Notes From Underground Analysis

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”,
Both characters reject ordinary standards and morals; good and evil are ambiguous, and they are pressured both socially and emotionally. “ … I am eking out my days in my corner, taunting myself with the bitter and entirely useless consolation that an intelligent man cannot seriously become anything; that only a fool can become something.” as indicated in this quote, the underground man believes that “an intelligent man” is incapable of becoming prominent. “Yes, sir, an intelligent nineteenth century man must be, is morally bound to be, an essentially characterless creature; and a man of character, a man of action-an essentially limited creature.”, the quote is an elaboration on the character’s previous statement; he defines “an intelligent man” that is contrary to the norm. Correspondingly, “‘The old woman was only an illness.... I was in a hurry to overstep.... I didn't kill a human being, but a principle!’”, as stated in the novel, Raskolnikov has a different moral perspective on humans too. Being a killer, to justify his actions, Raskolnikov considers his victim as “an illness” and “principle”; she was merely a human to him. They both possess distinct views on humans, contrasting the standard