Fyodor Dostoevsky's short novel Notes from Underground features the inner monologue of an unnamed man whose general disgust with 19th century civilization leads to his spiteful behavior and alienation from the community. The Underground Man is also an archetype that one sees reproduced in modern (by modern, 20th or even 21st century) literature, films and cultural productions dealing with man's discontent in mass society.
In your own words, how would you characterize the Underground Man's personality and philosophy? Does his inter-personal behavior seem bewildering, or are you able to make sense of his social alienation? And, if you would like to tackle this question, are there any personalities in contemporary literature or media that have a disposition similar to that of the Underground Man?
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Personally, I was left confused and bewildered by the genuine thoughts and actions of the narrator. In everyday experiences, we usually do not encounter such people. How he wrote of himself with such unashamed reverence, and the disdain with which he saw everyone else was just mind-boggling. Granted, everyone has flaws and humans are by nature judgmental. But that is no excuse for this man's harsh and spiteful attitude. It is truly a shame the man in the story is so alienated by the experiences in his past that must have made him such an unlikable person. The very title, Notes from Underground, reveal the inevitability of his social isolation. He lives his life underground, by himself, whereas most everyone else who is not "sick" lives in the real world, above ground. While the narrator's behavior left me perplexed, it also left me sympathetic to the sheltered, illusion of a life this character is doomed to experience, for no one who refuses to see reality can live there.
ReplyDeleteDostoyevsky created a character in "Notes from the Underground" that I find to be very intriguing. This narrator captures an element of humanity that, I believe, each of us posses in one way or another. His contradictory thoughts, and back-and-forth notions of himself and others speaks to the way in which many of us act on regular basis. The narrators lack of social tact, and self-loathing may be a little more unique to his character, however. I feel as though there are parts to the narrator that I can connect with, mostly in the sense of being "acutely concious." I think it may often times be crippling to think too much about something, but again I feel like it is common for many people to over analyze situations, especially in social settings.
ReplyDeleteOne modern day character that comes to mind is from the film "Adaptation." Charlie Kaufman, an aspiring screen-writer, is similar to the Man from the Underground in the sense of self-loathing and acute conciousness. Kaufman has a twin brother, Donald, who is also writing a screen play that, to Charlie, seems extremely shallow, and only written for the sake of selling it. Whereas Charlie is taking the time to write a screen play that has some depth and tells a story with meaning, much like the Underground man, and his perspective of the world; he doesn't just take things at "face value".
The opening clip of "Adaptation" parallels the first paragraph of "Notes from the Underground." Charlie is definitely a more subdued character than the Underground Man, however, their similarities are visible.
link to Adaptation opening:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvyRKiCONmQ
Though I found this man to be quite interesting, at the same time I found myself feeling disgusted and then sad for him. It was a confusing set of emotions to be feeling for someone, with each time he spoke my reaction changing. I feel like in today's society if we were to find someone like him we would label him as having a type of disorder.
ReplyDeleteI found his honesty to be refreshing, but at the same time he was cruel to not only himself but to others. His so called friends should be ashamed, because yes, he put himself in a clearly awkward and unwanted situation, but they took advantage of him.
The social isolation he puts himself through is clearly not healthy. And yet at the same time he appears to function quite well at his job which I found a little astonishing (besides when he deals with female clients of course).
In the end I just am perplexed about this man and the story in general. Having never encountered something like this before in my own life, I am not really sure how to understand it all.
The Underground Man in Notes from the Underground has a very quirky personality. I would consider him paranoid and conceited. He thinks of himself so highly and not in a way that most people are when they are conceited. Most people that think they are so much better than everyone else make sure everyone else knows it. They act like they own everything and are better than everyone while the Underground Man hides from society and criticizes everyone else to himself.
ReplyDeleteHis inter-personal behavior astounds me even though I know that there are people that are socially awkward, for a lack of a better term. He knows that he is not very good in social intercourse yet he doesn’t try to change anyway. He just believes society is so far beneath him that it’s not even worth giving it a try. I know that everyone is flawed and I don’t like everyone but I could never imagine just alienating everyone like he does. I know I would be absolutely miserable and it seems that the Underground Man is, too. I don’t understand how he could think it would be better to live alone and miserable than to enjoy the company of others and have relationships with other people. If he is so much more intelligent than everyone that he claims to be then he should be smart enough to know that being the best at something or the smartest doesn’t mean anything unless you have someone to share it with.
I would characterize the Underground Man’s attitude as kind of arrogant. It seems far-fetched, but he is a man who dislikes the way everything is. Is this because he thinks he knows the right way? He is a very angry man so you would think his attitude would be one of that, but I think there is something more to it. No one can dislike something so much without having their own idea of how things should be. Since he hates everything, he has an idea for how everything should be, giving him the overall attitude of arrogance. If I were relate him to anyone, it would come as no surprise, but it would have to be Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye. He too disliked the way things were and had his own idea about how they should be, he was an overall gloomy person, just like the Underground Man. But Holden in the end finally grows up and looses most of this anger, I attribute this to him learning things and becoming less arrogant, because arrogance seems to be the background to all this anger.
ReplyDeleteThe Underground Man left a very unsettling feeling within me. He always second guessed his thinking, over analyzes each situation, and just feeling like he is superior against all mankind. In a way, I feel bad for him because his life is always full of self examination and inability to make decisions; and so he always feels ashamed and bitter of himself causing the social alienation. He also has no desire to be with people or explore the world in result. Although, analyzing ourselves can be a good trait, too much of it can lead us to a darker underground. I am not surprised that his inter-personality would contribute to his social alienation. I am, however refreshed by his honesty like Sara Peters commented before. But what is best in the world may not work in the world. In a way, the Underground Man is like our deepest conscience. Although we don’t act like him, our most inner beliefs analyze ourselves and others to what we truly believe.
ReplyDeleteThe Underground man appears to be and misanthropist. He only likes to be in the company of other humans for a short amount of time and has almost no friends. Also when he is around other humans he does not enjoy himself. When he went out to eat at the goodbye dinner with his old school friends, he did not enjoy himself at all. He only went to prove that he could make them life him. So once again he was doing something for selfish reasons. He has low self-esteem and puts himself down constantly. The Underground man has a very bleak outlook on his life and the world around him. For him, I feel as though social alienation makes him happy. Everything about other people and the way society works makes him unhappy. He only looks out for himself, so alienation makes perfect sense. For example when he lectured Liza about her lifestyle, he was not doing it for her benefit but for his own. He wanted her to feel badly so that the anger he had for Zerkov would dissipate. The only person that a misanthropist wants to be around is himself, so social alienation makes complete sense.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, it seems as though the Underground Man’s personality and philosophy are the direct result of a dysfunctional youth. Because of his eccentric mannerisms and lack of social etiquette, he was teased in school and did not fit in well with other students. To not fit in is a painful thought for anyone, a feeling of not being normal. The Underground Man made up for this pain by convincing himself it was because he was better than every one else, and on a whole other level. Instead of seeing himself as an outcast, he sees himself as a victim; nothing is his fault.
ReplyDeleteBy becoming aggressive towards the officer in the reading, and his classmate in the movie, it reflects his defensive thinking. Instead of experiencing these situations and accrediting them to his own awkwardness, he sees the officer and the classmate as the ones at fault. They are just mean, and so he seeks to teach them a lesson. He never sees himself as deserving the treatment he gets from others.
The underground man is a overly self conscious man. He overanalyzes every situation and generally finds a way to put everything down. He most likely suffers from personality dysfunctions. He does not no how to act in most situations and because of this has few friends. In the novel it seems as though he is probably paranoid also. The story was his account of what happened so I think that it was told with a bias that was against himself. He over-thinks things so I think the situations may not have been as they appeared.
ReplyDeleteIn modern media the character that is somewhat like him is the main character in "Fight Club." This man was also set apart from society and also lived in his own world with all of his things. However, instead of behaving like the underground man, the character from fight club developed an alter ego and fought against the society that he despised.
A famous quote by Stephen Crane is as follows “A man said to the universe: "Sir, I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation.” Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Notes from Underground features a man at odds with society. The main character, the Underground Man, is discontented with society. He feels that the world owes him something more. He feels that he deserves more friends, more money and more power. His interpersonal behavior makes complete sense. If the Underground Man alienates himself from society through his own actions, then he doesn’t have to feel that the world has rejected him.
ReplyDeleteDostoevsky is not the first author to use this character. Jonathon Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels also features a man who becomes at odds with the world after is sojourn into the land of the Houyhnhnms. Like the Underground Man, he sees the world for what it could be and is disheartened by this knowledge. Rather than be rejected from society for expressing his ideals, he withdraws from it.
The ‘Discontented Man’ continues to be found in modern culture. In some ways, it seems that the character has grown stronger and even more perverse than when Swift or Dostoevsky created him. In the popular movie Cruel Intentions, the leading male character is obsessed with ruining young women’s lives through seduction. It doesn’t matter that he is wealthy, attractive and smart. He stills feels as though the world owes him more, and takes pleasure at creating chaos to fill this void. Rather than waiting for some girl to reject him for being emotionally stunted, he rejects and disgusts her. Like the Underground Man, he would rather choose to believe that the world is lacking, than discover that he is. All of the stories show how futile it is to expect the world to owe you something, as all of these stories end in social alienation.
The Underground Man’s personality is, in many ways, the product of his alienation. He has supplemented interactions with others with interactions with self, and he has found he does not like himself while simultaneously loving himself. He intuitively understands this and therefore seeks out social interaction with old friends, or even those he hates. But, because of the personality that has developed out of his isolation, others do not like him. He sees his isolation and intelligence as an asset, and therefore carries himself with an air of superiority. In short, the Underground Man as I see him is a man who is stuck in a vicious cycle, a man who will never enjoy life the way it is intended unless someone helps him, like Sonya helped Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment. A more modern example of the Underground Man, though perhaps not a contemporary example, would be Pink from the movie adaptation of Pink Floyd’s The Wall.
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ReplyDeleteGrace Mellor (sorry forgot how to post it under the name I signed up on)
ReplyDeleteThe Underground’s narrator seemed so over analytical of the moral character of others and his own thoughts, that he drove himself to the point of insanity. He states “I am tormented by questions” and I believe that he cannot accept any fact at face value, that he must examine it and question it until he is satisfied with his own answer. He seems completely miserable but creates his own misery and revels in it, almost as if he would be disgraced to live his life any other way. I would describe him as a masochist, because he loves to suffer. For example, in the part when he describes a toothache and the act of moaning as taking pleasure in suffering and creating suffering for others, this suggests that people take pleasure in pain. His actions with others make no apparent sense to the outsider. It is obvious that he wants to be accepted, he feels the need for human relationships, but he sabotages these relationships because he loathes the thought of others happiness.
The character in Notes from the Underground was a very anti-social man. As much as he tried to interact with his supposed friends he was incapable with interacting with them in a civil manner. I think because he’s isolated himself for so long it is was hard for him to really interact in a genuine and cordial manner. SO over all I don’t think he’s mentally stable; I think he has a lot of thought and ideas about society and man kind but he doesn’t know how to filter those thoughts and ideas.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure I fully understand his social alienation; for some one with so many thoughts and ideas I would assume he would want some form of interaction at least to discuss his thoughts.
The Underground man reminds me of two people in literature and mass media, for very different reasons. First, he reminds me of the invisible man from Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. This comes to mind mainly because both main characters are nameless, and society seems to move along without them. The similarities stop there, however, as their reasons for being left out of society are vastly different. The underground man also reminds me of Gregory House from the TV show House. Both men are miserable, and seem to overthink life. They both at least portray that they are smarter than everyone else, and that knowledge about the world make them miserable.
ReplyDeleteThe underground man appears to have gone through some experience that makes him think about life in a different manner than everybody else. He seems to think about life in a plane transcending everyone else. He is miserable, and he strips life down to the bare bones. He is brutally honest, but for all of this "knowledge," he does not have any social knowledge. This lack of interaction makes him miserable, yet he rationalizes it by thinking he is above them, and smarter than them.
Fyodor Dostoevsky does an exquisite job of portraying a vulnerable, yet intelligent character that is not only at war with himself but also society. He wishes to know what love is, have friends, and interact easily with others. Yet at every turn his intelligence impedes him. Still through this very intelligence he understands what he is doing, how he should act, and how he should feel, but can not stop himself from over-analyzing and constantly turning life into some rational understanding. This is his fault; being over conscious of his actions and constantly weighing each decision in his head without action. If he does act, he finds something wrong with what he did and weighs on it constantly leading him to fall away from society. He is incapable of feeling, of love, or simply carrying on a friendship for the simple means of having someone to confide in. He views everything as a conquest, as some sort of game with a goal to be reached, needing to control or impose his will on others. He wishes to be better than everyone around him, and only sees his faults instead of the good features within him. These faults are forever in his consciousness and bring him down; he can not simply let go and be happy. All of this leads to his finding faults in others, which reflect his own, and can not grasp why they do not feel the same as him. When he finally does show some feeling and confide in Liza, he justifies it as another game. He spills his deepest secrets to her, and she embraces him, consoling him in this desperate time of need. Instead of simply releasing his anguish, he pushes her away though he knows this is what he desires, and even requires. This event weighs on his conscious ever since, and now he knows he is incapable of being a part of society. The reason for his alienation I feel is his lack of family. He was shipped away to school never knowing what it is to purely love another since none have ever loved him.
ReplyDeleteDostoevsky's Underground Man appears to be the ultimate nihilist; one who has fully recognized the inherent meaninglessness of existence, and by extension, the various constructions of human society. In this way he might easily be described as the most truthful of all human beings. He has no reason to lie or present himself falsely because anything that might be gained in doing so is of no value, and thus unimportant to him. However, his character is not one that has fully accepted this viewpoint, since while he understands pointlessness, he still longs for meaning and importance in the world, thus producing his unorthodox and 'renegade' behavior towards the people in his life.
ReplyDeleteI find the easiest comparison I can make between a modern figure and the Underground Man is the character of Dr. Gregory House from the television series of the same name. Much like the Underground Man, he exhibits a disdain for society's rules, a powerful intellect, and an immense understanding of human psychology and how people interact with each other. In the same way, he creates chaotic situations by attacking rules of social ediquette and ethics. Finally, similarly, House demonstrates a deeper longing for some purpose in life. Whereas the Underground Man seeks this purpose through directly attempting to invest his own importance, no matter how negative, into others' lives, House does so by investing himself into medical 'puzzles', attempting to further his understanding of the world beyond the comparatively easy complications of human nature.
I would describe the Underground Man’s personality as extremely critical, both of himself and of society. Despite this quality he is also very self-centered and skeptical of the world around him. The combination of these personal attributes leads him to second guess each and every action he makes, at one moment feeling confident of his superiority, and the next feeling like a complete fool. Ultimately the Underground Man’s personality traits isolate him from any positive human interaction. He is so blunt and awkward, at times even intentionally, that he pushes any possible real connection with another person away. Every other rational human being could never see him as anything but completely insane. It is however, possible to understand on some level his feelings of inadequacy that lead him to his social alienation. Everyone at some point in their lives experiences feeling left out, that they are not as good at something as they ought to be, or can at least recognize that someone else may be better. The difference between the Underground Man and the general population however, is the ability of most people to cope with such feelings of insecurity and self-doubt. The average individual can recognize their strengths and weaknesses without feeling overcome with shame or self-loathing as the Underground Man allows himself to be. Ultimately, I cannot say that I can relate to the extremes to which the Underground Man takes his philosophies or personal behaviors.
ReplyDeleteI find the "underground man" a very perplexing and confusing character, he lives in isolation and his thoughts are often that a of a deranged and metaphysically crazy person, yet his actions speak like that of a man who wishes to live a normal life, with friends and even love. In my mind he seems never to have fully evolved out of the stage of childhood when one discovers his inner circle of friends and where they fit in in life. He never found his niche. I think that he uses his isolation as almost an excuse as to why he doesn't have friends, and if he doesn't have friends or love, then he must possess something that others do not, which would be his thoughts. I feel that the stereotypical saying that when one is left alone with his own thoughts for too long, then he often teeters the line insanity, fully true. All he has is one side of a story, which he tells to himself and retells to the audience and sooner or later he believes the story to be true, even if it changes ever so slightly each time he tells it. If you tell something enough times then you yourself end up believing it.
ReplyDeleteIn a way however I do feel sorry for him. His "friends" not only reject him, but resort to humiliating him, causing even more turmoil within which, as we see as the audience, he learns to control. How healthy can that be? By doing what he really feels only in his thoughts and in his mind, rather than out loud in action, then why wouldn't he rather live in his head, where everything he wants to do goes according to plan? While his behavior and philosophies tend to be extreme in an outsiders eyes, it is normal to him and causes him to think he is different, leading to his self-loathing, angst filled room where he again sits alone.
I would describe the Underground man's personality as cynical and complex. His philosophy on life and society is often contradicted by his words and actions. Throughout the novel he says one thing but does the complete opposite. His his inter-personal behavior is bewildering and social alienation is a result of himself not being able to communicate successfully with his peers. Deep down I feel it is evident that he would like to be seen as normal but his bitterness toward society eliminates this outcome as a possibility.
ReplyDeleteThe main character in Notes From the Underground is a very "werid" man on theb asis of social norms. he is very complex and self-centered. He contradicts himself many times throught the work. All he wants in his life is to be accepted by his peers and feel like he belongs. Yet, instead he does many awkward tendencies that make this notion not happen. he lives by himself and often goes over many things that he wishe he can do but often is too self-centered to follow his own wishes.He always thinks that he is right no matter what the situation really is, and often tells it to himself over and over again.I feel for him because he lives in such a lonely world and has no one to go to comfort him, he lives in his own twisted world.
ReplyDeleteI would characterize the Underground Man as arrogant, anti-social, and critical of his surroundings. He most definitely does not fit social norms, as he is very self-centered and awkward. He has no desire to be around anyone, and even when he tries, he seems to alienate himself even more by being so critical of everything. Sometimes one can benefit by really analyzing a situation, but the Underground Man seems to take it to another level by obsessing over the situation. It seems as though he will never let himself be happy because he cannot accept his surroundings for what they are. His alienation is dangerous to him and others around him.
ReplyDeleteI seem to think that Fyodor should be considering self bias in a way. Throughout the entire reading he is focusing on what everyone and everything is doing wrong around him. And while he feels he has a solution for all of these problems, he never seems to consider trying them himself. He has a mindset that makes me believe he thinks he is above others, due to the fact that he characterizes society in a different category then he characterizes himself in. My thinking is directed in this direction, because after reading, “Notes from Underground”, it was clear to me that Fyodor Dostoevsky suffered from some sort of severe personality issues. His attitude was negative and untrustworthy to the world around him, and this notion was made especially evident in the character throughout the story. With such attitudes it made it hard to figure out whether he was trying to figure society’s problems, or those of his own.
ReplyDeleteThe Underground Man is an unusual character and rather difficult to understand. He is a conceited man, who believes he is better than everyone else. This is hard to fathom since he is a poor man with a job he despises. He also is a controlling, possessive man and brutally honest. He is honest to the point that it is hurtful, which, in the end, is his intention. His honesty gives enlightenment to everyone who hears him, including Liza and the readers, but his honesty is meant to achieve his own ends of making himself feel as if he is power.
ReplyDeleteHis social alienation is expected from the way he treats people. Although many people want honesty, they want sympathy with that honesty or at least sometimes, which he refuses to give. The saddest part about the Underground Man is that he wants to be ‘normal’ and he knows what that entails, but he cannot do that because of his character. He does not know how to be sympathetic and maintain that sympathy. He does not know how to be kind without feeling like the other person is looking down at him because of his kindness. The man’s issue is that he reads too much into what he thinks people think of him. For example, he feels he must be kind but at that same time, he is conflicted with the thought that the person does not deserve it. He is a difficult person to follow in his notes because his thoughts bounce back and forth and are always conflicting with each other.