The Brothers Karamazov: Part 3: Book 7, Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

Father Zosima’s body is prepared for burial. The established rite is that the body must remain unwashed. Instead, Father Paissy wipes it with warm water, after making the sign of the cross with a Greek sponge on the various parts of the deceased’s body. He then dresses the body in monastic garb and wraps it in a cloak. Towards morning, it's transferred to a coffin, which they leave in Zosima’s cell all day.

The monks and lay visitors expect “something extraordinary” to occur. People arrive, particularly with sick children, hoping to receive some “immediate healing power.” Father Paissy sees vanity within these expectations. He resents that, somewhere in his soul, he, too, expects some miracle.

Mikhail Rakitin is present, after having been sent “on a special errand from Madame Khokhlakov.” After learning that she wouldn’t be admitted to the hermitage, she immediately dispatched Rakitin and told him to report everything that happened every half-hour. She mistakenly views Rakitin as a devout man because he is “skillful” at “presenting himself to everyone according to the wishes of each.”

Around three o’clock in the afternoon, the “odor of corruption” begins to emanate from Zosima’s coffin. This is rather strange because Father Varsonofy had died fairly recently and people remembered that no smell emanated from his coffin. The same was true of the elder Job, a famous ascetic who lived to be one hundred and five. Some monks are pleased to notice the smell from the coffin and go out to tell others the news. This results in an “influx of lay visitors.” Father Paissy continues reading the Gospel aloud, as though he notices nothing. Meanwhile, denunciations pour down on the memory of the departed elder, referring to him as unrighteous because he preached about “great joy and not tearful humility.” They also judge him for not fasting and allowing himself sweets. Others say that he was prideful.

Suddenly, Father Ferapont appears. He rarely leaves “his little wooden cell in the apiary,” not even to attend church. Everyone knows that Father Ferapont “intensely disliked” Zosima. He stops at the threshold to the cell, raises his arms, and begins to make signs of the cross. He yells, “Get thee hence, Satan!” He has come to drive out the guests who “are destroying the holy faith.” He points to Zosima’s coffin and says that, because he “denied devils,” they are breeding “like spiders in the corners.” Father Paissy demands that Father Ferapont leave, for this is a matter for only God to judge. However, Father Ferapont continues to condemn Zosima for not fasting, while Father Paissy calls his speech nonsense and, again, tells him to leave. Father Ferapont returns to his cell, still exclaiming, but rather incoherently.

Father Paissy hands over the reading of the Gospel to Father Iosif. Father Paissy feels great sadness and wonders if it’s because Alexei means so much to him now. Alexei passes just then, and their eyes meet. Alexei looks away and Father Paissy senses that a change is taking place in him. He asks if Alexei is losing faith. He then asks Alexei where he’s going. Is he leaving the hermitage without permission? Alexei looks at Father Paissy, who is set to become his new elder, gives him a twisted smile, and waves his hand at him, as though to say that nothing matters. He then walks toward the gates of the hermitage.