Topic > Struggle between faith and disbelief in brothers...

Brothers Karamazov, written by the famous Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky, is an ambiguous and somewhat contradictory novel when it comes to the question of faith and disbelief in God. Ambiguity it seems to represent Dostoevsky's constant spiritual struggle with the question of faith. This struggle is best reflected in the illuminating interactions between the two Karamazov brothers, Ivan and Alyosha throughout the novel, each of whom seems to embody a different side on the spectrum of religious faith in Dostoevsky's mind. They are Dostoevsky's definitive depiction of the conflict between faith and reason in light of suffering in the world. The novel revolves around the emotionally spiritual conflict of the three Karamazov brothers - Dimitri, Ivan and Alyosha - between reason and faith. Dostoevsky depicted this best through Book V, chapters 3 to 5, in which an intellectual conversation takes place between Ivan and Alyosha. Their dinner conversation opens up a whole new paradigm of spirituality. Ivan, to explain his point of view on the subject, evokes the suffering of innocent children in particular and of mankind in general. It is beyond his understanding how a living God could let humanity suffer for no particular reason. Furthermore, Ivan cannot understand why innocent, harmless children have to live their lives in suffering. He says in Book V chapter 4 – Rebellion: “Listen: if everyone must suffer, to acquire eternal harmony with their suffering, tell me, what have children got to do with it? It is completely incomprehensible why they should suffer and why they should gain harmony with their suffering. " His touching speech is so eloquently articulated that it makes us question whether this is the actual... half of the paper... God's disbelief in God, in fact justifies Smerdyakov for killing Fyodor, and when Ivan se realizes this, he loses his mind. It is certain that Ivan's philosophy may at times represent Dostoevsky's thoughts and feelings, but in the end his faith in God remains as strong as ever so that we can observe their striking differences. While the most important event of the novel – Fyodor's murder – is rationalized by Ivan's philosophy, Alyosha's faith, influenced by the great Zosima, saves the people from their misery in the end faith in God and love for others prevail: there is no place for disbelief. The message that Dostoevsky seems to be trying to convey is that, however difficult it may be, faith in God is when we have to face the gruesome reality of suffering in this world, his only alternative is intolerable misery..