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Hunter 5

Jordan Hunter

Professor Lopez

ENG 202: World Literature II

17 July 2021

Topic: Did Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “Notes from Underground” and Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” use the protagonists to illustrate alienation from society and family?

Thesis statement: In Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “Notes from Underground” and Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” both has a similarity amongst the literature narrative that illustrates in both protagonists alienation from society and family.

Annotated Bibliography

Bird, Robert. "Introduction." Translated by Boris Jakim. Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, edited by Kathy D. Darrow, vol. 238, Gale, 2011. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1420105020/LitRC?u=mill30389&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=953a91f1. Accessed 28 June 2021. Originally published in Notes from Underground, Eerdmans, 2009, pp. vii-xxiv.

Author Kathy Darrow takes a look into Fyodor Dostoevsky’s early life in an effort to show why the author can relate to the character The Underground Man in the novel “Notes from Underground.” It looks at Dostoevsky upon his return to St. Petersburg. The author was in his late thirties much like the Underground Man and suffered some isolation when he was in prison for ten years for conspiracy in December 1849. The ten years of isolation is contributed to the four years of time spent in a prison camp with a little over six years of military service. During this time of isolation, Dostoevsky spent most of his time reading the bible which contributed significantly to his new found belief that was displayed in his writing. In fact, the story is told by an anonymous narrator; however, the narrator is the protagonist of the novel who’s speaking about himself. The main characteristic of the protagonist is the fact that he is a spiteful forty year old man that lives in Russia in an apartment in St. Petersburg during the 1860s that don’t want to socialize with other people. While Dostoevsky did socialize with others, he was also very sickly. Therefore, the crucial years that was spent in isolation really was a period in the author’s life that seems to be what plays a major part in the creation of the protagonist in “Notes from Underground.” It was written in 2011.

Furst, Lilian R. "Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground and Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye." Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 378, Gale, 2015. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1100119517/LitRC?u=mill30389&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=b1ac9371. Accessed 11 July 2021. Originally published in Canadian Review of Comparative Literature/Revue canadienne de littérature comparée, vol. 5, 1978, pp. 72-85.

In this article the author Lilian Furst compares “The Catcher in the Rye with Notes from the Underground.” Furst shows how the two literatures of work display alienation from not only society but from themselves. Although the two works were written in completely different time periods, both main characters in each work exhibits alienation from society. The comparison is between the characters Holden Caulfield from “The Catcher in the Rye” and Underground Man from “Notes from Underground”. Although both character showed extreme isolation and was clearly spoke against society, neither one completely left the community that surrounded them. It shows how the two characters are torn between real life and what’s going on in their own private thoughts. Moreover, Dostoyevsky seems to be present in the narrative in “Notes from Underground” in the opening of the story and in the ending comments that lays the framework of alienation for the story. It was written in 2015.

Mukhopadhyay, Simantini. "Human Connection in the Light of the Writings of Karl Marx and Amartya Sen: An Investigation Using Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis and Manik Bandyopadhyay's Ekannoborti." International Journal of Social Quality, vol. 9, no. 2, 2019, p. 35+. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A649533192/LitRC?u=mill30389&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=28ffd4b6. Accessed 09 July 2021.

The article looks at alienation in the Marx’s concept. It looks into both alienation and antagonism to help understand why humans act and behave during certain situations. The author, Simantini Mukhopadhyay shows how humans use their own self interest to justify going into seclusion. He uses Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” to help illustrate how a man transcends from normal everyday life to finding solidarity by alienating from society and family. He uses events and circumstances that happen in the protagonist life that provokes isolation. Moreover, the author uses both Marx and Amartya Sen to discuss the authors of the novel to show the relation to alienation in the character with the author. In addition, it identifies how politics during the period the novel was written places a major role in the behavior of the character and proves to be an extremely important part in the driving force for the tone of the novel. It was written in 2019.

Sokel, Walter H. "Franz Kafka." European Writers: The Twentieth Century, edited by George Stade, vol. 9, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1990. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1479001230/LitRC?u=mill30389&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=5c11a680. Accessed 11 July 2021.

Walter Sokel explores the family and life of author Franz Kafka which will reveal similar characteristics in his most famous work, “Metamorphosis.” Kafka had five siblings and he was the oldest of the six however, two died at birth. His father started out poor and managed to gain wealth selling dry goods in Prague. Although Kafka’s father starts from poor beginnings, his mother family was wealthy. This show how there is a contrast between both parents and this too later affected Kafka and his style in writing. Kafka never really got along with his father; he often referred to his father as self righteous. This trait he felt he received from his father and he disliked that part of himself. Moreover, his grandmother on his mother side of the family committed suicide. All of these aspects were used to portray many of the characteristics of the story which eventually led to the main character taking on so many responsibilities that ended with his very own family alienating him. It was written in July 1990.

Terras, Victor. "Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground." Short Story Criticism, edited by Jelena O. Krstovic, vol. 134, Gale, 2010. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1420098363/LitRC?u=mill30389&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=92ae3260. Accessed 11 July 2021. Originally published in Dostoevsky's Polyphonic Talent, edited by Joe E. Barnhart, University Press of America, 2005, pp. 173-183.

The theme of alienation was present from the start of the novel. In fact, the name “underground” sets the tone of the novel. The word “underground” means below which implies that in the story the reader could expect a man that resides below everyone else. Additionally, it means that the man will be alienated from life and society. Terras’ research shows that during the time that the novel was written, Dostoevsky had financial and health problems and much of the feelings that he gave the character “The Underground Man” was some of his own. In fact, the author’s wife was gravely ill while he had an affair with another writer that was much younger. All of these horrible life situations and events that was happening in the life of the author left him very unhappy and feelings somewhat isolated from the rest of the world. These emotions showed in his work “Notes from Underground” and in the main character. The hopelessness, bitterness and isolation were the key traits of the character. It was written in July 2010.