Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) was a Russian novelist, journalist and short story writer who discussed the psychological state of the human soul in several of his works, one in particular is Metro Notes; which was published in 1864. Notes from the Underground, had a great influence in the 20th century; the novel takes one man's inability to communicate with society and uses it to teach readers about the importance of other humans in our daily lives and how this affects the way we think, live, and learn. Although the narrator has become alienated from society, Dostoyevsky uses his knowledge of diction, style, grammar, and many other literary devices to show the reader that the narrator does not have the knowledge to communicate with another human being, thus giving a tortured man the task of defining what the narrator is. the meaning of life is for someone who feels neither love nor happiness nor sympathy, and who has no characteristics that constitute the human soul but who has everything that is materialistic. Many critics claim that the "underground man" is lost in society, but Ian Johnston has a lecture where he describes the "underground man" as a decision-maker "and he lives there by choice, by willful refusal or by inability to engage with other people in meaningful ways (Ian Johnston, paragraph 5). » Johnston, in his introduction, defines the word hero as follows: “Cultural heroes – of history or fiction – as we have encountered them thus far, almost all have some qualities in common. Above all, there is their capacity to act in the world, to make decisions, to execute them and to manage the consequences (Ian Johnston, paragraph 3). "Underground Man" has neither of these abilities, he overanalyzes decisions then chooses the naive choice of the two because he is afraid of society...... middle of paper ....../> .Cummings, EE “Review of Poetry.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. Internet. April 11, 2014. .Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Metro Notes. New York: Dover Thrift Editions, 1864. Print.Gale, Thomson “Underground Notes.” » Thomson Company. 2005-2006. Internet. April 11, 2014. Johnston, Ian. “Dostoyevsky: Notes from the Underground.” Dostoevsky: Notes from the Metro. Jonstonie. April 11, 2014. Stephanova, Victoria. “A question of credibility: the subjective narrator of the underground notes. » Brigham Young University, Provo: UT, 2008. Web. April 11 2014.