Nekhludoff and Rogozhinsky

The relationship between Dmitri Ivanovitch Nekhludoff and his brother-in-law, Rogozhinsky, is one of profound ideological antagonism, a clash between a man undergoing a radical moral awakening and a self-satisfied defender of the established order. Rogozhinsky, a man who has made a "brilliant judicial career" by cleverly steering between Liberalism and Conservatism, embodies the very system of privilege and legalized injustice that Nekhludoff has come to abhor. Their encounters are not merely family disagreements but a dramatization of the novel's central conflict: the struggle between a conscience seeking atonement and a society that rationalizes its own cruelty.

The Ideological Chasm

The fundamental rift between the two men is exposed during a tense conversation in Nekhludoff's sister's hotel room. Rogozhinsky, who has heard of Nekhludoff's intention to give his land to the peasants, dismisses the act as "the height of inconsistency, flightiness, and pride," motivated by a desire to "appear original, to brag, to make one's self talked about." He argues from a position of pragmatic self-interest, believing that "the rights of property are inborn in man" and that to destroy them is to "lapse into barbarism." Nekhludoff, in contrast, counters that the law is merely "an instrument for upholding the existing order of things beneficial to our class," and that the entire system of criminal justice is a "senseless and cruel business" that punishes the innocent while protecting the guilty. This exchange reveals that they inhabit fundamentally different moral universes: Rogozhinsky sees the world as a hierarchy to be maintained, while Nekhludoff sees it as a system of oppression to be dismantled.

The Personal Wound

The ideological conflict is intensified by a deep personal antipathy. Nekhludoff feels a "strong antipathy" towards his brother-in-law, rooted in what he perceives as Rogozhinsky's "vulgarity of his feelings, his assurance and narrowness." More painfully, he resents the way Rogozhinsky has transformed his beloved sister, Nathalie, whom Nekhludoff remembers as a kindred spirit from their youth. He sees that she has become a "slave of that hairy, unpleasant husband," stifling the good that was in her for the sake of a "selfish, sensual" love. This personal dimension makes the ideological clash not an abstract debate but a visceral struggle over the soul of someone Nekhludoff loves. When Nekhludoff, in the heat of argument, declares that he finds the entire business of criminal law "incomprehensible," Rogozhinsky, who serves as a judge, is deeply wounded, his eyes filling with "tears of injured pride." The argument becomes a personal attack, leaving Nekhludoff feeling "pained and ashamed" for having hurt his sister through her husband.

The Unbridgeable Divide

The relationship remains unresolved and fundamentally broken. After their final, bitter argument, Nekhludoff attempts to write a letter of apology but finds he cannot, as he knows Rogozhinsky will interpret it as weakness. When they meet again at the railway station, the brief conversation about money matters "destroyed the tender brotherly and sisterly feelings that had taken hold of them." Nekhludoff realizes that the Nathalie he once knew "no longer existed," replaced by a woman whose face lit up with "peculiar animation" only when discussing matters that would interest her husband. The relationship with Rogozhinsky thus serves as a painful reminder of the cost of Nekhludoff's transformation: it alienates him from his own family and from the comfortable, self-justifying world they represent. Rogozhinsky is not a villain but a mirror, reflecting the life Nekhludoff himself once lived and has now rejected, making their conflict all the more bitter and irreconcilable.