# Zverkov — Notes from Underground character guide

> Zverkov in Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Zverkov, Monsieur Zverkov, This Zverkov

**First appearance:** 0015-ii

## Snapshot

A handsome, successful officer and former schoolmate whose easy social triumph has made him the object of the Underground Man's festering envy and self-loathing.

## Who they are

At school Zverkov got the better of the narrator with casual, good-natured jests, and after they parted he rose through the service, cut the narrator in the street, and now commands a farewell dinner in his honor. He is not cruel so much as effortlessly superior, twisting and twirling in a theatre box to ingratiate himself with a general's daughters, and the narrator both worships and hates him. The dinner becomes the stage on which the narrator's need for recognition collides with his inability to behave, and Zverkov's indifference is the wound that will not close.

## Relationships

### [Apollon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/notes_from_underground_se/characters/apollon)

_social_

Apollon and Zverkov have minimal direct interaction, but Apollon's presence in the Underground Man's life indirectly highlights the class and social tensions the narrator feels toward Zverkov.

### [Trudolyubov](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/notes_from_underground_se/characters/trudolyubov)

_friendship_

Trudolyubov and Zverkov are former schoolmates and allies, with Trudolyubov acting as a loyal, physically imposing companion to Zverkov.

### [Liza](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/notes_from_underground_se/characters/liza)

_social_

Liza and Zverkov have no direct relationship, but Zverkov represents the type of man the Underground Man fears Liza might prefer over him.

## In the story

### [Part II: À Propos of the Wet Snow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/notes_from_underground_se/chapters/part-ii-propos-of-the-wet-snow)

A former schoolmate and officer, the object of the Underground Man's envy and hatred; the farewell dinner is held in his honor.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/notes_from_underground_se/chapters/iii)

A former classmate and officer, the subject of the farewell dinner; the narrator despises him for his swaggering and social success.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/notes_from_underground_se/chapters/iv)

Leads the group, treats the narrator with condescending courtesy, talks about a romantic conquest and Prince Kolya, and remains offended by the narrator's speech.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/notes_from_underground_se/chapters/v)

The primary target of the narrator's revenge fantasies; the narrator plans to slap his face.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/notes_from_underground_se/characters/zverkov
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/notes_from_underground_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/notes_from_underground_se/characters