The underground man is an outcast, an anathema, driven to a decrepit hovel on the outskirts of Petersburg where he sits and maligns the world around him. He no longer works, and is sustained by an inheritance he received from a dead relative. Before he quit working he was a worker in the government service, where he was intentionally rude to the petitioners who came to see him. To all appearances he is a grim and hateful man who finds enjoyment only in his own degradation. He believes himself cleverer than everyone around him, and yet he envies the stupid, direct men and women who can single-mindedly and peacefully take action.
However, the underground man is brilliant, and has made real discoveries about the human condition. He has also realistically approached himself, stripping away false pride and seeing himself for what he truly is, a mélange of a hero and an insect. He sees himself as a mouse, a man who is not truly a man because he refuses to answer injustice, but merely bears ignominious (haha) insults and despises the world from a corner, content to attempt petty revenge that is doomed to injure the one seeking revenge than the one he is seeking revenge upon.
The underground man is a recluse and a hermit, but he is one honestly seeking to understand himself and the world around him. He has been hurt by the cruelties of the world, but is accepting and understanding of his pain. He seeks retribution, but he knows this is petty, and accepts that. He is above all a man who understands and accepts himself. I like him, the underground man. He is not a man I would want to know, but he is a man I desperately want to hear the thoughts of. This book will do.
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