A man should not live past forty

      The Underground Man has definitely spent a lot of time analyzing his theories and statements since he constantly contradicts himself. In class we spoke about how the Underground Man does not want people to see that he can be walked all over so he creates this façade or fake personality to intimidate others. Like Mona said in class, he tells us one thing but then says he does not care what we think about him only to make himself seem bigger than he actually is. This is evident when he talks about how he receives enjoyment out of being rude to others. He truly is an intelligent man who sees both sides to the argument and cannot decide which one to do which in the end leaves him with nothing but his own thoughts.
       When he states that a man should not live past forty there are many ways someone can interpret that. He says that living past forty is a sin yet he wants to live up to eighty. In my opinion, he solely wants to live past the "normal lifespan" because it shows that he has something to stand up for. Also, it could relate back to our lectures we have done in class. Camille had stated that it could be related to the Kafka lecture when the 50-60 year olds felt left out when society shifted and at the same time it could be related back to the lecture on The Stranger. In The Stranger lecture, we discussed that with age, you learn more and you tend to have more distortions until you get to a point where you want to feel young again like a child and start to see the world with more clarity and less judgement. In a way, the Underground Man wants to live past forty so he can continue to learn and stop passing judgement on those around him. After forty, according to the Underground Man, you do not do much. You are inactive, you have already lived your life but there is still more to learn. You can learn from those who are younger than you and see something in a different point of view now that you are older and have lived through much more than when you were at forty.