The mysterious visitor is a respected official who begins visiting young Zossima after hearing about his conduct at the duel. He is rich, charitable, stern, and not given to conversation, but he is drawn to Zossima's talk of truth and universal responsibility. Beneath his public dignity he carries a secret that makes him seek out a younger man who has just risked ridicule by confessing his own wrong.
VI-II. The Duel
He confesses privately to Zossima that fourteen years before he murdered a woman who had refused him and let suspicion fall on an innocent servant.
VI-II. The Duel
He reads a public declaration at his birthday gathering, lays out the keepsakes he kept from the crime, and accepts disgrace as the path back to truth.
VI-II. The Duel
Before his death he tells Zossima that his midnight return was a temptation to kill the one man who knew his secret, and that God overcame the devil in his heart.
VI-III. Conversations And Exhortations Of Father Zossima
Years later Zossima names him in his exhortations as the mysterious visitor and teacher of his youth, crediting him with the warning that men have sunk into isolation instead of brotherly love.
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