DOSTOEVSKY'S UNDERGROUND MAN

DOSTOEVSKY`S UNDERGROUND MAN
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INTRODUCTION
It is often argued that majority of individuals tend to possess some basic drives, values or interests for instance usefulness in terms of productivity, economy and practice, health in terms of self-preservation and survival, pleasure especially in areas of sexual fulfillment and sensuousness, goodness in terms of community, ethics and socialization. They also tend to have drives with regards to worship which can be directed to role models, heroes and reverence towards God, knowledge in terms of truth-seeking and intellectual, beauty which is usually directed to the arts, good clothing and esthetics among others (Barnhart 2005). Psychologists such as Sigmund Freud and Abraham Maslow have in the recent past tried to come up with theories explaining these basic human drives in addition to understanding why they are in existence. Authors and publishers of well recognized works have also made efforts of discussing or looking at different basic human drives and values in their individual ways and understanding. F Yodor Dostoevsky is one such writer who is not only renowned for being the world`s greatest novelist but also a literary psychologist (Barnhart 2005).
The novelist was born in the year 1821 in Moscow where he developed an interest in writing in the course of his growing up. He dedicated his time to pursue this particular skill upon graduation after having quit his minor military post (Barnhart 2005). Being a literary psychologist, Dostoevsky perceived the world as being shaped by his experiences with social injustice. He got arrested in the year 1849 as a result of taking part in a group that not only printed socialist propaganda but also distributed the materials illegally (Barnhart 2005). He experienced hardships in the course of his 4 years following his arrest at a Siberian labor camp. It is after spending most of his time in Western Europe during the 1860s that he was motivated to publish Notes from Underground.
ESSAY
Brief Summary
Notes from Underground by Dostoevsky is considered to be a realism genre in that it generally pays close attention to real individuals, poor students, as well as those considered to generally dwell in the city (Barnhart 2005). The author published this particular book with the sole aim of portraying realism in its most complicated and difficult form. This particular novel played a major role in the creation of realist fiction as the narrative tends to provoke one`s mind regarding the margins of modern day society while taking a close look at the various effects modern day life has on a person`s personality (Barnhart 2005). The Underground Man is the main character in Dostoevsky`s Notes from Underground and acts as a vessel for the author`s main ideas as well as an illustration of the kind of challenges modern day Russia inevitably brought about (Barnhart 2005). The initial expression that read...