Dmitri, the oldest Karamazov son and the only son who grows up with the expectation of coming into property, can be considered the novel's pivotal figure. The novel revolves around his guilt in connection with the murder of Fyodor Karamazov, and Dmitri is the person who undergoes the most significant change during the course of the novel.
Dmitri does not have the intellectual pretensions of Ivan and cannot understand his brother's metaphysical concerns, nor is Dmitri as spiritual as his brother Alyosha, although he basically accepts God and immortality. He is, in fact, best represented as being caught midway between a sort of "Madonna-Sodom" opposition; he fluctuates between two poles of existence. Coursing through him are impulses for honor and nobility, side by side with impulses toward the low and the animal. This duality is partly explained by Dostoevsky's belief that the typical Russian is able to love God even while he sins. Dmitri, for example, declares that he will love God forever, even if God sends him to hell.
A particularly crucial scene, and one that shows Dmitri's contradictory personality, is his manipulation of events in order to force Katerina to come to his room so that he can seduce her. When she arrives, Dmitri cannot carry out his scheme. The better part of his nature has gained control of him.
