Notes from the Underground

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Notes from the Underground is considered by many to be the very first existentialist work in history. The novel was published in 1864 and it presents fragments from a rambling man told by an unreliable narrator.<br/><br/>The ramblings belong to a simple civil servant who lives isolated and spiteful. He hates the world and hates himself as well, yet he does not act in any way due to not believing in justice. He philosophizes that people who hate and think that they have been done wrong act out of a firm believe that justice lies in the end, while he would not be able to justify any action and neither would he think that it is virtuous.<br/><br/>The Underground Man, as he is also referred to, also reaches a point where he believes that no one is noticing his existence. His paranoia further amplifies when he starts believing that an officer on the street intentionally pushes him out of the way. At a certain point, he tries to take revenge by bumping into the officer only to realize that his existence isn’t even acknowledged, since the officer continued as if nothing ever happened.<br/><br/>The Underground Man also believes that men only spread suffering to others by moaning and that happens only when he realizes that he isn’t happy. The desire for this happiness is also emphasized by the man’s liver and toothache, which can be seen as modest yet existential forms of suffering.<br/><br/>The book further plunges into the depths of the man’s paranoia as well as his changing views. Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground is a bold and an amazing experiment into the mind of man and his struggle with insanity, questioning the concepts of “truth”, “justice” and “reason” in the world.