...eems to go out of the ay to offend his readers, some care is needed to read the story ell. First, it is important to keep in mind that the Underground Man, as he is traditionally called UM belo is not Fyodor Dostoyevsky, as the notes at the beginning and end of the story make clear. He shares some of Dostoyevskys ideas, but he is also the target of Dostoyevskys satire. Dostoyevsky enjoyed handicapping himself by placing some of his favorite arguments in the mouth of a character he despised. In this and in other orks, he strongly resists the impulse to seep the reader aay by making his vies irresistible. He ants you to be aare of both their strengths and eaknesses, and make your mind up independently. Second, although some readers find that they are identifying ith the UM to some extent, unlike most popular fiction, this is not a story in hich you are expected to identify ith the narrator. The danger is, in fact, that the reader ill become so exasperated ith his tone and manner as to simply refuse to pay attention hat he is saying. Consider the UM as a complex portrait, lacking surface appeal, but filled ith fascinating detail hich reveals itself only upon close examination. Third, it is crucial not simply to let the UMs self-contradictions cancel each other out and dismiss him as a madman hose ravings are not orth deciphering. It is precisely in the tension beteen various emotions and ideas that significance of the UMs narrative lies. Close reading ill reveal a careful and consistent psychological portrait.The page numbers cited belo are those of the MacAndre translation published by Ne American Library. Part One is a sustained argument containing scraps of illustrative narrative, introducing the UM and articulating his assault on rationalism and progress and delineating hat he thinks is rong ith the modern self-conscious intellectual himself. Part To is a much more easily comprehensible narrative of an episode from his life in hich he is offered a chance to escape from his eb of self-hate and spite. In Part One he is all scorn and contempt for the reader in Part To this contempt turns on himself. A sensitive reading ill reveal that there is much to pity in him. The numbers preceding each paragraph indicate the page number in the story hich the question relates to.Part OneI90 Ho many self-contradictions can you find in the first paragraph Does he really respect medicine Explain hat does the fact that he refuses medical help out of spite tell us about his attitude toard freedom 91 hat evidence is there that he is acutely self-conscious about ho he appears to others Is he aare of having any need for human affection Is he able to tolerate such affection92 Is he really indifferent to his readers reactions Ho can you tell He introduces hat he calls a stupid, useless excuse, hich turns out to be one of his main theses in the rest of Part I. hat does this excuse mean Is he more orried about being despised or being laughed at Ho can you tellII93 Ho can you illustrate already his thesis that unhappy nineteenth century intellectuals like himself are too abstract and premeditated hat does he mean by this94 hat evidence is there that he is a masochist Look the ord up if you arent familiar ith it.95 hat does it mean to be guilty in the first place Is it possible to feel guilty ithout being aare of any specific rongful act that caused the guilty feelings Look for elements in his story later that might have led him to gro up feeling guilty, or--as people say today--ith lo self-esteem.III96-7 Can you contrast hat the UM calls the spontaneous man or lhomme de la nature et de la vrit man of nature and truth ith the unhappy nineteenth century intellectual he discussed earlier hat are the differences beteen them hat are his feelings toard each of them98-9 Look closely at the paragraph that begins Thus you may. . . . Does he care about our reactions Ho can you tell In the last full paragraph he presents satirically presents the central ideas of nineteenth century pragmatism, hich argues that all morality is an illusion founded on self-interest, that there is no such thing as altruism much as Voltaire had done earlier. He objects to the ay in hich such pragmatists like the social Darinists complacently presented self-interest as scientifically proven superior to altruism. hat is the point he is making about to plus to making fourIV100-101 Ho does his example of the toothache illustrate this idea of the self-conscious intellectual hat changes hen he becomes too self-aare about the pain he is experiencing Examine the last paragraph in this section. He seems to be having a dialogue ith his imaginary reader. Ho does he try to defend himself against this reader Ho does this paragraph illustrate the point he as just making about self-consciousnessV102 Is it possible to be sincerely in love and faking it at the same time Do you believe him hen he says he fell in love simply out of boredomVIHe is so desperate for some kind of identity that he is illing even to have an absurdly trivial identity. hat example does he use Your notes in the Afterord of this volume explain that this paragraph contains an attack on an artist named Gu hose name begins ith the same letter as the Russian ord for ssss and a riter named Saltykov-Shchedrin, ho had ritten a story called Something to Everybodys Liking. Ho serious is his last sentence Do you think he feels ambivalently about itVII105-108 He begins by satirizing the ideals of the Enlightenment thinkers ho thought that if people only acted out of enlightened self-interest they ould become kind and noble. hat examples does he use to try to prove this theory rong hy does the notion of automatic moral reform make him so angry hy does he say it makes a human being into a piano key or an organ stop Today e ould say a robot, or a cog in a machine.109-110 The first full paragraph is specifically aimed at Chernyshevskys hat is to Be Done It as a utopian novel hich used the metaphor of the Crystal Palace the orlds first all steel-and glass building, erected to display modern machinery at a fair celebrating Queen Victorias reign in England. hat are his major objections to living in a perfect orld Do you agree ith him that individual freedom and utopianism necessarily conflict VIII111 The UM says that if e ever completely understand human psychology to the point that e clearly grasp out motivations for our feelings, e ill cease to have true, spontaneous feelings. Can you think of any examples here self-aareness of this kind has interfered ith spontaneous feelings in your on life or anyone elses113 Ho does he say desire relates to reason115 hat is his reaction to the fact that at his time very little as knon about hat determined human desires Ho do you think he ould have reacted to todays psychologistsIX116-117 hat is his argument against the typically Victorian notion that the essence of the human spirit is to be found in creativity a...
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