A Comprehensive View of Faith in "The Brothers Karamozov" Through the Collective Personality

In examining Dostoevsky's treatment of faith in The Brothers Karamazov, critics often focus solely on "The Grand Inquisitor." Dostoevsky, however, refutes the Inquisitor's views through the movement of the three Karamazov brothers toward faith. The three Karamazov brothers, as a collective personality, represent the fundamental needs of man and the corresponding aspects of faith, each brother being an individual study of the necessity of integrating soul, heart and mind into faith. The crises that each brother faces force each one to develop a fuller dimension of faith. The final effect of integrating the soul, heart and mind in faith is active love