Cover of The Grand InquisitorFree online

The Grand Inquisitor

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The Grand Inquisitor is a parable told by Ivan to Alyosha in Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel, The Brothers Karamazov. Ivan and Alyosha are brothers; Ivan is a committed atheist and Alyosha is a novice monk. The Grand Inquisitor is an important part of the novel and one of the best-known passages in modern literature because of its ideas about human nature and freedom, and because of its fundamental ambiguity.

Genre
literary fictionhistorical fictionsatire
Themes
religionphilosophychristianspiritualityart
Setting
russiacollegegermany
Subject
philosophy
Audience
adult
Length
short · 40 pages
Form
short stories

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