The 'Legend of the Grand Inquisitor': Moral Transformation in The Brothers Karamazov

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Date
2008-06
Authors
Miller, Nicholas Rourke
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Publisher
Lethbridge Undergraduate Research Journal
Abstract
The major plot lines of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov follow the moral development of the Karamazov brothers, Dmitri, Ivan, Alyosha, and Smerdyakov. All of the brothers are, to some extent, portrayed as torn between reason and faith, a divide that echoes throughout Dostoevsky's later work. The chapters "Rebellion" and "The Grand Inquisitor" elaborate a challenge against a belief in religious faith and morality which Dostoevsky attempts to answer through the beliefs of his characters and the effects of their beliefs on their lives. The Brothers Karamazov as a whole can thus be read as an indirect response to the challenge of the 'Legend of the Grand Inquisitor.'
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Keywords
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821-1881 -- Criticism and interpretation , Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821-1881. Bratia Karamazovy
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