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Freedom And Human Nature In The Grand Inquisitor By Dostoyevsky

Decent Essays

Everyone should read The Grand Inquisitor. This Dostoyevsky novel warps your mind, and makes you think about all the suffering in the world. Dostoevsky creates an ambiguity of freedom and human nature; both topics we as Americans feel like we should know rather well. But, do we really understand human nature? Is freedom what we truly think it is? The use of characters in The Grand Inquisitor gives you a three point perspective on dealing with suffering in the world. The first character we are introduced to is Ivan. This guys seems to have it all figured out. He simply believes that the world is shit, God is a joke, and like Holden Caulfield he want’s to save all the damn children. Ivan finds it hard to accepts that the pure innocence of the world have to go through polluted practices of parental figures. Ivan made the decision to commit suicide at the age of thirty. Why thirty? Well lets see, wasn’t Jesus betrayed by Judas for thirty silver coins? Is it so that Ivan thinks maybe just like Jesus, he is being sacrificial to the children? But is Ivan really giving his life to a cause the way the Buddhist monks did when protesting the vietnam war, or is he just being selfish because he cannot handle the suffering of youngsters? Although I often think about dying, and how others will react to my passing. I contemplate if anyone would actually care beside the people who are supposed to care, like my family. I think maybe if something tragic happened to me, maybe just maybe it

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