1. The two sides of the debates in Dostoevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor” are who can handle freedom the most. Christ gave human beings the freedom to choose weather or not to follow him, but almost no one is strong enough to be faithful and those who are not will be cursed forever. The Grand Inquisitor says that Christ should have given people no choice, and instead taken power and given people no choice, and instead taken power and given people redemption instead of freedom. So that the same people who were to scared to succeed Christ to begin with would still be stuck, but at least they could have joy and security on earth, rather than the impossible burden of moral freedom.
My favorite book from this semester has to be the Grand Inquisitor by Fyoder Dostoevsky. First off, what compelled me to pick this book was the originality of the content by having the Grand Inquisitor appear to conversate with Jesus Christ. However, more specifcally, I appreciated the main themes like the ideas that the masses are innately naïve, a majority of people would rather be told what to do rather than to follow their own logic, and people are satisfied as long as they are comfortable. The idea of the masses seeking refuge and protection over their freedom due to being unintelligent is mentioned frequently in the Grand Inquisitor.
There are many words that have their meanings lost in translation from one language to another; one of those words is “terrible.” While English speakers tend to associate the words terrible with terms like atrocious, harrowing and revolting, the meaning of it in Russia, especially in the 16th century, was not that. To the Russians of that time, the definition of the word was closer to “formidable.” Now, introduce Ivan the Terrible, first Russian Tsar of Russia. While it speculated that Ivan the Terrible, otherwise known as Ivan IV, was cruel and manianical, he also achieved great things for Russia, which is why the term formidable seems to fit him better; as it is an all-encompassing word.
While Russia did have some notable artists and writers, such as Ivan Kramskoi and Fyodor Dostoevsky, their impact on the world of art and literature was limited compared to the likes of Michelangelo and
Dostoevsky was born in Moscow on October 30, 1821, into a privileged family. His father was a doctor, and was extremely harsh towards Dostoevsky; his mother was religious, and died prior to Dostoevsky’s sixteenth birthday. Dostoevsky attended the School of Military Engineers in St. Petersburg in accordance to his father’s wishes. He graduated and went into the Czar’s army, and was later put in prison, where he was nearly executed. He was later released, but had to serve in the army at Semipalatinsk where he met his future wife.
Why is Food, Water and Shelter not enough to survive in the Gulag? In the novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Gulag systems casually exerts its brutality to all. This makes the basic needs for survival transcendently more demanding compared to the basic needs for survival for the prisoners it incarcerates. Food, shelter and water are simply not enough to survive, so three other needs have to be gained and maintained.
He attended school to become a priest at his mothers’ will. While he was in school he began reading illegal literature, like Das Kapital by Karl Marx (“Stalin, Joseph”). He then converted to Russian Marxism and his interest in politics continued to grow. Before he gained his
The Brothers Karamazov is a novel written by Fyodor Dostoevsky late nineteenth century in Russia. At the time of the novel being written and published Russia was divided, part of Russia was evolving like Europe and began to question religion, and no longer believed in God they were called Westernizers. The other part of Russia was deep rooted in the nationalism of Russia, and in the original religion of Russia which was Russian Orthodox Church; there people were referred to as Slavophiles. Observing that most of Russia at the time were Slavophiles and the author, Fyodor Dostoevsky, was struggling between which group he felt more comfortable being a part of. Although he did not get to make the full decision on his own his struggle is reflected
Born in the aristocratic family, Vladimir inherited great features of his parents—'' a strong work ethic and a love for butterflies" from his father, and ''a creative sensibility and innate spirituality'' from his mother (Zimmer et al. 1) . The Nabokovs were well-respected and extremely wealth family, but things had changed when Vladimir's father accepted an opposition side against the Bolsheviks, who had came to power in Russia in 1918;therefore, the whole family had to escape the country, stalked by intimidation and fear of assassination. In 1919 family arrived to London, and the same year Vladimir and his brother enrolled in Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was quite successful in English, French and Russian literature. In 1922 he graduates Cambridge, and joins his family in Berlin, where he meets his Vera Slonim, who he marries three years later. These years, a steady stream of his works in Russian began to emerge, such as ''Mary" and ''The Gift'', but unfortunately, he wasn't wadely famous and popular outside of the Russian community.
In his short story, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, Fyodor Dostoevsky illustrates a perfect society using several diverse teachings about love. Firstly, Dostoevsky fills the ridiculous man’s dream with Mahayana Buddhism’s compassionate philosophy. Further, the dream society follows Christianity’s rule of neighborly love. Dostoevsky also infuses the dream with Søren Kierkegaard’s philosophies about the dichotomy of love. Each philosophy provides an explanation for the dream society’s downfall and also an allegorical connection between Petersburg and the possible corruption of traditional Russia.
To what extent does the nature and form of a film and literature influence what is or is not presented as “reality?” How do we define what is considered as realism and what isn’t?In the world of realism we find ourselves engulfed in an attitude of living in the moment. By this I mean in regards to realism, we deal with situations as they arise. We do not plan or fabricate or use emotions; we use logic. We see this realism prevalent in Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground.
During his studies in 1911, Pasternak started to write his first collection of poems with heavy inspiration from the futurist Mayakovsky (Brunsdale). After the first Russian Revolution of 1917, Pasternak began to write with more vigor, and he completed his second collection (Mansour; Brunsdale). It wasn’t until Yuri Zhivago and his family moved to Varykino in the Urals that he started writing poems as a pastime (Pasternak 277-286). Before that point, Yuri had stayed devoted to his studies and practice as a
It is hard to relate a story of the French Revolution and high Russian society to my life as an American, 15 year old student. Even so, I shall try my best by relating not circumstances, but feelings. I mentioned in my last ORB Journal the battle in Austria that Denisov came to and yelled at Nevitsky before hand for giving orders to the soldiers to burn down the bridges. I am now discussing Nikolushka Rostov and how he reacted to being in his first battle, or as the men in the Russian army put it, ‘smelled the gunpowder for the first time’. Before the battle, Rostov was eager to prove himself to be useful in the war and he hoped to earn his place in the ranks.
Saint Petersburg, the setting of Crime and Punishment, plays a major role in the formation in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s acclaimed novel. Dostoyevsky’s novels focus on the theme of man as a subject of his environment. Dostoyevsky paints 1860s St. Petersburg as an overcrowded, filthy, and chaotic city. It is because of Saint Petersburg that Raskolnikov is able to foster in his immoral thoughts and satisfy his evil inclinations. It is only when Raskolnikov is removed from the disorderly city and taken to the remoteness of Siberia that he can once again be at peace.
He married in 1901 to actress Olga Knipper who acted at the Moscow Art Theater. In his short story “The Bet”, Chekhov uses internal and external conflict to emphasize the importance of individuality. A banker and a guest at his party undergo a bet that later shows how an individual can change, improve or stay the same. Anton Chekhov was born on January 29, 1860 in Taganrog, Russia. After finding out he was a descendant of a family of slaves, he wanted to live life to the fullest and freely as he could.
