Ivan's Inquisitor

As a class, we decided that as humans, we desire bread, someone to worship, a community of worship without discord, and something to live for.  But what about the freedom of choice?  Is it something we desire, or simply something that, especially as Americans, we've always known and therefore take it for granted?

Ivan's Grand Inquisitor comments that the freedom of choice conflicts with happiness.  He tells the prisoner that by taking away the people's freedom of choice, he thinks he is making them happier because he believes that people don't actually want their freedom, but they want to believe they still have it.  So he gives them the impression of freedom without the responsibility of it, because he also believes that nothing has made man more upset than freedom.

In contrast, the Inquisitor challenges his prisoner of not caring for the people by giving them their freedom.  While Jesus didn't give people what they desired to be happy, he instead gave them what He thought they needed.  He resisted the three temptations, and the Inquisitor shows his contempt of these actions clearly to the prisoner.

But why take everything out on the prisoner?  Is it simply because the Inquisitor witnessed the miracle of him raising the child from the dead?  If that is the only proof, does that therefore mean that this prisoner must be Jesus, come back for Judgement Day?

Ivan has told his opinion throughout his stories in 'The Rebellion' that people are cruel to each other and cannot love their neighbors.  And yet, people still need to follow others; they need a leader.  Like when we choose what we are going to wear.  Day by day is our own choice (unless there is something specific going on such as the 'color day' my high school used to do in which each class would wear a different school color), but our overall wardrobe carries trends set by others, from people in our high school to people in the fashion industry.

Point is, almost every person I know feels like they are an individual.  They do what they want, when they want, and don't necessarily care who knows about it or what anyone thinks about it.  But with everyone telling our generation to 'find ourselves' and 'be unique', if everyone thinks they are unique, does that mean we're all conforming in our uniqueness?  Because eventually, people will always choose what makes them comfortable (which is usually following the crowd and not being someone who stands out), rather than decide what would be best for themselves.