Some critics see the Underground Man as insane, while others see him as a fairly lucid—if maladjusted

The Underground Man is the narrator of the novel. He is a solitary being, unable to make lasting acquaintances with others. Though he is poor, he has an extremely high opinion of himself, despising others for not recognizing his moral superiority to them. Though he rails against reason, he rationalizes everything. Through his narrative in Part I, he shows the despair of a man who accepts the deterministic ideas of the radicals of the 1860s but finds that emotions and hidden urges are stronger than reason. In Part II, the narrator recalls his youth and shows that his failure to relate to others is a result of his overly extensive education and culture. The Underground Man lives mostly in books and dreams, and is incapable of handling reality. He attempts to dominate everyone he meets, imagining duels with them when he fails and despising them whenever he succeeds.