PHI 3882 Fall 2010: Comments

A fairly long extract concerning Ivan Karamazov:

...Notwithstanding, 'Ivan suddenly smiled like a meek little boy' at the end of this explanation (236).

The boyish smiles and attributes mentioned about Ivan seem out of character until a close look is taken. Up to this point, the only boy who has made an appearance is Ilyusha, and he may very suitably be compared with Ivan. Ilyusha is portrayed as a proud, revengeful schoolboy who, be that as it may, still has a good heart. His plan for justification, or rather retribution in the future is not to deny Dmitri of his existence by killing him, but rather to place him in a position where he can act more nobly or with a higher level of moral honor if he had the same opportunity with Dmitri as Dmitri had with his father. He wishes to have that same opportunity and be able to say he would not have acted as basely as Dmitri did. In a similar way, Ivan, like a young schoolboy, has a plan to find justification for himself. He states, 'What do I care that none are to blame and that I know it - I need retribution, otherwise I will destroy myself' (244). His way of doing this is through rejecting the opportunity of the 'ticket' due to an exorbitant morally high price. By doing this, he maintains that his ethical standard and honor amounts to more than accepting the price of innocent suffering for the 'ticket'. By refusing God's world he affirms that had he the same opportunity, he wouldn't have made the world the way it was. Ivan's way of thinking compares very closely with that of the schoolboy Ilyusha.


The essay cites a number of other occasions on which Ivan is compared to a schoolboy. The similarity pointed out here between Ivan and Ilyusha is a good one. It is not immediately obvious, but once pointed out, it makes sense. Also, it is a significant similarity because it casts new light on Ivan's rejection of the ticket - his refusal to participate willingly in God's plan for salvation. It becomes another example of how we seek the opportunity to demonstrate our moral superiority, a fantasy of a world where we can look down on everyone.

This is the level that you should be aiming for in this class.

Back to PHI 3882