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The best place to begin would be to address the phrase mentioned throughout the book: that "all are guilty before all people," a phrase central to the entire novel. To me, I believe this means that no matter what happens you can always do more to contribute to the world. I think of it much like someone witnessing bad things happen but doing nothing. In a way, that person is as guilty as the one committing the bad deeds. If someone close to me falls to temptation, I could have listened to them, helped shoulder their burden, and kept them on the right path. Even if I helped with them, there are countless others that I could help with and I am just as guilty for them. There is always something you can be doing one way or another and by not doing those things, you are always guilty. Since it's neverending, you will always be guilty. I think an important aspect of this phrase as well is that characters mention it either when they are about to die or going through immense suffering. The Elder Zosima's older brother mentions it while he succumbs to illness, Zosima himself mentions it as he dies of old age, Mitya mentions it as he goes through his trial. I believe it has much to do with once you realize just how meaningful such small gestures are and how much you need other people, you realize how easily you could have been doing the same for them as well.

I don't believe you can talk about the guiltiness without mentioning Ivan Fyodorovich's counterpoint: how can children be guilty? In writing this post I realized I had a hard time reconciling this myself.

Forgiveness, and the importance of not only receiving it but being willing to accept it when given, factors heavily into the book as well. Not only this but also being aware of the feelings within yourself. Not being afraid to face them and understand them, so you can tell exactly where your feelings come from and what you can do to effect them. The way you feel inside greatly changes the way you interact with others. So much comes from assuming the intentions of others.

The most important aspect of the book lies in its evaluation of people: that we are multifaceted, constantly changing inviduals and to attempt to define us and place us into categories would be much the same as sending us to our demise. This strikes me the most with Mitya's case. The entire case against him rests upon the fact that he must have acted in a way that aligns with other's perception of himself. Why couldn't he have changed his mind at the last minute, overcome with emotions greater than himself? It ties into the guilt thing because it's such an easy thing you can do for anyone, and by not doing so you are guilty. The character of Alyosha illustrates this point well. Throughout the book he gives people the benefit of the doubt, from his interactions with Snegiryov and Illushcka to those he has with his brothers. He accomplishes so much good doing this.

I've been mainly talking about the ideas presented in the book, and not so much about the prose. I'm not sure if I'll ever be fluent in Russian, so I'll never truly know exactly how his prose reads. I personally don't think it's worth it to examine the writing of foreign writers because a ton most likely gets lost in translation. He uses his characters as a sort of live puppet show to illustrate concepts. I know that's just how writing works, but I think it's good to formulate it into words. To remember to tell a story with your writing.

There's a ton to unpack from the book, and frankly I would never be able to address everything. This is just a rough idea of what struck me when thinking back on what I read. A thought that always comes back to me now as I write is that you don't know what you think until you write it down. My main goal behind this post was just to figure out what I thought about the book. I think this is one of those books that begs to be reread, and then write my thoughts down again at that time, but I have no clue if I'll ever get to that. I got more than enough to digest from a first reading.

I'd like to add that it's a crazy thing that Dostoyevsky was able to pass down all the conclusions he came to over 59 years of life, all of these influenced by his own unique experiences, to me. I traveled through time and now it's here in my brain, and I can call upon it throughout my life. Isn't that a spectacle?