The 10 life changing lessons from the notes from underground.

Introduction

Dostoyevsky wrote this novel after he was released from prison, and this novel reflects his experience in prison. This is known as his deep psychological work and philosophical themes, as well as reflecting his own experience and thoughts.

This is a novella and notes (autobiography) of a middle-aged man, a fictional character who, despite himself and his life, These were the first lines of the story.

I am a sick man . . . …. a mean man. There is nothing attractive about me. I think there is something wrong with my liver.

The book is divided into two sections. The first section, called “The Mousehole,” contains most of the book’s philosophical import.

Second section. “A Propos of the Wet Snow” explains the narrative that illustrates the themes from the first section. He possesses hyperconscious  mindset and profound insight about the human nature makes his life difficult. He considered himself cleverer than any of the people surrounding him and derived a sense of self-worth. Let’s look at some key idea mentioned in this novella.

10 Lessons from The Notes of Underground.

1. Existential Defiance.

The underground man says,

“Let the world go to hell, and I will always have my tea.”.

This sentence shows the existential nihilism deeply rooted in it. He has no purpose in his life; he has also mentioned that he is an insect. He has no reason to live by since he feels no commonality with others; he sees them as potential threats; he pushes everyone away. You feel sympathy for him because of the way he is ignored by the world, but when you read part two, you see the incidence of Simonov and his behavior at the dinner. You will realize why everyone avoids his friendship.

He pretended to care about Liza when he met her, but when she appeared in his apartment, he shoved her off and said, “II came to your place to take a punch at one of them, the officer, but I was too late. I had to vent my spite on someone else, and YOU happened to be around.”.

He is a pessimistic person, just like any other nihilist. He hates everyone in his life—his college, the people he met in office, his friends, and his servant Apollon. When he was a civil servant, he denied people and despised them just to make them suffer. He lacks goodwill towards humanity, and this happens to the person who is nihilist. It is the biggest problem with existential nihilism.

2. Reflective Consciousness.

He is an unattractive, self-loathing, hostile person, but he knows who he is.

“Thus, as a result of heightened consciousness, a man feels that it’s all right if he’s bad as long as he knows it, as though that were any consolation.”

“To start with, I am guilty of being more intelligent than all those around me. I have always felt that, and believe me, it’s weighed on my conscience sometimes. All my life, I have never been able to look people straight in the eye. (I always feel a need to avert my face.)

He argued that a normal man is stupid, and he should be because it is a blessing; his conscious doesn’t torment him. The people with heightened consciousness are rare species, and even by tragedy, there are mice ( used metaphorically for a person who has little or no social status and hides from the outside world, only coming out of his hole for necessary work, just like a mouse).

This mouse will suffer more because of his reflective consciousness. The underground man also considered himself better than others. In his own words, he is an intellectual and literary man.

That makes it difficult for him to connect with other people; he is suffering from overwhelming pride and vainness. And that is his vice: even if you are a genius, you shouldn’t belittle others, especially if you are a mouse.

3.Criticism of utopian society.

Dostoyevsky criticizes the 20th-century philosophical idea originated in Russia, called utilitarianism, it says.

A school of thought that attempted to use mathematical formulas and logical proofs to align man’s desires with his best interests It advocates actions that promote happiness and pleasure in life and opposes any other actions that cause unhappiness.

The underground man explains,

Man is monstrously ungrateful—phenomenally so! I would even say that the best definition of man is an ungrateful biped. You can shower upon him all earthly blessings, drown him in happiness so that there will be nothing to be seen but the bubbles rising to the surface of his bliss, give him such economic security that he will have anything to do but sleep, nibble at cakes, and worry about keeping world history flowing—and even then, out of sheer spite and ingratitude, man will play a dirty trick on you.

This clearly explains why utopian society cannot work because suffering is an important blessing, without which humans cannot live.

4. Do We Have Free Will?

The question is whether humans possess free will or exist for a longer time. The underground man says,

So one’s own free, unrestrained choice, one’s own whim, be it the wildest, one’s own fancy, sometimes worked up to a frenzy—that is the most advantageous advantage that cannot be fitted into any table or scale.

Dostoyevsky called free will and independence, a true advantageous advantage that human try to achieve but human are aware of their own will and what derived it

But he argues that there is no such thing as free will or independent will( in Dostoevsky’s language).

Our will is often misguided because of a mistaken evaluation of what we desire. Humans themselves don’t know why they desire certain things, and in most cases, it doesn’t make sense. It could be the outcome of some neglected thoughts, suppressed emotions, or trauma responses. Despite all the odds, he practices free will because humans admire freedom more than anything.

Even if we follow someone ardently, we still think we have free will, and it was a choice, or you can humans  like to be fooled but not tell that they are being fooled.

Leaders who know human desire for freedom will take advantage of them, and it happens for centuries.

5. The disadvantage of being hyper-conscious.

Hyper-consciousness means self-awareness, knowing your flaws and skills better than anyone else, and this comes out when you work on your personality and embrace your self-discovery journey.

The underground man’s life becomes hell because he is a hyper-conscious person; he likes to read good literature, and for some time he was among the high achievers in his class, attracting the attention of his teachers. This hyperconsciousness leads him to self-isolation. He became vain and tried to win every agreement; he considered his fellow schoolmates, including Zverkov, who is a lieutenant, and his peers admired him. He considers him as stupid as others.

He doesn’t know how to use his skill for the benefit of others because he is stuck in the void of nihilism, which constantly reminds him that” human existence doesn’t matter and others are fools if they don’t know it. Others should accept that he is better than others; he is more intelligent”.

But this is absolutely false. People don’t believe that if you are more intelligent than others, you are a genius or gifted. They won’t like you just because of it. And this is why genius people suffer more; they need to understand that if they are not good with people or benefit others, the world will also not care about you. You will be a self-righteous prick to them.

I am guilty of being more intelligent than all those around me, and then I am also guilty because, even if there had been any forgiveness in me, it would only have increased my torment because I would have been conscious of its uselessness.

6. childhood trauma.

He was an orphan and lacked genuine human connection, which greatly impacted his perspective on life.

I was twenty-four, but even then I led the gloomy, disorganized, solitary existence of a recluse. I realized others regarded me as eccentric and even—at least I felt—viewed me with a sort of disgust. Why, I wondered sometimes, did no one else feel that he was inspiring disgust in others?

No further account of his child is mentioned, but in Part 2, Brought to You by a Fall of Wet Snow, two main events of his life are mentioned, revealing his true personality and relations with the world. He has only one friend, who also doesn’t like his presence. He goes to him because he has no one to turn to; he even sometimes borrows money.

He craved human attention, but was crippled by his vindictive attitude towards people. The world has always been cruel to the weak, and the same happens with our narrator.

In fact, this has been the main argument in the book: to not let out suffering makes us bitter.

7. Outlook on Rationalism

I admit that reason is only reason, and it only satisfies man’s rational requirements. Desire, on the other hand, is the manifestation of life itself—of all life—and it encompasses everything from reason down to scratching oneself.

It explains that we cannot lead our lives fully on rational and reasonable decisions; we live based on our desires, and desires aren’t rational at all. It lives both unconsciously and conscious.

Even the history of the history of the world  is not reasonable and is an outcome of hedonism. But on the other hand, humans live to make sense of everything.

We can only rationally argue about matters of knowledge and things that aren’t revealed and discovered; we cannot argue about them, but desire can. It wants to reach the unseen, and it is the desire that leads human intellect to know things.

8. The Danger of Being a Dreamer

In my dreams, of course. I gave myself over entirely to dreaming—dreaming away for three months on end, huddled in my corner. And believe me, in my dreams, I had nothing in common with the fellow in his chicken-hearted panic.

Dreamers are people who have lost their connection with reality and hide behind their dreams. They refused to play their part in real life. He may be a superhuman in his dreams, but that is pure imagination; it doesn’t have the slightest touch of reality.

He is struck by the fantasy world and thinks it’s the only way he could save himself. We have seen that the underground man is not much of a doer; his actions are evil, despite his full.

He is completely opposite of his dream image. Dreamer uses his fantasy to avoid negative emotions; his excess daydreaming cripples him from taking any action towards solving their problem. It does provide for a shorter period, but after that, man longed for human connection, and when he observed his real life, he became more gloomy.

9. The Main Defect of Human Nature

This line from the book has awestruck me and made me contemplate its depth.

I would even say that the best definition of man is an ungrateful biped. But this is still not his main defect. His main defect is his chronic perversity, an affliction from which he has suffered throughout his history.

Chronic perversity means deliberately deviating from what is good and what should be done. Humans human has been searching for truth and peace for centuries. And if they even find out the best moral doctrine, they will still not follow it.

Man will do what he wants, regardless of whether it is ethically right or wrong. Many wars fought in history were mainly battles of the ego.

The human psyche is very well aware that they are harming someone, but we still do it. Even if we have a godly doctrine, we will do what we desire, and that’s the argument the man from the underground made.

10. Don’t be Spiteful.

Once in a tavern, an office pulled him from his shoulder and passed by. If he didn’t exist, that thing would drive the underground man to endure. A stranger could ignore him even though that was obvious.

Since he lives in a fantasy world and suffers from overwhelming pride, he couldn’t forget it.

He even tracked down the officer for days and decided to write a letter to him to apologize to him.

He is a resentful person who has hidden grudges against his schoolmates since the beginning. His vindictive personality has retarded his ability to positively engage with others. He mentioned his special hatred towards the most charming student in his class, which does indicate the envy he feels towards him and how badly he wanted to be in his place.

His resentment causes more harm to him than to others; his jealousy prevented him from changing for the better. Hatred and jealousy are spiritual diseases; they pollute the soul and make it hard for you to move forward and leave behind the terrible past.

Ruminating negative emotions has a harmful effect on the mind, almost making it impossible for you to form healthy relationships. Dostoyevsky has clearly warned us and presented the example of the underground man: not to be like him, or we will meet the same fate as him: loneliness and despair.

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