The Grand Inquisitor

The Inquisitor is a man who rules his people and burns anyone who is rebellious at the stake. His philos0phy was to take away mankind's freedom. He believed that free will is the worst thing a man can have; he also believed that man cannot be happy with freewill. "'For only now has it become possible to think for the first time about human happiness. Man was made a rebel; can rebels be happy?' (251)"
The scene folds out in the jail cell where the Inquisitor had Jesus imprisoned. Basically he calls Jesus a fool. On page 254 and 255 the Inquisitor talks about how Jesus wanted man to love him freely and willing, and have the right to choose for himself what was good and evil. " And so, instead of a firm foundation for appeasing human conscience once and for all, you chose everything that was unusual enigmatic, and indefinite, you chose everything that was beyond men's strength, and thereby acted as if you did not love them at all...But it did not occur to you that he would eventually reject and dispute even your image and your truth if he was oppressed by so terrible a burden as freedom of choice?...Thus you yourself laid the foundation for the destruction of your own kingdom."
The ultimate goal of the Inquisitor is to hold people captive for their own good. There are three ways to do this: the powers of miracle, mystery, and authority. Jesus had the chance to use all of these powers on the people and he chose not to. Now instead of seeking the "heavenly bread", all of the weak will seek the "earthly bread" that the Inquisitor gives them. By these people taking the bread, they are now like his slave and submit to him. "We shall prove to them that they are feeble, that they are only pitiful children, but that a child's happiness is sweeter than any other (259)."
In a way it's like the man thinks he's noble by doing this; like he's better than Jesus because he has it all figured out. The Inquisitor also seems to mock Jesus as well. On page 257 and again on page 260 he says that "we have corrected your deed." He's mocking Jesus in the sense that this Inquisitor thinks he's smarter, like he's got it all figured out. He also goes into talking about how he gives up his happiness to save mankind because he knows the secret. It's a very interesting outlook on how a population should be run.