Dead souls idea of the work. Analysis of "Dead Souls"

The main theme of the poem “Dead Souls” is the theme of the present and future of Russia. Mercilessly scolding the order that existed in the country, Gogol was confident that Russia would be a prosperous country, that the time would come when Russia would become an ideal for other countries. This conviction arose from a sense of enormous creative energy that lay hidden in the depths of the people. The image of the homeland in the poem serves as the personification of everything great that the Russian people are capable of. Towering above all the pictures and images drawn in the poem, the image of Russia is covered with the ardent love of the author, who dedicated his creative work to his native country. In his poem, Gogol denounces those who interfered with the development of the creative forces of the nation and people, and mercilessly debunks the “masters of life” - the nobles. People like Manilov, Sobakevich, Plyushkin, Chichikov cannot be the creators of spiritual values.

The embodiment of the mighty rise of vital energy and aspiration to the future is the amazing image of Russia, like a trio of birds rushing into the vast distance. “Aren’t you, Rus', like a brisk and unstoppable troika, rushing along? The road beneath you smokes, the bridges rattle, everything lags behind and remains behind... everything that is on earth flies past, and, looking askance, other peoples and states step aside and give way to it.” The author's lyrical statements are filled with high pathos. “...What a sparkling, wonderful, unfamiliar distance to the earth!

Rus!" One after another, Gogol sketches pictures of Russian nature that appear before the gaze of a traveler rushing along an autumn road. It is no coincidence that the writer contrasts the stagnation of local owners with Russia’s rapid movement forward. This expresses his faith in the future of the country and people. The writer's lyrical reflections on the living character of the hardworking Russian nation are among the most heartfelt pages, warmed by the unquenchable flame of patriotism. Gogol understood perfectly well that the inventive mind and creative talents of the Russian people would only turn into a powerful force when they were free. Fervently believing in the great future of Russia, Gogol, however, did not clearly imagine the path along which it was supposed to come to power, glory and prosperity.

“Rus', where are you going, give me the answer? Doesn't give an answer." The writer did not know the real ways by which the contradictions between the country’s state of depression and its prosperity could be overcome. In his denunciation of social evil, Gogol objectively reflected the protest of broad sections of the people against the serfdom system. It was on this basis that his flagellating satire grew, exposing the rulers of serf souls, bureaucratic rulers. Work on the second volume of the poem coincided with the writer’s deep spiritual crisis.

During this period of life, tendencies of bourgeois development began to inevitably appear. Gogol hated the kingdom of dead souls, but capitalism scared him. Gogol, as a deeply religious man, opposed any revolution. This was his attitude in life. If Saltykov-Shchedrin's laughter is aimed directly at undermining social foundations, then Gogol's laughter is fundamentally creative and humanistic. Possessing a gift of genius, N.V. Gogol created an outstanding work.

The lyrical pages of the poem dedicated to the people are the best in the work. Gogol endlessly loves his country and its people.

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An essay on the topic “The theme of “dead souls” in N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls.”

Essay plan:
1.Introduction. a) History of the creation of the work
b) What are dead souls? In whom did the writer see the living force of the Russian nation?
2. Main part.
a) Who is Chichikov? “Who is he? So, a scoundrel?
b) Image, portrait, speech characteristics, description of home and household, attitude towards people and towards Chichikov’s proposal of landowners: Manilov, whose facial features were not “devoid of pleasantness”, Korobochka, “strong-minded woman”, “historical person” Nozdryov, strong fist Sobakevich and Plyushkin, who is called “a hole in humanity.”
c) Why are landowners “dead souls”?
d) The image of peasants and people in the poem
e) “And how wonderful this road itself is!” - image of the road. Image of the city.
E) The image of officials, “thick and thin”
H) N.V. Gogol’s depiction of Russia
3.Why did Gogol name his work that way? How did Dead Souls shock all of Russia?

Gogol dreamed of a great epic work dedicated to Russia, which led him to the idea of Dead Souls. Work on the work began in 1835. Pushkin predicted the plot of the work, believing that the poem would show Rus' “from one side,” that is, from its negative side. In the end, Gogol showed all the good that was hidden in Russian life.
Gogol made the human soul in the poem the main subject of depiction in its individual and national manifestation. Gogol convinces the reader that the souls of landowners, officials and businessmen are “dead” or are in the stage of “death.” And the author saw the people's people in the Russian people. At the center of the plot are 5 heroes, whose descriptions in the poem Gogol gives in order. So Chichikov comes to the landowners with only one purpose, to buy “dead souls.” The gallery of images opens with the dreamer and mismanaged Manilov, who is replaced by the “club-headed” Korobochka, the reckless sharpie Nozdryov, the tight-fisted Sobakevich, and this gallery is completed by Plyushkin – “a hole in humanity”, who has fallen into a deathly sleep.
And who is Chichikov in the novel? In childhood, this hero developed such character qualities as achieving goals, a manner of pleasing, finding benefits for himself, and spiritual meanness. Since childhood, he remembers that he must “save a penny” and make capital. He is a bad friend, pleases teachers, does everything for profit. His official career began in the state chamber, where he entered after graduating from college: “He got an insignificant place, a salary of thirty or forty rubles.” He tries in every possible way to please the police officer, calls him daddy, kisses his hand, takes care of his daughter. “The stern police officer began to fuss over him,” Chichikov was promoted, he stopped calling the police officer daddy, and forgot about the wedding with his daughter. Chichikov understood from this that success in life is easier and faster the faster a person frees himself from the principles of morality, honor, etc. When Chichikov participated in the commission for the construction of a government building, he received substantial acquisitions and income. But when a new boss came and declared war on bribes, Chichikov had to look for a new job. Chichikov gains the trust of his superiors and receives a new rank. Through fraud, he obtains a fortune of half a million. Chichikov did not make peace with his accomplice, and he wrote a denunciation against him, depriving Chichikov of everything he had earned. After failure, he started everything from scratch, and the idea of a deal with “dead souls” comes to him.
“Who is he? So, a scoundrel? Gogol calls Chichikov not a scoundrel, but an acquirer. Chichikov is an acquirer betting on capital, Chichikov is a hero of new times.
To each of the landowners depicted in the poem, Gogol presents one specific trait that characterizes a purposeless existence, and constitutes a general portrait of the class of landowners in feudal Russia.
Manilov is the first landowner to whom Chichikov came. Chichikov spent a long time looking for the estate: “the master’s house stood alone on the Jura...”, “two or three flower beds with lilac and yellow acacia bushes...” “The day was either clear or gloomy, but of some light gray color.” Manilov greets Chichikov very friendly and joyfully. Manilov’s character can be expressed through the lines: “everyone has their own enthusiasm, but Manilov did not have it,” “his facial features are not devoid of pleasantness.” He is not involved in farming, “the farming went on by itself.” He thinks a lot of ideas and plans, but does not implement them; he reads a book for two years with a bookmark on the same page. In his living room he has “wonderful furniture, upholstered in smart silk fabric, which was probably quite expensive.” Manilov has a wife with a good upbringing, two sons: Themistoclus and Alcides. At Chichikov’s offer to buy from him the peasants who died after the last census (revision tales), Manilov “opened his mouth and remained with his mouth open for several minutes.” Manilov gives away the dead souls for free and remains convinced that he has provided Chichikov with an invaluable service. After Chichikov’s departure, Manilov imagines a future friendship with Chichikov, reaching the point in his thoughts that the Tsar rewards them with the rank of general for their strong friendship.
Chichikov then goes to Sobakevich's estate, but due to heavy rain the coachman goes off the road. Chichikov ends up at the nearby estate of Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka. Chichikov enters a room that is “hung with old striped wallpaper; paintings with some birds; between the windows there were old small mirrors with dark frames in the form of curled leaves; behind each mirror there was either a letter or an old deck of cards, or a stocking.” Korobochka is a hospitable, hospitable landowner. She collects money in colorful bags, which she keeps sewn up in the chest of drawers, which also stores linen, dresses and threads. Chichikov stays with her overnight, and in the morning he offers her to sell him dead souls. In response, she offers to buy hemp or honey from her. Chichikov manages to buy dead souls from her. She cannot understand why he needs such a purchase, she is afraid to sell it too cheap. “Well, the woman seems to be strong-headed,” “club-headed.” Korobochka's men have interesting and strange surnames: Neuvazhay-Koryto, Koleso Ivan and others.
Chichikov, who has a good appetite, drives into a tavern, where Nozdryov soon arrives. Nozdryov was “of average height, a very well-built fellow with full rosy cheeks, teeth white as snow and jet-black sideburns. It was fresh, like blood and milk; his health seemed to be dripping from his face.” “Everyone has met a lot of such people. They are called broken little ones.” Nozdryov, one might say, is a historical person, because wherever he was, there was history. Nozdryov tells Chichikov about the fair where he lost money, lies, says that he drank 17 bottles of champagne. Then Nozdryov invites Chichikov to visit him. Nozdryov loved to exchange things and lose money. In his name, Nozdryov shows Chichikov a stallion, a kennel, a pond in which there are large fish, “real” Turkish daggers, with the mark of the master Sibiryakov. Chichikov, starting a business conversation, states his request, explaining that he needs dead souls for a successful marriage. Nozdryov wants to give him non-existent peasants, but Chichikov refuses. Then Nozdryov invites him to play cards, cheats, Chichikov stops the game, Nozdryov starts a fight, the police officer arrests him, Chichikov “got into the chaise and ordered Selifan to drive the horses at full speed.”
The fourth landowner is Sobakevich, who in many ways resembles Korobochka. He is a hoarder, but he is very calculating and cunning. His house is wooden, built with the taste of the owner. The yard is surrounded by a lattice; full-weight and thick logs were used in the stables and barns. The village huts were well made, even the well was made of oak. It was immediately obvious that Sobakevich was a good owner who loved order: “Everything was stubborn,” “in some kind of strong and clumsy order.” In the room “everything was solid, awkward in the highest degree and bore some strange resemblance to its owner.” Sobakevich himself “is very similar to a medium-sized bear.” During lunch, Sobakevich eats a lot and talks about his neighbor Plyushkin, who has many peasants and is a very stingy man. Hearing Chichikov's proposal, Sobakevich immediately begins bargaining. He promises to sell souls for 100 rubles apiece, explaining this by the fact that his peasants were real craftsmen, for example, the carpenter Stepan Cork, the carriage maker Mikheev, the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov. To himself, Chichikov calls Sobakevich a “kulak”, and says out loud that the qualities of the peasants are not important, because they are dead. As a result, they agree on three rubles.
The last image of the gallery of landowners is Plyushkin, whose house can be called a “decrepit invalid,” whose walls suffered all the weather, the garden was overgrown and “was quite picturesque in its picturesque desolation.” Seeing Plyushkin, Chichikov at first does not understand “is this a man or a woman.” Plyushkin is dressed “in an indefinite dress, on his head is a cap and a robe. Plyushkin used to have children, he was widowed, his son left for the city, the eldest got married and left, and the youngest died. Loneliness gave rise to stinginess in Plyushkin. “The hay and bread rotted, the luggage and haystacks turned into pure manure, the flour in the basements turned into stone...” Upon learning that Chichikov wants to buy dead souls from him, he immediately sells him the runaway peasants. Plyushkin receives the money, hides it where it will lie until his death, he will never use it. Plyushkin is glad that Chichikov is leaving without even drinking tea, hiding the treats, making sure not a crumb is lost.
Landowners can be considered “dead souls” because they are depicted in the poem as a force devoid of patriotic feelings and aspirations. Representatives of the ruling strata are the “dead souls”. From the Dreamer Manilov to the “hole in the body of humanity” Plyushkin, the fall of representatives of the landowner classes is shown.
At that time, peasants made up the majority of the population, so Gogol pays special attention to this, since in his work he showed Russia in the context of its shortcomings. The text does not describe the peasants themselves, but judging by the description of their homes, we can judge their lives. Manilov’s “gray log huts darkened length and breadth.” At Korobochka there were “peasant huts, which, although they were built scattered and not enclosed in regular streets, but, according to a remark made by Chichikov, showed the contentment of the inhabitants,” “the gates were not askew anywhere,” “in the peasants’ covered sheds he noticed a spare almost new cart, and where there are two.” Sobakevich’s “wooden huts of the peasants were also cut down marvelously: there were no brick walls, carved patterns or other tricks, but everything was fitted tightly, as it should.” At Plyushkin’s “the logs on the huts were dark and old; many roofs were leaky like a sieve; on others there was only a ridge at the top and poles on the sides in the form of ribs,” “the windows in the huts were without glass, others were covered with a rag or a zipun.”
In the poem, the description of the peasants who are alive and who are remembered deserves special attention. For example, Sobakevich remembers each of his peasants by name, remembers who did what; two peasants who showed Chichikov the way to Manilovka; a peasant who drags “a very thick log, like a tireless ant, to his hut”; two women who, having picked up their dresses, wandered knee-deep in the pond, dragging their tattered nonsense by two wooden nags.” There are many such examples; they show the sweeping nature of the Russian person.
In the poem, the image of the city is shown through the images of officials, because the life of the city depends on in whose hands the power is. The image of a provincial town is a characteristic of the owners of the estates.
Speaking about the image of the road in the poem, we can quote the following lines from the text: “How strange and alluring and carrying and wonderful is the word: road! and how wonderful this road itself is! other peoples and states step aside and give it way.”
The road in the poem is a journey through time, Chichikov’s everyday experience, the author’s creative experience, the spiritual rebirth of the heroes, salvation, hope and the future of Russia.
The image of officials occupies a central place in the poem. Gogol focuses on characterizing the general portrait of “thick and thin” officials. They continue to be idle and mind their own business. Bribery is still considered completely normal. The author emphasizes the main thing: the anti-national and anti-state activities of officials. Both landowners and officials embody social evil, the highest degree of which is manifested in “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” (Kopeikin is a hero of the war of 1812, a disabled person without an arm and a leg).
In his depiction of Russia, Gogol showed himself to be a realist writer. He is far from idealizing the enslaved peasantry, but in his lyrical digressions, in the episodes of the poem, Gogol conveys the idea of the mental and moral superiority of the Russian people over those who control their destiny. Throughout the entire narrative, images of men appearing in the poem, arguing about the “wheel” and “Zamanilovka”, Selifan, Petrushka, “who reads a lot and indiscriminately” and others.
The first volume of Dead Souls ends with the question about the future of Russia: “Rus, where are you going?” This question is addressed to the “three bird,” which in Gogol is a symbol of Russian life. Gogol believes in the future of Russia: “The bell rings with a wonderful ringing; The air, torn into pieces, thunders and becomes the wind; “everything that is on earth flies past, and, looking askance, other peoples and states step aside and give way to it.”
Gogol gives the name “Dead Souls” not by chance. The author creates a new type of narrative, merging two opposing elements of his work into one: laughter and tears, satire and lyricism. Everyone knows Herzen’s words that “Dead Souls” shocked “the whole of Russia.” Belinsky revealed the meaning of the shock. He explained this by the fact that the disputes about the book were of a literary and social nature. In 1845, the writer burned the manuscript of the second volume of his poem. Influenced by Belinsky’s letter in 1848, Gogol began working on “Dead Souls,” but he also burned this manuscript. Not knowing how to save Russia, the writer, nevertheless, fulfilled the duty of an artist and a citizen of his country. Chernyshevsky said: “For a long time there has not been a writer in the world who would be as necessary for his people as Gogol was for Russia.”

Prompted by Pushkin plot of "Dead Souls" was attractive to Gogol, as it gave him the opportunity, together with their hero, the future Chichikov, to “travel” throughout Russia and show “all of Rus'.” The social problems of “Dead Souls” are integrated with the problem of the spiritual state, or rather, the lack of spirituality of the “modern” and, above all, “Russian man”. In his letters, Gogol explains that it is not the province, and not a few ugly landowners, and not what is attributed to them, that is the subject of “Dead Souls”, that the real and only subject of the “art” of their author is “man and the soul of man”, and “modern man” and the “present state” of his “soul”.

Poem "Dead Souls"- a realistic work. The principles of artistic realism were formulated by Gogol in a digression on two types of writers. The writer attributes his work to the critical direction. Its historical limitations are obvious, which is expressed in the fact that for Gogol the “fertile grain” of Russian life was hidden not in the social, democratic trends in the development of “reality,” but in the national specificity of the spiritual “nature” of the Russian person. Gogol wrote during the crisis of serfdom in Russia. Depicting landowners and officials, Gogol used satirical description, social typification, as well as a general critical focus. The author pays great attention to descriptions of nature, the estate, the house, the interior, and the details of the portrait. Through satirical descriptions, the author characterizes the characters, paying attention to details. Various plans are correlated: a lyrical digression about a bird-troika and a description of a trip along bad Russian roads.

The poem goes back to the traditions of the ancient epic, where integral existence was recreated in all contradictions. By “poem” the writer meant “a lesser kind of epic... Prospectus for a textbook of literature for Russian youth. The hero of epics is a private and invisible person, but significant in many respects for observing the human soul.” Lyrical digressions, which are elements of the poem, in “Dead Souls” reflect the author’s perception of reality. Gogol himself called the work not only a poem, but also a novel, but for this the work lacks a love affair. The poem contains elements of a picaresque, adventure and social novel.

The plot and composition of the poem

Three compositional links are clearly distinguished: a display of estates (chapters 2-6), a depiction of the life of the provincial city, provincial officials (chapters 7-10), a narration about the life fate of the protagonist of the poem.

The road in all its meanings is the compositional core of the narrative, combining its spatial coordinates (Russian provincial city) with temporal ones (the movement of the chaise) into a symbol of “all Rus'” and its path from serf-dominated deadness to the great future.

Image of Chichikov and its ideological and compositional role influence the plot of the poem. The poem is stylized as a description of a journey; individual fragments of the life of Rus' are combined into a whole. If we consider the role of the image, it lies in the characteristics of the entrepreneur-adventurer. As follows from the hero’s biography, he uses for his own purposes either the position of an official or the mythical position of a landowner. The composition of the poem is built on the principle of “closed spaces”: landowners’ estates, the city.

The self-title of the poem is also symbolic - “Dead Souls”. Its literal meaning, related to the plot, is not only the dead peasants crossed out from the audit lists, called “souls” in the language of official documents. In addition, these are the dead souls of the owners of living and dead peasant souls, concealing the possibility of their awakening.

The theme of the homeland and people in the poem

Gogol says that the peasants for the most part are ignorant, downtrodden and narrow-minded: the yard girl Korobochka has no idea where is right and where is left; Petrushka and Selifan are stupid and lazy; Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minai are only capable of speculating whether Chichikov’s chaise will reach Moscow and Kazan. However, Gogol puts forward the idea that the Russian people have talents and creative abilities: in a lyrical digression about the Russian language, in a digression about the three-bird, in the characterization of the “Yaroslavl efficient man.”

“A Lesson for Tsars” was taught by the author of “Dead Souls” with “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.” The time of its action is precisely indicated: “six years after the French.” This is the time of the height of the Alexander reaction, the time of Arakcheev and the birth of the Decembrist movement. Captain Kopeikin is one of the participants in the War of 1812, whom the subsequent reaction turned from a defender of the Fatherland into a robber chieftain. The Tale of Captain Kopeikin reminds us of the threat of a revolutionary “revolt” in Russia. In lyrical digressions about Rus' and the bird-troika, Gogol expresses his attitude towards the future of Russia. “Rus, where are you rushing?” This question is addressed not to the “proud horse” - a symbol of Russian statehood, but to the “three bird” - a symbol of the national element of Russian life, its future and world-historical self-determination.

Gogol. “Dead Souls” What is the main problem of the work. What is the main theme of the work? And what was the relationship and got the best answer

Answer from GALINA[guru]
According to Gogol, the essence of the first volume of Dead Souls
is to show the shortcomings,
vices and weaknesses of the Russian person:
"...The book...depicts a man taken from our own
state... It was taken more to show
the shortcomings and vices of the Russian person, not his
dignity and virtue, and all people who
surround him, also taken to show
our weaknesses and shortcomings; the best people and
the characters will be in other parts..."
(N.V. Gogol, “To the Reader from the Author”,
preface to the second edition of the first volume of "Dead Souls")
The main problem of the poem is spiritual death and
spiritual rebirth of man.
The author explores the causes of moral degradation
landowners, officials, Chichikov, reveals depressing
consequences of this process.
At the same time, Gogol, a writer with a Christian worldview,
does not lose hope for the spiritual awakening of his heroes.
About the spiritual resurrection of Chichikov and Plyushkin Gogol
was going to write in the second and third volumes of his
works, but this plan was not destined
was to come true.
Source: in detail

Answer from Vladimir Pobol[guru]
at Chichikov's with the landowners - did I understand you correctly?

Answer from Ira Kuzmenko[active]
Topics and problems. In accordance with the main idea of the work - to show the path to achieving a spiritual ideal, on the basis of which the writer imagines the possibility of transforming both the state system of Russia, its social structure, and all social strata and each individual person - the main themes and problems posed in the poem are determined. Dead Souls". Being an opponent of any political and social upheavals, especially revolutionary ones, the Christian writer believes that the negative phenomena that characterize the state of contemporary Russia can be overcome through moral self-improvement not only of the Russian person himself, but also of the entire structure of society and the state. Moreover, such changes, from Gogol’s point of view, should not be external, but internal, that is, we are talking about the fact that all state and social structures, and especially their leaders, in their activities should be guided by moral laws and the postulates of Christian ethics. Thus, the eternal Russian problem - bad roads - can be overcome, according to Gogol, not by changing bosses or tightening laws and control over their implementation. To do this, it is necessary that each of the participants in this matter, first of all the leader, remember that he is responsible not to a higher official, but to God. Gogol called on every Russian person in his place, in his position, to do things as the highest - Heavenly - law commands.
That is why the themes and problems of Gogol’s poem turned out to be so broad and comprehensive. In its first volume, the emphasis is placed on all those negative phenomena in the life of the country that need to be corrected. But the main evil for the writer lies not in social problems as such, but in the reason for which they arise: the spiritual impoverishment of contemporary man. That is why the problem of the death of the soul becomes central in the 1st volume of the poem. All other themes and problems of the work are grouped around it. “Be not dead, but living souls!” - the writer calls, convincingly demonstrating the abyss into which one who has lost his living soul falls. But what is meant by this strange oxymoron - “dead soul”, which gives the title to the whole work? Of course, not only a purely bureaucratic term used in Russia in the 19th century. Often a “dead soul” is called a person who is mired in worries about vanity. The gallery of landowners and officials, shown in the 1st volume of the poem, reveals such “dead souls” to the reader, since they are all characterized by lack of spirituality, selfish interests, empty extravagance or soul-consuming stinginess. From this point of view, the “dead souls” shown in the 1st volume can only be opposed by the “living soul” of the people, presented in the author’s lyrical digressions. But, of course, the oxymoron “dead soul” is interpreted by the Christian writer in a religious and philosophical sense. The very word “soul” indicates the immortality of the individual in its Christian understanding. From this point of view, the symbolism of the definition “dead souls” contains the opposition of the dead (inert, frozen, spiritless) principle and the living (spiritualized, high, light). The uniqueness of Gogol's position lies in the fact that he not only contrasts these two principles, but points out the possibility of awakening the living in the dead. So the poem includes the theme of the resurrection of the soul, the theme of the path to its revival. It is known that Gogol intended to show the path of revival of two heroes from the 1st volume - Chichikov and Plyushkin. The author dreams that the “dead souls” of Russian reality will be reborn, turning into truly “living” souls.
But in the contemporary world, the death of the soul affected literally everyone and was reflected in the most diverse aspects of life.

The main work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is not only in the scale and depth of artistic generalizations. For this author, working on it became a long process of literary and human self-discovery. An analysis of "Dead Souls" will be presented in this article.

Gogol noticed after the publication of the first volume that the main subject of his work was not the ugly landowners or the province, but a “secret” that was suddenly to be revealed to readers in the following volumes.

"Pale Beginning" of a Grand Design

The search for a genre, changing the concept, working on the text of the first two volumes, as well as thinking about the third - these are fragments of a grandiose “construction”, carried out only partially by Nikolai Vasilyevich. When analyzing “Dead Souls,” it should be understood that the first volume is only a part in which the outlines of the whole are outlined. This is the “pale beginning” of the work, as defined by the writer himself. No wonder Nikolai Vasilyevich compared it to a porch hastily attached to the “palace” by the provincial architect.

How did the idea for the work come about?

Features of the composition and plot, the originality of the genre are associated with the deepening and development of the original concept of “Dead Souls”. Pushkin stood at the origins of the work. As Nikolai Vasilyevich said, the poet advised him to start writing a large essay and even suggested a plot from which he wanted to create “something like a poem.” However, it was not so much the plot itself, but the “thought” contained in it that was Pushkin’s “hint” to Gogol. The future author of the poem was well aware of the real stories that were based on scams involving the so-called “dead souls.” In Gogol’s youth, one of these incidents occurred in Mirgorod.

"Dead souls" in Russia during the time of Gogol

“Dead souls” - who died, but continued to be counted as alive until the next “revision fairy tale”. Only after this were they officially considered dead. It was after this that the landowners stopped paying a special tax for them. The peasants who existed on paper could be mortgaged, gifted or sold, which scammers sometimes took advantage of, seducing landowners not only with the opportunity to get rid of serfs who were not generating income, but also to receive money for them.

The buyer of “dead souls” became the owner of a very real fortune. The adventure of the main character of the work, Chichikov, is a consequence of the “most inspired thought” that dawned on him - the guardianship council will give 200 rubles for each serf.

An adventurous picaresque novel

The basis for the so-called picaresque adventure novel was provided by an “anecdote” with “dead souls.” This type of novel has always been very popular because it is entertaining. Gogol's older contemporaries created works in this genre (V. T. Narezhny, F. V. Bulgarin, etc.). Their novels, despite their rather low artistic level, were a great success.

Modification of the genre of the picaresque novel in the process of work

The genre model of the work we are interested in is precisely an adventurous picaresque novel, as the analysis of “Dead Souls” shows. It, however, changed greatly during the writer’s work on this creation. This is evidenced, for example, by the author’s designation “poem,” which appeared after the general plan and main idea were corrected by Gogol (“Dead Souls”).

Analysis of the work reveals the following interesting features. “All of Rus' will appear in it” is Gogol’s thesis, which not only emphasized the scale of the concept of “Dead Souls” in comparison with the initial desire “albeit from one side” to show Russia, but also meant a radical revision of the genre model chosen earlier. The framework of the traditional adventure and picaresque novel became cramped for Nikolai Vasilyevich, since he could not accommodate the richness of the new plan. Chichikov’s “odyssey” turned into just one way of seeing Russia.

The adventurous picaresque novel, having lost its leading significance in Dead Souls, remained a genre shell for the epic and morally descriptive tendencies of the poem.

Features of Chichikov's image

One of the techniques used in this genre is the mystery of the hero's origin. The main character in the first chapters was either a man from the common people or a foundling, and at the end of the work, having overcome life's obstacles, he suddenly found himself the son of rich parents and received an inheritance. Nikolai Vasilyevich decisively refused such a template.

When analyzing the poem "Dead Souls", it should certainly be noted that Chichikov is a man of the "middle". The author himself says about him that he is “not bad-looking,” but not handsome, not too thin, but not too fat, not very old and not very young. The life story of this adventurer is hidden from the reader until the final, eleventh chapter. You will be convinced of this by carefully reading “Dead Souls”. Analysis by chapter reveals the fact that the author tells the backstory only in the eleventh. Having decided to do this, Gogol begins by emphasizing the “vulgarity,” the mediocrity of his hero. He writes that his origins are “modest” and “obscure.” Nikolai Vasilyevich again rejects extremes in defining his character (not a scoundrel, but not a hero either), but dwells on Chichikov’s main quality - he is an “acquirer”, “owner”.

Chichikov - an "average" person

Thus, there is nothing unusual in this hero - he is a so-called “average” person, in whom Gogol strengthened a trait that is characteristic of many people. Nikolai Vasilyevich sees in his passion for profit, which has replaced everything else, in the pursuit of the ghost of an easy and beautiful life, a manifestation of “human poverty,” poverty and spiritual interests - everything that is so carefully hidden by many people. An analysis of “Dead Souls” shows that Gogol needed a biography of the hero not so much in order to reveal the “secret” of his life at the end of the work, but rather to remind readers that this is not an exceptional person, but a completely ordinary one. Anyone can discover some “part of Chichikov” in themselves.

"Positive" heroes of the work

In adventure and picaresque novels, the traditional plot “spring” is the persecution of the main character by malicious, greedy and vicious people. Compared to them, the rogue who fought for his own rights seemed almost like a “model of perfection.” As a rule, he was helped by compassionate and virtuous people who naively expressed the author’s ideals.

However, no one is pursuing Chichikov in the first volume of the work. Also, there are no characters in the novel who could, to any extent, follow the writer’s point of view. Carrying out an analysis of the work “Dead Souls”, we can notice that only in the second volume do “positive” heroes appear: the landowner Kostanzhoglo, the tax farmer Murazov, the governor, who is irreconcilable with the abuses of various officials. But even these characters, unusual for Nikolai Vasilyevich, are very far from novel templates.

What interests Nikolai Vasilyevich first of all?

The plots of many works written in the genre of the picaresque adventure novel were far-fetched and artificial. The emphasis was on adventures, the “adventures” of rogue heroes. And Nikolai Vasilyevich is interested not in the adventures of the main character in themselves, not in their “material” result (Chichikov eventually got his fortune through fraudulent means), but in their moral and social content, which allowed the author to make trickery a “mirror” reflecting modern Russia in the work "Dead Souls". Analysis shows that this is a country of landowners who sell “air” (that is, dead peasants), as well as officials who assist the swindler instead of hindering him. The plot of this work has enormous semantic potential - various layers of other meanings - symbolic and philosophical - are superimposed on its real basis. It is very interesting to analyze the landowners (“Dead Souls”). Each of the five characters is very symbolic - Nikolai Vasilyevich uses the grotesque in their depiction.

Slowing down the plot

Gogol deliberately slows down the movement of the plot, accompanying each event with detailed descriptions of the material world in which the heroes live, as well as their appearance, reasoning about their Not only the dynamics, but also the significance is lost by the adventurous and picaresque plot. Each event of the work causes an “avalanche” of the author’s assessments and judgments, details, facts. The action of the novel, contrary to the requirements of this genre, almost completely stops in the last chapters. You can verify this by independently analyzing Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls.” For the development of the action, only two events out of all the others are significant, which occur from the seventh to the eleventh chapters. This is the departure from the city of Chichikov and the execution of a deed of sale.

Demanding on readers

Nikolai Vasilyevich is very demanding of readers - he wants them to penetrate into the very essence of phenomena, and not skim over their surface, to ponder the hidden meaning of the work “Dead Souls”. It should be analyzed very carefully. It is necessary to see behind the “objective” or informative meaning of the author’s words the not obvious, but the most important meaning is the symbolically generalized one. Just as necessary, as for Pushkin in “Eugene Onegin,” is the co-creation of readers for the author of “Dead Souls.” It is important to note that the artistic effect of Gogol’s prose is created not by what is told or depicted, but by how it is done. You will be convinced of this once you analyze the work “Dead Souls”. The word is a subtle instrument that Gogol mastered perfectly.

Nikolai Vasilyevich emphasized that a writer, when addressing people, must take into account the fear and uncertainty that lives in those who commit bad deeds. Both approval and reproach should be carried by the word of the “lyric poet”. Discussions about the dual nature of the phenomena of life are the favorite topic of the author of the work that interests us.

This is a brief analysis ("Dead Souls"). A lot can be said about Gogol’s work. We have highlighted only the main points. It is also interesting to dwell on the images of landowners and the author. You can do this yourself, based on our analysis.