Character Analysis of Underground Man - Essay Example

Character Analysis of Underground Man This essay intends to portray the multiple dimension of the anonymous protagonist of the novel, “Notes from Underground”. Through the character portrayal of the Underground Man, this essay shall also throw some insights on the motif of the anonymous narrator of the novel, acclaimed by the critics as Underground Man. Underground Man is a civil servant who has settled in St. Petersburg after his superannuation and his notes from the personal diary presented in the monologue form constitute the first part of the novella.

The second part of the novel, presents certain events which indicate the destruction of the Underground Man at places and at some other factions, the narration also indicates the renewal of the anonymous protagonist. The first part of the novel launches a scathing attack on the evolving Western Philosophy of the time and sets its trigger on the book “What is to Be Done?” by Nikolay Chernyshevsky particularly. From all these information, it becomes quite evident that the unknown protagonist of the novel, Underground Man holds a very central position in the text and by tracing the character evolution and development of the Underground Man in the novel, multiple themes and issues subverted within the plot of the novel will surface out more precisely.

At the same time, Dostoevsky is a gem of psychoanalysis, and his skill in this domain will again evolve out if the character of Underground Man is studied from the close contours. . cter Portrayal of Underground Man and His Motif To comprehend the character of the Underground Man, it is quintessential at first to know the trends of the author in terms of portraying characters and framing any kind of analysis pertaining to it. Louis Berger, in his book “Dostoevsky: The Author as Psychoanalyst” refers to Ander Gide at the beginning of the essay contained in the book very rightfully.

Andre Gide comments, “The true artist is never but half-conscious of himself when creating. He does not know exactly who he is. He learns to know himself only through his creation, in it, and after it. Dostoevsky never set out to find himself; he gave himself without stint in his works. He lost himself in each of the characters of his books, and, for this reason, it is in them that he can be found again” (Breger 4). These lines are very relative when one tries to draw a very close introspection into the character of Underground Man.

It is very definitive, that the hues of Dostoevsky’s character gets reflected in the character of Underground Man but the representation of those facets appear within the text, “Notes from Underground” under a different light. Dostoevsky’s representation of the Underground Man as a fictional individual character actually represents a class which according to the author must exist in our society if the process of formation of the social structure is taken into consideration. Underground Man appears in the text completely isolated from the society, his consciousness and intelligence appears much more efficient than ordinary men of his society.

However, he is skeptic about his actions which makes him indecisive at times. He considers himself as more intelligent than the other men in the society who are more active and