Mikhail Osipovich Rakitin () is a secondary character in the novel The Brothers Karamazov by the 19th-century Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. A young man at the time of the novel's events, Rakitin is a seminarian receiving a spiritual education due to his status as a priest's son, but he has no intention of becoming a priest. He pretends to be a friend of Alyosha Karamazov for his own benefit. After an unsuccessful attempt to bring about the "disgrace of the righteous," he declares he no longer wishes to associate with Alyosha. Feeling contempt from other characters in the novel, he plans to leave the monastery and go to St. Petersburg to become a writer. The character of Mikhail Rakitin emerged from Dostoevsky's observations of anonymous abusive letters, his particular views on the church's public service, and his polemics with several prominent publicists and journalists who served as prototypes for the character.
Critics describe Rakitin as a malicious, talentless, insignificant, and petty character who has lost his feelings and is trapped in false reasoning. While outwardly maintaining piety, he is already an atheist, does not believe in God, and mocks everything, spreading disbelief around him. No matter how happy the future depicted by Rakitin may seem, it appears false. Critics note Rakitin's Karamazov-like sensuality, elements of nihilism, traits of a 1860s radical, a future socialist and critic, and a supporter of European enlightenment. His unprincipled careerism is particularly highlighted. The appearance of a person who thinks only about how to best establish himself in this world —calculating, meticulous, and realistically minded— is characteristic of a time when the Karamazovs, preoccupied with women and eternal questions, become irrelevant. For Rakitin, there is no difference between continuing a religious career or abruptly switching to criticizing it, as it does not matter whom he serves. Dostoevsky emphasizes that Rakitin is not an exceptional phenomenon but rather a new type of hero, embodying modern Russia. Despite the unpleasantness of this image, such people are gradually filling the country, shaping Russia's path.
Throughout the novel, the Karamazov brothers are contrasted with Rakitin. Alyosha considers him a friend and is tempted by impure thoughts about his father's murder and the sanctity of Elder Zosima. Rakitin also shifts Alyosha's focus from spiritual concerns to external carnal desires, violating church rules and suggesting Alyosha do the same. However, Alyosha manages to resist this influence. Dmitry Karamazov deeply despises Rakitin, noting his inferiority and inadequacy. As a socialist, Rakitin claims one can love humanity without God, a view the devout Dmitry completely rejects. The base materialist Rakitin serves as a double for the lofty dreamer Ivan Karamazov, as both are driven by selfish consciousness, which overshadows Ivan's reflections on eternal questions and Rakitin's petty pragmatism. At the core of their selfish consciousness lie pride and vanity, preventing them from understanding the loftiness of Alyosha, Dmitry, or Grushenka's principles and selfless motives.
Creation of the character The character of Mikhail Rakitin arose from Dostoevsky's observations of anonymous abusive letters, whose author he imagined as a new modern type of critic, embodied in The Brothers Karamazov. The writer believed that such vain, self-proclaimed geniuses with "impotent laughter" and "legacy of baseness" inherited from skeptical fathers could serve as a good subject for a separate novella. Dostoevsky noted that this character would have suited Gogol better, but he decided to include him in the novel. The idea was realized in the image of the seminarian-careerist Rakitin.
Additionally, the inclusion of a character like Rakitin was tied to Dostoevsky's particular views on the church's public service. The writer shared the opinion that the clergy had become a closed professional caste by the end of the 19th century. This detachment from the people within the clergy gradually led to significant erosion of religious consciousness from within, resulting in the emergence of atheists and revolutionaries in theological institutions. The characteristic chapter title the Seminarian-Careerist underscores that Rakitin belongs to this type of character.
Prototype
Among the prototypes for the character, researchers identify prominent publicists and journalists Grigory Blagosvetlov and Grigory Eliseev; the satirical poet and translator Dmitry Minaev; and the publicist and educator Mikhail Rodevich.
The kinship between Rakitin and Grushenka Svetlova may point to Blagosvetlov. Mentioning Grushenka's surname only once during the trial, Dostoevsky suggests paying attention to it. Meanwhile, the name Mikhail may refer to Rodevich, and the full name may allude to the character Mikhail Rakitin from Turgenev's comedy A Month in the Country. The comedy was highly popular during the novel's writing, so, given the similarity in the characters' life situations in both works, the name coincidence does not seem accidental.
Another prototype could be a namesake from the story A Strange Story by Yakov Butkov. The story's beginning, the hero's character, and its ending align with Rakitin's arc. Both characters' practicality was emphasized, as well as the fact that Dostoevsky knew Butkov and followed his stories.
Role in the novel At the time of the novel's events, Mikhail Rakitin is a seminarian, pursuing a spiritual education due to his status as a priest's son, but he has no intention of becoming a priest. He aspires to become a writer and gain fame, a common ambition among seminarians from poor families. Rakitin waits for Alyosha at a bend in a deserted road after the younger Karamazov leaves Elder Zosima's hermitage. Their meeting is not coincidental, as Rakitin promised Grushenka to bring Alyosha to her, asking for twenty-five rubles for this service. At the same time, he plans to spread rumors about the event. However, Rakitin's plan to facilitate the "disgrace of the righteous" fails. Irritated by this, Rakitin sharply reacts to Alyosha's request not to be angry or judge others: "Your elder charged you with that earlier, and now you've fired your elder's words at me, Alyoshenka, God's little man". On the way from Grushenka's, Rakitin tries to speak ill of her and Dmitry. Alyosha's indifference further wounds the seminarian, "as if a fresh wound had been touched," leading him to declare he no longer wishes to associate with Alyosha. After this, Rakitin "disliked meeting" and "hardly spoke with him, even bowing with effort".
Rakitin visited the home of the landowner Katerina Osipovna Khokhlakova, aiming to gain access to her wealth, while forming a love triangle with Khokhlakova and Perkhotin, which parodies the love triangle of Dmitry, Katerina, and Ivan. However, the landowner bars Rakitin from her home, as she later tells Alyosha: "I suddenly stood up and said to Mikhail Ivanovich: it pains me to say, but I no longer wish to receive you in my house. So I threw him out." Feeling contempt from other characters, Rakitin wants to leave the monastery and go to St. Petersburg to become a writer, seeking to rectify the situation where he is looked down upon. After Fyodor Karamazov's murder, he considers writing a work based on the theory that the environment breeds criminals: Dmitry "could not help but kill, consumed by his environment".
After Dmitry Karamazov is accused of murder, Rakitin attempts to use the logic of primitive everyday positivism and egoism to pull Dmitry back from his righteous path to his initial state as a sinner. Rakitin grows closer to Dmitry, visiting him in prison, but Alyosha, who supports and blesses his brother for the suffering ahead, hinders his influence. At Dmitry's trial, the liberal Rakitin presents the tragedy of the crime as a "product of outdated serfdom morals and a Russia mired in disorder", captivating the audience. However, after he speaks contemptuously of Grushenka, the defense attorney manages to discredit him.
Character analysis Mikhail Rakitin is a prominent but not central figure in the novel The Brothers Karamazov. As a secondary character, he does not participate in the struggle between the novel's two opposing ideological systems, merely echoing others' thoughts and using them when it suits him. Critics describe Rakitin as a "hardened opportunist, concerned only with his own calculations", yet possessing some sense of dignity. Alongside Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin from Crime and Punishment, Ganya Ivolgin, and Ivan Ptitsyn from The Idiot, he belongs to the type of "vulgar and prosaically self-satisfied people who feel at ease in the established forms of bourgeois life".
Rakitin easily connects with people when it serves his interests but is so cautious that he ends up friendless. He recognizes his own barren nature, lacking light, insignificant, and petty, making it easy for him to exploit others. Rakitin is skilled at interacting with people, discerning what matters to them. The landowner Katerina Osipovna Khokhlakova considered him "the most pious and devout young man—so adept was he at handling everyone and presenting himself according to their desires, if he saw the slightest benefit in it." The investigator also spoke well of him. Meanwhile, Dmitry says: "The Karamazovs are not scoundrels but philosophers," while Rakitin is "not a philosopher but a serf".
According to Dostoevsky, intolerance of others is a European trait that narrows the Russian soul. The malicious, talentless denier Mikhail Rakitin cannot share with others or wait to receive; he only desires and knows how to take. The writer portrays a character trapped in false reasoning and devoid of feelings. Due to his egoism, Rakitin is ready to use any means to achieve his goals, as emphasized in the scene with Alyosha, where the seminarian exploits human grief. Dostoevsky particularly draws readers' attention to the fact that Rakitin is not an exceptional phenomenon but a new type of hero in modern Russia: "In recent times, so many profiteers have latched onto the common cause, distorting everything they touch for their own benefit, that they have utterly corrupted the entire endeavor".
Religion and morality
At the time of the novel's events, Rakitin is a seminarian, pursuing a spiritual education due to his status as a priest's son. However, while outwardly maintaining piety, he is already an atheist, does not believe in God, and mocks everything. Dmitry Karamazov draws attention to Rakitin's attitude toward God: "Rakitin doesn't love God, oh, he really doesn't! That's their sorest spot, all of them! But they hide it. They lie. They pretend". Critics note Rakitin's Karamazov-like sensuality, pointing out that while the passion-driven Karamazovs believe in God, Rakitin submits only to his own nature, not divine law.
Rakitin participates in discussions about the immortality of the soul and morality, writing a spiritual pamphlet titled The Life of the Elder Zosima, Reposed in God, but unlike Ivan Karamazov and Elder Zosima, he holds a more rational stance. The religious Zosima believes in immortality and virtue; the atheist Ivan denies both immortality and morality; Rakitin, however, sees the possibility of virtue and the organization of human society without faith in God or the soul's immortality. According to Rakitin, love for freedom, equality, and fraternity will replace humanity's faith in God. Critics note that no matter how happy this future may seem, as depicted by Rakitin, it appears false.