Characters
Apollon
Apollon is the narrator’s house servant. He does not appear until the last
chapters of part 2, but readers quickly learn that Apollon and the narrator do
not get along. The narrator believes that Apollon puts on airs and acts as if
everyone is beneath him. Apollon is also very fastidious about his appearance,
which puts him at odds with the narrator. He is also very confident in himself,
which the narrator is not. In other words, although Apollon is the house
servant and the narrator is his boss, their roles appear to be reversed.
Apollon gets the best of the narrator not so much by what he says but by what
he does not say. He refuses to play verbal games with the narrator, for
example. If Apollon wants something, he merely appears in the narrator’s room
and stands in silence, staring at him. When the narrator withholds Apollon’s
wages and tells him that he must apologize for being so rude to him, Apollon
refuses. There is, however, one connection between Apollon and the narrator.
Neither character appears to be a man of action. Although they seem to detest
one another, neither makes a move to rid himself of the other. The narrator,
although he says he despises Apollon, does not fire him. And Apollon seems to
take the narrator’s abuse because he has grown accustomed to it.
Ferfichkin
Ferfichkin is a “Russianfied German,” who joins the men to celebrate Zverkov’s
leaving in the middle chapters of part 2. His role in this story is minor,
possibly representing the European man that the narrator chides throughout the
first part of the novel. Ferfichkin yells at the narrator at Zverkov’s dinner,
saying that someone should punch the narrator in the face. The narrator takes
this to mean that Ferfichkin has challenged him to a duel, something the
narrator has been wishing someone would do throughout the story. Nothing comes
of the challenge. Ferfichkin, like most other characters in Notes From
Underground, does not believe that the narrator is worth the trouble.
Liza
Liza is the only female character in the story. It is through Liza that the
softer or more pleasant side of the narrator is exposed. However, because she
exposes that side, she also opens up some of the narrator’s most vile emotions
as well.
If there is a hero (or heroine) in Notes From Underground, the narrator insinuates that it is Liza. She is the only one who does not dismiss the narrator because of his shabbiness and his lack of social graces. He rants and raves, throwing insults in her face, and although she is shaken, she does not run away. The narrator believes that Liza realizes he does this because he is so unhappy. He takes his frustrations out on her, which, according to the narrator’s vision of the loving couple, Liza does not take personally. She understands. She empathizes. However, she is also smart enough to move away. She knows that the narrator, although capable of speaking of sentimental emotions, is incapable of acting on them. The narrator’s words come from a book, not his heart.
His final insult, giving her money for their having sex, was the last straw. She is crushed. Readers do not know how this will affect her. She had decided that she wanted to leave the house of prostitution, but the story ends without the reader knowing what she finally resolves to do.
Officer
The officer is the first character to be introduced in the second part of the novel. He remains nameless and thus stands for...
(This entire section contains 1523 words.)
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a generalized view of the man of action. Readers are told little about him other than he is six-feet tall. The officer is the first example that the narrator offers of how people humiliate him. The narrator, bored with his solitary life, goes looking for some kind of sordid pain. He finds it in this officer, who embarrasses the narrator by picking him up and physically moving him out of the way. Then the officer ignores him. It is not clear if the narrator is more humiliated by having been carried away or in having been ignored—probably the latter. The narrator becomes obsessed with the idea of regaining his dignity by forcing the officer to give way to him. When the narrator finally succeeds, even though the officer still barely notices him, the narrator feels better. The image of the officer is repeated later when the narrator goes out to dinner with Zverkov, a very distinguished and successful officer. This first officer may also be, in a small way, a foreshadowing of Zverkov, who totally dismisses and humiliates the narrator.
Anton Antonych Setochkin
Anton is the chief of the narrator’s office, whom the narrator claims is his
only long-time acquaintance. From the instances that the narrator mentions with
Anton, there is no real friendship involved. The narrator seems to merely like
to sit in Anton’s presence. Because Anton is his boss and has connections with
other officials, the narrator might gain some kind of feeling of merit by being
near Anton and being allowed to sit in his house. The narrator also goes to
Anton when he needs money. When the narrator mentions sitting to the side and
listening to Anton’s conversations with other ranking officers, he represents
the scene as if he were a child listening to adults converse. In this way,
Anton might represent a father figure to the narrator in some strange way.
Anton is one of the few characters that the narrator does not ridicule.
Simonov
Simonov is a former schoolmate of the narrator’s. It is at Simonov’s house that
the friend’s of Zverkov meet to plan Zverkov’s farewell dinner. Simonov does
not have anything nice to say to the narrator and it is implied that he is not
happy with the narrator’s presence in his house, but he also seems to have more
patience with the narrator than the other men do. He waits, for instance, until
the narrator leaves his house without asking him to do so. He also loans the
narrator money and does not demand to be repaid. However, Simonov is not a
friend.
Trudolyubov
Trudolyubov is the third former schoolmate planning Zverkov’s dinner. His role
is very minor.
Unnamed Narrator
The unnamed narrator is the Underground Man. The entire story is told through
his eyes and his interpretation. He is a man of complicated emotions that
continually trip him up. His contradictions, it can be supposed, come from his
thinking too hard. He constantly tells the audience how intelligent he is and
admits that the more he thinks of one idea, the more the opposite thought
appears in his mind.
He is both arrogant and lacking confidence. He wants to love but is not willing to try because he is afraid love will eventually lead to hate. He often becomes obsessed with an emotion and takes some of the most ridiculous paths to follow his obsession to its end. However, he does have a good intellect. He sees clearly, when his emotions are held at bay. He knows that he is often unauthentic and is willing to admit it. He also is brave enough to illuminate his mistakes.
He shows through his own actions that men do not always do what is in their best interest. He also demonstrates that pain can sometimes be the source of pleasure. These are some of his arguments in the beginning of the book. He is a man of free will, and he will do almost anything, even contradict himself, to prove it. It is because he uses his free will that he feels alive. This also, more than anything else in his life, makes him proud. He might commit some of the most vile actions, but at least he has expressed his emotions, his personality, and his individualism in doing them. He sometimes acts out situations he has only read in books, but his Notes bare witness to his uniqueness.
Zverkov
Zverkov is the army officer who is about to leave the city and for whom the
dinner is planned. He is wealthy, handsome, well liked, and very social. The
narrator thus hates him. Zverkov is the epitome of the man of action. He sees
only the surface of things: money, prestige, financial successes, and status.
He does not understand the narrator, not that any other man in this story does.
In some ways, the narrator envies Zverkov. The way the other men plan the
celebration to honor him, the way they want to be around him, laugh at his
jokes, and play up to him—these are what the narrator secretly wants for
himself. But he is unwilling—and probably unable—to play the role that Zverkov
does. Zverkov gives no indication that he realizes the attention he gets is
meaningless. Zverkov loves it. He flaunts his popularity and his success. He is
the exact opposite of the narrator. Except that they are both men, they share
no similarities at all.
