Dostoevskys The Brothers Karamazov Essay example -- Brothers Karamazo

The Brothers Karamazov The Brothers Karamazov deals with many facets of life. More importantly though, the novel peers into the mind and its response to death. The characters all run from death in some way, and only those who can accept the suffering find justification. In addition to the theme of death, the novel acts as an autobiography of Dostoevsky, expounding his various beliefs and values. To get his theme across, Dostoevsky utilized several stylistic devices, such as imagery, irony, and dreams. Yet, his ability to write down what a character was thinking at certain moments helped shed light on that person's beliefs better than if he presented himself only through dialogue or description. In order to understand the relations between Dostoevsky and his various characters, the author's life and background must be studied. Born to lower middle class parents, Dostoevsky grew up in a rough, impassive childhood. He lived amidst two diametrically opposite parents--his father, a righteous and stern army doctor; and his mother, a kind, generous, and passive woman. Thus, the fact that several of his novels contain very different characters can be inferred from a childhood of two opposite parents. When Dostoevsky became older his father sent him to an army engineering school, which later becomes significant in analyzing the connection between Dostoevsky and Dmitri Karamazov. While at school, he faced several hardships that would torment his life and help explain the recurring themes in his novels. The serfs at his father's estate mercilessly killed him without getting arrested. From this harrowing experience came Dostoevsky's obsession with death, and throughout all of his novel s, especially "The Brothers Karamazov", deat... ...y see the soul of a man who carried vengeance in his heart, yet maintained a love for mankind characteristic of the biblical Job, whose suffering only brought more sympathy and blessings in the eyes of God. On an ironic note, Dostoevsky presented Alyosha Karamazov as a young man who would instill the love and spirituality to the innocent children needed to turn the backward country of Russia into a global power. These children did indeed change Russia 30 years later, not as spiritual lovers but as violent rebels in a communist revolution. They sought to free the peasants and laborers by theory, but in reality created a totalitarian state more powerful than even Peter the Great could have imagined. Now, the once powerful Russia lies wasted amidst the same poverty it dwelled in one hundred years earlier. Truly an ironic twist to the beliefs of a prophetic man.