Although the characters in the novella are fictional, they accurately represent the people and attitudes of the day. In the first half of the text, the Underground Man provides a background on his views and the development of his character. In the second half, he relates events from his life.

The unnamed protagonist, canonically known as “the Underground Man,” introduces himself: He is a retired 40-year-old collegiate assessor (a low-level bureaucrat) living in Saint Petersburg. He is in poor health, possibly from liver disease, though he refuses to go to the doctor, and he has a spiteful nature that manifests in a tendency for self-contradiction. He believes that it is impossible for intelligent people to succeed in his society and that “it is only the fool who becomes anything” (6).

When the Underground Man worked as a government official, he was rude to people for fun: He enjoyed seeing the “petitioners” (5) who came to him for information squirm. He did not take bribes, which was common for government officials at that time, so he took satisfaction in being a gatekeeper.