.-.

, " /'"

ove and the

Underground
Man
Introduction
Kevin R. Kosar
Department of Politics Of all Dostoevski s innovative works , perhaps none is more novel
New York University more peculiar than his Notes From the Underground. Written in the
first person but directed toward an audience , Notes appears to crash
about , with the narrator shifting restlessly from viewpoint to viewpoint
and mood to mood. Despite this erratic movement , once a reader
has proceeded three- quarters of the way through the novel , he might
grow used to the wild gyrations. Until , that is, the narrator delivers
his love speech.
The love speech is indubitably the most peculiar portion of this
peculiar novel. It leaves the reader astounded and in a state of
wonder. How could the narrator, a noxious , little lunatic and self-
described " mouse " and " scoundrel" speak such beautiful words?
Why does he all but offer to marry this prostitute only to renege on
these words and then revert to his cruel former self?
Unraveling this puzzle is the object of this essay. To do this
obviously, the speech must be put within the context of the novel as a
whole. And so the paper shall proceed thus: Section 1 will be
devoted to answering the question Who is the Underground Man
and what is his sickness?" . Section 2 describes three possible ' cures
for what ills the narrator. Section 3 will reveal the raison d' dtre of the

love speech; and Section 4 will explain why the Underground Man
(or narrator) disavows his love speech shortly after delivering it.

Section1:- The UndergrouncfNlan:"" Wl1o? Wh-at?

And I gave my heart to know wisdom , and to know madness and

folly: I perceived that this is also vexation of the spirit. For in much
wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth
sorrow.
Ecclesiastes I.- /7-
 , " ./'

Bard

I am a sick man... 1 am a spiteful man. the mechanistic worldview was taking hold
begins Notes From the Underground. An odd among the Russian intelligentsia , appearing
introduction , for sure , but an accurate one. concretely in wildly popular works such as
For Notes is the story of a sick and unhappy Chernyshevsky s socialist-utilitarian tract , What
man. While the Underground Man is not any Is To Be Done?
particular man , he is not a figment of
Dostoevski s great imagination. Dostoevski t was the belief of men like Chernyshevsky
introductory note makes this clear: that man was a creature that sought his
own good , good being defined as that
The author of the diary and the diary itself which increases his pleasure or decreases his
are , of course , imaginary. Nevertheless it is pain. The organizing principle for society
clear that such persons as the writer of these was be the greatest good for the greatest
to

notes not only may but positively must , exist in number. And happiness was to be had when
our society, when we consider the midst of men reasoned properly, that is , when they
which our society is formed... He is a partook in a kind of " hedonistic calculus
representative of a generation still living. use a familiar utilitarian phrase. In sum
this fragment , entitled ' Underground' , this Chernyshevsky and the like were a crude
person introduces himself and his views , and cross between Thomas Hobbes and John
as it were , tries to explain the causes owing Stuart Mill , Benthamites of a sort.

to which he has made his appearance and

was bound to make his appearance in our This new philosophy horrified Dostoevski.
midst.1 Dostoevski was sufficiently perceptive

recognize that this new view was the

beginning of the end of the Enlightenment. As
Guignon puts it (t)he Enlightenment started
out from the ideal of realizing paradise on
II The simple point
earth through the discovery of objective truth.
being Ihot if it is Ihe low to undermine the
Yet this truth tended

of nolure Ihol all things have evaluative commitments that motivated the
a couse , Ihen how can there Enlightenment project in the first place. "3
be on " I" which
This truth was that of the Newtonian universe
does onything2 !J clockwork set in motion by God.
understand the workings of the universe one
The Underground Man , while not a common studied science , for the natural laws of motion
man , nonetheless embodies the geist of the were the invisible rulers of the phenomenal
age. As Charles Guignon aptly notes realm. Since man exists in this realm , the
Dostoevski s approach is to create characters reformers endeavored to use material
which embody specific worldviews " the aim explanations explain man s behavior.
to

being to show how such a viewpoint will Turning to Hobbes , the first of the materialists
pan out in action " and " whether or not the and their intellectual forbear, the building
form of life (embodied) is viable or not. blocks of their chilling worldview become
manifest:
This said , we need now examine what the
spirit of the times was. The notes are being The passions that incline men to peace , are

written in the 1860' , when the waves of fear of death (and) desire of such things as
positivism and rational egoism were rolling are necessary to a commodious living..
over Russia from the West. Slowly but surely

,I
Love and the Underground Man

I fOrty3
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Bard

Liberty, or freedom , signifieth , properly, the brute fact that a man is no more than an
absence of opposition; by opposition , I mean. organism which seeks pleasure and hopes to
external impediments of motion ovoid death , a creature impelled by natural
forces with no free will , no choice of its own.
And yet because every action of a man s y\;ill , the Un.Jerground Man goes underground
and every desire , and inclination proceedeth staying most of the day in his dark little
from some couse , and that from another; apartment , reading, writing his notes or sitting
couse , in a continual chain , whose first li~k is with his hands folded , concluding that no
the hand of God the first of all causes action is worth taking because every action is
proceed from necessity. So that to him that intrinsically worthless and thus no better than
could see the connexion of those causes , ire any other. " You know that the direct
necessity of all men s voluntary actions , wo\Jld legitimate fruit of consciousness is inertia , that
appear manifest? , conscious sitting with hands folded" says
the Underground Man to his readers; and
There are two types of voluntary motion lin
man. ) This endeavour, when it is toward \IAJII ' direct' persons and men of action are
something which causes it , is called APPETITE active just because they are stupid and limited
or DESIRE... And when the endeavour is lin re9soning ability) How to explain that? I

fromward something, it is generally called will tell YQu: in consequence of their limitation
AVERSION8 they toke imme~iate and secondary causes . . i

for primary ones:bndjf1 ~hat way persuade

(L)ife itself is but motion themselves more quickly ari-deaSilyln6n Other
people do that they have found an infallible
Indeed , Dostoevski hints that these reformers foundation for their activity. H Where are the
are Hobbes ' sire When the Underground primary causes on which I am to build my
Man states My life was even then , gloomy, foundations?"
ill- regulated , and as solitary as that of a

savage " he sounds much like Hobbes ' man in he simple point being that if it is the
a state of nature. '0 law of nature that all things have a
cause , then how can there be an "
In sum , the Underground Man tokes the which does anything? All is fate in such a
mechanistic worldview seriously, that is , he worldview, and hence all action is not only
tokes it to be truth and so feels obliged to live futile but also determined and unfree. Such
according to that truth' s ramifications. This the Underground Man s plight. He sits idly
truth holds that man is alone in the universe most of the days , going to work only because
either without a god or with one whom is no he needs to earn money to keep a roof over
more than on original couse. As such his head and food in his belly. Excepting
Dostoevski thinks , man would be little more time for sleep and dining, the rest of his time
than a billiard boll , on object like any other is spent railing against the ugly universe he
object , and one thats actions are controlled occupies:
by the laws of nature. None are his own- all
is cause and effect , cause and effect. How Upon my word , they (the utilitarian
con he have free will? And what of a soul? philosophers) will shout at you , it is no use
protesting: it is a case of twice two makes
One can hardly come to pleasant conclusions four! Nature does not ask your permission
about life when in the name of the she has nothing to do with your wishes , and
Enlightenment s values of progress for the sake whether you like her laws or dislike them , you
of happiness one discerns truth to be the ugly, are bound to accept her as she is , and

Conference. Autumn 199B

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Bard

consequently all her conclusions. A wall , you of nature!' the Underground Man seems to
see , is a wall.. .and so on , and so on. reason. For if you can assert your will , you
not only have broken free of nature s laws
And you ve proven that you are a man. In his
words
Oh absurdity of absurdities! How much it is
to understand all , to recognize all , all the (WJhat is a man without desires , without free
impossibilities and the stone wall. . brooding will and without choice , if not a stop in an
on tbe fact that there is no one even for you to organ?15
feel vindictive against , that you have not , and
perhaps never will have , an object for your And
spite.
(TJhere is one case , one only, when man may
Most perversed all is that the very faculty consciously, purposely desire what is injurious
which was long held to make man greater to himself , what is stupid , very stupid- simply
than animals and which was to offer him joy in order to have the right to desire for
through progress ,reason , has left man in the himself.. .for in any circumstances it preserves
worst of worlds. The man who reasons well for us what is most precious and most
(reasoning being understood as beginning important- that is- our personality, our
with certain settled facts and proceeding from individuality. "16
one consequence of these facts to another)
ends up worse off than the fool who fails to y behaving unreasonably or even self-
use his reason well , who fails to understand destructively one interjects irrationality
the harsh conclusion of science and its logic. in to life , thereby, perhaps , proving
As the teacher in Ecclesiastes says in much one s freedom and being. Thus , the
wisdom is much grief" . So what is to be Underground Man begins purposely behaving
done? in crazy ways. One night upon passing a
tavern where a brawl is occurring, he enters
--Se ction 2: Cures for HlsUIS? the bar, hoping he would get brutalized and
then thrown out the front window and in to the
What routes of escape are there for the street. Unfortunately for him , instead of being
Underground Man from this unlivable beaten senseless and thrown out a window
worldview? How can he find peace? To the scene unfolded thus:
become stupid like those " men of action ? To
forget what one knows? The Underground But nothing happened. It seemed that I was
Man has tried this: not equal to being thrown out a window and
I went away without having a fight. An
I want to tell you , gentlemen , whether you officer put me in my place from the first
care to hear it or not , why I could not become moment. I was standing near the billiard
an insect. I tell you solemnly, that I have table... blocking up the way, and he wanted
many times tried to become an insect. But I to pass; he took me by the shoulders and
was not even equal to that.la without a word- without warning or
explanation- moved me from where I was
The problem is , saving lobotomy, one cannot standing to another spot and passed by as
forget the truth. Once one stumbles upon the though he had not noticed me. I could have
horror of reality, one is stuck with it. Since forgiven blows , but I could not forgive his
one cannot forget , the next logical possibility having moved me without noticing me. "17
would be to prove your Hobbesian premises
wrong. ' Strike at what most ills you , the laws

Love and the Underground Man

 . "' ../

Bard

ere the narrator has failed utterly. He he let himself in to Simonov s apartment and
did not assert his will , as he sought. then tried to interrupt their conversation , the
Worse , this large silent force , much three refused to acknowledge his existence:
like the laws of nature , denied him his wants
moved him as though he were an object , and All of them took scarcely any notice of my
took no notice of his existence as a man. The entrance , which was strange , for I had not
Underground Man is so enraged by this met them for years. Evidently they looked
insult" that he stalks the officer for two years upon me as something on the level of
and plans to exact his vengeance by a fly. "IB
bumping in to the officer during his regular
ahernoon stroll. Why? Because he believes
Unlike his previous
that it will prove his freedom. To purposely
bump a man of rank is not only to break the
attempts to insult Zverkov and
rules of good manners , but also invites a friends , his assault on Liza " was
violent physical response. Such behavior is not merely sport". It was a violent
ostensibly unruly and not in one s self interest. first act of tyranny.
But this is just what the Underground Man
wants to defy, the contention that man is no
more than an upright ape that seeks to Not caring much for his unwanted presence
maximize pleasure and minimize pain. the three friends busily discussed a party they
were throwing the following day for another
Repeatedly he goes to the park and walks former classmate , Zverkov . During their talk
directly toward the officer, planning to run they declared aloud that with twenty- one
headlong in to him; but time and time again rubles total (3 men , seven rubles each) they
he steps aside at the last possible moment could throw Zverkov a fine party. This
and lets him pass unmolested , then leaving enraged the narrator because it showed that
the park for his dingy apartment , cursing they refused to notice that there was a fourth
himself for being again failing to assert man present , the Underground Man , who
himself. Eventually he does plow in to the might want to join them. Infuriated , the
officer, though he does not receive satisfaction narrator declared he would be join them and
because once again the officer refuses to that he would see them at the party the next
notice him. day, much to their displayed displeasure. His
actions say, ' So what if Zverkov is " stupid"
Unable to assert his will , the Underground Ferfitchkin a " blockhead" , and Trudolyubov a
man conceives of a second way to break free man who " was only capable of thinking of
from his meaningless life. He will cease to promotion lin the in the army)"!' Making
a stranger in his town and an isolated soul them like me " and winning them in to
and instead will force others to recognize him everlasting friendship " is my objective and I
as a man and perhaps even find salvation in will not be denied'
friendship. So once again the narrator
emerges from his home aher weeks of o matters only become worse. The
brooding and sets out to prove his Underground Man attends the party,
individuality. First he decides to visit the home where Zverkov and the others first
of a childhood schoolmate , Simonov. humiliate him by showing up at a tavern at
Unfortunately, Simonov has company, 6:00 instead of 5:00 as he did and as was
Ferfitchkin and Trudoiyubov , who also are previously agreed (when asked why the
former schoolmates of the Underground Man Underground Man wasn t informed of the
(and who happen to despise him). Though change of time for the party Simonov replied

Conference. Autumn 199B'

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Bard

I forgot" seeming once again to deny ' Unfortunately for himself and Liza , as will be
recognition of the narrator). They also ie ~ryd shown shortly, such delusions were only short-
at him , then ignored him , and then made hi'rp term fixes , imaginings which could not free
feel obliged to drink booze , something whic him from his deterministic world. His ever-
made him even more hysterical. 2O The party \ present reason and his brushes with the ugly
is a total failure for the narrator. Even when world denied romanticism any lasting
he tries to insult the others or pick a fight , he is \ salubrious effect. Such was evident to both
laughed at and demeaned. readers and himself when he stood outside
the tavern ,
aher the humiliating evening with
his route of redemption failing, the Zverkov and friends. He was alone , broke
Underground Man tries the most and in the cold night air:
pathetic cure of all: romanticism. How /

better to free oneself from the pains of life So this is it , this is it at last- contact with real
than self-delusion , than reconstructing one life.. . This is very different from the Pope
perceptions the awful world in to a beatific
of leaving Rome and going to BraziL.. "25
vision? Therefore ,
he " invented adventuf~s for
(himJself and made up a life , so at le9 s1 to Thus , he tried one last form of romanticism
live in some way "21 At other times, one last way out of the underground: romantic
contemplated art and " the go()d"-and the love.
beautiful" , a phrase used to-describe the
natural beauty that one c~eafTveIYperceivesTn---- SectfDn3:- LDVeSpeech
the..world, oWiliful ignoring of his Hobbesian

first principles Some hours aher the breakup of the Zverkov

party the Underground Man delivers the love
But I had a means of escape that reconciled speech to Liza , a twenty-year old prostitute he
everything- that was to find refuge in ' the had just bedded. In fact , the speech itself
good and the beautiful' , in dreams , of course. really is not a speech , nothing on the order
I was a terrible dreamer, I would dream for Pericles famed funeral oration or Lincoln
three months on end , tucked away in my Gettysburg Address. It is more like a brief
corner... "23 rambling, passionate lecture to this younger
girl from this learned older man , her first
Indeed , sometimes his denial of reality took customer. Aher describing in chilling detail
on psychotic proportions: of a prostitute , the
the horrors of the life

Underground Man warmly urges Liza to leave

I believed blindly at such times that by some the brothel , because she is still " young " and
miracle , by some external circumstance , all good looking . This being so , she might
this would suddenly open out , expand... and I love , be married , be happy. "26 Liza
should come out in to the light of day, almost responded coldly to his suggestion , noting
riding a white horse and crowned with that not all married women are happy. His
laurel... , for instance , was triumphant over response is nothing short of extraordinary:
everyone... 1 fell in love , came in to countless
millions lof rubles), and immediately devoted Not all (married women are happy),

them to humanity.. . (EJveryone would kiss me course , but anyway it is much better than the
and weep (what idiots they would be if they life here. Infinitely better. Besides , with love
did not), and I would go about barefoot and one can live even without happiness. Even in
preaching new ideas.. . and the Pope would sorrow life is sweet...
agree to retire from Rome to Brazil... "2A

Love and the Underground Man

 g. ' , " , " /'"'

Bard

The narrator then realized one , loves you , cherishes you , never leaves
you! There is happiness in such a family!
I was no longer reasoning coldly. I began to Even sometimes there is happiness in the midst
feel to myself what I was saying and warmed of sorrow; and indeed sorrow is everywhere.

to the subject. I was already longing to If you marry you will find out yourself. But
expound the cherished ideas I had brooded think of the first years of married life with one
over in my corner. Something had suddenly you love: what happiness , what happiness
"29
flared up in me there sometimes is in it!

ere it is critical to note two things. Working himself in to frenzy he reaches new
First , the Underground Man s entire heights:
tone has turned from one of spite and
misery to one of optimism , of belief. Second love is a holy mystery.. .The first phase of
and connected ,is that love is understood as a married love will pass , it is true , but then there
way out of misery. It is a kind of salvation , a will come a love that is better still. Then there
modus vivendi that the narrator sees as a cure will be the union of souls , they will have
for his ills and a path out of the brothel for everything in common , there will be no
Liza. Though love might not bring happiness secrets between them
it can make life livable- and that is what
counts. But how does romantic love (as er a brief description of the joys of

opposed to familial love or Christian love) parenthood , the Underground Man

make life livable? nds his speech , leaving Liza and
readers shocked. Recalling that the
Perhaps romantic love provides an identiiy for Underground Man had earlier mentioned that
one self: Who am 12 I am the lover and he had cold parents who packed him off for
beloved of (fill in the blank). boarding school at a young age , never to see
Also , romantic love gives to oneself an him again , and considering that he had never
affirmation of one s very being and been married or even knew anyone married
uniqueness , e. My lover did not chose one must ask , how would he know these
anyone else , she chose me , because 1 am things2 Liza is right when she replies to his
special , 1 am me . Finally, romantic love passionate lecture with the calm observation
"31
offers a person an organizing principle for Why, you.. speak somehow like a book.
one s life- to please another , to devote oneself
to another. Romantic love makes sense of a That is the fact of the matter. As a bookish
senseless universe by giving a person man who spent his days reading and
something to commit to , an outlet for the contemplating, the Underground Man had
volcano of emotions within framework of come in contact with romantic idealism that
simple actions. In Fear and Trembling, swept over Russia in the 1840' , just before
Kierkegaard asked Please tell me lord , what the coming of Chernyshevsky and
ought 1 to do?" The romantic has a quick utilitarianism. His speech on love was an
answer for this: love your beloved For this idea , and one that excited him because it
reason , the Underground Man says where seemed to offer salvation from the nihilistic
" 28 life.
there is no love , there is no sense.

The Underground Man continues: Unfortunately, this attractive solution to the

problem of the Enlightenment and the
ll)f all goes well with the family, if the blessing Underground Man s ills failed. As many
of"God is upon it , if the husband is a good commentators have observed , the Romantic

Conference . Autumn 1 99B .

 , "

Bard

attempt to rescue liberalism from itself has , despite spending the next few days
failed the West; and in this case , the dreaming of the two of them falling in love , of
Underground Man. living abroad , and having a joyous life , he
knew that should Liza come to visit him , he
Section 4: The Rebuking of Liza would defile her. He would do so , because
he could not believe his own romantic
You don t know what this woman is. . This is illusions about reality. As a creature of the
everything time , he was a Hobbesian , a hardheaded
The Underground Man realist As such a man , he couldn t believe in
a happy ending. There was no ioy to come.
Shortly aher Liza noted that the narrator spoke Life was a " nasty, brutish , and short"
like a book" , an " evil feeling took experience. Man is inevitably a lonely
possession " of him. Turning once again to the creature and an awful egoist " I know that I
life of a whore , he tells Liza that her future will am a blackguard , a scoundrel , an egoist "36
be nothing but agony, that it would be better
for her to die now than to live as a prostitute. Through a perverse twist of logic , the
Seeing her begin to lose her composure , to Underground Man s mind decided that while
admit that he was right , he moves in for the all action is futile , he needn t sit with hands
kill. He tells her a ghastly story about a folded. Instead , he can do what every
young whore who ended up mad and drunk rational man does , please himself. How
sitting out on a frozen doorstep, holding a better to please oneself than to satisfy one
dead fish and being taunted by drunken craving for more power, more control , than to
soldiers This will be Liza s future , the narrator tyrannize 2 Fancying himself an earthly,
insists. Liza breaks down in tears and the vengeful God , he hopes to hold Liza over the
Underground Man feels he has won a victory: pit of hell , hint that he might save her, and
he has broken her , forced her to confront what then drop her in to the pit Through such
he believes will be the truth Unlike his cruelty he can assert his will , prove that he
previous attempts to insult Zverkov and exists , that he isn t a mere organ stop.
friends , his assault on Liza " was not merely
sport". it was a violent , first act of tyranny. n the entire novel's most disturbing scene
he attempts this. When Liza visits he works
Dostoevski believed that when man refuses to himself in to an insane frenzy He shrieks
believe in God , he inevitably will become at his manservant , threatens to kill him , and in
either a slave to another person or he will set doing so terrifies Liza. He then manages to
himself up as God33 Being an egoist and an bed her. Shortly aher sex , his mood turns
older man of greater learning and hence hideous and he mocks her, telling her that he
power, the narrator became the latter. did not care for her, he just wanted to
He then tells her that were she not a whore
tyrannize over her power, power is what I
he might fall in love with her. He gives her his wanted.. 1 wanted to wring out your tears
address , invites her to visit him , and then your humiliation , your hysteria... ! "37
departs. The point being that if she wants to
escape this hell , like Christ , only he is the way Though hurt by his words , she stays , facing
and the path: " , for instance , became the him with a countenance of compassion.
salvation of Liza. 34 As he strolled home from
Surprised by her response , his madness
the brothel the Underground Man recognized abates and he then has his most profound
what he was doing, for though he cared for revelation: " Liza... understood a great deal
her he could see that behind his compassion more than I imagined. She understood from
for her was the " loathsome truth"35

Love and the Underground Man

 Bard

all this what a woman understands first of all was torturous. Since he made certain
if she feels genuine love , that is , that I myself assumptions about the universe (godless , ruled
was unhappy. "38 by natural laws such as cousation) he came to
certain conclusions about life , namely, that it
The narrator then broke down The two was pointless , that it was determined , and
embraced and wept as one. In a remarkable that it was hell for those who perceived it for
twist , Liza had endured his insults and like what it was.
Christ , turned the other cheek and given him
unconditional love. Unlike he , the romantic Despite his assumptions about man
lover, the egotistical , vain man whose opinion unfreedom , the Underground Man was
of himself and his very being depended upon sufficiently unhappy with his life ,hat he
another s recognition (be it Zverkov and the attempted to improve it. First he sought to
others , or be it Liza s), who wanted love disprove the laws of nature by exerting his
because it served the purpose of giving him will , the presumption being that if he
the recognition that the cold godless universe disproved natural laws he could rid himself of
wouldn t; Liza s love was true and selfless. In the odious wall which barked at him " twice
this stunning scene we see Dostoevski s final two is four" and reclaim his individuality, his
indictment of the Romantic project to rescue freedom.
the Enlightenment from self- destruction; here
we see Dostoevski damn the attempt to derive Failing at that , the Underground Man then

human connectedness and kindness from the attempted to gain recognition as a ma

liberal premises of natural loneliness and Fleeing his apartment and self-imposed
egoism and offer a Christian alternative. isolation chamber, he went out among the
Unfortunately, as a distilled version of the man blockheads " and " fools " looking for
of the times , the Underground Man is too sick affirmation. Unable to get recognition of his
to embrace the cure to his illness provided by individuality from the universe , he asked for it
Liza s example , that of selfless , Christ- like love from others. Unfortunately, because he was a
He quits sobbing Feeling humiliated grotesque of liberal individualism s premises
because he appears weak , not like a everyone he met found him noxious or
powerful God , he begins again toward his laughable , and so refused to give him any
goal of tyranny Realizing that he was sort of respect.
incapable of loving her , understanding love
in fact not as beatific romantic visions but as Finally the Underground Man tried various
an selfish struggle , he remains silent until she forms of Romanticism. Sometimes he
decides to leave. He then follows aMer her imagined he was living a great life Other
insultingly shoves money in her hand , and times he construed the world to be better than
turns away. it was , a place where one can dwell in the
good and beautiful" . But these attempts

Conclusion were in vain and so he turned to romantic

love. Romantic love was to provide salvation

The Underground Man was a man of his for him , a happy conclusion based upon his
times , a man who wholeheartedly believed in dearly held Hobbesian assumptions. The
the basics premises of the Enlightenment and Underground Man s disastrous experience
its liberal politics. Because he much more with Liza was the failure of the Romantic
clearly saw their logical conclusions , he was project writ small , a demonstration by
a perverse character , one that appeared to personal example. Having assumed away
be an anomaly. but was in fact most God , Dostoevski declares that it is only
representative of his society The life he lived logical that man makes himself either a slave

Conference' Autumn 1 99B.

 ...-' '- --'-- -

Bard

or a God. In the former case , man turns to

another for recognition of his existence as a Dostoevski uses the love speech and the
man and not a mere piano key; the result ensuing action to contrast the beauty of
being that his entire being and life are romantic words and ideas with the brutality of
dependent upon the will and whim of another th.eir effects. Thus , Dostoevski exclaims , there
(s!avery). In the latter case , man s ego takes can be no peace between men unless the
on monstrous proportions. Feeling both that intellectual paradigm of Hobbes and the
anything is permissible and that life consists in Enlightenment is discarded and replaced by a
exertion of the will , such a man in the name new understanding of life , one like that put
of reclaiming his existence as a man behaves forth by Christ.39 This is the message of
in beastly ways , tyrannizing over others and Notes From the Underground for which the
delighting in his power. love speech provides the key 4O

he Underground Man s love speech is

of interest for two reasons. First , it
expresses what Dostoevski believed to
be a verity of man qua man: the need for
belief in his freedom to choose , which is the
essence of humanity, because it stands in
contrast to natural laws and mere instinct.
Yes ,even the Underground Man , a man who
embodied the principles of utilitarianism
principles that when taken to their logical
conclusions deny man individuality, believed
or at least desired to believe otherwise.
Otherwise there would have been no crazy
exploits , no novel. Secondly, the love speech
shows the failure of the Romantic attempt to
rescue liberalism from itself If mankind is

believes that men are rotten , egocentric

power mongers , then trying to convince them
to love one another is futile. Community,
contrary to Rousseau s heroic efforts , can t be
created from disparate , self-absorbed atoms.

In the end , Notes From the Underground

warns us that when man rejects God , he
rejects man; for freedom requires the ability to
chose , the ability to be responsible for one
deeds. Once man is understood as
determined , he has lost his special place in
the universe. According to Dostoevski , those
who believe the principles of Newtonian
science and the ethics of Hobbes are bound
to live miserably, wheeling around and
around , trapped in their closed circuit world
view , like the Underground Man , who at the
end of the novel we are told is unable to quit
~i'9 hi, 'ole,.

Love and the Underground Man

-- ,./

Bard

"No 24 Ibid. , p. 52-

1 Fyodor, Dostoevski , Notes From the Underground, in 25 Ibid. , p. 80.

Irving, Howe , Classics of Modern Fiction , (New York
Harcourt , Brace & World, Inc. , 19681. 26 Ibid.

2 Charles ,Guignon , The Grand Inquisitor 27 Ibid, p. 83.

(Indianapolis , HackeN Publishing Co., 1993), p. 13.
28 Ibid
3 Ibid , pp. xi , xii.
29 Ibid, p. 84.
4 Ibid., xvii.
30 Ibid , p. 85.
5 Thomas , Hobbes , leviathan , Ed. by Michael
OakeshoN (New York , MacMillan Publishing Co. 31 Compare with Dostoevski s own words in a leNer to
1962), p. 102. one of his lovers: " (YJou are my whole future- my hope
ond faith and hoppiness and bliss- everything.
6 Ibid., p. 160. Quoted in David Magarshack , Dostoevsky (New York
Harcourt , Brace & World , Inc. , 1962), p. 265.
7 Ibid. , p. 159
32 Howe , p. 89.
8 Ibid. , p. 47.
33 This point is well explained in both the Guignon text
9Ibid. 55. and Nicholas Berdyaev s Dostoevsky, translated by
Donald ANwater, (Cleveland , World Publishing

10 Fyodor Dostoevski , Notes From the Underground Company, 1957),. This theme is common in
p. 42. Compare with Hobbes , p. 100. Dostoevski s works (see The Possessed, The Brother
Karamazov' especially the section on the Grand
11 Ibid. , p. 24. Inquisitor).

12 Ibid. , p. 21. 34 Howe , p. 95.

13 Hobbes , p. 42. 35Ibid., p91.

14Howe 16. 36 Ibid. , p. 103.

15lbid , p. 31. 37 Ibid.

16 Ibid., p. 33. 38 Ibid , p. 106.

17Ibid. 47. 39 Berdyaev and Guignon have done an excellent job

at explaining this point.
18 Ibid. , p. 56.
40 As many authors have pointed out , government
19 Ibid, pp. 58 , 63. censors for reasons unclear removed a critical portion
of Notes From the Underground , the part where the
20 Ibid , p. 65. Underground Man comes to understand that the
thought of the day was a horrible trap that could be
escaped only by a rejecting Enlightenment and
21 Ibid. , p. 24
accepting Christ. liza s reaction to the narrator s insults
was to supply the experience which gave him this
22 This notion of Romanticism being a maNer of
insight.
creative perception is well explained by lascalles
Abercrombie in Romanticism , (london , Martin Seeker
1926).

23 Ibid. , p. 52.

Conference. Autumn 199B