Today's Discussions

I feel that the last paragraph of the first chapter contains a few interesting points. First off, the narrator assumes that the reader wants the narrator to amuse him. This statement, or at least the way Dostoevsky writes it, has a feeling of superiority to it. It makes me, personally, feel that the narrator thinks that I'm looking for a simple, easy story for imbeciles.

The narrator claims in the previous paragraph (from the last one) that old age is a sin, yet he believes that he should live on. As discussed in class, usually people and animals are really alive as long as they are useful. This makes me believe that the narrator thinks of himself as useful, even after he is physically unable to contribute to society.

The final point is the last phrase of this chapter, where he inquires about what decent men talk about. He says that he will talk about himself, thus labeling himself as a decent, yet normal man completely shooting the concept of superiority out of the water.

Looking forward to tomorrow...