Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov

Often times in literature, we are presented with quintessential characters that are all placed into the conventional categories of either good or bad. In these pieces, we are usually able to differentiate the characters and discover their true intentions from reading only a few chapters. However, in some remarkable pieces of work, authors create characters that are so realistic and so complex that we are unable to distinguish them as purely good or evil. In the novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky develops the morally ambiguous characters of Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov to provide us with an interesting read and to give us a chance to evaluate each character.

In Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, Dmitri is wrongfully accused and then convicted of murdering his father. Dmitri arrives in this situation because he was at his father’s house the night of the murder. Dmitri says himself that if it weren’t for the Griggory seeing him, he would have killed his father. He wanted to kill his father, but he didn’t. Because all the facts and evidence line up against him Dmitri must fight a losing battle in terms of finding justice through the legal system. However, through his process of integration he faces three torments which force him to see himself better and then to see himself as a part of humanity. Zosima’s philosophy of active love and God’s mercy show that the only way to truly reform a criminal is to “acknowledge one’s own conscience” (64). Zosima advises that one “go at once and seek torments for yourself… Take these torments upon yourself and

In Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, Margarita breaks the gender norm that is set by most of the female characters who portray themselves to be defined by men, thick-headed, and shallow. Unlike the rest of the women in the novel, Bulgakov illustrates Margarita as a dominant feminine power who breaks the gender norms through her tenacious mentality, intellectual behavior and compassion. However, it could be argued that Bulgakov induces a level of sexual bias against woman through Margarita despite her accomplishments as a woman; since her courageous character was defined through her unconditional love for the Master. Without the active male figure, the Master, Margarita could not have become a brave and courageous woman, thus restating that all woman are defined by males; the gender associated as a higher authority.

Throughout Dostoevsky’s novel, Crime and Punishment, the main character, Raskolnikov, contemplates and eventually commits the murders of two women. Raskolnikov, having committed the crime, is then faced with the consequences of his actions – the punishment. The guilt and suffering Raskolnikov experiences throughout the remaining sections of the novel pull him into a constant back and forth internal struggle with his conscience. The struggle between committing to the role of “Napoleon” versus turning himself in to authority drives him to his breaking point. Through the use of the theoretical lens presented in Friedrich Nietzsche’s book, Genealogy of Morals, Dostoevsky’s novel and the actions of Raskolnikov may be interpreted in a new perspective. Nietzsche, through his theoretical

In the novel, Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the main character, Raskolnikov, is portrayed as a dual character with a very complex personality. In Russian, Raskolnikov means “split” or schism torn between desire to do good and desire to do evil. Dostoevsky has created such a complex psychological portrait to capture Raskolnikov’s behavioral disorder, and be able to justify the novel’s after effects and character’s actions based on his complex personality. Furthermore, the novel as a whole puts forth a double conflict.

The Brothers Karamazov is a famous novel written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The Grand Inquisitor is a parable that is mentioned in the plot of the book. The parable is told by one of the main characters Ivan Karamazov to his brother Alyosha Karamazov who is a young monk. In this story, the main character is a Cardinal Grand Inquisitor who arrests Jesus Christ. In The Grand Inquisitor, Fyodor Dostoyevsky is an intellect discussing how the conflict between God represented by Jesus Christ on earth, and religion that was seen in the Roman Catholic Church. According to the Cardinal, the two, God and Church, will never coexist in the contemporary world. He is sure that one of them must give up since Jesus and the Church are completely different as they

Are there special human beings who have more rights and privileges than ordinary humans? Rodia’s theory in Dostoyevsky's novel, Crime and Punishment, addresses that question.

Dostoevsky often refers to Alyosha as “the hero of [his] story whom” he loves a lot (Dostoevsky, 338). The Brothers Karamazov is set up to be a novel whose main lead and hero is Alyosha, “an early lover of mankind” (Dostoevsky, 18). Alyosha throughout the novel is described as a good natured young man who is loving and caring, which I believe is the reason Dostoevsky wants the reader to believe that Alyosha is the hero as he meets his criteria of a true hero. In Karamazov some of the themes Dostoevsky introduces are love, change and forgiveness—characteristics that Alyosha has from the beginning. Additionally, one of the major themes Dostoevsky introduces in the novel is change; he toys with the idea, can people really change, if yes, how? In the novel Dostoevsky does show the reader that individuals can change through Dmitri and Zosima and the catalyst for change most often is active love. Initially in the novel the word Karamazov is linked to baseness, sensualist, drunkenness and loose morals that are in general all the characteristics Dmitri is believed to embody. However, by the end of the novel Dmitri’s character transforms, which is why I disagree with Dostoevsky’s analysis that Alyosha is the hero, rather I believe the real hero of the novel is Dmitri Fyodorvich who actually changed while Alyosha’s character remained rather static. Dmitri is introduced as someone who grew up entitled and “spent a disorderly adolescence and youth” (Dostoevsky, 11), his own father

Crime And Punishment, written by Fyodor Dostoevsky, is a third person omniscient novel, reaching peak popularity in the 1860’s. Dostoyevsky wrote about a man named Raskolnikov, holding multiple thoughts, followed by uneasy actions. As he follows through with his actions, pertaining to the murders, he must also face his conscience, alongside the belief that what he did was right but under other circumstances he knew was wrong. Raskolnikov also faces other characters throughout the book, who he either gets along with or does not, for his own beliefs such as them secretly knowing what he has done. The setting of the book is located in Russia, during the 1860’s, and shows a different time period through the treatment of women, the poor, and those living in Russia. During the 1860’s, Russia faced a mass amount of change. Led by Alexander II, Tsar of Russia, who had emancipated the serfs, or peasants, who were owned on private estates or domestic households. Also at the time was the Russian Intelligentsia Class. It was a status class that included a group of educated citizens who used arts such as teachers, writers, journalists, and artists to inform citizens of the culture and politics of their society. However, the Bolshevik Revolution occurred, leading to the creation of Soviet Russia. Dostoyevsky, at the time, rebelled and wrote of the events resulting in his piece, Crime And Punishment. In his piece he told about Raskolnikov, however he was not the only main character to be

“Nothing has ever been more insupportable for a man and a human society than freedom.” –The Grand Inquisitor” “Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” - Father Zosima. These two quotes voice the polarized philosophies that impregnate the book, The Brothers Karamazov. Ivan, the second of the three sons, and Zosima, the old monk, are huge commentators on the question, “Is the burden of free will to much for a human to bear?”

In his book “Crime and Punishment”, Dostoevsky explores the path of Raskolnikov who has many problems and obstacles throughout his life. He commits murder and is faced with the long and mentally extremely painful journey of seeking redemption.

Dostoevsky outlines two conflicting theories about crime and humanity that emerged during Russia’s modernization period in the novel. One view, presented by Razumikhin, explains that the individual is a victim of his environment and the other, held by Raskolnikov, states instead that the individual is a product of his environment. Raskolnikov’s view actually reinforces pre-modernization ideas about a social hierarchy with nobility on top. Similar to the pre-modern idea that nobility received their

The Russian novelist Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky stands at the very summit of Russian literature. No 19th-century writer had greater psychological insight or philosophical depth.  None speaks more immediately and passionately to the mood and tone of the present century. This essay will discuss how Dostoyevsky's intent to portray a 'truly beautiful soul' manifests itself in the novel The Idiot, and access Dostoyevsky's success or failure in achieving his intention.

The Master and Margarita is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov that is set in the Russian city of Moscow while Invisible Cities is a novel by Italo Calvino. Both novels share striking similarities but also do share sharply contrasting approaches. Both books are fictional and have similar stylistic devices in their description of events. Invisible Cities is a book that requires the reader to use extensively of his imagination so as to envision the cities that he is describing. The description of the cities can be confusing as is with description of Ziara as “The city does not consist of this, (stairs and streets) but of relationships between the measurememts of its space and the events of its past: the height of a lamppost and the distance and the sistance from the ground of a hanged usurper’s swaying feet;…” (Pg 10). Imagination and perception are themes that Calvino advances in this book in his description of cities. The cities have fancy sounding names with functions that their residents have and play being different from one city to another.

Mikhail Bulgakov’s work of art novel, The Master and Margarita, has influenced many people to create some kind of spin off of it, whether it be a song, painting, or even a movie, it is always entertaining. Speaking about movies, to this day there are more than thirteen films made of or based on The Master and Margarita from countries all over the world, such as Italy and France. Not only are there movies but soap operas aired on TV have also been based off of Bulgakov’s novel. The book is so intriguing that directors and film makers want to put a face to the characters.