Poem "Dead Souls"

The image of the world of officials in the poem "Dead Souls" by Nikolai V. Gogol

The society of officials of the provincial city is outlined by N.V. Gogol in the poem "Dead Souls" is sharply critical. The researchers noted that the images of officials in Gogol are impersonal, devoid of individuality (unlike the images of landowners), their names are often repeated (Ivan Antonovich, Ivan Ivanovich), and their surnames are not indicated at all. Only the governor, prosecutor, police chief and postmaster are described in more detail by the author.

Officials of the provincial city are not very smart and educated. With caustic irony, Gogol speaks of the enlightenment of city officials: "who read Karamzin, who Moskovskie vedomosti, who even did not read anything at all." The speech of these characters in the poem is nothing more than a mechanical repetition of words, symbolizing their slow-wittedness. All of them could not recognize a swindler in Chichikov, considering him a millionaire, a Kherson landowner, and then Captain Kopeikin, a spy, Napoleon, a counterfeit banknote maker and even the Antichrist.

These people are far from everything Russian, national: from them "you will not hear a single decent Russian word", but French, German, English "will be endowed in such an amount that you don't want to ...". High society worships everything foreign, forgetting their primordial traditions and customs. The interest of these people in the national culture is limited to the construction of a "hut in the Russian style" at the dacha.

This is a society in which idleness and idleness flourish. Thus, witnesses were required during the execution of the transaction for the sale and purchase of serfs. “Send me now to the prosecutor,” notes Sobakevich, “he is an idle man and, probably, sits at home: the solicitor Zolotukha, the first grabber in the world, does everything for him. Inspector of the medical board, he is also an idle person and, probably, at home, if he did not go somewhere to play cards ... ". Other officials are no less idle. According to Sobakevich, "there are many here who are closer, Trukhachevsky, Begushkin, they all burden the earth for nothing."

Robberies, deceptions, bribes reign in the world of officials. These people strive to live well "at the expense of the sums of their dearly beloved fatherland." Bribes are common in the world of the provincial city. The department is ironically called by the writer "the temple of Themis". So, the chairman of the chamber advises Chichikov: "... you do not give anything to officials to anyone ... My friends should not pay." From this statement, we can conclude about the regular monetary levies carried out by these people. Describing the execution of the deal by his hero, Gogol notes: “Chichikov had to pay very little. Even the chairman gave the order to take only half of the tax money from him, and the other, it is not known how, was assigned to the account of some other petitioner. " This remark reveals to us the lawlessness that reigns in "public places." It is interesting that in the original edition this passage in the poem was accompanied by the author's remark: “This has always been the case in the world since ancient times. A rich man doesn't have to pay anything, he just needs to be rich. They will give him a glorious place, and they will let him in, and the money will remain in the box; only the one who has nothing to pay pays ”.

Describing the governor's party, Gogol talks about two types of officials: "fat" and "thin". The existence of the former is "too easy, airy and completely unreliable." The second ones "never take indirect places, but all are direct ones, and if they sit down somewhere, they will sit down securely and firmly ... they will not fly off." "Thin" in the author's presentation - dandies and dandies, hovering around the ladies. They are often prone to extravagance: "for three years a thin one does not have a single soul that is not put in a pawnshop." The fat ones are sometimes not very attractive, but they are “solid and practical”, “the true pillars of society”: “having served God and the sovereign”, they leave the service and become glorious Russian bars, landowners. In this description, the author's satire is obvious: Gogol perfectly understands what this "bureaucratic service" was, which brought a person "universal respect."

Both the first and the second type are illustrated by Gogol's images of city officials. Here is the first official of the city - the governor. This is an idle person. Its only advantage comes down to the ability to embroider different patterns on tulle. Here is the chief of police, "the father and benefactor of the city," who, in his own way, runs the merchants' shops. The chief of police “has only to blink, passing by the fish row or the cellar,” as he is immediately presented with balyks and expensive wine. At the same time, the police terrify the entire people. When a rumor appears in society about a possible revolt of Chichikov's peasants, the chief of police notes that in order to prevent this revolt, “there is the power of the police captain, that the police captain, even though he himself does not go, but only go to his place, only his cap, then one cap will drive the peasants to their very place of residence. " These are “fat” officials. But no less critically described by the writer and their "thin" brothers, including, for example, Ivan Antonovich, who received a bribe from Chichikov.

The writer emphasizes in the poem that arbitrariness and lawlessness reign in Russia not only at the level of a provincial city, but also at the level of state power. Gogol speaks about this in the story of Captain Kopeikin, a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, who became disabled and went to ask for help in the capital. He tried to secure a pension for himself, but his case was not crowned with success: an angry minister, under escort, expelled him from St. Petersburg.

Thus, Gogol's officials are deceitful, selfish, calculating, soulless, prone to fraud. Civic duty, patriotism, public interest - these concepts are alien to the officials of the city of NN. According to the author, "these guardians of order and legality" are the same "dead souls" as the landowners in the poem. The pinnacle of Gogol's satirical exposure is the picture of general confusion that gripped urban society when rumors spread about Chichikov's purchase of "dead souls." Here the officials were confused, and everyone "suddenly found in themselves ... sins." “In a word, there was talk, talk, and the whole city started talking about dead souls and the governor's daughter, about Chichikov and dead souls, about the governor’s daughter and Chichikov, and everything that is, has risen. How a whirlwind whirled up until then, it seemed, a dormant city! " The writer uses the technique of hyperbole here. The possibility of state inspections in connection with the Chichikov scam frightened city officials to such an extent that panic broke out among them, "the city was resolutely revolted, everything was in ferment ...". This story ended with the death of the prosecutor, the chief "guardian of the law", and those around him only after his death realized that he had a "soul." And this episode is symbolic in many ways. This is the author's call to heroes, a reminder of God's judgment for all life's deeds.

As the researchers note, “in Gogol's portrayal of the world of officials, one can find many traditional motives of Russian satirical comedies. These motives go back to Fonvizin and Griboyedov. Red tape, bureaucracy, honor, bribery ... - traditionally ridiculed social evil. However, Gogol's methods of depiction are different, they are close to the satirical methods of Saltykov-Shchedrin. " According to Herzen's precise remark, “with laughter on his lips,” the writer “without pity penetrates into the innermost folds of an unclean, spiteful bureaucratic soul. Gogol's poem Dead Souls is a terrible confession of modern Russia. "

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N. V. Gogol, when creating his poem "Dead Souls" thought about how to show how Russia looks from one side. " Chichikov is the main character of the poem and Gogol tells about him most of all. This is an ordinary official who is engaged in buying up "dead souls" from landlords. The author managed to show the entire sphere of activity of Russian officials, to tell about the city and its inhabitants as a whole.

The first volume of the work clearly shows the bureaucratic and landlord life of Russia from the negative side. All provincial society, officials and landowners are part of a kind of "dead world".

(The provincial town of Gogol in the poem "Dead Souls")

The provincial city is shown very clearly. Here one can trace the indifference of the authorities to ordinary residents, emptiness, disorder and dirt. And only after Chichikov comes to the landowners does a general view of Russian bureaucracy appear.

Gogol shows bureaucracy from the side of spirituality and greed. Official Ivan Antonovich is very fond of bribes, so he is ready to do anything for that. To get it, I am even ready to sell my soul.

(Official conversations)

Unfortunately, such officials are a reflection of the entire bureaucracy of Russia. Gogol tries to show in his work a large concentration of swindlers and thieves who create a kind of corporation of corrupt officials.

The bribe becomes a legal matter at the moment when Chichikov goes to the chairman of the chamber. The most interesting thing is that the chairman himself accepts him as an old friend and immediately gets down to business, telling him that friends should not pay anything.

(Ordinary moments of high life)

During a conversation with an official, interesting moments in the life of city officials appear. Sobakevich characterizes the prosecutor as "an idle person" who constantly sits at home, and the solicitor does all the work for him. At the head of the entire system is the chief of police, whom everyone calls a "benefactor." His charity is to steal and let others do the same. None of the authorities have a clue of what honor, duty and legality are. They are completely spiritless people.

Gogol's story reveals all the masks, showing people from the side of their cruelty and inhumanity. And this applies not only to provincial, but also to district officials. The work is dedicated to the heroic year 1812, which shows the entire contrast of the petty soulless bureaucratic world that Gogol saw at that time in modern Russia.

(Courtyard meetings and balls)

The worst thing is that the story shows the fate of the captain, who fought for the Motherland, is completely crippled, he cannot feed himself, but this does not bother anyone at all. The highest rank of Petersburg does not pay any attention to him and this is very frightening. Society is on the verge of indifference to everything.

The work written by Gogol many years ago does not leave indifferent the inhabitants of the modern world, since all the problems at the moment remain relevant.

Landowners. The generally accepted idea of ​​the composition of Volume I is as follows: Chichikov's visits to the landowners are described according to a strictly defined plan. The landowners (starting from Manilov and ending with Plyushkin) are arranged according to the degree of intensification of the traits of spiritual impoverishment in each subsequent character. However, according to Yu. V. Mann, the composition of Volume I cannot be reduced to a "single principle". Indeed, it is difficult to prove that Nozdrev, for example, is “worse” than Manilov or Sobakevich is “more harmful” than Korobochka. Perhaps Gogol arranged the landowners in contrast: against the background of dreaminess and, so to speak, “ideality” of Manilov, the troublesome Korobochka stands out more vividly: one ascends into the world of completely meaningless dreams, the other is so mired in petty farming that even Chichikov, unable to bear it, calls her “ cudgel head ". In the same way, the unrestrained liar Nozdryov, who always gets into some history, which is why Gogol called him a "historical man", and Sobakevich, a calculating master, a tight-fisted fist, are further opposed.

As for Plyushkin, he was placed at the end of the landlord's gallery not because he turned out to be the worst of all (“a hole in humanity”). It is no accident that Gogol endows Plyushkin with a biography (besides him, only Chichikov is endowed with a biography). Once Plyushkin was different, there were some spiritual movements in him (other landowners have nothing like this). Even now, at the mention of an old school friend on Plyushkin's face, "a warm ray suddenly slipped, not a feeling was expressed, but some pale reflection of feeling." And, perhaps, therefore, according to Gogol's plan, of all the heroes of the first volume of Dead Souls, it was Plyushkin and Chichikov (which will be discussed later) that should have come to revival.

Officials. Gogol's preserved notes to the first volume of the poem contain the following entry: “The idea of ​​a city. The emptiness that has arisen to the highest degree ... The dead insensibility of life. "

This idea was fully embodied in Dead Souls. The inner deadness of the landowners, manifested in the first chapters of the work, correlates with the "dead insensibility of life" in the provincial town. Of course, there is more external movement, bustle, visits, gossip here. But in essence, all this is only a ghostly existence. Gogol's idea of ​​Emptiness finds expression already in the description of the city: deserted, unlit, infinitely wide streets, colorless monotonous houses, fences, a stunted garden with lean trees ...

Gogol creates a collective image of officials. Individual figures (governor, chief of police, prosecutor, etc.) are given as illustrations of a mass phenomenon: they are only for a short time brought to the fore, and then disappear in a crowd like them. The subject of Gogol's satire was not personalities (even if they were as colorful as ladies - just pleasant and pleasant in all respects), but social vices, more precisely, the social environment, which becomes the main object of his satire. The lack of spirituality that was noted when it came to the landowners is also inherent in the world of provincial officials. This is especially vividly manifested in the story and the sudden death of the prosecutor: "... then only with condolence did they learn that the deceased had, for sure, a soul, although, out of his modesty, he never showed it." These lines are very important for the correct understanding of the meaning of the title of the poem. The action of "The Inspector General" takes place in a distant district town. In "Dead Souls" we are talking about the provincial city. It is not so far from here to the capital.

In the fall of 1835, Gogol set to work on the poem "Dead Souls", the plot of which was suggested to him by Pushkin. Gogol had long dreamed of writing a novel about Russia, and was very grateful to Pushkin for the idea. “In this novel I would like to show at least one ...

Poem by N.V. Gogol's Dead Souls (1835-1841) belongs to those timeless works of art that lead to large-scale artistic generalizations and raise the fundamental problems of human life. In the mortification of the souls of characters (landlords, officials, ...

N. V. Gogol, like M. Yu. Lermontov before him, for example, was always worried about the problems of spirituality and morality - and society as a whole, and the individual. In his works, the writer sought to show society "the full depth of its real abomination." Ironically ...

Gogol worked on the poem "Dead Souls" for about seven years. In the center of the plot of the poem is Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. Outwardly, this person is pleasant, but in fact he is a terrible, calculating money-grubber. His hypocrisy, the cruelty that he manifests when he reaches ...

N.V. Gogol was outraged by the fact that officials are leading the country not to development, but to decline. That is why he portrayed them exactly as they really are. For this truth, the writer was criticized.

All officials are as if on a selection. They are no different from each other, except that some like to chat about trifles, while others are silent, since they have nothing to say. All of them died spiritually, they have no interests, they do not care about the fate of ordinary people, whom they must help according to the duties assigned to them.

The world of officials is a world full of holidays, entertainment and bribes. Everyone, without exception, does nothing until they receive a reward. Their wives do not work and do nothing, from which you understand that officials make excellent money on bribes. Together they lead an idle lifestyle. Officials love to get together and play cards all day and night.

The world of officials is full of selfishness, deceit, meanness and undeserved money. This world is full of dead souls, this is what all officials were. Here betrayal and meanness are regarded as commonplace. Officials do not understand that they are living an unworthy life. In their understanding, they have achieved a lot and occupy a high position, so they must be respected.

The gallery of "dead souls" in Gogol's poem is continued by the images of officials of the city N. The author draws them as a single faceless mass mired in bribes and corruption: but he is vanishing himself. " These features are clearly manifested in the seventh chapter, in which Chichikov comes to draw up the bill of sale in the civil chamber. The image of the official Ivan Antonovich is a colorful image of the "jug snout", but, first of all, this chapter creates a generalized image of the middle-class Russian bureaucracy.
Sobakevich gives the officials an angry, but very accurate characterization: "The fraudster sits on the swindler and drives the swindler." Officials mess around, cheat, steal, offend the weak, and tremble before the strong.
It is noteworthy that upon the news of the appointment of a new governor-general (tenth chapter), the inspector of the medical board thinks feverishly about the sick who died in significant numbers from fever, against which no proper measures were taken. The chairman of the chamber turns pale at the thought that he has made a bill of sale for dead peasant souls. And the prosecutor generally came home and suddenly died. What sins were behind his soul that he was so frightened?
Gogol shows us that the life of officials is empty and meaningless. They are simply air smokers who have wasted their priceless lives on dishonesty and fraud.