Also known as Rakitin, Misha, Mihail Osipovitch, Mr. Rakitin.
Mihail Rakitin is a divinity student living under the monastery's protection. In Zossima's cell he stands apart from the guests, dressed like a layman and showing reverence without pretending to their social rank. He knows Alyosha well, and Alyosha already senses that Rakitin is watching more than praying.
II-VII. A Young Man Bent On A Career
After the cell scandal, Rakitin intercepts Alyosha in the copse and turns Zossima's bow into malicious speculation about crime, sensuality, and the Karamazovs.
IV-I. Father Ferapont
He brings Alyosha Madame Hohlakov's urgent letter about a new miracle report, already acting as a useful courier for town gossip.
VII-II. A Critical Moment
Finding Alyosha wounded by the scandal around Zossima's body, Rakitin tempts him toward food, vodka, and a visit to Grushenka, hoping to profit from the fall of the righteous.
VII-III. An Onion
At Grushenka's lodging, it is revealed that he accepted twenty-five roubles to bring Alyosha there. The plan fails when Grushenka and Alyosha pity each other instead of becoming his spectacle.
X-III. The Schoolboy
Rakitin's ideas spread beyond Alyosha. The schoolboy Kolya Krassotkin parrots his radical opinions, quoting 'Rakitin's idea' and announcing himself a Socialist.
XI-II. The Injured Foot
Madame Hohlakov reveals that Rakitin has been calling on her almost daily and has even written her sentimental verses about her 'captivating little foot,' a clumsy courtship she now recounts with amused contempt.
XI-IV. A Hymn And A Secret
Rakitin visits Dmitri in prison for material, aiming to turn the case into a career-making article with a social theory and a useful tinge of radicalism.
XII-II. Dangerous Witnesses
At the trial, his high-minded testimony is damaged when Fetyukovitch exposes the twenty-five roubles from Grushenka, leaving Rakitin publicly compromised.
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