Our Liar of the Underground
The first words the Underground Man utters are “I am a sick man… I am a wicked man” (Dostoevsky 3), yet on the next page, he confesses “I lied about myself just now… I lied out of wickedness” (Dostoevsky 4). In terms of his sickness, he knows he suffers from some unknown ailment, but he refuses to seek treatment “out of wickedness” (Dostoevsky 3). Wouldn’t it seem rational for a sick man to seek medical help? Yes, however, the Underground Man rejects medical treatment in a twisted attempt to exercise his free will. He does not want to be beholden to anything, but in his attempt to be free, he morphs himself into a cynical, lying creature. Even though his contradiction may seem like a small and simple act of untruth, this profession immediately plants a seed of doubt in the readers’ minds and skews their perception of the narrator.
The main contradiction throughout the story occurs between Underground Man’s arguments and an invisible audience with whom he interrupts his narration in order to counteract their preconceived objections. An example of this is when he illustrates his pleasure found in pain and suffering. He starts his argument with “‘Ha, ha, ha! Next, you’ll be finding pleasure in a toothache!’ you will exclaim, laughing” (Dostoevsky 14). He then goes on to argue that “there is pleasure in a toothache” (Dostoevsky 14) to an invisible, fabricated audience with whom he is arguing. In the middle of his argument, he interrupts his thoughts with “you still don’t understand, gentlemen?” (Dostoevsky 15). The entire fabrication of an audience with whom he can defend himself to demonstrates his dependence on the approval and reassurance of others which contradicts his earlier proclamation of being a wicked man (Dostoevsky 3).
In Part 2, a younger Underground Man finds himself in the presence of a prostitute, Liza, and he acts differently than before. He asks her questions “Do you come from around here? Been here long? Do you have a father and a mother?” (Dostoevsky 88-89), and these questions provoke curt responses from Liza. He says “God knows why I wouldn’t leave” (Dostoevsky 89), and he knows the conversation will lead to nothing, but something about Liza refuses to let him leave immediately. However, he does eventually leave, but not before he gives her his address. Why does he do this? One cannot give a definitive answer because of the contradictory and somewhat spontaneous nature of the Underground Man. After leaving, he thinks about Liza incessantly and romanticizes saving Liza from her current situation (Dostoevsky 111). He says “I develop her, educate her. I finally notice that she loves me, loves me passionately” (Dostoevsky 111).
He craves human interaction and love, but it also scares him to the point of inaction. When Liza eventually knocks on his door and enters his home, he treats her like a prostitute, not like the woman he “loves.” She returns his affections, but he cannot act upon his feelings for the pain of embarrassment or feeling something other than resentment and anger. They share an intimate moment, and instead of saying sweet words, he pays her. His romanticization came true and was his for the taking, but he fell through and destroyed his one chance at happiness.
Through using an unreliable narrator, Dostoevsky allows the readers to come to their own conclusion about the state of the narrator. A more cynical reader may infer that Underground Man will never change, and keep turning in the cycle of resentment, anger, and fear he lives in on a daily basis. A more optimistic reader may infer that he can and will change since man, in itself, has the capacity to change and changes constantly.
While mankind has the tendency to mold itself into the best version it can be, Underground Man is the exception. He does not embrace change; change scares him to the point where he would rather concoct scenarios that will never play out and build himself up to a level he and others will never be able to reach or maintain. Isn’t this what humans do as well? We tend to create impossible scenarios and build ourselves up or tear ourselves down in fear of change. Change scares even the most courageous of heroes because the comfort and stability we’ve known are suddenly pulled out from under us. This change in power from the one initiating experiences to the one at the mercy of a situation we don’t know the outcome of causes stagnancy in some individuals, as in Underground Man. Underground Man, like all humanity, fears the unknown and the resolution to what the mind concocts because it threatens the stability and comfort we enjoy.
