In The Double, Dostoevsky plunges the reader into the world of a mentally ill man. The narrator describes what is happening in his character’s life and mind in a rather tedious, drawn-out manner: the protagonist’s mental “cud-chewing”, his constant fixation on how others regard him, his endless dialogue with himself about the purity of his intentions, the nobility of his soul and his high morals. All this incessant chatter gradually draws you in, and you sense that something is bound to happen that will put an end to this bad infinity. This expectation remains a mere feeling until the very end of the work, leaving the reader, who hoped for common sense, made a fool of.

Besides depicting the tragedy of a mentally ill man, the work has a vivid ironic tone. In this way it mocks not the illness itself but presents it as a symptom of a sick society. The protagonist takes himself, his “bright image”, so seriously and tries so hard to do everything “right” that he gradually becomes comic. Dostoevsky also touches on other burning issues, weaving into the plot parallels that were relevant for his time and remain classic in social and cultural life.