The Brothers Karamazov · Chapter
I: The Beginning of Perhotin’s Official Career explained
Pyotr Ilyitch Perhotin, driven by unease, visits Fenya to learn more about Dmitri's bloody hands and his claim of having killed someone.
What happens
Pyotr Ilyitch Perhotin, driven by unease, visits Fenya to learn more about Dmitri's bloody hands and his claim of having killed someone. He then goes to Madame Hohlakov to verify whether she gave Dmitri three thousand roubles, but she denies it and fears Dmitri has murdered his father. Perhotin resolves to inform the police captain.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This scene is the dramatic climax because it centers on Katerina Ivanovna’s hysterical, guilt-ridden declarati…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Justice and Injustice
Perhotin's investigation and decision to involve the police captain reflect the pursuit of justice in the face of potential murder.
- Innocence and Corruption
The suspicion of parricide and the blood evidence highlight the corruption and moral decay surrounding Dmitri.
Characters to notice
- Pyotr Ilyitch Perhotin
Visits Fenya and Madame Hohlakov to investigate Dmitri's actions and the source of his money.
- Fenya
Provides Perhotin with crucial details about Dmitri's bloody hands and his confession of murder.
- Madame Hohlakov
Receives Perhotin late at night, denies giving Dmitri money, and fears Dmitri has killed his father.
- Dmitri Karamazov
Discussed as the subject of Perhotin's investigation; reported to have blood on his hands and a large sum of money.
- Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov
Feared to have been killed by Dmitri; his house is a potential crime scene.
Key passages
“Pyotr Ilyitch persisted in returning to this point, and though he found out nothing conclusive, yet he carried away a conviction that Dmitri Fyodorovitch could have gone nowhere but to his father’s house, and that therefore something must have happened there.”
Perhotin remained fixated on the idea that Dmitri must have gone to his father's house, convinced that something terrible had occurred there.
Perhotin's growing certainty about Dmitri's destination and the implied crime.
“Madame Hohlakov’s face assumed an expression of intense and painful excitement. 'Good God! He must have killed his old father!' she cried, clasping her hands.”
Madame Hohlakov, horrified, immediately concluded that Dmitri had murdered his father.
Her dramatic reaction to the news of Dmitri's bloody hands and money.
