Notes From The

Underground
Capeding, Martinez, Tenorio

About the author

PART 1:
UNDERGROUND

UNDERGROUND: Authors Note

UNDERGROUND: Chapter 1
- We meet the unnamed narrator
- 40 years old
- Sick, spiteful, unattractive
- Superstitious but educated
- I know nothing at all about my disease
- Formerly a government official
- Wicked but did not take bribes

UNDERGROUND: Chapter 1
- Retired early because he had earned enough
- Now, he doesnt know how to describe himself
- Self-loathing and self-pity
- Stream of consciousness
- But what can a decent man speak of with most pleasure? Answer:
Of himself. Well, so I will talk about myself.

UNDERGROUND: Chapter 2
- The narrator continues to describe himself
- Overly conscious, developed man
- His consciousness is an illness, but he takes pride in it
- It makes him aware of beauty, but also corrupts him

UNDERGROUND: Chapter 3
- Inability to act instinctively
- Example of revenge
- A direct person would act impulsively
- Driven by emotion
- Man is stupid but he envies them
- He feels like a mouse around normal
men
- 2+2=4

UNDERGROUND: Chapter 4
- The narrator imagines the reader mocking him
- Pleasure in a toothache

UNDERGROUND: Chapter 5
- Feelings of repentance, tenderheartedness, sentimentality
- Delusions
- He experiences emotional torment because of ennui and inertia
- He would force himself to feel emotions, then gets angry at himself
for doing so

UNDERGROUND: Chapter 6
- He prefers laziness over inertia
- Laziness is not bad
- Defining feature

UNDERGROUND: Chapter 7
- He disagrees with the idea that men are naturally good
- Man consciously acts to his own disadvantage
- Strange advantage = free will

UNDERGROUND: Chapter 8
- Man will never be satisfied with his free will
- Not every human urge can be explained scientifically
- If mans desires could be calculated with a formula, man would
intentionally stop having desires
- Man cannot accept that their free will actually has limits

UNDERGROUND: Chapter 9
- He starts the chapter by saying he has been joking this whole time
- However, he goes on to criticize man further
- Men like to build but also destroy
- Men are afraid of being idle, and therefore they work not to achieve
an end, but to avoid being idle.
- Man will never get rid of suffering because it is the sole origin of
consciousness

UNDERGROUND: Chapter 10
- In a utopian world, people would be able to build a crystal palace
- Now, if a man was stuck in the rain and finds a chicken coop, he
would stay in it, but wouldnt call it a mansion even though it serves
the same purpose
- Since man is convinced that the best way of living is with a
mansion, he wouldnt be satisfied with the coop
- Now, even though building a crystal palace is impossible, the man
who believes in it will not settle for anything less

UNDERGROUND: Chapter 11
- He explains that he lives underground because having his
consciousness about everything is better than living life as an
ordinary man
- Then, he confesses that he is lying
- He ultimately decides that he is unhappy living underground, but
normal life isnt intriguing either
- Again, he admits he is lying
- These notes were meant only for himself, so why would he lie?
- Continues rambling on and convinces himself he has been
completely truthful

Part 2:
A propos of the Wet Snow

A Propos of the Wet Snow

Epigraph
A propos/ Apropos
Nekrassov
prequel

APotWS: Chapter 1
- 24, loner and hated by his officemates; also hating them
- Complete Hater, of others and of himself
- Hating everyone, but wanting to be normal
- Only donkeys and mules are valiant.
- Makes a remark on Romaticism of the Germans and French, as
compared to the Russian form. (The Sublime and the Beautiful)
- The officer
- European influence in Russia

APotWS: Chapter 2
Dreams that are too good for real life
Note: He likes debaucheries ever since Underground but sees
them as shameful
The Sublime and the Beautiful
Anton Antonich Syetotchkin - his superior
Simonov - a former classmate

APotWS: Chapter 3
Arrives at Simonovs crib to find him with other former classmates.
(Notable: Ferfichkin, which he considers an enemy of his)
Zverkov
Decides to contribute money for the dinner to get their respect
Flashback of his school days: 1. An orphan 2. Bullied 3. Read a lot
Worries on what to wear. Sees trousers with spot.

APotWS: Chapter 4
Awkward turtle arrives first at the dinner.
Zverkov and the others look down on him
He makes a fool of himself by drinking, making a hate speech for
Zverkov, and challenging Ferfechkin to a duel.
Begs for Ferfechkins forgiveness
Borrows money from Simonov to go to the brothel with the other
men and make them want his friendship. He will slap Zverkov if
they dont.

APotWS: Chapter 5
Fantasizes of slapping Zverkov, and getting beaten by the people in
the brothel
He arrives finding the brothel near empty
Finds a young lady, with a seriously pretty and seriously serious
face.
Yup.

APotWS: Chapter 6
Wakes up next to the girl whom he doesnt even know the name of.
Prostitute: Liza.
He begins to interview her, but does not get that much enthusiasm...at first.
A story about a prostitute who died in a basement.
Feels sorry for Liza because she thinks that she will not die.
Lectured Liza on prostitution being a hideous profession. She heartily agrees.
A man is no example for a woman.
Finds enjoyment that he is getting responses and emotions from Liza. So he begins to babble away
about love and all.
Why, you speak like a book!

APotWS: Chapter 7
A long speech defending himself from what Liza said.
He got riled up because of her situation, and all that he said was
original.
Then he begins a long, morbid speech about prostitution and how
Liza will inevitably be ruined, catching diseases and all. Getting old
and ugly in the biz.
And cordially invites her to his house.
Dominant

APotWS: Chapter 8
Womanish hysteria Regrets what he said to Liza and giving his address to a person he just met.
Goes back to his obsession of being more superior to Zverkov.
He had to look cool so he wrote a letter to Simonov about the fiasco that night.
On a young heros past, no censure is cast! He feels intellectual with the letter.
Actually anticipates Lizas visit and is worried of what she will think of his place.
Dreams of saving her and making her fall in love with him.
Apollon - the old servant of Underground Man
Takes pleasure in showing superiority to the old man. Same with the coachman.
The old man threatens to go to the police if UM does not give his wage.
The servant is indifferent when UM snapped

APotWS: Chapter 9
Liza arrives at his crib. He thought that she was judging him and his
poverty and decides to make her pay for judging him.
Asks Apollon to buy some tea and rusks (???) from the restaurant.
Liza tells him that she wants to get away from there. Awkward
silence for 5 mins.
Liza thought he was busy and attempts to leave, but he stops
her...and then tries to shame her by saying he was only controlling
her and all.
Sympathized with UM because she saw through his facade, that he
is really sad.

APotWS: Chapter 10

He leaves Liza and just walks frantically, occasionally peeking at her.

UM explains that he could not imagine an unselfish love.
Liza realizes the truth that UM actually hates her and only really wanted to
control her. She decides to leave.
Ultimate d-bag move: Tries to give her money before she leaves.
Tomorrow, I should have defiled her soul and have exhausted her heart,
while now the feeling of insult will never die in her heart, and however
loathsome the filth awaiting her --- the feeling of insult will elevate and purify
her
He feels ashamed of these notes.
Accuses us that we all do not want absolute freedom and the readers are just
like him.

Symbolisms

Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Living in St. Petersburg, in 1864
His wife was drying around the time that he wrote Notes
"It will be a powerful and candid piece; it will be truth.
Themes of absurdity, isolation, and radical personal freedom
Existentialism

Polemic
Polemic a wr

The Crystal Palace

A symbol of modernity and technology
The Great Exhibit in London
Society as the Crystal Palace (through socialism)
Figuring out the rules of nature, the Crystal Palace will be built
(spending whole life being dissatisfied)
(pain proves free will)

2+2=4 and the Stone Wall

Free will = man gets to do whatever he wants
2+2=4
Man wants it to be 2+2=5
Laws of nature are hindrance to free will
Man of action vs. man of consciousness

The Underground
Underground means isolation
The Underground Man is a solitary man
Underground is below, inferior
A separation between self and others

THANK YOU for listening! <3