The Good Life, HC101, HC102, HC103

General Instructions

Your paper should be typed, double-spaced, and saved on a disk (just in case). Please arrive on time the day it is due and turn it in at the beginning of class. A good paper will focus on one idea that is expressed in the form of a thesis statement somewhere in the opening paragraph. Be sure to introduce the author and work, with book titles italicized, chapter titles like "Rebellion" in quotation marks. You will want to quote from the text at least once and not more than three times. The important thing is to pick an important quote that calls for explanation, then discuss it in terms of your thesis. An excellent thesis will have an argumentative edge, requiring you to convince the reader to get on board. A great thesis will propel your reader to your conclusion, which is neither obvious nor a restatement of your thesis, yet somehow inevitable, given your argument.

Topics

1. What do you think is Ivan’s point in linking "the most charming ladies of the court" to the Grand Inquisitor burning heretics (229) and "philanthropic ladies" to the execution of Richard (221)?

2. The Grand Inquisitor threatens Christ, "Tomorrow I shall condemn Thee and burn Thee at the stake" (231). Why doesn’t he do it?

3. The Grand Inquisitor argues that "now, today, people are more persuaded than ever that they have perfect freedom, yet they have brought their freedom to us and laid it humbly at our feet" (232). What do you think the GI means by this statement? Do you think his point can be applied to the U.S. today? (Warning, discuss the GI, not just the U.S.)

4. The Grand Inquisitor argues that "there is no crime, and therefore no sin, there is only hunger. ‘Feed men, and then ask of them virtue’" (233). Consider the merits of this position, then consider its contemporary implications.

5. The Grand Inquisitor asks Christ, "Is the nature of men such, that they can reject miracle, and at the great moments of their life, the moments of their deepest, most agonizing spiritual difficulties, cling only to the free verdict of the heart?" Explain what this question means, then try to answer it.

6. Looking toward the future, the Grand Inquisitor predicts, "Freedom, free thought and science, will lead them into such straits and will bring them face to face with such insoluble mysteries, that some of them, the fierce and rebellious, will destroy themselves, others, rebellious but weak, will destroy one another, while the rest, weak and unhappy, will crawl fawning to our feet" (239). What do you think he is talking about? Do you think he predicts our present?

7. What does Christ’s kiss signify at the end of the meeting with the Grand Inquisitor? Is it the "kiss of acquiescence," as D. H. Lawrence argued? Something else?

8. Does the Grand Inquisitor speak for Dostoevsky? How can we tell, given only the evidence of these two chapters from The Brothers Karamazov?