The Grand Inquisitor

“The Grand Inquisitor” is an embedded narrative, or a story within a story, contained in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1880 novel The Brothers Karamazov. In the novel, “The Grand Inquisitor” is a prose poem composed by the character Ivan Karamazov. Its fictional author, who writes this poem in an increasing state of despair, recites this work to his younger brother, the novice monk Alyosha. “The Grand Inquisitor” imagines Jesus Christ coming to Seville at the time of the Inquisition, where he is promptly arrested by the Grand Inquisitor, who challenges the relevance and utility of Christ’s teachings in a modern world. To the intellectual and analytical Ivan, the poem is an expression of skepticism about the existence of a benevolent God that pays attention to, and actively intervenes in, the lives of humans. Often considered the most famous part of The Brothers Karamazov, “The Grand Inquisitor” holds an important place in the canon of modern literature. It resonates with modern anxieties surrounding The Burden of Free Will, The Relationship Between Faith and Reason, and The Weakness of Human Nature.