Notes From Underground Quotes

Notes from the Underground

Notes from Underground

Written in 1864, this classic novel recounts the apology and confession of a minor nineteenth-century official, an account of the man's separation from society, and his descent "underground."

Crime and Punishment

“Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky plunges into the mind of Rodion Raskolnikov, a destitute former student in the teeming, oppressive streets of St. Petersburg. The novel opens with a vivid description of Raskolnikov's impoverished existence, his room a mere “cupboard or box,” and the squalor he endures. Haunted by a desperate idea, he commits a brutal act: the murder of an elderly pawnbroker and her innocent sister, Lizaveta, with an axe. This act is not born of malice, but from a twisted theory that posits the existence of “extraordinary” individuals who are above the law and capable of shaping history. Raskolnikov sees himself as such a man, and the murder as a test of his own will and fortitude.