Molly Rawson Dr. Meredig Literature 344 19 November 2014 The works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, one of the great writers of the Russian canon, have a reputation for tackling the difficult questions of the human condition. True to this legacy, Dostoevsky uses his novelThe Brothers Karamazovas a vehicle for exploring theodicy—the line of thought concerned with reconciling a good and omnipotent God with the presence of evil in the world. Two of the characters in the novel—Alyosha and Ivan—are particularly concerned with this religious question, though they stand on opposite ends of the spectrum in their beliefs. Alyosha is devoutly religious—he dedicates himself to the monastic life until his mentor and idol Zosima encourages him to do otherwise—and even after he re-enters society, he holds tightly to his religious views. Alyosha’s brother Ivan, on the other hand, is a self-proclaimed atheist-- the central flaw he finds with Christianity being this issue of theodicy. The author’s own experiences in exile among criminals left him “dedicated to the belief that salvation could be achieved only with the complete moral transformation of human nature through love, suffering, and the experience of Christ” (Leatherbarrow). However, he does not deny that depravity and suffering raise some questions about the God of Christianity. To Dostoevsky, the Christian faith, and as an element of it theodicy, are inherently separate from rationalism—a belief he makes clear through the brothers’ struggle with it. Dostoevsky does not resolve the question of theodicy inThe Brothers Karamazov—doing so would neglect the complexities and nuances of the issue, which has been debated for centuries. He does, however, use the characters Alyosha and Ivan to present both sides of the argument, leaving readers to grapple with it for themselves.
Rawson 2 The twenty-four-year old Ivan Fyodorovich is described by the narrator as having “some sort of unusual and brilliant aptitude for learning” (Dostoevsky 15) and possessing “practical and intellectual superiority” (16). Of the three Karamazov brothers, it is Ivan that represents rationality and the mind. This sense of reason leads him to favor the ecclesiastical courts and power of the Russian Orthodox Church, for example—though he does not himself subscribe to
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