The Double Annotated

The Double is a novella written by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published on January 30, 1866. The Double centers on a government clerk who goes mad. It deals with the internal psychological struggle of its main character, Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, who repeatedly encounters someone who is his exact double in appearance but confident, aggressive, and extroverted, characteristics that are the polar opposites to those of the toadying pushover protagonist. The motif of the novella is a doppelganger. Golyadkin is a titular councillor. This is rank 9 in the Table of Ranks established by Peter the Great. As rank eight led to hereditary nobility, being a titular councillor is symbolic of a low level bureaucrat still struggling to succeed.