Summary
The Underground Man arrives at Simonov’s apartment to
find Simonov with two other former schoolmates. They are discussing plans
for a farewell dinner for Zverkov, another former schoolmate who
is now an officer in the army. The Underground Man remembers Zverkov
as one of his least favorite classmates. He was handsome, confident,
wealthy, and popular. The Underground Man considered Zverkov vulgar,
and hated Zverkov’s boasting about his future successes with women
and in duels.
Zverkov has had success in the army and with women ever
since he left school, and he no longer greets the Underground Man
on the street. Simonov’s two guests are both admirers of Zverkov:
Ferfichkin, an “enemy” of the Underground Man from school who often borrows
money from Zverkov; and Trudolyubov, whom the Underground Man considers
honest but too focused on success. Although all three men essentially
ignore the Underground Man from the moment he enters the room, he
insists on being included in the farewell dinner, feeling that an
offer to contribute money for the meal will make the other men respect
him. Simonov hesitates, irritated with the Underground Man, but
ultimately allows him to join the dinner. When the other men leave,
Simonov invents an excuse and says that he must run off. The Underground
Man awkwardly leaves the apartment.
After leaving, the Underground Man regrets everything
he has just done. He knows that he is not wanted at the dinner,
he hates Zverkov, and he does not have enough money to pay for the
meal. However, he knows that he will still go to the dinner: the
more inappropriate it is for him to go, the more likely it is that
he will go. He decides to spend the money that he owes Apollon,
his servant, on dinner.
That night, the Underground Man remembers his time at
school. He was an orphan, and distant relatives sent him to a school
where the other students derided him because he was different from
them. He hated the other children, who were narrow-minded, worshiped only
success, and mocked “everything that was just.” Their faces grew
more stupid with every year spent at school. Hoping to avoid their
mockery, the Underground Man became one of the best students at
the school. He impressed the others with his knowledge of books
and the respect he gained from his teachers. He made one friend
among his classmates, but he treated the friend tyrannically. When
the friend’s will was broken, the Underground Man pushed him away.
After he left school the Underground Man broke all ties with his
former life. He even abandoned the “special service” for which he
had been trained, in order to pursue a humbler career.
The Underground Man spends the next day dreading and preparing
for the dinner. He imagines it will somehow prove to be a turning
point in his life. He examines his shabby wardrobe and discovers
a spot on his trousers that will make him look undignified in the
eyes of his dinner companions. He imagines the other men’s disdain
in elaborate detail, despairing that his predicament will be so banal
and “non-literary.” Still, the Underground Man wants to prove to
the others that he is not a coward. He entertains fantasies in which
he wins over all of his former classmates with his wit and intelligence.
At the same time, he maintains that none of his worries are important
at all. He passes the day in nervous agony until his “wretched little
wall clock hisse[s] five,” at which point he spends his last fifty
kopecks on a coach to take him to dinner.
Analysis
In the Underground Man’s description of Zverkov we see
the model for his later discussions of the active but stupid man.
The Underground Man has no respect for Zverkov, believing him to
be arrogant and dull-witted, but he is aware that Zverkov’s confidence
has won him many accomplishments, as well as friends and admirers. The
Underground Man fantasizes about Zverkov admiring the Underground
Man’s brilliance and sensitivity and offering himself in friendship,
and he reveals an intense desire to be liked and accepted by the
men he disdains most. This desire is colored by the Underground
Man’s egoism—he can only imagine being admired, not simply accepted
or liked—and his lack of experiences outside of books. As always,
the Underground Man’s fantasy takes a highly “literary” form, involving
dramatic and literary conventions.
