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Introduction
Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground (1864/2008) comes across as a diary penned by a self-described “spiteful” and “unattractive” anonymous narrator (p. 7). The narrator’s own self-loathing characterized by self-alienation is so obvious, that he is often referred to by critics as the Underground Man (Frank 1961, p. 1). Yet this Underground Man is the central character of Dostoyevsky’s novel and represents a subversion of the typical courageous hero. In this regard, the Underground man is an anti-hero, since as a protagonist he not only challenges the typical literary version of a hero, but also challenges conventional thinking (Brombert 1999, p. 1).
Antiheroism
Cuddon and Preston (1998) describe the anti-hero as a “non-hero” since he comes across as the “antithesis of a hero” (p. 42). The traditional hero is demonstrative of heroism and is typically characterized as “dashing, strong, brave and resourceful” (Cuddon and Preston 1998, pp. 42-43). The antihero turns this protagonist around to such an extent that he manifests what appears to be “failure” (Cuddon and Preston 1998, p. 43). In other words, the antihero, unlike the hero is not known for his successes but rather for his negative traits (Matz 2004, p. 46).
Grabes, Diller and Isernhagen (1983) point out that during much of the second half of the 1800s, a number of antiheros characterized by inactivity and withdrawal in either a physical or abstract way began to appear with remarkable frequency (p. 305). Matz (2004) explains that being an antihero however does not make the protagonist “unlikeable, uninteresting or absurd” (p. 46). In fact , Matz (2004) reminds that “there is real heroism in anti-heroism, in an unheoric world” (p. 46...
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...ee Review, (Winter 1961) Vol. 69(1): 1-33.
Frank, Joseph. Through the Russian Prism: Essays on Literature and Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990.
Golstein, V. Lermontov’s Narratives of Heroism. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1998.
Grabes, Herbert; Diller, Hans-Jurgen and Isernhagen, Hartwig. Real: The Yearbook of Research in English and American Literature, Volume 5. New York, NY: Walter de Gruyter and Co. 1983.
Matz, Jesse. The Modern Novel: A Short Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004.
Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Fairfield, IA: 1st World Library, 2004.
Trilling, Lionell. “The Fate of Pleasure Wordsworth to Dostoevski.” Cited in Wimsatt, William Kurtz (Ed.). Literary Criticism—Idea and Act: The English Institute, 1939-1972: Selected Essays. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1974.
20th Century American Literature: A Soviet View. Translated by Ronald Vroon, p. 78. Progress Publishers. 1976. The. 241-260.
An anti-hero has the role of a hero thrust upon them. They do not particularly want to be brave or noble but their actions lead them to be a hero. Facing difficult decisions and doubt are also classic traits of an anti-hero. They often lack confidence in themselves, refuse to accept their fate as a hero or don't even realise their status or ability. At a certain point, anti-heroes usually transcend into either a tragic or romantic hero. Anti-heroes can be identified in many different texts, however, all of them consist of those traits.
Like Abraham, the underground man’s “most profitable profit” (Ibid.) acts as a suspension of the moral, and as a rejection of determinist philosophies. Ostensibly, the underground man’s refusal to be “nothing but a sort of piano key” (Dostoevsky 19) seems incompatible with Di Silenctio’s portrayal of Abraham, but this is not the case. The underground man and Abraham share an identical belief in the absurd nature of human behavior and both reject the universal ethics of
As a society we value and admire heroes who represent the idealized version of ourselves whom we stride every day to become. This is why they are sometimes scrutinized, unless they are an anti-hero, of course. The anti-hero is also admired by some even if he utilizes unlawful methods to achieve his goal, because he represents the good in a corrupt world. But this is not always the case as it is seen in some Noir stories. In Noir stories, the anti-hero is supposed to be a modern knight. Transgressing society's corrupt rules in order to reaffirm for its male audience the need to act justly do rightly; however, the anti-hero through this false nobility and sexism reinforces the social problems that plague contemporary society.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Notes from Underground: A New Translation, Backgrounds and Sources, Responses, Criticism. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 1989.
The tone of “Notes from Underground” is sharp, strange and bitter. The bitterness of the book is traced to the multiple personal misfortunes the author suffered as he wrote his novel. Through these personal tragedies it can be argued that the author presented the position of the “underground man” through his own experiences. Additionally, the research holds the second belief that the novel’s presentation of “underground man” is founded on the social context the novel addresses (Fanger 3). Through this, it was found that Dostoevsky presented the suffering of man under the emerging world view directed by European materialism, liberalism and utopianism. As he began writing his novel, Dostoevsky had been directed by the romantic error that looked at utopian social life and the social vision of satisfying and perfecting regular life for man. The failure for the society to gain these achievements was as a result of the distant liberalism and materialism that reduced the power of reasoning and...
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Notes from Underground: A New Translation, Backgrounds and Sources, Responses, Criticism. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 1989.
Lipking, Lawrence I, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume 1c. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
The subcategory of an antihero probably seems strange to you. It is strange – there's no denying it; however, there is an actual distinction. Whether good or evil, a protagonist with very human characteristics (having a fragile self-esteem, acci...
Hansen, Bruce. “Dostoevsky’s Theodicy.” Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1996. At . accessed 18 November 2001.
In Notes from Underground, Dostoyevsky relates the viewpoints and doings of a very peculiar man. The man is peculiar because of his lack of self-respect, his sadistic and masochistic tendencies, and his horrible delight in inflicting emotional pain on himself and others. Almost instantly the reader is forced to hate this man. He has no redeeming values, all of his insights into human nature are ghastly, and once he begins the narrative of his life, the reader begins to actively hate and pity him.
Abrams, M.H., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1993.
... Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. D. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. 1166-86. Print.
Schwarz, Danie Reference Guide to English Literature, 2nd ed., edited by D. L. Kirkpatrick, St. James Press, 1991
For a time, the main characters in a story, poem, or narrative were easily classified as either being a hero or a villain. A hero would be easy to identify by the traits he'd possess, such as bravery, honesty, selflessness, trustworthiness, courage, leadership, and more. The villain would be easy to identify as well, possessing traits such as maliciousness, deceitfulness, immorality, dark, wishing harm upon others, and more. But what if the character lacked the natural heroic qualities but wasn't a villain either? What if the person displayed personality flaws that would traditionally be associated with a villain, but has heroic intentions? These questions were finally answered with the emergence of the anti-hero in literature.