Fyodor Dostoyevskys Underground Man - 1913 Words

Note: I had an issue with formatting, hence the large spaces between paragraphs. Vanishree Gandhi Dostoyevsky’s Underground Man 1. How does the underground give him to the opportunity to exert his individuality that he is unable to enact in the real world? The novel ‘Notes From the Underground’, written by philosopher Fyodor Dostoyevsky, is a narration of ideology and life experience written by a male character who calls himself the underground man. The underground man’s ideology is a personalized application of Kierkegaard’s existentialist theory to his life. It is my belief that the underground creates this ideology after learning of his imminent death from liver disease in order to prove to himself that his life was successful and†¦show more content†¦The ‘spite’ or shame he refers to here is felt for himself. He tells us that ‘It was not only that I could not become spiteful (to others), I did not know how to become anything; neither spiteful nor kind, neither a rascal nor an honest man, neither a hero nor an insect. Now, I am living out my life in my corner, taunting myself with the spiteful and useless consolation that an intelligent man cannot become anything seriously, and it is only the fool who becomes anything.’ ‘I was in the service that I might have something to eat (and solely for that reason), and when last year a distant relation left me six thousand roubles in his will I immediately retired from the service and settled down in my corner.’ Thus underground man feels that he does not know who he is as an individual and that is why he cannot find his passion. Leaving his job did not give him happiness; he left a job he enacted only out of survival and now possibly has the financial stability to follow his dreams, but does not know how. Thus he finds comfort in Kierkegaard’s theory because it suggests that his misery is a sign of the individuality he craves. Also indirectly, his obsession with Kierkegaard’s existentialism can be seen as his passion. Thus Kierkegaard’s theory solves the problem of passion in his life. The second problem is an explanation as to why his intelligence is notShow MoreRelatedNotes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky1616 Words   |  7 PagesFyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) was a Russian novelist, journalist, and short story writer that discussed the psychological state of the human soul in many of his works, one in particular is Notes from the Underground; which was published in 1864. 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At the present time during the prologue, the narrator is living in a â€Å"basemen t shut off and forgotten,† as he puts it, draining free power from the Monopolated Electric Company, having secludedRead MoreEnglish Literature- an Episode in the Life of an Author5918 Words   |  24 PagesTestament† -Celebrated the strength of human mind. -Capable of confronting the ultimate meaninglessness of existence. Extentialism in literature.in utmost care of class 12 by P. Baburaj Fydor Dostoyevsky Herman Melville Leo Tolstoy Fydor Dostoyevsky’s â€Å"Notes from underground† is a passionate monologue by an embittered angry, selfdestructive figure definably asserting his freedom in the society increasingly controlled by technology. Melville ‘Bartleby the scrivener’-recounts the faith of the men. Anti -Hero