A Study on Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground from the Perspective of Psychology

The purpose of this paper is to examine Dostoevsky's main message related to human psychology through the psychological analysis of the underground man, the main character of 『Notes from Underground』. The underground man's excessive self-consciousness and inconsistent words and phrases are based on his psychology. What can be grasped through his psychological analysis is, first, that he has a contradictory self-image. As a hero in the mud, he always wanted to win the confrontation with others and be recognized as the one who dominated them. In the process, he abused, belittled, did not respect himself, and dominated and abused others. And in order to fulfill his role as a victor, he wore a mask and acted as in the book. The life of such an underground person can only be pretentious and full of smoke. His pretensions and lies are not because he is evil, but because of his sick psychology (narcissistic personality disorder). His narcissism did not expand outward, but contracted and distorted within himself. Second, underground man with low self-acceptance could not accept and love others even in their relationships with others. His negative self-image and distorted self-concept appeared as a distortion of relationships that prevented him from connecting himself with others and the world. A confrontation with an officer and a farewell party for Zverkov are typical examples in which he wrote a script for a confrontation (play) to taste a sense of victory and acted it himself. However, such acting does not show its effect in the meeting with Liza. He is ashamed of his mask, and Liza's sincere reaction and intellectual are unfamiliar, burdensome, and embarrassing. He even feels that his heart is beating, and rather than admit it, he regards Liza as an evil schemer and immerses himself in acting more and more to fight against it. However, unlike the previous relationship, the relationship with Liza showed the possibility of sympathy from the underground. Although it is a brief moment, he sheds tears with Liza. Liza's tears of pity when the underground man called her mean and snobbish aroused the underground man. It was because Liza, whom he regarded as an object to be humiliated and ruled over, rather pitied himself and showed humility, compassion and love. Dostoevsky once again conveyed the message that unless you know yourself (self-concept), have an appropriate self-image, love and accept yourself as you are, you cannot love and accept others and connect with the world. It is presented through human tragedy. Masks and acting will not be necessary for those who accept themselves with a healthy self-concept and self-image.