Underground Man Quotes

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The character The Underground Man from Notes From Underground, written by Fyodor Dostoevsky, can be seen as the least free character encountered. While he may seem very free, because of being highly self-conscious, it is the opposite fact because of the former. Many themes of this novel point to his lack of freedom, including: a crippling sense of consciousness, which eliminates all possible confidence, a false view of angelism in terms of intelligence, and isolation which stems from a source of hatred. The Underground Man is hyper-conscious throughout Notes from Underground. This act is predominantly what drives his awkward interaction with others and strips away his confidence. In the beginning, the Underground Man starts by saying, “I …show more content…

The Underground Man uses the example of “the stone wall” to show his thoughts on an intelligent, conscious man compared to a normal man. While giving his thoughts on scientific rationalism, he …show more content…

One can see that the Underground Man is afraid of reality, although his thoughts regarding actions are accurate. This relates to him being able to only act through his imaginations. The Underground Man’s irrational action is proven in his friendship, or lack thereof with Zverkov. Zverkov can be seen as the opposite of the Underground Man. He is an example of what the Underground Man describes as the man of action. The Underground Man’s hatred for Zverkov stems from his attractiveness. He says, “I hated his handsome, stupid face (for which, however, I’d gladly have exchanged my own intelligent one).”(43) His actions and hatred toward Zverkov and the others prove jealously, and the Underground Man seemed uncomfortable with what could not be changed, his consequences. The group spoke on the Underground Man’s appearance, salary, and other humiliating points. He became quickly drunk, which floored a long list of hateful words. The Underground Man pointed out all the actions he hated, which are what Zverkov mostly possessed. Following this, the Underground Man thought to himself, “How much, how very much I longed to be reconciled by them at that moment!”(55) The words and actions by the Underground man once again did not match. While he says hateful words, he quickly wants to be reunited with the other men. This separation of thought and action is what binds

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