Notes From Underground

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Kevin Martin

DJ Dipaola

Steve Karpinski

Dostoevsky's novel, Notes From Underground, identifies many personal themes through the character of the "Underground Man". This character fights many battles against himself and the other characters in the book. This Wiki will take a closer look at the Underground Man's personal battle with an officer, a perfect example of our class theme, The Other Within.

The Other Within

  In Part II, Chapter 1 of the novel, the Underground Man is walking around town when he sees a man get thrown out of a tavern for fighting. Desiring a fight of his own, the Underground Man goes into the tavern himself. However, his efforts turn useless when he is leisurely moved aside by an officer. The Underground Man takes great offense to this seemingly insignificant act. He believes his honor was torn, but instead of challenging the officer physically at that moment, he takes on a personal obsession to gain revenge. While this may seem like a battle solely with the officer, the Underground Man is actually fighting a raging battle within himself. After surreptitiously gaining background information about the officer over the course of the next few years, the Underground Man feels the need to confront the officer to regain his honor. His soulution to this problem is simple. Both he and the officer enjoy taking walks in a nearby park, during these walks, the Underground Man always moves aside for the officer to pass. As the Underground Man says as he is thinking this over to himself, "Why must you invariably be the first to move aside? Why is it you and not he? There's no regulation about it; there's no written law. Let making way be equal as it usually is when refined people meet: he moves half-way and you move half-way; you pass with mutual respect" (Dostoevsky). After some time, the Underground Man finally gets the courage to not move way while passing the officer. After years of battling himself over this seemingly petty issue, he finally acts. All his preperation is diminished the day he takes action. He does bump into the officer while walking past, but the officer doesn't seem to notice. The Underground Man finally believes he has made himself equal to the officer, but the officer once again doesnt acknowledge him.

   The theme "The other within" shows a lot about the Underground Man.  He is greatly affected by not being noticed by the officer, and takes years to work up the courage to stand up to him.  Without his constant battles with himself, the Underground Man would play a completely different role in this book.