The main idea is the Gogol overcoat. Gogol, "The Overcoat": analysis of the work. New overcoat and its theft

The entire progress of the task can be divided into several sub-items:

1. It is necessary to recall the content of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol's story "The Overcoat".
2. Try to understand what the author wants to convey to his reader.
3. Go directly to the search for the main artistic idea of ​​the story "The Overcoat".

So let's get started.

Let's remember the plot of the work

Main character- Bashmachkin Akaki Akakievich, an ordinary working person, of which there are a great many. He didn’t have much friends, nor a wife or children. He lived only for his work, and although the work was not solid, it consisted of simple rewriting of texts, for Akaki it was everything. Even at the end of the working day, the main character took the papers home and continued to rewrite. For a very long time, Akaki collected money to purchase a new overcoat, with the thought that this purchase would change the attitude of those around him and his colleagues. And finally, having accumulated a large sum, the hero buys the desired item, but, unfortunately, his happiness did not last long. Returning home late at night, the hero was robbed. Along with the overcoat, the meaning of Akaki Akakievich’s life disappeared, because he could not earn another one. Returning home without his overcoat, the hero froze, which subsequently led to his death.

We display the topic

From the content it is clear that the work touches on the theme of a little man. A person on whom nothing depends. He is like a cog in a huge mechanism, without which the mechanism will not stop working. No one will even notice his disappearance. No one needs him or is interested in him, although he tries his best to attract attention to himself, all his efforts remain in vain.

The main artistic idea of ​​the work

Gogol shows that for everyone, only appearance person. Personal qualities and inner world are of no interest to anyone. The main thing is what kind of “overcoat” you have. For Nikolai Vasilyevich himself, your rank does not matter; he does not look at whether your overcoat is new or old. What matters to him is what lies inside, spiritual world hero. This is precisely the main artistic idea of ​​the work.

The idea for the story “The Overcoat” arose from N.V. Gogol under the influence of a story told to him real story. One poor official had been saving money for a very expensive gun for a long time. Having bought it and gone hunting, the official did not notice how the priceless purchase slipped off the boat into the river. The shock of the loss was so strong that the unlucky hunter became seriously ill. The official’s health began to improve only after his friends chipped in and bought him exactly the same gun.

Gogol took this funny incident very seriously. He knew firsthand about the hard life of poor officials. In the first years of his service in St. Petersburg, the writer himself “spent the whole winter in a summer overcoat.”

By uniting main idea from the story of an official with his own memories, in 1839 Gogol began work on “The Overcoat.” The story was completed in early 1841 and first published a year later.

Meaning of the name

The overcoat in the story is not just a piece of clothing. She practically becomes one of the heroes of the work. Not only the happiness of poor Akaki Akakievich, but even his life turns out to be dependent on an ordinary overcoat.

The main theme of the story is the plight of petty officials.

The main character Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin evokes genuine pity for himself. All life path was destined for him from birth. At baptism, the child made such a face, “as if he had a presentiment that there would be a titular councilor.”

Akaki Akakievich is just a cog in a huge bureaucratic machine. The job of an official consists of primitive copying of documents. Akakiy Akakievich is not capable of more.

The authorities treat Bashmachkin “coldly and despotically.” In addition, he serves as a constant target for jokes from his colleagues. Akaki Akakievich does not react to ridicule in any way. Only in extreme cases does he plaintively ask: “Leave me, why are you offending me?”

In the eyes of those around him, Bashmachkin’s life is boring and colorless. Although the official himself sees a “varied and pleasant world” in his copying of papers. Akaki Akakievich does not even notice anything around him, completely immersing himself in his monotonous work.

Bashmachkin is brought out of a state of detachment by the “strong enemy” of all minor officials - the Russian frost. Akakiy Akakievich realizes with horror that buying a new overcoat is a dire necessity. The required amount could only be accumulated through the most severe savings and limiting expenses. This led Bashmachkin to an even more disastrous financial situation, but, on the other hand, it gave him the first real goal in his life.

Dreaming of a new overcoat, Akaki Akakievich seemed to be born again: “he somehow became more lively, even stronger in character.” “Fire sometimes appeared in the eyes” of the humble titular councilor.

The long-awaited fulfillment of a dream became the most significant event in the life of Akaki Akakievich - “a big solemn holiday" Thanks to an ordinary overcoat, he felt like a different person and even agreed to go to a colleague’s birthday, which he had never done.

Akaki Akakievich's bliss did not last long. Having been attacked at night and deprived of his fulfilled dream, he fell into despair. Efforts to find the criminal did not help. The only remedy was the help of one " significant person" However harsh reception, given to Bashmachkin by the general, killed his last hope. “Proper scolding” led to fever and quick death.

The figure of the titular councilor was so insignificant that at the service they learned about his funeral only on the fourth day. Replacing the position with another official was completely painless for the work of the institution.

Issues

The main problem of the story is that in Gogol’s era a huge number of people were the same Akaki Akakievichs. Their lives passed without a trace and were of no value. For any higher official, Akaki Akakievich is not even a person, but a submissive and defenseless executor of orders.

The bureaucratic system gives rise to a callous attitude towards people. A striking example is “significant person”. “Compassion was... not alien to this man,” but the position he holds kills the best feelings in him. Upon learning of the death of the poor petitioner, the general experiences remorse, but it quickly passes. The ending of the story with the appearance of the ghost of the official emphasizes that in real life the death of Akaki Akakievich would not have affected the established order in any way.

Composition

The story is the life story of the official Bashmachkin, the main event in which was the purchase of a new overcoat. The end of the work is the fantastic revenge of the deceased titular adviser.

What the author teaches

Gogol knew from his own experience what a negative impact his cramped financial situation has on a person. He calls to pay attention to downtrodden and humiliated people, to take pity on them and try to help, because their lives may depend on it.

He became the most mysterious Russian writer. In this article we will look at the analysis of the story “The Overcoat” by Nikolai Gogol, trying to penetrate into the subtle intricacies of the plot, and Gogol is a master at building such plots. Don't forget that you can also read a summary of the story "The Overcoat".

The story "The Overcoat" is a story about one "little man" named Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin. He served as the simplest copyist in an unremarkable county town, in the office. However, the reader can think about what the meaning of a person’s life might be, and a thoughtful approach cannot be done here, which is why we are analyzing the story “The Overcoat.”

The main character of "The Overcoat"

So, the main character Akakiy Bashmachkin was a “little man.” This concept is widely used in Russian literature. However, what attracts more attention is his character, way of life, values ​​and attitude. He doesn't need anything. He looks distantly at what is happening around him, there is emptiness inside him, and in fact, his slogan in life is: “Please leave me alone.” Are there such people today? All around. And they are not interested in the reaction of others, they care little about who thinks what about them. But is this right?

For example, Akakiy Bashmachkin. He often hears ridicule from fellow officials. They make fun of him, saying offensive words and competing in wits. Sometimes Bashmachkin will remain silent, and sometimes, looking up, he will answer: “Why is that?” Analyzing this side of "The Overcoat", the problem of social tension becomes visible.

Bashmachkin's character

Akaki passionately loved his work, and this was the main thing in his life. He was busy copying documents, and his work could always be called neat, clean, and done with diligence. What did this petty official do at home in the evenings? After dinner at home, having returned from work, Akaki Akakievich walked back and forth around the room, slowly living through long minutes and hours. Then he sank into a chair and throughout the evening he could be found writing regularly.

Analysis of Gogol's story "The Overcoat" includes an important conclusion: when the meaning of a person's life is in work, it is petty and joyless. Here is further confirmation of this idea.

Then, after such leisure time, Bashmachkin goes to bed, but what are his thoughts about in bed? About what he will copy at the office tomorrow. He thought about it, and it made him happy. The meaning of life for this official, who was a “little man” and was already in his sixth decade, was the most primitive: take paper, dip a pen in an inkwell and write endlessly - carefully and diligently. However, another goal in Akaki’s life nevertheless appeared.

Other details of the analysis of the story "The Overcoat"

Akakiy had a very small salary in the service. He was paid thirty-six rubles a month, and almost all of it went towards food and housing. A harsh winter has come - an icy wind blew and frost struck. And Bashmachkin wears worn-out clothes that cannot keep him warm on a frosty day. Here Nikolai Gogol very accurately describes the situation of Akaki, his old shabby overcoat, and the actions of the official.

Akaki Akakievich decides to go to the workshop to repair his overcoat. He asks the tailor to fill the holes, but he announces that the overcoat cannot be repaired, and there is only one way out - to buy a new one. For this thing, porno calls a gigantic amount (for Akaki) - eighty rubles. Bashmachkin doesn’t have that kind of money; he’ll have to save it, and to do this he’ll have to enter a very economical lifestyle. Doing the analysis here, you might think why this " small man"goes to such extremes: he stops drinking tea in the evenings, once again does not give the laundry to the laundress, walks so that his shoes are washed less... Is it really all for the sake of a new overcoat, which he will then lose? But this is his new joy in life, his Gogol is trying to encourage the reader to think about what is most important in life, what to give priority to.

conclusions

We briefly reviewed the plot incompletely, but isolated from it only those details that are needed in order to make a clear analysis of the story “The Overcoat”. The main character is spiritually and physically untenable. He does not strive for the best, his condition is poor, he is not a person. After another goal appears in life, other than rewriting papers, he seems to change. Now Akaki is focused on buying an overcoat.

Gogol shows us the other side. How callously and unfairly those around Bashmachkin treat him. He endures ridicule and bullying. On top of everything else, the meaning of his life disappears after Akakiy’s new overcoat is taken away. He is deprived of his last joy, again Bashmachkin is sad and lonely.

Here, during the analysis, Gogol’s goal is visible - to show the harsh truth of that time. The “little people” were destined to suffer and die; no one needed them and were uninteresting. Just like the death of the Shoemaker was not of interest to those around him and those who could help him.

You read brief analysis the story "The Overcoat" by Nikolai Gogol. In our literary blog you will find many articles on various topics, including analyzes of works.

Description of the presentation by individual slides:

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Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, who left a mystical mark on Russian literature, is “the most mysterious figure in Russian literature". To this day, the writer’s works cause controversy.

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“The Overcoat,” which was included in the cycle of “Petersburg Tales,” in the original editions was of a humorous nature, because it appeared thanks to an anecdote.

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One day Gogol heard an anecdote about a poor official: he was a passionate hunter and saved enough money to buy a good gun, saving on everything and working hard in his position. When he first went hunting for ducks on a boat, the gun got caught in dense thickets of reeds and sank. He could not find him and, returning home, fell ill with a fever. His comrades, having learned about this, bought him a new gun, which brought him back to life, but later he recalled this incident with a deathly pallor on his face. Everyone laughed at the joke, but Gogol went away deep in thought: it was that evening that the idea of ​​a future story arose in his head.

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The first draft of the story was called “The Tale of an Official Stealing an Overcoat.” The official's last name was Tishkevich. In 1842, Gogol completed the story and changed the hero's surname. It is published, completing the cycle of “Petersburg Tales”. This cycle includes the stories: “Nevsky Prospekt”, “The Nose”, “Portrait”, “The Stroller”, “Notes of a Madman” and “The Overcoat”.

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The writer worked on the cycle between 1835 and 1842. The stories are united based on a common place of events - St. Petersburg. Gogol was attracted to petty officials, artisans, and poor artists - “little people.” It was no coincidence that St. Petersburg was chosen by the writer; it was this stone city that was especially indifferent and merciless to the “little man.”

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Genre, creative method The genre of “The Overcoat” is defined as a story, although its volume does not exceed twenty pages. It received its specific name not so much for its volume as for its enormous semantic richness, which is not found in every novel. The meaning of the work is revealed only by compositional and stylistic techniques with the extreme simplicity of the plot. Simple story about a poor official who invested all his money and soul into a new overcoat, after the theft of which he dies, under the pen of Gogol found a mystical denouement and turned into a colorful parable with enormous philosophical overtones. "Overcoat" is beautiful piece of art, revealing eternal problems existences that will not be translated either in life or in literature as long as humanity exists.

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It is difficult to call the story realistic: the story of the stolen overcoat, according to Gogol, “unexpectedly takes on a fantastic ending.” The ghost, in whom the deceased Akaki Akakievich was recognized, tore off everyone’s greatcoat, “without discerning rank and title.” Thus, the ending of the story turned it into a phantasmagoria.

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Topics The story raises social, ethical, religious and aesthetic problems. Public interpretation emphasized the social side of “The Overcoat.” The ethical or humanistic interpretation was built on the pitiful moments of “The Overcoat”, the call for generosity and equality, which was heard in Akaki Akakievich’s weak protest against office jokes: “Leave me alone, why are you offending me?” - and in these penetrating words other words rang: “I am your brother.” Finally, the aesthetic principle, which came to the fore in the works of the 20th century, focused mainly on the form of the story as the focus of its artistic value.

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The idea “Why depict the poverty and imperfections of our life, digging people out of life, the remote corners of the state?... no, there is a time when otherwise it is impossible to direct society and even a generation towards the beautiful until you show the full depth of its real abomination,” wrote N.V. Gogol, and in his words lies the key to understanding the story.

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The author showed the “depth of abomination” of society through the fate of the main character of the story - Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin. His image has two sides. The first is spiritual and physical squalor, which Gogol deliberately emphasizes and brings to the fore. The second is the arbitrariness and heartlessness of others towards the main character of the story. The relationship between the first and second determines the humanistic pathos of the work: even a person like Akaki Akakievich has the right to exist and be treated fairly. Gogol sympathizes with the fate of his hero. And it makes the reader involuntarily think about the attitude towards the entire world around him, and, first of all, about the sense of dignity and respect that every person should arouse towards himself, regardless of his social and financial status, but only taking into account his personal qualities and merits.

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The nature of the conflict The basis of N.V.’s plan Gogol lies in the conflict between the “little man” and society, a conflict leading to rebellion, to the uprising of the humble. The story “The Overcoat” describes not only an incident from the hero’s life. The whole life of a person appears before us: we are present at his birth, the naming of his name, we learn how he served, why he needed an overcoat and, finally, how he died. The life story of the “little man”, his inner world, his feelings and experiences, depicted by Gogol not only in “The Overcoat”, but also in other stories of the “Petersburg Tales” series, firmly entered into Russian literature of the 19th century century.

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The main characters The hero of the story is Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, a petty official of one of the St. Petersburg departments, a humiliated and powerless man “of short stature, somewhat pockmarked, somewhat reddish, somewhat even blind in appearance, with a small bald spot on his forehead, with wrinkles on both sides of his cheeks.” The hero of Gogol's story is offended by fate in everything, but he does not complain: he is already over fifty, he has not gone beyond copying papers, has not risen to a rank above the titular one. Bashmachkin has neither family nor friends, he does not go to the theater or to visit. All his “spiritual” needs are satisfied by copying papers. Nobody considers him to be a person. Bashmachkin did not answer a single word to his offenders, did not even stop working and did not make mistakes in the letter. All his life Akaki Akakievich serves in the same place, in the same position; His salary is meager - 400 rubles. per year, the uniform has long been no longer green, but a reddish flour color; Colleagues call an overcoat worn to holes a hood.

Heroes and images of the story “The Overcoat”

• old overcoat- a modest person without ambitions;
• new- a happy and proactive person;
• general's- a furious, terrible, domineering spirit.

Important! The story also reveals the image of St. Petersburg. Gogol describes it here as a cold, cruel, dirty, dangerous and dark city.

Composition of the work

Themes

• Small man- a leading theme that describes a simple person without special talents or pretensions, whose interests and troubles do not concern anyone.
• Real and fantastic - pHaving received mystical powers after death, Bashmachkin was at least somehow able to stand up for himself.
• Immorality- revealed through the images of higher officials who do not care about anyone, including their family. They want to have fun on the side and force their subordinates to grovel.
• The absurdity of the state structure- is revealed through the search for the overcoat. No one is going to look for the stolen clothes, but the entire police force has been ordered to catch the ghost.

Issues

• Lack of humanism. All the characters described are selfish and cowardly, and do not empathize with their colleague at all. The same Akaki Akakievich has no goal in life, he was not interested in art, did not strive to acquire new knowledge. All of them are interested only in material values.
• Indifference. Everyone remains indifferent to the hero’s problem, and the general does his best to stifle any glimmers of empathy within himself.
• Social inequality. The huge gap between the titular adviser and the general puts them in different positions: the subordinate is speechless from fear, and the leader, without hesitation, humiliates him.