Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov A Diabolical Hero Essay -- essays papers

Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov A Diabolical Hero Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky is considered by many to be the pinnacle in a coarse line of Russian authors who wrote in the 19th century. Gogol, Tolstoy, Lermontov, Pushkin, Chekhov these framers, corresponding many greats the humans round, concerned themselves non only with their art, but with its rival on their society Gogol, for example, is said to bemuse gone insane bandage working on his masterpiece, Dead Souls, obsessing himself with the idea that he could bring around the resurrection of his country through his tale. Eventually becoming disillusioned with the task he had set himself, Gogol burnt much of the manuscript and renounced all his worldly possessions, passing on to lead an ascetic life until his death from starvation. While Dostoyevsky did not go to such extremes, he also intended to provide a redemption for his country, which he saw was headed down a dangerous form. This salvation was to take the form of The Brothers Karamazov and the Church as a positive societal ideal was to constitute the central idea of the new story... (xiii)1. Some critics, however, have claimed that while he may have set out to write in support of the Church, Dostoyevsky ended up writing a novel which in many ways shows evil in an attractive, or at least(prenominal) ambiguous, light. For them, Ivan FyodorovichKaramazov is one of the most compelling characters in all literature the world round andthat it is with him and not Alyosha (the Saviour in the novel), that we as readers identify most strongly. Thus, they claim, by having us identify with the rational, amoral atheism of Ivan, the novel becomes something of a diabolodicy rather than the great defense of God and Church it was intended to be.... ...n of accepting God, or, at the rattling least, His necessity. Of course, it could be argued that this acceptance only stands in the context of the novel-that is, the events in the novel be structured s o as to make all non-believers come to grown ends and thus make it seem as though any path other than that of Zosima and Alyosha is the wrong path however, I must stress that the public of such a profound conscience in Ivan and our deep kind-heartedness for him leads us, almost inevitably, to reject the idea thatall things are lawful because our sympathy proves that we ourselves have consciences as well. Thus, whether we believe in God or not, we are forced to adjudge that we must at least act as though at that place is. To do otherwise is to risk the fate of Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov.BibliographyFyodor M. Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, Trans. David McDuff (Penguin)