Review of lterature essays

Review of lterature essays Dostoevsky introduces Part I of Notes from Underground. He tell us that in this first portion, the protagonist will introduce himself and explain the causes that led to his appearance before us in this text. He then explains that the subseque nt extract, "Apropos of the Wet Snow," will record the protagonist's own notes. The Underground Man starts off by telling us that he has liver disease, but refuses to go to a doctor out of spite. He realizes that he hurts only himself by doing this, but even so he remains obstinately opposed to seeking proper medical attention. He tells us that he is now forty years old, a former civil servant, rude and bitter. He then immediately retracts his statement, saying he was actually not rude at all. He scoffs at "us," the readers of his Notes, insisting that he does not care what w e think of him. The Underground Man goes on to explain why he became spiteful, saying that only fools go far in this world, and intelligent men like himself face failure inevitably. After assuring us that he is not writing for our amusement, he describes his current mis erable situation. He lives in his "corner," where he has bunkered down since quitting the Civil Service upon receiving a large inheritance from a wealthy relative. He has a gruesome dim room with a maidservant he despises. The St. Petersburg weather ag gravates his health, but he does not careit makes no difference to him whether he stays or goes. Finally, he invites himself to tell us more about himself, as any decent gentlemen likes to do. The Underground Man's spiteful refusal to see a doctor resounds throughout the text. The terms nihilistic and masochistic have often been applied to the Underground Man (heretofore referred to as the "UM"). Nihilism is a repudiation of societal values, and masochism is the deliberate infliction of pain on one ...