God Sees the Truth, but Waits…

God sees the truth, but waits…this title is extremely provocative and can be interpreted in several different ways.  When reading the short-story, one may notice that in a way, God has put two separate paths before Ivan.  One path being defiance or revolution against God and the other path being living for God and surrendering to his will.  What path did Ivan choose; the path for God.  How so?  Well, Ivan was in prison.  However, I believe that Ivan was much happier in the prison than he could have ever been in the outside world.  Why?  Well, after Ivan was put in prison, his family forgot him and suspected him; while on the inside, the prisoners accepted him and believed that he was wrongly accused.  He wouldn’t have been happy with a family that could forget and suspect him.  Family is supposed to love and support you through it all; and in prison, Ivan found his real family.  So in this way, God saw the truth…but waited.  There are other instances where God has displayed his sight of the truth but ability to wait to show it.  For example, as a merchant, one does not have time to focus on God and the happiness in life.  Instead, Ivan would have been focused on what has become one of the major motivations in the world:  Money.  Money can bring happiness, but only to a certain degree.  After some time, Ivan would have become dissatisfied.  So once again, God saw the truth…but waited.

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Religious Inconsistencies

The Grand Inquisitor by Dostoevsky presents an incredibly eye-opening and contemplative parable about the intentions of Jesus when “saving the human race” and the intentions of the Church for maintaining Jesus’s care and message. This is analyzed through looking at the temptations Jesus experienced in the desert. Jesus denied the temptations and exercised his freedom, therefore giving freedom to the human race. This is something emphasized yet detested by the Grand Inquisitor. He feels that this is adding burden on humanity that they are unable to carry. Using these notions, it is easy to extend the ideas and themes of this story to modern day religion. Religion is often used as a tool to moderate and control society. It is effective in controlling and inspiring the masses. This is essentially how the story depicts the church. This is evident in the idea that Jesus is a shepherd and we are his sheep. Yet, there is also the notion that we should seek to emulate Jesus. If Jesus is the shepherd than he represents freedom and caring guidance to the sheep, and therefore we must be free. When becoming free, we escape the herd of sheep and become the shepherd. Is this what Jesus wants, is this what the life of Jesus, whether taken as fact or fiction, teaches us? That we must be free lead our own flock. This is a serious inconsistency, because the church controls our actions and acts as our shepherd. How can the sheep become the shepherd?

God See’s the Truth, But Waits…

This short story was very interesting to me. I try and relate all stories to something that i have personally experienced just so that it’s easier for me to understand and as I read this story a  particular situation came to mind immediately. I had a life long friend that was hit by a car the summer going into our 6th grade year and he survived which was amazing and his response when people asked him about it was always “God wasn’t ready for me yet”. And he always made it clear that he was going to live life freely because he “cheated death” one time before. He then graduated high school and attended The Florida State University. On January 5th, 2011 he was in a car accident on his way back to school and unfortunately, this time he did not cheat death. It baffled me as to how it happened to him and why…he was generous, smart and when he entered a room his presence was well respected. For a long time I felt it was not fair but overtime I realized that as bad as I did not want to believe it, he was in the right place at the right time. At his home going service I sat next to his mother and brother as the pastor preached and he said “don’t be sad that God took him away because he had done his deeds here, be sad that YOU have not followed his order so he is making you stay here”. In reference to this story I just know that as bad as some situations may seem, God always has a plan and he never brings you to it if he cannot bring you through it. I feel as though Ivan did exactly what he was supposed to do and that was watch and pray.

Rest in Paradise De’Erick T. McCray

Ivan Karamazov ~ The Grand Inquisitor

I did not like this story at all. I’m not a fan of religious stories and it was also difficult to read. I actually have the original book “The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoevsky and have read a few of the chapters and I thought this was his worst from the ones I have read. This is pretty much a biblical kind of story where Ivan tells a parable to Alyosha. Ivan is actually, in the whole book, the most thoughtful and philosophical one and he is my favorite of the brothers. Ivan’s character is actually always very amusing, he always seems talkative and has a lot of opinions and seems very smart. When I read this chapter 5 of this book, I had an idea of how Ivan’s ideas worked so I had an idea of how he would tell the story (and I’m always more interested in what he has to say than the other brothers). He is the deepest of the brothers and just by reading this, we can see that his character thinks unlike most people.In this story, he somewhat had doubts about God and we can tell that he has an uneasy relationship when it comes to religion.  I don’t know if it’s overthinking things or just questioning things but the way he told this story was very amusing and there is a lot of philosophical comments that can be made about this story and it is rather ambiguous in many parts. I actually like this book by Dostoevsky’s a lot but I guess this part did not interest me as much  because I am not really religious and I do not really like religious stories but overall, in general, Dostoevsky really has a way with words.

God See The Truth, But Waits!

This story had a lot of meaning, and showed me that everything really do happen for a reason. That’s why it’s important to not question anything that happens in life, because it only means that it was meant to happen. In this story Ivan’s hardheadedness lead him to his “horrible” fate. That’s why when people say to me, ” What if you died?”, like when I do something daring. I tell them ” Then it was just  meant for me to die.” There are some things you just can’t control and when my time do come that means my purpose on earth is no longer needed.  The title of this story explains everything that took place. God knew that Ivan was innocent but God probably felt that he was teaching Ivan a bigger lesson by keeping him in jail for that long. God was able to bring out the best in people through Ivan and his counseling.  It’s as if he was the Jesus of the jail. It was kind of unfortunate that he lost so many years of his life and wasn’t able to clear his name.I felt that Ivan was destined to be in the hotel room, and it was all in God’s plan for him. I feel that this story revolves around forgiveness, Ivan had to forgive the murderer for never coming clean,and God constantly forgives us for our sins. Tolstoy did a great  job when writing this story, this is now my favorite story so far in this class.

-Ashley Saint-Cyr

The Grand Inquisitor

Ivan’s basic nature is defined early in the novel when he is depicted as being a very independent child. He is, in contrast to his brother Alyosha (who freely accepts help and aid from other people), unable to receive freely any act of generosity. By nature Ivan is a very studious person who has strong intellectual inclinations, qualities that later dominate his personality. As a result, we come to know Ivan through his thoughts rather than through his actions; in other words, his intellect defines his essential nature. As an adult, Ivan seldom speaks, and then only to individuals who seemingly are intellectually capable of understanding his complexities. When he accompanies the others to the monastery, for instance, he is quiet and reserved; he waits to talk until someone begins to discuss Ivan’s article, written while he was still at the university. This article is a key to Ivan’s makeup. He is an atheist, yet concerned with the fate of mankind on this earth; all of his studies have led him to a deep compassion for the sufferings and tribulations of earthly man. But he cannot honestly accept religious matters on faith alone. That which does not conform to human logic is unacceptable to him. Unlike Alyosha, he cannot accept the abstract theory of God’s mercy and goodness because he has seen too many examples of injustice and suffering in the world. He refrains from questioning the existence of God but refuses to accept this world as being God’s world. Ivan feels that a God who is infinitely good and just should have created a world where there is no innocent suffering. Nor can he accept the idea that all innocent suffering is a part of a great plan because God gave unto man a human mind, and any theory concerning God’s justice must be understood by this God-given mind. Sadly, logic cannot explain the long history of human suffering.

Morgan Strongosky

The Nose

The first thought that pops into my head when reading the nose is, what a weird  story. I did not understand why it is that a person would write a story about a nose. After reading the story twice and being unable the satirical meaning behind it i decided to go ahead and do some research on my own. I was surprised to see that they said he was in the dreaming state, it all becomes clear that when they stated his nose fell off it was actually castration of the penis. I could see why they would come to this conclusion because he feels as if he is embarrassed with it and he will seem unattractive to other woman and more appealing to the male species. I feel as if by being without a penis this allowed them to feel free and be able to embrace their inner being without feeling trapped as a man forever. The way in which Gogol uses the nose as a representation of a penis was a wonderful idea which helped describe how many people will go great lengths of trying to alter their appearance in order to be attractive to the next person. I think that people should not care what others think of them and that they should be happy the way they are. People do not need cosmetic surgery to alter their appearance because there is always going to be someone out there who will love you for you, no matter what.

The Nos

As I was reading The Nose, I found that while it was satirically entertaining I found that I could not pin point a purpose. I decided to do some research and inquire about the historical background of this short story. I found that in Russian – the original language it was written in- Nose is spelt Nos which is the reverse of the word Dream spelt Son in Russian. This detail caught my eye, as not only was the story highly implausible but it seemed like one of those unexplainable and irrelevant dreams everyone has. The fact that the title has ties to dreams give the story purpose and reveals to us a very Freud like concept that our subconscious illustrates our true intentions while in a deep state of sleep. I also noted the way the author decided to cut off the end without any sort of explanation as to why the nose was cut off, how it grew back, and how/why it had a mind of its own. This seems to me that by using this clever technique the author dispels cliche rumors and assumptions about the story. If you were like me this story was one that was not intellectually stimulating, but like a scene from “jackass” as weird as it may be you just could not stop looking…or in this case reading. And why is this? well because as human nature would have it we read to find out an explanation a logical ending, ironically we are left with none, allowing the author to leave the reader a new perspective on the story.

God Sees the Truth and waits

As we have said in our discussion in class, and many of us agreed, this story reminds me of the shawshank redemption. Not only because, of the irony in having accused and guilty meet in person but also he reminded me of Mr. Brooks, whom has lied so long in prison, when he is finally released he cannot live a normal life. Like Mr.Brooks the Ivan contemplates suicide which is ironic because he is such a “Holy” man and this is considered a sin. I was surprised that he would take such an “easy” way out and did not expect him to consider it, however he also has nothing to live for. Interesting enough, the author leaves out his cause of death and so the ending is in a sense mysterious and ambiguous because the idea of suicide is still left in the air.
This story also reminded me of a quote that goes ” God only gives his toughest battles to his toughest soldiers, if he brings you to it he will bring you through it”. However, I felt that this story highlighted the flaws in this quote, because the main character did not necessarily get through his obstacle. In way I felt that Ivan represented Jesus as a sacrificial symbol whose lesson was beneficial to others more than to himself. The story seemed very biblical to me with its teachings and life lessons or possibly because it was so concentrated on mentioning spiritual faith.

If there’s love, there’s lust

The Lady with a Dog is a very intriguing short story to me, primarily given its antique setting.  It is incredible how intra personal relationships have an almost universal characteristic about them, especially between a man and woman, attracted to each other.  The heart wanders and regrets, and though one may fall in love early in life, there is no fault in falling out of love.  Life is forever changing and so are all who experience it.  Lust, I suppose, is undeniable and a constant in the mind of men.  If anything, thats what this story showed me, that even since 1899, men suffered with the idea of commitment and juggled themselves between two lives, the ones that desired, and the ones that faked contentment.  Chekov is known for his character studies and I can definitely relate to Dmitri and I admire this type of person’s appearance in literature written more than a century ago.  A man, forever dissatisfied with what he’s given.  He’s the peasant that wishes to be a king who wishes to be a God.  I’m sure when Dmitri was honeymooning with his first wife he felt similar feelings, if not identical feelings he did with Anya.  This is the type of man who needs change, who needs to vacation, and have affairs, whatever it takes to break away from the quotidian of cold Russian life of the late 19th, early 20th century.

-Damian Hunt