Dead souls description of Sobakevich. Presentation on literature "the image of Sobakevich in the poem "Dead Souls"

Sobakevich Mikhailo Semenych - fourth (after Nozdryov, before Plyushkin) “seller” “ dead souls» Chichikov; endowed with a powerful “nature” - in the 7th chapter he complains to the Chairman of the Chamber and Chichikov that he lives in his fifth decade, and has never been sick, and for this he will someday have to “pay”; his appetite corresponds to his powerful nature - the same chapter describes his “eating” of 9 pounds of sturgeon.

The name itself, repeatedly played up by the narrator (Sobakevich resembles a “medium-sized bear; the tailcoat he wears is a “completely bearish” color; he steps at random; the color of his face, in which the eyes seem to be drilled with a drill, is red-hot, hot), indicates a powerful “beast-likeness” hero, on his bear-dog features. All this connects S. with the type of rude landowner Taras Skotinin from “The Minor” by D. I. Fonvizin. However, this connection is more external than internal; The author's attitude towards the hero is much more complicated here.

Chichikov's acquaintance with S. takes place in Chapter 1, at the governor's party; the hero immediately draws attention to the clumsiness of his interlocutor (S. first of all steps on his foot). Intending to visit the village of S. immediately after Manilovka, Chichikov nevertheless ends up with him, having managed to make a deal with Korobochka along the way and play checkers with the violent Nozdryov. S. Chichikov enters the village at a moment when all his thoughts are occupied with the dream of a 200,000-dollar dowry, so that the image of S. from the very beginning is associated with the theme of money, housekeeping, and calculation. S.’s behavior corresponds to this “beginning”.

After more than hearty lunch(fat “nanny”, meat, cheesecakes that are much larger than a plate, a turkey the size of a calf, etc.) Chichikov starts an ornate speech about the interests of “the entire Russian state as a whole” and evasively brings up the subject that interests him. But S. himself, without beating around the bush, busily moves on to the essence of the question: “Do you need dead souls?” The main thing is the price of the transaction (starting with one hundred rubles for the audit soul against Chichikov’s eight hryvnia, he finally agrees to two and a half, but then slips a “female” soul into the “male” list - Elisavet Vorobey). S.’s arguments are deadly simple: if Chichikov is ready to buy dead Souls, which means he hopes to extract his own benefit - and you should bargain with him. As for the “product” offered, it is of the best quality - all the souls “that vigorous nut", as the owner of the dead serfs himself.

Naturally, S.’s spiritual appearance is reflected in everything that surrounds him. From the landscape - two forests, birch and oak, like two wings, and in the middle a wooden house with a mezzanine - to the “wild” color of the walls. In home design, “symmetry” fights against “convenience”; all useless architectural beauties have been eliminated. The extra windows are blocked up, and one small one is drilled in their place; the fourth column that was in the way was removed. The peasants' huts were also built without the usual village "conventions", without decorations. But they are made “properly” and are durable; even the well is built into oak, which is usually used for the construction of mills.

In S.’s house there are hanging paintings depicting only “well done” greek heroes-commanders of the early 1820s, whose images seemed to be copied from himself. This is Mavrocordato in red trousers and with glasses on his nose, Colocotroni and others, all with thick thighs and incredible mustaches. (Obviously, in order to emphasize their power, a “Georgian” one was inserted into the midst of the “Greek” portraits - the image of a skinny Bagration.) It is also endowed with magnificent thickness greek heroine Bobelina - her leg is wider than the torso of some dandy. “Greek” images, sometimes parodically, sometimes seriously, constantly appear on the pages of “Dead Souls” and pass through the entire plot space Gogol's poem, originally likened to Homer's Iliad. These images echo and rhyme with the central “Roman” image of Virgil, who leads Dante through the circles of Hell - and, pointing to the ancient ideal of plastic harmony, they clearly highlight the imperfection of modern life.

Not only portraits are similar to S.; The blackbird of a dark color with white speckles, and the pot-bellied walnut bureau on the most incongruous legs, “the perfect bear,” are similar to him. Everything around seems to want to say: “And I, too, are Sobakevich!” In turn, he also looks like an “object” - his legs are like cast iron pedestals.

But for all his “heaviness” and rudeness, S. is unusually expressive. This is a type of Russian kulak (there was controversy about this type in the Russian press of the 1830s) - poorly tailored, but tightly sewn. Whether he was born a bear, or whether he was “bear-beared” by his provincial life, all the same, with all the “dog disposition” and resemblance to the Vyatka squat horses, S. is the master; his men live well and reliably. (Here follows author's digression about St. Petersburg life, which could have ruined S, corrupting him with bureaucratic omnipotence.) The fact that natural power and efficiency seemed to become heavy in him, turned into dull inertia, is more a misfortune than a fault of the hero.

If Manilov lives completely outside of time, if time in Korobochka’s world has slowed down terribly, like her hissing wall clock, and tipped over into the past (as indicated by Kutuzov’s portrait), and Nozdryov lives only in each given second, then S. is registered in modernity, in 1820s (age of Greek heroes). Unlike all previous characters and in full agreement with the narrator S. - precisely because he himself is endowed with redundant, truly heroic strength, - sees how the present life has been crushed, how weakened. During the bargaining, he remarks: “However, even then: what kind of people are these? flies, not people,” are much worse than dead people.

The more God has built into a personality, the more terrible the gap between its purpose and real state. But the greater the chances for the revival and transformation of the soul. S. is the first in a series of types outlined by Gogol who are directly correlated with one of the characters in the 2nd volume, where the heroes are depicted, although by no means ideal, but still cleared of many of their passions. S’s housekeeping, “Greek” portraits on the walls, the “Greek” name of his wife (Feodulia Ivanovna) will resonate in rhyme Greek name And social type zealous landowner Kostanzhoglo. And the connection between the name S. - Mikhailo Ivanovich - and the “humanoid” bears from Russian fairy tales roots his image in the ideal space of folklore, softening the “animal” associations. But at the same time, the “negative” properties of S.’s zealous soul seem to be projected onto the image of the stingy Plyushkin, condensed in him to the last degree.

Mikhail Semenovich Sobakevich is a small landowner 40 years old. The buyer of the dead souls of Chichikov comes to him for the fourth time. He appears to the reader as a strong and big man. Gogol had a special talent for giving surnames to his characters based on their character traits. So Sobakevich, initially presented as kind and strong, later turns out to be dissatisfied and swearing.

Sobakevich lives in a remote outback, which left a unique imprint on him. He is actively involved in his estate, leading a measured and long-established life with his wife Fedulia Ivanovna. The wife is presented as a tall and at the same time thin person. Yes, they make quite a harmonious couple.

(Sobakevich's estate in his village)

The village of Sobakevich is equipped with strong peasant huts, which have a rather awkward appearance, but are solid and reliable. Sobakevich surrounded his estate with a secure fence. In his house, all the furnishings are strong and reliable; it seems that every chair shouts: “I, too, am Sobakevich.” Everything looks a bit like a bear's den. There are large and bulky chairs and beds, and paintings in equally bulky frames are hung everywhere.

Characteristics of the hero

("Sobakevich", artist Alexander Agin, 1846-47)

Sobakevich is the simplest landowner who stands firmly on his land, knows how to soberly and quickly evaluate people, without feeling the slightest sympathy for them. According to Mikhail Semenovich himself, his life was a success, which he managed to arrange fundamentally and thoroughly. He has no sense of fear towards anyone, although he is an excellent conversationalist with a certain rudeness, straightforwardness and asinine stubbornness.

Mikhail Semenovich is deprived of any emotional impulses and spiritual experiences; he is completely free from daydreaming and philosophizing. Sobakevich perceives with complete disgust everything new that does not fit into his consciousness, believing that all these delights of enlightenment are harmful inventions for the people. His life credo is “A swindler sits on a swindler and drives the swindler around.”

He scolds everyone and believes that the most decent person for him is only the prosecutor, but he considers the chief of police to be a fraudster, and the governor to be a robber. For him, every person is a liar and dishonest. Although he himself calmly lies to the chairman of the chamber that he decided to sell the coachman Mikheev, despite the fact that the chairman himself already knew about his death.

("Sobakevich presents his wife to Chichikov", artist Alexander Agin, 1846-47)

Opinion about Chichikov. Unlike the landowner Korobochka, cut off from the realities of life and the sebarite dreamer Manilov, Sobakevich quickly understood the essence of the scoundrel Chichikov and did not give himself the opportunity to be deceived.

Having listened to Chichikov’s request to sell him dead souls, Sobakevich, despite his clumsiness and eccentricity, quickly realized what Chichikov was talking about, which is why he set such a high price - 100 rubles for each dead soul sold. During the conversation with Chichikov, the psychology of Sobakevich is fully revealed - a strong landowner-fist who managed to organize the work of his peasants in such a way that he extracted maximum benefit for himself. Sobakevich will never miss his profit, so he firmly decided not to deviate from the appointed price.

The image of the hero in the work

("Lunch at Sobakevich's", illustration by P.P. Sokolov, early 1890s)

Sobakevich is one of the main characters of Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”, in which he created collective image, met both in the remote provinces and in the capital's salons. The poem reflects the reality that existed in Russia at the end of the 19th century, when peasants were serfs, and their life was completely dependent on the landowner.

Gogol, describing Sobakevich’s appearance, compared him to a clumsy bear, who suddenly pierced his interlocutor with his close-set eyes, which made him feel uncomfortable. For all his monumentality, Mikhail is not without some weaknesses, the main one being gluttony. Boasting to Chichikov, he said: “When I have pork, put the whole pig on the table!”

To describe the image of Sobakevich, Gogol used all the techniques compositional construction narratives: landscapes, portraits and speech of your hero.

Mikhailo Semenych Sobakevich is the fourth “seller” of dead souls. The very name and appearance of this hero (he looks like a “medium-sized bear”, besides, his tailcoat is also bear-colored, his gait is at random, his face is “hardened and hot”) speak of the excessive power of his nature.

Literally from the very beginning, the image of money, calculation and thriftiness is firmly attached to Sobakevich. He is a very direct and open person.

When communicating with Chichikov, despite his thin hints, Sobakevich immediately gets to the heart of the question: “Do you need dead souls?” He is a true entrepreneur. The main thing for him is the deal, the money, the rest is secondary. Sobakevich skillfully defends his position, bargains well, not disdaining cheating (even slips Chichikov “ female soul" - Elizaveta Sparrow).

All the things around him reflect his spiritual appearance. Sobakevich’s house has been cleared of all unnecessary and “useless” architectural creations. The huts of his subordinates are also very austere and built without unnecessary decoration. In Sobakevich’s house you can only find paintings ancient greek heroes, in some places similar to the owner.

Chichikov introduced Sobakevich to us, the readers, as very similar to a medium-sized bear. The tailcoat he was wearing was bear-colored, his sleeves were long, his trousers were long, he walked with his feet this way and that, constantly stepping on other people’s feet. His complexion was red-hot, the kind you get on a copper coin.

In the living room of his house there are many paintings of Greek generals.

Talking with Chichikov, Sobakevich, not paying attention to Chichikov’s evasiveness, moves on to the essence of the question: “Do you need dead souls?” The main thing for Sobakevich is the price; everything else does not interest him. Sobakevich bargains knowledgeably and praises his goods.

By nature he is endowed with good qualities, he has rich potential and a powerful nature.

I remember Sobakevich for his greed and cunning, and his appearance. He loves to praise everything he owns. He knows how to conduct a business conversation.

Work:

Dead Souls

Sobakevich Mikhailo Semenych is a landowner, the fourth “seller” of dead souls. The very name and appearance of this hero (reminiscent of a “medium-sized bear”, his tailcoat is of a “completely bearish” color, he walks at random, his complexion is “red-hot, hot”) indicate the power of his nature.

From the very beginning, S.’s image is associated with the theme of money, thriftiness, and calculation (at the moment of entering the village, S. Chichikov dreams of a 200,000-dollar dowry). Talking with Chichikov S., not paying attention to Chichikov’s evasiveness, busily moves on to the essence of the question: “Do you need dead souls?” The main thing for S. is the price; everything else does not interest him. S. bargains competently, praises his goods (all souls are “like a vigorous nut”) and even manages to deceive Chichikov (she slips him a “woman’s soul” - Elizaveta Vorobey). S.'s spiritual appearance is reflected in everything that surrounds him. In his house, all “useless” architectural beauties have been removed. The peasants' huts were also built without any decorations. In S.'s house there are paintings on the walls depicting exclusively Greek heroes who look like the owner of the house. The dark-colored blackbird with speckles and the pot-bellied walnut bureau (“the perfect bear”) are also similar to S. In turn, the hero himself also looks like an object - his legs are like cast iron pedestals. S. is a type of Russian kulak, a strong, prudent master. Its peasants live well and reliably. The fact that S.’s natural strength and efficiency turned into dull inertia is rather not the hero’s fault, but rather the hero’s misfortune. S. lives exclusively in modern times, in the 1820s. From the height of his power, S. sees how the life around him has been crushed. During the bargaining, he remarks: “...what kind of people are these? flies, not people,” are much worse than dead people. S. occupies one of the highest places in the spiritual “hierarchy” of heroes, because, according to the author, he has many chances for rebirth. By nature he is endowed with many good qualities, he has rich potential and a powerful nature. Their implementation will be shown in the second volume of the poem - in the image of the landowner Kostanzhoglo.

SOBAKEVICH is a character in the poem by N.V. Gogol’s “Dead Souls” (first volume 1842, under the censored title “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls”; second, volume 1842-1845). Folklore sources of the image of S. are epic and fairy-tale heroes (Eruslan Lazarevich, Ilya Muromets, etc.). Possible literary sources: Taras Skotinin from D. Fonvizia’s comedy “The Minor”, the bear-like robber Burdash from M. Zagoskin’s novel “Yuri Miloslavsky”. S.’s heroic power (a foot shod in a gigantic-sized boot), feats at the dinner table (cheesecakes “much larger than a plate,” “a turkey the size of a calf,” “half a side of lamb” eaten at once), S.’s heroic health (“fifth decade I live, I have never been sick") parody the appearance and actions of fabulous and epic heroes. S.'s surname is not formally connected with his appearance: S. looks like “a medium-sized bear”; complexion “red-hot, hot, like a copper coin”; his name - Mikhailo Semenovich - also indicates a folklore bear. However, associatively, the surname corresponds to the character and portrait: S. has a “bulldog” grip and face; in addition, he treats people like a chained dog (cf. Gogol’s ironic play on S.’s words after agreeing to sell souls: “Yes, such a dog’s disposition: I can’t help but please my neighbor”). Roughness and clumsiness are the essence of the portrait of S. Nature, when creating his face, “chowed from all sides: she grabbed the ax once - the nose came out, grabbed another - the lips came out, she picked out his eyes with a large drill and, without scraping them, let them into the light...”. S.'s soullessness is emphasized by the metaphorical replacement of his face with a wide Moldavian pumpkin, and his legs with cast-iron pedestals. The things around S. repeat the heavy and durable body of the owner: a strong and asymmetrical house, “like we build for military settlements and German colonists”; peasant huts and a well made of ship's oak, but without any carved patterns; the pot-bellied walnut bureau is a perfect bear; the table, armchair, chairs seemed to say: “And I, too, Sobakevich!” Even the thrush is similar to S.S. tied to the earthly and builds as if he intends to live forever, without thinking about death or the soul; S. is childless (cf. the Gospel parable about the rich man who set up new barns: “But God said to him: you fool, this night they will take your soul from you; who will get what you have prepared?” (Luke 12: 20)). S. is the owner, a materialist, and he does not care about “treasures in heaven.” S.’s hypertrophied practicality contrasts with Manilov’s sugary “empyreanism,” just as the habit of scolding everything and seeing everyone as scoundrels and swindlers is contrasted with the enthusiastic idealization of people inherent in Manilov. S.’s governor is “the first robber in the world,” “he’ll kill you for a penny.” The whole city is Christ-sellers, “the swindler sits on the swindler and drives the swindler on. There's only one there honest man: prosecutor; and even that one, to tell the truth, is a pig.” Officials, according to S., “burden the earth for nothing,” and the attorney Zolotukha is “the greatest grabber in the world.” S. is a Russophile and hates everything Western. He is ready to outweigh the Germans and the French, since they came up with the diet, imagining “that they can cope with the Russian stomach.” S. does not go into detail; he is a supporter of the whole, the gigantic. In this, according to S., the truly Russian nature is manifested: “When I have pork, put the whole pig on the table, lamb, bring the whole ram, goose, the whole goose!” At the police chief's, while the guests were talking, S. "finished" the sturgeon. S.'s soul is buried under the weight of flesh or, according to Gogol, somewhere behind the mountains it is covered with a “thick shell”, “like immortal Koshchei" S. remembers the soul only when bargaining with Chichikov, reducing its elusive essence to a purely material shell, to food: “Your human soul is like a steamed turnip” (cf. “radish boiled in honey”). The unrealized heroic potential of S.'s “dead” soul is parodically represented by portraits of the heroes of the Greek national liberation movement of 1821-1829. (Mavrocordato, Miau-li, Kanari), however, their heroism, exclusively of the popular type, degenerates in S. into empty external grandiosity (“thick thighs and an unheard-of mustache”), emphasized by the alogism of the portrait of Bagration, “skinny, thin, with small banners and guns,” “within the narrowest limits.” S. - “man-fist”. Gogol's metaphor expresses the universal human passion, personified in the image of S. - passion for the heavy, earthly, carnal. This is acquisitiveness of a special kind, it is radically different from Chichikov’s groundless, unsteady acquisitiveness; on the contrary, it is objective, economically strong (even S.’s “dead souls” are not rubbish souls, but “a vigorous nut, all for selection”), S. “breaks” a hundred rubles for a soul and does not disdain fraud, slipping it into list of babu souls - “Elizabeth Sparrow”. The strength and will of S. (“No, whoever has a fist cannot straighten into a palm!”) are devoid of an ideal, core, soul, in fact, they are as dead as Manilov’s dreaminess or Plyushkin’s stinginess, ultimately they slow down the movement “ birds-three" of Rus'.

The image of the landowner Sobakevich in the poem “Dead Souls”

Unlike Nozdryov, Sobakevich cannot be considered a person with his head in the clouds. This hero stands firmly on the ground, does not indulge himself with illusions, soberly evaluates people and life, knows how to act and achieve what he wants. When characterizing his life, Gogol notes the thoroughness and fundamental nature of everything. These are natural features of Sobakevich’s life. He and the furnishings of his house bear the stamp of clumsiness and ugliness. Physical strength and clumsiness appear in the appearance of the hero himself. “He looked like a medium-sized bear,” Gogol writes about him. The animal nature predominates in Sobakevich. He is devoid of any spiritual needs, far from daydreaming, philosophizing and noble impulses of the soul. The meaning of his life is to satiate his stomach. He himself has a negative attitude towards everything related to culture and education: “Enlightenment is a harmful invention.” A local existence and a hoarder coexist in it. Unlike Korobochka, he understands well environment and understands the time in which he lives, knows the people. Unlike other landowners, he immediately understood the essence of Chichikov. Sobakevich is a cunning rogue, an arrogant businessman who is difficult to deceive. He evaluates everything around him only from the point of view of his own benefit. His conversation with Chichikov reveals the psychology of a kulak who knows how to force peasants to work for themselves and extract maximum benefit from it. He is straightforward, quite rude and does not believe in anything. Unlike Manilov, in his perception all people are robbers, scoundrels, fools. (In Sobakevich’s house everything surprisingly resembled him. Every thing seemed to say: “And I, too, Sobakevich.”

The description of the village and the landowner's economy indicates a certain wealth. “The yard was surrounded by a strong and excessively thick wooden lattice. The landowner seemed to be concerned a lot about durability... Village huts The men were also cut down amazingly... everything was fitted tightly and properly.”

Describing Sobakevich's appearance, Gogol resorts to a zoological comparison - comparing the landowner with a bear. Sobakevich is a glutton. In his judgments about where, he rises to a kind of “gastronomic” pathos: “When I have pork, put the whole pig on the table, lamb, bring the whole lamb, goose, the whole goose!” However,

Sobakevich, and in this he differs from Plyushkin and most other landowners, except perhaps Korobochka, has a certain economic streak: he does not ruin his own serfs, he achieves of a certain order on the farm, sells profitably Chichikov is dead souls, knows business and human qualities their peasants.

The image of Sobakevich occupies a worthy place in the gallery of landowners. “A fist! And a beast to boot,” - this is how Chichikov gave him. Sobakevich is undoubtedly a hoarding landowner. His village is large and well-equipped. All the buildings, although clumsy, are extremely strong. Sobakevich himself reminded Chichikov of a medium-sized bear - large, clumsy. In the portrait of Sobakevich there is no description at all of the eyes, which, as is known, are the mirror of the soul. Gogol wants to show that Sobakevich is so rude and uncouth that his body “had no soul at all.” In Sobakevich’s rooms everything is as clumsy and large as he himself. The table, armchair, chairs and even the blackbird in the cage seemed to be saying: “And I, too, are Sobakevich.” Sobakevich takes Chichikov’s request calmly, but demands 100 rubles for each dead soul, and even praises his goods like a merchant. Speaking about the typicality of such an image, Gogol emphasizes that people like Sobakevich are found everywhere - in the provinces and in the capital. After all, the point is not in appearance, but in human nature: “no, whoever is a fist cannot bend into a palm.” Rude and uncouth Sobakevich is the ruler over his peasants. What if someone like that were to rise higher and give him more power? How much trouble he could do! After all, he adheres to a strictly defined opinion about people: “The swindler sits on the swindler and drives the swindler around.”

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When we talk about aristocrats, what often appears in our imagination is a fit, slender, handsome young man. When it comes to landowners, we are always lost, because in literature we often see two types of such heroes. The former try to imitate aristocrats and are used mainly in comic situations, since the imitation is more like a caricature of aristocratic life. The latter are masculine-looking, rude and not much different from peasants.
In N.V. Gogol’s story “Dead Souls” the reader has unique opportunity analyze different types landowners. One of the most colorful of them is Sobakevich.

Appearance of Sobakevich

Mikhailo Semenovich Sobakevich is one of the landowners to whom Chichikov turns with a request to sell dead souls. Sobakevich's age varies between 40-50 years.

"Bear! perfect bear! We need something like this strange convergence: his name was even Mikhail Semenovich” - this is the first impression of this man.

His face is round and rather unattractive in appearance, resembling a pumpkin. “The complexion had a red-hot, hot complexion, the kind you get on a copper coin.”

His facial features were unpleasant, as if hewn with an ax - rough. His face never expressed any emotion - it seemed that he had no soul.

He also had a bearish gait - every now and then he would step on someone’s feet. It is true that at times his movements were not without dexterity.

Mikhailo Semenych has unique health - in his entire life he has never been sick, he has never even had a boil. Sobakevich himself thinks that this is not good - someday he will have to pay for it.

Sobakevich family

Sobakevich’s family is small and is limited to his wife Feodulia Ivanovna. She is as simple and a woman as her husband. Aristocratic habits are alien to her. The author does not directly say anything about the relationship between the spouses, but the fact that they address each other as “darling” indicates a family idyll in their personal lives.

The story also contains references to Sobakevich's late father. According to the recollections of other heroes, he was even larger and stronger than my son and could go after a bear alone.

The image and characteristics of Sobakevich

Mikhailo Semenovich is an unpleasant looking person. In communication with him, this impression is partially confirmed. This is a rude person, he has no sense of tact.

The image of Sobakevich is devoid of romanticism and tenderness. He is very straightforward - a typical entrepreneur. It's rare to surprise him. He calmly discusses with Chichikov the possibility shopping dead shower as if it were the purchase of bread.

“You needed souls, so I’m selling them to you,” he says calmly.

The images of money and thrift are firmly attached to the image of Sobakevich - he strives for material gain. On the contrary, the concepts are completely alien to him cultural development. He doesn't strive to get an education. He believes that he has a great understanding of people and can immediately tell everything about a person.

Sobakevich does not like to stand on ceremony with people and speaks extremely disapprovingly of all his acquaintances. He easily finds flaws in everyone. He calls all the landowners of the county “swindlers.” He says that among all the noble people of the district, only one is worthy - the prosecutor, but at the same time adds that if you look carefully, then he is also a “pig”.

We invite you to get acquainted with the “Image of Chichikov” in the poem by N.V. Gogol “Dead Souls”

The measure of a good life for Sobakevich is the quality of dinners. He loves to eat well. Russian cuisine is preferable for him; he does not accept culinary innovations, considers them stupidity and nonsense. Mikhailo Semenovich is sure that only he has food good quality- the cooks of all the other landowners, and what of them, and the governor himself, prepare food from poor quality products. And some of them are prepared from such that the cook throws it in the trash.

Sobakevich's attitude towards the peasants

Sobakevich loves to take part in all work, along with the peasants. He takes care of them. Because he believes that employees who are treated well work better and more diligently.

When selling his “dead souls,” Sobakevich praises his serfs with might and main. He talks about their talents and sincerely regrets that he lost such good workers.

Sobakevich does not want to be left in the cold, so he asks Chichikov for a deposit for his peasants. It is difficult to say exactly how many “souls” were sold. It is certainly known that there were more than twenty of them (Sobakevich asks for a deposit of 50 rubles, stipulating the price for each at 2.5 rubles).

Sobakevich's estate and house

Sobakevich does not like sophistication and decoration. In buildings he values reliability and strength. The well in his yard was made of thick logs, “of which mills are usually built.” The buildings of all peasants are similar to a manor's house: neatly built and without a single decoration.