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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aboulia" data-source="post: 1551382" data-attributes="member: 16697">You're right about the general theme of bugmen, but, the Underground man is not a bugman. To be clear, a bugman is one who goes along with the status quo, not thinking too deeply, seeing no problems, but may feel discontent with the utter meaninglessness of his life.[MEDIA=youtube]ZFEA0-iqIeA[/MEDIA]The Underground man repeatedly rejects the categorization of bugman.To have a conscience that's constantly bothering you hinders you in a sick society. The bugman doesn't think about the structure underlying society, he only thinks of how he can climb the social hierarchy, he doesn't ask whether or not it's good to do so, nor the cost. The Underground man wants to excel in society (which is absurd in itself, knowing what he knows), but the values society have are so outrageous to him, and society moves so fast that, he doesn't have time to process all the information to think through how to act, for he wants to think about the consequences of his actions before he treads that path.At the time, it was a shot at Darwin and the evolution crowd, as evolution was used to justify treating people horribly. "We can brutalize you because it's in our natural interest to do so, everyone must follow their interests, and the laws of nature determine the strongest survive, therefore we're justified in what we're doing"That last paragraph is especially signifigant for today if you can't see how this applies to the "Trust the Science" crowd, read it repeatedly until it sinks it. To put it in the modern context "If the science leads to repulsive conclusions, why care what the "science" says?".Zherkov is rewarded by society for he doesn't need to think, just conform. He's good looking, easy going, with money, and uses his connections to his advantage, he's doing well to climb the social ladder, and has sees no issues about using his power to force others to do his will. He's oblivious to the moral aspect of things. He's the equivalent of a mask wearing, platitude spouting, upper management type.The Underground man on the other hand, is a very bitter, proud, and vain coward, he knows what he should do, but his sheer pettiness makes him the worst kind of creature imaginable. As this book is an attack on Western Rationalism, It shows how absolutely hideous the intellect can be without the corresponding virtues.The novel ends on a positive reminderWhat makes the Underground man who he is, is his total lack of thankfulness for what he has, and that he chooses to ignore the more rewarding satisfying path in life, and more than that, he knows that if he got what he was asking for, without the struggles and work involved, it would make it even worse for him, for he would become an even weaker of a person because of it, for people who once had power/fame/comfort, who can't stand to lose it, become like the character Gollum in LOTR if it happens.</blockquote>

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