Skip to main content

The Agony of Ivan Karamazov


“The more stupid one is, the clearer one is.” That is one of Ivan Karamazov’s numerous profound observations. Ivan is one of the most fascinating characters in literature for me. He is intelligent and troubled but he would rather be stupid and happy. He is sensitive but such sensitivity can drive one to insanity. He is sceptical but he’d rather be a genuine believer in God.

But does God exist at all? If He does, is He a benign entity or a malign one? “If there is a God, then He is a malicious and cruel being,” Ivan asserts. On another occasion, we find him tortured by the thought that “If God exists, then, as the children are tortured, He must exist for the sake of tormenting them.” Children’s pains afflict Ivan particularly. Innocence does deserve better particularly if there is a God who cares.

Ivan could not accept God because of the evil in the world. An omnipotent God could easily get rid of evil. And God is not only omnipotent but all-loving too. One of Ivan’s fundamental problems is his inability to reconcile his intellect with his emotions. His emotions rebel against his brain. The conflict is so deep that Ivan becomes one of the most troubled characters in literature and hence most fascinating.

Ivan’s brother, Alexei is a deeply religious person. His religion gives him meaning and a sense of fulfilment in life. It makes him a saintly character. Ivan is incapable of such faith. This is where we are left wondering whether religious faith is a gift that not all people are blessed with.

I find Ivan fascinating probably because some of Ivan’s questions and agonies are my own. I could never come to terms with God precisely for the same reasons that Ivan raises. Evil in the human world is a grave question mark etched deeply on the very heart of God. Evil is so powerful that if God comes again to the human world, He will again be nailed to the cross or shot down or burnt alive by people who claim to be religious.

Like Ivan, I experience a deep longing for God within my troubled heart. But not a single religious place has ever given me the kind of serenity that I hope to derive from religion. Secluded places offer me such serenity. God has no place among believers, I feel every time I visit religious places.

In the end, I am as confused and troubled as Ivan Karamazov when it comes to God. But I have resolved the conflict by choosing to leave God to his believers. Let them fight it out as they are doing every day on the streets, in media, wherever.

PS. This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon

Previous Posts in this series:

1. Heights of Evil

2. Pip Learns the Essential Lessons

3. Delusions and Ironies of Love

4. Good Old Days without meetings

5. Finding Enlightenment

6. An Oracle Gives up his Goddess

7. The Ruler Matters

The series will end with two more posts.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. Liz A.September 7, 2024 at 8:13 AM

    The problem is the definition of God. What is God? We have such an anthropomorphized vision that I doubt is accurate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 7, 2024 at 9:29 AM

      Agree with you. I have wondered again and again how God can have a gender? What will God do with genitals, for example?

      Delete
  2. Yamini MacLeanSeptember 7, 2024 at 10:51 AM

    Hari Om
    Ah, The Brothers Karamazov... A favourite tale. I enjoyed it for all the reasons you elucidate here. My life long search has served me well and I'm satisfied with the answers. What requires remembering (and majority organised religion tries to keep their sheep ignorant of) is that "God" is made in Man's own image... hence so many variations of the One Manufactured... YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 7, 2024 at 11:19 AM

      What I find incredibly ludicrous is how millions of people refuse to see that Man-u-facture.

      Delete
  3. GeethicaSeptember 7, 2024 at 11:18 AM

    I feel like you resonate with Ivan for all the queries both of you have, one day you will find another character that will answer your queries in a way like they never existed. Until then you are doing good by leaving God to his believers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 7, 2024 at 11:20 AM

      In fact, Zorba of Kazantzakis answers my quest partly. I may write about him next.

      Delete
  4. Pradeep NairSeptember 7, 2024 at 9:49 PM

    An insightful exploration of Ivan Karamazov's complex character and his struggle with faith and doubt. It's difficult to define God. It means different things to different people. For me, God is an invisible power. A power that is manifested in everything living and non-living. A power that leads us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 8, 2024 at 5:49 AM

      Those who have experienced God really won't ever fight for that power. We have so much violence in the name of God(s) because the believers haven't ever understood what divinity is about.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Little Girl

The Little Girl is a short story by Katherine Mansfield given in the class 9 English course of NCERT. Maggie gave an assignment to her students based on the story and one of her students, Athena Baby Sabu, presented a brilliant job. She converted the story into a delightful comic strip. Mansfield tells the story of Kezia who is the eponymous little girl. Kezia is scared of her father who wields a lot of control on the entire family. She is punished severely for an unwitting mistake which makes her even more scared of her father. Her grandmother is fond of her and is her emotional succour. The grandmother is away from home one day with Kezia's mother who is hospitalised. Kezia gets her usual nightmare and is terrified. There is no one at home to console her except her father from whom she does not expect any consolation. But the father rises to the occasion and lets the little girl sleep beside him that night. She rests her head on her father's chest and can feel his heart...
16 comments
Read more

The Call of Islamic State

A year ago, the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT) reported that about 4000 people from the West left their homes and countries to join the Islamic State (IS).  Many of them are women.  The reporters had made a special study of the women who joined the terrorist outfit and found that it was difficult to categorise which type of women were particularly drawn to IS. “While most of the girls are young, some as young as fifteen,” says the report,  “there are also mothers with young children who make the trip. Some of the girls have difficulties in school and are said to have an IQ below average,  but there are also women who are highly educated. It also appears that even though a relatively large portion of the girls had (or still have) a troubled childhood, there are some who come from families with no known problems with the authorities. Most of the girls come from religiously moderate Muslim families,  yet some converted to Islam a...
33 comments
Read more

The Plague

When the world today is struggling with the pandemic of Covid-19, Albert Camus’s novel The Plague can offer some stimulating lessons. When a plague breaks out in the city of Oran, initially the political authorities fail to deal with it as a serious problem. The ordinary people also don’t view it as an epidemic that requires public action rather than as individual annoyances. The people of Oran are obsessed with their personal sufferings and inconveniences. Finally the authorities are forced to put Oran in quarantine. Father Paneloux, a Jesuit priest, delivers a sermon declaring the epidemic as God’s punishment for Oran’s sins. Months of suffering make people rise above their selfish notions and obsessions and join anti-plague efforts being carried out by people like Dr Rieux. Dr Rieux is an atheist but committed to service of humanity. He questions Father Paneloux’s religious views when a small boy is killed by the epidemic. The priest delivers another sermon on the necess...
28 comments
Read more

Farewell to a Friend

This is a season of farewells for me.  I have lost count of the persons who have already left or are being hauled up before the firing line by the Orwellian Big Brother in the last quarter of the year.  The person, to whom we bid farewell today, however, had chosen to leave on his own.  He is going as the Principal of R K International School , Sarkaghat, Himachal Pradesh. Mr S K Sharma was a colleague and friend.  He belongs to the species of human beings whose company enriches you and whose departure creates a vacuum, notwithstanding the fact that Nature which abhors vacuum will fill it in its own unique ways.  Administration is an art for Mr Sharma, though he calls it a skill.  Management lessons, strategies and heuristics are only guidelines.  No one can manage people merely with the help of these guidelines.  People are not machines which can be controlled mechanically.  Machines work according to rules.  People do not d...
31 comments
Read more

Jatayu: The Winged Warrior

Image by Gemini AI Jatayu is a vulture in Valmiki Ramayana. The choice of a vulture for a very noble mission on behalf of Rama is powerful poetic and moral decision. Vultures are scavengers, associated with death and decay. Yet Valmiki assigns to it one of the noblest tasks of sacrificing itself in defence of Sita. Your true worth lies in what you do, in your character, and not in your caste or even species. [In some versions, Jatayu is an eagle.] Jatayu is given a noble funeral after his death. Rama treats Jatayu like a noble kshatriya who sacrificed his life fighting for dharma against an evil force like Ravana. “You are blessed, O Jatayu!” Rama tells the dying bird. “Even in your last moments, you upheld dharma. You fought to save a woman in distress. Your sacrifice will not go in vain.” Jatayu sacrificed himself to save Sita from Ravana. He flew up into the clouds to stop Ravana’s flight with Sita. Jatayu was a friend of Dasharatha, Rama’s father. Now Rama calls him equal to ...
15 comments
Read more