The underground man refers to himself as a mouse for his
hyper consciousness; as well as for his perception of himself. This
paradoxical, indecisive man knows that his intelligence is at an extremely high
level, yet he feels inferior and lesser than the people who surround him. A
mouse can be seen as a stranger in society; a being who does not belong. This
is how the narrator feels about himself, yet he also relates himself to a mouse
because of the meticulous and conscious characteristics that mice normally
have. This level of consciousness is the very thing that pushes mice away from
society and causes them to be inferior. Humans normally see this high level of
intelligence in a positive light, but the underground man, being the
contradictory character that he is, sees it as something that humiliates and
excludes him from the world. Which is why he hides in his hole, the same way
mice do.
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