Comment on First Two Pages, The Painful Presence of Human Emotions

           Personally, I find the most interesting interpretation/comment made today was the observation by Rachel about the idea that the underground man would play with a doll or have a cup of tea if brought to him as an interpretation of some sort of feminine aspect of his character coming out. I feel that it does not necessarily represent any sort of womanly part of his character, but this classification that the act is given proves his point as to why he is so upset with himself that he might soften up enough to this. This fact is what makes the underground man so painfully aware of his humanity, the fact that he does have a soft spot and that he knows that this soft spot would be teased and he would be abused, as he abuses those around him, if he exposed this part of his personality. It is interesting that one of the things that gives the underground man the greatest grasp on humanity is the one thing he despises most about himself, it is almost as if he is conscious of the failures of humanity, therefore he wants to separate himself as much as possible.