Artistic features of the poem “Dead Souls” by N. V.
Cover « Dead souls"was made in the style of a grotesque ornament, combining details in a bizarre combination everyday life, human heads, skulls, skeletons, which, without a doubt, corresponded to the very grotesque content of the poem and betrayed, as Gogol himself said, “confusion, confusion, confusion.” Y. Mann
Satire is a destructive criticism of the vices of the surrounding reality. In essence, the meaning of Gogol’s satire is contained in the epigraph to our lesson. So what does N.V. Gogol laugh at, what does N.V. Gogol criticize in his poem “Dead Souls”?
Let us repeat what we have learned. The main method of depicting landowners in the poem is detailed portraits, which are accompanied by: interior, details, characteristics of other characters, the behavior of the hero during the transaction, speaking names.
Name of this hero, give him a description. “A piece of apple, candy, nut, darling, little mouth, beaded case, cigar, name day of the heart, please pass by, honored with a visit, most kind, spirit of pleasure” Manilov
Manilov “Manilov, by nature kind, even noble, lived fruitlessly in the village, did not benefit anyone a penny, vulgarized, became cloying with his kindness...”
Manilov What “keys” did Chichikov pick up for Manilov and his wife, trying to win their sympathy? How does Manilov react to Chichikov’s request regarding the sale of dead souls?
Name this hero, give him a description. Box “Unbearable, crying, money, motley bags, ripped cloak, they will play, father, my father, saints, passions, rested, I’ll have tea, I’ll wait a little, maybe, so hot”
Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka “Even a respectable and statesmanlike person, but in reality he turns out to be a perfect Korobochka. Once you’ve got something in your head, you can’t overpower it with anything; No matter how much you present him with arguments, clear as day, everything bounces off him, like a rubber ball bounces off a wall.”
Korobochka How does Korobochka characterize her story about a blacksmith who “burned from the inside”? What is the sad meaning of what happened for her?
Name this hero, give him a description. “I was blown away, I lost four trotters, I’m a pig, I’m cracked with laughter, I’m a scumbag, I would win back, I would squander, oh, brother, nimbleness of character, big-chested, swearing fervor” Nozdryov
Nozdryov A plump man, about thirty years old, a broken guy, dark-skinned, noisy, always cheerful, fresh, with jet-black sideburns. This frivolous reveler and braggart is bursting with health, he exudes simple-minded narcissism and reckless prowess.
A reckless man and a reveler, Nozdryov shamelessly boasts and deceives everyone who meets him. He brings confusion to any society; his appearance always foreshadows a scandal. “Not a single meeting he attended was complete without a story. Some kind of story would certainly happen: either the gendarmes would lead him out of the hall by the arm, or his own friends would be forced to push him out.” Nozdryov and Chichikov
Name this hero, give him a description. “Centuries-old standing, strong oak, clumsy order, side of mutton, Christ sellers, a turkey the size of a calf, gnawed, sucked, machines, strength, bear” Sobakevich
Sobakevich is a cunning man-fist, “on his own mind,” an experienced owner, outwardly similar to a bear (they even call him Mikhail Semenovich).
Sobakevich at a meal During a conversation with Chichikov, Sobakevich gives unflattering characteristics to mutual acquaintances: “I know them all: they’re all scammers, the whole city there is like that...”. Is there any grain of truth in Sobakevich’s words?
Name this hero, give him a description. “A decrepit invalid, deprived of tops, clogged, a stopped pendulum, overgrown, stalled, mold, cobwebs, dust, manure, rot, a hole” Plyushkin
Time stopped for this man, who lost his normal appearance and turned into a “tear in humanity.” Plyushkin The saddest, gloomiest place is no time rich estate landowner Plyushkin, ruined by the pathological stinginess of the owner.
Plyushkin at the chest “From the middle of the ceiling hung a chandelier in a canvas bag, the dust made it look like a silk cocoon in which a worm sits. In the corner of the room there was a pile of things that were rougher and unworthy to lie on the tables.”
"Nice meeting". Landowner Manilov is a fruitless dreamer and visionary. Courteous Carefree Courteous Manilov Idle talker Primitive Sugary Feigned profundity Characterized by ingratiating manners
Landowner Korobochka Nastasya Petrovna is a collegiate secretary who is ready to sell you even her soul for favorable price. Stupid Stingy Box Greedy Rude Prudent Wary Distrustful
The landowner Nozdryov - a reveler, a gambler and a talker - will with great pleasure lose his entire fortune to you at cards, then drink and eat at your expense in any tavern. Reveler, talker Playmaker Empty Nozdryov Quarrelsome Chatterbox, liar
Landowner Sobakevich Mikhailo Semyonovich - a hater of enlightenment, a strong owner, unyielding in bargaining - will be happy to “throw mud at” all his acquaintances over a hearty dinner in his house. Rude Uncouth Sobakevich Dodger Ruthless Tenacious Glutton
Landowner Stepan Plyushkin - a cruel serf owner, stingy, suspicious, distrustful of everyone - does not want to see you on his estate and is not going to treat you even to last year's Easter cake. Slave of things Hoarder Plyushkin Pettily suspicious Extremely stingy Degraded person Spiritually and physically degenerate Lost human form
Here they are all - degraded, frightening images of Gogol. Remember the defining details of the portrait and life of the landowners from the text of the poem. Look at them again through the eyes of an illustrator and answer, what do you think is the artist’s success?
This character changes all the time depending on who he's with. this moment talks: with Manilov he lisps, with Nozdryov he is rude and “pokes”, with Korobochka he distorts words, with Sobakevich he growls... Although he also has his own words that differentiate him: “Neither fat nor thin, speaks neither loudly nor quietly,” that is he adapts to everyone. Chichikov
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov Having learned to “save a penny” since childhood, Chichikov is endowed with everything necessary qualities antihero. External facelessness, chameleonism, the ability to transform depending on the circumstances. He is soulless, obsessed with only one idea - to become a “millionaire”, to find peace and prosperity.
Without departing from the oxymoron contained in the title - “Dead Souls” - tell me, who DIED in each of them? Manilov - peacemaker, diplomat; Nozdryov is a man who can move mountains if his energy is directed in the right direction; Sobakevich is a smart business executive in in the best sense this word, the pillar of society; Korobochka is simply a hospitable, kind-hearted, compassionate Russian woman; Plyushkin is an intellectual, the head of a large friendly family; Chichikov is a man of rich, inexhaustible possibilities, who, with his inclinations as a psychologist, could become indispensable in any field of activity.
So why did Gogol show the landowners from the worst sides? Are there such people today; perhaps, in the writer’s language, they “went extinct” a long time ago?
System of images of the poem Nozdryov Korobochka Manilov Sobakevich Landowners, villagers Plyushkin Chichikov Governor Officials, city residents Postmaster Prosecutor Chief of Police
Officials provincial town What are the main occupations of officials? Why does Sobakevich call officials “idle people”? What comparison does the author use to create a collective portrait of officials?
At the governor’s ball, young and elderly officials are shown rushing in heaps across the parquet floor, like “flies rushing on white shining refined sugar during the hot July summer.”
Chapter 7. In the provincial office What strikes the reader when the author describes the office? How are Chichikov greeted at the office?
Image of Themis - the goddess of justice “Themis simply, as she is, in a negligee and robe, received guests.” Why does N.V. Gogol use a caricature of Themis?
Ivan Antonovich “jug snout” - a subtle official The ability of an official to turn into an eagle or a fly is amazing. At his desk, Ivan Antonovich is an eagle, and in his boss’s office he is a fly. This is a bribe-taker, a bureaucrat, a clever lawyer for all sorts of illegal cases. Even Chichikov gave him a bribe, although he was a friend of his boss.
Ivan Antonovich “jug snout” - typical hero All officials, starting with a minor official in a provincial town and ending with a nobleman, reveal the same pattern: the guardians of the law are swindlers, soulless people.
“As they splashed out the purchase...” “...they approached the table from all sides with forks and began to discover, as they say, each one’s own character and inclinations, some leaning on caviar, some on salmon, some on cheese. »
The city’s leaders are unanimous only in their desire to live widely at the expense of “the sums of their dearly beloved fatherland.” Officials rob both the state and the petitioners. Embezzlement, bribery, robbery of the population are everyday and completely natural phenomena. No request is considered without a bribe. Governor
Governor What is the characteristic of the Governor by Manilov? Sobakevich? What does the author say about the Governor’s preferences? What technique does he use for this? How do officials treat the Governor?
Conclusion: The governor - a “secular” man, amiable and charming - was neither fat nor thin, had Anna on his neck, and it was even rumored that he was introduced to a star, however, he was a great good-natured person and even “sometimes embroidered on tulle himself.”
Chief of Police Alexey Ivanovich Artist P. Boklevsky What characterization does N.V. Gogol give to the chief of police in Chapter. 7? How do the townspeople feel about him? What feature of the police chief contributes to this? Why is the phrase “he mastered his position perfectly” used in relation to the police chief?
Conclusion about the image of the police chief The police chief, “the father and benefactor of the city,” must strictly and unswervingly monitor how the laws are carried out, bring into the hands of justice those who violate them, but, visiting Gostiny Dvor, he feels here as if in his own pantry. “Even though he will take it,” the merchants say, “he will certainly not give you away.” In other words, a bribe will cover up a crime. This gained him love and “perfect nationality.”
The postmaster is a smoker like everyone else. He is negligent in his duties: he may leave work early and is involved in illegal transfers. What story will the postmaster tell the provincial society? How does this characterize him?
The postmaster is a wit and a “philosopher” who unsuccessfully suggested that Chichikov is Captain Kopeikin: “This, gentlemen, my sir, is none other than Captain Kopeikin!”
Prosecutor What detail is used by the author in the portrait of the prosecutor? What does Sobakevich call the prosecutor? How did the prosecutor feel about fulfilling his duties? What strikes the reader about the death of the prosecutor's funeral? M. Chagall Death of the Prosecutor
Ivan Antonovich “jug snout” All officials, starting with a minor official in a provincial town and ending with a nobleman, reveal the same pattern: the guardians of the law are swindlers, soulless people.
Conclusion: The prosecutor did nothing but mindlessly sign papers, since he left all the decisions to the solicitor, “the first grabber in the world.” Obviously, the cause of his death was rumors about the sale of “dead souls”, since it was he who was responsible for all the illegal affairs that took place in the city. Bitter Gogolian irony is heard in thoughts about the meaning of the prosecutor’s life: “...why he died, or why he lived, only God knows.” Even Chichikov, looking at the funeral of the prosecutor, involuntarily comes to the idea that the only thing the deceased can be remembered for is his thick black eyebrows.
Conclusions: Provincial Olympus City managers are unanimous only in their desire to live widely at the expense of “the sums of their dearly beloved fatherland.” Officials rob both the state and the petitioners. Embezzlement, bribery, robbery of the population are everyday and completely natural phenomena. No request is considered without a bribe.
Ch. 8 Provincial Society How will Chichikov show himself at the ball? How do the governor's guests treat him? Why? How does this characterize provincial society?
How does Chichikov react to Nozdryov's appearance? Will officials believe Nozdryov, who spoke about buying dead Shower Chichikov? Why?
Ladies of the city NN What does the author see as the main shortcomings of his era and what are his moral recipes facing the future?
Ch. 8 Ladies of the city N What constitutes the world of interests of ladies provincial society? What special does N.V. Gogol note in the ladies’ speech?
Ch. 9 Ladies of the city N Gogol ridicules the vulgarity, hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness characteristic of provincial ladies. Gossip, idle chatter about city news, and heated debates about outfits are combined with claims to taste and education. These women strive to imitate metropolitan society in the manner of speaking and dressing, and blindly copy foreign traditions. Gogol reveals the emptiness of their lack of spirituality inner world. How does the dialogue between two “nice” ladies characterize?
Local nobility in the poem. Spiritual degradation. “But the thing is this: he wants to take away governor's daughter. »
Officials. The insignificance of their bureaucratic rule. One said that Chichikov was a maker of state banknotes, and then he himself added: “or maybe not a maker”; the other claimed that he was an official of the Governor General’s office, and immediately added: but, the devil knows, you can’t read it on his forehead.”
Isn't Chichikov Napoleon in disguise? Chichikov's face, if he turns and stands sideways, looks very much like a portrait of Napoleon.
Who does Chichikov appear before us? Antichrist Napoleon robber spy counterfeiter hero-lover millionaire eligible groom Kherson landowner nice person scoundrel collegiate adviser acquirer master mediocre master
What does the author see as the main shortcomings of his era and what are his moral recipes for the future?
Thus, Bribes, theft, veneration, mutual responsibility are the vices of officials. Officials are cruel and inhumane. Satirically depicting provincial officials, the author strikes at the bureaucratic apparatus of the entire autocratic-serf state and makes it clear that these “guardians of order and legality” are the same dead souls as the landowners.
The people in the poem Poverty, drunkenness, general laziness, stupidity - this is what a fortress village looks like. The man is crushed, but has not lost the ability to distinguish between the righteous and the “sky-smokers”.
What main lesson Gogol for your age? What does the word “vulgarity” mean? What word is its antonym? You made one of the most important lessons Gogol: So that one day, looking in the mirror, you don’t see your “scarred face,” you need to work a lot on yourself, be able to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, the sublime in the earthly, and strive for it with all your might.
There is a hopeful message in the poem, and you know it. “Take it with you on the journey, leaving the soft teenage years into stern, embittering courage, take everything with you human movements, don’t leave them on the road, you won’t pick them up later!” What does the word “courage” mean? It is no coincidence that Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev wrote: “His language is insanely incorrect, it delights me: a living body.”
Let’s read out those “scraggy” words that we collected during the reading. Get excited, you'll kill the fights, prishpandor, skaldyrnik, grander, squirm like a coramora, such darkness, unattractive, sworn with honey, barrel-like ribs, no need to be a woman, all gone, submissive superflu, all of monkeyiness and... In the mouth brilliant writer All these words, colloquial figures of speech, obvious grammatical irregularities give rise, as V.V. Stasov said, to a language “unheard of in its naturalness”: juicy, colorful and convincing.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, as scientists have noted more than once, is the next milestone after Pushkin on the path of our literature. Without him, neither Saltykov-Shchedrin, nor Dostoevsky, nor Chekhov are unthinkable... Gogol's heroes and ideas migrated and settled with satirical writers of the early 20th century, as if at home (works by Zoshchenko, Ilf and Petrov, Bulgakov). Although Gogol's images have undergone fantastic changes, the essence remains the same. ... Marveling at his great mind, He is not persecuted, not slandered, And his contemporaries are preparing a monument to him During his lifetime. But fate has no mercy for the One whose noble genius Became an exposer of the crowd, Its passions and delusions. N. A. Nekrasov
“...how huge, what original story! All Rus' is in it!. . . » N.V. Gogol
Resources used B. I. Turyanskaya, L. N. Gorokhova, etc. Literature in 9th grade. Lesson after lesson. – M.: LLC "TID" Russian word", 2002 Internet
Poem " Dead Souls»
Depiction of the world of officials in the poem by N.V., Gogol “Dead Souls”
The society of officials of the provincial city is outlined by N.V. Gogol in the poem “Dead Souls” is sharply critical. Researchers have noted that Gogol’s images of officials are impersonal, devoid of individuality (unlike the images of landowners), their names are often repeated (Ivan Antonovich, Ivan Ivanovich), but their surnames are not indicated at all. Only the governor, prosecutor, police chief and postmaster are described in more detail by the author.
The officials of the provincial city are not very smart and educated. With caustic irony, Gogol speaks about the enlightenment of city officials: “some have read Karamzin, some have read Moskovskie Vedomosti, some have not even read anything at all.” The speech of these characters in the poem is nothing more than a mechanical repetition of words, symbolizing their slow-wittedness. All of them could not recognize a swindler in Chichikov, considering him a millionaire, a Kherson landowner, and then Captain Kopeikin, a spy, Napoleon, a maker of counterfeit notes, and even the Antichrist.
These people are far from everything Russian and national: “you won’t hear a single decent Russian word” from them, but they will “endow you with French, German, and English words in such quantities that you won’t even want...”. High society worships everything foreign, forgetting its original traditions and customs. These people's interest in national culture limited to building a “hut in Russian taste” at the dacha.
This is a society in which idleness and idleness flourish. Thus, when registering a transaction for the sale and purchase of serfs, witnesses were required. “Send now to the prosecutor,” notes Sobakevich, “he is an idle man and probably sits at home: the lawyer Zolotukha, the greatest grabber in the world, does everything for him. An inspector of the medical board, he is also an idle man and, probably, at home, if he has not gone somewhere to play cards...” The rest of the officials are no less idle. According to Sobakevich, “there are many here who are closer, Trukhachevsky, Begushkin, they are all burdening the land for nothing.”
Robbery, deception, and bribes reign in the world of officials. These people strive to live well “at the expense of the sums of their dearly beloved fatherland.” Bribes are commonplace in the world of the provincial city. The department is ironically called by the writer “the temple of Themis.” Thus, the chairman of the chamber advises Chichikov: “...don’t give anything to officials... My friends shouldn’t pay.” From this statement we can conclude that these people regularly extort money. Describing the execution of the deal by his hero, Gogol notes: “Chichikov had to pay very little. Even the chairman gave an order to take only half of the duty money from him, and the other, unknown how, was attributed to the account of some other petitioner.” This remark reveals to us the lawlessness that reigns in “public places.” It is interesting that in the original edition this place in the poem was accompanied by the author’s remark: “This has always been the case in the world since ancient times. A rich person doesn't need to pay anything, he just needs to be rich. They will give him a glorious place, and let him use it, and the money will remain in the box; Only those who have nothing to pay pay.”
Describing the governor's party, Gogol talks about two types of officials: “fat” and “thin.” The existence of the former is “too easy, airy and completely unreliable.” The latter “never occupy indirect places, but all are direct, and if they sit somewhere, they will sit securely and firmly... they won’t fly off.” “Thin” in the author’s view are dandies and dandies hanging around the ladies. They are often prone to extravagance: “for three years, the thin one does not have a single soul left that is not pawned in a pawnshop.” Fat people are sometimes not very attractive, but they are “thorough and practical”, “the true pillars of society”: “having served God and the sovereign,” they leave the service and become famous Russian bars, landowners. The author's satire is obvious in this description: Gogol perfectly understands what this “official service” was like, which brought a person “universal respect.”
Both the first and second types are illustrated by Gogol with images of city officials. Here is the first official of the city - the governor. This is an idle man. His only advantage comes down to his ability to embroider different patterns on tulle. Here is the chief of police, “the father and benefactor of the city,” running the merchant shops in his own way. The police chief “only has to blink when passing a fish row or a cellar,” and he is immediately presented with balyks and expensive wine. At the same time, the police terrify the entire people. When a rumor appears in society about a possible revolt of Chichikov’s men, the police chief notes that in order to prevent this rebellion, “there is the power of the captain-police officer, that the captain-police officer, even though he doesn’t go himself, but only went to his place with his cap, then one cap will drive the peasants to their very place of residence.” These are “fat” officials. But the writer describes their “subtle” brothers no less critically, including, for example, Ivan Antonovich, who received a bribe from Chichikov.
The writer emphasizes in the poem that arbitrariness and lawlessness reign in Russia not only at the level provincial town, but also at the level state power. Gogol speaks about this in the story of Captain Kopeikin, the hero Patriotic War 1812, who became disabled and went to the capital to ask for help. He tried to get himself a pension, but his case was not crowned with success: an angry minister, under escort, expelled him from St. Petersburg.
Thus, Gogol’s officials are deceitful, selfish, calculating, soulless, and prone to fraud. Civic duty, patriotism, public interests - these concepts are alien to NN city officials. According to the author, “these guardians of order and law” are the same “dead souls” as the landowners in the poem. The pinnacle of Gogol’s satirical exposure is the picture of the general confusion that gripped city society when rumors spread about Chichikov’s purchase of “dead souls.” Here the officials were confused, and everyone “suddenly found ... sins in themselves.” “In a word, there was talk and talk and the whole city started talking about dead souls and the governor’s daughter, about Chichikov and dead souls, about the governor’s daughter and Chichikov, and everything that was there rose up. Like a whirlwind, the hitherto dormant city was thrown up like a whirlwind!” The writer uses the technique of hyperbole here. Opportunity state inspections In connection with the scam, Chichikova frightened the city officials so much that panic began among them, “the city was completely revolted, everything was in ferment...”. This story ended with the death of the prosecutor, the main “guardian of the law,” and those around him only realized after his death that he had a “soul.” And this episode is symbolic in many ways. This is the author's call to heroes, a reminder of God's judgment for all life's deeds.
Artistic features. According to Gogol, Pushkin best of all grasped the originality of the writing style of the future author of Dead Souls: “Not a single writer had this gift to expose the vulgarity of life so clearly, to be able to outline in such force the vulgarity of a vulgar person, so that all the little things that elude eye, would have flashed large in everyone’s eyes.” Indeed, the main means of depicting Russian life in the poem becomes artistic detail. Gogol uses it as the main means of typifying heroes. The author identifies in each of them the main, leading feature, which becomes the core of the artistic image and is “played out” with the help of skillfully selected details. Such leitmotif details of the image are: sugar (Manilov); bags, boxes (Korobochka); animal strength and health (Nozdrev); rough but durable things (Sobakevich); a bunch of rubbish, a hole, a hole (Plyushkin). For example, Manilov’s sweetness, dreaminess, and unreasonable pretentiousness are emphasized by the details of the portrait (“eyes as sweet as sugar”; his “pleasantness” was “too much of the sugar”), details of behavior with people around him (with Chichikov, with his wife and children), and the interior (in his office there is beautiful furniture - and then there are two unfinished armchairs, covered with matting; a dandy candlestick - and next to “some kind of just a copper invalid, lame, curled up to the side and covered in fat”; on the table lies a book, “laid with a bookmark on the page fourteen, which he had been reading for two years already”), speech details that allow you to create a unique manner of speaking “sweetly” and vaguely (“May day, name day of the heart”; “let’s not let you do this”).
This kind of leitmotif details are used as a means of characterizing all characters, even episodic ones (for example, Ivan Antonovich has a “jug snout”, the prosecutor has “very black thick eyebrows”) and collective images(“thick and thin” officials). But there are also special artistic media, which are used to create a certain series of images. For example, in order to more clearly highlight what is characteristic of each of the landowners as a certain type, the author uses such a construction of the corresponding chapters that the same sequence of details is observed. First, the estate, yard, interior of the landowner’s house are described, his portrait is given and author's description. Then we see the landowner in his relationship with Chichikov - his manner of behavior, speech, we hear reviews of neighbors and city officials and get acquainted with his home environment. In each of these chapters, we witness a dinner or other treat (sometimes very unique - like Plyushkin's) that Chichikov is treated to - after all, Gogol's hero, an expert on material life and everyday life, often receives characterization precisely through food. And in conclusion, a scene of the purchase and sale of “dead souls” is shown, completing the portrait of each landowner. This technique makes it easy to make comparisons. Thus, food as a means of characterization is present in all chapters about landowners: Manilov’s dinner is modest, but with pretension (“cabbage soup, but from pure heart"); at Korobochka's - plentiful, in a patriarchal taste (“mushrooms, pies, skorodumki, shanishki, pryagly, pancakes, flat cakes with all sorts of toppings”); Sobakevich serves large and hearty dishes, after which the guest can barely get up from the table (“when I have pork, put the whole pig on the table; lamb, bring the whole lamb”); at
Nozdryov's food is not tasty, he pays more attention to the wine; At Plyushkin’s, instead of dinner, the guest is offered liqueur with flies and “crumbs from Easter cake”, left over from the Easter treat.
Of particular note are the household details that reflect the world of things. There are a lot of them and they carry an important ideological and semantic load: in a world where the soul has been forgotten and has become “dead,” its place is firmly occupied by objects, things to which their owner is firmly attached. That’s why things are personified: such as Korobochka’s clock, which “had a desire to beat,” or Sobakevich’s furniture, where “every object, every chair seemed to say: I too Sobakevich!”
Zoological motifs also contribute to the individualization of characters: Manilov is a cat, Sobakevich is a bear, Korobochka is a bird, Nozdryov is a dog, Plyushkin is a mouse. In addition, each of them is accompanied by a specific color scheme. For example, Manilov's estate, his portrait, his wife's clothes - everything is given in gray-blue tones; Sobakevich’s clothes are dominated by red-brown colors; Chichikov is remembered for a clear detail: he likes to dress in a “lingonberry-colored tailcoat with a sparkle.”
The speech characteristics of the characters also arise through the use of details: in Manilov’s speech there is a lot introductory words and sentences, he says pretentiously, does not finish the sentence; Nozdryov’s speech contains a lot of swear words, jargon of a gambler, a horseman, he often speaks in alogisms (“he came from God knows where, and I live here”); officials have their own special language: along with clericalisms, when addressing each other they use phrases that are stable in this environment (“You lied, mommy Ivan Grigorievich!”). Even the surnames of many characters characterize them to a certain extent (Sobakevich, Korobochka, Plyushkin). For the same purpose, evaluative epithets and comparisons are used (Korobochka - “club-headed”, Plyushkin - “a hole in humanity”, Sobakevich - “man-fist”).
All together, these artistic means serve to create a comic and satirical effect and show the illogical existence of such people. Sometimes Gogol also uses the grotesque, as, for example, when creating the image of Plyushkin - “a hole in humanity.” This is both typical and fantastic image. It is created through the accumulation of details: a village, a house, a portrait of the owner and, finally, a bunch of old things.
But the artistic fabric of “Dead Souls” is still heterogeneous, since the poem presents two faces of Russia, which means the epic is contrasted with the lyrical. Russia of landowners, officials, men - drunkards, lazy people, incompetents - is one “face”, which is depicted with the help satirical means. Another face of Russia is presented in lyrical digressions: this is the author’s ideal of a country where genuine heroes walk in the open spaces, people live a rich spiritual life and are endowed with a “living” and not a “dead” soul. That's why stylistics lyrical digressions completely different: satirical, everyday, colloquial vocabulary disappears, the author’s language becomes bookish-romantic, solemnly pathetic, and is saturated with archaic, bookish vocabulary (“a menacing blizzard of inspiration will rise from the chapter, clothed in holy horror and brilliance”). This is a high style, where colorful metaphors, comparisons, epithets (“something ecstatically wonderful”, “daring diva of nature”), rhetorical questions, exclamations, addresses are appropriate (“And what Russian doesn’t like driving fast?”; “Oh my youth! oh my freshness!").
Ekaterina Bosina,
10th grade,
School No. 57, Moscow
(teacher -
Catherine
Vladimirovna
Vishnevetskaya)
The role of detail in the poem “Dead Souls”
When reading “Dead Souls,” you sometimes want to exclaim, like many of Gogol’s heroes: “The devil knows what this is!” - and put the book down. Amazing details curl like baroque patterns and carry us along. And only vague bewilderment and the voice of common sense do not allow the reader to finally succumb to the attractive absurdity and take it for granted. In fact, we involuntarily plunge into the world of details and only then suddenly realize that they are strange in the extreme; and it is no longer clear why they are here and why they cross the line of the narrative.
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“Dead Souls” shows us all the variety of such “little things” - landscape details, portraits, interior details, detailed comparisons, replete with details. Gogol strives to create as complete a picture as possible Everyday life the provincial town of NN (and there were probably a great many such towns in Russia at that time), to fully reveal the images of the landowners, he resorts to describing the smallest details, which sometimes, as has already been said, cause genuine surprise in the reader.
Chichikov arrives in the city; Gogol immediately draws the reader’s attention to some men talking about the wheels of the hero’s chaise, and a certain young man with a Tula pin in the shape of a pistol (interestingly, these characters will never appear on the pages of the book again). Chichikov gets a room in a local hotel; here Gogol even talks about cockroaches and the door to the next room, lined with a chest of drawers. And even that the neighbor is usually curious and interested in the life of the person passing by. Only whether Chichikov had such a neighbor, whether he came when the hero was absent, or whether there was no neighbor at all, we will not know, but from now on we have an accurate idea of the hotels of the “known kind”.
In the description of the external façade of the hotel, an absurd detail appears - a red-faced knocker looking out of the window with a samovar made of red copper. Gogol likens an object and a person to two objects, two samovars, and one of them has a beard. You can no longer tell where the person is and where the samovar is. A similar technique of “reifying” a person (or comparing him with something devoid of human traits) is used by Gogol in other episodes of the poem (villages with women in the upper windows of houses and pigs in the lower ones, two faces in the window of Sobakevich’s house, one looking like a cucumber, the other like a Moldavian pumpkin from which balalaikas are made; the face of the governor’s daughter, deathly -oval, clean, “like a freshly laid egg”; “black tailcoats” at the ball - here is an extremely detailed comparison with flies; “frieze overcoat” without class or rank, wandering around the sleeping city). On the one hand, these details lead nowhere and serve to depict insignificant characters; but, if you think about it, don’t these individual touches speak about the original lack of spirituality of the city? Things are dead, which means the souls of people who live a meaningless, seemingly frozen life are also dead; small people NN replace each other before our eyes, like grotesque surreal figures (about the same as the same nymph with huge breasts in the picture in the hotel or the Greek commanders with thick thighs in the portraits in Sobakevich’s house), cut out of cardboard. What, for example, does everyone see in the prosecutor before his death? Eyebrows and a winking eye. Lifeless details. Sometimes they are funny, but when combined with other images, images of the landowners whom Chichikov visits, they give some kind of ominous picture. Manilov, Korobochka, Plyushkin, Sobakevich - they all withered away, became callous in their estates, among soulless things.
Here is Manilov with his sweet, sugary face, who is accustomed to idleness, loves to make idyllic plans for the future, but never goes beyond words. He only smokes a pipe (in his room there are neat piles of tobacco and ash everywhere), and on his table lies the same book, laid on the same page. The living room is furnished with beautiful furniture (although there was not enough silk fabric for two armchairs). In the evening, candlesticks are brought into the living room - one luxurious, the other “just a copper invalid.” All the details of the interior are a reflection of the incompleteness and meaninglessness of Manilov’s actions, who in words strives for beauty and even built a gazebo called “Temple of Solitary Reflection”, but in reality leads a completely soulless, boring life, “dull bluish”, like the forest on his estate.
Here is Korobochka with her passion for hoarding; in her house there are mirrors, paintings with some birds, decks of cards, letters, chests of drawers stuffed with old clothes(probably, the landowner hides money there in colorful bags); there is abundance in the yard. Chickens, turkeys, pigs. Spacious vegetable gardens, a well-kept village, and the peasants have carts. Korobochka is a zealous housewife, but her life is filled with nothing more than taking care of the household; Even if this landowner prays at night in front of the images, she is, in fact, just a scarecrow; it is not for nothing that there is a scarecrow in her garden, on which she is wearing her own cap. This is the life of an old, spiritless old woman, whose slow time is counted by a wheezing and hissing wall clock.
Everything on Sobakevich’s estate is solid: a strong, prohibitively thick fence, sheds made of thick logs, huts “no frills.” Objects in the house resemble their owners: heavy pot-bellied chairs, a bureau, a table, a blackbird in a cage. Sobakevich himself, clumsy, with a rough face, wears a bear-colored tailcoat, has a habit of stepping on everyone’s feet and eats a lot (at an evening with the police chief, he eats a whole sturgeon; on the day of Chichikov’s arrival, cheesecakes the size of a plate and a turkey the size of a calf are served). His soul is “closed in a thick shell,” and it is unknown whether there are any feelings there.
For Plyushkin, everything smells of desolation, decline, even death: bad roads, collapsing, rickety huts and churches, an unkempt manor house, stagnant storehouses of bread, green mold, rotting hay, an overgrown garden (the only thing that is beautiful and alive in this estate), gradually hiding the work of man. The interior of the house is disorderly, chaotic: a heap of various unnecessary rubbish that Plyushkin accumulates for no one knows why (this is already meaningless hoarding, and not the desire for well-being, like Korobochka), furniture piled up like a mountain, a dusty chandelier. Chichikova Plyushkin wants to treat him to Easter cake and liqueur from God knows how long ago (at the same time, other landowners have hearty dinners). Plyushkin's outfit looks more like beggar's rags; the landowner's eyes are like black mice, still fast; he tries to notice everything and watches over his serfs, spares candles and papers, but his thrift is insignificant and disgusting.
The description of details sometimes obscures the people themselves. The landowners gradually lose everything living, human, and merge with the material world. They seem more “dead” than Nozdryov with his face bursting with life (a blush all over his cheek, “blood and milk”). He is soulless, like them, his life resembles his own shabby stroller with tattered clamps (he himself is shabby, with sideburns of different lengths), but at least he has some living, natural, human vices: the inexplicable, the stupid , some kind of disinterested desire to spoil his neighbor, a love of carousing (it’s not for nothing that he leans so heavily on wine and treats guests with champagne, then Madeira, or rowan ash, which turned out to be a “fuel tree”) and a passion for lying (he keeps dogs and he himself always barks, like a dog; one also cannot help but recall the notorious Turkish daggers with the inscription “Master Savely Sibiryakov”).
These are the most notable characters of the city of NN and its environs. Cities where the governor is very kind and embroiders on tulle(nevertheless, the peasants here once killed an assessor), where officials read “Lyudmila” and Jung, where ladies keep dogs, dress in the capital for balls and discuss festoons. A kaleidoscope of meaningless details depicts the emptiness - the true content of the city - in which absurd rumors sprout like mushrooms, solely because the townspeople are mired in inaction. Most of them actually have no goals or aspirations, they are marking time in the same place. Chichikov, at least, is moving forward along the road of life, although his goals, of course, are too petty, and he himself is “nothing”, not fat, not thin, except that he is wearing a well-groomed tailcoat, lingonberry color with a sparkle. Chichikov's box is a whole world, a material narrative about the hero's life, about acquisitions, hoarding, about the persistent pursuit of money, about prudence and narcissism; here there is soap, and razors, and an inkwell, and feathers, and posters, and tickets, and stamp paper, and banknotes. Money is his main passion. After all, his father taught him: “You can ruin everything in the world with a penny.”
The picture is quite sad (perhaps it would only cause disgust if it were not for the author’s irony). Story looks sadly at her from the portraits of Kutuzov and Bagration hung at Korobochka and Sobakevich for some unknown reason. Not so long ago, these heroes fought desperately (the unfortunate captain Kopeikin also fought); the heroes of history waved sabers, and now this saber rests peacefully in Chichikov’s chaise “to instill appropriate fear in anyone.” And Chichikov himself at some point appears in the eyes of the townspeople - the apotheosis of the absurd! - Napoleon...
Gogol laughs at this meaningless, like a pile of old papers, reality of the city of NN, and thinks about it, coming to conclusions that are far from comforting. But the oppressive weight of the absurd dissolves as soon as the provincial town disappears from sight, only the road remains, and the memory of strange events will soon fade in Chichikov’s memory.
So we sometimes stop, look around, and suddenly the thought comes over us: “The devil knows what it is!” - and we stand there, not understanding anything, for some time, then we scratch our heads, grin and move on along our own path.
According to Gogol, Pushkin best of all grasped the originality of the writing style of the future author of Dead Souls: “Not a single writer had this gift to expose the vulgarity of life so clearly, to be able to outline in such force the vulgarity of a vulgar person that all that trifle , which eludes the eyes, would flash large in everyone’s eyes.” Indeed, the main means of depicting Russian life in the poem is artistic detail. Gogol uses it as the main means of typifying heroes. The author identifies in each of them the main, leading feature, which becomes the core of the artistic image and is “played out” with the help of skillfully selected details. Such leitmotif details of the image are: sugar (Mani-lov); bags, boxes (Korobochka); animal strength and health (Nozdrev); rough but durable things (Sobakevich); a bunch of rubbish, a hole, a hole (Plyushkin). For example, Manilov’s sweetness, dreaminess, and unreasonable pretentiousness are emphasized by the details of the portrait (“eyes as sweet as sugar”; his “pleasantness” was “too much given to sugar”), details of behavior with people around him (with Chichikov, with wife and children), the interior (in his office there is beautiful furniture - and then there are two unfinished armchairs covered in matting; a dandy candlestick - and next to “some kind of just a copper invalid, lame, curled up to the side and covered in grease”; on there is a book on the table, “bookmarked on the fourteenth page, which he has been reading for two years already”), speech details that allow you to create a unique manner of speaking “sweetly” and vaguely (“May day, name day of the heart”; “if you please this cannot be allowed").
These kinds of leitmotif details are used as a means of characterizing all characters, even episodic ones (for example, Ivan Antonovich - “a jug snout”, the prosecutor has “very black thick eyebrows”) and collective images (“thick and thin” officials). But there are also special artistic means that are used to create a certain number of images. For example, in order to more clearly highlight what is characteristic of each of the landowners as a certain type, the author uses such a construction of the corresponding chapters that the same sequence of details is observed. First, the estate, courtyard, and interior of the landowner's house are described, his portrait and author's description are given. Then we see the landowner in his relationship with Chichikov - his manner of behavior, speech, we hear reviews of neighbors and city officials and get acquainted with his home environment. In each of these chapters, we witness a dinner or other treat (sometimes very unique - like Plyushkin's) that Chichikov is treated to - after all, Gogol's hero, an expert on material life and everyday life, often receives characterization precisely through food. And in conclusion, a scene of the purchase and sale of “dead souls” is shown, completing the portrait of each landowner. This technique makes it easy to make comparisons. Thus, food as a means of characterization is present in all chapters about the landowners: Manilov’s dinner is modest, but with pretension (“cabbage soup, but from the heart”); at Korobochka's - plentiful, in a patriarchal taste (“mushrooms, pies, skorodumki, shanishki, pryagly, pancakes, flat cakes with all sorts of toppings”); Sobakevich serves large and hearty dishes, after which the guest can barely get up from the table (“when I have pork, put the whole pig on the table; lamb, bring the whole lamb”); at
Nozdryov's food is not tasty, he pays more attention to the wine; At Plyushkin’s, instead of dinner, the guest is offered liqueur with flies and “crumbs from Easter cake”, left over from the Easter treat.
Particularly noteworthy are the household details that reflect the world of things. There are a lot of them and they carry an important ideological and semantic load: in a world where the soul has been forgotten and has become “dead,” its place is firmly occupied by objects, things to which their owner is firmly attached. That’s why things are personified: such as Korobochka’s clock, which “had a desire to strike,” or Sobakevich’s furniture, where “every object, every chair seemed to say: I too Sobakevich!”
Zoological motifs also contribute to the individualization of characters: Manilov is a cat, Sobakevich is a bear, Korobochka is a bird, Nozdryov is a dog, Plyushkin is a mouse. In addition, each of them is accompanied by a specific color scheme. For example, Manilov's estate, his portrait, his wife's clothes - everything is given in gray-blue tones; Sobakevich’s clothes are dominated by red-brown colors; Chichikov is remembered for a clear detail: he likes to dress in a “lingonberry-colored tailcoat with a sparkle.”
The speech characteristics of the characters also arise through the use of details: Manilov’s speech has many introductory words and sentences, he speaks pretentiously, and does not finish the phrase; Nozdryov’s speech contains a lot of swear words, jargon of a gambler, a horseman, he often speaks in alogisms (“he came from God knows where, and I live here”); Officials have their own special language: along with bureaucratic language, when addressing each other they use phrases that are stable in this environment (“You lied, mommy Ivan Grigoryevich!”). Even the surnames of many characters characterize them to a certain extent (Sobakevich, Korobochka, Plyushkin). For the same purpose, evaluative epithets and comparisons are used (Korobochka - “club-headed”, Plyushkin - “a hole in humanity”, Sobake-vich - “man-fist”).
All together, these artistic means serve to create a comic and satirical effect and show the illogical existence of such people. Sometimes Gogol also uses the grotesque, as, for example, when creating the image of Plyushkin - “a hole in humanity.” This is both a typical and fantastic image. It is created through the accumulation of details: a village, a house, a portrait of the owner and, finally, a bunch of old things. Material from the site
But the artistic fabric of “Dead Souls” is still heterogeneous, since the poem presents two faces of Russia, which means the epic is contrasted with the lyrical. Russia of landowners, officials, men - drunkards, lazy people, incompetents - is one “face”, which is depicted using satirical means. Another face of Russia is presented in lyrical digressions: this is the author’s ideal of a country where genuine heroes walk in the open spaces, people live a rich spiritual life and are endowed with a “living” and not a “dead” soul. That is why the style of lyrical digressions is completely different: satirical, everyday, colloquial vocabulary disappears, the author’s language becomes bookish-romantic, solemnly pathetic, and is saturated with archaic, bookish vocabulary (“a menacing blizzard of inspiration will rise from clothed in holy horror and splendor chapters"). This is a high style, where colorful metaphors, comparisons, epithets (“something ecstatically wonderful,” “daring diva of nature”), rhetorical questions, exclamations, appeals (“And what Russian doesn’t like driving fast?”) are appropriate. O my youth! O my freshness!").
This paints a completely different picture of Rus', with its endless expanses and roads running into the distance. The landscape of the lyrical part contrasts sharply with that which is present in the epic, where it is a means of revealing the characters of the heroes. In lyrical digressions, the landscape is connected with the theme of the future of Russia and its people, with the motif of the road: “What does this vast expanse prophesy? Isn’t it here, in you, that a boundless thought will not be born, when you yourself are endless? Shouldn’t a hero be here when there is a place where he can turn around and walk?” It is this artistic layer of the work that allows us to speak of its truly poetic sound, expressing the writer’s faith in the great future of Russia.
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