Crime and Punishment & Other Great Novels of Dostoevsky
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Contents
Chapter 7 Ilusha
Overview
The celebrated doctor delivers a cold, fatal prognosis and suggests impossible remedies, exposing the family’s helplessness. Kolya defies the doctor, then comforts Ilusha, who makes farewell and burial requests. The captain’s anguished vow and Alyosha’s explanation of “If I forget thee” deepen the spiritual and emotional stakes.
Summary
The famed doctor exits Ilusha’s room coldly, offering impractical “cures” — sending Ilusha to Sicily at once, the family to the Caucasus, and Ilusha’s mother to a Paris specialist. The impoverished captain pleads in despair, but the doctor dismisses him and moves to leave.
Kolya pointedly insults the doctor as “apothecary” and threatens that Perezvon might bite. Alyosha intervenes, rebuking Kolya and calming the confrontation. The doctor storms out in fury, while Alyosha and Kolya return to Ilusha.
At the bedside, Ilusha, aware of his fate, embraces his father and Kolya, asks his father not to cry, and makes tender requests: if he dies, to be buried by their big stone and to be visited there by his father, Kolya, and Perezvon. Nina and “mamma” weep; Kolya promises to return after dinner and rushes out, breaking into tears in the passage.
Alyosha urges Kolya to keep his promise; Kolya laments not coming sooner. The captain, frenzied with grief, rejects the idea of “another boy” and, half-quoting the Psalm, vows not to forget. Outside, Kolya asks about “Jerusalem,” and Alyosha explains its meaning. Kolya departs, determined to return.
Who Appears
- Kolya KrassotkinDefies and insults the doctor, comforts Ilusha, promises to return, and seeks Alyosha’s guidance on the Psalm.
- Ilusha (Ilyusha) SnegiryovGravely ill; senses his fate, asks for burial by the big stone, and embraces father and Kolya.
- Captain SnegiryovIlusha’s father; pleads with the doctor, then despairs, rejecting the idea of replacing his son.
- Alyosha KaramazovMediates between Kolya and the doctor, comforts Kolya, and explains the meaning of the Psalm.
- The doctorFamed physician; delivers a grim prognosis and proposes unrealistic treatments, leaving in anger.
- Mrs. Snegiryov (mamma)Overwhelmed and in tears at Ilusha’s bedside during the family’s crisis.
- Nina SnegiryovIlusha’s sister; quietly weeps, witnessing her brother’s farewells.