When he was young, Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov was a and man who liked money and women too much. From his first wife, Adelaida, he had one son, Dmitry Karamazov. From his second wife, Sophia, he had Ivan and Alyosha Karamazov. Karamazov does not care about his sons, and they are all brought up by friends and relatives. Dmitry, who is a soldier, comes back when he is twenty-eight years old to take an his mother had left to him. Karamazov wants the inheritance for himself, and they get angry and fight with each other. Cold, clever Ivan is called to stop their fight, and the , kind Alyosha, who also lives at the town, comes to help. Alyosha studies in a monastery with the Elder Zosima. Dmitry and Fyodor agree that maybe Elder Zosima can help stop their fight, and Alyosha, though feeling worried about the meeting, says he will arrange it.