Crime and Punishment & Other Great Novels of Dostoevsky
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Contents
Chapter 7 “It’s Always Worth While Speaking to a Clever Man”
Overview
Ivan leaves for Moscow after a night of turmoil, briefly considering but rejecting his father’s request to visit Tchermashnya about a timber sale. The moment he goes, Smerdyakov suffers a severe epileptic fit, Grigory takes ill, and Fyodor anxiously prepares for Grushenka’s expected visit.
Ivan’s departure and Smerdyakov’s collapse heighten tension around Fyodor’s house, setting conditions for coming conflict while revealing Ivan’s conflicted conscience.
Summary
Ivan, agitated after his talk with Alyosha and Smerdyakov, avoids his father and spends a restless night of contradictory impulses, even twice eavesdropping on Fyodor Pavlovitch as the old man waits for a secret knock. At dawn Ivan feels abruptly decisive, packs, and announces his departure for Moscow.
Fyodor Pavlovitch, more excited by business than by parting, presses Ivan to detour to Tchermashnya to test a buyer, Gorstkin (Lyagavy), for a timber deal, giving absurd “beard” signs to judge honesty. Ivan equivocates, then leaves; Smerdyakov pointedly remarks, “it’s always worth while speaking to a clever man,” which unsettles Ivan en route.
At Volovya, Ivan orders horses to Tchermashnya, then abruptly cancels, pays a driver to inform Fyodor he did not go, and boards the evening train to Moscow. As the train nears Moscow, Ivan, sunk in inexplicable anguish, whispers, “I am a scoundrel,” revealing his self-reproach.
Back at the house, soon after Ivan’s departure, Smerdyakov falls down the cellar steps amid an epileptic fit. Marfa Ignatyevna raises help; Doctor Herzenstube judges the seizure violent and potentially serious. Smerdyakov is moved to the lodge, semi-conscious, while remedies are tried.
Further misfortunes follow: Marfa’s poor cooking irks Fyodor, and Grigory is laid up with lumbago. Alone and keyed up, Fyodor locks the house and tensely awaits Grushenka, confident she’ll come as Smerdyakov had arranged, while fearing Dmitri might be lurking. The household stands on edge as night approaches.
Who Appears
- Ivan Fyodorovich KaramazovLeaves for Moscow after inner turmoil; rejects the Tchermashnya timber errand; later condemns himself as a scoundrel.
- Fyodor Pavlovitch KaramazovPresses Ivan to secure a timber deal; remains fixated on Grushenka’s expected visit; grows anxious as household troubles mount.
- SmerdyakovHints meaningfully to Ivan, then suffers a violent epileptic fit after Ivan departs; moved to the lodge under care.
- Marfa IgnatyevnaHears Smerdyakov’s fall and summons help; cooks poorly in his absence; helps manage the household crisis.
- Doctor HerzenstubeExamines Smerdyakov and deems the seizure severe; continues treatment with caution.
- GrigoryFalls ill with lumbago, leaving Fyodor short of trusted household support.