The main characters of the poem are dead souls. Analysis of Gogol's poem "Dead Souls"

The main character of the work, a former official, and now a schemer. He came up with the idea of ​​a scam involving the dead souls of peasants. This character is present in all chapters. He travels around Russia all the time, meets wealthy landowners and officials, gains their trust, and then tries to pull off all sorts of frauds.

One of the heroes of the poem, a sentimental landowner, the first “seller” of dead souls in the provincial town of NN. The hero's surname comes from the verbs “to lure” and “to lure.” Chichikov meets Manilov at the governor's reception and quickly finds a common language with him, perhaps due to the similarity of characters. Manilov also likes to speak “sweetly”, he even has some “sugar” eyes. About people like this they usually say “neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan.”

The widow-landowner from the work, the second “saleswoman” of dead souls. By nature, she is a self-interested penny-pincher who sees everyone as a potential buyer. Chichikov quickly noticed the commercial efficiency and stupidity of this landowner. Despite the fact that she skillfully manages the farm and manages to extract profit from each harvest, the idea of ​​​​buying “dead souls” did not seem strange to her.

The broken 35-year-old landowner from the work, the third “seller” of the souls of dead peasants. Chichikov meets this character already in the first chapter at a reception with the prosecutor. Later he runs into him in a tavern and he invites Chichikov to visit him. Nozdryov's estate fully reflects the absurd character of the owner. There are no books or papers in the office, there are goats in the dining room, the food is not tasty, something is burnt, something is too salty.

One of the characters in the work, the fourth “seller” of dead souls. The appearance of this hero matches his character perfectly. This is a large, slightly angular and clumsy landowner with a “bulldog” grip, looking “like a medium-sized bear.”

The character of the poem, the fifth and final “seller” of dead souls. He is the personification of the complete death of the human soul. In this character, a bright personality was lost, consumed by stinginess. Despite Sobakevich’s persuasion not to go to him, Chichikov still decided to visit this landowner, since it is known that he has a high mortality rate among peasants.

Parsley

A minor character, Chichikov's footman. He was about thirty years old, with stern eyes, large lips and nose. He wore clothes from a master's shoulder and was silent. He loved reading books, but he didn’t like the plot of the book, but simply the process of reading. He was unkempt and slept in his clothes.

Selifan

Minor character, Chichikov's coachman. He was short, liked to drink, and previously served in customs.

Governor

A minor character, the main one in the city of NN, a big good-natured guy with awards, organized balls.

Lieutenant Governor

A minor character, one of the residents of the city of NN.

Prosecutor

A minor character, one of the residents of the city of NN. He was a serious and silent person, had thick black eyebrows and a slightly winking left eye, and loved to play cards. After the scandal with Chichikov, he suddenly died from the mental suffering he suffered.

Chairman of the Chamber

A minor character, one of the residents of the city of NN. A sensible and kind man, he knew everyone in the city.

All the heroes of the poem can be divided into groups: landowners, ordinary people (serfs and servants), officers, city officials. The first two groups are so interdependent, so merged into a kind of dialectical unity, that they simply cannot be characterized separately from each other.

Among the surnames of landowners in “Dead Souls,” the ones that primarily attract attention are those surnames that come from the names of animals. There are quite a few of them: Sobakevich, Bobrov, Svinin, Blokhin. The author closely introduces the reader to some landowners, while others are only mentioned in passing in the text. The surnames of landowners are mostly dissonant: Konopatiev, Trepakin, Kharpakin, Pleshakov, Mylnoy. But there are exceptions: Pochitaev, Cheprakov-Colonel. Such surnames already by their sound inspire respect, and there is hope that these are really smart and virtuous people, unlike other half-humans, half-beasts. When naming the landowners, the author uses sound notation. So the hero Sobakevich would not have acquired such heaviness and solidity if he had the surname Sobakin or Psov, although in meaning they are almost the same thing. What adds further solidity to Sobakevich’s character is his attitude towards the peasants, the way they are indicated in his notes given to Chichikov. Let us turn to the text of the work: “He (Chichikov) scanned it (the note) with his eyes and marveled at the neatness and accuracy: not only was the craft, rank, years and family fortune written down in detail, but even in the margins there were special notes about behavior, sobriety, - in a word , it was nice to watch." These serfs - carriage maker Mikheev, carpenter Stepan Probka, brickmaker Milushkin, shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov, Eremey Sorokoplekhin - and after their death they are dear to the owner as good workers and honest people. Sobakevich, despite the fact that “it seemed that this body had no soul at all, or it had one, but not at all where it should be, but, like the immortal Koshchei, somewhere behind the mountains and covered with such a thick shell, that whatever was stirring at the bottom of it did not produce absolutely any shock on the surface,” despite this, Sobakevich is a good owner.

The serf Korobochki have nicknames: Peter Savelyev Disrespect-Trough, Cow Brick, Wheel Ivan. “The landowner did not keep any notes or lists, but knew almost everyone by heart.” She is also a very zealous housewife, but she is not so interested in the serfs as in the amount of hemp, lard and honey that she can sell. Korobochka has a truly telling surname. She surprisingly suits a woman of “elderly years, in some kind of sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck,” one of those “mothers, small landowners who cry about crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile gain little by little.” money in colorful bags placed in dresser drawers."

The author characterizes Manilov as a man “without his own enthusiasm.” His surname consists mainly of sonorant sounds that sound soft without making unnecessary noise. It is also consonant with the word “to beckon.” Manilov is constantly attracted by some kind of fantastic projects, and, “deceived” by his fantasies, he does absolutely nothing in life.

Nozdryov, on the contrary, with his last name alone gives the impression of a man in whom there is too much of everything, like too many noisy vowels in his last name. In contrast to Nozdryov, the author portrayed his son-in-law Mizhuev, who is one of those people who “before you even have time to open your mouth, they are ready to argue and, it seems, will never agree to something that is clearly opposite to their way of thinking, that they will never call someone stupid smart and that in particular they will not agree to dance to someone else’s tune; and it will always end with the fact that their character will turn out to be soft, that they will agree to exactly what they rejected, they will call the stupid thing smart and then go off to dance as best they can to someone else’s tune - in a word , they will start as a smooth surface, and end up as a viper." Without Mizhuev, Nozdryov’s character would not have played so well with all its facets.

The image of Plyushkin in the poem is one of the most interesting. If the images of other landowners are given without a backstory, they are what they are in essence, then Plyushkin was once a different person, “a thrifty owner! He was married and a family man, and a neighbor came to him for lunch, listened and learned from him about farming and wise stinginess." But his wife died, one of his daughters died, and the remaining daughter ran away with a passing officer. Plyushkin is not so much a comic hero as a tragic one. And the tragedy of this image is grotesquely emphasized by the funny, absurd surname, which has something of the kolach that his daughter Alexandra Stepanovna brought to Plyushkin for Easter along with a new robe, and which he dried into breadcrumbs and served to rare guests for many years. Plyushkin's stinginess is brought to the point of absurdity, he is reduced to a "hole in humanity", and it is in this image that Gogol's "laughter through tears" is felt most strongly. Plyushkin deeply despises his serfs. He treats his servants as Moor and Proshka, scolds them mercilessly and mostly just like that, not to the point.

The author is deeply sympathetic to ordinary Russian people, servants, serfs. He describes them with good humor, take for example the scene in which Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai are trying to force stubborn horses to walk. The author calls them not Mitrofan and Dimitri, but Mityai and Minyai, and before the reader’s mind’s eye appears “the lean and long Uncle Mityai with a red beard” and “Uncle Minyai, a broad-shouldered man with a jet-black beard and a belly similar to that gigantic samovar. In which sbiten is cooked for the entire vegetated market." Chichikov's coachman Selifan is called by his full name because he claims to have some kind of education, which he pours out completely on the horses entrusted to his care. Chichikov's footman Parsley, with its special smell that follows him everywhere, also evokes a good-natured smile from the author and the reader. There is no trace of the evil irony that accompanies descriptions of landowners.

The author’s reasoning, put into Chichikov’s mouth, is full of lyricism about the life and death of the “dead souls” he bought. Chichikov fantasizes and sees how Stepan Probka “lifted himself... for greater profit under the church dome, and maybe he dragged himself onto the cross and, slipping, from there, from the crossbar, fell to the ground, and only some one standing nearby... Uncle Micah, scratched. With his hand on the back of his head, he said: “Eh, Vanya, what a blessing it is for you!” - and he himself, tying himself with a rope, climbed into his place. It is no coincidence that Stepan Cork is named Vanya here. It’s just that this name contains all the naivety, generosity, breadth of soul and recklessness of the ordinary Russian people.

The third group of heroes can be conventionally designated as officers. These are mostly friends and acquaintances of the landowner Nozdryov. In a sense, Nozdryov himself also belongs to this group. Besides him, one can name such revelers and bullies as Captain Potseluev, Khvostyrev, and Lieutenant Kuvshinnikov. These are real Russian surnames, but in this case they ambiguously indicate such characteristics of their owners as a constant desire to drink wine and something stronger, and not in mugs, but preferably in jugs, the ability to curl their tail behind the first skirt they come across and give out kisses left and right . Nozdryov, who himself is a bearer of all the above qualities, talks about all these exploits with great enthusiasm. We should also add a cheating card game here. In this light, N.V. Gogol portrays representatives of the great Russian army who were quartered in the provincial city, which to some extent represents the whole of vast Rus'.

And the last group of persons presented in the first volume of the poem can be designated as officials, from the lowest to the governor and his retinue. In the same group we will include the female population of the provincial city of NN, about whom a lot is also said in the poem.

The reader somehow learns the names of officials in passing, from their conversations with each other; for them, rank becomes more important than their first and last name, as if it grows to the skin. Among them, the central ones are the governor, the prosecutor, the gendarmerie colonel, the chairman of the chamber, the police chief, and the postmaster. These people seem to have no soul at all, even somewhere far away, like Sobakevich. They live for their own pleasure, under the guise of their rank, their lives are strictly regulated by the size of their rank and the size of the bribes that they are given for the work that they are required to do by virtue of their position. The author tests these sleeping officials with the appearance of Chichikov with his “dead souls.” And officials, willingly or unwillingly, must show who is capable of what. And they turned out to be capable of a lot, especially in the area of ​​guessing about the personality of Chichikov himself and his strange enterprise. Various rumors and opinions began to circulate, which, “for some unknown reason, had the greatest effect on the poor prosecutor. They affected him to such an extent that, when he came home, he began to think and think and suddenly, as they say, for no reason at all.” "On the other hand, he died. Whether he was suffering from paralysis or something else, he just sat there and fell backwards out of his chair... Only then did they learn with condolences that the deceased definitely had a soul, although out of his modesty he never showed it." The rest of the officials never showed their souls.

Ladies from the high society of the provincial city of NN helped the officials a lot in causing such a big commotion. Ladies occupy a special place in the anthroponymic system of Dead Souls. The author, as he himself admits, does not dare to write about ladies. “It’s even strange, the pen doesn’t rise at all, as if some kind of lead were sitting in it. So be it: about their characters, apparently, we need to leave it to someone who has livelier colors and more of them on the palette, and we’ll only have to say two words about appearance and about what is more superficial.The ladies of the city of NN were what is called presentable... As for how to behave, maintain tone, maintain etiquette, many of the most subtle decencies, and especially observe ode in the very last little details, then in this they were ahead of even the ladies of St. Petersburg and Moscow... A calling card, whether it was written on a two of clubs or an ace of diamonds, was a very sacred thing.” The author does not give names to the ladies, and explains the reason as follows: “It is dangerous to call a fictitious surname. Whatever name you come up with, you will certainly find it in some corner of our state, fortunately, someone bearing it will certainly not be angry.” to the stomach, and to death... Call them by rank - God forbid, and even more dangerous. Now all ranks and classes are so irritated in our country that everything that is in a printed book already seems to them to be a person: such is the disposition in air. It is enough to just say that there is a stupid man in one city, that is already a person; suddenly a gentleman of respectable appearance will jump out and shout: “After all, I am also a man, therefore, I am also stupid,” - in a word, he will instantly realize what is the matter ". This is how a lady pleasant in all respects and a simply pleasant lady appear in the poem - collective female images that are delightfully expressive. From the conversation between the two ladies, the reader subsequently learns that one of them is called Sofya Ivanovna, and the other is Anna Grigorievna. But this doesn’t really matter, because no matter what you call them, they will still remain a pleasant lady in all respects and simply a pleasant lady. This introduces an additional element of generalization into the author's characterization of the characters. A lady pleasant in all respects “acquired this title in a legitimate way, because, as a matter of fact, she did not regret anything in becoming amiable to the last degree, although, of course, through the amiability, oh, what a nimble agility of a woman’s character crept in! And although sometimes it stuck out in every pleasant word wow, what a pin! and God forbid, what was seething in my heart against the one that would somehow and somehow get through in the first place. But all this was clothed in the most subtle secularism that only happens in a provincial city." "The other lady... did not have that versatility in character, and therefore we will call her: just a pleasant lady." It was these ladies who laid the foundation for the loud scandal about dead souls , Chichikov and the kidnapping of the governor's daughter. A few words need to be said about the latter. She is no more and no less than the governor's daughter. Chichikov says about her: “Glorious grandmother! The good thing is that now, apparently, she has just been released from some boarding school or institute, that, as they say, there is nothing feminine about her yet. That is, exactly what is most unpleasant about them. She is now like a child, everything about her is simple, she will say whatever she wants, laugh wherever she wants to laugh. Anything can be made of her, she can be a miracle, or she can turn out to be rubbish...” The governor’s daughter is untouched virgin soil, (tabula rasa), so her name is youth and innocence, and it doesn’t matter at all whether her name is Katya or Masha. After the ball, on in which she aroused universal hatred from the ladies, the author calls her “poor blonde.” Almost “poor sheep.”

When Chichikov goes to the court chamber to formalize the purchase of “dead” souls, he encounters the world of petty officials: Fedosei Fedoseevich, Ivan Grigorievich, Ivan Antonovich the jug’s snout. “Themis simply received guests as she was, in a negligee and robe.” “Ivan Antonovich seemed to be well over forty years old; his hair was black and thick; the whole middle of his face protruded forward and went into his nose - in a word, it was the face that is called in the hostel a jug’s snout.” Apart from this detail, there is nothing remarkable about the officials, except perhaps their desire to receive a larger bribe, but this no longer surprises anyone about the officials.

In the tenth chapter of the first volume, the postmaster tells the story about Captain Kopeikin, calling it a whole poem in some way.

Yu. M. Lotman in his article “Pushkin and “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” finds prototypes of Captain Kopeikin. This is the hero of folk songs, the thief Kopeikin, whose prototype was a certain Kopeknikov, an invalid during the Patriotic War of 1812. He was refused help by Arakcheev, after which he became, as they said, a robber. This is Fyodor Orlov - a real person, a man who was disabled in the same war. Lotman believes that “the synthesis and parodic crushing of these images gives rise to the “hero of the penny” Chichikov.”

Smirnova-Chikina, in her comments to the poem “Dead Souls,” considers Kopeikin as the only positive character conceived by Gogol in the first part of his work. The author writes that Gogol wanted to do this in order to “justify her<поэмы>genre, which is why the narrator-postmaster prefaces the story with the words that “this, however, if told, would turn out to be a whole poem, in some way interesting for some writer.”” In addition, the author pays attention to the role of contrasts, which is also considered in my work , oppositions in the composition of the story. She says that this “helps to deepen the satirical meaning of the story.” Smirnova-Chikina draws attention to how Gogol contrasts the wealth of St. Petersburg, the luxury of its streets with the poverty of Kopeikin.

“The Tale...” appears in the poem at the moment when the high society of the city of N, having gathered together, is wondering who Chichikov really is. Many assumptions are made - a robber, a counterfeiter, and Napoleon... Although the postmaster's idea that Chichikov and Kopeikin were the same person was rejected, we can see a parallel between their images. It can be noticed by at least paying attention to the role the word “kopek” plays in the story about Chichikov’s life. Even in childhood, his father, instructing him, said: “... most of all, take care and save a penny, this thing is most reliable, as it turns out, “he was only versed in the advice of saving a penny, and he himself accumulated a little of it,” but Chichikov turned out to have “a great mind from the practical side." Thus, we see that Chichikov and Kopeikin have the same image - a penny.

The surname Chichikov cannot be found in any dictionary. And this surname itself does not lend itself to any analysis, either from the emotional content, or from the side of style or origin. The surname is unclear. It does not carry any hints of respectability or humiliation, it does not mean anything. But that is precisely why N.V. Gogol gives such a surname to the main character, who “is not handsome, but not of bad appearance, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but not that he is too young.” . Chichikov is neither this nor that, however, this hero cannot be called an empty place either. This is how the author characterizes his behavior in society: “Whatever the conversation was about, he always knew how to support it: whether it was about a horse farm, he talked about a horse farm; whether they talked about good dogs, and here he made very practical comments ; whether they were interpreting the investigation carried out by the treasury chamber - he showed that he was not unaware of the judicial tricks; whether there was a discussion about the billiard game - and in the billiard game he did not miss; whether they were talking about virtue, and he reasoned about virtue very well, even with tears in his eyes; about the production of hot wine, and he knew the use of hot wine; about customs overseers and officials, and he judged them as if he himself were both an official and an overseer... He spoke neither loudly nor quietly, but absolutely as it should be." The life story of the main character, included in the poem, explains a lot about “dead souls,” but the living soul of the hero remains as if hidden behind all his unseemly actions. His thoughts, which the author reveals, show that Chichikov is not a stupid person and not devoid of conscience. But it is still difficult to guess whether he will correct himself as he promised or whether he will continue along his difficult and unrighteous path. The author did not have time to write about this.

Positive characters in the poem Dead Souls by N.V. Gogol

For those who haven’t read it, but have heard something, I’ll immediately explain that Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol called “Dead Souls” a poem himself. And as they say, all questions to the author. This is instead of an epigraph. Further - according to the text.

The classic analysis of the poem "Dead Souls" does not assume the presence of positive heroes. All heroes are negative. The only "positive" thing is laughter. I do not agree with this position of comrades and gentlemen professors. What is it? Made based on, again, classic illustrations for the text? Are you laughing?

If you carefully look at the classic illustrations of any Soviet edition of Dead Souls, then, indeed, each character in them is ugly in its own way. But! There is no need to replace true lines, portraits and descriptions with pictures of tendentious artists.

In fact, the landowner Sobakevich can be considered a positive hero. Remember how Gogol gives it to us! Chichikov comes to Sobakevich after several visits to other landowners. And everywhere his attention is focused on the quality of what he sees. This is a patriarchal way of life. There is no stinginess of Plyushkin here. Nozdryov's follies. Empty dreams of Manilov.

Sobakevich lives “as our fathers did.” He doesn’t go to the city too much, not because he’s wild. And for the reason that the owner is strong. He must and monitors what is being done in the fields, in the forge, in the workshops, in the cellar. He was not used to relying entirely on clerks. And does he even have a salesman?

Sobakevich is a good manager. Otherwise, why are his peasants all seemingly strong and stately, and not frail and sick? This means that he sees the urgent needs of peasant families and satisfies them even too much, but at the same time he himself is portly and rich. He was able to solve the most difficult management problem: to appropriate the results of other people's labor, but at the same time not to ruin his serfs.

Sobakevich is a patriot. Pay attention to the portraits of the Sobakevichs on the wall. They show people in military uniform who served the Fatherland. And did Sobakevich himself evade military service? Russia rested on strong men like Sobakevich and his peasants.

Sobakevich is an enlightened landowner. Remember, he tells Chichikov the story of one of his peasants, whom he even sent to Moscow to trade? And he brought him 500 rubles to pay for the quitrent. At that time this was crazy money. A good serf could be purchased for 100 rubles. A good estate cost about ten thousand rubles.

Sobakevich speaks negatively about almost everyone whom Chichikov lists during lunch. The only exception is the prosecutor. And he, according to Sobakevich, is a decent pig. Isn't that right? Can a bad character scold other bad characters with the word “fraud”?

In the end, remember how the bargaining goes between Chichikov and Sobakevich. Yes, Sobakevich is not an angel. But he is a landowner. He must be able to bargain. He does it. But after some time, when he had already “saved face,” he lowers the price to a level acceptable for Chichikov. That is, Sobakevich is not devoid of nobility of soul.

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Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is not without a significant number of active characters. All heroes, according to their significance and the time period of action in the poem, can be divided into three categories: main, secondary and tertiary.

The main characters of "Dead Souls"

As a rule, in poems the number of main characters is small. The same tendency is observed in Gogol’s work.

Chichikov
The image of Chichikov is undoubtedly the key one in the poem. It is thanks to this image that the episodes of the narrative are connected.

Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is distinguished by his dishonesty and hypocrisy. His desire to get rich by deception is discouraging.

On the one hand, the reasons for this behavior can be explained by the pressure of society and the priorities operating in it - a rich and dishonest person is more respected than an honest and decent poor person. Since no one wants to eke out their existence in poverty, the financial issue and the problem of improving one’s material resources is always relevant and often borders on the norms of morality and integrity, which many are ready to cross.

The same situation happened with Chichikov. He, being a simple man by birth, was actually deprived of the opportunity to make his fortune in an honest way, so he solved the problem that arose with the help of ingenuity, ingenuity and deception. The stinginess of “dead souls” as an idea is a hymn to his mind, but at the same time exposes the dishonest nature of the hero.

Manilov
Manilov became the first landowner to whom Chichikov came to buy souls. The image of this landowner is ambiguous. On the one hand, he creates a pleasant impression - Manilov is a pleasant and well-mannered person, but let us immediately note that he is apathetic and lazy.

Manilov is a person who always adapts to circumstances and never expresses his real opinion on this or that matter - Manilov takes the most favorable side.

Box
The image of this landowner is, perhaps, generally perceived as positive and pleasant. Korobochka is not smart, she is a stupid and, to some extent, uneducated woman, but at the same time she was able to successfully realize herself as a landowner, which significantly elevates her perception as a whole.

Korobochka is too simple - to some extent, her habits and habits resemble the lifestyle of peasants, which does not impress Chichikov, who aspires to aristocrats and life in high society, but it allows Korobochka to live quite happily and quite successfully develop her farm.

Nozdryov
Nozdryov, to whom Chichikov comes, after Korobochka, is perceived completely differently. And this is not surprising: it seems that Nozdryov was unable to fully realize himself in any field of activity. Nozdryov is a bad father who neglects communication with his children and their upbringing. He is a bad landowner - Nozdryov does not take care of his estate, but only wastes all his funds. Nozdryov’s life is the life of a man who prefers drinking, partying, cards, women and dogs.

Sobakevich
This landowner is controversial. On the one hand, he is a rude, manly person, but on the other hand, this simplicity allows him to live quite successfully - all the buildings on his estate, including the peasants' houses, are made to last - you won't find anything leaky anywhere, his peasants are well-fed and quite happy . Sobakevich himself often works together with peasants as equals and does not see anything unusual in this.

Plyushkin
The image of this landowner is perhaps perceived as the most negative - he is a stingy and angry old man. Plyushkin looks like a beggar, since his clothes are incredibly thin, his house looks like ruins, as do the houses of his peasants.

Plyushkin lives unusually frugally, but he does this not because there is a need for it, but because of a feeling of greed - he is ready to throw away a spoiled thing, but not to use it for good. That is why fabric and food rot in its warehouses, but at the same time its serfs walk around with their heads and tatters.

Minor characters

There are also not many secondary characters in Gogol's story. In fact, all of them can be characterized as significant figures in the county, whose activities are not related to landownership.

The Governor and his family
This is perhaps one of the most significant people in the county. In theory, he should be insightful, smart and reasonable. However, in practice everything turned out to be not quite so. The governor was a kind and pleasant man, but he was not distinguished by his foresight.

His wife was also a nice woman, but her excessive coquetry spoiled the whole picture. The governor's daughter was a typical cutesy girl, although in appearance she was very different from the generally accepted standard - the girl was not plump, as was customary, but was slender and cute.

That it was true that, due to her age, she was too naive and gullible.

Prosecutor
The image of the prosecutor defies significant description. According to Sobakevich, he was the only decent person, although, to be completely honest, he was still a “pig.” Sobakevich does not explain this characteristic in any way, which makes it difficult to understand his image. In addition, we know that the prosecutor was a very impressionable person - when Chichikov’s deception was discovered, due to excessive excitement, he dies.

Chairman of the Chamber
Ivan Grigorievich, who was the chairman of the chamber, was a nice and well-mannered man.

Chichikov noted that he was very educated, unlike most significant people in the district. However, his education does not always make a person wise and far-sighted.

This happened in the case of the chairman of the chamber, who could easily quote works of literature, but at the same time could not discern Chichikov’s deception and even helped him draw up documents for dead souls.

Chief of Police
Alexey Ivanovich, who performed the duties of police chief, seemed to have become accustomed to his work. Gogol says that he was able to ideally comprehend all the intricacies of the work and it was already difficult to imagine him in any other position. Alexey Ivanovich comes to any shop as if it were his own home and can take whatever his heart desires. Despite such arrogant behavior, he did not cause indignation among the townspeople - Alexey Ivanovich knows how to successfully get out of a situation and smooth out the unpleasant impression of extortion. So, for example, he invites you to come over for tea, play checkers, or watch a trotter.

We suggest following the image of Plyushkin in Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”.

Such proposals are not made spontaneously by the police chief - Alexey Ivanovich knows how to find a weak point in a person and uses this knowledge. So, for example, having learned that a merchant has a passion for card games, he immediately invites the merchant to a game.

Episodic and tertiary heroes of the poem

Selifan
Selifan is Chichikov's coachman. Like most ordinary people, he is an uneducated and stupid person. Selifan faithfully serves his master. Typical of all serfs, he likes to drink and is often absent-minded.

Parsley
Petrushka is the second serf under Chichikov. He serves as a footman. Parsley loves to read books, however, he does not understand much of what he reads, but this does not prevent him from enjoying the process itself. Parsley often neglects the rules of hygiene and therefore it gives off an incomprehensible smell.

Mizhuev
Mizhuev is Nozdryov's son-in-law. Mizhuev is not distinguished by prudence. At his core, he is a harmless person, but he loves to drink, which significantly spoils his image.

Feodulia Ivanovna
Feodulia Ivanovna is Sobakevich’s wife. She is a simple woman and in her habits resembles a peasant woman. Although, it cannot be said that the behavior of aristocrats is completely alien to her - some elements are still present in her arsenal.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the images and characteristics of landowners in Nikolai Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”

Thus, in the poem Gogol presents the reader with a wide system of images. And, although most of them are collective images and, in their structure, depict characteristic types of personalities in society, they still arouse interest among the reader.

Characteristics of the heroes of the poem “Dead Souls”: list of characters

/S.P. Shevyrev (1806-1864). The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls. Poem by N. Gogol. Article one/

Let's carefully go through the gallery of these strange persons who live their own special, full life in the world where Chichikov performs his exploits. We will not disturb the order in which they are depicted. Let's start with Manilov, assuming that it is not without reason that the author himself begins with him. Almost thousands of faces are brought together in this one person. Manilov represents a lot of people living inside Russia, about whom we can say together with the author: people are so-so, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan. If you want, they are generally good people, but empty; They praise everyone and everything, but their praises are of no use. They live in the village, don’t do housework, but look at everything with a calm and kind look and, smoking a pipe (a pipe is an inevitable attribute of theirs), indulge in idle dreams like how to build a stone bridge across a pond and set up shops on it. The kindness of their soul is reflected in their family tenderness: they love to kiss, but that’s all. The emptiness of their sweet and cloying life echoes the pampering of children and bad upbringing. Their dreamy inaction affected their entire economy; look at their villages: they will all look like Manilov. Gray log huts, no greenery anywhere; there is only one log everywhere; pond in the middle; two women with a nonsense in which two crayfish and a roach are entangled, and a plucked rooster with its head gouged to the brain (yes, in such people in the village even the rooster must certainly be plucked) - these are the necessary external signs of their rural life, to which even and the day is light gray, because in sunlight such a picture would not be so interesting. There is always some kind of deficiency in their house, and with furniture upholstered in smart material, there will certainly be two chairs covered in canvas. For any business matter, they always turn to their clerk, even if they happen to be selling some rural product.<…>

Box- this is a completely different matter! This is the type of active landowner-housewife; she lives entirely on her own farm; she knows nothing else. In appearance, you will call her a penny-pincher, looking at how she collects fifty dollars and quarters in different bags, but, looking at her more closely, you will give justice to her activities and involuntarily say that she is a minister of all sorts in her business. Look how orderly she is everywhere. The contentment of the inhabitants is visible in the peasant huts; the gates were not askew anywhere; The old boards on the roofs have been replaced with new ones everywhere. Look at her rich chicken coop! Her rooster is not like Manilov’s in the village - it’s a dandy rooster. All the birds, as you can see, have been so accustomed to the caring housewife, they seem to form one family with her and come close to the windows of her house; That’s why at Korobochka’s a not entirely polite meeting could take place between the Indian rooster and the guest Chichikov. Her housekeeping is running at full speed: it seems that Fetinya is the only one in the house, and look at those cookies! and what a huge down jacket took the tired Chichikov into its depths! - And what a wonderful memory Nastasya Petrovna has! How she, without any note, told Chichikov by heart the names of all her extinct men! Have you noticed that the men of Korobochka differ from other landowner men by some unusual nicknames: do you know why this is?

The box is on her mind: she already has what is hers, then firmly hers; and the men are also marked with special names, just as a bird is marked by careful owners so that it does not run away. That is why it was so difficult for Chichikov to settle matters with her: although she loves to sell and sells every household product, she also looks at dead souls the same way as lard, hemp or honey, believing that they are also in the household. may be needed. She tormented Chichikov to the point of sweat with her difficulties, all citing the fact that the product was new, strange, unprecedented. She could only be frightened by the devil, because Korobochka must be superstitious. But it’s a disaster if she happens to sell some of her goods cheap: it’s as if her conscience is not at peace - and therefore it’s no wonder that, having sold dead souls and then thinking about them, she galloped into town in her travel watermelon, stuffed with chintz pillows and bread , rolls, kokurki, pretzels and other things, she galloped up then to find out for sure how much dead souls are walking around and whether, God forbid, she missed the mark by selling them, perhaps for a fraction of the price.

On the high road, in some wooden, darkened tavern, I met Chichikov Nozdreva, whom I met back in the city: where can I meet such a person, if not in such a tavern? There are quite a few Nozdrevs, the author notes: however, at every Russian fair, even the most insignificant, you will certainly meet at least one Nozdrev, and at another, more important one, of course, several such Nozdrevs. The author says that this type of people in our Rus' is known under the name broken little one: epithets also go to him: careless, eccentric, jumbled, braggart, bully, bully, liar, rubbish person, scoundrel, etc. The third time they tell their friend - You; at fairs they buy everything that comes into their head, such as, for example: clamps, smoking candles, a dress for a nanny, a stallion, raisins, a silver washstand, Dutch linen, fine flour, tobacco, pistols, herrings, paintings, a sharpening tool - in a word , their purchases are as jumbled as their heads. In their villages, they love to brag and lie without mercy, and call everything theirs that does not belong to them. Don’t trust their words, tell them to their faces that they are talking nonsense: they are not offended. They have a great passion to show everything in their village, although there is nothing to look at, and to boast to everyone: this passion shows cordiality - a trait of the Russian people - and vanity, another trait, also dear to us.

The Nozdryovs are big hunters of change. Nothing sits still for them, and everything must revolve around them as well as in their heads. Friendly endearments and curses flow from their tongues at the same time, getting mixed up in a stream of obscene words. God forbid from their dinner and from any shortness with them! In the game they brazenly cheat - and are ready to fight if you notice it to them. They have a special passion for dogs - and the kennel yard is in great order: doesn’t this come from some kind of sympathy? for there is something truly canine in the Nozdrevs’ character. It is impossible to get along with them in any way: that is why at first it even seems strange that Chichikov, such an intelligent and businesslike fellow, who recognized the person from the first time, who he was and how to speak to him, decided to enter into relations with Nozdryov. Such a mistake, for which Chichikov himself later repented, can, however, be explained by two Russian proverbs: that simplicity is enough for every wise man and that a Russian man is strong in hindsight. But Chichikov paid the price later; without Nozdryov, who would have so alarmed the city and caused all the turmoil at the ball, which caused such an important revolution in Chichikov’s affairs?

But Nozdryov must give way to a huge type Sobakevich. <…>

It sometimes happens in nature that a person’s appearance deceives and under a strange monstrous image you meet a kind soul and a soft heart. But in Sobakevich, the external perfectly, exactly, corresponds to the internal. His outer image is imprinted on all his words, actions and everything that surrounds him. His awkward house, full-weight and thick logs used for stables, barns and kitchens; the dense huts of the peasants, marvelously cut down; a well lined with strong oak, suitable for a ship's structure; in the rooms there are portraits with thick thighs and endless mustaches, the Greek heroine Bobelina with a leg in her torso, a pot-bellied walnut bureau on the most absurd four legs; a blackbird of a dark color - in a word, everything surrounding Sobakevich looks like him and can, together with the table, armchairs, chairs, sing in chorus: and we are all Sobakevich!

Look at his dinner: every dish will repeat the same thing to you. This colossal nanny, consisting of a mutton stomach stuffed with buckwheat porridge, brains and legs; cheesecakes are larger than a plate; a turkey the size of a calf, stuffed with God knows what - how similar all these dishes are to the owner himself!<…>

Talk to Sobakevich: all the calculated dishes will be regurgitated in every word that comes out of his mouth. All his speeches echo the entire abomination of his physical and moral nature. He chops down everything and everyone, just as he himself was chopped off by merciless nature: his whole city is fools, robbers, swindlers, and even the most decent people in his dictionary mean the same thing as pigs. You, of course, have not forgotten Fonvizin’s Skotinin: he is, if not his own, then at least Sobakevich’s godfather, but one cannot help but add that the godson outdid his father.

“Sobakevich’s soul seemed to be covered with such a thick shell that whatever was tossing and turning at the bottom of it did not produce absolutely any shock on the surface,” says the author. So the body overpowered everything in him, covered the whole person and became incapable of expressing emotional movements.

His gluttonous nature also manifested itself in his greed for money. The mind operates in him, but only to the extent that he needs to cheat and make money. Sobakevich is exactly like Caliban 1, in whom only evil cunning remains from his mind. But in his inventiveness he is funnier than Caliban. How skillfully he screwed Elizabeth Sparrow into the list of male souls and how cunningly he began to poke a small fish with a fork, having first eaten a whole sturgeon, and played out the hungry innocence! It was difficult to get things done with Sobakevich, because he is a fist man; his tough nature loves to bargain; but once the matter was settled, it was possible to remain calm, for Sobakevich was a respectable and firm man and would stand up for himself.

The gallery of persons with whom Chichikov does his business is concluded by a miser Plyushkin. The author notes that such a phenomenon rarely occurs in Rus', where everything likes to unfold rather than shrink. Here, just like with other landowners, Plyushkin’s village and his house depict to us outwardly the character and soul of the owner himself. The logs on the huts are dark and old; the roofs are leaky like a sieve, the windows in the huts are without glass, covered with a rag or a zipun, the church, with its yellow walls, is stained and cracked. The house looks like a decrepit invalid; its windows are shuttered or boarded up; on one of them there is a dark triangle made of blue sugar paper. Decaying buildings all around, dead, carefree silence, gates always locked tightly, and a giant castle hanging on an iron loop - all this prepares us for a meeting with the owner himself and serves as a sad living attribute of his soul shut up alive. You take a break from these sad, heavy impressions in a rich picture of a garden, although overgrown and decayed, but picturesque in its desolation: here you are treated for a moment by the poet’s wonderful sympathy for nature, which all lives under his warm gaze on her, and yet in the depths In this wild and hot picture, you seem to be looking into the story of the life of the owner himself, in whom the soul has died out just like nature in the wilderness of this garden.

Go to Plyushkin's house; everything here will tell you about him before you see him. Piled up furniture, a broken chair, on the table a clock with a stopped pendulum, to which a spider had attached its web; a bureau lined with mother-of-pearl mosaic, which in some places has already fallen out and left behind only yellow grooves filled with glue; on the bureau there are a bunch of finely written pieces of paper, a lemon, all dried up, a broken arm of a chair, a glass with some liquid and three flies, covered with a letter, a piece of sealing wax, a piece of a rag picked up somewhere, two feathers, stained with ink, dried out, as if in consumption , a toothpick, completely yellowed, with which the owner, perhaps, picked his teeth even before the French invasion of Moscow... Further, paintings on the walls, blackened by time, a chandelier in a canvas bag, the dust made it look like a silk cocoon in which a worm sits, a pile of various rubbish in the corner, from which a broken piece of a wooden shovel and an old boot sole protruded, and the only sign of a living creature in the whole house, a worn cap lying on the table... How here Plyushkin is seen in every object, and how wonderful it is in this awkward pile you already recognize the man himself!

But here he is, looking from a distance like his old housekeeper, with an unshaven chin that protrudes very far forward and resembles a comb made of iron wire, such as is used to clean horses in a stable, with gray eyes that scurry from under the high eyebrows... Plyushkin appears to us so vividly, as if we recall him in a painting by Albert Durer in the Doria 2 gallery... Having depicted a face, the poet goes inside it, exposes to you all the dark folds of this hardened soul, tells the psychological metamorphosis of this man: how avarice, having once made a nest in his soul, little by little extended its possessions in it and, having conquered everything, devastated all his feelings, turned a person into an animal which, by some instinct, drags into its hole everything that would suit him. nothing came across on the road - an old sole, a woman’s rag, an iron nail, a clay shard, an officer’s spur, a bucket left by a woman.

Every feeling almost imperceptibly slides over this callous, petrified face... Everything dies, rots and collapses around Plyushkin... It is no wonder that Chichikov could find such a large number of dead and fugitive souls from him, which suddenly multiplied his fantastic population so significantly.

These are the people with whom Chichikov puts his plan into action. All of them, in addition to the special properties that actually belong to each, have one more feature common to all: hospitality, this Russian cordiality towards the guest, which lives in them and persists as if it were a national instinct. It is remarkable that even in Plyushkin this natural feeling was preserved, despite the fact that it was completely contrary to his stinginess: and he considered it necessary to treat Chichikov to tea and ordered the samovar to be put on, but to his happiness, the guest himself, having realized the matter, refused the treat .