wish I knew what happened with Alyosha and Lise. We never know why they "broke up." However, in spite of all of this, I do feel satisfied with the ending as a whole. I think it ended beautifuly.
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