Social Commentary In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes From The Underground

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Notes from the underground has captured audiences for centuries. It's self-contradictory nature and social commentary within has sparked numerous analysis within academia concerning varying parts that these two elements touch. The underground man’s self-loathing combined with a superiority complex creates a narrator and protagonist that confuses the reader. We know not whether to feel pity or loathing for the man who seeks to display his own perceived superiority over others at one moment, and then goes on to attempt to regain this feeling of superiority by verbally attacking a prostitute. Surely this literary figure has such a plethora varying, conflicting elements that have sparked such a variety of academic scholarly