Notes from Underground characters

Also known as The Underground Man

Appears from the start

The unnamed writer of the notes, a retired civil servant in his forties who lives alone in Saint Petersburg. He describes himself as sick, spiteful, and excessively conscious, yet repeatedly questions his own assertions and motives. He uses his isolation to challenge confident theories about reason, progress, and human happiness.

First appears in chapter 8

A senior colleague from the narrator's years in government service. The narrator remembers borrowing money from him and occasionally visiting his home, one of the few forms of social contact he can claim from that period.

First appears in chapter 13

A tall military officer who once casually moves the narrator aside in a tavern rather than confronting him. The small humiliation becomes an obsession: the narrator studies the man from a distance and constructs an elaborate plan to meet him as an equal on a busy street.

First appears in chapter 15

A former schoolmate whom the narrator sometimes visits despite disliking social calls. Simonov is preparing a farewell dinner for Zverkov when the narrator arrives and invites himself, forcing Simonov into the uncomfortable position of including him.

First appears in chapter 15

A confident former schoolmate about to leave Saint Petersburg for a military posting. His friends admire his charm and worldly success, while the narrator remembers envying and resenting him at school. A farewell dinner in Zverkov's honor becomes the occasion for their reunion.

First appears in chapter 15

One of Zverkov's former schoolmates and an enthusiastic participant in his farewell dinner. He has a long-standing hostility toward the narrator and responds openly to the narrator's attempts to provoke the group.

First appears in chapter 15

A former schoolmate attending Zverkov's farewell dinner. More conventional and restrained than Ferfichkin, he nevertheless shares the group's low opinion of the narrator and treats his disruptive conduct as an embarrassment.

First appears in chapter 20

A young woman from Riga working in a Saint Petersburg brothel. The narrator meets her after following his former schoolmates across the city. Quiet and attentive, she listens as he asks about her family and describes the bleak future he believes her present life will bring.

First appears in chapter 22

The narrator's elderly servant, formal, self-possessed, and unwilling to flatter his employer. Because the narrator depends on him while resenting that dependence, ordinary disputes about wages and manners become prolonged struggles for authority.