The main protagonist of the novel. Twenty years old, intelligent, faithful, yet a pure lover of truth and justice who is not morbidly emotional. As a reaction to the moral decline of the world, he enters a monastery and becomes a disciple of the famous and compassionate Staretz Zosima, in whose miracle he wholeheartedly believes. Because of his character, which does not judge anyone, acts with kindness, and harbors no hate, everyone respects him and opens their secrets to him. As the events unfold, this purity will be tested right in the middle of the most depraved Karamazov passions.
He carries the memory of a summer evening, when he was four years old and his mother Sofya (the epileptic) Ivanovna reached out toward an icon while holding him, like a miracle in his mind. Raised by Yefim Petrovich, he unexpectedly cut his education short a year before finishing high school and returned home to his father, effectively entering the monastery. He is a young man who likes to walk alone but is held in high esteem by everyone.
A twenty-year-old youth, robust, rosy-cheeked, tall and lanky, with a clear complexion. His eyes are dark gray, alert, and bright. He wears the long black robe of the monastery and walks through the city in this attire.
Lise Hohlakova
The girl whose hysterical behaviors he accepts with tolerance and with whom a semi-childlike seriousness of affection grows.
Staretz Zosima
His teacher, whom he adores more than a father. His death promises him the deepest abyss of unhappiness.
İvan Fyodoroviç
The brother whose intelligence he is both fascinated by and intimidated by.
Dmitri Fyodoroviç
The brother with whom, despite the abyss between them, he understands most deeply and to whose shaky conscience he acts as a mirror.