Deadening of the soul. The problem of the mortification of the human soul. The problem of the necrosis of the human soul

15. "Dead Souls" by Gogol: poetics; controversy in literary criticism.

“Dead Souls” is a work in which, according to Belinsky, all of Russia appeared.

Story and compositiontion "Dead Souls" 1835-1941 are conditioned by the subject of the image - Gogol's desire to comprehend Russian life, the character of the Russian person, the fate of Russia. We are talking about a fundamental change in the subject of the image in comparison with the literature of the 20-30s: the artist's attention is transferred from the image of an individual to a portrait of society. In other words, the romantic aspect of the genre content (the depiction of a person's private life) is replaced by a moralistic one (a portrait of society at a non-heroic moment of its development). Therefore, Gogol is looking for a plot that would enable the widest possible coverage of reality. Such an opportunity was opened up by the plot of the journey: "Pushkin found that the plot of Dead Souls is good for me because," Gogol said, "it gives me complete freedom to travel all over Russia with the hero and bring out a multitude of the most diverse characters." Therefore, the motive of movement, roads, The path turns out to be the leitmotif of the poem. This motif acquires a completely different meaning in the famous lyrical digression of the eleventh chapter: the road with a rushing chaise turns into the path along which Russia flies, "and, squinting, step aside and give it way to other peoples and states." This leitmotif includes the unknown paths of Russian national development: "Rus, where are you going, give me an answer? Doesn't give an answer." The way of life of the hero is embodied in the image of the road ("but for all that, his road was difficult ..."), and the creative path of the author: "And for a long time it was determined by my wonderful power to go hand in hand with my strange heroes ...".

The plot of the journey gives Gogol the opportunity to create galleryimages of landowners. At the same time, the composition looks very rational: the exposition of the plot of the journey is given in the first chapter (Chichikova meets officials and some landowners, receives invitations from them), then five chapters follow, in which the landowners "sit", and Chichikov travels from chapter to chapter, buying dead souls.

Gogol in Dead Souls, as in The Government Inspector, creates absurd artisticny world in which people lose their human essence, turn into a parody of the possibilities inherent in them by nature. In an effort to find signs of necrosis in the characters, the loss of spirituality (soul), Gogol resorts to using subject-household detailing. Each landowner is surrounded by many objects that can characterize him. Details associated with certain characters not only live autonomously, but also "fold" into a kind of motifs. The images of the landowners whom Chichikov visits are presented in contrast in the poem, since they carry various vices. One after another, each spiritually more insignificant than the previous one, the owners of the estates follow in the work: Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin. If Manilov is sentimental and sweet to the point of cloying, then Sobakevich is straightforward and rude. Their views on life are polar: for Manilov, everyone around them is beautiful, for Sobakevich they are robbers and swindlers. Manilov shows no real concern for the welfare of the peasants, for the welfare of the family; he entrusted all management to the rogue clerk, who ruins both the peasants and the landowner. But Sobakevich is a strong owner, ready for any scam for the sake of profit.

Korobochka's heartlessness is manifested in petty hoarding; the only thing that worries her is the price of hemp, honey; "Not to sell too cheap" and the sale of dead souls. Korobochka reminds Sobakevich of stinginess, passion for profit, although the stupidity of the "clubhead" brings these qualities to a comical limit. "Accumulators", Sobakevich and Korobochka, are opposed by "squanderers" - Nozdrev and Plyushkin. Nozdryov is a desperate wast and reveler, a devastator and destroyer of the economy. His energy turned into a scandalous fuss, aimless and destructive.

The reason for the mortification of the human soul Gogol shows on the example of the formation of the character of the protagonist - Chichikov. A bleak childhood, devoid of parental love and affection, service and an example of bribe-taking officials - these factors formed a scoundrel who is like his entire environment.

But he turned out to be more greedy in his striving for acquisition than Korobochka, more callous than Sobakevich and more insolent than Nozdryov in the means of enrichment. In the final chapter, supplementing Chichikov's biography, he is finally exposed as a clever predator, acquirer and entrepreneur of the bourgeois warehouse, a civilized scoundrel, the master of life. But Chichikov, differing from the landlords in enterprise, is also a "dead" soul. The "shining joy" of life is inaccessible to him. The happiness of a “decent person” Chichikov is based on money. Calculation ousted all human feelings from him and made him a "dead" soul.

Gogol shows the appearance in Russian life of a new man who has neither a noble family, nor a title, nor an estate, but who, at the cost of his own efforts, thanks to his mind and resourcefulness, is trying to make a fortune for himself. His ideal is a penny; marriage is conceived by him as a bargain. His passions and tastes are purely material. Having quickly guessed the person, he knows how to approach everyone in a special way, subtly calculating his moves. The inner diversity, elusiveness is also emphasized by his appearance, described by Gogol in vague terms: “A gentleman was sitting in the britzka, neither too fat nor too thin, one cannot say that he was old, but not so that he was too young.” Gogol was able to discern in his contemporary society the individual features of the emerging type and brought them together in the image of Chichikov. The officials of the city of NN are even more impersonal than the landowners. Their deadness is shown in the ball scene: people are not visible, muslins, atlases, muslins, hats, tailcoats, uniforms, shoulders, necks, ribbons are everywhere. The whole interest of life is concentrated on gossip, gossip, petty vanity, envy. They differ from each other only in the size of the bribe; all loafers, they have no interests, these are also "dead" souls.

But behind the "dead" souls of Chichikov, officials and landowners, Gogol discerned the living souls of the peasants, the strength national character. According to A. I. Herzen, in Gogol's poem appear "behind dead souls- living souls. The talent of the people is revealed in the dexterity of the coachman Mikheev, the shoemaker Telyatnikov, the bricklayer Milushkin, the carpenter Stepan Cork. The strength and sharpness of the people's mind were reflected in the glibness and accuracy of the Russian word, the depth and integrity of the Russian feeling - in the sincerity of the Russian song, the breadth and generosity of the soul - in the brightness and unrestrained fun folk holidays. The boundless dependence on the usurping power of the landlords, who doom the peasants to forced, exhausting labor, to hopeless ignorance, gives rise to stupid Mityaev and Minyaev, downtrodden Proshek and Pelageya, who do not know “where is right, where is left. Gogol sees how high and good qualities are distorted in the realm of "dead" souls, how desperate peasants die, rushing into any risky business, just to get out of serfdom.

Serfdom death destroys the good inclinations in a person, destroys the people. Against the backdrop of the majestic, boundless expanses of Russia real paintings Russian life seems especially bitter. Depicting in the poem Russia "from one side" in its negative essence, in "stunning pictures of triumphant evil and suffering hatred", Gogol once again convinces that in his time "it is impossible otherwise to direct society or even the whole generation to the beautiful, until you show all the depth of his true abomination."

The controversy in Russian criticism around Gogol's "Dead Souls".

Konstantin Aksakov was justly considered "the foremost fighter of Slavophilism" (S.A. Vengerov). Contemporaries remember his youthful friendship with Belinsky in Stankevich's circle and then a sharp break with him. A particularly violent clash between them occurred in 1842 over Dead Souls.

K. Aksakov wrote the pamphlet “Nothow many words about Gogol's poem "The Adventures of Chichikov, or Mertyour souls" (1842). Belinsky, who also responded (in Otechestvennye Zapiski) to Gogol's work, then wrote a bewildering review of Aksakov's pamphlet. Aksakov replied to Belinsky in the article "An Explanation of Gogol's Poem "The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls" ("Moskvityanin"). Belinsky, in turn, wrote a merciless analysis of Aksakov's answer in an article entitled "An Explanation for an Explanation Regarding Gogol's Poem Chichikov's Adventures, or Dead Souls."

Obscuring the significance of realism and satire in Gogol's work, Aksakov focused on the subtext of the work, its genre designation as a "poem", on the writer's prophetic statements. Aksakov built a whole concept in which, in essence, Gogol was declared the Homer of Russian society, and the pathos of his work was seen not in the denial of the existing reality, but in its affirmation.

The Homeric epic in the subsequent history of European literatures lost its important features and became smaller, "descended to novels and, finally, to the extreme degree of its humiliation, to the French story." And suddenly, Aksakov continues, an epic appears with all its depth and simple grandeur, as in the case of the ancients, Gogol's "poem" appears. The same deep-penetrating and all-seeing epic gaze, the same all-encompassing epic contemplation. In vain then in the controversy, Aksakov argued that he did not directly liken Gogol to Homer, Kuleshov believes.

Aksakov pointed to the inner quality of Gogol's own talent, striving to link all the impressions of Russian life into harmonious harmonic pictures. We know that Gogol had such a subjective striving, and, abstractly speaking, Slavophile criticism correctly pointed to it. But this observation was immediately completely devalued by them, since such "unity" or such "epic harmony" of Gogol's talent was called upon in their eyes to destroy Gogol the realist. Epicness killed the satirist in Gogol - the exposer of life. Aksakov is ready to look for "human movements" in Korobochka, Manilovo, Sobakevich and thereby ennoble them as temporarily lost people. The carriers of the Russian substance turned out to be primitive serfs, Selifan and Petrushka. Belinsky ridiculed all these exaggerations and attempts to liken the heroes of Dead Souls to the heroes of Homer. According to the logic set by Aksakov himself, Belinsky sarcastically drew obvious parallels between the characters: “If so, then, of course, why shouldn’t Chichikov be the Achilles of the Russian Iliad, Sobakevich - the frantic Ajax (especially during dinner), Manilov - Alexander Paris, Plyushkin - Nestor, Selifan - Automedon, the police chief, father and benefactor of the city - Agamemnon, and the quarter with a pleasant blush and in patent leather boots - Hermes? .. ".

Belinsky, who saw in Gogol the main thing, i.e., a realist, indeed, before the release of Dead Souls and even, more precisely, before the polemic with K. Aksakov, he did not ask the question of Gogol’s “duality” and left the writer’s preaching “manners” in the shade

In order to make the comparison of Gogol with Homer not look too odious, Aksakov invented the similarity between them even "by the act of creation." At the same time, he put Shakespeare on an equal footing with them. But what is the "act of creation", "the act of creation"? This is a contrived, purely a priori category, the purpose of which is to confuse the issue. Who will measure this act and how? Belinsky proposed to return to the category of content: it is the content that should be the source material when comparing one poet with another. But it has already been proved that Gogol has nothing in common with Homer in the field of content.

Belinsky, on the other hand, insisted that before us is not the apotheosis of Russian life, but its denunciation, before us modern novel, not an epic ... Aksakov tried to deprive Gogol's work of social and satirical significance. Belinsky grasped this well and resolutely disputed it. Alert Belinsky lyrical places in "Dead Souls

It seems that already in the controversy about Dead Souls (1842), which ridiculed the "minority", the privileged elite, Belinsky tried to catch the popular point of view from which Gogol judged.

Belinsky highly appreciated the work of Gogol for the fact that it was "snatched from the hiding place folk life"and imbued with" a nervous, bloody love for the fruitful grain of Russian life "(" The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls "). This fertile seed was, of course, the people, Gogol had love for him, in the struggle for their interests he painted disgusting types of landowners and officials. Gogol understood the task of his "poem" as a national one, contrary to his realistic method, his satire. He believed that he was painting Russian people in general and, following the negative images of the landlords, he would draw positive ones. It was on this line that the divergence between Belinsky and Gogol occurred. Even after first praising the lyrical pathos in Dead Souls as an expression of “national self-consciousness blissful in itself,” Belinsky then withdrew his praises in the course of the polemic, seeing in this lyricism something completely different: Gogol’s promises in the following parts of Dead Souls to idealize Russia, i. e. refusal to judge social evils. This meant a complete perversion of the very idea of nationality.

Gogol's mistake, according to Belinsky, was not that he had a desire to portray the Russian person positively, but that he was looking for him in the wrong place, among the propertied classes. The critic, as it were, said to the writers: know how to be popular, and you will be national.

8. What is the plot and compositional role of this episode in N.V. Gogol's poem?

The role of this episode in the work of N.V. Gogol is very important, it relates to the development of the plot. For Chichikov, Korobochka is the second person from whom he buys dead souls.

In this episode, we observe the conversation between Chichikov and Korobochka. Also, the image of the Box is revealed. We learn that she is “one of those mothers, small landowners who cry for crop failures, losses, and meanwhile gain a little money in motley bags, mixed in drawers of chests of drawers.”

She is thrifty, distrustful, "club-headed" and stubborn. All her interests are focused on the economy. Even when Chichikov offers to buy dead souls from her, she is afraid of "cheapening."

Thus, we can say that this episode plays a big role. In it, we get acquainted with one of the types of landowners.

9. What other works of Russian literature depict the process of “mortification of the soul” and in what way, in your opinion, do they correlate with “Dead Souls”?

Many writers, such as Gogol, Chekhov, Goncharov, touched upon the problem of the “mortification of souls”.

So, in Chekhov's work "Ionych", we observe the spiritual degradation of a person. At the beginning of the story, Startsev is a young, educated man. He works a lot in the hospital, walks, condemns those people who simply exist without a purpose in life. But after a while, "Startsev's heart stopped beating." He descends to the level of those people whom he condemned. He became obese, became irritable, played vint every evening with pleasure" and "loved to take out of his pockets pieces of paper obtained by practice." So in Gogol's poem "Dead Souls", we observe the degradation of the landowners. An example is Korobochka, a distrustful, greedy, stingy woman. She, like Ionych, only cares about money.

Also, in the work of I.A. Gonchorov "Oblomov", we see main character Oblomov, who lives aimlessly. He is broken by life, any attempts to resurrect it fail. Oblomov himself does not want to change. He is somewhat similar to the hero of Gogol's work, Plyushkin. Even the objects surrounding Plyushkin bear the imprint of decay and decay.

Thus, the problem of "mortification of the soul" was touched upon by many writers.

Updated: 2018-10-10

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Useful material on the topic

What is the plot-compositional role of this episode in N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls" What other works of Russian literature depict the process of “mortification of the soul” and in what way do you think they correlate with Dead Souls?

"Dead Souls" - a poem for the ages. The plasticity of the depicted reality, the comical nature of situations and the artistic skill of N.V. Gogol paint the image of Russia not only of the past, but also of the future. Grotesque satirical reality in harmony with patriotic notes create an unforgettable melody of life that resounds through the centuries.

The essence of the work

Collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov goes to distant provinces to buy serfs. However, he is not interested in people, but only the names of the dead. This is necessary to submit the list to the Board of Trustees, which "promises" a lot of money. A nobleman with so many peasants had all the doors open. To implement his plan, he pays visits to the landowners and officials of the city of NN. All of them reveal their selfish disposition, so the hero manages to get what he wants. He also plans a profitable marriage. However, the result is deplorable: the hero is forced to flee, as his plans become well known thanks to the landowner Korobochka.

History of creation

N.V. Gogol considered A.S. Pushkin by his teacher, who “given” a story about the adventures of Chichikov to a grateful student. The poet was sure that only Nikolai Vasilievich, who had a unique talent from God, was able to realize this “idea”.

The writer loved Italy, Rome. In the land of the great Dante, he began work on a book involving a three-part composition in 1835. The poem was supposed to be similar to Dante's Divine Comedy, depicting the hero's immersion in hell, his wanderings in purgatory and the resurrection of his soul in paradise.

The creative process continued for six years. The idea of a grandiose picture, depicting not only "all of Russia" present, but also the future, revealed "the incalculable riches of the Russian spirit." In February 1837, Pushkin dies, whose “sacred testament” for Gogol is “Dead Souls”: “Not a single line was written without me imagining him before me.” The first volume was completed in the summer of 1841, but did not immediately find its reader. The censors were outraged by The Tale of Captain Kopeikin, and the title was perplexing. I had to make concessions, starting the headline with the intriguing phrase "The Adventures of Chichikov." Therefore, the book was published only in 1842.

Some time later, Gogol writes the second volume, but, dissatisfied with the result, burns it.

The meaning of the name

The title of the work causes conflicting interpretations. The used oxymoron technique gives rise to numerous questions that you want to get answers as soon as possible. The title is symbolic and ambiguous, so the “secret” is not revealed to everyone.

In the literal sense, "dead souls" are representatives of the common people who have gone to another world, but are still listed as their masters. Gradually, the concept is being rethought. The "form" seems to "come to life": real serfs, with their habits and shortcomings, appear before the reader's eyes.

From a metaphorical point of view, the "gallery" of portraits of the ruling class is distinguished by the deadness of one's own feelings and thoughts, suppressing everything blooming. The “masters of life” simply “smoke the earth”, because human nature is unthinkable without true spiritual movements. Because their souls are truly dead, but the serfs have a creative, living force that can change the country for the better. We wrote more about this in the essay: The meaning of the title of the poem "Dead Souls".

Characteristics of the main characters

Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov - "gentleman of the middle hand." Somewhat cloying manners in dealing with people are not without sophistication. Educated, neat and delicate. “Not handsome, but not bad-looking, not ... fat, nor .... thin…”. Prudent and careful. He collects unnecessary knickknacks in his chest: maybe it will come in handy! Seeking profit in everything. The creation of the worst sides of an enterprising and energetic person of a new type, opposed to landowners and officials. We wrote about it in more detail in the essay " The image of Chichikov».
Manilov - "knight of the void." Blond "sweet" talker "with blue eyes". The poverty of thought, the avoidance of real difficulties, he covers up with a beautiful-hearted phrase. It lacks living aspirations and any interests. His faithful companions are fruitless fantasy and thoughtless chatter.
The box is "club-headed". Vulgar, stupid, stingy and stingy nature. She fenced herself off from everything around, shutting herself in her estate - the “box”. Turned into a stupid and greedy woman. Limited, stubborn and unspiritual.
Nozdrev is a "historical man". He can easily lie what he pleases and deceive anyone. Empty, absurd. Thinks of himself as a broad kind. However, the actions expose the careless, chaotically weak-willed and at the same time arrogant, shameless "tyrant". Record holder for getting into tricky and ridiculous situations.
Sobakevich - "patriot of the Russian stomach." Outwardly, it resembles a bear: clumsy and indefatigable. Totally incapable of understanding the most elementary things. A special type of "drive" that can quickly adapt to the new requirements of our time. Interested in nothing but housekeeping. Images of landlords we described in the essay of the same name.
Plyushkin - "a hole in humanity." A creature of unknown gender. A vivid example of a moral fall that has completely lost its natural appearance. The only character (except Chichikov) who has a biography that "reflects" the gradual process of personality degradation. Complete nothingness. Plyushkin's maniacal hoarding "results" into "cosmic" proportions. And the more this passion seizes him, the less of a person remains in him. We analyzed his image in detail in the essay. Plushkin image.

Genre and composition

Initially, the work was born as an adventurous - picaresque novel. But the breadth of the events described and the historical truthfulness, as if "compressed" among themselves, gave rise to "talk about" the realistic method. Making accurate remarks, inserting philosophical reasoning, referring to different generations, Gogol saturated "his offspring" with lyrical digressions. One cannot but agree with the opinion that the creation of Nikolai Vasilyevich is a comedy, since it actively uses the techniques of irony, humor and satire, which most fully reflect the absurdity and arbitrariness of the "squadron of flies that dominate Russia."

The composition is circular: the britzka, which entered the city of NN at the beginning of the story, leaves it after all the vicissitudes that have happened to the hero. Episodes are woven into this “ring”, without which the integrity of the poem is violated. The first chapter describes the provincial city NN and local officials. From the second to the sixth chapters, the author introduces readers to the estates of Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich and Plyushkin. The seventh - tenth chapters are a satirical depiction of officials, the execution of completed transactions. The string of these events ends with a ball, where Nozdrev "narrates" about Chichikov's scam. The reaction of society to his statement is unequivocal - gossip, which, like a snowball, is overgrown with fables that have found refraction, including in the short story ("The Tale of Captain Kopeikin") and the parable (about Kif Mokievich and Mokiya Kifovich). The introduction of these episodes makes it possible to emphasize that the fate of the motherland directly depends on the people living in it. It is impossible to look indifferently at the outrages that are happening around. Certain forms of protest are brewing in the country. The eleventh chapter is a biography of the hero forming the plot, explaining what he was guided by when performing this or that act.

The connecting thread of the composition is the image of the road (you can learn more about this by reading the essay “ The image of the road in the poem "Dead Souls"), symbolizing the path that the state “under the modest name of Rus” passes in its development.

Why does Chichikov need dead souls?

Chichikov is not only cunning, but also pragmatic. His sophisticated mind is ready to “make candy” out of nothing. Not having sufficient capital, he, being a good psychologist, having gone through a good life school, mastering the art of “flattering everyone” and fulfilling his father’s precept “save a penny”, starts a great speculation. It consists in a simple deception of "those in power" in order to "warm up their hands", in other words, to help out a huge amount of money, thereby providing themselves and their future family about which Pavel Ivanovich dreamed.

The names of the dead peasants bought for a pittance were recorded in a document that Chichikov could take to the Treasury under the guise of a pledge in order to obtain a loan. He would pawn the serfs like a brooch in a pawnshop, and he could re-pawn them all his life, since none of the officials checked the physical condition of people. For this money, the businessman would have bought both real workers and an estate, and would have lived on a grand scale, taking advantage of the favor of the nobles, because the wealth of the landowner was measured by the representatives of the nobility in the number of souls (peasants were then called “souls” in noble slang). In addition, Gogol's hero hoped to win trust in society and profitably marry a rich heiress.

Main idea

Hymn to the motherland and people distinguishing feature whose industriousness sounds on the pages of the poem. Masters of golden hands became famous for their inventions, their creativity. The Russian peasant is always "rich in invention." But there are those citizens who hinder the development of the country. These are vicious officials, ignorant and inactive landowners and swindlers like Chichikov. For their own good, the good of Russia and the world, they must take the path of correction, realizing the ugliness of their inner world. To do this, Gogol ruthlessly ridicules them throughout the entire first volume, however, in the subsequent parts of the work, the author intended to show the resurrection of the spirit of these people using the main character as an example. Perhaps he felt the falsity of subsequent chapters, lost faith that his dream was feasible, so he burned it along with the second part of Dead Souls.

Nevertheless, the author showed that the main wealth of the country is the broad soul of the people. It is no coincidence that this word is placed in the title. The writer believed that the revival of Russia would begin with the revival of human souls, pure, unstained by any sins, selfless. Not just believing in the free future of the country, but making a lot of efforts on this swift road to happiness. "Rus, where are you going?" This question runs like a refrain throughout the book and emphasizes the main thing: the country must live in constant movement towards the best, advanced, progressive. Only on this path "other peoples and states give it way." We wrote a separate essay about the path of Russia: What moral path Gogol outlines for his country?

Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls?

At some point, the thought of the messiah begins to dominate in the mind of the writer, allowing him to "foresee" the revival of Chichikov and even Plyushkin. The progressive "transformation" of a person into a "dead man" Gogol hopes to reverse. But, faced with reality, the author is deeply disappointed: the heroes and their destinies come out from under the pen far-fetched, lifeless. Did not work out. The impending crisis in worldview became the reason for the destruction of the second book.

In the surviving passages from the second volume, it is clearly seen that the writer depicts Chichikov not in the process of repentance, but in flight towards the abyss. He still succeeds in adventures, dresses in a devilish red coat and breaks the law. His exposure does not bode well, because in his reaction the reader will not see a sudden insight or a paint of shame. He does not even believe in the possibility of the existence of such fragments at least ever. Gogol did not want to sacrifice artistic truth even for the sake of realizing his own idea.

Issues

Thorns on the path of the development of the Motherland is the main problem in the poem "Dead Souls", which the author was worried about. These include bribery and embezzlement of officials, infantilism and inactivity of the nobility, ignorance and poverty of the peasants. The writer sought to make his contribution to the prosperity of Russia, condemning and ridiculing vices, educating new generations of people. For example, Gogol despised doxology as a cover for the emptiness and idleness of existence. The life of a citizen should be useful for society, and most of the heroes of the poem are frankly harmful.
Moral problems. He considers the absence of moral norms among the representatives of the ruling class as the result of their ugly passion for hoarding. The landowners are ready to shake the soul out of the peasant for the sake of profit. Also, the problem of selfishness comes to the fore: the nobles, like officials, think only about their own interests, the homeland for them is an empty weightless word. High society does not care about the common people, they just use them for their own purposes.
Crisis of humanism. People are sold like animals, lost at cards like things, pawned like jewelry. Slavery is legal and is not considered something immoral or unnatural. Gogol covered the problem of serfdom in Russia globally, showing both sides of the coin: the mentality of a serf, inherent in a serf, and the tyranny of the owner, confident in his superiority. All these are the consequences of the tyranny that pervades relationships in all walks of life. It corrupts people and destroys the country.
The humanism of the author is manifested in attention to " little man”, a critical exposure of the vices of the state structure. Gogol did not even try to avoid political problems. He described a bureaucracy functioning only on the basis of bribery, nepotism, embezzlement and hypocrisy.
Gogol's characters are characterized by the problem of ignorance, moral blindness. Because of it, they do not see their moral squalor and are not able to independently get out of the quagmire of vulgarity that is engulfing them.

What is the originality of the work?

Adventurousness, realistic reality, a sense of the presence of the irrational, philosophical discussions about earthly good - all this is closely intertwined, creating an "encyclopedic" picture of the first half of XIX centuries.

Gogol achieves this by using various techniques of satire, humor, pictorial means, numerous details, rich vocabulary, and compositional features.

Symbolism plays an important role. Falling into the mud "predicts" the future exposure of the main character. The spider weaves its webs to capture the next victim. Like an "unpleasant" insect, Chichikov skillfully conducts his "business", "weaving" the landowners and officials with a noble lie. road image“sounds” like the pathos of the forward movement of Russia and affirms human self-improvement.
We observe the characters through the prism of "comic" situations, apt author's expressions and characteristics given by other characters, sometimes built on the antithesis: "he was a prominent person" - but only "at a glance".
The vices of the heroes of "Dead Souls" become a continuation of the positive character traits. For example, Plyushkin's monstrous stinginess is a distortion of former frugality and thriftiness.
In small lyrical "inserts" - the thoughts of the writer, hard thoughts, anxious "I". In them we feel the highest creative message: to help humanity change for the better.
The fate of people who create works for the people or not for the sake of "those in power" does not leave Gogol indifferent, because in literature he saw a force capable of "re-educating" society and contributing to its civilized development. The social strata of society, their position in relation to everything national: culture, language, traditions - occupy a serious place in the author's digressions. When it comes to Russia and its future, through the centuries we hear the confident voice of the “prophet”, predicting the future of the Fatherland, which is not easy, but striving towards a bright dream.
evoke sadness philosophical reflections about the frailty of being, about the bygone youth and impending old age. Therefore, the gentle “fatherly” appeal to the youth is so natural, on whose energy, diligence and education depends on which “path” the development of Russia will go.
The language is truly folk. The forms of colloquial, bookish and written-business speech are harmoniously woven into the fabric of the poem. Rhetorical questions and exclamations, the rhythmic construction of individual phrases, the use of Slavicisms, archaisms, sonorous epithets create a certain structure of speech that sounds solemn, excited and sincere, without a hint of irony. When describing landowners' estates and their owners, vocabulary is used that is characteristic of everyday speech. The image of the bureaucratic world is saturated with the vocabulary of the depicted environment. Images of officials we described in the essay of the same name.
The solemnity of comparisons, high style, combined with original speech, create a sublimely ironic manner of narration that serves to debunk the base, vulgar world of the owners.

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"Dead Souls" - ontological issues

Realizing this conflict, he turned to the most pressing problems of that period: the state of the landlord economy, the moral character of the local and bureaucratic nobility, the relationship of the peasantry with the authorities, the fate of the people in Russia. In Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" a whole gallery of moral monsters, types, which have become common nouns, is displayed. Gogol consistently depicts officials, landowners and the main character of Chichikov's poem. The plot of the poem is built as a story of the adventures of Chichikov, an official who buys up "dead souls". "Dead Souls". Gogol's idea was to show the whole of Russia.

Gogol calls "Dead Souls" a poem. By this definition of the genre, the author shows that his works are not similar to the samples known to the reader.

Lyrical digressions expand art space in the poem and deepen the philosophical. The title of the poem is ambiguous: 1. These are the souls of those landowners and officials visited by Chichikov. 2. These are the souls of the peasants who are bought by Chichikov.

3. This is a philosophical question about what kills the human soul and what can revive it. The leading opposition of the poem is the dead versus the living. This principle explains the choice actors.

All characters can be divided into 2 groups: the 1st is associated with the motif of a dead, motionless beginning, these are doll people, for example, Manilov, Korobochka. 2nd group - those characters who are associated with the motive of the movement, for example, Plyushkin, Chichikov, the author. Gogol writes the 1st chapter, in which he shows the terrible sides Russian life. To do this, he resorts to the technique of hyperbole, i.e.

it increases the negative trait, and because of this, the heroes lose their human appearance. The author often compares his characters to things or animals. It is no coincidence that Manilov opens the gallery of landowners - he is neutral, he does not have any bright features, and even the color scheme is gray.

It is no coincidence that Stepan Plyushkin completes the gallery. Plyushkin's biography is a biography of losses: at the beginning, his wife dies, then his daughter runs away with the military, his son loses government money. Gogol develops in an original way the type of "stingy rich man" known in world literature. Plyushkin does not collect wealth, he collects garbage. Plushkin's result is the result human life, from human activity there is a heap of garbage.

Gogol shows the reason for the necrosis of the soul of a person by the example of the formation of the character of the main character - Chichikov. A bleak childhood, devoid of parental love and affection, service and an example of bribe-taking officials - these factors formed a scoundrel who is like his entire environment. Chichikov is a new hero in life and in literature. Gogol creates an image modern man, all the tricks of which are in the name of a penny. The author calls his hero a scoundrel, although there are attractive features in Chichikov: he is active, dissatisfied with his position and seeks to change it for the better. Gogol exposes the main temptation of modern man - this is the service of the body, and the faith of modern man only in the material basis of being.

But behind the "dead" souls of Chichikov, officials and landowners, Gogol discerned the living souls of the peasants, the strength of the national character. In the words of A. I. Herzen, in Gogol's poem, "behind dead souls - living souls" appear. The talent of the people is revealed in the dexterity of the coachman Mikheev, the shoemaker Telyatnikov, the bricklayer Milushkin, the carpenter Stepan Cork. The strength and sharpness of the people's mind were reflected in the glibness and accuracy of the Russian word, the depth and integrity of the Russian feeling - in the sincerity of the Russian song, the breadth and generosity of the soul - in the brightness and unrestrained fun of folk holidays.

The boundless dependence on the usurping power of the landlords, who doom the peasants to forced, exhausting labor, to hopeless ignorance, gives rise to stupid Mityaev and Minyaev, downtrodden Proshek and Pelageya, who do not know “where is right, where is left. Gogol sees how high and good qualities are distorted in the realm of "dead" souls, how desperate peasants die, rushing into any risky business, just to get out of serfdom. V. G. Belinsky called the poem “a creation snatched from the hiding place of folk life, a creation deep in thought, social, public and historical. One had to be a poet to write such a poem in prose ... a Russian national poet in the entire space of this word.

Neither in the story, nor in the story, nor in the novel can the author so freely intrude his "I" into the course of the story. Digressions, organically introduced into the text, help the author touch on various problems and aspects of life, make a more complete description of the heroes of the poem. The works of the late period differ from the first strip of creativity. The creative manner and style are changing: laughter and the grotesque are leaving, visual images are being replaced by music.

To characterize the artistic world of Gogol, Zaitsev resorts to impressionistic images: “His very word is spiritualized. There is nothing in it that hits the eye with paint or a pattern. Everything is now smooth, covered with a uniform, gray-pearl coating and full of harmony ”(9, 309). According to Zaitsev, Gogol's artistic method evolved from realism to spiritual realism, but the writer did not guess his artistic destiny: “Over the years, the contradictions in Gogol increased. He clung to God more and more strongly, but in art he portrayed darkness more and more irresistibly” (9, 306).

In accordance with this idea, Zaitsev evaluates the writer's work. In The Inspector General, Zaitsev saw "a grotesque almost ingenious", in some places, however, leaving in the popular print. In Dead Souls, Gogol “showed brightness and bulge, in a kind of deadness of a stereoscope, almost terrible.

It's like a hellish world. It is given in slate tones. His heroes exist statuary, as in a museum, as coffin specimens of humanity” (9, 306).

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/ Works / Gogol N.V. / Dead Souls / The problem of the mortification of the human soul in the works of Russians writers of the 19th century (N.V. Gogol, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin)

Many Russian writers were painfully aware of the fact that their contemporary reality gave rise to “new” people who were very far from the ideal they represented. At various times, N. V. Gogol, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, and A. P. Chekhov made an open accusation of life. In their works of genius, they exposed with unsurpassed sharpness the pernicious, corrupting influence of property on human character, showed the inevitability of the moral and physical destruction of the personality of a person who neglects the laws of morality.

The pinnacle of N.V. Gogol's work is the poem "Dead Souls" - one of the outstanding works of world literature, according to Belinsky, "a creation snatched from the hiding place of folk life." In the poem, Gogol again turns to one of his main themes - the theme of Russian landownership. The picture of the wild, rudely ignorant, stupidly senseless landlord kingdom, the picture of the deep disintegration of Nikolaev Russia was drawn by Gogol with amazing life truth, with great fullness and power of artistic and realistic embodiment. The gallery of characters created by Gogol vividly demonstrates the gradual and ever deeper necrosis of man. From Manilov to Plyushkin, a frightening picture of the gradual extinction of everything human in a person opens before us. The provincial city of NN is no better either. which Gogol himself called "the untouchable world." But Chichikov occupies a special place among the characters of the work. In it, in a very peculiar, one-sided way, in its negative aspects, in a specific bourgeois adventurism, new tendencies in the development of Russian life appeared. It is not for nothing that N.V. Gogol not only calls this new hero of Russian reality “master”, “acquirer”. The writer branded him with the name of a “scoundrel.” In Chichikov, the new character of a predator-acquirer is subtly outlined, who has developed the ability to cunningly adapt to people and circumstances, who has learned to subordinate moral principles to material interests. Angrily condemning the feudal nobility, N.V. Gogol, in the image of Chichikov, denounced bourgeois predation. It was he who vulgarized the image of the romantic robber, Napoleon, the knight, for he becomes the "knight of the penny." Gogol calls people of this type the most terrible evil.

Insignificance acquires the meaning of a terrible, oppressive force, and this happens because it relies on feudal morality, on law and religion. Judas' violation of all the norms of humanity brought him retribution, inevitably led to an ever greater destruction of the personality. In his degradation, he went through three stages of moral decay: a binge of idle talk, a binge of idle thought, and a drunken binge that ended the shameful existence of a “blood drinker”. The image of Judas Golovlev is a symbol of the social and moral decay of the nobility. A.P. Chekhov's short story “Ionych” continues and deepens the theme of internal rebirth, the vulgarization of an intellectual in a philistine environment that sucks and destroys a person. Chekhov proves that a smart, educated person can become vulgar, morally fade away not only if there is no work, work, goal in his life, but also if this work, this work is aimed at achieving a base goal - personal enrichment. Chekhov shows how the atmosphere of Russian life drowns out everything morally good and healthy in a person. The trouble and at the same time the fault of Startsev, the future Ionych, was that he ceased to resist internally, turned out to be too susceptible and pliable to the surrounding vulgarity. Along with the impoverishment of Startsev's soul, all connections with beauty, music, and nature disappear. His favorite pastime is counting money in the evenings. He is indifferent to everyone around him and to himself. At the end of the short story, we have a real money-grubber, whom “greed has overcome”. Before us is a doctor who has lost his main quality - philanthropy. Ultimately, life turns into a merciless side for Ionych himself. Yes, he is rich, he "has an estate and two houses in the city," but he is lonely, "he lives bored, nothing interests him." And most importantly, he loses his memory of the past, forgets his love, which "was his only joy and, probably, his last." Ionych renounced his culture, intelligence, his work and his love. Before us is a mercilessly harsh story about a man who stopped resisting environment and ceased to be human.

So the best writers of critical realism, whose work has become a classic of Russian literature, sharply and mercilessly exposed not only the “dead souls” of the heroes, but also the society that gives rise to the Chichikovs, Jews, and Ionychs.

/ Works / Gogol N.V. / Dead souls / The problem of necrosis of the human soul in the works of Russian writers of the XIX century (N.V. Gogol, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin)

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How is the problem of the relationship between the artist and the crowd revealed in dead souls?

At the beginning of the 7th chapter of the poem "Dead Souls" N.V. Gogol reflects on the relationship between the artist and the crowd.

The author compares two types of writers. One of them is an exalted romantic who passes by "boring, nasty characters, striking in their sad reality" and never changes "the sublime order of his lyre." Such an artist is favored by the reading public, he has the great fame of the "world poet". But such is not the fate of a realist writer, a satirist who dared to “bring out” “all the terrible, amazing mire of trifles that have entangled our lives, the whole depth of cold, fragmented, everyday characters.” This artist will not receive worldwide recognition, the public will not appreciate his creations, consider them "insignificant and low." With a bitter feeling, the author reflects on the tragic fate of the realist-satirist and his spiritual loneliness.

Of course, in this lyrical digression, Gogol writes about himself. All these principles of reflecting reality are reflected in the poem "Dead Souls", in which the writer deeply explores the characters and elements of Russian life. Author's position Gogol is quite definite: emphasizing the typicality of the created images, he deeply and subtly explores the environment that gave rise to them. The writer gives us all the details of the life of the characters, scrupulously describes the rooms, things, everyday details. So, for example, he draws in detail the portrait of Manilov, his estate, landscape, dinner, gives us the details of his way of life. All this helps him discover inner world hero, most fully describe the character, reproduce the type of an idle dreamer, an indefinite, inert person. And so the author explores almost each of the characters.

To a certain extent, these descriptions are predetermined. genre originality works (Gogol called "Dead Souls" a poem, and the epic style was noted by many researchers). But the principles of realism that the author follows also play an important role. The poem "Dead Souls" we can consider realistic work, since the writer follows the principle of historicism in it (the subject of research is modern life), typical characters are given in typical circumstances, certain means of satirical typification are also used (addressing the hero’s past, author’s characteristics, hyperbole, etc.). Hyperbole and grotesque are the most important element of N.V. Gogol, often creating the effect of a "twisted" reality. That is why some researchers call his style "fantastic realism". However, the romantic stream is also very tangible in the poem "Dead Souls". It breaks through in the author's lyrical digressions, his thoughts about the future of Russia.

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The problem of the Russian national character in the poem Dead Souls

In the poem Dead Souls, Gogol seeks to portray the Russian people more clearly. For a better understanding of his character, he introduces representatives of three classes into the narrative: landowners, officials and peasants. And, although he pays the most attention to the landowners, Gogol shows that the real bearers of the Russian national character are the peasants.

Bearers of the Russian national character

One of the main paradoxes of this poem is that the so-called. dead souls in Russia are mainly still living landlords, frozen in care of their households, and not dead peasants bought up by Chichikov. They, in turn, demonstrate the full strength of the Russian spirit.

The poem shows how talented the common people are, what skill the craftsmen have (Gogol introduces Mikheev, the shoemaker, Telyatnikov, the bricklayer Milushkin, the carpenter Stepan Cork, into the story). Special attention is given to the strength and sharpness of the people's mind, the sincerity of the folk song, the brightness and generosity of folk holidays.

Gogol also shows that the strength of the Russian character does not allow the peasants to endure oppression. To do this, he briefly, but expressively, mentions in the poem cases of peasant rebellion against the serf regime: the murder of the assessor Drobyakin, the mass flight of peasants from the landowners.

The problem of the Russian character

However, Gogol is not inclined to idealize the Russian national character. This reflects his real attitude to reality, and not feigned patriotism. He notes that any meeting of Russian people is characterized by some confusion, that one of the main problems of a Russian person is the inability to bring the work begun to the end.

Gogol also notes that a Russian person is often able to see the correct solution to a problem only after he has performed some action, but at the same time he does not like to admit his mistakes to others.

Gogol emphasizes that modern reality is destroying the Russian people. Pursuit ordinary people to education and the impossibility of its implementation leads to idle talk, and an ardent desire to break out of the serf order sometimes leads the peasants to absurd acts.

And Gogol draws all this tragedy of Russian reality against the backdrop of the majestic and boundless Russian expanses; he believes that Russia initially had great inclinations and opportunities, but the autocratic power limited them all.

Such a description of peasant life, everyday details, was a kind of preface to the story Overcoat, starting from which a whole new story later arose. literary direction- natural school.

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The main theme of the poem “Dead Souls” is the theme of the present and the future

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 sure that Russia would be a prosperous country, that there would come a time when Russia would become an ideal for other countries. This conviction arose from a sense of the enormous creative energy that lurked in the bowels of the people. The image of the motherland in the poem acts as the personification of everything great that the Russian people are capable of. Rising 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, the people, mercilessly debunks the "masters of life" - the nobles. People like Manilov, Sobakevich, Plyushkin, Chichikov cannot be creators of spiritual values.

The embodiment of a mighty upswing of vital energy, striving for the future is the amazing image of Russia, like a trio of birds rushing into the immense distance. “Isn’t it you, Rus, that brisk and unbeatable trio, are you rushing about? The road smokes under you, bridges rumble, everything lags behind and remains behind ... everything that is on earth flies past, and, looking sideways, step aside and give it the way other peoples and states. The author's lyrical statements are full of high pathos. “... What a sparkling, wonderful, unfamiliar distance to the earth!

Russia!” 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 the landowners with the rapid movement of Russia forward. This expresses his faith in the future of the country and people. The writer's lyrical reflections on the living character of the industrious Russian nation are among the most penetrating pages, warmed by the unquenchable flame of patriotism. Gogol was well aware that the inventive mind and creative talents of the Russian people would only turn into a mighty force when they were free. Fervently believing in the great future of Russia, Gogol, however, did not clearly imagine the path along which she was to come to power, glory and prosperity.

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

During this period of life, tendencies of bourgeois development began to inevitably manifest themselves. Gogol hated the realm of dead souls, but capitalism frightened him. Gogol, as a man of deep faith, opposed any revolution. That was his attitude in life. If the laughter of Saltykov-Shchedrin 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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Gogol dead souls problems works - Poets and writers

800 completed essays

Composition "Heroes and problems of the poem" (Dead souls)

In its finished form, only the first volume of the poem has come down to us.

N. V. Gogol "Dead Souls". This piece is a masterpiece

Russian literature and the pinnacle of Gogol's work. but

among the contemporaries of the writer were readers who did not accept the book,

created some kind of "gallery of freaks." Critics of the poem did not understand

that Gogol's well-aimed satire serves a higher purpose: to correct Russian

and human failings. Gogol thought the work

in three volumes, like " Divine Comedy» Dante. In the first

volume, the writer depicted in a condensed form all the dark sides

reality, and in the continuation of the poem was going to show the way

to the ideal. Gogol with such artistic force and scope portrayed

the negative aspects of life, which could not create a worthy

"counterweight" to the first volume. Feeling the approach

death, the writer destroyed the manuscript of the second volume. Why is he

did remains a mystery. Perhaps Gogol decided that "positive

» The continuation loses before the ingenious beginning.

Let's try to find out what negative phenomena Gogol denounces.

The title itself reflects the idea of the work. Among the heroes of the poem

there is none with a lofty, noble soul. Chichikov,

landlords, officials - all mired in petty selfish interests,

laziness, idleness, gluttony, greed, stupidity. chief

general vulgarity becomes the subject of Gogol's denunciation. Writer

broadly understood this phenomenon, meaning by it grinding,

the baseness of human nature. Outwardly, the heroes of the poem live,

but their souls are dead.

It is symbolic that the main character, Chichikov, is engaged in buying

"dead souls" listed as living according to the census. He wants fraudulent

how to put them in the board of trustees and get a large

amount. The composition of the poem is structured in such a way that only

in the last chapter we will learn the biography of the protagonist. Before

moment Chichikov and his activities remain a mystery to us. We

we see that the main character diligently hides under the mask of a respectable

landowner and does his secret business. Chichikov

you will not refuse observation, cunning, dexterity, diplomacy,

but all his abilities he spends on personal enrichment.

At the end of the poem, it becomes clear how the

character of the protagonist. Fate has prepared for him a miserable existence

petty official, but Chichikov from his school years showed remarkable

ability to enrich. Gogol draws a joyless

picture Russian society, in which it is almost impossible to achieve

success in an honest way. For Chichikov there are no moral barriers,

he easily breaks the law and worries not about the soul, but about

not to get caught. Several times Chichikov is defeated

in his machinations, but continues to stubbornly strive for wealth.

Gogol calls the hero a "scoundrel", but immediately makes a reservation: maybe

It may be more correct to call him "acquirer". The writer managed

depict the type of capitalist emerging in Russia, who

achieves success by his own efforts, not disdaining any

Unlike Chichikov, who constantly travels around in a britzka

Russian roads in search of profit, the landowners are in a century-old

kills in man living soul creates fertile soil

for vices. The writer uses various characteristics of landlords:

interior. Gogol is a master of artistic detail, helping

a person "so-so, neither this nor that." At first Manilov might have seemed

pleasant, but then his excessive sweetness,

emptiness, inner emptiness. Manilov spends time

in fruitless dreams and completely does not notice the falling apart

economy, the absurdities of the situation in their own home, where luxury

adjacent to desolation. He speaks of people differently,

as "most venerable" and "most amiable", although absolutely

indifferent to them. Manilov is not interested in anything at all, he lives

in some blissful half-sleep.

Box is a much more "down to earth" character. This widow

the landowner fully corresponds to her surname: her whole life is directed

for petty savings. Despite being ignorant,

Chichikov "dead souls".

Nozdryov in many ways resembles Khlestakov from Gogol's comedy

"Inspector". His whole life is continuous crazy actions. landowner,

father of two children, he only thinks about fun, rides

at fairs, gets drunk, rowdy, changes "an awl for soap", cheats

in cards, it happens periodically to be beaten by friends, but continues

behave exactly the same. Nozdryov is a shameless liar and braggart, he

ready to slander anyone, even himself. When they went through the city

ridiculous rumors that Chichikov was going to steal the governor's

daughter, Nozdryov wove a whole story in which he was the main

acting person. Chichikov barely took his legs out of his house, forgetting

and think of "dead souls".

Sobakevich may seem like a good host at first glance.

Peasant huts in his village, the manor house, furniture,

pictures - in a word, everything is unusually sound, durable, heavy.

Describing Sobakevich, Gogol repeatedly emphasizes

his resemblance to a bear. Sobakevich knows his peasants by name,

praises their abilities. However, Chichikov quickly realizes

that in front of him is a “man-fist”, thinking only about his own profit.

Sobakevich is not shy in expressions: all his officials are “swindlers

”, “robbers” and “pigs”. Sobakevich is mired in gluttony.

Gogol uses the technique of hyperbole to describe Sobakevich's gigantic portions.

Even Chichikov, with all his resourcefulness, has difficulty negotiating

Sobakevich has "dead souls".

Plyushkin reached the extreme degree of vulgarity. His avarice wears

character of insanity, he turned into "a hole in humanity

". Being a rich landowner, Plyushkin walks in some kind of rags,

eats badly and starves the serfs. In huge

food rots in his sheds and barns, but Plyushkin, like Korobochka,

afraid to sell cheap and does not sell anything. Plushkin is no longer

as much ridiculous as terrible: in it the death of the soul is distinctly

Despite the bleak picture of Russian life in the poem,

the work does not leave a feeling of hopelessness. going on

this is due to lyrical digressions in which sincere,

what insignificance, pettiness, vileness ”a person can reach, but

believes in the possibility of correction. The poem ends with a grand

three." From the dark sides of reality, the reader turns

The pinnacle of N.V. Gogol's work was the poem "Dead Souls". Starting to create his grandiose work, he wrote to Zhukovsky that "all Russia will appear in it!" At the basis of the conflict of the poem, Gogol put the main contradiction of contemporary reality between the gigantic spiritual forces of the people and their bondage. Realizing this conflict, he turned to the most pressing problems of that period: the state of the landlord economy, the moral character of the local and bureaucratic nobility, the relationship of the peasantry with the authorities, the fate of the people in Russia. In Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" a whole gallery of moral monsters, types, which have become common nouns, is displayed. Gogol consistently depicts officials, landowners and the main character of Chichikov's poem. The plot of the poem is built as a story of the adventures of Chichikov, an official who buys

"dead Souls".

Almost half of the first volume of the poem is devoted to characterizing the various types of Russian landowners. Gogol creates five characters, five portraits that are so different from each other, and at the same time, typical features of a Russian landowner appear in each of them. The images of the landowners whom Chichikov visits are presented in contrast in the poem, since they carry various vices. One after another, each spiritually more insignificant than the previous one, the owners of the estates follow in the work: Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin. If Manilov is sentimental and sweet to the point of cloying, then

Sobakevich is straightforward and rude. Their views on life are polar: for Manilov, everyone around them is beautiful, for Sobakevich they are robbers and swindlers. Manilov shows no real concern for the welfare of the peasants, for the welfare of the family; he entrusted all management to the rogue clerk, who ruins both the peasants and the landowner. But Sobakevich is a strong owner, ready for any scam for the sake of profit. Manilov is a careless dreamer, Sobakevich is a cynical fist-burner. Korobochka's heartlessness is manifested in petty hoarding; the only thing that worries her is the price of hemp, honey; "Not to sell too cheap" and the sale of dead souls. The box reminds Sobakevich of stinginess,

passion for profit, although the stupidity of the "clubhead" brings these qualities to a comical limit. "Accumulators", Sobakevich and Korobochka, are opposed by "squanderers" - Nozdrev and Plyushkin. Nozdryov is a desperate wast and reveler, a devastator and destroyer of the economy. His energy turned into scandalous

vanity, aimless and destructive.

True, in these pantries bread rots, flour turns into stone, cloth and canvas into dust. A no less terrible picture is presented to the eye in the manor house, where everything is covered with dust and cobwebs, and in the corner of the room “a pile of things that are coarser and unworthy to lie on the tables are piled up. What exactly was in this

pile, it was difficult to decide,” just as it was difficult “to get to the bottom of what was concocted ... dressing gown” of the owner. How did it happen that a rich, educated man, a nobleman turned into a "hole in humanity"? To answer this question. Gogol refers to the hero's past. (He writes about the rest of the landowners as about already formed types.) The writer very accurately traces the degradation of a person, and the reader understands that a person is not born a monster, but becomes one. So this soul could live! But Gogol notices that over time a person submits himself to the laws prevailing in society and betrays the ideals of youth.

All Gogol's landowners are bright, individual, memorable characters. But with all their external diversity, the essence remains unchanged: having possession of living souls, they themselves have long turned into dead souls. We do not see the true movements of a living soul either in an empty dreamer, or in a strong-minded housewife, or in a “cheerful boor,” or in a landowner-fist resembling a bear. All this is just an appearance with a complete lack of spiritual content, which is why these heroes are ridiculous. Convincing the reader that his landowners are not exceptional, but typical, the writer also names other nobles, characterizing them even by their surnames: Svinin, Trepakin, Blokhin, Kisses, Careless, etc.

feelings and made him a "dead" soul. Gogol shows the appearance in Russian life of a new man who has neither a noble family, nor a title, nor an estate, but who, at the cost of his own efforts, thanks to his mind and resourcefulness, is trying to make a fortune for himself. His ideal is a penny; marriage is conceived by him as a bargain. His passions and tastes are purely material. Having quickly guessed the person, he knows how to approach everyone in a special way, subtly calculating his moves. Internal diversity, elusiveness

his appearance, described by Gogol in vague terms, is also emphasized: “A gentleman was sitting in the britzka, neither too fat nor too thin, one cannot say that he was old, but not so that he was too young.” Gogol was able to discern in his contemporary society the individual features of the emerging type and brought them together in the image of Chichikov. The officials of the city of NN are even more impersonal than the landowners. Their deadness is shown in the ball scene: people are not visible, muslins, atlases, muslins, hats, tailcoats, uniforms, shoulders, necks, ribbons are everywhere. The whole interest of life is concentrated on gossip, gossip, petty vanity, envy. They differ from each other only in the size of the bribe; all loafers, they have no interests, these are also "dead" souls.

shoemaker Telyatnikov, bricklayer Milushkin, carpenter Stepan Cork. The strength and sharpness of the people's mind were reflected in the glibness and accuracy of the Russian word, the depth and integrity of the Russian feeling - in the sincerity of the Russian song, the breadth and generosity of the soul - in the brightness and unrestrained fun of folk holidays. The boundless dependence on the usurping power of the landowners, who doom the peasants to forced, exhausting labor, to hopeless ignorance, gives rise to stupid Mityaev and Minyaev, downtrodden Proshek and Pelageya, who do not know “where the right is, where the left is”, submissive, lazy, depraved Petrushki and

Selifanov. Gogol sees how high and good qualities are distorted in the realm of "dead" souls, how desperate peasants die, rushing into any risky business, just to get out of serfdom.

Not finding the truth from the supreme power, Captain Kopeikin, helping himself, becomes the ataman of the robbers. The Tale of Captain Kopeikin reminds the authorities of the threat of a revolutionary uprising in Russia.

Serfdom death destroys the good inclinations in a person, destroys the people. Against the backdrop of the majestic, boundless expanses of Russia, the real pictures of Russian life seem especially bitter. Having outlined in the poem Russia “from one side” in its negative essence, in “stunning pictures

triumphant evil and suffering hatred”, Gogol once again convinces that in his time “it is impossible otherwise to direct society or even the whole generation towards the beautiful until you show the full depth of its real abomination”.

V. G. Belinsky called the poem by N. V. Gogol “Dead Souls” “a creation snatched from the hiding place of folk life, a creation deep in thought, social, public and historical. One had to be a poet to write such a poem in prose ... a Russian national poet in everything

the space of this word. Neither in the story, nor in the story, nor in the novel can the author so freely intrude his "I" into the course of the story. Digressions, organically introduced into the text, help the author touch on various problems and aspects of life, make a more complete description of the heroes of the poem.

The theme of patriotism and writer's duty receives further development at the end of the poem, where Gogol explains why he considers it necessary to show evil and expose vices. As proof, the author cites a story about Kif Mokievich and Mokiya Kifovich, exposing those writers who do not want to draw harsh reality, who “turned a virtuous person into a horse, and there is no writer who would not ride him, urging him with a whip and everything that horrible."

The author's lyrical digressions about Russia and the people are closely connected with the theme of writer's duty, patriotism. With amazing depth, Gogol depicts the gray, vulgar feudal reality, its poverty and backwardness. tragic fate people is especially reliably highlighted in the images of serfs, tavern servants.

Drawing the image of the fugitive peasant Abakum Fyrov, who loved the free life. Gogol shows a freedom-loving and broad nature, which does not put up with the oppression and humiliation of serfdom, preferring to it the difficult but free life of a barge hauler. Gogol created a truly heroic image of the Russian hero, which has a symbolic character. Russia of "dead souls", always snacking, playing cards, gossiping and building its well-being on abuse. Gogol contrasts the lyrical image people's Russia. Throughout the poem, the affirmation of the common people as its positive hero merges with the glorification of the Motherland, with the expression of patriotic judgments. The writer glorifies "the lively and lively Russian mind", his extraordinary ability for verbal expressiveness, prowess, sharpness, love of freedom. When the author turns to the images and themes of folk life, to the dream of the future of Russia, sad notes, a soft joke, genuine lyrical animation appear in the author's speech. The writer expressed his deep hope that Russia would rise to greatness and glory. In the poem, Gogol acted as a patriot in whom faith in the future of Russia lives, where there will be no dogs, nostrils, Chichikovs, manilovs ... Depicting in the poem

parallel two Russias: local-bureaucratic and popular. Gogol in the last chapter "pushed" them and thereby once again showed their hostility. fiery- lyrical digression about love and motherland, about the recognition of its great future: “Rus! Russia!.. But what kind of incomprehensible, secret force attracts you?.. What does this vast expanse prophesy?.. Russia!..». - is interrupted by a rude shout of the courier, galloping towards Chichikov's britzka: "Here I am with your broadsword! .." Thus, Gogol's beautiful dream and the ugly autocratic reality surrounding him met and passed by. An important role in

the poem plays the image of the road. At first it is a symbol of human life. Gogol perceives life as a hard journey, full of hardships, at the end of which cold, uncomfortable loneliness awaits him. However, the writer does not consider it aimless, he is full of consciousness of his duty to the Motherland. The road is the compositional core of the story. Chichikov's chaise is a symbol of the monotonous whirling of the soul of a Russian person who has gone astray. And the country roads along which this cart travels, not only

a realistic picture of Russian off-road, but also a symbol of the crooked path of national development. The "bird-troika" and its impetuous years are contrasted with Chichikov's britzka and its monotonous circling off-road from one landowner to another. "Bird-troika" - a symbol of the national element

Russian life, a symbol of the great path of Russia on a global scale.

But this road is no longer the life of one person, but the fate of the entire Russian state. Russia itself is embodied in the image of a troika bird flying into the future: “Oh, troika! bird troika, who invented you? to know that you could only be born among a lively people, in that land that does not like to joke, but spread out evenly to half the world.

Isn't it so, Rus, that a brisk, undefeated troika is rushing about? .. and all inspired by God is rushing! .. Russia, where are you rushing to? Give an answer. It does not give an answer ... everything that is on earth flies past ... and other peoples and states give it way.

Literature

Answer to ticket number 12

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

1. The main conflict of the poem by N.V. Gogol's Dead Souls.

2. Characteristics of various types of landlords. Souls of the Dead:

Sobakevich;

box;

3. The image of Chichikov.

4. Living souls - the embodiment of the talent of the people.

5. The moral degradation of the people is the result of the moral emptiness of society.

1. The pinnacle of creativity N.V. Gogol became the poem "Dead Souls". Starting to create his grandiose work, he wrote to Zhukovsky that “all Russia will appear in it!”. At the basis of the conflict of the poem, Gogol put the main contradiction of contemporary reality between the gigantic spiritual forces of the people and their bondage. Realizing this conflict, he turned to the most pressing problems of that period: the state of the landlord economy, the moral character of the local and bureaucratic nobility, the relationship of the peasantry with the authorities, the fate of the people in Russia. In Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" a whole gallery of moral monsters, types that have become common names, is displayed. Gogol consistently depicts officials, landowners and the main character of Chichikov's poem. The plot of the poem is built as a story of the adventures of Chichikov, an official who buys up “dead souls”.

2. Almost half of the first volume of the poem is devoted to the characteristics of various types of Russian landowners. Gogol creates five characters, five portraits that are so different from each other, and at the same time, typical features of a Russian landowner appear in each of them. The images of the landowners whom Chichikov visits are presented in contrast in the poem, since they carry various vices. One after another, each spiritually more insignificant than the previous one, the owners of the estates follow in the work: Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin. If Manilov is sentimental and sweet to the point of cloying, then Sobakevich is straightforward and rude. Their views on life are polar: for Manilov, everyone around them is beautiful, for Sobakevich they are robbers and swindlers. Manilov shows no real concern for the welfare of the peasants, for the welfare of the family; he entrusted all management to the rogue clerk, who ruins both the peasants and the landowner. But Sobakevich is a strong owner, ready for any scam for the sake of profit. Manilov is a careless dreamer, Sobakevich is a cynical fist-burner. Korobochka's heartlessness is manifested in petty hoarding; the only thing that worries her is the price of hemp, honey; “not to sell too cheap” and when selling dead souls. Korobochka reminds Sobakevich of stinginess, passion for profit, although the stupidity of the “clubhead” brings these qualities to a comical limit. The “hoarders”, Sobakevich and Korobochka, are opposed by the “squanderers” - Nozdrev and Plyushkin. Nozdryov is a desperate wast and reveler, a devastator and destroyer of the economy. His energy turned into a scandalous fuss, aimless and destructive.

If Nozdryov let his entire fortune go to the wind, then Plyushkin turned his own into one appearance. Gogol shows the last line to which the mortification of the soul can lead a person using the example of Plyushkin, whose image completes the gallery of landowners. This hero is no longer so much ridiculous as scary and pathetic, because, unlike previous characters, he loses not only spirituality, but also his human appearance. Chichikov, seeing him, wonders for a long time whether this is a man or a woman, and, finally, decides that the housekeeper is in front of him. Meanwhile, this is a landowner, the owner of more than a thousand souls and huge storerooms. True, in these pantries bread rots, flour turns into stone, cloth and canvas into dust. A no less terrible picture appears to the eye in the manor house, where everything is covered with dust and cobwebs, and in the corner of the room “a pile of things that are coarser and unworthy to lie on the tables are piled up. It was difficult to decide what exactly was in this heap”, just as it was difficult “to get to the bottom of what was concocted ... dressing gown” of the owner. How did it happen that a rich, educated man, a nobleman turned into a “hole in humanity”? To answer this question. Gogol refers to the hero's past. (He writes about the rest of the landowners as about already formed types.) The writer very accurately traces the degradation of a person, and the reader understands that a person is not born a monster, but becomes one. So this soul could live! But Gogol notices that over time a person submits himself to the laws prevailing in society and betrays the ideals of youth.

3. Gogol shows the reason for the mortification of the human soul by the example of the formation of the character of the main character - Chichikov. A bleak childhood, devoid of parental love and affection, service and an example of bribe-taking officials - these factors formed a scoundrel who is like his entire environment. But he turned out to be more greedy in his striving for acquisition than Korobochka, more callous than Sobakevich and more insolent than Nozdryov in the means of enrichment. In the final chapter, supplementing Chichikov's biography, he is finally exposed as a clever predator, acquirer and entrepreneur of the bourgeois warehouse, a civilized scoundrel, the master of life. But Chichikov, differing from the landlords in entrepreneurial spirit, is also a "dead" soul. The "shining joy" of life is inaccessible to him. The happiness of a “decent person” Chichikov is based on money. Calculation ousted all human feelings from him and made him a “dead” soul. Gogol shows the appearance in Russian life of a new man who has neither a noble family, nor a title, nor an estate, but who, at the cost of his own efforts, thanks to his mind and resourcefulness, is trying to make a fortune for himself. His ideal is a penny; marriage is conceived by him as a bargain. His passions and tastes are purely material. Having quickly guessed the person, he knows how to approach everyone in a special way, subtly calculating his moves. The inner diversity, elusiveness is also emphasized by his appearance, described by Gogol in vague terms: “A gentleman was sitting in the britzka, neither too fat nor too thin, one cannot say that he was old, but not so that he was too young.” Gogol was able to discern in his contemporary society the individual features of the emerging type and brought them together in the image of Chichikov. The officials of the city of NN are even more impersonal than the landowners. Their deadness is shown in the ball scene: people are not visible, muslins, atlases, muslins, hats, tailcoats, uniforms, shoulders, necks, ribbons are everywhere. The whole interest of life is concentrated on gossip, gossip, petty vanity, envy. They differ from each other only in the size of the bribe; all idlers, they have no interests, these are also “dead” souls.

4. But behind the “dead” souls of Chichikov, officials and landowners, Gogol discerned the living souls of the peasants, the strength of the national character. In the words of A. I. Herzen, in Gogol's poem, "behind dead souls - living souls" appear. The talent of the people is revealed in the dexterity of the coachman Mikheev, the shoemaker Telyatnikov, the bricklayer Milushkin, the carpenter Stepan Cork. The strength and sharpness of the people's mind were reflected in the glibness and accuracy of the Russian word, the depth and integrity of the Russian feeling - in the sincerity of the Russian song, the breadth and generosity of the soul - in the brightness and unrestrained fun of folk holidays. Unlimited dependence on the usurper power of the landlords, who doom the peasants to forced, exhausting labor, to hopeless ignorance, gives rise to stupid Mityaev and Minyaev, downtrodden Proshek and Pelageya, who do not know “where is right, where is left”, submissive, lazy, depraved Petrushki and Selifanov. Gogol sees how high and good qualities are distorted in the realm of “dead” souls, how peasants die, driven to despair, rushing into any risky business, just to get out of serfdom.

Not finding the truth from the supreme power, Captain Kopeikin, helping himself, becomes the ataman of the robbers. "The Tale of Captain Kopeikin" reminds the authorities of the threat of a revolutionary uprising in Russia.

5. Serfdom death destroys the good inclinations in a person, destroys the people. Against the backdrop of the majestic, boundless expanses of Russia, the real pictures of Russian life seem especially bitter. Depicting in the poem Russia “from one side” in its negative essence, in “stunning pictures of triumphant evil and suffering hatred”, Gogol once again convinces that in his time “it is impossible to otherwise direct society or even the whole generation towards beauty, until you show all the depth of his true abomination.”

“This son of mine was dead” (Luke 15:22), says the Gospel about prodigal son. Mortification of this kind is an invisible but undeniable spiritual death. This is coldness to faith and complete indifference to one's afterlife.

Just as pain is no longer felt in a paralyzed hand, so in such a soul there is no longer sympathy for anything spiritual. This condition is the result of a long carefree life. Careless, however, about its one spiritual side: about the soul, about eternity, about God, but at the same time unusually caring about its material part.

Therefore, at a young age, as a rule, there is no necrosis of the soul. It is characteristic of the elderly and even the old. It is perfectly combined with the gentleness of character and with a life impeccable in appearance, it is reconciled with any rank, and even a spiritual one. Deadness is a coldness already assimilated by the soul, a constant quality of the soul.

For example, a person is persuaded, advised, they prove the benefits of faith in God, they are called to pray, confess, take communion; he listens, but as if he does not understand anything, does not contradict and does not even get angry, but simply does not seem to hear. Such a person, finding only emptiness in himself, lives entirely outside himself, in external, created things.

All the forces of his soul are turned only to the sinful, earthly, or at least to the vain. The mind is occupied with much knowledge, much reading, curiosity; the emptiness of the heart is filled with worldly and secular entertainments, worries about material things and other objects that delight his senses. The emptiness of the will is filled with many desires and striving for the vain.

But most of all it is worthy of regret that such a person does not see the fatality of his spiritual state, does not feel any danger, does not worry about the responsibility for his sins. He does not even think about the need to change his life. It often happens that those who are dead in spirit, but not obviously vicious, revere themselves and are revered sinless from others like them.

To get out of this extremely dangerous state, a person often needs a strong shock, intimidation and tenderness of the heart. To be touched by the heart means to have pity on oneself in view of the terrible fate beyond the grave that awaits an unrepentant sinner.

Also, a cold heart will be warmed if a person begins to read the Gospel often, pray fervently, and meditate on the torments beyond the grave. But chronic diseases are not quickly and easily cured. Similarly, from the insensitivity of the soul to everything divine, one can be healed only after a considerable time has passed.

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On the topic “The problem of the necrosis of the human soul in the works of Russian writers of the 19th century”, one can use the example of the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls", the novel by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, stories by A.P. Chekhov, among which this topic is most fully revealed in the story "Ionych". We offer you a detailed statement on "Dead Souls" by N.V. Gogol, which can be used as the basis of your essay.

Dead and living souls in N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls"

Gogol himself defined his art world like this: “And for a long time it was determined for me by a wonderful power to go hand in hand with my strange heroes, to look around at all the enormously rushing life, look at it through laughter visible to the world and invisible, unknown to it tears.”

Indeed, strange characters in the poem. If N.V. Gogol points in the title to the existence of "dead souls", which means that there are living ones in the work ...

Who is who? Who can be called truly dead and who truly alive? The question is not idle. Especially if we take into account that the poem "Dead Souls" is perceived by Gogol not just as piece of art, but as a book of life, almost a new Gospel, which should change both Russia, and humanity, and himself!

The phrase "dead souls" is ambiguous (there is a lot of readers' guesses, scientific disputes and studies).

The origins of the name are seen in the Gospel - in the thought of the Apostle Paul about eternal life in Christ. (And rightly so).

Researchers have found the phrase "dead soul" and on the pages of literature contemporary to Gogol in the meanings: "the soul of a great sinner, a devastated soul, incapable of love, devoid of hope ...". It is difficult to disagree with such a definition.

There is a direct and obvious meaning arising from the history of the work itself. Since the times of Peter the Great, revisions (checks) of the number of serfs were carried out in Russia every 12-18 years, since the landowner was obliged to pay the government a "capitation" tax for male peasants (for each male soul - the "soul" of the breadwinner of the family). As a result of the revision, revision "tales" (lists) were compiled. If in the period from revision to revision a peasant died, he was still listed on the lists and the landowner paid tax for him - until the lists were compiled.

These are the dead, but considered alive, the swindler-dealer Chichikov decided to buy them on the cheap.

What was the benefit here?

It turns out that the peasants could be pledged to the board of trustees (in the bank), i.e. get money for every dead soul.

So, it is obvious that the “dead soul” is a peasant who has died, but exists in a paper, bureaucratic “guise”, and has become the subject of speculation.

But everything is not so simple in the plot of the poem! In fact, the dead come to life before our eyes and look more alive than other actors. An interesting observation? Certainly! Depicted more or less completely on the pages of the poem, landowners, officials, their wives, innkeepers?! What kind of souls are they? By their appearance, by their extraordinary mobility, they are quite alive. But in fact?

One after another, each spiritually more insignificant than the previous one, the owners of the estates follow in the work: Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdryov, Sobakevich, Plyushkin. Typical Russian landowners.

Manilov is a "knight of the void", a non-objective dreamer, cut off from real life. Sentimental to the point of cloying. For Manilov, everyone around is beautiful. He does not show concern for his serfs, entrusted everything to the clerk, who ruins both the peasants and the landowner himself. He does not know how many peasants have died. There are many flaws in the estate. Everywhere only a claim to sophistication. Why is there an inscription on the gazebo - "Temple of solitary reflection." A book has been lying in the office for two years, opened to page 14. On the windowsill in beautiful rows - ashes from a smoking pipe. Chichikov quickly manages to convince Manilov of the legitimacy of the "gegotion" (deal). "The law... I am dumb before the law." In order to please his “unexpected dear friend”, Chichikov, he not only gives dead souls, but also takes upon himself the execution of the bill of sale. And in the city, he solemnly hands the “future Kherson landowner” papers rolled into a tube and tied with a pink ribbon.

The box, which Chichikov happened to have by chance, is a different kind of landowner. Surname "speaking". She has a "good village" and "abundant farming". She doesn't care about anything other than profit. During the auction, she brought Chichikov to exhaustion: she was afraid to sell too cheap. After all, she never sold such a product. And I did not feel fear of sin! Chichikov calls "clubhead". The landowner turned out to be a strong breaker.

After the departure of an unexpected guest, she went to the city to find out at what price the “goods” go. Not a glimpse of the mind, soul, heart! .. In a word - a hoarder.

Nozdryov - "scandal knight", lover of revelry, card games. At 35, the same as at 18. Lack of development is a sign of the inanimate. He is a "historical man": "wherever he was, everywhere he could not do without history." Reveled, changed, liar, scammer. Dog lover. Gogol gives a deadly detail, characterizing the landowner. “Nozdryov was among absolutely like a father among the family” ... he had one passion - to spoil his neighbor. After an offer to sell dead souls, he began to blackmail Chichikov. He was saved by an accident: the captain - police officer came to arrest Nozdryov. The cheerful dirty trickster once again "suffered" for robbery.

The landowner Sobakevich had everything gigantic in size: a house, peasant huts, furniture. Yes, and he himself looked like a medium-sized bear: he wore a brown frock coat and constantly stepped on other people's feet. And his name was Mikhail Semyonovich. He calls all officials and landowners swindlers. He performs his "feats" only at the dinner table. “When I have pork - put the whole pig on the table, lamb - drag the whole ram, goose - just the goose!” Chichikov's request for the sale of dead souls did not cause him either surprise or fear. He instantly assessed the situation and said: stu a piece!" And he bargained with Chichikov for a long time. He paid the highest price to Sobakevich - two and a half. And in the Board of Trustees, he could receive 200 rubles for each “soul”, i.e. 80 times more. He squeezed money out of Chichikov for the dead, as for the living. "Fist" and "beast" calls the landowner Chichikov.

In the dictionary of V.I. Dalia, the word "fist" is a miser, a deceitful merchant, a tight-fisted businessman. Gogol emphasizes his "lifeless", "wooden" essence. “... It seemed that there was no soul in this topic at all, or he had one, but not at all where it should be.” The meaning of Sobakevich's life is profit.

There is a commandment in the Gospel that Jesus called the main one. It is simple: love for God is alive only in love for man. The word "love" is not applicable to Sobakevich.

The gallery of landowners ends with the image of Plyushkin. The owner of a huge estate. He has over 1000 fortress souls. The estate is an “extinct place”, decay, dust. Only a garden that does not yield to the will of the “knight of stinginess” reminds of life here. A killer detail: on Plyushkin's desk is "a clock with a stopped pendulum, in which a spider has fitted ... a cobweb." (Time has stopped here). Plyushkin does not eat, does not drink, in constant worries: is it easy to rot from year to year such an abyss of goodness. He keeps his serfs starving, so they die like flies (to the delight of Chichikov!). and many have gone on the run. It should be said that in his youth he was only a thrifty master. After the death of his wife, he gradually turned into a miser, broke with his own children, did not show mercy, did not give anything from the inheritance! This is the limit of human fall! A lyrical digression sounds like a hot warning in this chapter: “And a person could descend to such insignificance, pettiness! could change like that… “Take it with you on the road, leaving the soft youthful years in severe hardening courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you will not pick them up later.

By all definitions, “not revisionists are dead souls, but all these Nozdryovs, Manilovs and the like are dead souls, and we meet them at every step. I fully agree with the opinion of A.I. Herzen.

Dead souls and mercenary officials led by the governor, who likes to embroider on tulle, his subordinates, bribe-takers and embezzlers. Gogol writes sarcastically about the prosecutor who, without looking, signed papers for "the right people."

And only when he died (And death came from fright caused by rumors about Chichikov), people found out that he definitely had a soul. Before that, the soul was not noticed in him.

“The “Kherson landowner” himself, who bought dead souls goes. (Why not buy the dead when they sell the living too.) - a dead soul, "knight of a penny." His life is the pursuit of a golden mirage. He became a worthy son of his father, who bequeathed to value a penny above friendship and love.

In the poem, not only the denial of the Russia of the Sobakeviches and the Plyushkins, but also the affirmation of the Russia of the Russian people. Behind the terrible world of landlords and officials, Gogol discerned living Russia. Not without flaws and vices.

And the most interesting thing is that the dead revision souls turn out to be truly alive.

“Here is the coachman Mikheev! after all, he didn’t make any more crews, as soon as spring ones. And it’s not like Moscow work happens, which is for one hour, - such strength, it will beat itself and cover it with varnish. ”

“And Cork Stepan, the carpenter? After all, what a force it was! Serve him in the guards, God knows what they gave him, three arshins with a verst in height!

Milushkin, bricklayer! could put a stove in any house.

“Maxim Telyatnikov, shoemaker: what pricks with an awl, then boots, that boots, then thanks” ...

The image of the Russian people, their suffering soul runs through the entire poem. The breadth of the soul, sincere kindness, heroic prowess, sensitivity to a striking apt word, a wide expanse song - this is the true soul of a Russian person. folk soul- This is a trinity bird that knows no barriers.

But that's not all.

N.V. Gogol believed that any person who has fallen and sinful can and should be reborn to a worthy life, realizing his spiritual fall. It is no coincidence that he wrote in a note relating to last days his life: Be not dead souls, but living ones ... "

A.L. Murzina, honored teacher of Kaz. SSR, teacher-methodologist of NP secondary school "Lyceum "Capital"