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ClassicNote on Notes from Underground

The Underground Man, as the protagonist is generally referred to, introduces himself in the opening of the first chapter. A footnote by the author informs us from the start that this protagonist is a fictional character but that people like him must exist in the present cultural setting. The footnote lays out the goal of the first part of the novel, which is to explain how such individuals come into being.

The Underground Man begins by stating that he is sick, spiteful, and unpleasant. He explains that his liver is diseased but he refuses to see a doctor out of spite even though he respects the medical profession. He is forty years old and used to work for the civil service, but was a very rude official and tortu

A man who is simply lazy sees himself as just that. On the other hand if a man with overdeveloped consciousness is lazy, he must rationally seek out the origins of his laziness. He cannot accept the laziness itself as a primary cause, but must look for the causes of that laziness. As we have already seen, he cannot find those primary causes. The same would be true of any identity that an individual with an overdeveloped consciousness might take. Whether he is a drunk, a glutton, or a sluggard, he is forced to search for the causes behind his identity and, failing to find them, cannot accept this identity as such. This is why consciousness keeps one from having an identity.

ct to himself regardless of whether or not he would have had to do the impossible to succeed. The reason that the impossible doesn't work as an excuse is that the Underground Man never manages to do anything; he cannot carry out his revenge regardless of whether or not it is possible to do so. If he fails in something that is possible, he blames himself and feels shame and anger at himself. If he fails in something that is impossible, he has no one to be angry with but still feels shame. Since the Underground Man finds pleasure in shame, he is simply trying to make himself feel ashamed of as many things as possible. By refusing to accept the laws of nature as an excuse not to act, he gives himself the choice to feel shame even when he is not responsible for his own failure.

He continues to say that he would not be an ordinary glutton or sluggard, but one with an appreciation for the "beautiful and the sublime," which he would proceed to seek out in everything. He cites several examples of bad art, which he would not only appreciate for their qualities of the beautiful and the sublime, but would also gladly drink to. He would grow a triple chin and people would see him and say positive things about him.

rson would simply respond to the offence with revenge. Rousseau's natural man may not take revenge, but would at least feel that punishment for the offender is just. Thus, while he accumulates malice due to not paying back the offence, he at least feels himself justified in wanting revenge. The Underground Man, unlike either of these, believes neither in direct action nor in justice. He is then offended more than anyone else because not only is he never revenged, but he also neither feels the revenge justified nor has a good reason for not carrying it out.

in such a perfect utopia human beings would be like organ stops: they would have no control over which action to take, since these will have been predetermined for them.

The narrator says that he is joking, but that perhaps he is gnashing his teeth as he jokes. He then says that he is asking questions that he wants answered. This is a hint that he is not merely attacking the rationalist utopia out of spite. As we have seen, the Underground Man has fully absorbed the ideals of the rationalists. His personal psychology takes reason to the extreme. In his persistent rationality, however, the Underground Man has found no happiness. His questions, then, and his rebellion against the crystal palace, are genuine. He wants to understand how to preserve his humanity within a rationalist framework.

The Underground Man tells us that although he is very proud, if he were slapped in the face he would still probably feel pleasure from despair and humiliation. Though he is not guilty of any crimes he has committed because they were determined not by him but by the laws of nature, he is still guilty for them because he is smarter than others around him and can see himself for what he is. He realizes that even if he had a positive trait like magnanimity, he would be unable to make use of it because he would never really be able to forgive. Yet if he had no magnanimity at all and wanted to get revenge for an offense, he would be equally unable to do so. Finally, he promises to explain this inability to act l

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Approximate Word count = 29127
Approximate Pages = 117 (250 words per page double spaced)