Plushkin Stepan
- the fifth, and last, of the "series" of landowners, to whom Chichikov addresses with a proposal to sell him dead souls. In a kind of negative hierarchy of landowner types, bred in the poem, this mean old man (he is in his seventies) occupies both the lowest and the highest step at the same time. His image represents complete necrosis. human soul, the almost complete death of a strong and bright personality, completely absorbed by the passion of stinginess - but that is precisely why it is able to resurrect and be transformed. (Below P., of the characters in the poem, only Chichikov himself “fell”, but for him the possibility of an even more grandiose “correction” is preserved by the author’s intention.)
This dual, "negative-positive" nature of the image of P. is indicated in advance by the finale of the 5th chapter; having learned from Sobakevich that a stingy landowner lives in the neighborhood, whose peasants are "dying like flies", Chichikov tries to find out the way to him from a passing peasant; he does not know any P., but guesses about whom in question: "Ah, patched!" This nickname is humiliating, - but the author (in accordance with the through technique " dead souls”) from satire instantly passes to lyrical pathos; admiring accuracy popular word, gives praise to the Russian mind and, as it were, moves from the space of a moralistic novel to the space of an epic poem “like the Iliad”.
But the closer Chichikov is to P.'s house, the more disturbing the author's intonation; suddenly - and as if for no reason at all - the author compares himself as a child with his current self, his then enthusiasm - with the current "coolness" of his gaze. "Oh my youth! O my freshness! It is clear that this passage equally applies to the author - and to the "dead" hero, whose meeting the reader will have to meet. And this involuntary rapprochement of the “unpleasant” character with the author in advance removes the image of P. from that series of “literary and theatrical” misers, with an eye on whom he is written, and distinguishes him from the stingy characters of picaresque novels, and from the greedy landowners of the moralistic epic, and from Harpagon from Molière's comedy "The Miser" (Harpagon has the same as P.'s, a tear lower his back), bringing him closer, on the contrary, to the Baron from " of the miserly knight» Pushkin and Balzac's Gobseck.
The description of the Plyushkin estate allegorically depicts the desolation - and at the same time the "littering" of his soul, which "does not grow rich in God." The entrance is dilapidated - the logs are pressed in like piano keys; everywhere special dilapidation, roofs like a sieve; the windows are covered with rags. At Sobakevich they were boarded up at least for the sake of economy, but here - solely because of the "devastation". Behind the huts one can see huge stacks of stale bread, similar in color to scorched bricks. As in a dark, “mirror-like” world, everything here is lifeless - even two churches, which should form the semantic center of the landscape. One of them, wooden, was empty; the other, stone, all cracked. a little later image of the empty church will metaphorically echo in the words of P., who regrets that the priest will not say a “word” against the universal love of money: “You cannot stand against the word of God!” (Traditional for Gogol, the motif of a "dead" attitude to the Word of Life.) The master's house, "this strange castle," is located in the middle of a cabbage garden. "Plyushkin" space cannot be captured with a single glance, it seems to fall apart into details and fragments - one part will open to Chichikov's gaze, then another; even the house - in some places on one floor, in some places on two. Symmetry, wholeness, balance began to disappear already in the description of Sobakevich's estate; here this "process" goes in breadth and depth. All this reflects the "segmentation" of the consciousness of the owner, who forgot about the main thing and focused on the third. For a long time he no longer knows how much, where and what is produced in his vast and ruined economy - but he keeps an eye on the level of the old liquor in the decanter: has anyone drunk.
The desolation "benefited" only Plyushkin's garden, which, starting near master's house, disappears in the field. Everything else died, deadened, as in a Gothic novel, which is reminiscent of the comparison of Plyushkin's house with a castle. It’s like Noah’s ark, inside which the flood occurred (it’s no coincidence that almost all the details of the description, like in the ark, have their own “pair” - there are two churches, two gazebos, two windows, one of which, however, is sealed with a triangle of blue sugar paper ; P. had two blond daughters, etc.). The dilapidation of his world is akin to the dilapidation of the "antediluvian" world, which perished from passions. And P. himself is the failed “forefather” Noah, who degenerated from a zealous owner into a hoarder and lost any definiteness of appearance and position.
Having met P. on the way to the house, Chichikov cannot understand who is in front of him - a woman or a peasant, a housekeeper or a housekeeper, "rarely shaving her beard"? Having learned that this "housekeeper" is a rich landowner, the owner of 1000 souls ("Ehva! And I'm the owner!"), Chichikov cannot get out of his stupor for twenty minutes. A portrait of P. (a long chin that has to be covered with a handkerchief so as not to spit; small, not yet extinct eyes run from under high eyebrows like mice; a greasy dressing gown has turned into yuft; "hero from the image of a wealthy landowner. But all this is not for the sake of "exposure", but only in order to recall the norm of "wise stinginess", from which P. tragically parted and to which he can still return.
Before, before the “fall”, P.’s gaze, like an industrious spider, “ran troublesomely, but quickly, along all ends of its economic web”; now the spider is entwining the pendulum of the stopped clock. Even the silver pocket watch that P. is going to give - and never gives - to Chichikov in gratitude for the "deliverance" of dead souls, and those are "spoiled." The toothpick, with which the owner, perhaps, picked his teeth even before the French invasion, also reminds of the past time (and not only of stinginess).
It seems that, having described the circle, the narrative returned to the point from which it began - the first of the “Chichikovsky” landowners, Manilov, lives out of time in the same way as the last of them, P. But there is no time in the world of Manilov and never was; he has lost nothing - he has nothing to return. P. had everything. This is the only hero of the poem, besides Chichikov himself, who has a biography, has a past; the present can do without the past, but without the past there is no way to the future. Before the death of his wife, P. was a diligent, experienced landowner; the daughters and son had a French teacher and a madam; however, after that, P. developed a "complex" of a widower, he became more suspicious and stingy. He took the next step away from the path of life determined for him by God after the secret flight of his eldest daughter, Alexandra Stepanovna, with the staff captain and the unauthorized assignment of his son to military service. (Even before the "flight" he considered the military gamblers and spendthrifts, but now he is completely hostile to military service.) Youngest daughter died; the son lost at cards; P.'s soul hardened completely; the "wolf hunger of stinginess" took possession of him. Even the buyers refused to deal with him - for he is a "demon" and not a man.
The return of the "prodigal daughter", whose life with the staff captain was not particularly satisfying (an obvious plot parody of the finale of Pushkin's " stationmaster”), reconciles P. with her, but does not relieve her of fatal greed. After playing with his grandson, P. did not give anything to Alexandra Stepanovna, and he dried up the Easter cake she presented on her second visit and is now trying to treat Chichikov with this cracker. (The detail is also not accidental; Easter cake is an Easter “meal”; Easter is the triumph of the Resurrection; having dried the cake, P., as it were, symbolically confirmed that his soul had become dead; but in itself, the fact that a piece of Easter cake, albeit moldy, is always kept by him , is associated with the theme of the possible "Easter" rebirth of his soul.)
Clever Chichikov, guessing the substitution that has taken place in P., appropriately "retools" his usual opening speech; just as in P. "virtue" is supplanted by "economy", and "rare properties of the soul" - by "order", so they are also replaced in Chichikov's "attack" to the theme of the dead shower. But the fact of the matter is that greed, not to the last limit, was able to take possession of the heart of P. Having made a bill of sale (Chichikov convinces the owner that he is ready to take on tax expenses on the dead "for your pleasure"; the list of the dead at the economic P. is already ready, it is unknown for what need), P. wonders who in the city could reassure her on his behalf, and remembers that the Chairman was his school friend. And this memory (here the course of the author's reflections at the beginning of the chapter is completely repeated) suddenly revives the hero: "... on this wooden face<...>expressed<...>pale reflection of feeling. Naturally, this is a random and instantaneous glimpse of life.
Therefore, when Chichikov, not only acquiring 120 dead souls, but also buying runaway ones for 27 kopecks. for the soul, leaves from P., the author describes a twilight landscape in which the shadow with the light “completely mixed up” - as in the unfortunate soul of P.
Plushkin: character history
Going for the souls of the dead peasants, main character poems " Dead Souls", did not even imagine with what bright personalities get acquainted. In all the variety of characters in the work, the miser and miser Stepan Plyushkin stands apart. The rest of the rich in literary work are shown statically, and this landowner has own history life.
History of creation
The idea that formed the basis of the work belongs to. Once a great Russian writer told Nikolai Gogol the story of a swindle that he heard during his exile in Chisinau. In the Moldovan city of Bendery last years only people of military ranks died, ordinary mortals were in no hurry to the next world. The strange phenomenon was explained simply - hundreds of fugitive peasants from the center of Russia fled to Bessarabia at the beginning of the 19th century, and during the investigation it turned out that the "passport data" of the dead were appropriated by the fugitives.
Gogol considered the idea ingenious and, on reflection, invented a plot in which the main actor became an enterprising person who enriched himself by selling "dead souls" to the Board of Trustees. The idea seemed interesting to him because it opened up the opportunity to create an epic work, to show through a scattering of characters all of Mother Russia, which the writer had long dreamed of.
Work on the poem started in 1835. While most Nikolai Vasilievich spent years abroad, trying to forget the scandal that erupted after the production of the play "The Government Inspector". According to the plan, the plot was to take three volumes, and in general the work was defined as comic, humorous.
However, neither one nor the other was destined to come true. The poem turned out to be gloomy, exposing all the vices of the country. The author burned the manuscript of the second book, but did not start the third one. Of course, in Moscow they flatly refused to print literary work, but the critic Vissarion Belinsky volunteered to help the writer, clapping before the St. Petersburg censors.
A miracle happened - the poem was allowed to be published, only on the condition that the title acquire a small addition to avert eyes from the raised serious problems: "The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls." In this form, in 1842, the poem went to the reader. Gogol's new work was again at the epicenter of the scandal, because the landowners and officials clearly saw their images in it.
Gogol hatched a brilliant idea - first he showed the shortcomings of Russian life, then he planned to describe the ways of resurrecting "dead souls". Some researchers associate the idea of the poem with " Divine Comedy”: the first volume is “hell”, the second is “purgatory”, and the third is “paradise”.
It is believed that Plyushkin was supposed to transform from a greedy old man into a wanderer-benefactor who tries in every possible way to help the poor. But Nikolai Gogol was never able to convincingly describe the ways of the rebirth of people, which he himself admitted after the burning of the manuscript.
Image and character
The image of a half-crazy landowner in the work is the brightest of all who meet on the path of the main character Chichikov. It is Plyushkin that the writer gives the most complete description, looking even into the character's past. This is a lonely widower who cursed the daughter who left with her lover and the son who lost at cards.
Periodically, the daughter with her grandchildren visits the old man, but she does not receive any help from him - one indifference. An educated and intelligent man in his youth, over time, turned into a “worn-out wreck”, a grumbler and a crumbling bad temper, becoming a laughingstock even for the servants.
The work contains detailed description Plushkin's appearance. He walked around the house in a decrepit dressing gown (“... which was not only ashamed to look at, but even ashamed of”), and appeared at the table in a worn, but quite neat frock coat without a single patch. At the first meeting, Chichikov could not understand who was in front of him, a woman or a man: a creature of indeterminate sex was moving around the house, and the buyer of dead souls mistook him for a housekeeper.
The stinginess of the character is on the verge of insanity. There are 800 serf souls in his domain, barns full of rotting food. But Plyushkin does not allow his hungry peasants to touch the products, and with dealers he is uncompromising "like a demon", so the merchants stopped coming for the goods. In his own bedroom, a man carefully folds the feathers and pieces of paper he found, and in the corner of one of the rooms heaps of "good" picked up on the street.
Life goals come down to the accumulation of wealth - this problem often acts as an argument for writing essays on the exam. The meaning of the image lies in the fact that Nikolai Vasilievich tried to show how painful stinginess kills bright and strong personality.
Multiply good - favorite hobby Plushkin, as evidenced even by the change in speech. At first, the old curmudgeon meets Chichikov warily, specifying that "there is no use in visiting." But, having learned the purpose of the visit, the dissatisfied grumbling is replaced by undisguised joy, and the protagonist of the poem turns into a “father”, a “benefactor”.
In the lexicon of the miser there is a whole dictionary of swear words and expressions, from “fool” and “robber” to “devils will bake you” and “scoundrel”. The landowner, who has lived all his life in the circle of peasants, is replete with common folk words.
Plyushkin's house reminds medieval castle, but battered by time: there are cracks in the walls, some of the windows are boarded up so that no one sees the riches hiding in the dwelling. Gogol managed to combine the character traits and image of the hero with his house with the phrase:
“All this fell into the pantries, and everything became rotten and a hole, and he himself turned, finally, into some kind of hole in humanity.”
Screen adaptations
Gogol's work was staged in Russian cinema Five times. Based on the story, two cartoons were also created: “The Adventures of Chichikov. Manilov" and "The Adventures of Chichikov. Nozdrev.
"Dead Souls" (1909)
In the era of the formation of cinema, Pyotr Chardynin undertook to capture the adventures of Chichikov on film. A silent short film with a truncated Gogol storyline was filmed at a railway club. And since the experiments in the cinema were just beginning, the tape turned out to be unsuccessful due to improperly selected lighting. In the role of stingy Plyushkin acted theater actor Adolf Georgievsky.
"Dead Souls" (1960)
The film-performance staged by the Moscow Art Theater was directed by Leonid Trauberg. A year after the premiere, the picture received the Critics' Prize at the Monte Carlo Film Festival.
The film starred Vladimir Belokurov (Chichikov), (Nozdrev), (Korobochka) and even (the modest role of a waiter, the actor did not even get into the credits). And Plyushkin was brilliantly played by Boris Petker.
"Dead Souls" (1969)
Another television performance, which was conceived by director Alexander Belinsky. According to film fans, this film adaptation is the best of the film productions of an imperishable work.
The film also features bright actors of Soviet cinema: Pavel Luspekaev (Nozdrev), (Manilov), Igor Gorbachev (Chichikov). The role of Plyushkin went to Alexander Sokolov.
"Dead Souls" (1984)
A five-episode series filmed by Mikhail Schweitzer was shown on central television.
He reincarnated as a greedy landowner.
"The Case of Dead Souls" (2005)
The latest film work to date, which represents fantasy on famous works Gogol - "Inspector", "Notes of a Madman", "Dead Souls". With such an unusual mix, I decided to please the viewer, for the sake of persuasiveness, having collected film set color contemporary cinema.
They appear on the screen in the role of Nozdrev, in the image of Chichikov, from whom the excellent wife of the governor came out. Also, the audience admires the game - the actor is called Plyushkin in the picture.
- The meaning of the character's name contains the motive of self-denial. Gogol created a paradoxical metaphor: a ruddy bun - a symbol of wealth, satiety, joyful contentment - is opposed to a "moldy cracker", for which the colors of life have long faded.
- The surname Plyushkin has become a household name. So called overly thrifty, maniacally greedy people. In addition, the passion for warehousing old, useless things is a typical behavior of people with a mental disorder that has received the name "Plyushkin's syndrome" in medicine.
Quotes
“After all, the devil knows, maybe he’s just a braggart, like all these little moths: he’ll lie, lie, to talk and drink tea, and then he’ll leave!”
“I live in my seventies!”
“Plyushkin muttered something through his lips, for there were no teeth.”
“If Chichikov had met him, so dressed up, somewhere at the church doors, he would probably have given him a copper penny. But before him stood not a beggar, before him stood a landowner.
“I don’t even advise you to know the way to this dog! Sobakevich said. “It’s more excusable to go to some obscene place than to him.”
“But there was a time when he was only a thrifty owner! He was married and a family man, and a neighbor came to him to dine, listen and learn from him housekeeping and wise stinginess.
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The image of Plyushkin from Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is described in an unusual manner for the author - basically, Gogol widely uses elements of humor to characterize his heroes. For Plyushkin, there was no humor left - a realistic description of the stingy landowner and the consequences of his activities - that's what Nikolai Vasilyevich offers.
The symbolism of the surname
Gogol did not neglect symbolism in his works. Very often the names and surnames of the heroes of his works are symbolic. With the help of opposition to the characteristics of the hero or synonymy, they contribute to the disclosure of certain characteristics of the character.
Basically, the disclosure of symbolism does not require certain knowledge - the answer always lies on the surface. The same trend is observed in the case of Plyushkin.
The word "plyushkin" means a person who is distinguished by extraordinary stinginess and greed. The purpose of his life becomes the accumulation of a certain state (both in the form of finance, and in the form of products or raw materials) without a specific goal.
In other words, he saves in order to save. The accumulated good, as a rule, does not come true anywhere and is used with minimal expense.
This designation is fully consistent with the description of Plushkin.
Appearance and condition of the costume
Plyushkin is endowed with effeminate features in the poem. He has an elongated and unnecessarily thin face. Plyushkin did not have distinctive facial features. Nikolai Vasilievich claims that his face was not much different from the faces of other old people with emaciated faces.
A distinctive feature of Plyushkin's appearance was an exorbitantly long chin. The landowner had to cover him with a handkerchief so as not to spit. The image was complemented by small eyes. They had not yet lost their liveliness and looked like small animals. Plyushkin never shaved, his overgrown beard did not look the most attractive way and resembled a comb for horses.
Plyushkin had not a single tooth.
Plushkin's costume wants to look better. To be honest, it’s impossible to call his clothes a suit - they look so worn and strange that they resemble the rags of a tramp. Usually Plyushkin is dressed in an incomprehensible dress, similar to a woman's hood. His hat was also borrowed from the women's wardrobe - it was a classic cap of yard women.
The costume was in terrible condition. When Chichikov saw Plyushkin for the first time, he could not determine his gender for a long time - Plyushkin by his behavior and appearance very much like a housekeeper. After the identity of the strange housekeeper was established, Chichikov came to the conclusion that Plyushkin did not look like a landowner at all - if he were near the church, he could easily be mistaken for a beggar.
Plushkin's family and his past
Plyushkin was not always such a person when he was young, his appearance and character were absolutely different from the current ones.
A few years ago Plyushkin was not alone. He was a man who was quite happily married. His wife definitely had a positive influence on the landowner. After the birth of the children, Plyushkin's life also pleasantly changed, but this did not last long - soon his wife died, leaving Plyushkin three children - two girls and a boy.
Plyushkin hardly survived the loss of his wife, it was difficult for him to cope with the blues, so he moved more and more away from his usual rhythm of life.
We offer you to get acquainted with the image of Chichikov in Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol's poem "Dead Souls".
A picky and quarrelsome character contributed to the final discord - eldest daughter and the son, without the blessing of the father, left the father's house. The youngest daughter died some time later. Eldest daughter, despite the difficult nature of his father, tries to maintain relations with him and even brings him children to visit. I lost contact with my son a long time ago. How his fate turned out and whether he is alive - the old man does not know.
Personality characteristic
Plushkin is a man difficult nature. It is likely that certain inclinations for the development of certain qualities were laid in him earlier, but under the influence family life and personal well-being, they did not acquire such a characteristic appearance.
Plyushkin was seized with anxiety - his concern and anxiety had long passed an acceptable measure and became a certain obsessive thought. After the death of his wife and daughter, he finally became callous in soul - the concepts of sympathy and love for others are alien to him.
This trend is observed not only in relation to strangers in the related plan of people, but also to the closest relatives.
The landowner leads a solitary life, he hardly communicates with his neighbors, he has no friends. Plyushkin likes to spend time alone, he is attracted by the ascetic way of life, the arrival of guests is associated with something unpleasant for him. He does not understand why people visit each other and considers it a waste of time - many useful things can be done during this time period.
It is impossible to find those who want to make friends with Plyushkin - everyone eschews the eccentric old man.
Plyushkin lives without a definite purpose in life. Due to his stinginess and pettiness, he was able to accumulate significant capital, but he does not plan to somehow use the accumulated money and raw materials - Plyushkin likes the accumulation process itself.
Despite significant financial reserves, Plyushkin lives very poorly - he is sorry to spend money not only on his relatives and friends, but also on himself - his clothes have long turned into rags, the house is leaky, but Plyushkin sees no point in improving something - his and so everything suits.
Plyushkin loves to complain and show off. It seems to him that he has only little - and he does not have enough food, and there is too little land, and even an extra tuft of hay cannot be found on the farm. In fact, everything is different - its food supplies are so large that they become unusable right in storage.
The second thing in life that brings pleasure in Plyushkin's life is quarrels and scandals - he is always dissatisfied with something and likes to express his dissatisfaction in the most unattractive form. Plyushkin is too picky person, it is impossible to please him.
Plyushkin himself does not notice his shortcomings, he believes that in fact everyone treats him with prejudice and cannot appreciate his kindness and care.
Plushkin's estate
No matter how Plyushkin complained about his employment with the estate, it is worth recognizing that as a landowner Plyushkin was not the best and most talented.
His large estate not much different from an abandoned place. The gates and the fence along the garden were utterly worn out - in some places the fence collapsed, and no one was in a hurry to close up the holes that had formed.
On the territory of his village there used to be two churches, but now they are in disrepair.
Plyushkin's house is in a terrible state - probably it has not been repaired for many years. From the street, the house looks like a non-residential one - the windows in the estate were boarded up, only a few were opened. In some places, mold appeared, the tree was overgrown with moss.
Inside the house does not look better - the house is always dark and cold. The only room in which natural light penetrates is Plyushkin's room.
The whole house is like a garbage dump - Plyushkin never throws anything away. He thinks that these things can still be useful to him.
Plyushkin's office is also in chaos and disorder. Here is a broken chair that can no longer be repaired, a clock that does not work. In the corner of the room is a dump - what lies in a pile is difficult to make out. From the general heap stands out the sole from old shoes and a broken shovel handle.
It seems that the rooms were never cleaned - there was cobwebs and dust everywhere. Plyushkin's desk was also out of order - there were papers mixed with rubbish.
Attitude towards serfs
Plyushkin owns big number serfs - about 1000 people. Of course, caring for and correcting the work of so many people require certain strengths and skills. However, there is no need to talk about the positive achievements of Plyushkin's activities.
Plyushkin treats his peasants uncomfortably and cruelly. They differ little in appearance from their master - their clothes are torn, their houses are dilapidated, and the people themselves are immensely thin and hungry. From time to time, one of Plyushkin's serfs decides to escape, because the life of a fugitive becomes more attractive than that of Plyushkin's serf. Plyushkin sells about 200 "dead souls" to Chichikov - this is the number of people who died and serfs who fled from him in a few years. Compared with " dead souls The rest of the landlords, the number of peasants sold to Chichikov looks terrifying.
We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the characteristics of Akaky Akakievich in the story of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol "The Overcoat".
Peasant houses look even worse than the estate of the landowner. In the village it is impossible to find a single house with a whole roof - rain and snow freely penetrate into the dwelling. There are no windows in the houses either - the holes in the windows are patched up with rags or old clothes.
Plyushkin speaks extremely disapprovingly of his serfs - in his eyes they are lazy and loafers, but in fact this is slander - Plyushkin's serfs work hard and honestly. They sow grain, grind flour, dry fish, make fabrics, make various household items from wood, in particular dishes.
According to Plyushkin, his serfs are the most thieving and inept - they do everything somehow, without zeal, besides, they constantly rob their master. In fact, everything is not so: Plyushkin so intimidated his peasants that they are ready to die of cold and hunger, but they will not take anything from their landowner's warehouse.
Thus, in the image of Plyushkin, the qualities of a greedy and stingy person were embodied. Plyushkin is not capable of feeling affection for people, or at least sympathy - he is hostile to absolutely everyone. He considers himself a good owner, but in fact this is self-deception. Plyushkin does not care about his serfs, he starves them, undeservedly accuses them of theft and laziness.
Characteristics of Plyushkin in the poem "Dead Souls": description of appearance and character
4.2 (84%) 10 votesThe name of the hero has become a household name for centuries. Even one who has not read the poem represents a stingy person.
The image and characterization of Plyushkin in the poem "Dead Souls" is a character deprived of human features, who has lost the meaning of the appearance of his light.
Character appearance
The owner is over 60 years old. He is old, but he cannot be called weak and sick. How does the author of Plushkin describe it? Stingy, just like him:
- An incomprehensible floor hidden under strange rags. Chichikov takes a long time to figure out who is in front of him: a man or a woman.
- Rough gray hair sticking out like a brush.
- Insensitive and vulgar face.
- The clothes of the hero cause disgust, it is ashamed to look at her, ashamed of a person dressed in a semblance of a dressing gown.
Relationships with people
Stepan Plyushkin reproaches his peasants for theft. There are no reasons for this. They know their owner and understand that there is nothing left to take from the estate. Everything is tidied up at Plyushkin's, it rots and deteriorates. Stocks are piling up, but no one is going to use them. A lot of everything: wood, dishes, rags. Gradually, the reserves turn into a pile of dirt, scrap. A pile can be compared to the garbage collected by the owner of the master's house. There is no truth in the landowner's words. The people do not have time to steal, to become a fraudster. Due to unbearable living conditions, stinginess and hunger, the peasants run away or die.In relations with people, Plyushkin is angry and obnoxious:
Likes to quarrel. He quarrels with men, argues, never immediately perceives the words expressed to him. He scolds for a long time, talking about the absurd behavior of the interlocutor, although he is silent in response.
Plyushkin believes in God. He blesses those who leave him on their way, he is afraid of God's judgment.
Hypocritical. Plyushkin tries to feign concern. In fact, everything ends with hypocritical actions. The master enters the kitchen, he wants to check if the courtiers are eating him, but instead he eats most of what is cooked. Whether people have enough cabbage soup with porridge, he is of little interest, the main thing is that he is full.
Plyushkin does not like communication. He avoids guests. Having calculated how much his household loses when receiving, he begins to shun, refuses the custom of visiting guests and hosting. He himself explains that his acquaintances got to know each other or died, but most likely that no one wanted to visit such a greedy person.
Hero character
Plyushkin is a character that is hard to find positive features. It is all riddled with lies, stinginess and slovenliness.What traits can be distinguished in the character of the character:
Wrong self-esteem. Behind the external good nature lies greed and a constant desire for profit.
Desire to hide your condition from others. Plyushkin is complacent. He says he has no food when the granary full of grain rots for years. He complains to the guest that he has little land and no patch of hay for the horses, but this is all a lie.
Cruelty and indifference. Nothing changes the mood of a stingy landowner. He does not experience joy, despair. Only cruelty and an empty, callous look is all the character is capable of.
Suspicion and anxiety. These feelings develop in him at breakneck speed. He begins to suspect everyone of stealing, loses his sense of self-control. Avarice occupies his entire being.
Main distinguishing feature- this is stinginess. The miser Stepan Plyushkin is such that it is difficult to imagine if you do not meet in reality. Stinginess is manifested in everything: clothes, food, feelings, emotions. Nothing in Plushkin is fully manifested. Everything is covered and hidden. The landowner saves money, but for what? Just to collect them. He does not spend either for himself, or for his relatives, or for the household. The author says that the money was buried in the boxes. This attitude towards the means of enrichment is amazing. To live from hand to mouth on sacks of grain, with thousands of serf souls, vast areas of land, can only be a miser from the poem. The scary thing is that in Russia there are many such Plyushkins.
Attitude towards relatives
The landowner does not change in relation to his relatives. He has a son and a daughter. The author says that in the future his son-in-law and daughter will happily betray him to the ground. The indifference of the hero is frightening. The son asks his father to give him money to buy uniforms, but, as the author says, he gives him "shish". Even the poorest parents do not abandon their children.The son, lost in cards and again turned to him for help. Instead, he received a curse. The father never, even mentally, remembered his son. He is not interested in his life, destiny. Plyushkin does not think whether his offspring are alive.
A rich landowner lives like a beggar. The daughter, who came to her father for help, takes pity on him and gives him a new dressing gown. 800 souls of the estate surprise the author. Existence is comparable to the life of a poor shepherd.
Stepan has no deep human feelings. As the author says, feelings, even if they had rudiments in him, "shallowed every minute."
The landowner, living among garbage, rubbish, does not become an exception, a fictional character. It reflects the reality of Russian reality. Greedy misers starved their peasants, turned into half animals, lost human features caused pity and fear for the future.
Plushkin (Dead Souls) Plushkin, drawing by P. M. Boklevsky
Stepan Plushkin- one of the characters in N.V. Gogol's poem Dead Souls.
The landowner S. Plyushkin, with whom Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov meets and conducts commercial negotiations on the purchase of serfs "dead souls", is displayed by the author in chapter six the first volume of his poem. The meeting of the protagonist with Plyushkin is preceded by a description of the devastated village and the dilapidated family estate of Plyushkin: he noticed some special dilapidation(i.e. Chichikov) on all wooden buildings: the log on the huts was dark and old; many roofs blew through like a sieve: on others there was only a ridge at the top and poles on the sides in the form of ribs ... The windows in the huts were without glass, others were stopped up with a rag or zipun ... Parts of the master's house began to show out ... This strange castle stroked like some kind of decrepit invalid, long, unreasonably long... The walls of the house slitted bare stucco bars in places... Of the windows, only two were open, the rest were covered with shutters or even boarded up... Green mold had already covered the fence and the gate. Some revival was brought to this sad picture by the “merry garden” - old, overgrown and decayed, leaving behind the estate somewhere in the field.
When the owner of this whole estate, which has fallen into complete decline, appears, Chichikov initially takes him for an old housekeeper - he was dressed so outlandishly, dirty and poorly: Listen, mother, - he said, leaving the britzka - What is the master? ... When the misunderstanding has been clarified, the writer gives a description of the appearance of his unusual hero: his face was nothing special and looked like other thin old people. Only the chin protruded very far forward, and the attention was drawn to the small eyes that ran like mice from under high eyebrows. Much more remarkable was his attire: no means and efforts could have got to the bottom of what his dressing gown was concocted from: the sleeves and upper floors were so greasy and shiny that they looked like yuft, which is used for boots; behind, instead of two, four floors dangled, from which cotton paper climbed in flakes. There was also something tied around the neck that could not be made out: whether it was a stocking, a garter, or an underbelly, but not a tie.
According to some researchers of the work of N.V. Gogol, the image of this half-mad landowner-hoarder is the most vivid and successful in the description of Chichikov's "business partners" in the poem "Dead Souls" and represented the greatest interest for the writer himself. IN literary criticism there was a perception of this unusual character N.V. Gogol as a kind of standard of hoarding, greed and penny. The writer himself is undoubtedly also interested in the history of the transformation of this, in his youth, an educated and intelligent person into a walking laughing stock even for his own peasants and into a sick, insidious person who refused to support and participate in the fate of his own daughters, son and grandchildren. Describing the manic greed of his hero, Gogol reports: ... he still walked every day through the streets of his village, looked under the bridges, under the crossbars and everything that came across to him: an old sole, a woman's rag, an iron nail, a clay shard - he dragged everything to himself and put it in the pile that Chichikov noticed in the corner of the room ... after him there was no need to sweep the street: it happened to a passing officer to lose his spur, this spur instantly went into a well-known pile: if a woman ... forgot a bucket, he dragged the bucket away.
In Russian spoken language and in literary tradition the name "Plyushkin" has become a household name for petty, stingy people, seized with a passion for hoarding unnecessary, and sometimes completely useless things. His behavior, described in the poem by N.V. Gogol, is the most typical manifestation of such a mental illness ( mental disorder), as pathological hoarding. In foreign medical literature even introduced special term- "Plyushkin's syndrome" (see. (Cybulska E."Senile Squalor: Plyushkin's not Diogenes Syndrome". Psychiatric Bulletin.1998;22:319-320).).
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