The Margin

Object

The Onion

Also known as a little onion, one little onion, a tiny little onion, my onion, that onion.

The onion is the small act of mercy in the folk tale Grushenka tells Alyosha. A wicked woman once gave an onion to a beggar, and after death an angel tries to pull her from the lake of fire by that one gift. The onion breaks when she refuses to let other sinners be saved with her, making the story both a hope and a warning.

VII-IV. Cana Of Galilee

In Alyosha's vision, Father Zossima says that many at the feast have given only an onion, and that Alyosha has given one to a famished woman.

VIII-VIII. Delirium

At Mokroe, Grushenka remembers the onion again as proof that even a wicked person may still want to pray.

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The Margin

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The Onion