Speech at the stone
(illustration by Fritz Eichenberg)
“Boys, we shall soon part,” Alyosha said. “Let us make a compact here that we will never forget Ilusha and one another. And whatever happens to us later in life, let us always remember how we buried the poor boy at whom we once threw stones, and how, afterwards, we all grew so fond of him. He was a fine boy, a kindhearted, brave boy, he felt for his father’s honor and resented the cruel insult to him and stood up for him. We will remember him all our lives. And even if we are occupied with most important things, if we attain to honor or fall into great misfortune–still let us remember how good it was once here, when we were all together, united by a good and kind feeling which made us, for the time we were loving that poor boy, better perhaps than we are.”
“My dear children, there is nothing higher and stronger and more wholesome and good for life in the future than some good memory, especially a memory of childhood, of home. People talk to you a great deal about your education, but some good, sacred memory, preserved from childhood, is perhaps the best education. If a man carries many such memories with him into life, he is safe to the end of his days, and if one has only one good memory left in one’s heart, even that may sometime be the means of saving us.
Perhaps we may even grow wicked later on, may be unable to refrain from a bad action, may laugh at men’s tears and may even jeer spitefully at such people. But however bad we may become, yet, when we recall how we buried Ilusha, how we loved him in his last days, and how we have been talking like friends all together, the cruelest and most mocking of us won’t dare to laugh inwardly at having been kind and good at this moment! And, perhaps, that one memory may keep him from great evil and he will reflect and say, ‘Yes, I was good and brave and honest then!’ I say this in case we become bad, but there’s no reason why we should become bad. Let us be, first and above all, kind; then, honest; and then, let us never forget each other! I give you my word that I’ll never forget one of you. Every face looking at me now I shall remember even for thirty years.”
“Boys, you are all dear to me; from this day forth, I have a place in my heart for you all, and I beg you to keep a place in your hearts for me! Ilusha united us in this kind, good feeling which we shall remember all our lives. May his memory live forever in our hearts from this time forth!”
“Yes, yes, forever, forever!” the boys cried in their ringing voices, with softened faces. “Ah, children, ah, dear friends, don’t be afraid of life! How good life is when one does something good and just!” “Yes, yes,” the boys repeated enthusiastically.
“Karamazov, we love you!” a voice cried impulsively. “We love you, we love you!” they all caught it up. There were tears in the eyes of many of them. “Hurrah for Karamazov!” Kolya shouted ecstatically.” “And may the dead boy’s memory live forever!” Alyosha added again with feeling. “Forever!” the boys chimed in again. “Well, now we will go, hand in hand, to his funeral dinner. And always so, all our lives, hand in hand!”
Hurrah for Karamazov!” Kolya cried rapturously, and the boys took up his exclamation: “Hurrah for Karamazov!”
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What is the final message of the novel?
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Does the final message answer questions that were previously raised? Why or why not?
Considering Karamazov 
The final message is to basically hold on to the ones who are dear to you, to keep them close and in your heart forever. It really doesn’t fit at all with the other questions in the book. Nothing is resolved in relation to faith and doubt and whether free will is good or bad and what to do about eluding morality. The ending left me feeling as though everything was resolved and unresolved at the same time.
I agree a lot with what Kait has to say. The end of the novel left off on a good note for some but also on a bad note for others. Also we were left to question and imagine some things. It almost seemed as if this wasn’t the end of the novel, but rather as though there would be more to the story. The final message of the novel to me is that there are consequences to your lies. Alyosha is serving as a teacher, Dmitri is convicted as guilty, and we are left to imagine Ivan’s fate. In my opinion, this book proves that the actions in one’s life determines one’s fate. Like Kait said, nothing is resolved in the end of the novel in what we previosuly discussed in class, therefore, everyone is going to have a different message to the ending of the book. Another thing I would say is that those who practice good and teach good receive good in return.
Another message in think that is seen in the end of the novel is that you need to figure out yourself before you can learn to love, appreciate, or care for someone else. Those who do not know themselves lie to themselves. The more they lie to themselves the more they lie to other people. In the novel we saw one lie after another and those people were constantly struggling. You cannot be happy with yourself unless you are happy with the life you are living.
I agree with what Mara has said about being true to yourself and the consequence of lying. Dishonesty destroys relationships which we saw in so many of the relationships throughout the novel. I also believe that there is no final resolution at the end of the novel because the character’s lives continue. Whether it be Aloysha teaching, Dmitri in jail or any other character living the rest of their life, they have to suffer the consequences of their actions and that can’t be fully resolved.
When Kait brought up how faith and doubt were never resolved it made a very interesting point to me. A person’s struggle with doubt and belief can never be resolved. That is the whole idea of faith. You have to believe what you are not certain of which will always leave room for doubt or uncertainty at times. There is no way to resolve that question because we will never know the answer, at least until death. So, I think that at least for that question, which was one of the major ones of the novel, it has to be left unresolved and I guess the message is that you have to keep questioning and growing in your faith.
Another reason why I think the novel ended this way was because the whole novel was based on redemption. One way or an other every Karamazov brother(aside from Smerdyakov)had a major issue o r had sinned. Dmitri in the beginning had no concern for others, basically selfish. Ivan had no faith and felt that he was not responsible for other men’s actions (like Smerdyakov). And Alyosha at one point felt lost with his faith when Father Zossima died. But with this end all the brothers have gained redemption of their sins through suffering. Dmitri with the whole trial and his dream now felt compassion and was at ease. Ivan although a bit mad realized all men are responsible for each other. And Alyosha was giving out ‘onions’. And thus then only Karamazov’s left have a new legacy to their name and a postive one at that.
I wholly agree with what everyone above has stated.
Kait: Yes even the though the novel has concluded on a hopeful note, it does feel like nothing got concretely resolved.
Mara: I agree. We are each responsible for our actions and must face the positive or negative consequences of those actions. And I really like the idea that we must accept and love ourselves before we can accept and love others.
Christine: You are spot on. The struggle between faith and doubt is a constant one. And I think that to an extent the end of the novel reflects that.
Tania: Yes, redemption is an ongoing process that most of the Brothers have or will hopefully eventually get to.
Also I think that the novel feels unfinished because more was meant to be written. This was Dostoevsky’s last book. He died soon after its publication. He intended to write a second book, this time focusing solely on Alyosha. Maybe this book would have answered some questions but then again maybe it wouldn’t have. I think the beauty of the unintended ambiguity of the end of these brothers’ lives is that it creates an opportunity for you to make your own conclusions and take away that which is applicable to your own life.
Many others commented on the final message of this chapter so I don’t feel the need to do so. Instead, I just wanted to point out something that I thought was interesting.
When Dmitri is sentenced to jail although he is innocent, it seems to me that he is the one being punished for being a Karamazov. This sharply contrasts with Alyosha meeting with the boys. After he finishes talking to the boys, the children begin cheering “Karamazov!” While Dmitri, the oldest, is being punished for being a Karamazov, Alyosha, the youngest, is giving new hope to the Karamazov name. In the mean time, Ivan (the middle child) has lost his mind and Smerdykov (whom might be younger than Alyosha -I’m not sure about that- but it doesn’t matter since he is illegitimate) and Fyodor (the creator of all the Karamazov mayhem) are dead.
After reading Christine’s commment, I would say that another theme of the novel is teaching and growing. Life is full of new experiences that we must learn from and gain knowledge from. Each thing we do in life affects us in some way and it is up to us to learn from these things and also grow from them. Every experience needs to be a learning experience. This is where some of the characters failed in the novel. The characters never learned from their choices or decisions, or from the consequences or results of their actions. Life is all about learning. The more you learn, the more you grow and mature.
I believe that outside of the Karamazov reference, this excerpt easily could have been from a different book. In my opinion this did not really answer any questions brought up in the book. I also agree with Kait that this ending did not really resolve anything in the book, however, had anything really been resolved I do not think that it would have matched the rest of the book, it just would not feel right if everything ended well and we knew that everyone was going to live happily ever after. In my opinion this did not really answer any questions brought up in the book.
I believe the final messages in the novel are that you should be open and honest with your loved ones and friends. Lies and misdeeds and ulterior motives only exaserbate situations, and no one benefits from them in the long run.
You should also evaluate yourself, and clearly identify your beliefs instead of running away from them. Ivan is an example of what can happen if you do not.
And finally, no matter what you do in life, there is always a chance at redemption. Grushenka and Dmitri show us this very clearly, as well as Illyusha.