Character Analysis: Simonov

Other characters in the book:

In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground, Simonov, an old school acquaintance of the Underground Man, plays a deceptively modest but significant role. Though he is neither as emotionally charged as Liza nor as symbolically potent as Zverkov, Simonov serves as a crucial narrative bridge and a subtle foil. He embodies the rational, pragmatic, and socially conformist type against which the Underground Man defines himself.

Simonov appears in Part II of Notes from Underground, which transitions from an abstract monologue to a concrete recollection. When the Underground Man reencounters Simonov, he is thrust back into the world of human interaction after pages of solitary theorizing. Simonov functions narratively as a mediator between the Underground Man and his former school circle, reintroducing him to the world of social gatherings from which he has long been estranged.

The Underground Man visits Simonov under the pretense of borrowing money, a move already laden with humiliation and dependency. At Simonov’s apartment, he overhears plans for a farewell dinner for Zverkov, another old classmate. Awkwardly inserting himself into the conversation, the Underground Man insists on joining the dinner despite the palpable discomfort of Simonov and the others. Later, Simonov reluctantly collects the Underground Man’s share of the dinner expense in advance, a transaction that emphasizes both the Underground Man’s economic insecurity and his social exclusion.

At the dinner itself, Simonov is less prominent than Zverkov or Ferfichkin, yet his presence as part of the group accentuates the Underground Man’s outsider status. Simonov’s pragmatic, unemotional demeanor contrasts sharply with the narrator’s hypersensitive self-consciousness. After the disastrous evening, the Underground Man berates himself for having imposed on Simonov and his circle. Thus, Simonov’s role in the narrative is twofold: he represents social normalcy and serves as a mirror that reflects the Underground Man’s alienation onto himself.

Psychologically, Simonov represents the type of acquaintance who is neither a close friend nor an outright enemy, but rather an indifferent peer. He does not display overt hostility toward the Underground Man, but neither does he offer warmth or genuine companionship. His interactions with the narrator are characterized by formality, pragmatism, and a weary tolerance.

This indifference is itself crucial. Whereas Zverkov epitomizes arrogance and social dominance, Simonov embodies mediocrity and conformity. His lack of passion or animosity toward the Underground Man highlights the protagonist’s hypersensitivity: he interprets Simonov’s neutrality as rejection, humiliation, or silent judgment. In this sense, Simonov functions as a psychological trigger, reminding the Underground Man of his alienation from ordinary human fellowship.

On a social level, Simonov embodies the mid-level, practical, well-adjusted type of Dostoevsky’s Petersburg society. He is not a visionary or a villain, but a man who knows how to navigate the small rituals of social life—hosting acquaintances, managing financial matters, attending dinners. His mediocrity is precisely what destabilizes the Underground Man: it is easier for the narrator to rail against towering enemies or ideologies than to cope with the dull fact of ordinary, socially functional individuals.

Simonov symbolizes the practical, average man of society who lacks the torment of hyperconsciousness. He is not brilliant, not heroic, not deeply flawed; he gets along. For the Underground Man, such mediocrity is both enviable and contemptible. It symbolizes the possibility of a life unburdened by paralyzing self-awareness, but also the conformity he despises.

Simonov represents the ordinary bonds of community and social order—gatherings, dinners, polite exchanges, that the Underground Man cannot manage. His pragmatic handling of situations, such as collecting money in advance, contrasts with the narrator’s irrational pride and erratic behavior. In this sense, Simonov symbolizes the functioning of society as a system of conventions, in contrast to the chaos of the underground.

More than hostility, indifference wounds the Underground Man. Simonov’s lack of emotional investment symbolizes society’s broader neglect of individuals like the narrator, who demand attention, recognition, and validation. Simonov reflects not hatred but disinterest, which exacerbates the narrator’s sense of irrelevance.

Simonov’s indifference highlights the social alienation of the Underground Man. In a modern, bureaucratic, urban society, individuals like Simonov embody polite detachment and functional relationships, while those like the narrator—oversensitive, self-isolated—find themselves excluded.

Simonov’s practicality, his concern with expenses, and his willingness to go along with social rituals embody a kind of rational pragmatism that Dostoevsky critiques. While such traits enable functioning within society, they also strip life of its deeper meaning. Simonov’s untroubled conformity contrasts with the narrator’s tortured individuality, raising questions about the cost of comfort and normalcy.

Simonov’s mediocrity amplifies the Underground Man’s existential plight. If Zverkov symbolizes arrogance and domination, Simonov symbolizes the world's dull indifference. Both are intolerable to the narrator, but Simonov’s quiet, unremarkable existence is perhaps more corrosive: it suggests a life the narrator could have lived, had he not been consumed by hyperconsciousness.

Though not a central character, Simonov plays a crucial role in Notes from Underground. Narratively, he reintroduces the Underground Man to the social world, setting the stage for the humiliating dinner with Zverkov. Psychologically, he embodies the indifferent peer, whose neutrality the Underground Man interprets as rejection. Symbolically, he represents mediocrity, pragmatism, and conformity—the social norm against which the Underground Man rebels.

Ultimately, Simonov’s significance lies in his exposure of the narrator’s alienation. By tolerating but not embracing the Underground Man, Simonov underscores the protagonist’s tragic inability to belong to even the most ordinary human circles. In this way, Simonov is not merely a background character but a vital part of Dostoevsky’s exploration of isolation, resentment, and the failures of human connection in modern life.