Letters from the Underworld - Dostoevsky
"Notes from the Underground", also known as "Letters from the Underworld" (1864) is one of Dostoevsky's short novels. Many regard it as one of the world's very first existentialist novel, under the form of the memoirs of an anonymous, bitter, lonely narrator ("the Underground Man"), a civil servant who's retired and who resides in St. Petersburg.
One of the major issues of this novel is that of determinism. In fact, Dostoevsky tackles this subject in many more of his works. For instance, in his novel "The Demons", he gives an argument of free will against this determinism by Kirillov's suicide. In "Notes from Underground" Dostoevsky moves from the sociological and psychological themes that are so frequent in his novels, to some more human and existential themes.
The actual and proper story is presented in the second part of the novel. It is made of three main elements, which lead to an extension of the main character's super-consciousness. The first of these elements is his obsessive preoccupation with an officer who actually moves him out of his way, as if he had been nothing but a piece of furniture, while he is playing pool in a bar. When he meets the same officer on the street and wants to take revenge, the best thing he can think of is to bump into him, and thus he realizes the officer is completely unaware of what has happened, or why, and doesn't remember the bar incident.
Then the second element is the dinner party some of his old school buddies throw. The Underground Man hated them in his youth, but finally decides to visit them at the location they mentioned. And they forget to announce him of the change in hour, so he seems to arrive too early to the party. Upon this occasion, he starts an argument, in which he declares his hostility towards society in general, symbolized by the four friends. At the end of the party, they decide to go to some secret brothel without him, but he follows them to confront them. He gets there too late, for they had already left, but he meets a young prostitute named Liza.
After he finishes his "business" with Liza, and they sit silently for a while, they start up a discussion. The Underground Man tries to convince Liza that her future would not be too bright, after she gets old and undesirable to men. She will turn useless and insignificant, until her death. The thought of ending her life in such a shameful and disgraceful manner makes Liza realize her humiliating position and state. The Underground Man also speaks to her about society and its many faults and deficiencies.
After that he gives Liza his address and departs. This brings about another fear in his mind, that of Liza's arrival at his dilapidated flat. While he has an argument with his servant, in fact, the prostitute comes only to be cursed. He takes back all his nice words, and tells her he wanted only to make fun of her and her pathetic and miserable position. After his raged outburst, he bursts out in tears admitting he wanted to undermine and humiliate her, to feel that he has authority and power over her. He thus beings a harsh critique of his own state of both material, and spiritual poverty. Realizing that the man's pitiful state, Liza hugs him, and the Underground Man cries: "They - they won't let me - I - I can't be good!"
The major psychological issue the Underground Man has is his inability to out pass his condition. Although he deeply hates society and everything it implies, with all its falseness, hypocrisies, cheap values and so on, he feels practically unable to act better than what he hates and break this vicious circle.
As Dostoevsky himself says, "The author of the diary and the diary itself are, of course, imaginary. Nevertheless it is clear that such persons as the writer of these notes not only may, but positively must, exist in our society, when we consider the circumstances in the midst of which our society is formed. I have tried to expose to the view of the public more distinctly than is commonly done, one of the characters of the recent past. He is one of the representatives of a generation still living."
