The Brothers Karamazov

The Brothers Karamazov

by

Fyodor Dostoevsky

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Nicknamed “Ilyushechka” and “Ilyushka,” Ilyusha is the son of Nikolai Ilyich Snegiryov and Arina Petrovna, and brother to Nina and Varvara. Alexei Fyodorovich meets nine-year-old Ilyusha when six schoolboys, including Smurov, corner him, throw rocks at him, and call him a “scoundrel” for stabbing Kolya Krasotkin with a penknife. Ilyusha is a small, weak boy who wears ragged clothes due to his family’s poverty. When Alexei tries to defend him against the stone throwers, Ilyusha throws rocks at Alexei and then bites the monk’s hand. His stoning of Alexei is revenge for Dmitri Fyodorovich dragging his father out of the tavern by his beard. He is also getting revenge for being teased by other children, who have learned of the incident and call his father a coward. Ilyusha promises to challenge Dmitri to a duel when he grows up. Ilyusha later contracts tuberculosis. He is reunited with Kolya, with whom he had once been friends, when the older boy arrives at his bedside and brings him Zhuchka, Ilyusha’s old dog. Ilyusha dies two days after Dmitri is sentenced.

Ilyusha Quotes in The Brothers Karamazov

The The Brothers Karamazov quotes below are all either spoken by Ilyusha or refer to Ilyusha. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Faith vs. Reason Theme Icon
).
Epilogue, Chapter 3 Quotes

“He was a nice boy, a kind and brave boy, he felt honor and his father’s bitter offense made him rise up. And so, first of all, let us remember him, gentlemen, all our lives. And even though we may be involved with the most important affairs, achieve distinction or fall into some great misfortune—all the same, let us never forget how good we once felt here, all together, united by such good and kind feelings […] You must know that there is nothing higher, or stronger, or sounder, or more useful afterwards in life, than some good memory, especially a memory from childhood, from the parental home [….] If a man stores up many such memories to take into life, then he is saved for his whole life.”

Related Characters: Alexei “Alyosha” Fyodorovich Karamazov (speaker), Lieutenant Dmitri “Mitya” Fyodorovich Karamazov, Ilyusha, Nikolai “Kolya” Ivanov Krasotkin, Captain Nikolai Ilyich Snegiryov
Page Number: 774
Explanation and Analysis:
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Ilyusha Quotes in The Brothers Karamazov

The The Brothers Karamazov quotes below are all either spoken by Ilyusha or refer to Ilyusha. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Faith vs. Reason Theme Icon
).
Epilogue, Chapter 3 Quotes

“He was a nice boy, a kind and brave boy, he felt honor and his father’s bitter offense made him rise up. And so, first of all, let us remember him, gentlemen, all our lives. And even though we may be involved with the most important affairs, achieve distinction or fall into some great misfortune—all the same, let us never forget how good we once felt here, all together, united by such good and kind feelings […] You must know that there is nothing higher, or stronger, or sounder, or more useful afterwards in life, than some good memory, especially a memory from childhood, from the parental home [….] If a man stores up many such memories to take into life, then he is saved for his whole life.”

Related Characters: Alexei “Alyosha” Fyodorovich Karamazov (speaker), Lieutenant Dmitri “Mitya” Fyodorovich Karamazov, Ilyusha, Nikolai “Kolya” Ivanov Krasotkin, Captain Nikolai Ilyich Snegiryov
Page Number: 774
Explanation and Analysis: