Summary: Chapter IV
The Underground Man arrives at the Hotel de Paris twenty-five minutes
after dinner is supposed to begin, but he is the first to arrive. Discovering
that Simonov has ordered dinner for six o’clock rather then five
o’clock, he waits awkwardly in the restaurant, imagining that he
is disgraced in the eyes of the waiters. When Zverkov arrives with
the other dinner guests, he treats the Underground Man condescendingly.
The Underground Man is appalled that Zverkov might genuinely consider
himself superior to him. The other guests treat the Underground
Man with awkward politeness, although they make derisive comments
about his income and appearance. The Underground Man explodes at
them, insisting that he is not embarrassed and that he will be paying
for his dinner himself. The others are annoyed, and Trudolyubov
insinuates that the Underground Man is an unwanted guest.
Feeling “crushed and annihilated,” the Underground Man
sits down and drinks sherry in silence as the others laugh and talk.
He resents them and plans to leave. After a while, he delivers an
offensive and pointless speech to Zverkov. Ferfichkin responds with
a threat of violence, and the Underground Man challenges him to
a duel. The others laugh, noting that the Underground Man is drunk. Once
again, the Underground Man falls silent and tries to look indifferent
and disinterested. Secretly, however, he wishes he could make peace
with the other men.
The Underground Man watches the others drinking and making ridiculous
conversation. He paces loudly back and forth in the dining room
for three hours, but the other dinner guests ignore him. He considers
how much he has humiliated himself, thinking about how the others
do not understand how developed and sensitive he is. When they do
address a comment to him, the Underground Man guffaws disdainfully.
At eleven o’clock the other men make a move to leave.
The Underground Man begs Ferfichkin’s forgiveness, insisting that
if they duel, he will give Ferfichkin the first shot and then fire
into the air. The men answer him with contempt and leave together,
planning to go to a brothel. The Underground Man insists that Simonov lend
him six roubles so that he can accompany them. Simonov responds
with scorn, but finally flings the money at the Underground Man
and leaves. The Underground Man decides that if he cannot make the
men beg for his friendship, he will slap Zverkov’s face.
Summary: Chapter V
Here it is, here it is at last, the encounter
with reality.... All is lost now!
(See Important Quotations Explained)
The Underground Man hires a peasant coachman to take him
to the brothel where the others have gone, convinced that he can
redeem himself by slapping Zverkov. In the coach, he imagines the
events at the brothel: he will slap Zverkov and everyone will retaliate
by beating him—even Olympia the prostitute, who once laughed in
the Underground Man’s face. Eventually, Zverkov will have to duel with
the Underground Man. The Underground Man accepts that he will lose
his job, and tries to figure out how he will pay for pistols and
find a second for his duel. He does not have any close friends who
will act as second, but he thinks that anyone he asks will be honor-bound
to accept. He urges the coachman to go faster, but he is plagued
by doubt.
If Zverkov refuses to duel, the Underground Man will bite
him and allow himself to be sent to Siberia in disgrace. Years later,
he will return from Siberia and nobly forgive Zverkov for his dishonor.
The Underground Man then realizes that he has stolen this fantasy
from the plot of popular Romantic stories. In despair, he considers
turning back, but decides it is his fate to go on. He hits the coachman
in the neck with impatience. As the carriage continues through the
falling snow, the Underground Man feels that slapping Zverkov has become
inevitable.
