The Margin

Concept

The Hymn Underground

Also known as our hymn from underground, a glorious hymn to God.

The hymn underground is Dmitri's vision of faith under punishment. In prison, he imagines men in the mines sheltering God below the earth and singing a glorious hymn to Him from the bowels of the ground. It is his way of turning suffering into brotherhood, prayer, and joy.

XI-X. “It Was He Who Said That”

Ivan bitterly recalls Dmitri singing a hymn while he himself prepares to bear witness about Smerdyakov, making the image part of the brothers' opposed ways of facing guilt.

Epilogue II. For A Moment The Lie Becomes Truth

After the verdict, Dmitri admits the hymn has become harder to live than to imagine: he cannot bear the thought of blows, humiliation, and separation from Grushenka in Siberia.

This entry is sealed. You have not yet read far enough to open it.

The Margin

Suggest a correction

The Hymn Underground