NAME PRIYA KUMARI

ROLL NO 01
SUBJECT EUPROPEAN

LITERATURE
PRESENTATION ON CHARACTER
OF UNDERGROUND MAN
 BIOGRAPHY OF FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY

FULL NAME: Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky

KNOWN FOR: Russian essayist and novelist

BORN: on November 11, 1821 in Moscow Russia

DIED: February 9, 1881 in St. Petersburg, Russia

PARENTS: Dr. Mikhail Andreevich and Maria Dostoevsky

EDUCATION: Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute

SELECTED WORKS: Notes from Underground(1864), Crime and

Punishment(1866), The Idiot (1868-1869), Demons(1871-1872), The Brothers
Karamazov(1879-1880)

SPOUSES: Maria Dmitriyevna Isaeva(1857-1864)

Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina(1867-1881)
 OVERVIEW OF “NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND MAN”

In the opening lines, the narrator tells his

imaginary audience “I am a sick man,
I am a spiteful man, I am an unattractive man.”

In part one, the narrator engages the reader directly in describing his
existential worldview, calls into question scientific claims that, as
rational beings, humanity always follows self-interest. In opposition to
these claims, the narrator declares “we sometimes want pure rubbish
precisely because in our stupidity, we see this rubbish as the easiest
path to the attainment of some preconceived profit.”

Inpart two, the narrator recalls his early manhood. Ruled by his
overweening vanity and with an imagination nourished by the fine
sentiments Romantic literature, he makes a mess of the simplest
human relationships, and lives a life marked by cruelty and
humiliation.
 CHARACTER OF UNDERGROUND MAN

Dostoevsky says that The Underground Man, 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 society in which he lives.

The Underground Man when he is 40 years old, having retired from his civil service and
secluded himself in a shabby apartment. He is sick, spiteful, unpleasant, superstitious and
educated. He insist that he could not become anything. He attacks on the culture of the 19 th
century in which men cannot make anything of themselves but only fools develop here.

In the beginning, he states that he respects medicine and that he is superstitious. He finds
that appreciation of beauty has no correspondence with moral action. If he fails in
something, he blames himself and feels shame and anger at himself but he finds pleasure in
shame. The Underground Man believes neither in direct action nor in justice.
It is the first existential novel. “EXISTENTIALISM” is defined as a philosophical theory that
focuses on free will and personal responsibility.
The Underground Man is hyperconscious- He feels himself
more intelligent and “conscious” than any of the people he
meets. However, he is aware that his consciousness often
manifest itself as a skepticism that prevents him from having
confidence in any of his actions. This skepticism cripples him
and keeps him from participating in “life” as other people do.
The Underground Man constantly analyzes and second-
guesses every thought and feeling he has. “An intelligent man
cannot become anything seriously, and it is only the fool who
becomes anything”.
“Man is a mystery. It needs to be unraveled, and if you spend your whole life
unraveling it, don’t say that you have wasted time. I am studying that mystery because
I want to be a human being.”

Paralyzed by having to choose- He early claim that he has

never been able to act. His reasoning is that there is no
justification for any action-so he remains inert. He is so
paralyzed by having to choose what to do that his decision is
to not choose.
Isolation of the Underground Man-

Hisisolation is both the cause and the result of his situation.

He writes from the underground, separated from society.

Itis for him a place to escape and hide from the world. He is
troubled by the realisation that as a result of this
consciousness, he is unable to become simply lazy.

 He feels that he lacks an identity because of being very

cultured. He wants to establish an identity but also recognizes
that this is impossible.

He wants to appear intelligent but cannot speak to others

and can never withstand anyone’s gaze. He believes in his
own superiority to others and wants others to see and
recognize it.
His way of seeing the world is something
he cannot explain to others since he sees
the world in terms that do not exist in
everyday conversation.

we find him concerned throughout to make

his officer to recognise his existence but
the officer becomes a subject of hatred
for him because he walks around ignoring
people and the Underground Man cannot
tolerate being ignored.
His relation with liza-
His relation with Liza explains his explain his personality in
another way when he tries to impose his superiority on her. When
the prostitute despises him, he is deeply hurt and so he decides to
dominate her and force her to regard him with respect.

After long speech, Liza angers him when she says that his words
sound like out of book but he wants to believe that he is capable of
addressing the reality and that he is capable of dealing the real
world.

The behavior of Liza hurts him. He wants to hurt her because she
has hurt her. He never takes the task of redeeming her seriously.

He wants to dominates her by showing her the filth of her

profession. He suddenly realises that he himself is touched by the
false sentiments he professes and that he is not speaking coldly.

Hissentiments are entirely manufactured, gained not through

experience and have no relation with reality.
Dominate others-
In order to define himself, he needs the approval of others not
only to help him in defining but also to disprove his negative beliefs
about himself and forcing others into believing him to be superior
to them.

He attempts to dominate his servant and prove himself superior to

him by refusing to give him his wages and to remind him that he is
in a lower position than his.

Hisschoolmate Zverkov treats the Underground Man with

contempt because of his inferior social status but he attempts to
assert his moral superiority in order to compensate his low social
standing.

He hates all those who treat him poorly for his social status
because he wants to be admired for his moral superiority. He lives
underground, a world of literature, dreams and fantasies where he
dreams that his alleged moral superiority will always raise him
above others.
Conclusion-
Underground Man constantly lies, attempts to
justify his actions and pretends to be something he
is not around others. He recognises that he has
made himself into a fictional character. His whole
character is full of paradoxes.
THANKS FOR WATCHING..