Free Will In The Brothers Karamazov

Set in late nineteenth century Russia, The Brothers Karamazov recounts the history of Karamazov family, a lineage infamous for drunkenness, thievery, lust, and the like. Toward the beginning of the novel, it is discovered that the oldest brother, Dmitri, has troubles with his father, Fyodor, concerning a mutual lover, Grushenka. This tension transpires into physical brawls between Dmitri and Fyodor, warranting responses from the other two Karamazov brothers. The youngest brother and a pious monk, Alyosha strives to be a mediator between his obscene father and aggressive brother. The middle brother and a skeptic, Ivan is indifferent to the situation; his disbelief in human morality doesn’t warrant any attention toward his family’s troubles.

Of the many examples of free will’s dangers in the novel, perhaps the most memorable concerns Ivan’s poem The Grand Inquisitor. This inciteful work argues that Jesus’ failure to follow Satan’s three temptations is what landed humankind with free will’s curse. The Inquisitor suggests that humankind naturally desires security found in an accepted truth. However, Christ failed to demonstrate his divinity when Satan gave him the opportunity, and this failure entailed confusion amongst humankind concerning Christ’s authenticity. The Inquisitor argues that this lack of clarity ushered in free will, as humankind is plagued with choosing between a host of securities hoping the selected one is right. To find a seemingly non-existent security, humankind selfishly latches onto to objectives other than Christ, such as money and fame, to leading to a will to do evil. However, the novel succeeds in mentioning the true meaning of free will: to desire God’s love out of true faith. God didn’t create free will to cause confusion in the world but rather to determine if humanity truly loved Him. Using Alyosha as an example, his unwavering faith in God doesn’t come forcefully from a place of obligation but rather a place of desiring to live a life for God. Free will isn’t a curse to Alyosha, but it is a way for him to demonstrate his true faith in