Dostoyevsky ‘Notes from Underground’ Critique Essay

â€Å"Notes from Underground† was published in 1864 as a feature presentation of his first 1860 issue â€Å"The Epoch†. â€Å"Notes from Underground† was written by the author during a time when he faced many challenges in his life. Dostoyevsky faced failure in the publishing of his first journal â€Å"Time†, his financial position was becoming weaker and embarrassing. Moreover, his wife was dying and his conservatism was eroded leading to a decline in his popularity with the liberal reading Russians and consequently, he became the focus of attack by the radical and liberal press (Fanger 3). Therefore, this research seeks to find how the author presents the aspect of â€Å"underground man† and how he approached Charles Darwin’s thoughts of man in â€Å"Origin of the†¦show more content†¦By the time the author had completed writing â€Å"Notes from Underground† the society had moved to liberalism and abandoned reasoning and en lightenment (Frank 35). This is clearly represented in this novel since by the end, as the author concluded that there was more to man than enlightenment and reasoning. The underground man is an educated, literate, forty year old financially stable man, who, lives in a modern society. As the novel progresses, the underground man remembers the days he used to work without any affection. The man lives now alone in a place described as unattractive where he is completely cut off from friends and family (Fanger 5). This situation provides an indication of the troubles underground man is going through for they do not arise from work, money problems or the lack of social interaction opportunities. This man has money, is educated and has plenty of social interaction opportunities but he’d rather remain in his solitude, Dostoevsky shows that in all respect the man has reached enlightenment (Frank 36). The problems of underground man are all concerned with what is happening to him from the inside. This man is suffering from a disease that arises from his lack of feeling completely healthy. Though the novel has depicted many medical discussions on doctors, liver problems, medicines, the real disease is emotional distress. The entire first section of the book is about how emotionally troubled the undergroundShow MoreRelatedEnglish Literature- an Episode in the Life of an Author5918 Words   |  24 Pagesirrational universe. Jean Paul Sartre’s â€Å"no exit† Presents three people locked into a situation from which there is no escape and who eventually realize that â€Å"hell is other people.† Existentialism and absurd theater present alienation-The loss of sustaining religious belief. -The sense of anxiety and guilt. -The growing conviction that life was at bottom meaningless. Central to the existentialism. Critique of the traditional idea that within each individual has an â€Å"essence† A universal, defining characteristics