Notes From The Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - 577 Words

The Underground Man is alone because he has chosen to be; he is hyper-conscious, meaning he is too aware and over analyses everything – his biggest worries are petty compared to what is going around him. As a society, we worry so much about ourselves and our own persona, we sometimes become paranoid. A perfect example is given when the Underground Man is on the verge of having dinner with his old comrades and he notices a stain on his trousers â€Å"The worst of it was that on the knee of my trousers was a bug yellow stain. I had a foreboding that that stain deprive me of nine-tenths of my personal dignity.† (NU 48) He immediately panics as he worries about whether his friends will see it, and goes as far as to consider forgetting dinner because he is so embarrassed. As shameful as it is to admit, we too have reached the point where we are so concerned with out outer appearance that we let it dominate most of our life – there are several instances where we dicta te who we associate with and who we befriend based on their appearance. He is severely misanthropic, marked by hatred, distrust, and disdain toward the human race; he believes himself to be more intelligent and perceptive than most other people, and this contrast with the fact that he despises himself and frequently feels inferior or humiliated. Due to his lack of loving relationship growing up, he goes through life full of shame and self loathing, often falling into existentialism. The Underground Man’s urge forShow MoreRelatedNotes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky1616 Words   |  7 PagesFyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) was a Russian novelist, journalist, and short story writer that discussed the psychological state of the human soul in many of his works, one in particular is Notes from the Underground; which was published in 1864. Notes from the Underground, had a great influence in the 20th century; the novel takes a man’s inability to communicate with s ociety and uses it to teach readers about the importance of other humans in our daily lives and how that affects the way we thinkRead MoreThe Underground Man Essay971 Words   |  4 PagesNotes from the Underground is a novel written by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In this book, Dostoyevsky illustrated his ideals through the words of his literary protagonist, the Underground Man. 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His awareness however, also causes him to believe not only are people ignorant to the world around him but that they are also against him. In contrast, critics believe that the main characterRead More Humanities’ Irrational and its Effects on a Utopian Society1690 Words   |  7 Pagesthe recognition that the irrational is there, that it must be controlled to take over. Man’s aggressive nature does tend to overpower the mind, leading to irrational actions. Both Freud’s Civilization and its Discontents and Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground show how humans are controlled by their irrational drives and that, as a result, the attempts to create a utopian society are futile. To take a different view of the irrational actions in humans, a cinematic frame of reference was introducedRead MoreKnowing Is Better Than Not Knowing1676 Words   |  7 PagesKnowing is Better than Not Knowing Fyodor Dostoevsky’a novel â€Å"Notes from Underground† is known for being the first existentialist novel. A 40 year old man living in St. Petersburg, Russia known as the Underground Man works as a civil servant, but retired shortly after inheriting money from a distant relative. The Underground Man introduces himself by telling the reader, â€Å"I am a sick man. ... I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man† (1). He also says he could never be spiteful and how he couldRead MoreUnderground Man By Fyodor Dostoyevsky1453 Words   |  6 PagesFyodor Dostoyevsky paints Underground man as someone who is tortured in his novel Notes From Underground. Despite everything that Underground man says he is lost and has no sense of his identity. When the character of Liza is introduced the reader gains some hope that the Underground man can find love. Although Underground man ultimately pushes Liza away, he really loved her through his own idea of love. Underground man s hows this love for her through his first conversation with Liza, his tryingRead MoreDostoyevsky ‘Notes from Underground’ Critique Essay1586 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Notes from Underground† was published in 1864 as a feature presentation of his first 1860 issue â€Å"The Epoch†. â€Å"Notes from Underground† was written by the author during a time when he faced many challenges in his life. Dostoyevsky faced failure in the publishing of his first journal â€Å"Time†, his financial position was becoming weaker and embarrassing. Moreover, his wife was dying and his conservatism was eroded leading to a decline in his popularity with the liberal reading Russians and consequentlyRead MoreThe Underground Man By Fyodor Dostoyevsky952 Words   |  4 PagesIn Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the underground man is a man who is â€Å"living out [his] life in a [his] corner† (2) and is paralyzed by consciousness. The undergroun d man proposes the example of revenge as a way to examine the differences between himself and the man of action; the man of action being a man who can act as opposed to the paralysis of the underground man. The man of action can act, but his position is inconsistent. The underground man thinks he will be miserable regardless