PHL 366 Chapter Notes - Chapter 32-41: Chicken Coop, The Great Exhibition, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
12 Jan 2017
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The dystopia of a completely rational society: the crystal palace". The underground man mocks the utopian fascination with the idea of the crystal palace, an indestructible edifice that epitomizes rationality. He fears the crystal palace because he is unable to stick his tongue out at it. He then mentions that if the palace were a chicken coop, he would use it for shelter, but never call it a palace. If he desired a crystal palace, he would refuse to accept anything less such as the mundane accommodations of city life than that palace. If no one pays attention to his desires, he always has the underground. Chernyshevsky"s vision of a utopian society: a society in which each individual acts according to his or her rational interest. The crystal palace was an important symbol for the progressive thinkers and utilitarians of the 1860s.
