For dead souls. Analysis of Gogol's poem "Dead Souls
The poem by N.V. Gogol " Dead Souls"Lies the scam of its main character - the former official Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. This man conceived and practically carried out a very simple, but inherently ingenious fraud. Chichikov bought dead peasant souls from the landowners in order to mortgage them as living ones and get money for them.
In order to implement his idea, Chichikov travels throughout Russia. We see how he visits the landlords, finds an approach to each of them and as a result achieves his goal - receives dead souls.
It seems that everything of this hero is subordinated to his main goal. Even Chichikov's appearance contributes to the fact that, on the one hand, he is not particularly remembered, and on the other, he is taken for “our own” everywhere: “There was a gentleman in the chaise, not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin ; one cannot say that he is old, but not so that he is too young. "
This hero managed to get into the confidence of the first persons of the city N. Everyone - the governor, his wife, the prosecutor, and the postmaster - considered Pavel Ivanovich "the most amiable and courteous" person, the embodiment of decency and tact.
And all the landowners with whom Chichikov made acquaintance in the city, gladly invited him to their estate. Manilov, Korobochka, Sobakevich, even Plyushkin - Chichikov managed to find a common language with everyone, was able to identify their weak points and, influencing them, achieve his goal. So, with Manilov Chichikov - the very nobility and good breeding: “Clever girl, darling! Chichikov said to this. - Tell me, however ... - he continued, addressing the Manilovs with a certain look of amazement, - in such years and already such information! I must tell you that this child will have great abilities. " With Korobochka "Chichikov, despite his gentle look, spoke, however, with more freedom than with Manilov, and did not stand on ceremony at all." With Sobakevich, the hero is as rude and assertive as his interlocutor; with Plyushkin, he is cunning and calculating.
Only with Nozdrev Chichikov could not find a common language. This is not surprising - people like Nozdryov do not lend themselves to any study or analysis. Their distinctive features are unpredictability, randomness, unbridled strength.
In the end, Nozdryov, with the involuntary help of Korobochka, exposes Chichikov at the moment when he was very close to his goal. The hero has to "take his feet" out of the city, abandoning his plan for a while. But we have no doubt that he will not abandon his "enterprise".
Of course, the type and character of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is unique. With cunning, subtle knowledge of life and people, everyday ingenuity, perseverance, this hero surpasses most people. To understand the origins of his character, Gogol describes the childhood of his hero, the conditions in which he was brought up: "The origin of our hero is dark and modest."
Chichikov's childhood was dull, gray and lonely. He had no friends, at home Pavlusha did not know warmth and affection, but only instructions and reproaches. After some time, the hero was assigned to the city school, where he had to exist completely independently. Before leaving, his father gave Paul an admonition: “… please your teachers and leaders most of all. If you will please your boss, then, although you will not have time in science and God has not given talent, you will go into action and get ahead of everyone. "
In addition, he punished his son not to have friends, and if he had someone to hang around with, then only with wealthy people who could help in something. And most importantly, the father ordered Pavlusha to "save a penny." In his opinion, only money are true friends in life.
Paul made these words his life credo. Perhaps these were the only words that the father said to the hero in a warm friendly conversation. That is why, as it seems to me, Chichikov remembered them for the rest of his life.
And the hero began to embody his father's covenant in life. He fawned at the teachers, tried to be the most obedient and exemplary student, albeit to the detriment of his classmates. In addition, Pavlusha dealt only with the children of wealthy parents. And - I saved every penny. Chichikov tried to make money in all possible ways, and he succeeded.
Further, the hero continued to go to his goal in all ways available to him. It is important that Chichikov considered it possible to violate any moral law: he was the only one who did not give money to a sick teacher, wanted to marry an unloved girl for the sake of her rich dowry, plundered government property, and so on.
Fate ruined the hero's plans many times, leaving him at the "broken trough". But Chichikov did not give up. His perseverance and self-confidence evoke involuntary admiration. And now Pavel Ivanovich comes up with an idea, brilliant in its simplicity, - to enrich himself at the expense of dead souls. And he begins to carry out his adventure ...
It would seem that Chichikov is a complete scoundrel and a swindler. But not everything is so simple, in my opinion. Why did the hero want to save up a lot of money? His dream is a dream an ordinary person: Pavel Ivanovich wanted a home, a family, honor and respect, comfort. He wanted everything that most people in this world want. But for the sake of achieving his goal, Chichikov was ready for anything, he was ready to step over any moral law and moral principle. This Gogol "could not forgive" the hero.
Thus, Chichikov, thanks to his nature and the principles developed in him since childhood, was almost able to carry out a scam with dead souls... There is no doubt the great potential of this hero, his powerful inclinations. The only pity is that he sent them to the implementation of the "unrighteous" cause. It is about this, in my opinion, that Gogol grieves most of all in relation to Chichikov.
Gogol wrote his work "Dead Souls" for 17 years. During this period, his idea has changed several times. As a result, the poem presents us with a comprehensive picture of the contemporary author of Russia.
It is important to note that Gogol defined the genre of his work
Like a poem. This is no coincidence, because in his creation the author devoted a huge place to the human soul. And the very title of the work confirms this. By the expression “dead souls,” Gogol meant not only the revision souls of dead peasants, but also those buried under the petty interests of the lives of many people.
Carrying out his idea, Chichikov travels almost all over Russia. Thanks to his journey, a whole gallery of "dead" souls appears before us. These are the landowners Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin, and officials of the provincial town of N, and Chichikov himself.
Chichikov pays visits to the landlords in a certain sequence:
From less bad to worse, from those who still have a soul to completely soulless.
The first to appear before us is Manilov. His soullessness lies in fruitless daydreaming, inactivity. Manilov leaves a trace of these qualities on everything in his estate. The choice of the place for the manor house is unsuccessful, the claim to thoughtfulness is ridiculous (a gazebo with a flat dome and the inscription “Temple of Solitary Meditation”). The same indolence is reflected in the furnishings of the rooms of the house. The living room has beautiful furniture and two armchairs, covered with matting. In the office there is a book "with a bookmark on page fourteen, which he has been reading constantly for two years." In words, he loves his family, peasants, but in reality he does not care about them at all. Manilov entrusted the entire management of the estate to a rogue clerk, who ruins both the peasants and the landowner. Idle daydreaming, inactivity, limited mental interests, with an apparent culture of culture, allows us to classify Manilov as an “idle nebokoptitel” who don’t give anything to society.
In search of Sobakevich, Chichikov ends up with the landowner Korobochka. Her soullessness expresses itself in strikingly petty interests in life. Apart from the prices for hemp and honey, Korobochka doesn't care about anything else. She is strikingly stupid (“cudgel-headed,” as Chichikov called her), indifferent and completely cut off from people. The landowner is not interested in anything that goes beyond the boundaries of her meager interests. When Chichikov asked if she knew Sobakevich, Korobochka replied that he didn’t know, and therefore he didn’t. Everything in the landowner's house looks like boxes: the house is like a box, and the yard is like a box filled with all kinds of living creatures, and a chest of drawers is a box with money, and a head is like a wooden box. And the very name of the heroine - Korobochka - conveys her essence: the limitations and narrowness of interests.
Still striving to find Sobakevich, Chichikov falls into the clutches of Nozdryov. This person is one of those who “will begin with a stitch, and end with a reptile”. Nozdryov is gifted with all possible “enthusiasm”: an amazing ability to lie unnecessarily, to cheat at cards, to change for anything, arrange “stories”, buy and burn everything down. He is endowed with breadth of nature, amazing energy and activity. His death lies in the fact that he does not know how to direct his "talents" in a positive direction.
Then Chichikov finally gets to Sobakevich. He is a strong master, a “fist”, ready for any fraud for profit. He does not trust anyone: Chichikov and Sobakevich simultaneously pass money and lists of dead souls from hand to hand. He judges city officials by himself: “A fraudster sits on a fraudster and drives a fraudster”. The pettiness and insignificance of Sobakevich's soul is emphasized by the description of things in his house. Each of Sobakevich's items seems to say: "And I, too, Sobakevich!" Things seem to come to life, revealing "some strange resemblance to the owner of the house", and the owner himself resembles a "medium-sized bear."
The soullessness of Sobakevich took on completely inhuman forms in Plyushkin, whose peasants "died like flies." He even deprived his own children of the means of subsistence. Plyushkin completes the gallery of landowners' "dead souls". He is “a hole in humanity”, personifying the complete disintegration of the personality. This hero is given to us in the process of degradation. In the past, he was known as an experienced, enterprising, and economic landowner. But with the death of his beloved wife, suspicion and avarice increased in him to the highest degree. The senseless hoarding has led to the fact that a very rich owner starves his people, and his reserves rot in barns. Complete soullessness is characterized by a pile of rubbish in the middle of his room - he himself has turned into rubbish, devoid of all human characteristics. He is more like a beggar than a landowner, a man without clan and sex (either a housekeeper, or a housekeeper).
The gallery of “dead souls” is complemented by images of officials from the county town N. They are even more impersonal than the landowners. This is a "corporation of office thieves and robbers." All of them are loafers, “mattresses”, “bobaks”. The deadliness of officials is shown in the scene of the ball: people are not visible, dress coats, uniforms, muslins, atlases, ribbons are everywhere. Their entire interest in life is focused on gossip, petty vanity, envy.
And serf servants, being subordinate to soulless masters, themselves become the same (for example, the black-footed girl Korobochka, Selefan, Petrushka, uncle Mityai and uncle Minyai). And Chichikov himself, according to Gogol, is soulless, because he only cares about his own profit, not disdaining anything.
Paying great attention to “dead souls,” Gogol shows us the living as well. These are images of deceased or fugitive peasants. These are Sobakevich's peasants: the miracle-master Mikheev, the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov, the hero Stepan Probka, the skilled stove-maker Milushkin. They are also the fugitive Abakum Fyrov, the peasants of the revolted villages of Vshivaya-arrogance, Borovka and Zadirailov.
It seems to me that Gogol's view of contemporary Russia is very pessimistic. All his "living" souls are dead. Allocating a huge place to the description of "dead souls", Gogol nevertheless believes that in the future Russia will be revived with the help of the souls of the "living". This is what the lyrical digression about “Rus Troika” at the end of the poem tells us: “The bell is filled with a wonderful ringing. everything that is on the earth flies past, and sideways sideways and other nations and states give way to it ”.
One of the great books written by N. V. Gogol is Dead Souls. Reviews of many contemporaries of Nikolai Vasilyevich, those who knew him closely, indicate that the writer did not leave the feeling of his own significance. He perceived himself as a person who is called to some great cause.
The first volume of the poem and its copy
It was this book that became his huge contribution to the history of literature. Gogol began to work on it back in the eighteen hundred and thirties, immediately after the success of his stories. This is the time of intensive communication between the writer and Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, who suggested the plot " Dead souls".
Nikolai Vasilievich received censorship permission to publish the first volume in the forty-second year of the 19th century, not without difficulty. Some amendments were made to the text against the will of the author. The title of the poem was changed. But nevertheless, the book still came to the reader.
It was published in the printing house of Moscow University. The writer himself called the book or the Adventures of Chichikov. "This gave some of the features of an adventure novel to the work. Gogol even managed to come up with appearance to your publication.
The scientific library still contains a clerk's copy, which is certified by the autograph of Nikolai Vasilyevich himself, which confirms the authenticity of this text. And any reprint of a work is verified with this particular copy, which is kept within the walls of Moscow University.
The work "Dead Souls". Reviews of contemporaries and genre
Since the book was published under the title "The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls", it in many ways seemed to resemble an adventure, light novel that did not set the reader up for anything high. So thought the censors and those who decided to change the title.
And modern literary researchers studying the work "Dead Souls" (their reviews are much more objective than the opinion of editors living in the era of Gogol), first of all, note that the work has a rather unusual designation - a poem. The nineteenth century reader is accustomed to the fact that a given genre should be written in verse, like "Demon" or " Prisoner of the Caucasus"And Nikolai Vasilievich offers it in prose. Just as Alexander Sergeevich previously presented his no less unique creation" Eugene Onegin ", which is a novel, but in verse. These are two special works that have their own, no matter what similar genre.
But there were also ancient poems, and designating his book with this genre, Gogol was guided precisely by antique samples. In his mind, there was a large-scale, global concept of a great work, which was supposed to consist of three volumes.
Large-scale design and everyday problems of characters
Today, very many are familiar with this magnificent work, which was written by N.V. Gogol. "Dead Souls" is a rather epochal, lyrical-epic creation in which the author strove to glorify the whole of Russia and the greatness of its national spirit. But most of all the readers were struck by the discrepancy between two things: on the one hand, the large-scale scope of the work, and on the other, some insignificant everyday events from modern Russian life.
One with the other does not seem to fit at all. Even the very beginning of the poem sets up an uncertain and alarming mood, when the plot is discussing some insignificant details about the entry into the city of the character of the book.
The meaning of the title of the work
What is the basis of the title of the book created by Gogol ("Dead Souls")? After all, the soul cannot be dead, it is immortal. Such a title carries with it a paradox. But here there is another very important motive for Nikolai Vasilyevich - this is the sale of the soul. In this case, the association immediately arises with a deal with the devil.
Seduction, evil and demonic origin in life - that's what is present in the most ordinary events. This is what the writer wanted to emphasize in his work "Dead Souls", the content of which, at first glance, does not set the reader up for serious reflection. In order to understand the author's intention, it is necessary to familiarize yourself in detail with his manner of writing.
The capitalist system or the intervention of the devil
The satirical nature of Gogol's narration in Dead Souls was quickly accepted by both his contemporaries and descendants. But for himself, Nikolai Vasilyevich was primarily a mystical writer. For him, what happens on the wrong side of life is more important.
He certainly represents Chichikov as the devil. The one who buys souls. And, for example, the landowners in Dead Souls, which are generously scattered throughout this book, become inconspicuous hellish characters. Or "jug snout" - an expression with which officials have been teased for a whole century. The description quite clearly matches the appearance of a devil with a patch.
This is what is very important. Gogol not only criticizes the capitalist consciousness in Russia, he emphasizes that such a system is a direct intervention of hell in people's lives. And the images in Dead Souls are direct evidence of this.
Selling dead souls
All events occurring in the work seem to obey the law. That is, until a new census of the serf population has taken place, no one knows that these people are dead. Therefore, they are legally acquired alive.
Despite all the inhumanity of such procedures, they were performed all the time. And people passed from one hand to another, like things. This is precisely what Gogol wanted to emphasize. "Dead Souls" is a work that, not without reason, criticizes not only the inequality of personalities, but also the very imperfection of the order that was present at that time in Russia.
Lack of logic, or the Phantasmagoric world
Several incongruities entail a lack of logic in events. From the very first pages, the reader is immersed in some kind of phantasmagoric world, where it is already completely incomprehensible whether realities are acting, or whether it is no longer Russia, but its shadow. Some transcendent, otherworldly space, where everything is recognizable and at the same time inverted. This is how the great plan is confirmed, which N.V. Gogol. "Dead Souls" were supposed to consist of three volumes, and each of them would reflect a certain instance: hell, purgatory and paradise. And the first volume is the hellish, otherworldly, seamy side of Russia.
Characters of an unusual work
And the question immediately arises: "What kind of people live in such a world?" It is quite difficult to answer it. Many characters in the work do not have names at all, others do, but they are speakers, referring the reader to comedies.
Gogol presents a whole gallery of types of people. Each of them personifies some property of the human character. For example, Manilov is daydreaming, Nozdryov is swaggering, senseless breadth, Plyushkin is stinginess. But the landowners in "Dead Souls" mainly reflect the lowest qualities that are present in the life of society.
The presence of biographies of the heroes of the work
A lot in Gogol depends on whether the hero has a biography or not. From this, first of all, its characteristics depend. Dead Souls has a huge number of characters, but not everyone has their own background.
About Manilov, the author says that he has been married for about eight years. There is a little more about Sobakevich, but about Chichikov and Plyushkin is told in great detail. Not only about what they are now, but also about their past, and even about their childhood. They fell below other heroes of the work, but according to the philosophy of Nikolai Vasilyevich, this means that they can still be saved, they have depth. This is what provided them with a biography in the work.
If we take those readers who first got acquainted with the work "Dead Souls", their reviews and opinions agree that Chichikov's character is the most mysterious. Either this is a petty adventurer, or the personification of hellish temptation. It is very difficult to say unequivocally.
Lyrical digressions in the creation of Gogol
The lyrical digressions present in the book of Nikolai Vasilyevich, the direct addresses of the narrator to the reader, are quite important. And one of the brightest is at the end of the first volume of Dead Souls.
Here the famous Gogol's question sounds: "Russia, where are you rushing!" But there is no answer to this remark. And this silence is a very loud chord at the end of the piece. The further path of Russia is not clear. And how can it be predicted if this is a country where the hellish and the righteous, the real and the fantastic, are so intricately intertwined.
This work caused the most contradictory responses, because in Russia at that time the need for reforms, the abolition of serfdom was already acutely felt, and Nikolai Vasilyevich loudly declared the need for the moral education of each member of society.
In Soviet times, schoolchildren were explained that the main pathos of "Dead Souls" is the denunciation of serfdom and soulless bureaucracy. Simply put, a caustic social satire. Now, according to Doctor of Philology Vladimir Voropaev, the emphasis is on something else: on the moralizing of Gogol (all these "Box as an image of stupidity", "Plyushkin as an image of greed"), on artistic features Gogol's text. But what was most important to Gogol himself in Dead Souls is hardly ever spoken about.
- Vladimir Alekseevich, what exactly is not noticed today in Dead Souls?
If now you ask not only ninth-graders, but even teachers, then few people will answer why the poem is so called, in what sense these dead souls are dead. Meanwhile, Gogol has a clear, precise answer: both in the poem itself and in his deathbed notes. On the eve of his death, addressing his compatriots, he urged: “Be not dead, but living souls. There is no other door besides the one indicated by Jesus Christ ... ”That is, souls are dead because they live without God. And this, the most important thing, is often not explained to schoolchildren.
- And here is the question that all schoolchildren have: why is Dead Souls called a poem? After all, this is prose!
This question arises not only among today's schoolchildren, but also among Gogol's contemporaries. The word "poem" as applied to a prose work greatly confused them. It was said that Gogol jokingly called his book that way. He's a joker, a comedian, he "by status" is supposed to joke. I strongly disagreed with this opinion. In 1842, in his first article on Dead Souls, he wrote: “No, in earnest he called his novel a poem by Gogol. And he didn't mean a comic poem by that. And it's sad to think that this lofty lyrical pathos, these singing, thundering praises of the national self-consciousness blissful in itself (that is, lyrical digressions - approx. V. Voropaeva) will not be available to everyone. A lofty inspirational poem will go for the majority as an amazing joke. "
If we consider Dead Souls from the standpoint of modern literary criticism, then, of course, they can be considered a novel - there are signs of a novel there. Nevertheless, this work is so poetic that the definition of "poem" looks quite natural. Yes, this is not the kind of poetry that we are accustomed to, not a syllabo-tonic verse, where there is rhyme and meter - but in terms of imagery, in the concentration of thoughts and feelings, this is exactly what poetry is, complex and delicately organized. Please note that all lyrical digressions are strictly in their places, none of them can be shortened or moved without prejudice to the overall impression of the text.
The difficulty is also in the fact that we still do not know what a poem is. All attempts at a single static definition fail. Too ambiguous phenomenon. And Pushkin's " Bronze Horseman"- a poem, and Nekrasov's" Who Lives Well in Russia ", and" Vasily Terkin "by Tvardovsky. By the way, Ivan Turgenev argued that for people like Gogol, aesthetic laws are not written and that he called his Dead Souls a poem, and not a novel, there is a deep meaning. "Dead Souls" is really a poem - perhaps an epic one ...
The cover for the first edition of Dead Souls was painted by Gogol himself: houses with a well crane, bottles with glasses, dancing figures, Greek and Egyptian masks, lyres, boots, barrels, sandals, a tray of fish, many skulls in graceful curls, and crowned the whole this bizarre picture of the rapidly rushing troika. In the title the word "POEM" was striking, in large white letters on a black background. The drawing was important for the author, as it was repeated in the second lifetime edition of the book in 1846.
The well-type crane, Greek masks, human faces, a rushing troika - and the word "poem" is written in large print, larger than the name. From this we see that this was important for Gogol, and such a genre definition was associated with the general concept, with the second and third volumes, which were promised to the reader in the last, 11th chapter of the first volume.
But here's what's interesting. Belinsky, who in 1842 undoubtedly considered Dead Souls a poem, soon changed his mind. After the second edition came out, in 1846, he wrote another article in which he continued to praise the book, but its tone was already changing. Now he sees in it “important and unimportant shortcomings,” and among the important shortcomings he regards the very lyrical digressions that he admired so much four years ago. Now these are no longer "thundering, singing praises", but "lyric-mystical antics", which he advises readers to skip. What's the matter? And the fact is that by this time Belinsky had a polemic with Konstantin Aksakov, who compared Gogol with Homer, and Dead Souls with Odyssey. Belinsky categorically did not like such comparisons, and so that there was no temptation to call "Dead Souls" an "Odyssey", he began to assert that it was just a novel, and by no means a poem.
- And who was right in this controversy? Maybe Dead Souls really is a Russian Odyssey?
Gogol was compared to Homer by many contemporaries, not only Aksakov. There is some grain of truth here. Indeed, Gogol knew Homer's poems: the Iliad translated by Nikolai Gnedich, and about the Odyssey translated by Zhukovsky (published in 1849), he wrote an article in the book Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends.
Without a doubt, Gogol was guided by Homer. "Dead Souls" is the same epic view of the world as his. Yes, some parallels can be drawn. However, the goals, objectives and artistic worlds there are completely different.
In general, both contemporaries and descendants compared Gogol's poem with a lot. For example, with the light hand of Prince Peter Vyazemsky, there was a comparison with Dante's "Divine Comedy". Like, both there and there are three-part structure. Dante has Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, and Gogol has three volumes announced. But "Dead Souls" has nothing more in common with "The Divine Comedy". Neither content nor literary method.
Resurrected - if they want
- What task did Gogol set himself when he began writing Dead Souls?
I must say right away that Dead Souls is the central work of Gogol, in the creation of which he saw the meaning of his life. He was convinced that the Lord gave him the gift of writing in order to create "Dead Souls". The famous memoirist Pavel Annenkov said that Dead Souls "... became for Gogol that ascetic cell in which he fought and suffered until he was carried out of it lifeless."
As you understand, in order to expose the shortcomings of the autocracy, one could do without the "ascetic cell", and it would not have been necessary to go to Jerusalem to pray it was a difficult and dangerous journey at times). Naturally, the goals and objectives were completely different.
Just starting work on the poem, Gogol writes: “I began to write“ Dead Souls ”. In this novel I would like to show at least one side of the whole of Russia ”. That is, at the very beginning, he sets a grandiose task. And then the idea grew, and he already writes: "Huge, great is my creation, and it will not end soon." He intended to depict the whole of Russia no longer from one side, but entirely. Moreover, "to depict" means not just to show some external features with bright colors, but to answer the deepest questions: what is the essence of the Russian character, what is the meaning of the existence of the Russian people, that is, what is God's Providence for the Russian people, and what ulcers interfere with the Russian people to realize God's Providence, and how can these ulcers be healed?
He himself said that in the poem he wanted to show the Russian person himself, all the advantages and all the shortcomings, so that the path to Christ was clear for everyone.
The testimony of Alexander Matveyevich Bukharev, in the monasticism of Archimandrite Theodore, a man of a very difficult fate, has been preserved. He knew Gogol when he was still teaching at the Academy of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, arranged meetings with Gogol with his students, and in 1848 he wrote the book Three Letters to Gogol. And there is such a note: “I asked Gogol how Dead Souls would end. He seemed to find it difficult to answer this. But I only asked: "I want to know if Chichikov will come to life properly?" And Gogol replied: "Yes, it will certainly be," and that his meeting with the tsar would contribute to this. " “What about the other heroes? Will they be resurrected? " Father Theodore asked. Gogol replied with a smile: "If they want to."
But here's what is important: in addition to the individual path of each person to Christ, the individual struggle with their sins, speech, according to Gogol, can be about the whole nation. Not only individual Chichikovs, Manilovs, Sobakevichs and Plyushkins can repent and be spiritually reborn - but the whole Russian people can do it too. Gogol was going to show the way to such a revival in the second and third volumes of Dead Souls.
And why, by the way, is it about the Russian people? Many believe that the heroes of Dead Souls show universal human qualities, regardless of, so to speak, the circumstances of place and time ...
Of course, this approach is fair. Indeed, not only Russian people, but also any other have those positive and negative qualities that we find in the heroes of Gogol. Nevertheless, if we restrict ourselves to just such a statement, it will be too superficial a view. Gogol looked deeper, he was interested not only in universal human moral and spiritual problems, but in how they manifest themselves in the life of the Russian people, which are specific. This is very noticeable in the text.
It is known that among Gogol's contemporaries there was such Ivan Mikhailovich Snegirev, the most prominent folklorist, he published a collection of Russian proverbs in four volumes. So, when writing Dead Souls, Gogol used this edition, from these Russian proverbs he sculpted his heroes. The same Manilov is the embodiment of the proverb “neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan,” Sobakevich grew out of the proverb “Inappropriately tailored, but tightly sewn,” this is his whole essence. And even episodic heroes, like the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov (just a line in the list of peasants bought by Chichikov from Sobakevich): "What pricks with an awl, then boots, that boots, then thanks."
Among the Russian proverbs there is this: "A Russian man is strong in hindsight." Usually it is understood in the sense that he, a Russian person, comes to his senses too late, when nothing can be corrected. But Gogol, following Snegirev, understood the meaning of this proverb differently: that, on the contrary, a Russian person, having made a mistake, can correct himself, that the "back" mind is a repentant mind, it is the ability to comprehend the situation on a global scale, and not based on momentary moods ...
And in this interpretation of this proverb - the key to understanding the idea of "Dead Souls". Gogol linked the future greatness and messianic role of Russia in the world with this property of the Russian mind. He proceeded from the fact that the Russian national character it is still being formed, it has not yet stagnated - and therefore it has a chance, horrified by its sins, to repent and change.
When "Dead Souls" are viewed from an Orthodox perspective, they often emphasize how skillfully Gogol anatomizes human sins. Is this really the main thing?
This is extremely important indeed. After all, the common mankind sins shown in Dead Souls are very recognizable. And even the first readers of Dead Souls understood this, and not only Gogol's associates, but also such people as Belinsky and Herzen. They argued that the traits of Gogol's heroes are in each of us. Gogol, by the way, argued that his characters were "written off from people who are not at all small." There is a version that the prototype of Sobakevich was Pogodin, the prototype of Manilov - Zhukovsky, Korobochka - Yazykov, and Plyushkin - none other than Pushkin! The original version, perhaps controversial, but not unfounded.
However, the entire spiritual meaning of Dead Souls cannot be reduced to depicting sins. Yes, this is the basis, but, in medical terms, this is only anamnesis, that is, a description of the symptoms of the disease. And after the anamnesis the diagnosis follows. The diagnosis that Gogol put to his heroes is as follows: godlessness. It is godlessness that turns their personality traits - sometimes quite neutral in themselves - into something monstrous. Sobakevich is bad not because he is rude and narrow-minded, but because he looks at life absolutely materialistically, for him there is nothing that cannot be touched and eaten. Manilov is bad not because he has a developed imagination, but because without faith in God, the work of his imagination turns out to be absolutely fruitless. Plyushkin is bad not because he is thrifty, but because he does not think for a minute about God and the commandments of God, and therefore his thrift turns into madness.
But it is not enough to make a diagnosis - you also need to prescribe treatment. His general scheme is clear - to turn to Christ. But how, how can the heroes do this, in their specific circumstances? This is the most difficult thing, and there are only hints of this in Gogol's text. We, alas, do not have a second volume - there are only five surviving draft chapters, and there is no third at all. One thing is clear, Chichikov is conceived as a hero who is facing a moral rebirth. We can only make guesses as to how this should have happened. Apparently, Gogol wanted to lead his hero through the crucible of trials and suffering, thanks to which he had to realize the infidelity of his life path... Gogol told Father Theodor (Bukharev): "The poem should have ended with the first breath of Chichikov for a true, lasting life."
How realistic do you think it was to carry out such a plan? Was not only Gogol, but anyone in general, capable of a similar task?
Gogol's plan - to show both the individual and the entire Russian people the path to Christ - was as great as it was unrealizable. Because this task goes beyond artistic creation beyond literature. In addition, Gogol was very clearly aware that artistic talent alone was not enough to solve this problem. To show people the way to Christ, you need to walk this way yourself, and not even just walk, but reach the heights of spiritual life. Gogol, on the other hand, was very strict and critical of himself, did not consider himself a righteous and ascetic, and therefore constantly doubted whether he was capable, being on the lower, as it seemed to him, steps spiritual development, create heroes whose level is much higher. These doubts greatly impeded his work on the second volume. Although, had it not been for these doubts, Gogol would not have been himself. They are inseparable from his genius.
But in last years life, Gogol wrote a book, where he expressed all his thoughts on the path of salvation. This is not narrative prose, but it is artistic a book - in its structure, in language, in poetics. I mean "Reflections on the Divine Liturgy." The writer of the Russian diaspora Boris Zaitsev wrote that in this book of his, Gogol "as a musician at the end of his life moved from composing secular works to composing spiritual works." This book is addressed to young people, to people who know almost nothing about the Orthodox faith. Gogol wanted to sell it without attribution, at the lowest price. And this is really one of best compositions Russian spiritual prose. Unfortunately, little known to the general reader. In Soviet times, the reason was obvious, in the post-Soviet times - "Reflections on the Divine Liturgy" was repeatedly published, but still somehow got lost against the background of a huge flow of literature. Not only the secular, but not every church reader knows about its existence.
Are the manuscripts not burning?
It is known that Gogol burned the manuscript of the second volume of Dead Souls. Why did he do it? And what exactly did he burn? What do modern researchers think about this?
Let me tell you right away: there is no single position of scientists on this issue. From the middle of the 19th century to this day, there have been disputes, various hypotheses have been put forward. But, before talking about hypotheses, let's look at the facts, at what is firmly established and beyond doubt.
First, we are talking specifically about the second burning of the second volume, which happened in February 1852. And there was also the first burning, in 1845. Gogol himself wrote about the reasons for it in a letter, which he later included in the book "Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends": "The appearance of the second volume in the form in which it was, would have done more harm than good.<…>There are times when it is impossible to direct society or even an entire generation to the beautiful in any other way, until you show the full depth of its real abomination; there is a time when it’s not even worth talking about the sublime and beautiful, without immediately showing clearly, like day, the ways and roads to it for everyone ”.
What exactly was burned then? It is known that when in January 1851 Gogol was asked whether the ending of Dead Souls would soon be released, he replied: "I think in a year." His interlocutor was surprised: wasn’t the manuscript burned in 1845? "After all, this was just the beginning!" - answered Gogol.
Secondly, it is absolutely certain (according to the testimony of Semyon, Gogol's servant) that on the night of February 11-12, 1852, Gogol burned part of his papers.
Thirdly, the drafts of five chapters from the second volume of Dead Souls have come down to us - the first four chapters and the chapter, which, apparently, was to be one of the last.
These are facts. And everything else is versions based on oral and written testimonies of people close to Gogol, on logical assumptions and guesses.
- What are the versions?
First, that Gogol burned the finished, rewritten text of the second volume. They see the reason for this either in the fact that Gogol was in a state of passion that night and was not aware of his actions, or there was such an exotic version in Soviet times! - that he burned the second volume, fearing the persecution of the gendarmes, for, under the influence of the famous letter from Belinsky, he revised his reactionary views and wrote something progressive-revolutionary.
These versions, in my opinion, do not stand up to criticism. Let's start with the fact that if the Belovik of the second volume really existed, then this Belovik Gogol would show his confessor Archpriest Matthew Konstantinovsky. Meanwhile, Father Matthew, answering persistent inquiries after Gogol's death, invariably emphasized that he had received several notebooks with sketches to read. The version of affect is also extremely doubtful: according to the testimony of his servant Semyon, Gogol pulled out papers from his portfolio and took away what to burn and what to leave. When he saw that they did not burn well in the oven, he stirred them with a poker. It is unlikely that this is combined with a state of passion. Well, and even about the fear of the gendarmes for the revolutionary content - it's just ridiculous. Gogol read aloud to many people the chapters from the second volume, these people left their memories, and no one hinted at any change in Gogol's views.
The second version - there was no Belovik, but all the planned chapters were written, and it was this draft full version that Gogol burned. The version has the right to exist, but here the question arises: how did it happen that Gogol did not read these missing chapters to anyone? It is known from the memoirs of contemporaries that he read everything to different people seven chapters. Of which five have come down to us, and even then in an unfinished form. Knowing the character of Gogol, knowing how important the reader's response was to him, it is strange to assume that he hid some of the chapters already written from all his friends, including his confessor.
And, finally, the third version, which seems to me to be the most reliable: there was no complete version of the second volume, neither a rough draft, let alone a blank one at all. Gogol burned those chapters that he read to close people, but with which he was not satisfied. He also probably burned some sketches, some letters - in a word, everything that he categorically did not want to leave to posterity. By the way, although he tore up his unsent letter to Belinsky, he did not burn it. And those five chapters that have come down to us are precisely from the portfolio from which Gogol, on the night of February 12, took out the papers to be burned. As you can see, he did not consider it necessary to burn these chapters.
By the way, the presence of the remaining chapters in itself indirectly suggests that there was no Belovik. Because if Gogol - it doesn't even matter for what reasons! - decided to completely destroy his 17-year-old labor, then he would have burned everything. Both the white paper and all the drafts. But b O Most of the drafts remained!
In 2009, the press wrote about sensational find: Allegedly American millionaire of Russian origin Timur Abdullaev acquired a manuscript at an auction, which is a complete version of the second volume of Dead Souls. Then the excitement subsided. What was really there? Fake?
No, this is not a fake, but it is not at all the complete text of the second volume, but five surviving chapters rewritten in different handwritings. These chapters were first published in 1855, but even earlier, Stepan Petrovich Shevyrev, a friend and executor of Gogol, who was engaged in the analysis of his manuscripts, allowed Gogol's admirers to make copies of the still unpublished works left after his death. This is how numerous lists of surviving chapters of the second volume arose. It is characteristic that all these lists are at least slightly different from each other, because the scribes made mistakes, and sometimes deliberately made some corrections.
Is it possible, on the basis of the surviving chapters of the second volume and various testimonies of contemporaries, to reconstruct the content and message of the second volume of "Dead Souls"?
Traditionally, it is believed that Gogol burned the chapters of the second volume because he was not satisfied with their artistic quality. In my opinion, this opinion is wrong. Firstly, you cannot judge the level of the text by drafts. We, for example, do not evaluate Pushkin by drafts. Secondly, many to whom Gogol read the chapters of the second volume of Dead Souls noted a very high artistic level. Say, Sergei Aksakov was amazed at what he heard, he said: "I realized that Gogol has coped with the enormous task that he set for himself." If Aksakov's testimony is not enough, here is testimony, so to speak, from another camp. Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky, having read the published chapters of the second volume in 1855, said that the speech of the governor-general in the fifth chapter was the best of everything that Gogol wrote. So everything was in order with the literary quality.
But, I note that if the first volume is a poem (which we have already talked about), then the second (at least in a draft version) is closer to the classic Russian novel of the second half of the 19th century, and its heroes are, in fact, prototypes of later heroes of Russian literature. For example, Kostanzhoglo, this positive rationalist is the future Stolz, Tentetnikov is the future Oblomov.
When Gogol was asked how the heroes of the second volume would differ from the heroes of the first, he replied that they would be more significant. That is, deeper in terms of psychological. Still, the heroes of the first volume are a little schematic, illustrative, but here Gogol departs from illustrativeness.
For example, when Chichikov is in prison and the tax farmer Murazov, an influential, powerful person on a provincial scale, comes to him, Chichikov rushes to him with a plea for help: save me, they took everything from me, and the box, and money, and documents! And Murazov said to him: “Oh, Pavel Ivanovich, Pavel Ivanovich, how your property has enslaved you! Think about the soul! " And Chichikov replies brilliantly: "I'll think about the soul, but save me!" That is, he seems to be ready to change, ready to repent - but still remains himself. About the same subtle spiritual moment he wrote in his blessed one: about how in his youth he prayed to the Lord to save him ... but not today, but tomorrow (that is, to sin a little more).
- And what is known about the intention of the third volume?
Gogol mentions him in "Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends", where he writes: "Oh, what will my Plyushkin say if I get to the third volume!" According to some reconstructions, Plyushkin, the very last in the gallery of landowners, whose soul was almost completely dead, had to be spiritually reborn and go on a journey, collect money for a church, and reach Siberia, where to meet with Chichikov. And Chichikov would have ended up in Siberia on a case related to a political conspiracy (here, of course, an allusion to the Petrashevtsy case in 1849). That is, we are talking about the fact that any person has a real chance to repent while he is alive. You just need to want.
By the way, there is a sketch in Gogol's papers, which is most often attributed to the second volume, but to me and my student, and now a colleague, Doctor of Philology Igor Vinogradov, it seems that this is a sketch for the end of the third volume. “Why did you not remember Me, that you have Me? That you have not only an earthly landowner, but also a heavenly landowner! " That is, these are the words of God, and here we are dealing with the traditional rhetorical technique of Christian literature - when a priest in a sermon or a spiritual writer in his writings speaks on behalf of God.
The key to the mystery
- How did Gogol's contemporaries perceive the first volume of Dead Souls? Was there any criticism?
In general, the controversy around "Dead Souls" was stormy, argued about the artistic method (for example, whether to consider the poem a Russian "Odyssey"), and about the meaning. There were people who accused Gogol of slandering Russian life. For example, writer and journalist Nikolai Polevoy (1796-1846), publisher of the magazines "Moscow Telegraph" and "Russian Bulletin". The writer and editor Osip Senkovsky (1800-1858), the founder of the first massive thick literary magazine "Library for Reading", also reproached Gogol for a caricature of Russia. Senkovsky, by the way, had aesthetic claims to the language of the poem, common folk expressions seemed to him something dirty, greasy, "not for ladies."
That is, they were, shall we say, not marginal people. They believed that Gogol did not act patriotic, that true patriot should not put the ulcers of his country on public display.
Gogol sarcastically remarked about the indignant patriots that "everyone is sitting in the corners, and when a book comes out, where our shortcomings are shown, they run out of the corners." And he also wrote: “It’s not at all a province and not a few ugly landowners, and not what is attributed to them is the subject of“ Dead Souls ”. This is still a mystery that should be revealed in subsequent volumes. I repeat to you that this is a secret, and the key to it is in the soul of the author alone. "
- What for us, people XXI century, maybe a lesson from "Dead Souls"? Are they deprecated in context modern life, contemporary problems?
How can a book that talks about the structure of the human soul become out of date? In the 11th chapter of the first volume, the author addresses his readers: "And who of you, full of Christian humility, will not look at himself and say: is there not a part of Chichikov in me?" How do we differ in this respect from the first readers of Dead Souls? We are characterized by the same sins, weaknesses, passions as their heroes. And the possibility of spiritual rebirth is just as open to us as it is to them. And Gogol's call in his suicide note: "Be not dead, but living souls" is addressed to people of 1852, people of 2017, and people of 2817.
And this can be said not only about people. Has the character of our people and their mentality changed so much over the course of nearly two hundred years? Do we not see in the lives of the heroes of "Dead Souls" will take our life today? Isn't we facing the same task that Gogol set himself: to understand the purpose of Russia in the world, that is, the Providence of God for her, and to understand what to do in order to correspond to this Providence?
After Gogol's death, Turgenev wrote to Pauline Viardot: “For us, he was not just a writer. He revealed ourselves to us. " And this is true at any time. In whatever year the reader opens books like Dead Souls, they become a mirror for him, allowing him to see his real self.
Dead Souls is a poem for the ages. The plasticity of the depicted reality, the comic nature of situations and the artistic skill of N.V. Gogol depicts the image of Russia not only of the past, but also of the future. Grotesque satirical reality in harmony with patriotic notes create an unforgettable melody of life that sounds through the centuries.
Collegiate counselor Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov goes to distant provinces to buy serfs. However, he is not interested in people, but only in the names of the deceased. This is necessary to submit the list to the board of trustees, which "promises" a lot of money. All the doors were open to a nobleman with so many peasants. To implement his plans, he pays visits to the landowners and officials of the city of NN. All of them reveal their selfish disposition, so the hero manages to get what he wants. He is also planning a profitable marriage. However, the result is deplorable: the hero is forced to flee, since his plans become generally known thanks to the landowner Korobochka.
History of creation
N.V. Gogol considered A.S. Pushkin as his teacher, who "presented" a grateful student with a story about the adventures of Chichikov. The poet was sure that only Nikolai Vasilyevich, who possesses a unique talent from God, was capable of realizing this "idea".
The writer loved Italy, Rome. On the land of the great Dante, he began work on a book involving a three-part composition in 1835. The poem was supposed to resemble Dante's Divine Comedy, depicting the hero's immersion in hell, his wanderings in purgatory and the resurrection of his soul in paradise.
The creative process lasted for six years. The idea of a grandiose picture, depicting not only "all of Russia" present, but also the future, revealed "the innumerable riches of the Russian spirit." In February 1837, Pushkin dies, whose "sacred testament" for Gogol becomes "Dead Souls": "Not a single line was written without that I did not imagine him in front of me." The first volume was completed in the summer of 1841, but did not immediately find its reader. The censors were outraged by "The Tale of Captain Kopeikin", and the title was perplexing. I had to make concessions, starting the headline with the intriguing phrase "The Adventures of Chichikov." Therefore, the book was published only in 1842.
After some time, Gogol writes the second volume, but, dissatisfied with the result, he burns it.
The meaning of the name
The title of the work is controversial. The used method of oxymoron gives rise to numerous questions, to which one would like to get answers as soon as possible. The title is symbolic and ambiguous, so the "secret" is not revealed to everyone.
In a literal sense, "dead souls" are representatives of the common people who have gone to another world, but are still listed as their masters. Gradually, there is a rethinking of the concept. "Form" seems to "come to life": real serfs, with their habits and shortcomings, appear before the reader's eyes.
Characteristics of the main characters
- Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov - "gentleman of the average hand." The manners that are somewhat sugary in dealing with people are not devoid of sophistication. Well-mannered, neat and delicate. “Not handsome, but not bad-looking, not ... fat, not .... thin ... ". Prudent and careful. He collects unnecessary trinkets in his little chest: maybe it will come in handy! He is looking for benefits in everything. Generation of the worst sides of an enterprising and energetic person of a new type, opposed to landowners and officials. We wrote about him in more detail in the essay "".
- Manilov is a "knight of the void". Blond "sweet" chatterbox "with blue eyes." He covers up the paucity of thought, avoiding real difficulties with a beautiful-minded phrase. It lacks living aspirations and any interests. His faithful companions are fruitless fantasy and thoughtless chatter.
- The box is "club-headed". A vulgar, stupid, stingy and tight-fisted nature. She fenced herself off from everything around her, shutting herself up in her estate - a "box". Transformed into a stupid and greedy woman. Limited, stubborn and spiritless.
- Nozdrev is a "historical person". He can easily lie that he pleases and deceive anyone. Empty, absurd. Imagines himself as a broad person. However, the actions expose the disorderly, chaotic - weak-willed and at the same time arrogant, shameless "tyrant". The record holder for getting into tricky and ridiculous situations.
- Sobakevich is a “patriot of the Russian stomach”. Outwardly, it resembles a bear: clumsy and indefatigable. Completely incapable of understanding the most elementary things. A special type of "drive" that can quickly adapt to the new requirements of our time. He is not interested in anything except housekeeping. we have described in the essay of the same name.
- Plyushkin - "a hole in humanity." A creature of an incomprehensible gender. A vivid example of a moral decline that has completely lost its natural appearance. The only character (except for Chichikov) with a biography that "reflects" the gradual process of personality degradation. Sheer insignificance. Plyushkin's maniacal hoarding "pours out" on a "cosmic" scale. And the more this passion takes possession of him, the less remains of a person in him. We analyzed his image in detail in the essay .
- Thorns on the path of development of the Motherland are the main problem in the poem "Dead Souls", about which the author was worried. These include bribery and embezzlement of officials, infantilism and inactivity of the nobility, ignorance and poverty of the peasants. The writer strove to make his own contribution to the prosperity of Russia, condemning and ridiculing vices, raising new generations of people. For example, Gogol despised praise as a cover for the emptiness and idleness of existence. The life of a citizen should be useful for society, and most of the heroes of the poem are frankly harmful.
- Moral problems. He considers the lack of moral norms among the representatives of the ruling class as the result of their ugly passion for hoarding. The landlords are ready to shake the soul out of the peasant for the sake of profit. Also, the problem of egoism comes to the fore: the nobles, like officials, think only about their own interests, homeland for them is an empty weightless word. High society does not care about the common people, it just uses them for their own purposes.
- The crisis of humanism. People are sold like animals, lost at cards, like things, pawned like decorations. Slavery is legalized and not considered immoral or unnatural. Gogol shed light on the problem of serfdom in Russia globally, showing both sides of the coin: the mentality of a serf, inherent in a serf, and the tyranny of a master confident in his superiority. All these are the consequences of the tyranny that pervades relationships in all strata of society. It corrupts people and destroys the country.
- The author's humanism is manifested in his attention to “ little man", A critical exposure of the vices of the state structure. Gogol did not even try to avoid political problems. He described a bureaucratic apparatus that functions only on the basis of bribery, nepotism, embezzlement and hypocrisy.
- Gogol's characters are characterized by the problem of ignorance and moral blindness. Because of her, they do not see their moral squalor and are not able to independently get out of the vulgarity that engulfs them.
Genre and composition
Initially, the work was born as an adventurous - roguish novel. But the breadth of the events described and the historical truthfulness, as if "pressed" together, gave rise to "talk" about the realistic method. Making precise remarks, inserting philosophical reasoning, addressing different generations, Gogol saturated "his brainchild" with lyrical digressions. One cannot but agree with the opinion that the creation of Nikolai Vasilyevich is a comedy, since it actively uses the techniques of irony, humor and satire, which most fully reflect the absurdity and arbitrariness of the "squadron of flies dominating in Russia."
The composition is circular: the chaise, which entered the city of NN at the beginning of the story, leaves it after all the twists and turns that have happened to the hero. Episodes are interwoven into this "ring", without which the integrity of the poem is violated. The first chapter provides a description of the provincial town of NN and local officials. From the second to the sixth chapters, the author acquaints readers with the landowners' estates of Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich and Plyushkin. Seventh - tenth chapters - satirical image officials, registration of completed transactions. The chain of the listed events ends with a ball, where Nozdryov "narrates" about Chichikov's swindle. The reaction of society to his statement is unambiguous - gossip, which, like a snowball, is overgrown with fables that have found a refraction, including in the short story ("The Story of Captain Kopeikin") and the parable (about Kif Mokievich and Mokiy Kifovich). The introduction of these episodes makes it possible to emphasize that the fate of the motherland directly depends on the people living in it. One cannot look indifferently at the ugliness that is happening around. Certain forms of protest are ripening in the country. The eleventh chapter is a biography of the hero forming the plot, explaining what he was guided by when committing this or that deed.
The connecting compositional thread is the image of the road (you can learn more about this by reading the essay “ » ), symbolizing the path that the state “under the modest name of Rus” follows in its development.
Why does Chichikov need dead souls?
Chichikov is not only cunning, but also pragmatic. His sophisticated mind is ready to "blind candy" out of nothing. Not having enough capital, being a good psychologist, having gone through a good life school, owning the art of “flattering everyone” and fulfilling his father’s behest to “save a penny,” he starts a great speculation. It consists in a simple deception of the "powers that be" in order to "warm their hands", in other words, to help out a huge amount of money, thereby providing for himself and his future family, which Pavel Ivanovich dreamed of.
Names bought for a song dead peasants entered into a document that Chichikov could take to the state chamber under the guise of collateral in order to obtain a loan. He would have mortgaged the serfs, like a brooch in a pawnshop, and could have mortgaged them all his life, since none of the officials checked the physical condition of people. For this money, the businessman would buy both real workers and an estate, and heal on a grand scale, enjoying the favor of the nobility, because the wealth of the landowner was measured by the representatives of the nobility in the number of souls (peasants were then called “souls” in the noble slang). In addition, Gogol's hero hoped to gain trust in society and it would be beneficial to marry a wealthy heiress.
Main idea
Anthem to the homeland and people, distinctive feature whose hard work sounds on the pages of the poem. The masters of golden hands became famous for their inventions, their creativity. The Russian peasant is always “rich for inventions”. But there are also those citizens who hinder the development of the country. These are vicious officials, ignorant and inactive landowners and swindlers like Chichikov. For their own good, for the good of Russia and the world, they must take the path of correction, having understood the ugliness of their inner world. For this, Gogol mercilessly ridicules their entire first volume, but in the subsequent parts of the work the author intended to show the resurrection of the spirit of these people using the example of the protagonist. Perhaps he sensed the falsity of the subsequent chapters, lost faith in the feasibility of his dream, so he burned it along with the second part of Dead Souls.
Nevertheless, the author showed that the main wealth of the country is the broad soul of the people. It is no coincidence that this word is included in the title. The writer believed that the revival of Russia would begin with the revival human souls, pure, unblemished by any sins, selfless. Not just believing in the country's free future, but making a lot of efforts on this rapid road to happiness. "Russia, where are you rushing?" This question runs through the entire book as a refrain and emphasizes the main thing: the country should live in constant movement towards the best, the most advanced, progressive. Only on this path "other peoples and states give it the way." We wrote a separate essay about the path of Russia:?
Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls?
At some point, the mind of the writer begins to dominate the idea of a messiah, which makes it possible to “foresee” the revival of Chichikov and even Plyushkin. Gogol hopes to reverse the progressing "transformation" of man into a "dead man." But, faced with reality, the author experiences deep disappointment: the heroes and their fates emerge from the pen as far-fetched, lifeless. Did not work out. The impending crisis in the perception of the world was the reason for the destruction of the second book.
The surviving excerpts from the second volume clearly show that the writer portrays Chichikov not in the process of repentance, but in flight to the abyss. He still succeeds in adventures, puts on a devilish red coat and breaks the law. His exposure does not bode well, because in his reaction the reader will not see sudden insight or shame. He does not even believe in the possibility of such fragments ever existing. Gogol did not want to sacrifice artistic truth even for the realization of his own idea.
Problematic
What is the originality of the work?
Adventurousness, realistic reality, a sense of the presence of the irrational, philosophical reasoning about earthly good - all this is closely intertwined, creating an "encyclopedic" picture of the first half of the 19th century.
Gogol achieves this by using various techniques of satire, humor, visual means, numerous details, rich vocabulary, and compositional features.
- Symbolism plays an important role. Falling into the mud "predicts" the future exposure of the main character. The spider weaves its webs to capture another victim. Like an "unpleasant" insect, Chichikov skillfully conducts his "business", "entangling" landlords and officials with a noble lie. "Sounds" like the pathos of the forward movement of Russia and affirms human self-improvement.
- We observe the heroes through the prism of "comic" situations, apt author's expressions and characteristics given by other characters, sometimes built on the antithesis: "he was a prominent person" - but only "by sight".
- The vices of the heroes of "Dead Souls" become a continuation of positive character traits. For example, Plyushkin's monstrous stinginess is a distortion of the former thrift and thrift.
- In small lyrical "inserts" - the thoughts of the writer, difficult thoughts, anxious "I". In them we feel the highest creative message: to help humanity change for the better.
- The fate of people who create works for the people or not to please the "powers that be" does not leave Gogol indifferent, because in literature he saw a force capable of "re-educating" society and contributing to its civilized development. Social strata of society, their position in relation to everything national: culture, language, traditions - take a serious place in the author's digressions. When it comes to Russia and its future, through the centuries we hear the confident voice of the "prophet" predicting the difficult future of the Fatherland, but striving for a bright dream.
- Philosophical reflections on the frailty of life, on the departed youth and impending old age bring sadness. That is why the tender “fatherly” appeal to youth is so natural, on whose energy, hard work and education it depends on which “path” the development of Russia will take.
- The language is truly folk. The forms of colloquial, bookish and written-business speech are harmoniously woven into the fabric of the poem. Rhetorical questions and exclamations, the rhythmic structure of individual phrases, the use of Slavicisms, archaisms, sonorous epithets create a certain structure of speech that sounds solemn, excited and sincere, without a shadow of irony. When describing landlord estates and their owners, the vocabulary is typical for everyday speech. The image of the bureaucratic world is saturated with the vocabulary of the depicted environment. we described in the essay of the same name.
- The solemnity of comparisons, high style in combination with original speech create a sublimely ironic manner of storytelling, serving to debunk the base, vulgar world of the owners.
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