At this point in Ivan’s poem, “The Grand Inquisitor,” the Cardinal Grand Inquisitor confronts Christ, who has come to Earth as a man. Since appearing in Seville, Christ has entranced the entire town with his warmth and generosity of spirit. Christ’s infinite goodness and comfort are threats to the cardinal’s power, however, which is determined by his ability to control the populace through fear and prejudice, so the cardinal has Christ arrested. Whereas Christ reorients the community to the best aspects of their nature, the cardinal reinforces the worst.

In this scene, the darkness is representative of the ignorance that…