Comparing the Notes from Underground, and The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Research Paper Example

? World Literature s from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky and the Death of Ivan Ilyich arethe two novels that are based on the philosophical notion of existentialism. Existentialism is a philosophical thought that looks to explain the non-existence of a human-being in the real world. The terminology describes a state of an affair where a human being might be present with their mind and body, but refuses to reconcile by disconnecting themselves from the society. They struggle to live in harmony with other beings and creatures at their entourage and see the universe as an object that has failed to recognize them. Notes from Underground and the Death of Ivan Ilyich show a similar kind of struggles with the main characters involved who completely fail to comprehend themselves and things at their surroundings. The novel Notes from Underground begins with the line “I am a man who is sick. I am unattractive and ill. I think I have a disease, but have no clue what the disease is about” (Dostoyevsky 3). This sentence soon establishes that the underground man, the narrator of the novel, seems confused about himself. He calls himself sick and unattractive. He believes that he has an illness, but he is unsure about it. According to Solomon, existentialism starts when a person shows signs that s/he is confused about themselves and the things around them. They may feel that they lack or contain some qualities that are not common for other beings, but fail to identify them. Solomon uses the word ‘quality’ to describe other ‘feelings’ that a person may have about themselves like the narrator keeps to the belief that he is sick. The underground man may or may not be sick, but because he thinks he is and does not know the cause for his sickness that makes him a victim of existentialism (Solomon 23). The underground man believes that he is ill, though he refuses to seek help from a doctor. He says, “I have respect for medicine, but I refuse to see a doctor from spite. My knowledge is better than most people, but I will only hurt myself from not consulting a doctor” (Dostoyevsky 3). Flynn believes that ego defines the thought of existentialism. Ego creates a barrier between a person and the outside world. He gets superstitious about things closer to his environment. His ego does not allow him to communicate with the society as he feels he is superior to other people out there (Flynn 57). This is exactly the case with the underground man. He knows that not going to the doctor will bring him great harm and aggravate his situation, but his ego does not permit him to seek an outside help. This ego is of utmost importance to him, and he is willing to further damage himself rather than compromise and visit a doctor (Flynn 57). The underground man says, “I was a civil servant and worked for the government until a relative died who left me inheritance. I, then, retired from my job and since then have been living underground” (Dostoyevsky 7). The following statement suggests that the underground man has been living in isolation since he inherited money from his dead relative. Tanzer describes Jean Paul Sartre’s view of people who live in isolation. Sartre believed that people who fail to reconcile with the realities of life often hide themselves within their closed heart. They do not accept the norms of the society as they believe that the society has not accepted them. These are people who have lost hope in other human beings, the society they live in, and even the government. They have mixed emotions and act differently and radically. Sartre believed that they have trouble defining themselves (Tanzer 39). The underground man says, “I did not know who and how to become what. I did not know how to become a rascal or an honest individual neither did I know how to become an insect or a hero” (Dostoyevsky 8). The underground man adds the proof to Sartre’s theory of isolation. He has moved so far away from the world, that he no more realizes what role he needs to play. He is unable to define his existence in the world. All that the underground man does is that he falsely convinces himself “an intelligent man cannot just become anything. It takes as a fool to believe that he could be anything.” (Dostoyevsky 11). The underground man quotes, “To be conscious is to suffer from an ongoing pain.” (Dostoyevsky 34). This clearly establishes the fact that the underground man is suffering from his present state of mind. His thoughts are causing him pain and his conscious state of mind is bringing him suffering. Sartre looks for an answer to this conscious state of suffering in his book “Existentialism and Human Emotions”. Sartre explains that if a person develops anguish (severe mental suffering), then he or she finds it very hard to avoid or run away from it. These mental suffering controls much of the mind and makes every ordeal painful (Sartre 64). The underground man describes the same kind of suffering, but he adds, “Enjoyment comes in the form of hopelessness especially when one is aware of the kind of hopeless situation he is in” (Dostoyevsky 37). Sartre states that when people fail to belong to a society, they submit themselves to a state of withdrawal. In such a case, they feel a sense of belonging from the withdrawal they made from the society (Sartre 79). In one part of the novel when the narrator wakes up with a prostitute he says to her, “Love is everything. It is a priceless piece of jewellery that man can give anything, even his life, to acquire” (Dostoyevsky 33). As he tells these lines to the young girl, the readers for the first time see a more human side of the narrator. The readers are left confused and forced to think if the narrator is making an effort to come in terms with the society. If he is preaching about love, then he surely believes in existence and belonging. But the narrator quickly rebuffs this notion when the girl later walks in his home. He says to the young girl, “I do not believe in love. To me it means nothing and I am capable of nothing else other than causing cruelty” (Dostoyevsky 34). The statement further establishes the dimensions of the world the narrator lives in where he does not let his wisdom surpass his ego (Solomon 24). Notes from Underground highlights the struggle of a man who fails to live in the world with human beings. This problem arises mainly because of his ego that always gets on his way. His strong ego not only restricts him from coming to terms with other people, but also restricts others to come in terms with him. The underground man is a confused person who does not know how to react with people. This is especially true the way he acts with the prostitute. He feels sorry for her and then he feels angry. He wants to sleep with her and the very next moment he wants her out of the house (Dostoyevsky 34). The Death of Ivan Ilych shows a man, Ivan Ilych himself, in pain and agony who has isolated himself from the rest of his family because he thinks they all have put pretence. The plot of Notes from Underground and The Death of Ivan Ilych follows the same direction - a man living in isolation, but the nature of the characters is very distinct. Ivan Ilych is shown as a man with a very good past, especially in his childhood days. The book recalls the childhood days - “he was not as cold as his elder brother nor was he as wild as his younger one. He was an intelligent and a happy child.” (Tolstoy 17). Furthermore Ivan led a happy life until one day his promotion was interrupted. This made him a little agitated, and the narrator says that is where the trouble started from. The narrator is trying to elucidate that Ivan’s problematic life started with minor problems that accumulated and led to a much larger one. Kahn in his book “Psychoanalytic Thought for the Twenty First Century” explains these phenomena. He believes that according to Freud, little problems are accumulated in the unconscious mind and develop into a larger problem with time. If little problems are left unsolved it does not mean that they vanish, but they are pushed to a part of the brain where humans have no control or lack of knowledge about. This is exactly what happened with Ivan. The narrator points out that first he used to have usual verbal fights with his wife. Then the couple produced children and more fight took place. Ivan was also denied his promotion. Later he also developed a disease in his kidney. All these combined could have caused him stress that made him feel isolated. According to Kahn, once a person overburdens with problems s/he feels depressed and automatically moves away from the society (Kahn 15). Unlike the underground man, Ivan is not confused. He alienates himself from the society because he feels that no one is loyal to him. He feels that everyone has put on a masquerade and is trying to deceive him in thinking that he will be fine one day when he knows that he will not. This is evident when he asks his doctor, “Will I recover from my illness?” (Tolstoy 21). To his surprise, the doctor said, “There is a high probability you will” (Tolstoy 21). These were some of the things that made Ivan dubious and angry. He wanted straight forward answers so that he could move on with his life, but he was not able to get honest opinions and answers from anyone. That makes him frustrated and turn his back on everyone as the book mentions Ivan’s thought, “All I seek are honest answers and not comforting ones” (Tolstoy 25). Ivan tries to seek the help of a doctor unlike the underground man. In his book “Psychological Testing” Domino explains the type of individuals like Ivan. Domino says that a person may develop a ‘dubious personality’ when he feels everyone around him is trying to sympathise. Domino believes that such people are always contradicting to what others say or feel either about them or their belongings like kids, house, car etc. This is what exactly happens with Ivan. He does not face any ego issues like the underground man, but rather he feels dubious of everyone around him. Domino stresses that this is not a disease or a syndrome, rather a complex situation one feels obliged to believe (Domino 76). So Ivan felt incomplete not because of his ego that restricted him from making a contact with other people, but because he felt that other people around him did not take him seriously. He thought that his wife did not care whether he lived or die. She was just pretending that she cared for him. Ade in his book “Wisdom Untold” speaks about people who get agitated with other people who act fake and with dishonesty. Ade believes that there are victims who get caught up with such a fake behavior. Some take it lightly and ignore while the rest take it more seriously down to their systems. Ivan is shown as a man who gets paranoid with time. Severe pain makes him more rigid in nature. Ade says that there are small troubles in life that can cause more pain than a major problem. Firstly, Ivan was a victim of people who adopted a fake attitude towards him. At least that is what Ivan thought. Secondly, all the problems that came in Ivan’s life, as narrated by the author, were in bits and pieces. He worried less about his life rather than people who were acting strange in front of him. Throughout the book, Ivan is shown as a man whose only wish has been to see people close to him accept the fact that he is ill and will die soon. Because they could not accept this fact, Ivan made up his mind that they were not like the people he once thought they were and it was best to be in the distance with them (Ade 23). Lines from the book when “Praskovya kisses him and wishes him good health” (Tolstoy 44) and “As if she really thinks that I will recover from my illness” (Tolstoy 49) show Ivan gets angry at his wife. He thinks it is all pretence and it only adds more to his suspicion that his wife feels sorry for him when she does not care (Tolstoy 49). Both the novel and the short story show two individuals struggling at various places in their lives. The similar thing between them is that they both found themselves isolated and found comfort away from people and natural things. The uncommon thing between the two of them is that they both had different experiences in life that added to their alienation from their society. The underground man forced alienation to himself by purposely opting to stay away from other beings. He failed to understand the universe and the demands of people. His ego always got between him and the people around him. In conclusion, his ego did not allow him to effectively communicate and achieve an agreement with anyone. This was not the case with Ivan. He was a much loved person and was also thought to be social. The problem emerged in the form of various small problems that made him hysterical in the end. He did not force himself into isolation, but thought that people were not honest with him. Works Cited Ade, Sam. Wisdom Untold. New York: Xlibris Corporation, 2011. Print. Domino, George. Psychological Testing: An Introduction. London: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Print. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Notes from Underground. New York: Kiddy Monster Publication, 2013. Print. Flynn, Thomas. Existentialism. Toronto: Sterling Publishing Company, 2009. Print. Kahn, Michael. Basic Freud: Psychoanalytic Thought for the Twenty First Century. New York: Basic Books, 2002. Print. Sartre, Jean-Paul. Existentialism and Human Emotions. London: Philosophical Library, 2012. Print. Solomon, Robert C. Existentialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print. Tanzer, Mark. On Existentialism. Belmont: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print. Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilych. New York: Melville House, 2011. Print. Read More

 

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