Paper Summary:

The paper presents a Marxist, literary interpretation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Inquisitor," arguing the work to be inherently political and an endorsement of Marxism. The paper also examines theories by Friedrich Nietzsche, Max Weber, and Michel Foucalt.

From the Paper:

"Political, economic and philosophical thinkers were not entirely incorrect when many adopted a position against God/faith as a human invention, designed to legitimize authority, to subjugate men, to enforce work/slavery upon the masses and to placate them with the notion of the rewards they will receive in the afterlife. Religion has been used, possibly even invented, for the promotion of capitalist economic political systems. As did Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Weber, and Foucault recognized this truth, further trying to communicate it to others. Each of these writers, whether it was that they supported or rejected religious faith, did know that religion, and God, were the ultimate oppressors insofar as their authority had been usurped by men and employed as a tool for the enslavement of men to the capitalist system. The new religion, faith, or God have taught men that freedom equals hunger, but enslavement to work equaled a satisfaction of that hunger. The old religion, personified by the Prisoner in "The Grand Inquisitor," taught that freedom was the most treasured prize and, as that theory was proven incorrect, `God/old faith/religion died,' as Nietzsche correctly proclaimed, and was replaced by a more pragmatic new God that recognizes man's need for basic material acquisition, or even basic protection against hunger and misery."

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