In Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, the underground man struggles between two opposing beliefs. The former recognizes that its fictional existence was predetermined, subject to the conduct of its author. This is the underground man's insistence that the only possible world in which humans can live is an indeterminate world that exalts and places free will within a human being. To try to solve this problem, the underground man turns to writing, to try to be honest with himself, to investigate why he is the way he is, and to not reject any truth that emerges, horrible or otherwise. Through this exercise, he comes to realize that his self-awareness sheds light on how little control he has over his actions even though he continues to believe in free will. This understanding within the Underground Man and acceptance by the reader humbly generates what I believe is a humbling message to the now hardened reader, who, after reading Notes from Underground, returns to their own indeterminate world with a new prospect. sense of duty. In the section titled “Underground,” the underground man discusses the notion of determinism. He claims that to accept this theory, one's actions are stripped of any ulterior motive. “That is to say, in life itself, [it] must be nothing more than two times two equals four – that is a formula; and two plus two is no longer life, gentlemen, but the beginning of death” (page 32). Furthermore, that believing that two plus two equals four, and that the result of four is immutable in the distant future, is something that the Underground Man refutes. For one's life to have meaning or validity, actions must be understood as non-robotic; an answer to this question must not only be unknown, but more imp...... middle of paper ......nd. The Underground Man concludes that it is impossible to discover oneself without feeling fear, and the potential to feel fear does not provide an excuse not to try, even if one is inside a book. But we are not the underground man. We are not characters in a book. We can hear the words and produce actions that transcend them. Our conscience will never allow us to understand the complexity of life; we don't live in a twice-twice world. If our future seems sealed, we have time at our disposal and the ability to use it for change. This concept is difficult to live with. It brings with it that rarest kind of pain: that which is removed only through acceptance and action. Once the pain subsides, however, you will emerge from that shattered lattice once called the underground, with a deeper and clearer understanding of who you are, who we all are...