Chapter 11 Summary

Another two weeks go by and Ivan quits lying. When his wife comes in to say that their daughter's fiancé has proposed, Ivan angrily asks her to let him die in peace.

Ivan begins to entertain seriously the idea that he has lived wrongly. He thinks that maybe he was too quick to suppress his attempts to resist what others considered good. Maybe those non-conformist urges were real after all, he thinks.

Once Ivan sees this, he begins to review his whole life and all his relationships. He sees that his deceptions have hidden both life and death from him. This awareness adds to his physical sufferings and he groans aloud.

At his wife's suggestion, Ivan takes communion, but since his confession is only ritual and not the truth that he has begun to realize, he finds no lasting comfort. For a moment...