What does the underground man represent?
Dostoevsky says that the Underground Man, though a fictional character, is representative of certain people who “not only may but must exist in our society, taking under consideration the circumstances under which our society has generally been formed.” The Underground Man is extremely alienated from the society in …
How does underground man describe himself?
The narrator—referred to in this SparkNote as the Underground Man—introduces himself. He describes himself as sick, wicked, and unattractive, and notes that he has a problem with his liver.
What is the theme of Notes from Underground?
Human Nature and Free Will. The Underground Man is concerned with human nature, or humans’ true identity and purpose in the world. The issue of human nature intersects with the personal, social, and philosophical concepts in the novel.
What is the Crystal Palace and why does the underground man mention it?
The Crystal Palace For progressive thinkers of the era, the idea of a crystal palace represented the ideal living space for a utopian society based on reason and natural laws. The Underground Man says he despises the idea of the crystal palace because he cannot stick his tongue out at it.
What is the underground man’s sickness?
To be able to accept the prevalent society of his day, the Underground Man asserts that a person must be a non-thinking man of direct action. A high level of consciousness will always cause a man to reject his society; thus, man’s greatest attribute becomes his worst illness.
Why is the Underground Man nameless?
Actions. The Underground Man is basically defined by his inability to act. That’s why he’s living Underground, that’s why he can’t stop writing, that’s why he’s a disembodied voice in Part I instead of a full-blown person, with a real identity and everything.
What does the Crystal Palace symbolize for the Underground Man?
How important is free will to the underground man?
If man always acts according to reason and the laws of nature, then we could predict everything man would ever think or do. The Underground Man argues that man will act against reason in order to prove his free will. He is willing to suffer, destroy, and abandon reason all for the sake of his own freedom.
What kind of character is the Underground Man?
The Underground Man constantly analyzes and second-guesses every thought and feeling he has. He is therefore incapable of making decisions about anything. Feeling himself to be inferior to more active, less intelligent people, the Underground Man goes through life full of shame and self-loathing.
What is the plot of notes from underground?
He is a veteran of the Russian civil service who has recently been able to retire because he has inherited some money. The novel consists of the “notes” that the man writes, a confused and often contradictory set of memoirs or confessions describing and explaining his alienation from modern society.
How does the Underground Man feel about himself?
Feeling himself to be inferior to more active, less intelligent people, the Underground Man goes through life full of shame and self-loathing. This feeling of inadequacy before others is enhanced by the fact that, as an orphan, he has never had normal, loving relationships with other people.
Why is the Underground Man so miserable in the book?
He is a well-read and highly intelligent man, and he believes that this fact accounts for his misery. The Underground Man explains that, in modern society, all conscious and educated men should be as miserable as he is. He has become disillusioned with all philosophy.