The Father in the Luggage
Alyosha visits Fyodor alone while Ivan is out. The old man sits bruised after Dmitri's beating, boasting sin is sweet, refusing a will, hoping Katerina's rival pity will bring her to the beaten patriarch. He flirts with paying Dmitri to vanish, then pours another half-glass the moment Alyosha's door closes.
Key Insight
A patriarch's wound is still a stage. Fyodor turns assault into a plot for attention and inheritance, teaching the sons that injury is another lever in the house game.
