Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor

Know that I fear Thee not. Know that I too have been in the wilderness, I too have lived on roots and locusts, I too prized the freedom with which Thou hast blessed men, and I too was striving to stand among Thy elect, among the strong and powerful, thirsting "to make up the number." But I awakened and would not serve madness. (The Brothers Karamozov, Part II, Book V, p. 308)

The legend of the Grand Inquisitor within The Brothers Karamozov is the philosophical root of Dostoevsky's novel. To understand the Grand Inquisitor and, indeed, Dostoevsky is to see the ambivalence inherent within the personality of man. Man is good, yet he is drawn to evil. The Grand Inquisitor legend is about an archetype that has come to earth and condemned man for being

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