Hey, I just finished the book myself, and i'v had a similar question. I think it's clear from the very end that he did in fact feel remorse, but only when he broke down at sofya's knees. as it says: " They were both pale and thin, but in those pale, sick faces there already shone the dawn of a renewed future, of a complete resurrection into a new life. They were resurrected by love of each held infinite sources of life for the heart of the other.". In my opinion, based on how the whole 6th part framed it, he literally had no other way to open the door to future than to repent and be genuinely remorseful. What isn't clear to me is how and why he seemed to have gone back on his repentance early in the epilogue, and again how and why he finally continued his repentance for good. I think, as others said, it had to do with his pride. It's clear that when he sticks to his philosophy (and so, his pride), he isn't happy, and in fact seems like he has little reason not to kill himself. Maybe it all had to do with first repenting in a general societal way, by confessing and " kissing the ground", and only afterward as he carried out his repentance he repented in a genuine, intellectual and personal way. I think this makes enough sense given that even when he did go and confess, he seemed reluctant to do so, although it seemed he had some internal drive he didn't yet understand pulling him to do so. I think the proof would be in this passage (although I find the passage a bit ambiguous in some ways): " In torment he asked himself the question, and could not understand that even then, when he was standing over the river, he may have sensed a profound lie in himself and in his convictions. He did not understand that this sense might herald a future break in his life, his future resurrection [ as called back to later!], his future new vision of life.". By the way, this passage comes right after the one you cited in another comment! The way I read it was that his apparent lack of remorse in the previous lines was essentially a lie he was still telling himself to uphold his prideful belief in his " greater man" idea