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Rating: Russian writers are notoriously verbose, and their books, sometimes thousands of pages long, do not entice everyone to read them, especially the younger ones, and especially in times when patience and calm seem to be lacking, to delve into dense pages, complex stories, abstracting from our trends and sensibilities.
Therefore, the publishing house Salani did well by publishing last May the extract of "The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor," from the masterpiece (according to those who have read it and relying on their sincerity) by Fëdor Michajlovic Dostoevsky "The Brothers Karamazov", because it allows everyone to read, in a short time and at little expense, one of the most fascinating myths/parables ever written, and allows reflection on it without having to endure the effort of reading the entire novel.
No more excuses, then, for young and old alike: Dostoevsky awaits you and can change your life (or your perception of it)!
The legend is narrated by one of the Karamazov brothers, the cynical and astute Ivan, to the youngest, religious, and pious brother Alyosha, and serves as a rhetorical device within the novel to discuss the eternal theme of Good and Evil and the consequent dialectic between freedom and subjugation.
Is man truly free? What price can his freedom bear? Assuming that freedom is possible, is it desirable? If subjugation exists, in whose name is it exercised by those in power and with knowledge? Are there possible alternatives to these dilemmas, third ways of synthesis between opposing tensions?
These are some of the questions the story poses to the reader.
About the story itself, it tells of Christ's return to earth, in 16th-century Spain and during the Inquisition.
Christ is recognized by everyone in the square where the burning of heretics is celebrated, including the Cardinal of the city and head of the local Inquisition.
Instead of bowing before Him, the latter sees fit to imprison Him and sentence Him to death.
That same night he goes to visit Him in secret, in the prison where He has been taken, initiating a long monologue in which he explains to the Son of God the reasons for His imprisonment and the future sentence.
The Inquisitor argues that man fears choice, that he does not know how to, and indeed cannot choose because, at its core, it is his nature that prevents him from doing so, preferring to rely on those who satisfy his material needs, subjugate him with miracles, and subdue him with authority.
Man does not know how to choose between good and evil, and so he delegates this choice, along with all the necessary power, to a select few, like the men of the Church, who operate for his good, in his place and on his behalf.
The men of the Church - symbolized by the Inquisitor and the Jesuits, as well as the Pope - take upon themselves the responsibility of choice not so much for a sheer lust for power, but for a sort of absolute clairvoyance that allows them to see beyond and understand how every transcendent superstructure is a falsehood, as is the descent of Christ and the promise of eternity.
Their power is exercised, paradoxically, precisely in favor of those who do not know, acting in the name of a promise of eternal life that, in the end, does not exist: to calm them, make them serene, taking upon themselves the exclusive burden of truth and overturning - or rather bringing to its extreme consequences by valuing a "natural" reading - the metaphor of the flock and the shepherd (the same one found in "Sheep," from "Animals" by Pink Floyd).
According to the Inquisitor, the one who best understood the reality of the facts thus laid out was, in the Gospel, the tempting devil, who in his absolute and earthly intelligence "tempted" Christ by showing Him the ultimate futility of his descent to earth, the inevitable destiny of things, and pushing Him to reveal to the world His being God, because only by doing so would He have had men on His side and would have avoided the drift of His disciples.
Christ, after listening to the story, kisses the Inquisitor. The latter, terrified, bewildered, lets Him go.
There are many possible interpretations of this literary and philosophical work: one of them is written by Gherardo Colombo, former Milanese judge, in the appendix of the book, and presents the problem from a secular and political perspective.
My impression, albeit succinct, is this: the Inquisitor is none other than the devil, and his entire monologue is an additional temptation posed to Christ, showing Him the profound nihilism of things, the apparent vanity of good, the lack of escape routes for a man naturally subdued by power, and by a Church that has made itself power, likely betraying the original message announced in the Gospels.
The entire narrative crafted by the Inquisitor can thus be seen as a dystopia, or inverted utopia, of Christian values realized in history, and as an urging of Christ to reveal Himself as God, and not just as a man among men, overturning the terms of the issue, clarifying, even with just one last word or parable, the true meaning of humanity.
Christ does not do so, remaining silent and not succumbing to the temptation: instead, He kisses the Inquisitor in a sort of mirrored kiss compared to that of the traitor Judas, which says nothing but symbolizes everything, and perhaps explains.
Thus Alyosha too, in the end, kisses the brother Ivan, unbelieving and cynical, showing him understanding and love, and not succumbing to his provocation, aimed at showing the face of a religion and a Church that must be a continuation of the evangelical announcement and affirmation of Good over Evil.
Jesus' silence is the silence befitting mystics, calming the clamor of those who want to understand everything and want to criticize from a worldly, temporal, impatient perspective.
A splendid and ironic story, then, if read with the right attitude and humility: a parable that strengthens faith and encourages belief, but in its greatness also addresses secular people, prompting them to question the transcendent dimension, and still granting them ample space for reflection even without considering the religious dimension of this parable.
Happy and fruitful reading!
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