Notes from the Underground Society and Class Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Constance Garnett's translation.

Quote #4

I found two of my old schoolfellows with him. They seemed to be discussing an important matter. All of them took scarcely any notice of my entrance, which was strange, for I had not met them for years. Evidently they looked upon me as something on the level of a common fly. I had not been treated like that even at school, though they all hated me. I knew, of course, that they must despise me now for my lack of success in the service, and for my having let myself sink so low, going about badly dressed and so on – which seemed to them a sign of my incapacity and insignificance. But I had not expected such contempt. Simonov was positively surprised at my turning up. Even in old days he had always seemed surprised at my coming. All this disconcerted me: I sat down, feeling rather miserable, and began listening to what they were saying. (2.3.1)

Actually, these guys hate him because he's a jerk, not because he's poor. The Underground Man simply blames his poverty for outcomes that are really the fault of his character.

Quote #5

I told him at once what my salary was. I turned horribly red.

"It is not very handsome," Zverkov observed majestically

"Yes, you can't afford to dine at cafes on that," Ferfitchkin added insolently.

"To my thinking it's very poor," Trudolyubov observed gravely. (2.4.26-9)

"Insulted? You insulted me? Understand, sir, that you never, under any circumstances, could possibly insult me." (2.4.84)

Zverkov clearly considers himself "above" the Underground Man, just as our narrator had claimed earlier.

Quote #6

It's a different thing. I may degrade and defile myself, but I am not anyone's slave. I come and go, and that's an end of it. I shake it off, and I am a different man. But you are a slave from the start. Yes, a slave! You give up everything, your whole freedom. (2.6.86)

The Underground Man imagines Liza to be a slave because of her social status (as a prostitute) and because of her poverty (she's in debt to her madame). But in fact, he referred to himself as a slave earlier, so it's clear that one's freedom isn't just a result of social status.