The Reification of Evil and The Failure of Theodicy: The Devil in ...

40 Grigory and Marfa had had one child, but the child was born with six fingers – a fairly
common occurrence, really. Grigory, however, was horrified and called the child a “dragon”.
After the infant died of thrush after only a fortnight, Grigory became devotedly religious. “He
was fond of the Book of Job, and had somehow got hold of a copy of the sayings and sermons of
‘the God fearing Father Isaac the Syrian’, which he read persistently for years together,
understanding very little of it, but perhaps prizing and loving it the more for that.” Isaac the
Syrian was a seventh century monk who wrote on the ecstatic experiences possible through
prayer. Thus, Dostoevsky suggests that the deep religious feeling of the Russian people is
independent of intellect: Grigory derives solace from his readings despite not understanding
much. It is possible that after committing his crime, Smerdyakov is wracked by guilt feelings,
and is therefore turning to religion – but if so, this is the only evidence we see of a turn to
religion, and it is certainly a case of “too little, too late”. It has been suggested (e.g., by Joseph
Frank in his superb biography of Dostoevsky, cf. vol. 5, Dostoevsky: The Mantle of the Prophet,
Princeton University Press, 2002) that immediately before his suicide, Smerdyakov was reconsidering
his ill-starred venture into atheism, and this is shown by his reading Isaac the Syrian.
As stated above, however, it is not clear that he actually did read this book, and as the quote
shows (and see also the elided part of the quote, given in endnote 41), his stated position remains
that of an atheist.
41 BK, Book 11, chapter 8, p. 632. The passage continues with a confirmation that Smerdyakov
will die as an atheist:
“Did you figure it out for yourself?” Ivan grinned crookedly.
“With your guidance, sir.”
“So now I suppose, you believe in God, since you are giving back the money?”
“No, sir, I haven’t come to believe, sir”, whispered Smerdyakov.”
42 This is in marked contrast to the concern for children he expressed in the chapter, “Rebellion”,
where, as a theoretician, he expounds on the harm done to children – fair enough, but Alyosha is
the character who is shown actually helping children in the novel. Dostoevsky stated that The
Brothers Karamazov is a novel “about children”, and this is shown both in Ivan’s theoretical
concern for children in “Rebellion” and elsewhere, and in Alyosha’s involvement with
schoolboys, especially Ilyusha, the son of weak-willed Captain Snegiryov.
43 Ivan’s resolve is only temporary, however. After spending time and money to help this man
in the snow, he wavers in his resolution to go the police, postponing it to the next day.
44 BK, Book 11, chapter 9, p. 635.
45 In this respect, he resembles the murdered Fyodor Pavlovich. If the devil is Smerdyakov
transmogrified, as argued below, he is not only this. He is also other aspects of Ivan that Ivan
hates in himself – notably some traits of his father, Fyodor Pavlovich. In a broader sense, he also
represents other threads of the gentility of early 19 th century Russia.