The depiction of peasants in the poem Dead Souls. Images of peasants in the poem N
“Dead Souls” is the pinnacle of Gogol’s creativity, and at the same time his last word as an artist. Gogol worked on his poem for seventeen years (from 1835 to 1852). Initially conceived, according to contemporaries, as a predominantly comic work, the poem, gradually deepening, turned into a broad accusatory picture of feudal Russia.
Moving with Chichikov from landowner to landowner, the reader seems to sink deeper and deeper into the “stunning mud” of vulgarity, pettiness, and depravity. The negative traits gradually thicken, and the gallery of landowners, starting with the comic Manilov, is concluded by Plyushkin, who is not so much funny as disgusting.
The main subject of the image for Gogol was noble Russia, but in the depths of the picture - in Chichikov’s reflections on the list of fugitives and in the author’s digressions - the people’s Rus' appeared, full of daring and courage, with “sweeping” words and “sweeping” will.
The theme of the people is one of the central themes of the poem. In addressing this topic, Gogol departs from the traditional approach and identifies two aspects in its understanding. On the one hand, this is an ironic and sometimes satirical depiction of the life of a people, and a real people at that. Gogol emphasizes the stupidity, ignorance, laziness, and drunkenness characteristic of the Russian peasant. On the other hand, this is an image of the deep foundations of the Russian character. Gogol notes the inexhaustible diligence of the Russian peasant, intelligence and ingenuity, and heroic strength. The Russian man is a jack of all trades. And it is no coincidence that Gogol draws attention to the rebellious qualities of serfs - this proves that an uncontrollable desire for freedom lives in Russian people. It is also noteworthy that the dead peasants appear before us as living people, because after death their deeds remained.
Images of serfs occupy a significant place in Dead Souls. Some of them run through the entire work, while others are mentioned by the author only in connection with individual events and scenes. The footman Petrushka and the coachman Selifan, Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai, Proshka and the girl Pelageya, who “doesn’t know where is right and where is left,” are humorously depicted. The spiritual world of these downtrodden people is narrow. Their actions cause bitter laughter. Drunk Selifan makes lengthy speeches addressed to the horses. Petrushka, while reading books, watches how some words are formed from individual letters, not at all interested in the content of what he read: “If they had given him chemistry, he wouldn’t have refused it either.” The clueless Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai cannot separate horses that are entangled in the lines.
Gogol reveals the great drama of the enslaved people. Feudal oppression, unlimited power over the peasants of boxes and plushkins cripples the living soul of the people, dooming them to ignorance and poverty.
However, Gogol also shows the bright sides of people's life. Serfs are hardworking, any work is successful in their hands. The carriages of the carriage maker Mikheev were famous throughout the area. Carpenter Stepan Probka “proceeded throughout the province with an ax in his belt,” and what a hero he was - “three arshins and an inch tall!” Such a giant and strong man can only serve in the guard. The brickmaker Milushkin could install a stove in any house, and the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov sewed such good boots that he could wear them all his life.
Despite the oppression of serfdom, the peasants did not become slaves by nature. They flee from landowners' estates to the outskirts of Russia, where life is more free. Abakum Fogrov moved to the Volga, works and walks with a gang of barge haulers. “Russian people are capable of anything and get used to any climate. Send him to Kamchatka, just give him warm mittens, he claps his hands, an ax in his hands, and goes to cut himself a new hut.” True to the truth of life, Gogol did not ignore the popular riots. The peasants of the villages of Lousy Arrogance and Borovki “razed off the face of the earth the zemstvo government in the person of an assessor, some Drobyazhkin.”
Deep faith in the Russian people is heard in the lyrical conclusion of the poem - in the poetic comparison of Russia with the “brisk, irresistible troika” racing uncontrollably into the distance, in front of which other peoples and states, “squinting”, shun.
Rus! where are you going?
Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer.
N.V. Gogol
Interest in Gogol's work continues unabated to this day. Probably the reason is that Gogol was able to most fully show the character traits of the Russian man, the greatness and beauty of Russia.
“Dead Souls” begins with a depiction of city life, sketches of pictures of the city and a description of bureaucratic society. Five chapters of the poem are devoted to the depiction of officials, five to landowners, and one to the biography of Chichikov. As a result, a general picture of Russia is recreated with a huge number of characters of different positions and conditions, which Gogol snatches from the general mass, because, in addition to officials and landowners, Gogol also describes other urban and rural residents - townspeople, servants, peasants. All this adds up to a complex panorama of Russian life, its present.
Let's see how Gogol portrays the godparents.
Gogol is by no means inclined to idealize them. Let us remember the beginning of the poem, when Chichikov entered the city. Two men, examining the chaise, determined that one wheel was not in order and Chichikov would not go far. Gogol did not hide the fact that the men were standing near the tavern. Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai, Manilov’s serf, are shown as clueless in the poem, asking to earn money, while he himself goes to drink. The girl Pelageya does not know where the right is and where the left is. Proshka and Mavra are downtrodden and intimidated. Gogol does not blame them, but rather laughs good-naturedly at them.
Describing the coachman Selifan and the footman Petrushka - Chichikov's courtyard servants, the author shows kindness and understanding. Petrushka is overwhelmed by a passion for reading, although he is more attracted not by what he reads, but by the process of reading itself, as if from the letters “some word always comes out, which sometimes the devil knows what it means.” We do not see high spirituality and morality in Selifan and Petrushka, but they are already different from Uncle Mitya and Uncle Minay. Revealing the image of Selifan, Gogol shows the soul of the Russian peasant and tries to understand this soul. Let us remember what he says about the meaning of scratching the back of the head among the Russian people: “What did this scratching mean? and what does it even mean? Is it annoyance that the meeting planned for the next day with my brother didn’t work out... or some kind of sweetheart has already started in a new place... Or it’s just a pity to leave a warm place in a people’s kitchen under a sheepskin coat, in order to again trudge into the rain and slush and all sorts of road misfortunes?
The exponent of the ideal future of Russia is Russia, described in lyrical digressions. The people are also represented here. This people may consist of “dead souls,” but they have a lively and lively mind, they are a people “full of the creative abilities of the soul...”. It was among such people that a “bird-three” could appear, which the coachman can easily control. This, for example, is the efficient man from Yaroslavl, who “with one ax and a chisel” made a miracle crew. Chichikov bought him and other dead peasants. Copying them, he pictures their earthly life in his imagination: “My fathers, how many of you are crammed here! What have you, my dear ones, done in your lifetime?” The dead peasants in the poem are contrasted with the living peasants with their poor inner world. They are endowed with fabulous, heroic features. Selling the carpenter Stepan, the landowner Sobakevich describes him like this: “What kind of power she was! If he had served in the guard, God knows what they would have given him, three arshins and an inch in height.”
The image of the people in Gogol's poem gradually develops into the image of Russia. Here, too, one can see the contrast between the present Russia and the ideal future Russia. At the beginning of the eleventh chapter, Gogol gives a description of Russia: “Rus! Rus! I see you...” and “How strange, and alluring, and carrying, and wonderful in the word: road!” But these two lyrical digressions are broken by the phrases: “Hold, hold, you fool!” Chichikov shouted to Selifan. “Here I am with a broadsword!” - shouted a courier with a mustache as long as he was galloping towards. “Don’t you see, damn your soul: it’s a government carriage!..”
In lyrical digressions, the author refers to the “immense space”, “mighty space” of the Russian land. In the last chapter of the poem, Chichikov’s chaise, the Russian troika, turns into a symbolic image of Russia, rapidly rushing into an unknown distance. Gogol, being a patriot, believed in a bright and happy future for his Motherland. Gogol's Russia in the future is a great and powerful country.
CHICHIKOV
Genre originality of the poem
CHATSKY AND REPETILOV
The original title of the comedy was “Woe to Wit.” In the language of Griboyedov, Pushkin, and the Decembrists, “mind is free-thinking, independence of judgment, free-thinking.”
“The fate of smart people, my dear, is to spend most of their lives with fools, and what an abyss of them we have!” - Griboyedov wrote to Begichev. The comedy shows the clash of the “present century” and the “past century.” The comedy reflected not only the life and customs of Moscow and “the times of Ochakov and the conquest of the Crimea,” but also the movement of progressive noble thought. The image of Chatsky shows the idea of an active creative mind and free human feeling. Chatsky’s love of freedom was formed under the same conditions as those of the Decembrists. After a long absence, Chatsky returns to Moscow and comes to Famusov’s house. He finds that everything and everyone here has changed. He changed too. Smart and educated, able to love, witty and eloquent, honest and active. The hero finds himself in the “Famus society”, where veneration, careerism, flattery, stupidity, idle talk, and arrogance reign. Chatsky did not want to obey the laws of this society and paid for it. He was declared crazy. But Chatsky is a strong personality. He is “a man of action, only such a person can become a real winner, even if he is the only “warrior in the field”... Yes, Famus society is afraid of Chatsky: after all, he burst into the silence of society like a whirlwind; with wild joy, loud and uncontrollable laughter, and ardent indignation, he disrupted their existence. And although Chatsky is powerless now, I believe that his time will come. We perceive Chatsky as a hero, despite the fact that he leaves both Famusov’s house and Moscow.
The complete opposite of Chatsky is Repetilov. The “soul” of noble society, a buffoon, a gossip, a windbag, who, in order to keep up with fashion, wormed his way into the circle of some pseudo-liberal talkers. He appears at Famusov’s when the ball ends and the guests begin to leave. Repetilov “runs from the porch, falls as fast as he can and hastily recovers.” The meeting with Chatsky made him happy. Repetilov understands that he is “pathetic, ridiculous, ignorant, fool.” However, like many young people, he signed up for the “most secret union.” But when Chatsky asked what they were doing, Repetilov said: “We’re making noise, brother, we’re making noise.” The matter has not yet matured, but there are the smartest people around. Repetilov creates the appearance of activity, but all of it is meaningless and empty. And although he was the only one who doubted Chatsky’s madness, he chickened out in front of everyone, covered his ears and stepped aside. He is not a hero, he is the appearance of a hero, a parody of a hero. Repetilov wants to be the center of attention, but his words and deeds are worthless. And the proof of this is his last words: “Where should we direct the path now... Take us somewhere.”
In the play, Chatsky speaks out against the “past century” and its ideas: against the permissiveness of the feudal landowners, who can, at their whim, separate the children of peasants from their parents, exchange serfs for greyhounds; against the immorality of the Moscow nobility, which was accustomed to evaluate people by rank and money. Moreover, Chatsky stands alone against this numerous camp. He is convinced that money and position in society cannot be measures of human personality. Chatsky believes that honor and dignity should be the main values in a noble society. He expresses his views fearlessly, but is forced out of this environment, slandered, called crazy. The Chatskys' time has not yet come. But he found himself alone only in Famusov’s house. Outside of it, Chatsky has like-minded people, and the victory of the “present century” will come later, but certainly.
In order to more fully and from all sides reflect the features of the historical period presented in the comedy, Griboedov introduces Repetilov into the play “Woe from Wit”. This hero appears on stage in the last act, but he significantly expands the reader’s already existing understanding of the political situation in Russia at that time. Repetilov is a caricatured double of Chatsky, who is only able to repeat his words, but cannot comprehend them. Repetilov’s task is to gain weight in aristocratic society. Chatsky’s task is to expose and correct this society.
CHICHIKOV
The poem “Dead Souls” occupies a special place in Gogol’s work. The writer considered this work to be the main work of his life, the spiritual testament of Pushkin, who suggested to him the basis of the plot. In the poem, the author reflected the way of life and morals of different layers of society - peasants, landowners, officials. The images in the poem, according to the author, “are not at all portraits of insignificant people; on the contrary, they contain the features of those who consider themselves better than others.” The poem shows landowners, owners of serf souls, “masters” of life, in close-up. Gogol consistently, from hero to hero, reveals their characters and shows the insignificance of their existence. Starting with Manilov and ending with Plyushkin, the author intensifies his satire and exposes the criminal world of landowner-bureaucratic Russia.
The main character of the work, Chichikov, remains a mystery to everyone until the last chapter of the first volume: both for officials of the city of N and for readers. The author reveals the inner world of Pavel Ivanovich in scenes of his meetings with landowners. Gogol draws attention to the fact that Chichikov is constantly changing and almost copies the behavior of his interlocutors. Talking about Chichikov’s meeting with Korobochka, Gogol says that in Russia a person talks differently to the owners of two hundred, three hundred, five hundred souls: “... even if you reach a million, there will be all shades.”
Chichikov has studied people well, knows how to find a benefit in any situation, and always says what they would like to hear from him. So, with Manilov, Chichikov is pompous, amiable and flattering. He talks to Korobochka without any special ceremony, and his vocabulary is in tune with the style of the hostess. Communication with the arrogant liar Nozdryov is not easy, since Pavel Ivanovich does not tolerate familiar treatment, “...unless the person is of too high a rank.” However, hoping for a profitable deal, he does not leave Nozdryov’s estate until the last moment and tries to become like him: he addresses himself as “you,” adopts a boorish tone, and behaves familiarly. The image of Sobakevich, personifying the thoroughness of a landowner's life, immediately prompts Pavel Ivanovich to conduct as thorough a conversation as possible about dead souls. Chichikov manages to win over the “hole in the human body” - Plyushkin, who has long lost contact with the outside world and forgotten the norms of politeness. To do this, it was enough for him to play the role of a “motishka”, ready, at a loss to himself, to save a casual acquaintance from the need to pay taxes for dead peasants.
It is not difficult for Chichikov to change his appearance, because he has all the qualities that form the basis of the characters of the depicted landowners. This is confirmed by the episodes in the poem where Chichikov is left alone with himself and does not need to adapt to those around him. While examining the city of N, Pavel Ivanovich “teared off a poster nailed to a post so that when he came home, he could read it thoroughly,” and after reading it, “he folded it neatly and put it in his little chest, where he used to put everything he came across.” This is reminiscent of the habits of Plyushkin, who collected and stored various kinds of rags and toothpicks. The colorlessness and uncertainty that accompany Chichikov until the last pages of the first volume of the poem make him similar to Manilov. That is why officials of the provincial city are making ridiculous guesses, trying to establish the true identity of the hero. Chichikova's love for neatly and pedantically arranging everything in his little chest brings him closer to Korobochka. Nozdryov notices that Chichikov looks like Sobakevich. All this suggests that in the character of the main character, as in a mirror, the traits of all landowners were reflected: Manilov’s love for meaningless conversations and “noble” gestures, and Korobochka’s pettiness, and Nozdryov’s narcissism, and Sobakevich’s rudeness, and Plyushkin’s hoarding.
And at the same time, Chichikov differs sharply from the landowners shown in the first chapters of the poem. He has a different psychology than Manilov, Sobakevich, Nozdryov and other landowners. He is characterized by extraordinary energy, business acumen, and determination, although morally he does not rise at all above the owners of serf souls. Many years of bureaucratic activity left a noticeable imprint on his demeanor and speech. Evidence of this is the warm welcome given to him in the provincial “high society”. Among officials and landowners, he is a new person, an acquirer who will replace the Manilovs, Nozdrevs, Sobakeviches and Plyushkins.
Chichikov's soul, just like the souls of landowners and officials, became dead. The “brilliant joy of life” is inaccessible to him; he is almost completely devoid of human feelings. In order to achieve his practical goals, he pacified his blood, which “played strongly.”
Gogol sought to understand the psychological nature of Chichikov as a new phenomenon, and for this, in the last chapter of the poem he talks about his life. Chichikov's biography explains the formation of the character revealed in the poem. The hero's childhood was dull and joyless, without friends and maternal affection, with constant reproaches from his sick father, and could not but affect his future fate. His father left him an inheritance of half a copper and a covenant to study diligently, please teachers and bosses, and, most importantly, save a penny. Pavlusha learned his father’s instructions well and directed all his energy towards achieving his cherished goal - wealth. He quickly realized that all lofty concepts only interfere with the achievement of his goal, and began to make his own way. At first, he acted childishly straightforwardly - he pleased the teacher in every possible way and thanks to this he became his favorite. As he grew up, he realized that you can find a special approach to each person, and began to achieve more significant success. Promising to marry the daughter of his boss, he received a position as a military officer. While serving at customs, he managed to convince his superiors of his integrity, and later established contacts with smugglers and made a huge fortune. All of Chichikov’s brilliant victories ultimately ended in failure, but no failures could break his thirst for profit.
However, the author notes that in Chichikov, unlike Plyushkin, “there was no attachment to money for the sake of money, he was not possessed by miserliness and stinginess. No, it was not they who moved him - he imagined life ahead in all its pleasures, so that finally later, over time, he would certainly taste all this, that’s why the penny was saved.” Gogol notes that the main character of the poem is the only character capable of manifesting the movements of the soul. “Apparently the Chichikovs also turn into poets for a few minutes,” says the author, when his hero stops “as if stunned by a blow” in front of the governor’s young daughter. And it was precisely this “human” movement of the soul that led to the failure of his promising venture. According to the author, sincerity, sincerity and selflessness are the most dangerous qualities in a world where cynicism, lies and profit reign. The fact that Gogol transferred his hero to the second volume of the poem suggests that he believed in his spiritual revival. In the second volume of the poem, the writer planned to spiritually “cleanse” Chichikov and put him on the path of spiritual resurrection. The resurrection of the “hero of the time,” according to him, was supposed to be the beginning of the resurrection of the entire society. But, unfortunately, the second volume of “Dead Souls” was burned, and the third was not written, so we can only guess how Chichikov’s moral revival took place.
Images of peasants in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls"
In the poem “Dead Souls” Gogol managed to depict Rus' in all its greatness, but at the same time with all its vices. In creating the work, the writer sought to understand the character of the Russian people, with whom he pinned hopes for a better future for Russia. There are many characters in the poem - various types of Russian landowners living idly in their noble estates, provincial officials, bribe-takers and thieves who have concentrated state power in their hands. Following Chichikov on his journey from one landowner's estate to another, the reader is presented with bleak pictures of the life of the serf peasantry.
The landowners treat the peasants as their slaves and dispose of them as things. Plyushkin's yard boy, thirteen-year-old Proshka, always hungry, who only hears from the master: “stupid as a log,” “fool,” “thief,” “mug,” “here I am with a birch broom for your taste.” “Perhaps I’ll give you a girl,” Korobochka says to Chichikov, “she knows the way, just watch!” Don’t bring it, the merchants have already brought one from me.” The owners of serf souls saw in the peasants only working cattle, suppressed their living soul, and deprived them of the opportunity for development. Over the course of many centuries of serfdom, such traits as drunkenness, insignificance and darkness formed in the Russian people. This is evidenced by the images of the stupid Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai, who cannot separate the horses that are entangled in the lines, the image of the yard girl Pelageya, who does not know where the right is and where the left is, the conversation of two men discussing whether the wheel will reach the Moscow or to Kazan. This is also evidenced by the image of the coachman Selifan, who drunkenly makes lengthy speeches addressed to the horses. But the author does not blame the peasants, but gently ironizes and laughs good-naturedly at them.
Gogol does not idealize the peasants, but makes the reader think about the strength of the people and their darkness. Such characters evoke both laughter and sadness at the same time. These are Chichikov’s servants, the girl Korobochka, the men encountered along the way, as well as the “dead souls” bought by Chichikov that come to life in his imagination. The author’s laughter evokes the “noble impulse for enlightenment” of Chichikov’s servant Petrushka, who is attracted not by the content of the books, but by the reading process itself. According to Gogol, he didn’t care what to read: the adventures of a hero in love, an ABC book, a prayer book, or chemistry.
When Chichikov reflects on the list of peasants he bought, a picture of the life and backbreaking labor of the people, their patience and courage is revealed to us. Copying the acquired “dead souls,” Chichikov imagines their earthly life in his imagination: “My fathers, how many of you are crammed here! What have you, my dear ones, done in your lifetime?” These peasants who died or were oppressed by serfdom are hardworking and talented. The glory of the wonderful carriage maker Mikheev is alive in people's memory even after his death. Even Sobakevich says with involuntary respect that that glorious master “should only work for the sovereign.” Brickmaker Milushkin “could install a stove in any house,” Maxim Telyatnikov sewed beautiful boots. Ingenuity and resourcefulness are emphasized in the image of Eremey Sorokoplekhin, who “traded in Moscow, bringing in one rent for five hundred rubles.”
The author speaks with love and admiration about the hardworking Russian people, about talented craftsmen, about the “efficient Yaroslavl peasant” who brought together the Russian troika, about the “lively people”, “the lively Russian mind”, and with pain in his heart he talks about their destinies. Shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov, who wanted to get his own house and little shop, becomes an alcoholic. The death of Grigory You Can't Get There, who out of melancholy turned into a tavern, and then straight into an ice hole, is absurd and senseless. Unforgettable is the image of Abakum Fyrov, who fell in love with a free life, attached to barge haulers. The fate of Plyushkin's fugitive serfs, who are doomed to spend the rest of their lives on the run, is bitter and humiliating. “Oh, Russian people! He doesn’t like to die his own death!” - Chichikov argues. But the “dead souls” he bought appear before the reader more alive than the landowners and officials who live in conditions that deaden the human soul, in a world of vulgarity and injustice. Against the backdrop of the dead-heartedness of landowners and officials, the lively and lively Russian mind, the people's prowess, and the broad scope of the soul stand out especially clearly. It is these qualities, according to Gogol, that are the basis of the national Russian character.
Gogol sees the mighty power of the people, suppressed, but not killed by serfdom. It is manifested in his ability not to lose heart under any circumstances, in festivities with songs and round dances, in which the national prowess and the scope of the Russian soul are manifested in full. It is also manifested in the talent of Mikheev, Stepan Probka, Milushkin, in the hard work and energy of the Russian person. “Russian people are capable of anything and get used to any climate. Send him to Kamchatka, just give him warm mittens, he claps his hands, an ax in his hands, and goes to cut himself a new hut,” say officials, discussing the resettlement of Chichikov’s peasants to the Kherson province.
By depicting pictures of people's life, Gogol makes readers feel that the suppressed and humiliated Russian people are suppressed, but not broken. The protest of the peasantry against the oppressors is expressed both in the revolt of the peasants of the village of Vshivaya-arrogance and the village of Borovka, who wiped out the zemstvo police in the person of assessor Drobyazhkin, and in an apt Russian word. When Chichikov asked the man he met about Plyushkin, he rewarded this master with the surprisingly accurate word “patched.” “The Russian people are expressing themselves strongly!” - exclaims Gogol, saying that there is no word in other languages, “which would be so sweeping, lively, so bursting out from under the very heart, so seething and vibrant, like a well-spoken Russian word.”
Seeing the difficult life of the peasants, full of poverty and deprivation, Gogol could not help but notice the growing indignation of the people and understood that his patience was not limitless. The writer fervently believed that the life of the people should change; he believed that hardworking and talented people deserve a better life. He hoped that the future of Russia did not belong to the landowners and “knights of a penny,” but to the great Russian people, who harbored unprecedented opportunities, and that is why he ridiculed the contemporary Russia of “dead souls.” It is no coincidence that the poem ends with the symbolic image of a three-bird. It contains the result of many years of Gogol’s thoughts about the fate of Russia, the present and future of its people. After all, it is the people who oppose the world of officials, landowners, and businessmen, like a living soul against a dead one.
Genre originality of the poem
The concept of the work was extremely complex. It did not fit into the framework of generally accepted genres in the literature of that time and required a rethinking of views on life, on Rus', on people. It was necessary to find new ways to express the idea artistically. The usual framework of genres for the embodiment of the author’s thoughts was cramped, because N.V. Gogol was looking for new forms for plotting and developing the plot.
At the beginning of work on the work in letters to N.V. Gogol often uses the word “novel”. In 1836, Gogol writes: “... the thing that I am sitting and working on now, and which I have been thinking about for a long time, and which I will think about for a long time, is not like either a story or a novel, it is long, long...” And nevertheless, subsequently the idea of his new work N.V. Gogol decided to embody it in the genre of poems. The writer's contemporaries were puzzled by his decision, since at that time, in the literature of the 19th century, poems written in poetic form enjoyed great success. The main attention in it was focused on a strong and proud personality who, in the conditions of modern society, faced a tragic fate.
Gogol's decision had a deeper meaning. Having conceived of creating a collective image of his homeland, he was able to highlight the properties inherent in different genres and harmoniously combine them under one definition of “poem”. “Dead Souls” contains features of a picaresque novel, a lyric poem, a socio-psychological novel, a story, and a satirical work. At first impression, “Dead Souls” is more of a novel. This is evidenced by the system of vividly and detailed characters. But Leo Tolstoy, having familiarized himself with the work, said: “Take Gogol’s Dead Souls. What is this? Neither a novel nor a story. Something completely original."
The poem is based on a narrative about Russian life, in the center of attention is the personality of Russia, covered from all sides. Chichikov, the hero of Dead Souls, is an unremarkable person, and it was precisely such a person, according to Gogol, who was the hero of his time, an acquirer who managed to vulgarize everything, even the very idea of evil. Chichikov's travels around Rus' turned out to be the most convenient form for the design of artistic material. This form is original and interesting mainly because it is not only Chichikov who travels in the work, whose adventures are the connecting element of the plot. The author travels around Russia with his hero. He meets with representatives of various social strata and, combining them into one whole, creates a rich gallery of character portraits.
Sketches of road landscapes, travel scenes, various historical, geographical and other information help Gogol present to the reader a complete picture of Russian life in those years. Taking Chichikov along Russian roads, the author shows the reader a huge range of Russian life in all its manifestations: landowners, officials, peasants, estates, taverns, nature and much more. Exploring the particular, Gogol draws conclusions about the whole, paints a terrible picture of the morals of contemporary Russia and, most importantly, explores the soul of the people.
The life of Russia at that time, the reality familiar to the writer, is depicted in the poem from the “satirical side,” which was new and unusual for Russian literature of the 19th century. And therefore, starting with the genre of the traditional adventure novel, N.V. Gogol, following an increasingly expanding plan, goes beyond the scope of the novel, the traditional story, and the poem, and as a result creates a large-scale lyric-epic work. The epic beginning in it is represented by the adventures of Chichikov and is connected with the plot. The lyrical principle, the presence of which becomes more and more significant as events unfold, is expressed in the author’s lyrical digressions. Overall, “Dead Souls” is a large-scale epic work that will amaze readers for a long time with its depth of analysis of Russian character and surprisingly accurate prediction of the future of Russia.
N.V. Gogol constantly sends the reader to the images of those who create everything in Rus': hemp, houses, ponds. The images of peasants in “Dead Souls” stand behind the majestic fantastic bird troika. It owes its origin to the skillful hands of craftsmen from the people.
Sarcasm and sympathy
The words of the great classic about the people reveal different moods. The author laughs and cries. He feels sorry and offended for those who have become dull and savage from their miserable existence. Gogol shows the result of slavery. A person loses what is given to him by nature and turns into a doll without thoughts and life. Such characters include the following representatives of the peasantry:
- Uncle Mityai;
- Girl Pelageya;
- Proshka;
- Mavra.
There is sarcasm in the lines about each of these characters. Pelageya does not know the directions (right, left), Plyushkin's serfs (Mavra and Proshka) are terribly beaten down. The same attitude towards the men serving the main character. Parsley once loved to read and connect letters into words. Now he is a degenerate drunkard, a lazy man and a slob.
Sympathy always stands next to sarcasm. Selivan talks with animals, in them he found true friends who are able to listen and support.
There are scenes that combine humor with sarcasm. They, according to some literary scholars, expose the “idiocy” of the peasants. The most striking of these scenes is the meeting of two crews. The men could not share Chichikov's chaise, which collided with the governor's daughter. Pavel Ivanovich manages to immerse himself in dreams and thoughts about a woman, while stupid peasants push the carriages in different directions.
Dead but alive
The author's description of the scenes of trading of dead souls is puzzling. The stupid serfs on the estates begin to look worse and funnier than the deceased craftsmen offered as a commodity. What characteristics are selected by landowners - sellers for those who served them faithfully:
- Carpenter Stepan. 3 arshins in height, heroic strength. He could have been given the highest rank in the guard. Stepan dies, falling from the bell tower.
- Carriage master Micah. His spring carriages were beautiful and durable. The beauty of the work performed, according to the author, is extraordinary.
- Shoemaker Maxim. The peasant learned the skill from a German. He failed to maintain his craft. He started using rotten raw materials, drank it and died.
- Furnace master Milushkin. The stove maker could install the stove in any room, firmly and soundly.
Some peasants in the poem “Dead Souls” do not have exact information about their profession, but their labor brought the landowners a good rent. Eremey Sorokoplekhin, for example, 500 rubles. Behind each is talent, health and hard work.
Gogol sympathizes with the common people, who contain such a mass of lazy people.
Lists of men
Chichikov studies the lists of serfs he acquired from the landowners of the provincial town. Leaves covered with letters come to life. Folk characters appear before your eyes. They work hard, then drink while sitting in taverns. The Rus-troika rushes past them. The horse-drawn wagon was made by a “quick Yaroslavl man.” He worked with an ax and a chisel, but the crew turned out to be breathtaking. The drivers drive in such a way that it is unclear what they are sitting on. There is so much spirit in the serfs who rush across Rus', not afraid of the night, nor the wind, nor the cold. They are not asked when and where to take the owner, they clearly carry out their assignments, turning those who lead them into soulless, cruel people.
The peasantry in the poem can be divided into two parts: enslaved and brave. The author believes in the talent of the Russian people, in the strength of their soul, the strength of feelings. It will become easier to write the essay “Images of Peasants” in “Dead Souls” using the proposed reasoning. The material proves that the peasants are brighter and cleaner than the “dead” landowners who sell their labor and souls.
Work test
Interest in Gogol's work continues unabated to this day. Probably the reason is that Gogol was able to most fully show the character traits of the Russian person, the greatness and beauty of Russia.
“Dead Souls” begins with a depiction of city life, sketches of pictures of the city and a description of bureaucratic society. Five chapters of the poem are devoted to the depiction of officials, five to landowners, and one to the biography of Chichikov. As a result, a general picture of Russia is recreated with a huge number of characters of different positions and conditions that are captured
Gogol from the general mass, because in addition to officials and landowners, Gogol also describes other urban and rural residents - burghers, servants, peasants. All this adds up to a complex panorama of Russian life, its present.
Let's see how Gogol portrays the godparents.
Gogol is by no means inclined to idealize them. Let us remember the beginning of the poem, when Chichikov entered the city. Two men, examining the chaise, determined that one wheel was not in order and Chichikov would not go far. Gogol did not hide the fact that the men were standing near the tavern. Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai, Manilov’s serf, asking for work, are shown as clueless in the poem.
And he himself goes to drink. The girl Pelageya does not know where the right is and where the left is. Proshka and Mavra are downtrodden and intimidated. Gogol does not blame them, but rather laughs good-naturedly at them.
Describing the coachman Selifan and the footman Petrushka - Chichikov's courtyard servants, the author shows kindness and understanding. Petrushka is overwhelmed by a passion for reading, although he is more attracted not by what he reads, but by the process of reading itself, as if from the letters “some word always comes out, which sometimes the devil knows what it means.” We do not see high spirituality and morality in Selifan and Petrushka, but they are already different from Uncle Mitya and Uncle Minay. Revealing the image of Selifan, Gogol shows the soul of the Russian peasant and tries to understand this soul. Let us remember what he says about the meaning of scratching the back of the head among the Russian people: “What did this scratching mean? and what does it even mean? Is it an annoyance that the meeting planned for the next day with my brother did not work out... or some kind of sweetheart has already started in a new place... Or is it just a pity to leave a heated place in a people’s kitchen under a sheepskin coat, in order to again trudge through the rain and slush and all sorts of road conditions? adversity?
The exponent of the ideal future of Russia is Russia, described in lyrical digressions. The people are also represented here. This people may consist of “dead souls,” but they have a lively and lively mind, they are a people “full of the creative abilities of the soul...”. It was among such people that a “bird-three” could appear, which the coachman can easily control. This, for example, is the efficient man from Yaroslavl, who “with one ax and a chisel” made a miracle crew. Chichikov bought him and other dead peasants. Copying them, he pictures their earthly life in his imagination: “My fathers, how many of you are crammed here! What have you, my dear ones, done in your lifetime?” The dead peasants in the poem are contrasted with the living peasants with their poor inner world. They are endowed with fabulous, heroic features. Selling the carpenter Stepan, the landowner Sobakevich describes him like this: “What kind of power she was! If he had served in the guard, God knows what they would have given him, three arshins and an inch in height.”
The image of the people in Gogol's poem gradually develops into the image of Russia. Here, too, one can see the contrast between the present Russia and the ideal future Russia. At the beginning of the eleventh chapter, Gogol gives a description of Russia: “Rus! Rus! I see you..." and "How strange, and alluring, and carrying, and wonderful in the word: road!" But these two lyrical digressions are broken by the phrases: “Hold it, hold it, you fool!” - Chichikov shouted to Selifan. “Here I am with a broadsword!” - shouted a courier with a mustache as long as he was galloping towards. “Don’t you see, damn your soul: it’s a government carriage!..”
In lyrical digressions, the author refers to the “immense space”, “mighty space” of the Russian land. In the last chapter of the poem, Chichikov’s chaise, the Russian troika, turns into a symbolic image of Russia, rapidly rushing into an unknown distance. Gogol, being a patriot, believes in a bright and happy future for his Motherland. Gogol's Russia in the future is a great and powerful country.
