The Underground Man Is A Hero Essay

There Is More Than One Type of Hero In “Notes from the Underground”, a fiction book by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the Underground Man is not like the traditional main character in most other fiction books. Often books have a tragic hero where he or she either saves the days or unfortunately is killed. But that is not the case for this book, the main character shows characteristics that do not fit along the lines of a tragic hero at all. This paper argues that the Underground Man is most definitely not the tragic hero, but instead an anti-hero. To begin, there is a dramatic difference between an anti-hero and a tragic hero. According to the Dictionary, an anti-hero is a protagonist who lacks the attributes that make a heroic figure, as nobility of mind and spirit, a life or attitude marked by action or purpose. Sometimes they can even be such an odd character that they would fall along the lines of acting like a villain. Whereas a tragic hero is a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat. The archetype anti-hero fits the description of the Underground Man perfect. He lacks a large amount of skills that would consider him to fall under the category as an anti-hero.

He was unable to socialize with anyone other than himself due to his depression, anger, and nastiness. He avoided socializing with anyone he came in contact with, even people such as his co-workers or classmate friends. These certain problems would never be considered a tragic hero, which is a sign that the Underground Man is indeed the anti-hero. Most tragic heroes would have no problem talking to people in general, let alone people they know. If he were to be the tragic hero, he would be able to interact with people and his environment in a positive