The Brothers Karamazov

Peerless. The Brothers Karamazov is simply the book.

“Without God, all things are permitted.” I believe this is the primary theme of the novel. Each of us has a devil within, just like Ivan. Whereas Alyosha and even Dmitri may find themselves defended by God, Ivan has forsworn such protection, and Dostoevsky had him suffer the consequences. A man of enlightened education and unmatched intellect, Ivan nonetheless succumbed to the moral bankruptcy that is inevitable in a refutation of God.

I think Ivan is the character with whom modern readers empathize most. Especially among readers of Dostoevsky, we've all faced the same questions that Ivan did: What is true? Who is true? How can anything be true? So, how come we ourselves are not driven to the same madness?

Delusion. Unlike us, Ivan refused to delude himself. His doubt fed on itself, and the devil within him bloomed. Ironically, Ivan is perhaps the monk Zosima's most ardent adherent, for Ivan did as Zosima preached: “Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”

We, meanwhile, are content to lie to ourselves. We accept some things as true and others as right. Not because they are, but because we want them to be–we wish they were. It is quite literally a projection of our desires on a void reality, only to maintain our sanity.

The doubt and anguish faced by the brothers shake the foundations of the reader's worldview. But if the edifice remains, one might become somewhat certain.

P.S. The idea that delusion is the bedrock of sanity is well-established in existentialist writings. But what is incredible about The Brothers Karamazov is that Dostoevsky wrote before all of them. One can derive so many existentialist concepts solely from an analysis of this book. Yet another reason why it is so groundbreaking.