Ok well this is quit late but Band Camp( Seniors!) was last week and that really got in the way. I don't remember much about the first part of this book, except that Aloysha and Lise have made plans to get married, but I did really like the discussion between Aloysha and Ivan at the inn. This discussion finally showed me something about where Ivan gets all his odd ideals. I don't agree with Him about any of what he said but i understand where the interpretations were made and how he could think that way. One of his ideas that really stuck out to me was that all man were created in sin and it is their duty, the way I interpreted it, to suffer for their sins so that one day they can be happy in the kingdom of heaven. This may be because of my own personal faith, but I don't believe that is a reason to posess a "fear of God" as it was once called long ago. The God I believe in is merciful and doesn't pass harsh judgement, or hold resentments toward even the lowest of us. I dislike the way the priest in Ivan poem is presented as the man trying to save all of these people. He will take all those villagers sins upon himself and in the end he believes that he will have earned his seat at the right hand of God, and yet he denies the embodement of God that the young man before him is and he will procede to maks the people hate him and he will be killed. I don't believe that God/ faith is that complicated, and I understand why one who is as receptive to God wonders and love as Aloysha is would be angered by Ivan's opinions, and yet understand where the interpretations are made. I think I am beginning to really like this novel, it really makes me think about the things i believe.
I think this book will make us all reflect on our views on religion and God (and since we aren't technically in school I guess we could discuss these kinds of things online :P) even people that don't necessarily believe in God might question their beliefs after reading this book, since religion seems to be a big part of it. The thing I didn't agree with is the fact that everyone is created in sin and the fact that we have to suffer for those sins to be happy. I believe that God created all of us to do good on this world and worship him, and created all of us with no sins...kind of like a clean slate. Its what we decide to do that will either give us heaven or hell, either we work hard and strive to please God and live a happy life and hopefully enter heaven or do the opposite and be punished for it. And I happen to think that there is a very good reason to fear God, and that is because God can do whatever he wants when he wants. That is why we call him God lol. I feel that if we have no fear for God we can't worship him fully. This novel is beginning to get very good, the author makes everything complicated and almost like a tangled web, we have to think out of the box i guess to truly understand the meaning of it.
It certainly made me think about what I really believe in.
I think Ivan only made Alyosha mad because Alyosha has basically grown up in the monestary, so he's been taught to believe in God & everything that the bible says.
Now Ivan is not so much challenging his beliefs, but presenting another point of view that Alyosha might not have thought about before.
Ivan seems to be more intellectual than was was previously said about him, & I liked that they finally got a chance to talk to one another face to face.