Notes from the Underground

I have been re-reading "Notes from the Underground". The anti-hero thinks

that man's consciousness is his biggest enemy and also his strength as is man's

linguistic ability. For Dostoevsky, man is dual. Duality is man's existential reality.

Consciousness, language, refined culture and knowledge and also depravity

are the domains in which the underground man excels. These are not Dostoevsky's realm, though. The author thinks that only a Christ-like life in which man's ego is

sacrificed for his consciousness and his egotistical needs can make man develop

and evolve into a person capable of alterity. Ego erosion which is attained by

giving to others what our ego has and the capacity for unconditional love

are the only ways leading to true salvation for Dostoevsky.