The Masterful Frustration of the Underground Man

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground is a difficult book to enjoy. Much of the challenge in reading the text has little to do with the narrative itself and more to do with the frustrating narrator, who from the very beginning establishes himself as unreliable at best and outright deceitful at worst. Yet, Notes from the Underground is still masterfully created not merely in spite of the narrator’s defects but because of them. Dostoevsky intentionally produces a frustrating character by making him lack decisiveness and act manipulatively; he creates the Underground Man in this way to expose the moral consequences of a society focused dually on individualism and idealism.

Before examining the Underground Man’s frustrating tendencies, it is seminal to first look at the reasons why Dostoevsky created him in such a way. The Underground Man is, in every regard, a product of the world around him. He lives in the 1800s where the working class living standards were brutal and people worked just to get by. With the standard of living so low, the Romantic Movement, a movement characterized by both increasing individualism and idealism, became popular. Dostoevsky uses the Underground Man to highlight how such idealism amidst a harsher reality, coupled with the selfishness of individualistic thinking, is detrimental to both the individual and society at large. Through the Underground Man’s frustrating qualities, Dostoevsky is able to artfully draw attention to the natural consequences of the subjectivity and idealism of Romantic-era living.

The first way that the Underground Man is frustrating in a way that accentuates the problems of his society is in his inability to act decisively. In Section One of Notes from the Underground, the narrator reflects on many of the events in his life from the perspective gained over twenty years passed; the first section is filled with examples of how the Underground Man tried and failed to act. One example of this severe lack of action comes from a scenario where he reflects on his former wishes, and he continues using the phrases “I’ll” and “I’d” which show the desires of the Underground Man to act with the implication that he never committed to actualizing those wishes (20). The narrator says, “I’ll demand to be respected, I’ll persecute whoever does not show me respect,” but then goes on to acknowledge that he is a peaceful man which would render him unable to make such demands (20). In the following statement, he states, “I’d grow myself such a belly then, I’d fashion such a triple chin for myself, I’d fix myself up such a ruby nose,” again showing his desire to act in ways he did not (20). In another instance, he chronicles an interaction with someone speaking about the day’s scientific advancements and the possibility that science could one day calculate the wants of the human mind. The Underground Man describes how he wanted to speak up on the subject but “backed off,” exemplifying his inability to be decisive– especially in social situations (26). The Underground Man continually concocts idealized scenarios in which he acts in specific ways when, in reality, he does not ever take action at all. 

The Underground Man’s inability to act in the previously mentioned instances is characteristic of the extreme side of the Romantic era that Dostoevsky is warning against by making the Underground Man less than likable. The inaction seen in the narrator’s character fits in line with the beliefs of the Romantic period in that it is indicative of the idealization and selfishness of the period. Dostoevsky illustrates through the Underground Man the fact that holding idealized notions of the world is dangerous. He expertly shows the ramifications of making inaction seem preferable to actions that may fail to meet the conjured ideal.

Another reason the Underground Man is a frustrating character is his manipulative streak. In Section Two, the reader follows the story of the Underground Man as his younger self when he meets Liza for the first time, and it is during his encounters with her that his manipulative nature becomes apparent. Amidst this section, the narrator of Notes from the Underground meets with a prostitute named Liza. Immediately in their interactions, it is clear that he revels in the power imbalance between himself and Liza due to her line of work. From there, he only continues to take pleasure in their inequality by manipulating her into having feelings for him. When the Underground Man asks Liza if the path she is on is a good one and she responds that she thinks nothing of it, he tells her that it is possible to get out if she chooses to do so and that she “could find love, marry, [and] be happy;” his words introduce the topic of love that places her in a vulnerable position (92). With the topic of love put forward, he continues to manipulate her vulnerabilities in his favor by contrasting his idealized views of love and family with the harsh realities that she had experienced to that point, so much so that he describes the kind of love he could give her “if [she] were in a good place, living as good people live” (99). In his talk of love, he addresses her low situation as the hindrance for her to have an ideal form of love– a love that even he can not attain in reality.

The skewed form of love that the Underground Man taunts Liza with as a manipulation tool reflects the romanticized perception of life and love that the narrator subscribes to. Dostoevsky masterfully uses the character’s manipulative behavior as a tool to show the negative consequences of an overly-idealized world. When individuals and societies embrace a mindset that focuses on individualism and simultaneously emphasizes idealistic versions of reality, a dangerous overlap can form, like seen in the Underground man as he uses his skewed understanding of love to perpetuate a power imbalance between himself and another he views as inferior. 

    By creating a character who is idealistic and inwardly focused enough to manipulate others and not act decisively, Dostoevsky effectively creates a story that is more than meets the eye. Dostoevsky’s Notes From the Underground provides elements of societal commentary amidst a narrative centered around a frustrating man where both layers of the story work together to create a poignant glimpse into the effects of over-idealization in an individualized world. With his still-sharp commentary, Dostoevsky’s work stirs the reader, not only to frustration, but to an introspection of how the ideals of a society can hinder them in the same way as the Underground Man.