General characteristics of the dead souls box. The image of Korobochka in Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”
In the third chapter of the poem “Dead Souls” N.V. Gogol introduces the reader to the landowner Nastasya Petrovna. The characterization of Korobochka helps the author gradually realize the concept of his work, moving from innocent images to more insignificant ones.
How Chichikov found out about the landowner
The main character went to another landowner - Sobakevich, but on the way at night his chaise got lost, and he accidentally ends up in the possession of Korobochka.
Portrait characteristics
Korobochka is a woman in a “sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck.” The external description of the Box in the poem “Dead Souls” is laconic. The author does not give detailed characteristics, depriving the heroine of her face in order to show the typicality of this image.
Environment
Despite the fact that Chichikov calls Korobochka’s property a “nice village,” he understands that he has found himself in a “pretty wilderness.” The estate is located far from the city; there is not a single rich landowner nearby.
Korobochka is a good housewife; she pays great attention to housekeeping. She has a lot of household utensils, and various fruits and varieties are grown in her garden. The peasants' houses are in good conditions.
Lifestyle
However, such features of Korobochka’s life lead the reader to the conclusion that she lives only with housework and is not interested in other things. It is limited by hand-made frames. Trying to accumulate as much as possible, she is ready to sell everything she has. This clearly shows the true character of the heroine. Everything connected with the image of Korobochka is the first stage of hoarding.
Deal with Chichikov
The episode of buying dead souls from Korobochka plays a special role. The landowner, having learned that Chichikov is a “buyer,” begins to offer him various goods. It speaks of the desire for profit. She says with regret that she has already sold honey to other merchants, for which Chichikov most likely would have paid more.
When the main character says what exactly he is ready to buy, Korobochka cannot understand for a long time: how can you sell already deceased souls? She is confused because she has never sold dead souls, so she does not know the price for them. Because of this, the heroine hesitates, afraid of selling herself cheap, although she understands that the deal “seems to be profitable.”
Because of the fear of making a mistake with the price, Korobochka wastes a lot of time. She decides to “hold off” on the sale, find out the prices of the deceased and then sell them. However, Chichikov still manages to get her to conclude a deal in another way. Pavel Ivanovich, promising to buy from her the products grown by her peasants, gives 15 banknotes for the souls.
What does Chichikov think about heroin?
Long attempts to persuade Korobochka tire Chichikov, he feels that he is sweating, “like a river.” The main character’s attitude towards Korobochka is conveyed by the following quotes: “Well, the woman seems to be strong-minded!
", "Oh, what a clubhead!", "Go and have fun with her! she broke into a sweat, the damned old woman!”
Chichikov compares the heroine to a mongrel who does not eat hay herself and does not allow others to do so.
Meaning of the image
So why did N.V. Gogol devote an entire chapter to the image of the Box? In his lyrical digressions, he proves the typicality of this character. He calls her one of those who “cry when the harvest fails,” while they themselves “gain a little money.”
Nastasya Petrovna is limited, she lives in a kind of “box”, so the heroine’s surname turns out to be telling. She is fixated on making a profit, and it is for this purpose that she runs the household. The heroine is stupid and uneducated. As the author writes, if Korobochka has hacked something on her nose, then “nothing can overcome it.”
It is not for nothing that the writer gives such a brief description of the heroine’s appearance; it was important for him to emphasize the typicality of this image. He also does this in lyrical digressions: “someone is both respectable and even a statesman, but in reality he turns out to be a perfect Korobochka.”
This article will help you write an essay “Characteristics of the Box” according to plan, will reveal ways of creating this female image, will show the significance of the character in the work, as well as the author’s opinion about this type of people.
Work test
description of the box estate in the poem Dead Souls
- Chichikov was very neatly dressed and knew how to behave well in everything. He spoke neither loudly nor quietly, but absolutely as he should. In a word, no matter where you turn, he was a very decent person. All officials were pleased with the arrival of a new person. The governor explained about him that he was a well-intentioned person, the prosecutor - that he was a practical person, the gendarmerie colonel said that he was a learned man, the chairman of the chamber - that he was a knowledgeable person, the police chief - that he was a respectable and kind person, the police chief's wife - that he was the most kind and kind. most courteous person. Even Sobakevich, who spoke harshly of someone in a positive light, called Chichikov a pleasant person.
The officials of the city of N were bureaucrats, bribe takers, idlers, selfish and selfish people with a bad conscience, but they had an opinion of Chichikov as a decent person. And these assessments are given by people of very different character.2)
Relationships with others... Chichikov has studied people perfectly, knows how to find benefits in any situation, always says what they would like to hear from him. So, with Manilov, Chichikov is pompous, amiable and flattering. He talks to Korobochka without any special ceremony, and his vocabulary is in tune with the style of the hostess. Communication with the arrogant liar Nozdryov is not easy, since Pavel Ivanovich does not tolerate familiar treatment, unless the person is of too high a rank. However, hoping for a profitable deal, he does not leave Nozdryov’s estate until the last and tries to become like him: he turns to you, adopts a boorish tone, and behaves familiarly. The image of Sobakevich, personifying the thoroughness of a landowner's life, immediately prompts Pavel Ivanovich to conduct as thorough a conversation as possible about dead souls. Chichikov manages to win over the hole in Plyushkin’s human body, who has long lost contact with the outside world and forgotten the norms of politeness. To do this, it was enough for him to play the role of a spendthrift, ready, at a loss to himself, to save a casual acquaintance from the need to pay taxes for dead peasants.3) How Khlestakov, passing through the provincial town, allowed Gogol to expose and show the agitated anthill of the district bureaucracy. Thus, Chichikov touring the noble estates made it possible to paint a picture of the provincial-landowner life of serf Russia: the life of typical representatives of the landowner class, the range of their mental and moral interests.
But the landscape of the estate’s courtyard represents an abundance of birds and other domestic creatures, as Chichikov noted. The huts, which, although they were built scattered and not enclosed in regular streets, showed the visitor the contentment of the inhabitants and the fact that her (Korobochka’s) village was not small. The housewife sells honey, hemp, flour, and bird feathers. Treating the buyer Chichikov, Korobochka treats him to such dishes of patriarchal village cuisine that one cannot doubt his well-being - Thus, Chichikov touring the noble estates made it possible to paint a picture of the provincial-landowner life of serf Russia: the life of typical representatives of the landowner class, the range of their mental and moral interests.
Korobochka is a poor, tiny landowner, the owner of eighty serf souls, who lives, as if in a shell, separately from the rest of the world. She lives in contentment, but at the same time she always cries over crop failures, the death of peasants and losses. Korobochka is thrifty and knows how to collect little by little money, rubles, fifty rubles, quarters, and hide them in bags on chests of drawers (in fact, that’s why she is Korobochka). Gogol emphasizes the typicality of this image, simultaneously giving a characterization of Nastasya Petrovna, from which we learn about her exorbitant self-interest and greed.
What follows is the interior of the rooms, which appear to the reader as modest and quite old, but with a large number of paintings with some kind of birds. Old striped wallpaper, wheezing and hissing clocks, mirrors with dark frames - all this bears the imprint of the character of the housewife herself, who cherishes and collects everything.
But the landscape of the estate’s courtyard represents an abundance of birds and other domestic creatures, as Chichikov noted. The huts, which, although they were built scattered and not enclosed in regular streets, showed the visitor the contentment of the inhabitants and the fact that her (Korobochka’s) village was not small. The housewife sells honey, hemp, flour, and bird feathers. Treating the buyer Chichikov, Korobochka treats him to such dishes of patriarchal village cuisine that one cannot doubt her well-being.
From Nastasya Petrovna’s conversation with Chichikov, the limitations of her interests and lack of ability to think quickly appear. It’s not for nothing that Chichikov privately calls her club-headed and strong-headed. At first, she cannot understand what is required of her, and then, with her characteristic mistrust and desire for profit, she spends a long time considering all sorts of possibilities.
Thus, Korobochka is a generalized image of thrifty, and therefore living in contentment, widowed landowners, slow-witted, but able not to miss their profit.
We meet Korobochka in the 3rd chapter of Gogol’s novel-poem “Dead Souls”. She is the second person Chichikov pays a visit to. In fact, Chichikov stopped by her estate by accident - the coachman got drunk, “played around,” as the author himself characterizes this event, and lost his way. Therefore, instead of Sobakevich, the main character meets the landowner Korobochka.
Let's look at the image of the Box in detail
She is a woman of respectable years, a widow, and a former “college secretary.” She lives alone on her estate and is completely absorbed in running the household. Most likely, she does not have her own children, since Gogol, in his description of the character, mentions that all her “trash” accumulated during her life will go to some great-niece.
It looks old-fashioned and a little ridiculous, “wearing a cap,” “flannel,” “something tied around the neck.”
Korobochka, unlike Manilov, successfully runs the farm herself. Through the eyes of Chichikov we see that the houses in her village are strong, the serf men are “hefty” (strong), there are many guard dogs, which indicates that this is a “decent village”. The yard is full of poultry, and behind the fence there are vegetable gardens - cabbage, beets, onions, potatoes. There are also fruit trees, carefully covered with nets from voracious magpies and sparrows. Stuffed animals were also installed for the same purpose. Gogol ironically notes that one of the stuffed animals was wearing the cap of the owner herself.
The peasants' houses were maintained and updated - Chichikov saw new planks on the roofs, gates stood straight everywhere, and there were carts in some courtyards. That is, the owner's care is visible everywhere. In total, Korobochka has 80 serfs, 18 died, which the owner greatly laments - they were good workers.
Korobochka does not allow the serfs to be lazy - Chichikov’s feather bed was expertly fluffed, in the morning, when he returns to the living room where he spent the night, everything is already tidied up; the table is full of baked goods.
The fact that the landowner has order all around and everything is under her personal control, we see from the dialogue about the purchase of dead souls - she remembers all the dead peasants by first and last names, she doesn’t even keep any records.
Despite the fact that Korobochka loves to complain about how bad things are, her estate also had surpluses that were sold to merchants and resellers. From the dialogue with Chichikov, we learn that the landowner sells honey, hemp, feathers, meat, flour, cereals, and lard. She knows how to bargain, sells a pound of honey at a very high price, as much as 12 rubles, which Chichikov is very surprised by.
Nastasya Petrovna is thrifty and even a little stingy. Despite the fact that things are going well at the estate, the furnishings in the house are very modest, the wallpaper is old, the clock is creaky. Despite polite treatment and hospitality, Korobochka did not offer the guest dinner, citing the late hour. And in the morning he offers Chichikov only tea, albeit with fruit infusion. Only after feeling the benefit - when Chichikov promised to buy “household products” from her - Korobochka decided to appease him and ordered him to bake a pie and pancakes. She also set the table with various pastries.
Gogol writes that her “dress will not burn and will not fray on its own.” Complaining about poverty and crop failures, she nevertheless puts money into “motley bags”, which she stuffs into dresser drawers. All coins are carefully sorted - “rules, fifty rubles, devils” are laid out separately in bags. The old landowner tries to find benefit in everything - noticing Chichikov’s stamped paper, she asks him to “give him a piece of paper.”
The box is pious and superstitious. During a thunderstorm, he puts a candle in front of the icon and prays; gets scared when Chichikov mentions the devil in conversation.
She is not very smart and a little suspicious, she is very afraid of making a mistake and selling herself short. She doubts the deal with Chichikov and does not want to sell him dead souls, even though she has to pay for them as if they were alive. He naively thinks that other merchants can come and offer a better price. This deal completely exhausted Chichikov, and during the negotiations he calls Korobochka mentally and out loud “strong-headed”, “club-headed”, “mongrel in the manger” and “damned old woman”.
The image of Korobochka is interesting because it is a fairly common type in Russia during the time of Gogol. Its main features - stubbornness, stupidity and narrow-mindedness, were also inherent in real individuals - some officials and civil servants. The author writes about such people that you seem to see a respectable and statesmanlike person, but in reality it turns out to be a “perfect Korobochka.” Arguments and reasons bounce off them like a rubber ball.
The description of the landowner ends with a reflection on the topic: is it possible to believe that Korobochka stands at the very bottom of the “ladder of human improvement”? Gogol compares her to an aristocratic sister living in a rich and elegant house, who reads books, attends social events, and her thoughts are occupied by “fashionable Catholicism” and political upheavals in France, and not by economic affairs. The author does not give a specific answer to this question; the reader must answer it himself.
Let us summarize the main characteristics of the image of the Box
Economic
Has business acumen
Practical
Lean
Petty
Hypocritical
Suspicious
Limited
Only cares about his own benefit
Obsessed with hoarding
Religious, but without real spirituality
Superstitious
The symbolism of the landowner's surname
Symbolism is an important artistic tool in the hands of a writer. In Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" all the names of the landowners are symbolic. Our heroine is no exception. Korobochka is a diminutive derivative of the word “box”, that is, an inanimate object. Likewise, in the image of Korobochka there are few living features, she is turned to the past, there is no real life, no development - personal, spiritual. A real "dead soul".
People store various things in the box - and Korobochka is absorbed in hoarding solely for the sake of money itself, she does not have any global goal on what this money can be spent on. She just puts them in bags.
Well, the walls of the box are solid, just like Korobochka’s mind. She is stupid and limited.
As for the diminutive suffix, the author may have wanted to show the character’s harmlessness and some comedy.
The image of the Box in the poem “Dead Souls” contains a lot for understanding not only the semantic content, but also the main idea of the poem.
It is no coincidence that he is assigned such an important compositional role - the arrival of a widow in the city brought disaster on the head of Gogol's businessman.
Characteristics and description of the Box in the poem “Dead Souls”
The reader meets the venerable lady in chapter three of the first volume of the great work. It is noteworthy that the driver Selifan literally “ran into” the fence of her estate, having completely gotten lost at night, during a stormy thunderstorm - drunk, on a whim, with his eyes closed.
In such cases, people used to say, “The devil got me wrong!” And indeed, there is a lot of diabolism in the symbolism of the episode with the Box.
Arriving at the estate at two in the morning, Chichikov curled up like a pretzel in the feather beds at about three in the morning - the hour of Satan, according to popular belief.
What about the “scratch your heels” suggestion? In many legends, this part of the body is the place of greatest vulnerability among chthonic monsters - in this same artistic space, no one is going to crush evil; on the contrary, it is cherished. Chichikov, of course, is not a snake-like monster, but certainly an evil spirit - the hostess herself immediately identified him with “her dead man” (deceased husband).
A travel-weary newcomer could be forgiven for falling asleep. But this detail in Gogol looks very symbolic, as well as the numerous flies that surrounded the vacationer the next morning (in Christian culture, a fly is a sign of the presence of Satan).
The name of the college secretary Nastasya is translated from Greek as “immortal”, “resurrecting”. Here she is, the messiah of dead souls, the messenger of eternal death on earth! Is this why there are so many birds in the interior surrounding Chichikov? These include portraits, a myriad of chickens, ducks and turkeys inhabiting a cramped courtyard, and clouds of crows. It's not just a matter of home isolation and laxity, dullness and limitations.
In fact, the image of a bird in folklore symbolizes spirituality, the connection between earth and sky, ever-regenerating life and maternal protection. Only feathered laying hens are too down-to-earth creatures: they don’t fly above their own heads - let alone the higher spheres. “Every domestic creature” surrounding the landowner symbolizes the power of the earth, matter, objectivity, and therefore death. So, after the priest, the lady is called Petrovna (from the Greek word meaning “stone”, “rock”) - and this is not a compliment to the spiritual fortitude of the bearer of the name.
And the devil is afraid of mention! Because in this house he is a true spiritual reality (one should not take his name in vain), even though during a thunderstorm the lamp in front of the icon is superstitiously lit. And after all, the widow was wondering three days before the arrival of unexpected visitors, and the horned one himself came in response to appeals about the future to his humble servant. Didn't he warn you about Chichikov? And more than once a traveling businessman, unable to restrain himself, mentioned the devil in negotiations with her.
Only in front of Nastasya Petrovna Chichikov did not rush to hide the holy of holies - his box. This container directly attracted the Box like a magnet: like is drawn to like! And in Chichikov’s box there is everything necessary to conclude a contract for the soul with Satan: pen, ink, paper, razors (according to legend, such agreements are written in blood), money and soap - to wash your hands after a bad deed, hiding visible traces.
Appearance of the Box
An elderly woman appears before the reader in a poorly put on sleeping cap and a flannel wrapped around her neck.
Such small landowners will cry to their hearts' content for crop failures and losses, while they themselves methodically and lovingly save money in dresser drawers among all sorts of clothing rubbish. It seems that the things themselves love such thrifty old ladies - they don’t wear out and last forever.
At the morning tea party with Chichikov, the secretary again sits in a dark dress, without a cap, but with a wrapped neck - a significant detail, considering that the neck is associated in the body with mobility and flexibility of consciousness.
Favorite activities
Grandmother is a religious person, but she is not averse to telling fortunes after evening prayer. He likes to complain about life: the next morning he reports to Chichikov about insomnia and aching legs, complains about crop failures, the loss of valuable workers, and the “unwanted” flour due to a crop failure.
It’s all about the household: hospitably sheltering a nobleman, selling something, begging for stamp paper just in case, giving a tasty treat to a useful person - using every opportunity to increase wealth.
He is distinguished by a reverent attitude towards things: small objects and papers are placed behind the mirror frames - so that the eye “sticks” to the walls. She sees and notices everything familiar and established, but the “new and unprecedented” puts her mind into a state of stupor.
Attitude towards others
Absent! Auntie’s emotions include only fear of the unusual and hot “taunts.” Even thinking about possible profit is carried out soullessly, without intonation, without rubbing hands.
The husband is a “dead man,” the neighbors know only those closest to him and his wealth, the serfs know the monetary equivalent, the hands-on income. The children born to peasants are not people, but “small fry”: they do not work, do not bring in income - they are not even human children.
Description of the estate
In the night, “something like a roof” appeared before the travelers: the house itself is perceived as a box, the lid of which is the first thing that catches your eye. The symbolism suggests itself to be the darkest.
The room where Chichikov spent the night is covered with old striped wallpaper, with mirrors and pictures of birds - a chicken kingdom, where there are only two roosters (two male portraits - Kutuzov and the owner of a uniform from Pavlovian times). There is a clock in it - hissing like a ball of vipers and strainingly wheezing when it’s time to strike.
In the small courtyard of the estate, all kinds of domestic animals are swarming, whole clouds of crows fly from one fruit tree to another. And this herd is herded by several scarecrows with outstretched fingers (all of them looking at the landowner - as if they are trying to grab something, one is even wearing the owner’s nightcap).
Peasant houses are scattered, without clear streets: a world of pagan chaos, unspiritual matter spontaneously organizing itself. But Chichikov notices signs of material contentment: the old planks on the roofs have been replaced with new ones, the houses are clean, the gates are strong, and in some courtyards there are new carts.
Life goals
To save money and things in order to bequeath the torn cloak to some relative. Even the souls of dead peasants begin, on the spur of the moment, to be kept in reserve: “Or maybe the farm will somehow need it just in case...”.
In a conversation with the guest, a plan quickly emerged in Korobochka’s head to negotiate a contract for the supply of honey, hemp and lard, flour and cattle to the state treasury.
Why the Dead Soul Box
There is no spiritual content in the landowner - not even an imitation. All actions, thoughts and statements of the character are determined by a commercial approach to everything and everyone.
The apotheosis of form: something is constantly being put into the casket estate, simply because the emptiness requires filling. The box is a gaping endless emptiness that fills itself, pulling things and money into itself. The latter - initially the equivalent of human labor living its own life - are not spent, but are buried in boxes and become trash.
Death to everything spiritual lives in this estate. It is no coincidence that Chichikov rested so freely here and was treated richly. And the pancakes with spices were especially good - ritual food!
First impression of the landowner
The visitor immediately recognized her as the “mother” landowner: the sovereign demiurge of the domestic world. She gives the nobleman a hospitable welcome: she persistently tries to give him tea, she orders his clothes to be dried and cleaned, and he provides him with a luxurious down feather bed, which you can’t climb onto without a chair.
Chichikov's attitude towards Korobochka
He addresses the hostess in his own way, treats her confidently, patronizingly and calls her mother. Takes her hospitality for granted.
The deal to sell dead souls turned out to be unexpectedly difficult for the gentleman. The woman turned out to be not only “strong-headed” but “club-headed.”
Chichikov considers the “damned old woman” so insignificant that he does not consider it necessary to restrain his true temperament - he swears, promises the devil to her, and curses her along with her village. Casually he makes meaningless promises about concluding a contract and does not refuse a “gastronomic” bribe.
Attitude to farming Boxes
All-consuming and devoid of any emotion. Without hesitation, she reports that she has nearly eighty people in the fortress. He remembers who died and when, dictates by heart the name of each deceased.
Having secured promises from Chichikov, she immediately began to observe the household affairs on the porch: who carried what where.
The box is a talking and moving object of its isolated world, living on natural production. The same garden scarecrow - only with a different function: to protect against external destruction and attract things and money from the space outside the gates of the estate.
Conclusion
To put it briefly: the old landowner is the lady of Chichikov’s heart, his female counterpart, Mother Goddess. Both are equally dead even to each other - they do not see each other point-blank behind their commercial aspirations.
If the visiting businessman felt a kinship with Korobochka, he could have foreseen the fatal act of the damned grandmother for him. The fear of selling out will drive her to the city to find out the “established” prices for dead souls. This is how Mr. Chichikov’s adventure will be revealed.
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The image of the landowner Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka successfully complements the collage of characteristic types of landowners. It cannot be said that she is endowed with negative qualities, but one cannot classify her as a pleasant person.
Despite the complexity of her personality, compared to all the other landowners, she looks one of the most attractive in terms of housekeeping and attitude towards serfs.
Personality characteristics
We don’t know what Korobochka was like in her youth; in the story, Gogol limits himself to an episodic description of her character at a certain point in time, bypassing the entire process of his formation.
Dear readers! On our website you can read about the poem “Dead Souls” described in Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s poem.
The box is noticeably distinguished by thriftiness and a penchant for order. Everything on her estate is in good working order - however, the things used both in everyday life and in the interior of the landowner are not new, but this does not bother the old woman. With particular pleasure, she complains about everything in the world - bad harvests, lack of money, although, in fact, everything is not so dire: “one of those mothers, small landowners who cry about crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and between Then they gradually collect a little money into colorful bags placed on the drawers of the chests of drawers.”
Nastasya Petrovna is not distinguished by her extraordinary intelligence - the aristocrats around her consider her a stupid old woman. This is true - Korobochka is truly a stupid and uneducated woman. The landowner is distrustful of everything new - first of all, she strives to see some kind of catch in people's actions - in this way she “saves” herself from troubles in the future.
Korobochka is distinguished by her particular stubbornness; she belongs to those people who “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.”
Nastasya Petrovna is a contradictory nature - on the one hand, she is attached to religion (she believes in the existence of God and the devil, prays and is baptized), but at the same time she does not neglect fortune-telling and using cards, which is not encouraged by religion.
Family
It is difficult to say anything about the Korobochka family - Gogol provides too little information on this matter. It is reliably known that Nastasya Petrovna was married, but her husband died and at the time of the story she is a widow. It is likely that she has children, most likely due to the age of the landowner and Chichikov’s lack of memories of the presence of children in the house; they are already adults and live separately. Their names, ages and genders are not specified in the text. The only mention of them is found together with a mention of Korobochka’s sister, who lives in Moscow: “my sister brought warm boots for children from there: such a durable product, they are still worn.”
Korobochki Estate
The Korobochka estate and house - oddly enough, among all the landowners' houses it looks one of the most attractive. It should be clarified that such an assessment does not concern the aesthetic appearance, but the condition of the estate. The village of Korobochki is noticeably distinguished by its well-kept houses and buildings: dilapidated elements of peasant houses have been replaced with new ones, the gates to the estate have also been repaired. The houses and buildings do not look as massive as those of Sobakevich, but they also do not represent any particular aesthetic value. Korobochka owns about 80 serfs.
This number is noticeably inferior to the rich landowners of the county, such as Plyushkina, but this does not significantly affect the income of the estate. Chichikov was pleasantly surprised by the state of the village: “You, mother, have a good village.”
Korobochka's household also pleasantly surprises with its diversity and well-groomed nature. The box successfully sells vegetables and fruits. She has “gardens with cabbage, onions, potatoes, beets and other household vegetables. Apple trees and other fruit trees were scattered here and there throughout the garden.”
You can also observe the variety of cereals grown. In addition, Korobochka is confidently engaged in livestock farming - she also has various birds (“Turkeys and chickens were countless; a rooster walked among them” and pigs. Korobochka is engaged in beekeeping and grows hemp for sale for the production of ropes and ropes.
Korobochka House
Korobochka's house is not pompous or elegant. The house is guarded by a pack of dogs that react violently to all strangers, for example, when Chichikov arrived, the dogs “began to burst into all sorts of voices.” It is small in size, its windows overlook the courtyard, so it is impossible to admire the view from the window. The roof of the house is wooden. Chichikov, who came to Korobochka in the rain, noted that the raindrops were loudly knocking on his roof. A barrel was placed near the drain to collect rainwater.
Since Chichikov arrived at the Korobochka estate in the evening, and also in bad weather, it was impossible to find out about the nuances of the appearance of the landowner’s house.
On our website you can read Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”.
The inside of the house was not attractive. The wallpaper there was old, as was all the furniture. There were paintings hanging on the walls - “not all of the paintings were birds: between them hung a portrait of Kutuzov and an oil painting of an old man with red cuffs on his uniform, as they were sewn on under Pavel Petrovich.” The furnishings were complemented by mirrors, “with dark frames in the form of curled leaves,” behind which were placed all sorts of necessary little things in the form of a letter or a stocking. The watch made a particular impression - it was also not particularly new, and the sounds it made were similar to the hissing of snakes. The clock struck no less unpleasantly: “as if someone were beating a broken pot with a stick.”
Attitude towards peasants
The number of Korobochka serfs is not so large - approximately 80 people. The landowner knows them all by name. Korobochka is always actively involved in the affairs of her estate and takes a direct part in all work. It is impossible to find descriptions of the attitude towards the peasants in the text, but the way the landowner describes her dead souls suggests that Korobochka is not distinguished by a bad attitude towards the serfs.
