Finally finished this for the first time

Finally finished this for the first time.

Was it Dmitri or Smerdy? Does it even matter?

Smerdyakov did it, Mitya took the suffering for it upon himself

Interesting...To repent for his actions against Katya?

No, because someone had to suffer. I don't remember the details aside from that. It's pointed out several times in the book (especially in Ivan's speeches, if I recall correctly) that SOMEONE has to take the world's suffering upon themselves, even if they weren't responsible for the actions they're suffering for, because they're still sinners.

Ah yeah the Grand Inquisitor section. Wouldn't that suffering be Ivan himself then since he goes mad at the end?

Ivan suffers but it's because of his guilt. Usually when people ask this question in threads they're met with the response that "Smerdyakov did it, Ivan felt the guilt, and Mitya did the atoning." If you've read anything by Dostoevsky before you're probably familiar with his theme of requiring suffering to atone for sins. In Crime and Punishment it's Raskolnikov specifically needing to suffer to atone for his sin, but in Karamazov it's *anybody* suffering to atone for the patricide.

Didn't smerdiakov admitted to it before an hero?

It was actually Alyosha. He seems to be hiding under all of this religious shit just to hide it. He's very suspicious.

This.
It's an answer to the problem of evil brought up in the grand inquisitor and the previous chapter, rebellion iirc -- how can an all mighty and all good God allow the suffering of innocent people (particularly children)?
Dostoevsky gives the solution of universal sin and vicarious atonement. The only man who was free from sin suffered the most for us. He died for our sins to be forgiven.

I think Ivan went mad because he couldn't accept this as an answer.

Am I fucked that I don't experience guilt in my daily life? I related most to Smerdyakov. I was brought up with no religious affiliation. Religion wasn't even discussed in my family, it was only through school that I learned about religion.

What about Smerdyakov's fate then? His illness was divine punishment or random? Or did he feel remorse too?

well it was smerdy
it can't be rationally explained, it has to do with the theme of collective guilt with zossima in book six
ivan is in an uncertain position, he could be redeemed or not
he was crazy. the reason smerdy is only a probably son of fydor is because the 'baseness' in him may or may not be an essential part of the human character

>Ivan suffers but it's because of his guilt.

Couldn't you also say it's his disproportionate Godless intellect? What's the original word used for his madness anyhow, delirium?

Smerdy

>for the first time
stopped there, quit making threads about shit you haven't read. go again

I think Ivan went mad because Smerdy applied Ivan's theory of "everything is permitted", and seeing what that theory results in drove him mad

This but unironically

Was Smerdyakov autistic? He didn't seem to have any beliefs other than spite and contempt, and his conversations at the end were Elliot Rodger tier. He was smart enough to one-up Ivan on at least one level, why couldn't he realize that his edgy nihilism wasn't going to lead anywhere?

I'd describe him as immature rather than autistic, plenty of teens go for edgy nihilism

>Elliot Rodger
That's pretty much it, he was a smart guy but genuinely mentally ill. Remember the stuff about him torturing stray cats and acting like a school shooter through his whole childhood? That and growing up between the autistic Grigory and the abominable Fyodor did a number on him. He had nothing to live for by the time TBK happened. He's a sad character really, in his conversations with Ivan I always got the vibe that he realize he'd fucked up and his life was over, but kept pretending to be edgy about it.

Smerdyakov an-hero'd though

Smerdyakov told Ivan beforehand that he would kill the old guy and Ivan basically told him basically to do whatever he wanted and left

he played guitar and got a gf so probably not

yeah this book takes me long as fuck to read. i'll read a few chapters, pick up a few ideas, check some online summaries, analyses, and even some biographical excerpts, and then re-read the whole section again