Dead and living souls in dead souls. "Dead Souls": the meaning of the name

- the main work of N.V. Gogol. He worked on it from 1836 to 1852, but was never able to finish it. More precisely, the writer’s original plan was to show Rus' “from one side.” He showed it - in the first volume. And then I realized that black paint alone is not enough. He remembered how Dante’s “Divine Comedy” is constructed, where “Hell” is followed by “Purgatory” and then “Paradise”. So our classic wanted to “highlight” his poem in the second volume. But it was not possible to do this. Gogol was not satisfied with what he had written and burned the second volume. Drafts have survived, from which it is difficult to judge the entire volume.

That is why at school only the first volume is studied as a completely finished work. This is probably correct. To talk about the writer’s ideas and plans that were not realized means to regret missed opportunities. It is better to write and talk about what has been written and implemented.

Gogol was a deeply religious man - this is well known from the memoirs of his contemporaries. And it was necessary to decide to give the work such a “blasphemous” name - “Dead Souls”. No wonder the censor who was reading the book was immediately indignant and protested - they say that souls are immortal - this is what the Christian religion teaches, such a work should under no circumstances be published. Gogol had to make concessions and make a “double” title - “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls.” It turned out to be a name for some kind of adventure novel.

The content of the first volume is not difficult to retell - the “scoundrel” and “acquirer” Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov goes to visit the landowners and offers them to buy the souls of dead peasants. The reactions are different: some are surprised (), some even try to bargain (Korobochka), some offer to “play for souls” (Nozdryov), some praise their dead peasants as if they had not died at all (Sobakevich).

By the way, it is Sobakevich’s praise that convinces us, the readers, that Gogol saw living souls behind the dead souls. No one ever dies if he leaves behind a good memory, if those living use the products of his hands. The carriage maker Mikheev, the shoemaker Stepan Probka and others rise from the pages of the poem as if alive. And although Chichikov imagines them alive, and we know his nature, it’s all the same - the dead, at least for a short time, seem to change places with the living.

When Chichikov looks through the “revision tales” (as the lists of dead peasants are called), he accidentally discovers that he was deceived - along with the names of the dead peasants, the names of runaway peasants were entered. It is clear that no one will run away from a good life. This means that the conditions in which the peasants were then were incredibly difficult. After all, our serfdom is the same slavery, only called differently. And fugitives cannot be considered dead. They died to their old life in an attempt to find a new, free life.

It would seem that none of the landowners could be considered living souls. The author himself admitted that he placed the heroes on the principle of degradation, an ever deeper moral and spiritual decline. And in fact, there is a huge gap between Manilov and Plyushkin. The first is refined, courteous, although in character he has no character, and Plyushkin has even lost his human appearance. Let us remember that at first Chichikov even mistakes him for the housekeeper. Plyushkin’s own peasants don’t think anything of him. If his daughter, Alexandra Stepanovna, had not been mentioned in the poem, we probably would not have known his name.

And yet it cannot be said that Plyushkin is deader than all the other characters. Let us ask ourselves: what is known about the past of each of the landowners? Almost nothing, just a few expressive details. And Plyushkin’s past is told in great detail. He didn’t change out of the blue, everything happened gradually. Plyushkin slipped from reasonable economic stinginess to pettiness and greed. Thus, this landowner is shown to have changed for the worse. But the main thing is change! After all, Manilov, for example, has not changed at all for many years, just like Nozdryov. And if no changes happen to a person, then you can give up on this person - there is no benefit or harm from him.

Gogol probably reasoned as follows: if a person has changed for the worse, then why not be reborn again, for a new, honest and rich life? In the third volume of Dead Souls, the writer planned to lead Plyushkin to spiritual rebirth. To be honest, it’s hard to believe in this. But we don’t know the whole plan, so we don’t have the right to judge Gogol.

Finally, in the last lyrical digression of the first volume, a grandiose image of Rus' appears, like a “three bird”. And again, it doesn’t matter at all that Chichikov’s chaise is rushing off into this unknown distance, and we know who he is. The lyrical pressure and mood distracts us from both Chichikov and his “dark” deeds. The living soul of Russia is what occupies Gogol’s imagination.

What happens? Is it possible to answer the question in the title of this essay in the affirmative? Can! After the first reading of the poem, it is difficult to give such an affirmative answer. This is because the first reading is always rough, approximate, incomplete. As the writer Vladimir Nabokov, who wrote a long essay about Gogol, once put it, “a real book cannot be read at all - it can only be re-read.” And it is true!

Living souls among dead souls are a rarity in Gogol. But they exist! And the expression “dead souls” should not be taken too literally. There are those who are spiritually dead, but who are still alive in the physical sense. There are many of them both then and now. And there are those who left us and went to another world, but their light continues to reach us for many years to come. It doesn't matter what a person did during his lifetime. He was useful, he was necessary, he gave goodness and light to those around him. And for this reason alone he is worthy of the grateful memory of posterity.

From the collection of P.N. Malofeeva

In Gogol's work one can discern both good and bad sides in Russia. The author positions dead souls not as dead people, but as officials and ordinary people, whose souls have hardened from callousness and indifference to others.

One of the main characters of the poem was Chichikov, who visited five landowner estates. And in this series of trips, Chichikov concludes that each of the landowners is the owner of a nasty and dirty soul. At the beginning it may seem that Manilov, Sobakevich, Nozdrev, Korobochka are completely different, but nevertheless they are connected by ordinary worthlessness, which reflects the entire landowner foundation in Russia.

The author himself appears in this work like a prophet, who describes these terrible events in the life of Rus', and then outlines a way out to a distant but bright future. The very essence of human ugliness is described in the poem at the moment when landowners are discussing how to deal with “dead souls”, make an exchange or a profitable sale, or maybe even give it to someone.

And despite the fact that the author describes the rather stormy and active life of the city, at its core it is just empty vanity. The worst thing is that a dead soul is an everyday occurrence. Gogol also unites all the officials of the city into one faceless face, which differs only in the presence of warts on it.

So, from the words of Soba-kevich, you can see that everyone around is swindlers, sellers of Christ, that each of them pleases and covers up the other, for the sake of their own benefit and well-being. And above all this stench rose pure and bright Rus', which the author hopes will definitely be reborn.

According to Gogol, only the people have living souls. Who, under all this pressure of serfdom, preserved the living Russian soul. And she lives in the word of the people, in their deeds, in their sharp mind. In a lyrical digression, the author created the same image of ideal Rus' and its heroic people.

Gogol himself does not know which path Rus' will choose, but he hopes that it will not contain such characters as Plyushkin, Sobakevich, Nozdryov, Korobochka. And only with understanding and insight, all this without spirituality, can the Russian people rise from their knees, recreating an ideal spiritual and pure world.

Option 2

The great Russian writer N.V. Gogol worked in difficult times for Russia. The unsuccessful Decembrist uprising was suppressed. There are trials and repressions throughout the country. The poem “Dead Souls” is a portrait of modernity. The plot of the poem is simple, the characters are written simply and are easy to read. But in everything written there is a sense of sadness.

In Gogol, the concept of “dead souls” has two meanings. Dead souls are dead serfs and landowners with dead souls. The writer considered slave serfdom to be a great evil in Russia, which contributed to the extinction of peasants and the destruction of the country’s culture and economy. Speaking about the landowners' dead souls, Nikolai Vasilyevich embodied autocratic power in them. Describing his heroes, he hopes for the revival of Rus', for warm human souls.

Russia is revealed in the work through the eyes of the main character Chichikov Pavel Ivanovich. The landowners are described in the poem not as the support of the state, but as a decaying part of the state, dead souls that cannot be relied upon. Plyushkin's bread is dying, without benefit to people. Manilov carefreely manages an abandoned estate. Nozdryov, having brought the farm into complete disrepair, plays cards and gets drunk. In these images the writer shows what is happening in modern Russia. Gogol contrasts the “dead souls”, the oppressors, with ordinary Russian people. People deprived of all rights who can be bought and sold. They appear in the form of “living souls.”

Gogol writes with great warmth and love about the abilities of the peasants, about their hard work and talents.

The carpenter Cork, a healthy hero, traveled almost all over Russia and built many houses. Beautiful and durable carriages are made by carriage maker Mityai. Stove maker Milushkin builds high-quality stoves. Shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov could make boots from any material. Gogol's serfs are shown as conscientious workers who are passionate about their work.

Gogol fervently believes in the bright future of his Russia, in the enormous, but for the time being hidden talents of the people. He hopes that a ray of happiness and goodness will break through even into the dead souls of the landowners. Its main character is Chichikov P.I. remembers his mother's love and his childhood. This gives the author hope that even callous people have something human left in their souls.

Gogol's works are funny and sad at the same time. Reading them, you can laugh at the shortcomings of the heroes, but at the same time think about what can be changed. Gogol's poem is a vivid example of the author's negative attitude towards serfdom.

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In 1842, the poem “Dead Souls” was published. Gogol had many problems with censorship: from the title to the content of the work. The censors did not like the fact that the title, firstly, actualized the social problem of fraud with documents, and secondly, combined concepts that are opposite from a religious point of view. Gogol flatly refused to change the name. The writer’s idea is truly amazing: Gogol wanted, like Dante, to describe the whole world as Russia seemed, to show both positive and negative features, to depict the indescribable beauty of nature and the mystery of the Russian soul. All this is conveyed using a variety of artistic means, and the language of the story itself is light and figurative. No wonder Nabokov said that only one letter separates Gogol from the comic to the cosmic. The concepts of “dead living souls” are mixed in the text of the story, as if in the Oblonskys’ house. The paradox is that only dead peasants have a living soul in “Dead Souls”!

Landowners

In the story, Gogol draws portraits of people contemporary to him, creating certain types. After all, if you take a closer look at each character, study his home and family, habits and inclinations, then they will have practically nothing in common. For example, Manilov loved lengthy thoughts, loved to show off a little (as evidenced by the episode with the children, when Manilov, under Chichikov, asked his sons various questions from the school curriculum).

Behind his external attractiveness and politeness there was nothing but senseless daydreaming, stupidity and imitation. He was not at all interested in everyday trifles, and he even gave away the dead peasants for free.

Nastasya Filippovna Korobochka knew literally everyone and everything that happened on her small estate. She remembered by heart not only the names of the peasants, but also the reasons for their death, and she had complete order in her household. The enterprising housewife tried to provide, in addition to the purchased souls, flour, honey, lard - in a word, everything that was produced in the village under her strict leadership.

Sobakevich put a price on every dead soul, but he escorted Chichikov to the government chamber. He seems to be the most businesslike and responsible landowner among all the characters. His complete opposite turns out to be Nozdryov, whose meaning in life comes down to gambling and drinking. Even children cannot keep the master at home: his soul constantly requires more and more new entertainment.

The last landowner from whom Chichikov bought souls was Plyushkin. In the past, this man was a good owner and family man, but due to unfortunate circumstances, he turned into something asexual, formless and inhuman. After the death of his beloved wife, his stinginess and suspicion gained unlimited power over Plyushkin, turning him into a slave of these base qualities.

Lack of authentic life

What do all these landowners have in common? What unites them with the mayor, who received the order for nothing, with the postmaster, police chief and other officials who take advantage of their official position, and whose goal in life is only their own enrichment? The answer is very simple: lack of desire to live. None of the characters feel any positive emotions or really think about the sublime. All these dead souls are driven by animal instincts and consumerism. There is no internal originality in landowners and officials, they are all just dummies, just copies of copies, they do not stand out from the general background, they are not exceptional individuals. Everything high in this world is vulgarized and lowered: no one admires the beauty of nature, which the author so vividly describes, no one falls in love, no one accomplishes feats, no one overthrows the king. In the new, corrupt world, there is no longer room for the exclusive romantic personality. There is no love here as such: parents don’t love children, men don’t love women - people just take advantage of each other. So Manilov needs children as a source of pride, with the help of which he can increase his weight in his own eyes and in the eyes of others, Plyushkin doesn’t even want to know his daughter, who ran away from home in her youth, and Nozdryov doesn’t care whether he has children or not.

The worst thing is not even this, but the fact that idleness reigns in this world. At the same time, you can be a very active and active person, but at the same time be idle. Any actions and words of the characters are devoid of internal spiritual filling, devoid of a higher purpose. The soul here is dead because it no longer asks for spiritual food.

The question may arise: why does Chichikov buy only dead souls? The answer to this, of course, is simple: he doesn’t need any extra peasants, and he will sell the documents for the dead. But will such an answer be complete? Here the author subtly shows that the world of the living and dead souls do not intersect and cannot intersect anymore. But the “living” souls are now in the world of the dead, and the “dead” have come to the world of the living. At the same time, the souls of the dead and the living in Gogol’s poem are inextricably linked.

Are there living souls in the poem “Dead Souls”? Of course there is. Their roles are played by deceased peasants, to whom various qualities and characteristics are attributed. One drank, another beat his wife, but this one was hard-working, and this one had strange nicknames. These characters come to life both in Chichikov’s imagination and in the reader’s imagination. And now we, together with the main character, imagine the leisure time of these people.

hope for the best

The world depicted by Gogol in the poem is completely depressing, and the work would be too gloomy if not for the subtly depicted landscapes and beauties of Rus'. That's where the lyrics are, that's where the life is! One gets the feeling that in a space devoid of living beings (that is, people), life has been preserved. And again, the opposition based on the living-dead principle is actualized here, which turns into a paradox. In the final chapter of the poem, Rus' is compared to a dashing troika that rushes along the road into the distance. “Dead Souls,” despite its general satirical nature, ends with inspiring lines that sound enthusiastic faith in the people.

The characteristics of the main character and the landowners, a description of their common qualities will be useful to 9th grade students when preparing for an essay on the topic “Dead Living Souls” based on Gogol’s poem.

Work test

State educational institution

"Secondary school No. 11 of Svetlogorsk"

ABSTRACT

“Souls dead and alive in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls"

Completed by: Fedotov Vladislav

student: 9 "B" class

Svetlogorsk, 2015

1. The history of the creation of the poem “Dead Souls”…………………………. 3

2. The purpose of Chichikov’s life. Father's testament……………………………………..4

3. What are “dead souls”?................................................. ...........................5

4. Who are the “dead souls” in the poem?.................................................... ..6

5. Who are the “living souls” in the poem?.................................................... ...................7

6. The second volume of “Dead Souls” - the crisis in Gogol’s work…………..8

7. Journey to meaning……………………………………………………………..9

Bibliography

The history of the creation of the poem “Dead Souls”

There are writers who easily and freely come up with plots for their works. Gogol was not one of them. He was painfully inventive in his plots. The concept of each work was given to him with the greatest difficulty. He always needed an external push to inspire his imagination. Contemporaries tell us with what greedy interest Gogol listened to various everyday stories, anecdotes picked up on the street, and even fables. I listened professionally, like a writer, remembering every characteristic detail. Years passed, and some of these accidentally heard stories came to life in his works. For Gogol, P.V. later recalled. Annenkov, “nothing was wasted.”

Gogol, as is known, owed the plot of “Dead Souls” to A.S. Pushkin, who had long encouraged him to write a great epic work. Pushkin told Gogol the story of the adventures of a certain adventurer who bought up dead peasants from landowners in order to pawn them as if they were alive in the Guardian Council and receive a hefty loan for them.

But how did Pushkin know the plot that he gave to Gogol?

The history of fraudulent tricks with dead souls could have become known to Pushkin during his exile in Chisinau. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, tens of thousands of peasants fled here, to the south of Russia, to Bessarabia, from different parts of the country, fleeing from paying arrears and various taxes. Local authorities created obstacles to the resettlement of these peasants. They were chasing them. But all measures were in vain. Fleeing from their pursuers, fugitive peasants often took the names of deceased serfs. They say that during Pushkin’s stay in exile in Chisinau, rumors spread throughout Bessarabia that the city of Bendery was immortal, and the population of this city was called “immortal society.” For many years, not a single death was recorded there. An investigation has begun. It turned out that in Bendery it was accepted as a rule: the dead “should not be excluded from society,” and their names should be given to the fugitive peasants who arrived here. Pushkin visited Bendery more than once, and he was very interested in this story.

Most likely, it was she who became the seed of the plot, which was retold by the poet to Gogol almost a decade and a half after the Chisinau exile.

It should be noted that Chichikov’s idea was by no means such a rarity in life itself. Fraud with “revision souls” was a fairly common thing in those days. It is safe to assume that not only one specific incident formed the basis of Gogol’s plan.

The core of the plot of Dead Souls was Chichikov’s adventure. It only seemed incredible and anecdotal, but in fact it was reliable in all the smallest details. Feudal reality created very favorable conditions for such adventures.

By a decree of 1718, the so-called household census was replaced by a capitation census. From now on, all male serfs, “from the oldest to the very last child,” were subject to taxation. Dead souls (dead or runaway peasants) became a burden for landowners who naturally dreamed of getting rid of it.

The purpose of Chichikov's life. Father's Testament

This is what V.G. wrote. Sakhnovsky in his book “About the performance “Dead Souls”:

“...It is known that Chichikov was not too fat, not too thin; that, according to some, he even resembled Napoleon, that he had the remarkable ability to talk to everyone as an expert on what he pleasantly talked about. Chichikov's goal in communication was to make the most favorable impression, to win over and inspire confidence. It is also known that Pavel Ivanovich has a special charm, with which he overcame two disasters that would have knocked someone else down forever. But the main thing that characterizes Chichikov is his passionate attraction to acquisitions. To become, as they say, “a man of weight in society,” being a “man of rank,” without clan or tribe, who rushes about like “some kind of barge among the fierce waves,” this is Chichikov’s main task. To get yourself a strong place in life, regardless of anyone’s or any interests, public or private, this is what Chichikov’s end-to-end action consists of.

And everything that smacked of wealth and contentment made an impression on him that was incomprehensible to himself, Gogol writes about him. His father’s instruction “take care and save a penny” served him well. He was not possessed by stinginess or stinginess. No, he imagined a life ahead with all sorts of prosperity: carriages, a well-appointed house, delicious dinners.

“You will do everything and ruin everything in the world with a penny,” his father bequeathed to Pavel Ivanovich. He learned this for the rest of his life. “He showed unheard-of self-sacrifice, patience and limitation of needs.” This is what Gogol wrote in his Biography of Chichikov (Chapter XI).

...Chichikov comes to poison. There is an evil that is rolling across Rus', like Chichikov in a troika. What evil is this? It is revealed in everyone in their own way. Each of those with whom he does business has his own reaction to Chichikov’s poison. Chichikov leads one line, but he has a new role with each character.

...Chichikov, Nozdryov, Sobakevich and other heroes of “Dead Souls” are not characters, but types. In these types, Gogol collected and generalized many similar characters, identifying in all of them a common life and social structure...”

What are “dead souls”?

The primary meaning of the expression “dead souls” is this: these are dead peasants who are still on the audit lists. Without such a very specific meaning, the plot of the poem would be impossible. After all, Chichikov’s strange enterprise lies in the fact that he buys dead peasants who were listed as alive in the audit lists. And that this is legally feasible: it is enough just to draw up a list of peasants and formalize the purchase and sale accordingly, as if the subject of the transaction were living people. Gogol shows with his own eyes that the law of purchase and sale of living goods rules in Russia, and that this situation is natural and normal.

Consequently, the very factual basis, the very intrigue of the poem, built on the sale of revision souls, was social and accusatory, no matter how the narrative tone of the poem seemed harmless and far from exposure.

True, one can remember that Chichikov does not buy living people, that the subject of his transaction are dead peasants. However, Gogol’s irony is hidden here too. Chichikov buys up the dead in exactly the same way as if he were buying up living peasants, according to the same rules, in compliance with the same formal and legal norms. Only in this case Chichikov expects to give a significantly lower price - well, as if for a product of lower quality, stale or spoiled.

“Dead Souls” - this capacious Gogol formula begins to be filled with its deep, changing meaning. This is a conventional designation for the deceased, a phrase behind which there is no person. Then this formula comes to life and behind it stand real peasants, whom the landowner has the power to sell or buy, specific people.

The ambiguity of meaning is hidden in Gogol’s phrase itself. If Gogol had wanted to emphasize one single meaning, he would most likely have used the expression “revision soul.” But the writer deliberately included in the title of the poem an unusual, bold phrase that was not found in everyday speech.

Who are the “dead souls” in the poem?

“Dead souls” - this title carries something terrifying... It’s not the revisionists who are dead souls, but all these Nozdryovs, Manilovs and others - these are dead souls and we meet them at every step,” wrote Herzen.

In this meaning, the expression “dead souls” is no longer addressed to peasants - living and dead - but to the masters of life, landowners and officials. And its meaning is metaphorical, figurative. After all, physically, materially, “all these Nozdryovs, Manilovs and others” exist and, for the most part, are thriving. What could be more certain than the bear-like Sobakevich? Or Nozdryov, about whom it is said: “He was like blood and milk; his health seemed to be dripping from his face.” But physical existence is not yet human life. Vegetative existence is far from real spiritual movements. “Dead souls” in this case mean deadness, lack of spirituality. And this lack of spirituality manifests itself in at least two ways. First of all, this is the absence of any interests or passions. Remember what they say about Manilov? “You won’t get any lively or even arrogant words from him, which you can hear from almost anyone if you touch an object that offends him. Everyone has their own, but Manilov had nothing. Most hobbies or passions cannot be called high or noble. But Manilov did not have such passion. He had nothing of his own at all. And the main impression that Manilov made on his interlocutor was a feeling of uncertainty and “deadly boredom.”

Other characters - landowners and officials - are not nearly as dispassionate. For example, Nozdryov and Plyushkin have their own passions. Chichikov also has his own “enthusiasm” - the enthusiasm of “acquisition”. And many other characters have their own “bullying object”, which sets in motion a wide variety of passions: greed, ambition, curiosity, and so on.

This means that in this regard, “dead souls” are dead in different ways, to different degrees and, so to speak, in different doses. But in another respect they are equally deadly, without distinction or exception.

Dead soul! This phenomenon seems contradictory in itself, composed of mutually exclusive concepts. Can there be a dead soul, a dead person, that is, something that is by nature animate and spiritual? Can't live, shouldn't exist. But it exists.

What remains of life is a certain form, a shell of a person, which, however, regularly performs vital functions. And here another meaning of the Gogol image of “dead souls” is revealed to us: revision dead souls, that is, a symbol for dead peasants. Revision's dead souls are concrete, reviving faces of peasants who are treated as if they were not people. And those who are dead in spirit are all these Manilovs, Nozdryovs, landowners and officials, a dead form, a soulless system of human relationships...

All these are facets of one Gogol concept - “dead souls”, artistically realized in his poem. And the facets are not isolated, but make up a single, infinitely deep image.

Who are the “living souls” in the poem?

The “dead souls” of the poem are contrasted with the “living” - a talented, hardworking, long-suffering people. With a deep sense of patriotism and faith in the great future of his people, Gogol writes about him. He saw the lack of rights of the peasantry, its humiliated position and the dullness and savagery that were the result of serfdom. Such are Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai, the serf girl Pelageya, who did not distinguish between right and left, Plyushkin’s Proshka and Mavra, downtrodden to the extreme. But even in this social depression, Gogol saw the living soul of the “lively people” and the quickness of the Yaroslavl peasant. He speaks with admiration and love about the people’s ability, courage and daring, endurance and thirst for freedom. Serf hero, carpenter Cork “would be fit for the guard.” He set out with an ax in his belt and boots on his shoulders throughout the province. The carriage maker Mikhei created carriages of extraordinary strength and beauty. Stove maker Milushkin could install a stove in any house. Talented shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov “whatever the awl pricks, so will the boots; whatever the boots, then thank you.” And Eremey Sorokoplekhin “brought five hundred rubles per quitrent!” Here is Plyushkin’s runaway serf Abakum Fyrov. His soul could not withstand the oppression of captivity, he was drawn to the wide Volga expanse, he “walks noisily and cheerfully on the grain pier, having made a contract with the merchants.” But it’s not easy for him to walk with the barge haulers, “dragging the strap to one endless song, like Rus'.” In the songs of barge haulers, Gogol heard the expression of longing and the people’s desire for a different life, for a wonderful future. Behind the bark of lack of spirituality, callousness, and carrion, the living forces of the people’s life are beating, and here and there they make their way to the surface in the living Russian word, in the joy of barge haulers, in the movement of Rus'-troika, the guarantee of the future revival of the homeland.

Ardent faith in the hidden but immense strength of the entire people, love for the homeland, allowed Gogol to brilliantly foresee its great future.

The second volume of “Dead Souls” - a crisis in Gogol’s work

“Dead souls,” Herzen testifies, “shocked all of Russia.” He himself, having read them in 1842, wrote in his diary: “...an amazing book, a bitter reproach to modern Rus', but not hopeless.”

“Northern Bee,” a newspaper published with funds from the III Department of the personal chancellery of Nicholas I, accused Gogol of depicting some special world of scoundrels that never existed and could not exist.” Critics criticized the writer for his one-sided portrayal of reality.

But the landowners gave themselves away. Gogol’s contemporary, the poet Yazykov, wrote to his relatives from Moscow: “Gogol receives news from everywhere that Russian landowners are strongly scolding him; here is clear proof that their portraits were copied by him correctly and that the originals touched a nerve! Such is the talent! Many people before Gogol described the life of the Russian nobility, but no one angered him as much as he did.”

Fierce debates began to boil over Dead Souls. They resolved, as Belinsky put it, “a question as much literary as social.” The famous critic, however, very sensitively grasped the dangers that awaited Gogol in the future, while fulfilling his promises to continue “Dead Souls” and show Russia “from the other side.” Gogol did not understand that his poem was finished, that “all Rus'” had been outlined, and that the result (if any) would be another work.

This contradictory idea was formed by Gogol towards the end of his work on the first volume. Then it seemed to the writer that the new idea was not opposed to the first volume, but directly came out of it. Gogol did not yet notice that he was betraying himself, he wanted to correct the vulgar world that he so truthfully painted, and he did not refuse the first volume.

Work on the second volume proceeded slowly, and the further it went, the more difficult it became. In July 1845, Gogol burned what he had written. This is how Gogol himself explained a year later why the second volume was burned: “Bringing out a few wonderful characters who reveal the high nobility of our breed will lead to nothing. It will arouse only empty pride and boasting... No, there is a time when it is impossible to otherwise direct society or even an entire generation towards the beautiful until you show the full depth of real abomination; There are times when you shouldn’t even talk about the lofty and beautiful without immediately clearly showing... the paths and roads to it. The last circumstance was small and poorly developed in the second volume, but it should be perhaps the most important; and that is why he was burned...”

Gogol, thus, saw the collapse of his plan as a whole. It seems to him at this time that in the first volume of Dead Souls he depicted not the actual types of landowners and officials, but his own vices and shortcomings, and that the revival of Russia must begin with the correction of the morality of all people. This was a rejection of the former Gogol, which caused indignation among the writer’s close friends and throughout advanced Russia.

Journey to meaning

Each subsequent era reveals in a new way classical creations and facets in them that are, to one degree or another, consonant with its own problems. Contemporaries wrote about “Dead Souls” that they “awakened Rus'” and “awakened in us the consciousness of ourselves.” And now the Manilovs and Plyushkins, the Nozdryovs and the Chichikovs have not yet disappeared from the world. They, of course, became different than they were in those days, but they did not lose their essence. Each new generation discovered new generalizations in Gogol’s images, which prompted reflection on the most significant phenomena of life.

This is the fate of great works of art; they outlive their creators and their era, overcome national boundaries and become eternal companions of humanity.

“Dead Souls” is one of the most read and revered works of Russian classics. No matter how much time separates us from this work, we will never cease to be amazed at its depth, perfection and, probably, we will not consider our idea of it exhausted. Reading “Dead Souls”, you absorb the noble moral ideas that every brilliant work of art carries, and unnoticed by yourself you become purer and more beautiful.

During Gogol’s time, the word “invention” was often used in literary criticism and art history. Now we refer to this word as products of technical and engineering thought, but previously it also meant artistic and literary works. And this word meant the unity of meaning, form and content. After all, in order to express something new, you need to invent create an artistic whole that has never existed before. Let us remember the words of A.S. Pushkin: “There is the highest courage - the courage of invention.” Learning the secrets of “invention” is a journey that does not involve the usual difficulties: you don’t need to meet anyone, you don’t need to move at all. You can follow a literary hero and follow in your imagination the path he took. All you need is time, a book, and the desire to think about it. But this is also the most difficult journey: one can never say that the goal has been achieved, because behind every understood and meaningful artistic image, solved mystery, a new one arises, even more difficult and fascinating. That is why a work of art is inexhaustible and the journey to its meaning is endless.

Bibliography

gogol is dead the soul of chichikov

1. Mann Y. “The Courage of Invention” 2nd ed., additional - M.: Det. lit., 1989. 142 p.

2. Mashinsky S. “Dead Souls” by Gogol” 2nd ed., additional - M.: Khudozh. Lit., 1980. 117 p.

3. Chernyshevsky N.G. Essays on the Gogol period of Russian literature. - Complete. Collection op., vol.3. M., 1947, p. 5-22.

4. www.litra.ru.composition

5. www.moskva.com

6. Belinsky V.G. “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls” Complete. collection cit., vol. VI. M., 1955, p. 209-222.

7. Belinsky V.G. “A few words about Gogol’s poem...” Ibid., p. 253-260.

8. Sat. “Gogol in the memoirs of his contemporaries”, S. Mashinsky. M., 1952.

9. Sat. "N.V. Gogol in Russian criticism”, A. Kotova and M. Polyakova, M., 1953.

2.3 Who are the “dead souls” in the poem?

In this meaning, the expression “dead souls” is no longer addressed to peasants - living and dead - but to the masters of life, landowners and officials. And its meaning is metaphorical, figurative. After all, physically, materially, “all these Nozdryovs, Manilovs and others” exist and, for the most part, are thriving. What could be more certain than the bear-like Sobakevich? Or Nozdryov, about whom it is said: “He was like blood and milk; his health seemed to be dripping from his face.” But physical existence is not yet human life. Vegetative existence is far from real spiritual movements. “Dead souls” in this case mean deadness, lack of spirituality. And this lack of spirituality manifests itself in at least two ways. First of all, it is the absence of any interests or passions. Remember what they say about Manilov? “You won’t get any lively or even arrogant words from him, which you can hear from almost anyone if you touch an object that offends him. Everyone has their own, but Manilov had nothing. Most hobbies or passions cannot be called high or noble. But Manilov did not have such passion. He had nothing of his own at all. And the main impression that Manilov made on his interlocutor was a feeling of uncertainty and “deadly boredom.”

What remains of life is a certain form, of a person - a shell, which, however, regularly performs vital functions. And here another meaning of the Gogol image of “dead souls” is revealed to us: revision dead souls, that is, a symbol for dead peasants. The revision's dead souls are concrete, reviving faces of peasants who are treated as if they were not people. And the dead in spirit are all these Manilovs, Nozdrevs, landowners and officials, a dead form, a soulless system of human relationships...

All these are facets of one Gogol concept - “dead souls”, artistically realized in his poem. And the facets are not isolated, but make up a single, infinitely deep image.

Following his hero, Chichikov, moving from one place to another, the writer does not give up hope of finding people who would carry within themselves the beginning of a new life and rebirth. The goals that Gogol and his hero set for themselves are directly opposite in this regard. Chichikov is interested in dead souls in the literal and figurative sense of the word - revision dead souls and people dead in spirit. And Gogol is looking for a living soul in which the spark of humanity and justice burns.

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