The Relation between Dostoevsky and the Characters of The Brothers Kara

The Relation between Dostoevsky and the Characters of  The Brothers Karamazov "I'd die happy if I could finish this final novel, for I would have expressed myself completely."   This statement from the author of "The Brothers Karamazov" helps elucidate the underlying purpose and theme of one of the greatest masterpieces of world literature. Superficially, the novel deals with a horrifying parricide and how the supporting characters devised direct and indirect circumstances leading to the murder. Yet, the book delves deep into the human psyche and the soul--notably that of the author himself. The novel, as inferred from the aforementioned personal statement, may best be described as an autobiography of Dostoevsky filled with his beliefs, values, theories, and insights on a bestial world. Through the main characters-Ivan, Alyosha, Dmitri, Father Zosima, and Smerdyakov--one can perceive the different sides of Dostoevsky himself, good and evil. Not only does one see his characteristics through the protagonists and antagonists of the novel, but also his beliefs concerning life, religion, and love. Among his personal beliefs integrated with his fictitious characters include: faith in love over faith in miracles, the importance of suffering as a means of salvation, and the importance of the Russian "folk" and children in the coming 20th century. But despite Dostoevsky's overbearing presence in his masterpiece, one variable inevitably affects all of his characters as well as the entire living world--death. Thus, through the novel, he introduces us into his tormented mind and sou l, hoping to influence future generations in his beliefs of a better mankind, unafraid of the spectre of death that will crush the cowardly but unharm the s... ... 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.