The Most Interesting Man In The World

I find "Notes From Underground" to be one of the most interesting novels I have ever read. The underground man composes an air of mystery, complexity, and wonder. His imagination runs wild, and when he talks of the ideal gentleman having endless free will, I believe he's talking about himself. But his one remark in section IX about how all his talk was a joke interested me. Why would he even say it if it's a joke?

He doesn't want the reader to know that it's all true, and what he said from sections I through IX really are his grounded beliefs. His thoughts really related to what's been on my mind lately. Life is really all about the process and mystery of things. For example, I believe that there is true purpose to never finding out certain things, such as mysterious neighbors. If you knew all about your neighbors, sure you'd be comfortable with them, but things wouldn't be so interesting. It's the mystery that makes them interesting. But things like working for that mystery and finding a final product are what are really fun. Working on a piece of art can be alright, but what is the artist working towards? THE FINAL PIECE. It's that moment that really counts, when you've accomplished something.

The underground man clearly has a lot to say about everything, but I wonder one thing: why aren't we given a description of his appearance or the setting? As of now, I find it's better to not have a description, so we can use our understanding of his character to play that out in our minds. I'll revisit this question in later posts, but for now, here's what I think the man looks like.