I have just finished reading the first part of Notes From Underground (by Foyodor Dostoevsky, translated by Ralph Matlaw). Suffice to say, probably one of the most challenging books I've read ever!
Consequently for this blog post, I will attempt at deciphering the Underground Man's(that is what I shall call the narrator) thoughts.
In an effort to understand the novel, I read the Wikipedia page. I know, I know, Wikipedia is not a credible source...blah blah blah. However, the page does provide an elaborate(and quite correct) summary of the first part of the novel.
Wikipedia, to explain the first part of the novel, splits it up into 5 categories: (1) An introduction, where the Underground Man sets up riddles and metaphors whose meanings will be developed further throughout the first part. (2) In chapters two, three and four, the Underground Man talks about man's suffering and the enjoyment of suffering. (3) Then the Underground Man moves into talking about conscious laziness in chapters five and six. (4) Next the Underground Man proposes his theories of reason, logic and rational thinking in chapters seven through nine. (5) The last two chapters(ten and eleven) are a summary and a transition into Part 2.
Densely packed with information! Only 40 pages and my mind is nowhere to be seen!
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| The Underground Man, "I am a sick man...I am a spiteful man. I am an unpleasant man."(1) |
The first sub-part (1), is probably the most entertaining. He starts by saying he hates seeing doctors, but respects them, and how he has liver disease. What a character. Then he talks about how his age(he's only 40!) is he largest contributing factor to his spiteful manner. The Underground Man then talks about his time as a civil servant. Not to mention he hated it! His contradictory personality makes me chuckle. It's like he is a four year old stuck in a grouchy 40 year old's body.
In the next sub-part (2), we start to discover why the Underground Man is cantankerous and spiteful. He talks about suffering and consciousness. Two topics that I thought were quite different, but apparently are quite connected according to the Underground Man. He states that he is overly conscious, which is bad, and narrow minded people are ideal. His over-consciousness makes him unable to act and lazy.
He moves on to talk about a toothache and the positive aspects of suffering through the toothache. The people that are narrow minded with the appropriate amount of consciousness, will enjoy the suffering because they can moan to others to create awareness of their toothache. The Underground Man's reasoning is very confusing, so much so, that rereading it can cause even more confusion.
Sub-Part (3), continues to comment on his laziness and consciousness. One important part from this sub-part, is when he says he is "an intelligent man only because all my life I have been able neither to begin nor to finish anything"(17). My question to you, is how can you be remotely intelligent if you haven't really accomplished anything in your life??
The next part (4), the Underground Man talks about logic and rational thinking of man. He really is keen on the idea that rational thinking is best. He also believes that man relys on order, even though he says that logic cannot explain the actions of man. I do not understand how the Underground Man can promote reason and logic, when his thoughts are codices that have yet to be thoroughly deciphered.
The last part(FINALLY-- am I right??) summarizes the first part in attempt to set up the Apropos of Wet (AKA part two). The Underground Man admits that the last chapters might have been just babble. Nevertheless, he justifies the rambling by stating that he has been underground for 40 years, simply thinking and he wants his thoughts on paper. To set up the "Apropos of Wet" the Underground Man tells us that lately he has been remembering memories that he wants out of his mind, on paper. Honestly, I do not know why he wants to tells us about his life, other than the therapeutic aspect for himself.
If you are like me and wondering whether the Underground Man actually proofread his thoughts before publishing them and/or if you are at all confused during this post, feel free to comment(nicely!). I really hope that the next part of the novel will be better!
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| Mind the spelling error -- Dostoevsky* |
Hi Rachael,
ReplyDeleteWow ! Your post was awesome ! I love how you walked though everything, from his first opinion to the last. I was very impressed by how you noticed every detail of his "evolution of thought". I enjoyed how you added your opinion, and I totally agree with you, he is like a four year old !! I also thought that it was such a great addition when you said why is he telling us all of this, and its more like therapy for him. One point, just to consider, go feelings! What I mean is possibly add a small point just giving your honest feeling of this man, story, etc. You already touched based on that, but I just was wondering what else were you thinking. Thanks for the amazing step by step proof why this man is certainly underground !! Keep it up !!
Claire
Hey Rachael!
ReplyDeleteSo I thought your post was really interesting because I have not yet seen the chapters of the first part of the novel so clearly and simply divided. There's so much rambling and distracted thoughts in the first section of the book that it's really helpful to break it down in the manner that you described, so thanks! I thought it was so funny how you said, "Only 40 pages and my mind is nowhere to be seen!" I feel like that sentence alone perfectly summarizes how all readers react to chapters 1-11, which is with confusion since its so difficult to make connections and establish facts from the speaker's notes. I also love how you analyzed the potential reasoning for the Underground Man's notes in the first place, saying "I do not know why he wants to tell us about his life, other than the therapeutic aspect for himself." I hadn't thought about it before, but it's true that the only reasonable explanation for his notes, since he doesn't intend for anyone to read them, is purely self-expression. Nice post!