But Alyosha has made his choice according to Zossima's wishes and according to the dictates of the elder who told him that he must marry and become one with the world. He, therefore, tells the young invalid Lise that when she comes of age they will marry.
As for another marriage — one between Ivan and Katerina — the solution is not quite so simple. They are apparently in love with each other, but both are so arrogant that they cannot come to an understanding. Part of the difficulty lies in Katerina's fantastic personality. She feels the need to suffer or to be humiliated by Dmitri, and her statement that she will never abandon Dmitri, even if he marries Grushenka, indicates the fanatical degree to which she plans to carry her suffering and martyrdom. Ivan sums up her peculiar nature well when he says that she needs Dmitri "so as to contemplate continually your heroic fidelity and to reproach him for infidelity."
For the present, then, Katerina's declaration results in an impasse; her views of the two brothers will not be resolved until the trial, and even then real objectivity will be impossible. Nevertheless, it is true that she feels the need to be humiliated by Dmitri. Proof of this lies in her deep sympathy with Captain Snegiryov, a man whom Dmitri has humiliated. She asks Alyosha to take him 200 rubles "as a token of sympathy," but her sympathy is of far greater than token value.
Alyosha fast becomes involved in social intrigues. But one should be aware that there is no rancor or bitterness in his new role. Alyosha has no resentment, even following the Ilusha incident. Quite the contrary, he has great compassion for a young boy who will try to defend his father's honor. Book IV then places the neophyte Alyosha in a variety of new situations, and the boy's skill in dealing with them suggests the future potential that Father Zossima sensed in him. Looking ahead, however, one might note that success is not total. Further along, it will become apparent that Alyosha often fails with adults. It is with children that he most succeeds; with the younger generation his qualities of quiet love and devotion find the most fertile sympathy. This, of course, is part of Dostoevsky's vision — children represent the future of all hope and salvation. In this novel Alyosha entrusts Zossima's ideal of love and honor to the new generation.
