Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Beliefs and Concerns, existentialism and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the Realm of Existentialism at DividingLine.com

One of the triumphs of world literature, The Brothers Karamazov is a summation of Dostoyevsky's beliefs and concerns and develops his greatest themes: rationalism versus irrationalism; the struggle between love and hatred, faith and unfaith; the dangers represented by socialism and the attempt to engineer human happiness; the power of sensuality; the reality and unreality of God; and the conflict between generations. The central drama of the novel is the struggle between the repulsive father, Fyodor Karamazov, and his four sons. Each of the sons represents a universal trait of humanity: Alyosha, saintliness; Dmitri, passion and sensuality; Ivan, the intellect; and Smerdyakov, ugliness of body, mind, and spirit. Dostoyevsky explores the right of a child to raise his hand against his father and, by extension, the right of man to raise his hand against God. The novel seems to encompass the breadth of the human condition and its capabilities; here, the art and vision of Dostoyevsky reached their peak.

Since his death Dostoyevsky's fame has continued to grow. No 19th-century writer had greater psychological insight or philosophical depth or as systematically plumbed the mysteries of the human soul. None speaks more immediately and passionately to the mood and tone of the present century. In fact, it can be said without exaggeration that Western civilization in the second half of the 20th century has become "Dostoyevskian." --by Edward Wasiolek