NICHOLAI KAVALEROV AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE«UNDERGROUND MAN» IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE

This article is devoted to the comparative analysis of two characters: “Underground man” (“Notes from Underground” by F. M. Dostoevsky) and Nikolai Kavalerov (“Envy” by J. K. Olesha). The narrator of “Notes from Underground” and protagonist of the novel “Envy” share a number of similarities in their world views, behavior, speech, character and psychological traits. Kavalerov has the whole complex of “underground traits”: he combines pride with desire for self-humiliation, he is prone to daydreaming, but is not capable of any practical activity. His relations with people are quite similar to ones of Dostoevsky’s hero. Further analysis shows, that Nikolai Kavalerov is a peculiar transformation of the “underground man” type in historical context of the twenties of XX century.

Dostoevsky, Olesha, Notes from Underground, Envy, underground man, Kavalerov, underground