Romance for Reality
According to studies done in psychology, children tell the truth more than adults. The question can then be asked, “Why do adults not also tell the truth as much as children?” Dostoevsky in Notes from Underground argues one’s truth is always self-biased and by utilizing Underground Man’s account of his life he demonstrates that people use romanticism to prevent disappointment from the reality of their own lives. Dostoevsky opens the notes with Underground Man stating, “I am a sick man… I am a wicked man” (Dostoevsky 3). On the following pages, however, Underground Man says, “I lied about myself just now when I said I was a wicked official… but as a matter of fact, I was never able to become wicked” (Dostoevsky 4-5). We immediately being with a contradiction of his character. The writer says one thing and then states he is lying. Dostoevsky uses the unreliable narrator to illustrate that a person’s words and views cannot always be trusted. At t...