Brief analysis of Notes from Underground and its themes
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel is a smartly written one; where he draws the attention to the deep effect of society on individuals. He shows how the individual’s fate and life are strongly influenced by the changes a given society may go through. Although the novel is thoroughly involved in the psyche of the underground man, he himself reflects a model to one of the possibilities of a psychological change an individual may go through as a result of revolutionary cultural changes in society. Dostoevsky’s notion of the underground man became an archetypal literary figure later on to describe this specific effect on an individual within an unstable society. In the depiction of the novel, the readers get involved with the narrator’s voice, as he addresses them most of the time, this involvement of the readers allow them to experience a variety of themes such as; isolation, excessive rationalization of thoughts, suffering, and human nature.
The novel is structured in two sections. The first deals with the psyche of the mature
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On one hand, one cannot really identify it as loneliness forced on the narrator by the society, due to the rejection and shame he hurtfully felt, by repeatedly mentioning the incident of Zverkov’s party. On the other hand however, it does seem at many times that it is this kind of a chosen solitude, as he thinks of himself as of a superior intelligence and consciousness that he finds it too difficult to live with the rest of society. Despite such isolation, he discusses how beneficial it is for him. In his isolation he is detached from, and is able to observe and criticize society clearly, which satisfies his ego by defining himself intelligent. He is then torn between the need for having friends, while in the same time he loves his solitude for the benefits it offers