The Grand Inquisitor By Dostoevsky

But neither human resourcefulness nor the emperor’s largesse nor appeasement of the gods could stop belief in the nasty rumor that an order had been given for the fire. To dispel the gossip Nero therefore found culprits on whom he inflicted the most exotic punishments. These were people hated for their shameful offences whom the common people called Christians. The man who gave them their name, Christus, had been executed

After it’s publication in 1667 it was read aloud in public every month from cover to cover, thus they were subjected to a flood of unheard of ideas from their Empress. 6 Some of the more radical statements within the Instruction were her comparing Russia to European power. 7 Meaning that she was comparing Russia in all ways to that of other European countries, such as Britain, France, and Spain. Catherine tried to make this true by making what she thought of as “Enlightened” reforms. One of which was to say that “the innocent ought not to be tortured; and in the eye of the law every person is innocent whose crime is not yet proved”.6 Those were just two of a number of statements made within the Great Instruction, which made way for a whole new slew of ideas and

Jesus preached about His beliefs with God, and all his Glory. He went around telling people that he was the son of God. These accusations raised chaos with the Jews. He was brought to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest. They were looking for any kind of evidence, or excuse to kill Jesus. “The high priest

Viktor E. Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who also had survived the Holocaust, writes “When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves” (BrainyQuote). Frankl survived genocide against his own people and still chose to have a positive outlook on it because he understands that if he did not, he would continually live an unhappy, upset life. Like Frankl, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, the main character in One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, contains a similar outlook to that of Frankl. The novel takes place during Soviet Russia in a gulag in Siberia, or otherwise known as a labor work camp. The whole book is about only one day that Shukhov lives; from 5 in the morning to 10 at night and all that happens in between. In this labor camp, not only are the weather conditions very cold, making it difficult to work in such circumstances, but also the workers are punished and harshly treated if they do not obey the guards. When placed in this environment, it is easy to be discouraged and miserable, but instead of facing the negatives of his situation, Shukhov remains affirmative in his thoughts – which are most important in order to survive not only physically, but also mentally. This stoicism portrayed in the narrative can also be found in Epictetus’s work, The Handbook. In this text, Epictetus discusses how he believes people can live a happy life, despite the hard conditions they are put through

The universe doesn’t owe you, me, or anyone a thing, except for death. Though as kids most of us were led to believe that with enough effort and hard work were going to become whatever we wanted to be, we were going to have whatever our little hearts desired, and we were going to do whatever we wanted to do. However, as we grew up we realized that this is not the case. There are millions of people who did not become professional athletes, models, or billionaires, people who never got to have the mansions, cars, and fame that they always longed for, people who never got to travel the world, cure cancer, or fly into space. These are all mostly childlike dreams, which were probably imposed unto us by either our parents or society. There’s nothing wrong with children having these sort of improbable dreams, however, there comes a time where we can no longer be children. In the story Tandolfo the Great, written by Richard Bausch, we are introduced to Rodney Wilbury aka Tandolfo the Great, who is a suitable example to demonstrate what life can be like for those who are unable to grow out of their childlike mind sets. In this analysis I will be inspecting how Tandolfo the Great’s childish mind set, from his strong sense of entitlement to his inability to let go of the past events, has almost destroyed his life and how it can destroy anyone else’s.

Voltaire directs this example of the Church, as it was an officer of the Inquisition who was responsible for the sentencing. The inanity of the whole situation, as well as the completely unnecessary drastic results that it had, makes the Church appear to be an authority that is unreliable to make sensible decisions, or rule over people. This irrationality is again portrayed through Pangloss and the Reverend Father. The Reverend Father bathed in front of a Musselman, unknowing “that it was a major crime for a Christian to be found naked” (105) with one, and ended up being tried for it. Pangloss was similarly tried, because he took too long to give a girl back the flowers that she had dropped. Both of these men, as a result of committing these simple wrongdoings, are beaten and forced into slavery, destined to spend the rest of their days as galley slaves. The crimes themselves were so small and nonsensical that the fact that they were punished at all, much less so harshly for them, is unjustifiable. Voltaire uses the unfairness and utter ludicrousness of the situation to challenge whether government should be trusted with the fate of its people. Voltaire accentuates traditional authority’s ignorance.

Ivan believes that children are innocent and therefore they should not suffer aggression and torture from adults. When aggression, maltreatment, and torture are done to children, there is where Ivan might ask himself questions like, where is God?, why doesn’t he interfer? Ivan said that he wants to be present the day that Jesus come back to earth to judge dead and alive because he is curios and therefore, he would like to know what are all the sacrifice of humans for. Ivan believes that Jesus makes justice but, he can not simply understand why God doesn’t have mercy of defenseless children who are unreasonable torture.

Through the story of the Grand Inquisitor, Ivan makes sense of and provides reasoning behind a dark time in history. The Grand Inquisitor is a 90 year old man who carries out punishments for heretics who are supposedly against the Catholic Church of Spain. The G.I. is a very important person solely based on his role in the Spanish Inquisition, no details are revealed about his personal life; we don’t even know his name. Historically, the Spanish Inquisition was a time in which the monarchs of Spain wanted to “purify” Spain and unite the nation under one common religion, Catholicism. Followers of religions other than Catholicism were told to either convert to Catholicism or leave Spain.

The Grand Inquisitor reflects Fyodor Dostoevsky interest in religious and political issues. Dostoevsky uses the voices of his characters to express his views on the legitimacy of the Roman Catholic Church and role of religion in society. The story centers around the conflict between the Grand Inquisitor and Jesus. Jesus returns to Earth during the Spanish Inquisition, when in which Jews and Muslims were forced to convert to Christianity and were murdered if not devoted in their belief. The Grand Inquisitor examines the relationship between man and Christ through a unique narrative style that adds various depths of meaning to the story.

Would you want to be thrown out of a window? In the novel, Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky talks about a scene where the underground man wanted to be thrown out of a tavern window after seeing another man get tossed out of it. The social control theory does a good job at explaining the underground man’s need to fit in with society. Do you want to be constantly in debt that you never have money and are a burden to your friends? The strain theory explains really well the scene in the book where the underground man does not get invited to the going away party and does not have the money to pay for it. Both of the theories had interesting histories and more than one theorist has had some input on both.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky paints Underground man as someone who is tortured in his novel Notes From Underground. Despite everything that Underground man says he is lost and has no sense of his identity. When the character of Liza is introduced the reader gains some hope that the Underground man can find love. Although Underground man ultimately pushes Liza away, he really loved her through his own idea of love. Underground man shows this love for her through his first conversation with Liza, his trying to save Liza, and, ironically, through his cruelty towards Liza.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel, Notes from the Underground Man, uses the idea of a modern dystopia by depicting a story that revolves around a distressed older man. Throughout the novel, the main character has a narcissistic belief that he is better than everyone else because of his acute sense of consciousness. His awareness however, also causes him to believe not only are people ignorant to the world around him but that they are also against him. In contrast, critics believe that the main character, the underground man, actually suffers from psychological disorders that causes him to reason this way. Psychological disorders are defined as a wide range of conditions that can affect mood, behavior and thinking, and based on his conduct in the novel, the underground man presents himself as an individual who is subjected to obsessive compulsive behavior, social repression and paranoia.

Nicholas was indicated by God as the man they should choose. This was during the time of persecutions in the beginning of the fourth century and "as he [Nicholas] was the chief priest of the Christians of this town and preached the truths of faith with a holy liberty, the divine Nicholas was seized by the magistrates, tortured, then chained and thrown into prison with many other Christians. But when the great and religious Constatine, chosen by God, assumed the imperial diadem of the Romans, the prisoners were released from their bonds and with them the illustrious Nicholas, who when he was set at liberty returned to

In the movie God on Trial, director Andy de Emmony has the actors in the setting of the concentration camp, Auschwitz, where they have to face the challenging and controversial issue of God’s goodness. The characters hold a trial to judge God, the room is full of tension and division where some of the prisoners defend God and the others accuse God with murder and evil. Those who come to God’s defense restate numerous biblical stories which are full of miracles and beautiful natural stories full of hope. On the other hand, the others accuse God with devastating personal experiences and horrendous biblical stories. The movie is not the only time people tried to defend or question God’s goodness. In the article, “ Did God Command Genocide?”

“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?”