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CHARACTERIZATION The main characters of Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov are, as the title suggests, the members of the Karamazov "family," if it can indeed be called such. The only things that the members of this family share are a name and the "Karama ....

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.... enjoys playing the part of the shameless "buffoon" for attention, even though the attention he receives is negative. Because he has no respect for himself, he can have no respect for others, either. He has no respect for women, for example; he is a despicable "voluptuary," and he satisfies his lust at any cost. He drives his wife to madness by bringing "women of ill-repute" into their house right in front of her. Even more shockingly, he rapes a mentally retarded woman, who later dies giving birth to his illegitimate son, Smerdyakov, who grows up as his father's servant. Fyodor is even more blatantly disrespectful to his three legitimate ....