Ivan Karamazov's The Grand Inquisitor

As a character, Ivan Karamazov is the rational voice inside of all people. He may have his misgivings, but he strives to be superior to the other members of his family. He is not reckless like Dmitri, nor is he a spiritual idealistic. Rather, he strives to be the judge of his own actions and stand on the pulpit of righteous at the same time. Ivan rejects all higher orders, and instead sets up the individual man as the sole judge of what is right and wrong, independent of any system of religious belief or morality. In Ivan's view, "everything is permitted," even cannibalism, if the individual feels like it.
His life was extremely hard, even from the beginning. This could play a major role in the life he leads and how he interacts with other …show more content…
He is a character who strives to gain knowledge, but the way that he is able to portray that knowledge is only through fantasy scenarios and through fictition. Ivan shares his poem, "The Grand Inquisitor," with Alyosha and brings about several important atheistic principles. “The Grand Inquisitor rejects free submission to God, choosing instead his own grief, resentment, and a sense of bitter righteousness. Ivan’s story is compelling and it leaves a lasting impression. It is what classic novels do: they suggest motivations and solutions, but in such a way as to invite interpretations that are never complete and always in need of another commentary or clarification.”** Ivan is especially prone to leaving lasting impressions because he connects with readers as someone who is struggling with his faith, but he puts on a mask of intelligence to show that he is not waging an inner battle. After their meal Ivan brings up an extremely important ideological belief that he holds, which is that “Everything is lawful” (Dostoevsky 238). This will come back to haunt him of course when he talks to Smerdyakov and he is told that through his teachings he was able to commit murder because there will be no consequences for him to come to grips with. This also makes Ivan the mouthpiece of Dostoevsky’s message that nihilism is dangerous and should be avoided for when there are no morals, there are no laws, and things could go radically wrong. By exemplifying the modern Russian, we see a character who is unable to cope when he sees that he was wrong. This manifests itself in the end, when he develops brain fever and becomes extremely ill because he realizes that the through the so called “prophecies” he convinced Smerdyakov to kill his