Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Notes from the underground has captured audiences for centuries. It's self-contradictory nature and social commentary within has sparked numerous analysis within academia concerning varying parts that these two elements touch. The underground man’s self-loathing combined with a superiority complex creates a narrator and protagonist that confuses the reader. We know not whether to feel pity or loathing for the man who seeks to display his own perceived superiority over others at one moment, and then goes on to attempt to regain this feeling of superiority by verbally attacking a prostitute. Surely this literary figure has such a plethora varying, conflicting elements that have sparked such a variety of academic scholarly…
Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment centers on Raskolnikov, a man who chooses to murder a common pawnbroker while he struggles with guilt, alienation, and pride. The choice to commit murder creates a division between Raskolnikov and society because he violates the moral laws governing society. In Crime and Punishment, the rift between Raskolnikov and society is both alienating and enriching for his character and demonstrates Dostoevsky’s opinion of an individual’s place in society.…
I believe the Underground is rational through the example that he says even if people have an option to change something about themselves, they would not do it.This is rational for me because no one will know what they will do once they are given an opportunity. Also, people do not truly know themselves as they think they do. The Underground makes this point by stating there is nothing for a person to change into even given a wish.…
Written by the same author, Fyodor Dostoevsky, the two main characters from “Crime and Punishment” and “Notes from Underground” displays similar qualities. Both characters are corrupted in their ways thinking, which indicates their nihilistic behavior. Although these two characters can be considered nihilists, their behaviors can be classified as ethical, or moral, nihilism. These two characters also relates to one another in terms of inconsistency, individualism and self-justification. Despite of the excerpt from “Notes from Underground”, David Denby’s article, “Can Dostoevsky Still Kick You in the Gut?”, provides a more detailed analysis of the book. Raskolnikov, from “Crime and Punishment”, and the underground man, from “Notes from Underground”,…
1. Raskolnikov lives under the roof directly above his landlady in a small, tight garret surrounded by dusty yellow wallpaper and with nothing but a “clumsy” couch, an unlevel table with three unpainted chairs, and a few books covered in dust from abandonment. The area where he resides in could be described as the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum. The inhabitants include drunkards, prostitutes, and tradesman.…
It is noted that he is ashamed and disgusted of what he is doing but continues regardless – “often did my human nature turn with loathing from my occupation, whilst, still urged on by an eagerness which perpetually increased, I brought my work near to a conclusion.’…
When living in his the society equality stuggles with being constantly surrounded by people and he commits transgression after transgression to get his alone time in his tunnel so he can write his own thoughts and create things on his own. He…
The Underground Man, especially after losing his job at the civil service, shows no interest in his life. Working a dead-end job only to afford food, is not the typical American dream. The Underground Man lives his life through endless suffering. This is due to his resentment, and appreciation, towards his life and the environment he lives in. In his mind, he will never succumb to anything.…
In the short story Through the Tunnel, Jerry and his mother spent their holidays near the sea. Jerry, the eleven-year-old English boy, was trying to become more independent and be accepted by the local boys so he left the safe beach where his mother stayed and turned to a more dangerous one. The main conflict appears when Jerry was convincing himself to practice holding a longer breath and dive through a long underwater tunnel made up of rock walls in the bottom of the sea. He wanted to demonstrate that he was able to cross the barriers without the help of other people. The overall meaning of the story is that growing up is always a harsh process but everyone has to face the challenges and go through them. This can be noticed in the sentences “…this moment when his nose had only just stopped bleeding, when his head was still sore and throbbing --- this was the moment when he would try. If he did not do it now, he never would” in which Jerry suffered all the pains but still continued trying to cross the tunnel. In the photo essay, the four pictures are mainly aiming to illustrate the connections of two generations, between youth and adults. For instance, the old lady in the second picture was injected Botox to look younger. The boy in the third picture is reading a book which gives us a sense that he is mature and knowledgeable.…
This essay implies to the reader that loneliness isn’t always a vile thing. The author compares somebody who has absolutely nothing in life but enjoys the solitude, to people who roam through life alone, seeking for company—but never find it. The author compares the chosen lifestyle of the box man, to the undesired for loneliness of the victims. The author explains that although one may be poor and alone, it does not mean that one is unhappy. For example, in paragraph 12 it is explained that the mayor has offered him help, but the box man pushes it away. In paragraph 18 it is described how the box man enjoys his dark life. It is portrayed that life is a solo journey and that one may be much more miserable by going through life accompanied than by being a collector of boxes.…
In Notes from Underground man, Dostoevsky takes us through a period of reform and bureaucracy. The underground man has his own way of thinking, much different from the society he lives in. He has a forever lasting battle with his conscious. Even though his deprived conscious is for the better in general. He is constantly surrounded with hypocrites and feels as if he is being judged by every move he makes. In the first chapter, we find out that he is very unhealthy but he refuses to get help. This is an example of how he takes his self-conscious aggressions out on himself. His self-conscious has also caused other problems and resolutions on his view of society. He had different views on people. When he was in jail, he learned not to see levels…
PUTATIO METHOD FORMAT Name: Zhibek Kamalbek kyzy ID: 6411 Question: Does the Underground man have a freedom of choice? Your Answer (just yes or no): Yes. Opposing Argument 1: The Underground man does not have a choice to live outside.…
In the book “Crime and Punishment”, Dostoevsky explores the path of Raskolnikov who has faced many difficulties and obstacles throughout his life. He commits murder and is faced with the long and extremely painful journey of seeking redemption. Raskolnikov believes that by the law of nature, men have been divided into two groups of “ordinary” and “extraordinary”.…
“I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.”…
The walls of Pleasantville are represented as the strict and “pure” lifestyle that citizens of Pleasantville are forced to accept as reality. Pleasantville’s lifestyle consists of predestined roles within its society, as well as restricted personal expression of emotional feelings and artistic views, and the repression of free thought by collective ignorance. These “walls” of Pleasantville directly correlate with the walls in Plato’s allegory of the cave by identifying with the lack of personal thought and opinions that make up an individual. Just as the prisoners of Plato’s Cave are subjected to a false reality of shadow puppetry so are the citizens of Pleasantville subject to conformity. However, once personal choice is explored citizens of Pleasantville cannot go back to living as they once did, just as the enlightened prisoner of Plato’s cave cannot return to past beliefs with his newly found ideas.…