by Namal Fiaz, September 29, 2023
The term ennui, a French loanword, describes a state of boredom induced by a lack of purpose and feelings of dissatisfaction with life. In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground, the narrative captures the reflections of an embittered, reclusive man whose thoughts are tightly chained by that very state. Several philosophical revolutions were simultaneously developing throughout Europe in the 19th century – namely nihilism, a glaring threat in Dostoevsky’s eyes. Published in 1864, Dostoevsky’s novella was a polemic against the Russian nihilist movement gaining traction in the nineteenth century. In Notes from Underground, the relationship between the narrator’s ennui and consciousness lead him to live a dreadful existence, one that rises directly from his nihilist mindset.
Nihilism is the supreme catalyst of the underground man’s ennui. In order to effectively analyze the role of ennui in the narrator’s consciousness, it is necessary to establish a brief philosophical definition of nihilism. The term was popularized following Ivan Turgenev’s 1862 novel Fathers and Children, in which it was contextually defined as someone who rejects authority and principles of all faiths. It follows the Latin nihil – “nothing” – implying the nihilist is ultimately “pursuing nothingness.”1 Additionally, this philosophy asserts a lack of an objective meaning to human life. Existential nihilism, a more developed concept, states that existence itself is ultimately pointless given that all action and suffering does not have a meaning.2 Efforts to create meaning are therefore impractical in their futility.
The unnamed narrator in the novella, the underground man, is an extreme nihilist. He eponymously lives underground alone in St. Petersburg after retiring from his work as a civil service officer, though his isolation is entirely self-imposed. His contempt for other human beings, skepticism of society, spiteful attitude, and eventual retreat to a life of seclusion are key influences of his nihilistic mindset. The character expounds on his beliefs in a series of confessional diary entries. His pessimistic outlook on life is derived from his intense self-awareness and critical nature, which naturally leads to – or rather intensifies – feelings of ennui. The underground man personally attributes his ennui to acute consciousness, claiming that “to be too conscious is an illness – a real thorough-going illness.”3 He explains the difference between men of consciousness – like himself – and the “stupid,”4 or direct men. Those who act on their thoughts and beliefs – direct men – are able to do so because their minds are at ease. In contrast, the underground man’s habit of dwelling on each thought, event, and emotion through deep analysis causes him to have an overactive and restless mind. He believes he is therefore burdened by his superior intellect.
“There in its nasty, stinking, underground home our insulted, crushed and ridiculed mouse promptly becomes absorbed in cold, malignant and, above all, everlasting spite. For forty years together it will remember its injury down to the smallest, most ignominious details, and every time will add, of itself, details still more ignominious, spitefully teasing and tormenting itself with its own imagination. It will itself be ashamed of its imaginings, but yet it will recall it all, it will go over and over every detail, it will invent unheard of things against itself, pretending that those things might happen, and will forgive nothing.”5
The acutely conscious man ruminates and dissects his thoughts to the extent of dehumanizing himself; he calls himself a mouse.6 Though it is of course a metaphorical statement, the lively imagery created by the underground man’s descriptions provide crucial insight into his self-perceptions: by shrinking such a person to the size of a small rodent – one that is known for its tendency to flee at the shadows of the slightest danger – the narrator characterizes himself as timid, self-conscious, and withdrawn. According to the underground man’s further commentary, the direct man, when seeking revenge, uses justice as a motive to commit the action. Meanwhile, the “mouse” is unable to do the same as his acute consciousness diminishes the emotion by dissecting it. He will overthink and create doubt in his own mind, and then rework it with other details and possibilities, all of which make his mind relentlessly spiral. The conscious man’s tendencies can be equated to thinking oneself to death. The narrator mentally torments himself out of boredom since his mental state renders him incapable of having a meaningful life and intimate human connection. By convincing himself that he is limited in his actions, the narrator remains stationary in the place he rents underground.
This inaction – called inertia7 – is another consequence of possessing an acute consciousness along with ennui. As a result of the narrator’s isolation, his existing ennui greatly reinforces itself through a melancholic, repetitive mechanism. With very little to keep him occupied, he traps himself in a cycle of rumination — an idle dweller in his self-constructed prison cell.The fight against ennui is very much a continuous and lifelong struggle. As exemplified by the character’s situation in Notes from Underground, nihilistic thoughts promote a swift resignation to even attempting to live a fulfilling life. The prevalence of this feeling of ennui, especially in current times, is largely due to the way many naturally begin to find comfort in its presence after a prolonged period of despair. The underground man has lived in his depraved hole for nearly two decades during the time of his writings, and he is thoroughly comfortable in his position; he finds solace in idleness. Breaking through the fog of ennui may bring about bouts of discomfort and anxiety that may discourage many people – avoidance is simply a more bearable response. However, in order to live a meaningful and authentic life, ennui requires direct confrontation. The act of acknowledging that one exists in a state of ennui itself is daunting, it may rouse uneasiness in an individual’s pride, among other things, but it is a necessary step towards a fruitful existence.
There is also a necessity, perhaps above all else, for conscious effort. Allowing ennui and nihilism to take over the conscious mind is akin to digging one’s own grave – while still alive – convinced that the only thing left to do is lie in it. In the face of absurdity – “an unfulfillable desire for complete fulfillment,”8 as defined by existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre – the happenings of daily life can appear bleak and devoid of meaning. An individual must therefore exercise conscious effort and recognize that they have the ability to construct personal meaning in life. Dostoevsky’s allegorical Notes from Underground serves as the first, and arguably the most profound, existential novel. His exploration of the human condition through the cynical underground man character conveys life in the depths of nihilism where free will is used to choose a path of misery. Unlike the underground man, people can use their abilities to take control of their situations, such as the hopelessness that ennui brings, and make decisions that lead to personal contentment. After all, knowing that we possess the power to make conscious decisions towards fulfillment, such as finding pleasure in the mundane, is the tide that washes us of misery.
Footnotes
1 Petrov, Kristian. “‘Strike out, Right and Left!’: A Conceptual-Historical Analysis of 1860s Russian Nihilism and Its Notion of Negation.” Studies in East European Thought 71, no. 2 (2019): 73–74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-019-09319-4.
2 Pratt, Alan. “Nihilism.” Internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Accessed October 15, 2022. https://iep.utm.edu/nihilism/#H3.
3 Kaufmann, Walter Arnold. “Dostoevsky: Notes from Underground.” Essay. In Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Edited, Selected, and Introduced by W. Kaufmann, 56. Thames & Hudson
4 Kaufmann, 59.
5 Kaufmann, 60.
6 Kaufmann, 60.
7 Kaufmann, 64.
8 Irvine, Andrew. “Existentialism,” 1998. https://people.bu.edu/wwildman/WeirdWildWeb/courses/wphil/lectures/wphil_theme20.htm.
Bibliography
Irvine, Andrew. “Existentialism,” 1998. https://people.bu.edu/wwildman/WeirdWildWeb/courses/wphil/lectures/wphil_theme20.htm.
Kaufmann, Walter Arnold. “Dostoevsky: Notes from Underground.” Essay. In Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Edited, Selected, and Introduced by W. Kaufmann, 52–82. Thames & Hudson: London; printed in U.S.A., 1957.
Petrov, Kristian. “‘Strike out, Right and Left!’: A Conceptual-Historical Analysis of 1860s Russian Nihilism and Its Notion of Negation.” Studies in East European Thought 71, no. 2 (2019): 73–97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-019-09319-4.
Pratt, Alan. “Nihilism.” Internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Accessed October 15, 2022. https://iep.utm.edu/nihilism/#H3.
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