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Example research essay topic: Part Ii School Days - 1,391 words

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The UM starts out talking about the office he worked in when he was twenty-four: apparently he hated everyone there and likewise, they hated him. The narrative then derails while the UM describes the Russian national character, which he believes eliminates fools and elevates Romantics who appreciate the "sublime and beautiful. " Returning to his description of his life, he notes that he had no friends and was always alone, spending most of his time reading. He admits to satisfying his private desires in various "dens of vice. " The UM then describes an incident in a bar one night in which an army officer moved him away from a billiard table as though he were a piece of furniture. He said nothing to the man, but fostered deep seething resentment for this insult.

He would run in to this same officer in the street, and try to stare him down, but would always end up stepping out of the way for him (the officer never recognized him). He writes the officer a long letter listing his grievances, but does not send it. Instead he did es to meet the officer in the street and bump against him instead of stepping aside. The event, when it happens, is anticlimactic: he and the officer bump shoulders, and the officer continues on his way, seeming not to have noticed. The officer is late r transferred, and the UM never sees him again. The UM then describes how he would spend most of his time either depressed or dreaming of grand lives for himself, all of which involve becoming an important charitable man, beloved by all.

He remains caught between two extremes -- a hero or a hermit -- with no middle ground between the two. Sometimes, the UM immersed himself so deeply in the "sublime and beautiful" that he would be filled with a great love for mankind, and a deep desire to see others. On these days, he would generally go to visit his supervisor, with whom he was friendly, a l though the visits were always disastrous -- he would feel nervous and uncomfortable, unsure of what to say. These visits would temper his love of mankind for awhile. One day, in the midst of one of his better moods, the UM decides to visit Simonov, his only friend from his school days.

He did not have any other friends from school, having deliberately disassociated himself from what that painful period in his lif e. He expected Simonov to despise him, but this expectation only made him more intent on the visit. The chapter ends with him stepping into Simonov's apartment. For the first time, with the officer, we see the UM's self-described masochism in action. He feels insulted by the officer in the bar, and ashamed of his own cowardice. The UM is rarely capable of dealing with things actively.

He goes back to his hole and broods for a matter of years. There is a very long stretch of time during which the UM was obsessed with the officer, from the moving in the bar to the push on the street. And all of this is just as the UM described -- he becomes angry and insulted, a nd begins to find pleasure in his painful brooding. The UM's description of his workplace is very revealing. We have been wondering what experiences led the UM to his antisocial views, and here we begin to get some answers. His vacillation between arrogance and fear is very evident -- he either feels above his coworkers (more intelligent, more thoughtful), or beneath, like a coward or a slave.

His arrogance makes them despise him more. Lastly, the UM's delusions of grandeur further evidence his insecurity and obsession with being accepted by society. The officer comes to him and begs for acceptance. He has a flash of the "sublime" and wants to befriend his coworkers. He becomes a mil lion aire and donates all his money to various charities. Although these fantasies disgust him, he finds them to be "romantic" dreams which, despite his defense of the Russian Romantic in Chapter 1 of Part II, are pathetic to him.

Here we find another de ep contradiction in the UM's character: he is disgusted by romanticism, and yet succumbs to romantic fantasies. He also scorns these visionary fantasies, but distrusts societal rules as well. The UM is never able to integrate these two dichotomies. The UM finds Simonov already hosting two other of their school acquaintances, Trudolyubov and Ferfichkin. They are discussing a farewell dinner for another ex-schoolmate, Zverkov.

They take little notice of the UM as he enters. The UM then give s us an extensive description of Zverkov -- popular, very wealthy, now a successful officer in the army. The UM and Zverkov had never been friends, mostly on account of Zverkov's tendency to mock the UM. Stricken with the memory of Zverkov and his ex-schoolmates ignoring him, the UM invites himself to their dinner.

They react poorly, noting that he and Zverkov were never friends, and wondering whether he will have to pay for his meal. The UM stands his g round, and the three reluctantly agree to let him come. That night, the UM dreams of his terrible school days, which seem much like his description of work. From the outset, the UM felt different and scorned, and so he hid himself in "intelligence" and study, distancing himself more and more from his classmate es as he grew older. The UM also mentions that he was an orphan in this section.

After a day of nervous preparation, in which he concludes that all his clothes are far too shoddy, the UM heads off to the restaurant. The dinner goes badly from the start. The time had been changed without the UM's knowledge, so he has to wait for an h our before the other four men arrive; the wait humiliates him greatly. Zverkov treats him with condescension, leveling him with insults.

Throughout the meal, the UM antagonizes his old schoolmates with jokes about Zverkov's slight speech defect and the overall lacking intelligence of the group. All of this stems from his own insecurity about his shabby appearance and meager salary -- these men have enjoyed much more success than him. Finally, the UM gives an inappropriate offensive toast to Zverkov, wh ich nearly leads to a brawl. He spends the rest of the night brooding, and none of the other men talk to him. When they leave to go to a brothel, however, the UM begs to go with them, and asks Simonov for money.

Simonov, disgusted with the UM's behavior r already, gives him the money in disbelief. In the carriage ride, the UM fantasizes about striking Zverkov in the nose to avenge himself for the insults of the evening, and about reconciling with Zverkov and becoming lifelong friends. He arrives at the brothel to find that his compatriots have alr eady gone. He spots a young prostitute, and, on a whim, hires her with Simonov's money, noting how disgusting she must find him. In Part I, the UM tells us about his masochistic ideas of getting pleasure from pain: in this section, he deliberately decides to go the dinner because he knows it will bring him pain. Somehow, in bringing pain on himself, he is acting out his resentment t of his old schoolmates.

Thus, we can see how many of the themes introduced in Part I influence the UM's actions in Part II. Before the dinner, the UM fantasizes about winning over Simonov, Ferfichkin, and Trudolyubov with his wit and charm, and forsaking Zverkov. He then invites Zverkov over, and they toast to their eternal friendship. But there is arrogance in this vision a s well -- his insecurity prevents the UM from being comfortable among friends in a social setting. Zverkov's early jokes are not mean-spirited, but the UM takes immediate offense at them and must retaliate to "save his honor. " Romanticism has emerged as something of an undercurrent here. In the previous section, the UM defended the Russian Romantic as someone who sees things very clearly.

His defense of romanticism clearly mirrors his own caution about logic and law in Part I. During the carriage ride, he chides himself for his "romantic" fantasies about...


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Research essay sample on Part Ii School Days

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