Creative history of Gogol's overcoat. H

The idea of ​​​​the story "The Overcoat" arose from N.V. Gogol under the influence of the story told to him real history. One poor official had been saving up money for a very expensive gun for a long time. Having bought it and went hunting, the official did not notice how the priceless purchase slipped from the boat into the river. The shock of the loss was so strong that the unlucky hunter became seriously ill. The official's health improved only after his friends chipped in and bought him exactly the same gun.

Gogol took this amusing incident very seriously. He knew firsthand about the hard life of poor officials. In the first years of service in St. Petersburg, the writer himself "took off the whole winter in a summer overcoat."

By uniting main idea from a story about an official with his own memories, in 1839 Gogol began work on The Overcoat. The story was finished at the beginning of 1841 and first published a year later.

The meaning of the name

The overcoat in the story is not just a piece of clothing. She practically becomes one of the heroes of the work. Not only the happiness of poor Akaky Akakievich, but even his life, turn out to be dependent on an ordinary overcoat.

The main theme of the story is the plight of petty bureaucracy.

The protagonist Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin evokes unfeigned pity. Whole life path was destined for him from birth. At baptism, the child made such a face, "as if he had a presentiment that there would be a titular adviser."

Akaky Akakievich is just a cog in a huge bureaucratic machine. The work of an official consists in the primitive rewriting of documents. Akaky Akakievich is not capable of more.

The authorities treat Bashmachkin "coldly and despotically." In addition, he serves as a constant target for jokes from colleagues. Akaky Akakievich does not react in any way to ridicule. Only in extreme cases does he plaintively ask: “Leave me, why do you offend me?”.

In the eyes of those around him, Bashmachkin's life is boring and colorless. Although the official himself sees "a diverse and pleasant world" in his rewriting of papers. Akaki Akakievich does not even notice anything around, completely immersed in his monotonous work.

The “strong enemy” of all petty officials, the Russian frost, brings Bashmachkin out of his state of detachment. Akaki Akakievich understands with horror that buying a new overcoat is a severe necessity. The required sum could be accumulated only by the most severe economy and limitation of expenses. This led Bashmachkin to an even more disastrous situation. financial situation, but, on the other hand, gave him the first real purpose in his life.

Dreaming of a new greatcoat, Akaki Akakievich seemed to be born again: "he became somehow more alive, even firmer in character." “Fire was sometimes shown in the eyes” of the obedient titular adviser.

The long-awaited realization of the dream became the most significant event in the life of Akaky Akakievich - "a great solemn holiday." Thanks to an ordinary overcoat, he felt like a different person and even agreed to go to a colleague's birthday, which he never did.

The bliss of Akaky Akakievich did not last long. Being attacked at night and having lost his dream, he fell into despair. The efforts to find the criminal did not help. The only means was the help of one "significant person". However, the sharp reception given to Bashmachkin by the general killed his last hope. "Proper scolding" led to a fever and an early death.

The figure of the titular adviser was so insignificant that in the service they learned about his funeral only on the fourth day. The replacement of the place by another official was completely painless for the work of the institution.

Issues

The main problem of the story lies in the fact that in the era of Gogol a huge number of people were the same Akaki Akakievich. Their lives passed without a trace and did not represent any value. For any higher official, Akaki Akakievich is not even a person, but a submissive and defenseless executor of orders.

The bureaucratic system breeds a soulless attitude towards people. A striking example is the “significant person”. This man "compassion was ... not alien", but the position he holds kills in him better feelings. Upon learning of the death of the poor petitioner, the general feels remorse, but it quickly passes. The ending of the story with the appearance of the ghost of an official emphasizes that in real life the death of Akaky Akakievich would not have affected the established order in any way.

Composition

The story is a life story of the official Bashmachkin, the main event in which was the purchase of a new overcoat. The end of the work is the fantastic revenge of the deceased titular adviser.

What does the author teach

Gogol knew from his own experience what a negative impact on a person his cramped financial situation has. He calls to pay attention to the downtrodden and humiliated people, take pity on them and try to help, because their lives may depend on it.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, who left a mystical mark in Russian literature, for many writers of the 19th century became the ancestor critical realism. It was not by chance that catchphrase Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky in an interview with a French journalist: “We all came out of their Gogol overcoat.” The writer meant the attitude towards the “little man”, which manifested itself very clearly in the story. Later, this type of hero will become the main one in Russian literature.

"Overcoat", included in the cycle " Petersburg stories”, in the original editions was of a humorous nature, because it appeared thanks to an anecdote. Gogol, according to the memoirs of P. V. Annenkov, "listened to the comments, descriptions, anecdotes ... and, it happened, used them."

One day he heard a clerical anecdote about a poor official who was a passionate hunter and saved up enough money to buy a good gun, saving on everything and working hard in his position. When he first went hunting for ducks on a boat, the gun caught on thick reeds and drowned. He could not find him and, returning home, came down with a fever. Comrades, having learned about this, bought him a new gun, which brought him back to life, but later he recalled this incident with a deathly pallor on his face. Everyone laughed at the anecdote, but Gogol left in thought: it was on that evening that the idea of ​​a future story was born in his head.

Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, main character story "The Overcoat", starting from birth, when his mother, rejecting all the names in the calendar as too exotic, gave him the name of his father, and at baptism he cried and made such a grimace, “as if he felt that there would be a titular adviser”, and all my life, dutifully enduring the coldly despotic treatment of superiors, bullying colleagues and poverty, "knew how to be satisfied with his lot". No change in his order of life was already possible.

Suddenly, fate gives a chance to change your life - to sew a new overcoat. So the central event of the story is the acquisition and loss of the overcoat. At first, a conversation with an angry tailor, who claims that it is impossible to repair an old overcoat, plunges Akaky Akakievich into complete confusion. In order to raise money for a new coat, Bashmachkin has to not drink tea in the evenings, not light candles, and walk almost on tiptoe to keep his soles. All these restrictions cause terrible inconvenience at first.

But as soon as the hero imagined a new overcoat, he became a different person. Changes are striking: Bashmachkin "become more alive, firmer in character, like a man who has set himself a goal". The irony of the author is understandable: the goal, because of which the official has changed, is too insignificant.

The appearance of the long-awaited overcoat - "most solemn day" in the life of a hero. Bashmachkin is embarrassed by the general attention of his colleagues, but still accepts the offer to celebrate the new thing. The habitual way of life is broken, the behavior of the hero changes. It turns out that he is able to laugh merrily and not write any papers after dinner.

Since Bashmachkin has not left the house in the evenings for a long time, Petersburg seems beautiful to him. This city is fantastic already because it appeared "from the darkness of the forests, from the swamp of blat", but it was Gogol who turned it into a phantasmagoric city - a place where something out of the ordinary is possible. The hero of The Overcoat, lost in the night Petersburg, becomes a victim of a robbery. A shock for him is the appeal to the police authorities, the attempts of colleagues to arrange a clubbing, but the most serious test is the meeting with "significant person", after which Bashmachkin dies.

The author emphasizes how terrible and tragic the helplessness of the "little man" in St. Petersburg is. Retribution, reinforced by the intervention of evil spirits, becomes just as terrible. The ghost that appeared after the death of Bashmachkin in the wasteland, reminiscent of a former titular adviser, tore "from all shoulders, without disassembling the rank and title of all overcoats". This went on until "significant person" did not end up in the ill-fated wasteland and the dead man did not grab him. That's when the ghost said: “... I need your overcoat! ... You didn’t bother about mine - now give yours!”

This incident changed the once important official: he became less arrogant. And the appearance of the dead official stopped: “It can be seen that the general’s overcoat fell on his shoulders”. For Gogol, it is not the appearance of a ghost that becomes fantastic, but the manifestation of conscience even in such a person as "significant person".

"The Overcoat" develops the theme of the "little man", outlined by Karamzin in "Poor Lisa" and revealed by Pushkin in. But Gogol sees the cause of evil not in people, but in the structure of life, where not everyone has privileges.

• "The Overcoat", a summary of Gogol's story
• "Portrait", analysis of Gogol's story, composition

The well-known phrase of the French critic E. Vogüe that a whole galaxy of writers grew out of Gogol's "The Overcoat" is quite true. The image of the "little man", which became popular thanks to Charlie Chaplin, in a sense, is also from there, from her. In the thirties and forties, descriptions of the great feats of outstanding personalities not only became boring to the reader, but they wanted something else, something unusual. At this time, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol wrote "The Overcoat". The analysis of this work was carried out repeatedly, both before the revolution and after it. In it they found either dreams of universal equality and fraternity, or even calls for the overthrow of the autocracy. Today, having re-read the story through the eyes of a contemporary, we can safely say that none of this is there.

Main character, A. A. Bashmachkin

To establish the opinion that the story lacks not only revolutionary motives, but also a social idea in general, it is enough to understand about whom N.V. Gogol wrote "The Overcoat". Analysis of the main character's personality leads to the search for modern analogies. The notorious "middle managers", contemptuously also called "office plankton", who carry out routine assignments, come to mind. Workers, according to one literary character, fall into two main categories: the majority are not capable of anything, and only a few can practically everything. Judging by the description of Akaky Akakievich and his relationship with the team, he does not belong to the all-powerful minority. But Gogol would not be himself if he did not see in him certain virtues, which he also writes about with a fair amount of irony. Bashmachkin, a typical "eternal titular" (such in Soviet army called fifteen-year-old captains, according to the term of service in a junior officer rank), he loves his work, he is diligent and submissive to the point of humility. To the jokes of his comrades, sometimes angry, he reacts gently and peacefully. He has no friends, besides beautiful calligraphic letters, and he doesn’t need to.

In order to assess the financial situation of Bashmachkin, modern reader you need to delve into the literature and understand what and how much it cost then. This job requires diligence and patience. The prices for many things were completely different, just as the assortment of a modern supermarket differs from the choice of goods in the shops and stores of that era in which Gogol wrote The Overcoat. Purchasing power analysis can be done approximately.

It is absolutely impossible to compare the prices of the middle of the 19th century with today's prices. Now there are many goods that do not fit into the then consumer basket (mobile phones, computers, etc.). In addition, the choice of clothes has become very wide (from cheap consumer goods sewn by our Chinese friends to offers from super-prestigious boutiques). It is more expedient to make a comparison with salaries in the relatively recent Soviet past.

Calculation of the financial capabilities of the protagonist

The hero's salary is known - 800 rubles a year. By the standards of that time, not so little, you won’t die of hunger. Judging by indirect signs and based on the text of the story, we can conclude that the scale of prices approximately corresponded to the capabilities of an ordinary engineer of the late Soviet era(70s or 80s), who received 120 rubles of salary. It is also known how much the new overcoat cost Akaky Akakievich. The story was written in 1842, there was no shortage of food and there were no queues, but getting to know the right people mattered even then. “According to the pull”, a certain Petrovich, a tailor, is ready to make the right thing for only 80. It was impossible to buy a decent coat in the USSR for that kind of money, and in order to collect for a new thing, an ordinary worker needed to save several months.

So Akaki Akakievich cut his budget in order to sew a new overcoat for himself. His problems were exclusively economic in nature, and, in general, were completely solvable.

What happened?

The plot of Gogol was inspired by a story about the same poor and ordinary official, who saved up for a long time for a gun and lost it on his first hunt. One had to be a genius to see in such an unfunny anecdote the plot of a future work and develop it to a tragicomedy, which is rightfully considered the story "The Overcoat". Its main characters are also officials, and for the most part they receive as much as Bashmachkin, or more, but not much. Seeing a new thing, they jokingly demand to “splash” (today they often use the verbs “wash” or “put down”). Colleagues know that Bashmachkin does not have money for excesses, and if he had, then, obviously, he would not be in a hurry to part with them either - for many years they studied his character. Help came from the assistant clerk (judging by the title of the position, he is also not a great rich man), who offers refreshments and invites to visit him. And after the banquet, Akaky Akakievich was robbed and stripped, taking away his new overcoat. The summary of the scene of a friendly drinking clearly shows how spirited the humble official soared, having bought, in general, an ordinary thing. He even shows interest in a certain lady, however, not for long.

And then such a collapse.

The image of the boss

Of course, Nikolai Vasilyevich tells us not just a story about how an unknown official found and lost his overcoat. The story, like all outstanding literary works about relationships between people. A person is known by gaining power. Some people just need to get a job...

So the new boss, who recently took up his post, poses in front of a friend, scolding Akaky Akakievich on a far-fetched pretext of mistreatment, and in general, anxiety of the highest authority on such a petty issue as some kind of overcoat. Summary The angry tirade of a Significant Person (as it is designated by the author) comes down to a reminder of who Bashmachkin is talking to, who he is standing in front of, and a rhetorical question about how he dares. At the same time, the general has his own problems, he was recently appointed, and does not know how to behave at all, which is why he spreads fear on everyone. In his heart, he was a kind, decent, good comrade, and even not stupid (in many respects).

Having received such an affront, the poor official came home, fell ill, and died, it is not clear whether it was from a cold or due to severe stress.

What the author wanted to say

The tragic ending is also characteristic of other Russian writers of the 19th and 20th centuries, who “grew up” from the same outerwear mentioned. A.P. Chekhov (“The Death of an Official”) “kills” (only without subsequent mysticism) his main character in the same way as N.V. Gogol (“The Overcoat”). An analysis of these two works, their comparison suggests the spiritual relationship of the masters of the pen and their general rejection of fear of anyone. The declaration of inner freedom became the main leitmotif of both works created on the basis of the antithesis technique. The classics seem to be telling us: “Don’t be Akaky Akakiyevich! Live boldly, do not be afraid! All problems are solved!

How strange that in the intervening decades and centuries so few have taken this call to heart.

N. V. Gogol is considered the most mystical writer in Russian literature. His life and work is full of secrets and mysteries. Gogol's story "The Overcoat" is studied at literature lessons in grade 8. A full analysis of the work requires familiarity with the work and some biographical information of the author.

Brief analysis

Year of writing – 1841.

History of creation- The story was created on the basis of an anecdote with a similar plot.

Topic- the theme of the "little man", a protest against social orders that limit the individual.

Composition- the narrative is built on the principle of "being". Exposure - Short story Bashmachkin's life, the plot - the decision to change the overcoat, the climax - the theft of the overcoat and the clash with the indifference of the authorities, the denouement - the illness and death of the protagonist, the epilogue - the news of the ghost stealing the overcoat.

genre- story. A little something in common with the genre of "lives" of the saints. Many researchers find similarities in the plot with the life of the Monk Akaki of Sinai. This is indicated by the numerous humiliations and wanderings of the hero, his patience and rejection of worldly joys, death.

Direction- critical realism.

History of creation

In The Overcoat, the analysis of a work is impossible without a background that prompted the author to create the work. Someone P. V. Annenkov in his memoirs notes a case when, in the presence of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, a “clerical anecdote” was told about a petty official who lost his gun, for the purchase of which he had been saving money for a long time. Everyone found the anecdote very funny, and the writer became gloomy and thought deeply, this was in 1834. Five years later, the plot will emerge in Gogol's "The Overcoat", artistically rethought and creatively reworked. This prehistory of creation seems very plausible.

It is important to note that writing the story was difficult for the writer, perhaps some emotional, personal experiences played a role: he was able to finish it only in 1841, thanks to the pressure of M. V. Pogodin, a well-known publisher, historian and scientist.

In 1843 the story was published. It belongs to the cycle of "Petersburg Tales", becomes the final and the most ideologically rich. The author changed the name of the protagonist during the work on the work Tishkevich - Bashmakevich - Bashmachkin).

The name of the story itself underwent several changes (“The Tale of the Official Stealing the Overcoat”) before the final and most accurate version, “The Overcoat”, reached us. Criticism accepted the work calmly; during the life of the author, it was not particularly noted. Only a century later it became clear that the "Overcoat" had a huge impact on Russian literature, on the historical understanding of the era and the formation literary trends. Gogolevsky " small man” was reflected in the work of many writers and poets, created a whole wave of similar, no less brilliant, works.

Topic

The work is structured in such a way that we trace the entire life of the protagonist, starting from the moment of birth (where the story of why he was named Akakiy is mentioned) and up to the most tragic point - the death of the titular adviser.

The plot is built on the disclosure of the image of Akaki Akakievich, his clash with public order, power and indifference of people. The problems of an insignificant creature do not bother the powerful of this world, no one notices his life, and even death. Only after death will justice prevail in the fantastic part of the story - about a night ghost taking overcoats from passers-by.

Issues“The Overcoat” covers all the sins of a well-fed soulless world, makes the reader look around and notice those who are just as “small and defenseless” as the main character. Main thought stories - a protest against the lack of spirituality of society, against orders that humiliate a person morally, materially and physically. The meaning of Bashmachkin's phrase “Leave ..., why are you offending me?

” – contains both moral and spiritual and biblical context. What the work teaches us: how not to treat your neighbor. Idea Gogol is to show the impotence of a small person in the face of a vast world of people who are indifferent to other people's grief.

Composition

The composition is built on the principle of the life or "walking" of saints and martyrs. The whole life of the protagonist, from birth to death, is the same painful feat, a battle for the truth and a test of patience and self-sacrifice.

The whole life of the hero of "The Overcoat" is an empty existence, a conflict with public order - the only act that he tried to commit in his life. In the exposition of the story, we learn brief information about the birth of Akaki Bashmachkin, about why he was called that, about the work and inner world of the character. The essence of the plot is to show the need to acquire a new thing (if you look deeper - a new life, striking bold changes).

The climax is an attack on the protagonist and his clash with the indifference of the authorities. The denouement is the last meeting with the "significant person" and the death of the character. The epilogue is a fantastic (in Gogol's favorite style - satirical and terrifying) story about a ghost who takes overcoats from passers-by and eventually gets to his offender. The author emphasizes the impotence of a person to change the world and achieve justice. Only in the “other” reality the main character is strong, endowed with power, they are afraid of him, he boldly says in the eyes of the offender what he did not have time to say during his lifetime.

main characters

genre

The story about the titular counselor is built on the principle of the lives of the saints. The genre is defined as a story, due to the scale of the content plan of the work. The story about a titular adviser who is in love with his profession has become a kind of parable, has acquired a philosophical connotation. The work can hardly be considered realistic, given the ending. She turns the work into a phantasmagoria, where bizarre unreal events, visions, strange images intersect.

Artwork test

Analysis Rating

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Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is one of the most significant figures in Russian literature. It is he who is rightfully called the founder of critical realism, the author who vividly described the image of the “little man” and made it central in Russian literature of that time. In the future, many writers used this image in their works. It is no coincidence that F. M. Dostoevsky in one of his conversations uttered the phrase: "We all came out of Gogol's overcoat."

History of creation

Literary critic Annenkov noted that N.V. Gogol often listened to anecdotes and various stories that were told in his environment. Sometimes it happened that these anecdotes and comical stories inspired the writer to create new works. So it happened with the "Overcoat". According to Annenkov, once Gogol heard a joke about a poor official who was very fond of hunting. This official lived in hardship, saving on everything just to buy a gun for his favorite hobby. And now, the long-awaited moment has come - the gun has been purchased. However, the first hunt was not successful: the gun caught on the bushes and drowned. The official was so shocked by the incident that he came down with a fever. This anecdote did not make Gogol laugh at all, but, on the contrary, led to serious reflections. According to many, it was then that the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwriting the story "The Overcoat" was born in his head.

During Gogol's lifetime, the story did not arouse significant critical discussions and debates. This is due to the fact that at that time writers quite often offered their readers comic works about the life of poor officials. However, the significance of Gogol's work for Russian literature was appreciated over the years. It was Gogol who developed the theme of the “little man” protesting against the laws in force in the system, and pushed other writers to further reveal this topic.

Description of the artwork

Main character Gogol's work- junior civil servant Bashmachkin Akaki Akakievich, who was constantly unlucky. Even in choosing a name, the official’s parents were not successful, as a result, the child was named after his father.

The life of the protagonist is modest and unremarkable. He lives in a small rented apartment. Occupies a small position with a beggarly salary. By adulthood, the official never acquired a wife, children, or friends.

Bashmachkin wears an old faded uniform and a holey overcoat. One day, a severe frost forces Akaky Akakievich to take his old overcoat to the tailor for repair. However, the tailor refuses to mend the old overcoat and talks about the need to buy a new one.

The price of the overcoat is 80 rubles. This is a lot of money for a small employee. In order to collect the necessary amount, he denies himself even small human joys, which are not many in his life anyway. After some time, the official manages to save up the required amount, and the tailor finally sews an overcoat. The acquisition of an expensive piece of clothing is a grandiose event in the miserable and boring life of an official.

One evening they caught up with Akaky Akakievich on the street. famous people and took away the overcoat. The frustrated official goes with a complaint to the "significant person" in the hope of finding and punishing those responsible for his misfortune. However, the "general" does not support the junior employee, but, on the contrary, reprimands. Bashmachkin, rejected and humiliated, was unable to cope with his grief and died.

At the end of the work, the author adds a little mysticism. After the funeral of the titular councilor, a ghost began to be noticed in the city, which took overcoats from passers-by. A little later, this same ghost took the overcoat from the same "general" who scolded Akaky Akakievich. This served as a lesson for the important official.

main characters

The central figure of the story is a miserable civil servant who has been doing routine and uninteresting work all his life. There are no opportunities for creativity and self-realization in his work. Uniformity and monotony literally absorb the titular adviser. All he does is rewrite unnecessary papers. The hero has no relatives. He spends his free evenings at home, sometimes copying papers "for himself." The appearance of Akaky Akakievich creates an even stronger effect, the hero becomes truly sorry. There is something insignificant in his image. The impression is reinforced by Gogol's story about the constant troubles that befall the hero (either an unfortunate name, or a baptism). Gogol perfectly created the image of a “little” official who lives in terrible hardships and every day fights against the system for his right to exist.

Officials (collective image of bureaucracy)

Gogol, talking about the colleagues of Akaky Akakievich, focuses on such qualities as heartlessness, callousness. Colleagues of the unfortunate official in every possible way mock and make fun of him, not feeling a single gram of sympathy. The whole drama of Bashmachkin's relationship with his colleagues lies in the phrase he said: “Leave me, why are you offending me?”.

"Significant Person" or "General"

Gogol does not name either the name or the surname of this person. Yes, it doesn't matter. Important rank, position on the social ladder. After the loss of his overcoat, Bashmachkin, for the first time in his life, decides to defend his rights and goes with a complaint to the "general". Here the "small" official is faced with a tough, soulless bureaucratic machine, the image of which is contained in the character of a "significant person".

Analysis of the work

In the person of his main character, Gogol seems to unite all the poor and humiliated people. Bashmachkin's life is an eternal struggle for survival, poverty and monotony. Society with its laws does not give the official the right to a normal human existence, degrades his dignity. At the same time, Akaki Akakievich himself agrees with this situation and meekly endures hardships and difficulties.

The loss of the overcoat is a turning point in the work. It forces the “little official” to declare his rights to society for the first time. Akaky Akakievich goes with a complaint to the "significant person", who in Gogol's story personifies all the soullessness and impersonality of the bureaucracy. Having run into a wall of aggression and misunderstanding on the part of a "significant person", the poor official cannot stand it and dies.

Gogol raises the problem of the extreme importance of the rank, which took place in the society of that time. The author shows that such attachment to the rank is fatal for people with very different social status. The prestigious position of a "significant person" made him indifferent and cruel. And the junior rank of Bashmachkin led to the depersonalization of a person, his humiliation.

At the end of the story, it is not by chance that Gogol introduces a fantastic ending in which the ghost of an unfortunate official removes the overcoat from the general. This is some kind of warning to important people that their inhumane actions can have consequences. The fantasy at the end of the work is explained by the fact that in the Russian reality of that time it is almost impossible to imagine a situation of retribution. Since the “little man” at that time had no rights, he could not demand attention and respect from society.