The Brothers Karamazov
Inside The Brothers Karamazov, people struggle between religious faith and doubt. When Fyodor Karamazov asks, “Is there a God or not?” Ivan says, “No, there is no God.” Fyodor turns to Alyosha: “Alyosha, does God exist?” Alyosha firmly answers, “God does exist.” Dostoevsky writes in his book that a life of faith is higher, better, purer, and happier than a life of doubt, cold, hurting, and confusing. Zosima and Alyosha love humans and are a symbol of faith, while Dostoevsky shows that he thinks that doubt is bad by Ivan's madness and Smerdyakov's murder. Dostoevsky also shows in the chapter “The Grand Inquisitor” that though faith may not be able to be solved by logic, there is something in it deep, moving, and impossible to explain by words – like in Jesus and Alyosha’s kiss, or in Zosima's bowing down to the ground. It also searches about free will: Ivan says that free will is a heavy burden, while Zosima and Alyosha agree that free will is a joy and a gift of God to humans. Another important theme is that of forgiveness: Zosima says everyone must forgive and love, and Alyosha never judges or criticizes people. Zosima says that people should forgive each other freely, because people's sins are so connected with each other that everybody has some responsibility for each other, like when Dmitry, without thinking much about it, grabs Captain Snegriev's beard and pulls him, leading finally to Ilyusha's death. People like Ivan do not like this idea: he continues to  that he does not have any responsibility for other people's sins, and when he finally is forced to accept it, he becomes insane.