Greta's Reviews > The Brothers Karamazov

„The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for“

Sigmund Freud‘s favorite novel. "The Brothers Karamazov" is both a crime story and a philosophical debate. It enters deeply into the ethical debates of God, free will and morality. The plot revolves around the murder of the obnoxious Fyodor Karamazov and the subsequent trial. He was killed just after an encounter with three of his sons; Dmitri, Ivan and Alyosha, who couldn‘t be more different from each other. He had a major dispute with Dmitri about money and a woman they both desired, which makes him the prime suspect. Meanwhile a suicide occurs, that puts everything at question. It is a theological drama of moral struggles concerning faith, doubt, judgment and guilt. Their psychological effects are exposed in the subsequent trial leading to a devastating verdict .

Drawing of the three brothers in contrast to their father

Between Faith and Doubt

The central philosophical conflict lies between religious faith and doubt. Alyosha is characterized by his believe in God, leading him to active love of mankind, kindness, forgiveness, and a devotion to goodness. Ivan on the other hand is known for his atheism, logical skepticism and examination of evidence, leading him to the rejection of God and conventional notions of morality. He becomes cold and experiences inner despair. Dostoevsky illustrates how a life of faith is happier than a life of doubt, as we see in the murder of Fyodor and in Ivan’s psychological breakdown. But the novel also examines doubt with objectivity, as Ivan argues persuasivly against religion, the Church, and God, suggesting that the choice to embrace religious faith can only be made at great philosophical risk, and for reasons that withstand logical explanation.

Crime and Justice

The main motive of the novel is crime and justice, both earthly and devine; exploring sin, redemption, and guilt. Earthly justice is the basic idea of the actual justice system, laws imposed by the government, trials and the subsequent punishment. Dmitri would only be guilty if he killed his father and stole his money. His previous thoughts and desires are not relevant. In contrast divine justice is the moral code, introduced through religion, suggesting punishment through hell, instead of heaven, requiring immortality. Therefore the only punishment during life is the burden of consciousness, which are the ingrained teachings of religion. Divine justice suggests, that sins of omission are worse than the sins of commission and should be more severely punished. Manipulating someone else into committing a crime is worse than committing the crime yourself, as you are not only guilty of desiring the crime, your are also responsible for someone else committing the crime. But in earthly justice it‘s not up to the juries and judges to punish those who lead others into crimes, but up to God.

Drawing of Dmitri‘s trial

The Pervasiveness of Moral Responsibility

A central lessons of the novel is that people should not judge but forgive each other and that they should pray for the redemption of criminals rather than their punishment. One person’s actions would have so many complicated effects on other people, that it is impossible to trace all the consequences of one single action. Therefore everyone bears some responsibility for the sins of everyone else and no one can be held singly responsible for a crime or sin. This idea of shared responsibility is outrageous to those in the novel who doubt Christianity, particularly Ivan, who repeatedly insists that he is not responsible for the actions of anyone but himself. Ivan’s deep distrust of human nature makes him keep others at distance; the idea that his actions affect others makes him emotionally uncomfortable. When the killer explains to Ivan how his amoral philosophical beliefs have made it possible for him to commit the crime, Ivan is forced to accept the consequences of his relentless skepticism: his doubt has made the murder possible, which makes him a complicity. Ivan suddenly understands the nature of moral responsibility, a comprehension so overwhelming, that it leads to a nervous breakdown—Dostoevsky’s final depiction of the consequences of doubt.

The Burden of Free Will

The novel argues that people have free will, whether they want to or not. Every individual is free to choose whether to believe or disbelieve in God, whether to accept or reject morality, and whether to pursue good or evil. Superficially free will may seem to guarantee independence and ensure that no outside force can control ones choices. But throughout the novel free will is portrayed as a curse, troubling those who have chosen to doubt God’s existence. Voluntarily rejecting the securities, comforts, and protections of the world in favor of the uncertainties and hardships of religious belief is a burden. Ivan argues, that most people are too weak to make this choice and will have unhappy lives that end in eternal damnation, while free will is a necessary component of the simple and satisfying faith practiced by Alyosha.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Author Fyodor Dostoevsky

To really understand the motivation and struggle behind this novel, one has to look at Dostoyevsky biography. He was raised christian but also exposed to misery and murder. His father was a drunk, and later murdered by serfs on account of his inhumane treatment. In 1846 he joined the Petrashevsky Circle, a literary group that discussed banned books critical of Tsarist Russia and promoting atheism. He was arrested in 1849 for "the circulation of a private letter full of insolent expressions against the Orthodox Church". They sentenced him and the other members of the circle to death by firing squad, and the prisoners were taken to their execution.

Mock execution of Petrashevsky Circle‘s members 1849

Right after the announcement of the verdict a carriage rushed onto the Plaz, and an officer declared, that the death sentence had been replaced for all of them with penal colony. He spent four years in a Siberian prison camp, followed by six years of compulsory military service in exile. Dostoevsky had his hands and feet shackled until his release and he was only permitted to read his New Testament Bible.


At the Siberian prison camp

Dostoyevsky's personal struggle with the question of faith, and his own experience with injustice and murder, are manifested in the characters of "The Brothers Karamazov". For him the problem of God became not the recognition of the truth, but the elimination of associated doubt. The primary source of doubt was his struggle to reconcile the suffering evident in the world and the notion of a loving God.

"Nothing is more seductive for man than his freedom of conscience. But nothing is a greater cause of suffering.""

The novel ends in a catastrophe that can only evoke fear...fear of justice and fear of injustice to the same extend. Without doubt one of the best books I‘ve ever read.