The work "Notes from the Underground" was written by Dostoevsky in 1864. The author of the notes is the hero of the underground.
The main character of the work
This is a college assessor who recently resigned after receiving a small inheritance. The hero of the work "Notes from the Underground" is 40 years old. He lives on the edge of St. Petersburg, in a "crappy" room. This hero is psychologically underground: almost always he is alone, indulges in “daydreaming”, the images and motives of which were taken from books. The nameless hero, in addition, explores his own soul and consciousness, while showing courage and an extraordinary mind. The purpose of such a confession is to find out whether one can be completely frank even with oneself, without being afraid of the truth.
The philosophy of the protagonist
The hero believes that in the 60s of the 19th century, an intelligent person is simply doomed to be "spineless." The destiny of limited, stupid people is a different activity that is considered the norm, while enhanced consciousness is seen as a disease. The mind forces the protagonist to rebel against the laws of nature discovered by modern science. Their "stone wall" is "certainty" only for a "dumb" person. The hero of the underground disagrees with obviousness. He feels a "guilty feeling" for the fact that the world order is imperfect, and this causes him suffering. Science is lying that only a person can be reduced to reason, "according to the tablet is calculated." The “manifestation of all life” is “desire.” He defends, contrary to all "scientific" conclusions about human welfare and human nature, the right to add "vulgar stupidity" to "positive prudence" in order to prove to himself that people are not "piano keys" on which the laws of nature play themselves.
The hero, who wrote notes from the underground, yearns for the ideal capable of satisfying his "breadth". This is not a career, not a pleasure, not even the “crystal palace” that the socialists are building, since it takes away from the person the main thing - his own will. The hero protests against the identification of knowledge and goodness, an unquestioned belief in the progress of civilization and science. Civilization in us "does not soften anything", but only develops, in his opinion, "the versatility of sensations", therefore, pleasure is sought both in humiliation and in the blood of others ... In human nature, according to the protagonist, it’s not only a need happiness, prosperity, order, but also suffering, destruction, chaos. The "Crystal Palace", rejecting these negative aspects, as an ideal is untenable, as it deprives freedom of choice. That’s why "conscious inertia", the modern "chicken coop", underground are better.
The life of a hero when he served in the office
However, it happened that longing actually drove from the corner. The hero, who wrote notes from the underground, described in detail one of these attempts. He still served at the age of 24 in the office and despised and hated being terribly “touchy”, “suspicious” and “selfish”, his colleagues, but at the same time he was afraid of them. The hero considered himself a "slave" and a "coward", like any "decent" and "developed" person. With intensive reading, he replaced communication with people, and at night in "dark places" he "licked".
Tavern episode
Watching a game of billiards, he accidentally blocked one officer in the tavern once in the tavern. Strong and tall, he silently moved the "emaciated" and "low" hero to another place. Then he wanted to start a "literary", "right" quarrel, but he only "embarrassed himself", fearing that he would not be taken seriously. The hero after this episode dreamed of revenge for several years, tried many times when meeting on Nevsky not to turn off the first. When in the end they collided with their shoulders, the officer did not even pay attention to it, but the hero of the work was delighted, because he did not give up a single step, maintaining dignity, and placed himself publicly on an equal social footing with the officer. All these observations of the hero for himself are described in the work by its author, Dostoevsky F.
Underground Notes: Lunch with Former Classmates
Occasionally, the underground man felt the need of society, which was met only by a few acquaintances: Simonov, a former school friend, and Setochkin, the headmaster. During a visit to Simonov, he learns that a dinner is being prepared in honor of a fellow practitioner and is “part of” the rest. “Underground” fears long before this dinner of fear of possible humiliation and insults, since reality does not obey the laws of literature and it is unlikely that real people will fulfill the roles prescribed by him in the imagination of one dreamer: they can, for example, recognize and love the protagonist for his mental superiority. He is trying to insult and offend his comrades at dinner. Those just stop noticing him in response. To the other extreme flows underground - public self-abasement. Then the companions go to the brothel without him. For "literature" he is now obliged to avenge these people for the shame suffered, so he goes for everyone. However, they had already gone to their rooms. The hero is offered to Lisa.
The episode in the brothel
Further, Dostoevsky (Notes from the Underground) describes the following events. After "debauchery", "rude and shameless", the hero talks to the girl. She is 20. She has recently been in St. Petersburg, and she herself is a philistine from Riga. He decides, having guessed the sensitivity in the girl, to recoup on her: he paints pictures of the future prostitute, after which - family happiness, inaccessible to her. The effect is achieved: the girl disgusts her life with cries and sobs. "Savior", leaving, leaves her his address. However, through “literature” shame breaks through him for “cheating” and pity for Lisa. He is very fond of conducting the main character of the work "Notes from the Underground" analyzing his own actions.
Lisa comes to the hero
The girl comes in 3 days. The hero whom Dostoevsky describes (Notes from the Underground) is "disgustingly embarrassed." He reveals to her cynically the motives of his behavior, but he unexpectedly meets sympathy and love on her part. He is moved, admitting that he cannot be kind. However, soon ashamed of weakness, he takes revenge on Liza and sticks her 5 rubles in her hand for complete triumph. The girl, leaving, leaves unnoticed money.
The finale of the work
The hero admits that he wrote his memories with shame. However, he only took to extremes what the rest did not dare to bring to half. The hero was able to abandon the goals of society, which seemed to him vulgar, but the underground is also a "moral corruption." "Living life", deep relationships with other people inspire fear in him. Thus ends the work "Notes from the Underground", a brief outline of which we have described.
After reading this story today, no one will be indifferent. However, immediately after the publication of “Notes from the Underground” in 1864, there were very few reviews, although representatives of the revolutionary democratic camp immediately became interested in them. The only direct response to the work was a parody of Shchedrin, who included the Swifts pamphlet in his review under the title Literary Trivia. In it, ridiculing the participants of the Epoch magazine in satirical form, he portrayed under the guise of the fourth swift “Dostoevsky the dull fiction”. The critics' interest aroused in this story already after the novel Crime and Punishment was published, that is, two years later. It developed a lot of what was outlined in the Notes.