Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov - main character famous poem N.V. Gogol " Dead Souls”, in the past he is an official and an avid careerist, then he became a clever swindler and manipulator. He travels through the villages of the Russian hinterland, meets with various landowners and nobles, tries to earn their trust and thus turn out profitable business for himself.
Chichikov is interested in buying the so-called " dead souls”, documents for serfs who have already died, but due to the fact that the population census was carried out once every few years, they are documented as living. An enterprising businessman plans to resell these souls, along with the land he plans to buy for a penny, and earn good capital from this. The image of Chichikov is fresh and A New Look on the adventurous image of an entrepreneur in Russian literature.
Characteristics of the main character
("Chichikov Pavel Ivanovich. In front of the box" Artist P. Sokolov, 1890)
The inner world of Chichikov until the last chapter in the book remains mysterious and ambiguous for everyone. The description of his appearance is averaged to the maximum: not handsome, and not bad, not very fat, but not thin, not old, and not young. The main features of this hero are averageness (this is a quiet and inconspicuous gentleman, distinguished by pleasant manners, roundness and smoothness) and high degree entrepreneurial spirit. Even the manner of communication does not betray his character: he does not speak loudly, not quietly, he knows how to find an approach everywhere and is known everywhere as his person.
Peculiarities inner world Chichikov opens up through the manner of his communication with the landowners, whom he attracts to his side and, skillfully manipulating, inclines to the sale of "dead souls". The author notes the ability of a cunning adventurer to adapt to his interlocutor and copy his manners. Chichikov knows people very well, finds his own advantage in everything, and how a subtle psychologist tells people what they need.
(Illustration by V. Makovsky "Chichikov at Manilov")
Chichikov is an active and active person, it is very important for him not only to keep what he has earned, but also to increase it (as many times as possible). Moreover, irrepressible greed does not torment him like Plyushkin, because money for him is only a means to ensure a decent life.
Chichikov comes from a poor, respectable family, and his father advised him to always please his superiors and hang out with the right people, and taught him that "a penny opens any door." Having no initial concepts of duty and conscience, Chichikov, having matured, understands that moral values only prevent him from achieving his goals and therefore often neglects the voice of conscience, paving the way in life with his own forehead.
(Illustration "Little Chichikov")
And although Chichikov is a swindler and a rogue, he cannot be denied perseverance, talent and ingenuity. At school, he sold buns to his classmates (whom they treated him to), at every job he tried to find his own profit and tried to get rich, as a result he came up with an idea with " dead souls”And tried to crank it up, playing on the feelings and base instincts of the people around him. At the end of the work, Chichikov's scam opens and becomes public, he is forced to leave.
The image of the main character in the work
("Chichikov's toilet" Artist P.P. Sokolov 1966)
In his famous work, which took him 17 years of painstaking work, Gogol created a comprehensive picture of modern Russian realities and revealed a diverse gallery of characters and types of people of that time. The image of Chichikov, talented entrepreneur and an unprincipled swindler, is, according to the author, "a terrible and vile force that is not capable of reviving the Fatherland."
Trying to live according to the precepts of his father, Chichikov tried to live economically and save every penny, but realizing that in an honest way great wealth do not make money, he finds a loophole in Russian legislation those years and proceeds to carry out his plan. Not having achieved the desired, he stigmatizes himself as a swindler and a rogue, and is forced to abandon his ideas.
What lesson did this character take out of this situation remains unclear to us, because the second volume this work was destroyed by the author, we are left to assume what happened next and whether Chichikov is to blame for what he tried to do or society and the principles to which it is subject are to blame.
The main work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was undoubtedly the poem Dead Souls, the first volume of which was written in 1842. The poem was being written for the most part abroad, where Gogol went after the unsuccessful premiere of The Inspector General, but the author still tells about Russia, about its present and future. According to the original idea, the work was to consist of three volumes. The first volume described Russian reality, with all its turmoil that was happening in society and in the ruling circles, the second volume suggested ways of rebirth, and the third - a society, perhaps a utopian paradise tomorrow, which should eventually reign on Russian soil. But the writer was never able to complete his task, so the second volume of "Dead Souls" was burned twice by its creator. The third one never came through.
But the first volume was saved and published. Against the backdrop of the scam of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov (purchase of dead peasants, but still listed as alive according to the revision tale), Gogol masterfully depicts the diverse Russian life different layers population and shows negative sides rulers. At the same time, the whole depth was revealed main topic works. The concept of "dead" and "alive" in the poem is gradually moving from its true lexical meaning into the symbolic. The landlords and officials of the city of N are representatives of the so-called "dead souls" who have long stopped in their spiritual development, and Chichikov is a typical " alive soul”, a man who should lead Russia to the path of revival.
Gogol's Chichikov is a very unusual image, personifying great power that conquers all evil. Throughout the first volume, he is constantly on the road. His home, unlike the "dead" landlords, is the road. The road leads to a bright future, symbolizes life. Already at the very beginning of the poem, Gogol gives a description of his main character:
In the britzka sat a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking either, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but not so that he is young.
The author describes his hero not as a person, but as mystical creature without certain external data. The reader should not be distracted by appearance Chichikov, so as not to miss the main thing - his mission. The scam of Pavel Ivanovich is not made for the sake of money, as it might seem at first glance. This is a kind of test, ultimately showing whether the souls of the landowners are “dead” or there is hope for their resurrection.
In the face of one hero, Nikolai Vasilyevich represents the Russia of the future, and the Russia of the present is shown in the faces of many landowners and officials. This suggests that one single Chichikov is much more "alive" than all the Manilovs, Nozdrevs and Sobakevichs combined.
Chichikov got very difficult life. He was left without parents early and was forced to enter adulthood. independent life. He had to break through with the help of his manners and courtesy, since the main character had no special talents. Since childhood, he was very attentive and assiduous, so he remembered his father’s order for the rest of his life:
... and most of all, take care of a penny, you will break everything with a penny.
Pavel Ivanovich obediently fulfills the will of his father and the meaning of his life becomes "folding a penny." Gogol draws him as very mysterious person, because secrecy is the main quality of a swindler:
The newcomer, it seemed, avoided talking much about himself, and if he spoke, then in some common places, and with marked modesty.
But, like any living person, Chichikov is characterized by different emotional manifestations, for example, the feeling of fear. Probably, only Nozdryov sees the true essence of his guest, since he himself is not without sin. “After all, you are a big swindler, let me tell you this out of friendship. If I were your boss, then I would hang you on the first tree, ”Nozdryov says with great enthusiasm. Chichikov ruined his career because of excessive greed, but mistakes and omissions do not frighten the hero. The loss of a lucrative position only gives him strength to commit new scams. He has always been an outstanding and never discouraged person. He had a vast professional experience accumulated over for a long time services, and in particular - excellent knowledge human souls. A brilliant idea about buying the dead peasants visited the hero precisely in a moment of despondency, because the deal promised to be very profitable.
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov has an excellent understanding of human characters, and it is not difficult for him to find individual approach to everyone. For example, with Manilov he is cultured and courteous, but with Nozdrev he is rude and unceremonious. He combines the features of each interlocutor and skillfully uses them at the right time. The only obstacle in Chichikov's plan was the "club-headed" Korobochka, who came to the city to find out how much dead souls are "walking" now. It is she who casts a shadow on our adventurer, and after her the whole city finds out that the visiting gentleman deceived everyone. Meanness will always be punished by reciprocal meanness. It is quite natural that Chichikov is defeated. Because of his greed, he could not predict such a sad ending, because he was smart, and meeting stupidity was not part of his plans. As it turned out, good manners, iron grip and the prudence of the hero cannot always predict him possible consequences, because in huge country very often it is impossible to understand who is who. The beginning of the bourgeois era helped Chichikov acquire qualities that were different from those of the landowners.
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is a man of modern times, possessing both professional and adventurous qualities. Although Chichikov is called a glorious fellow, the word "dealer" in his case still bears negative character. That's why the main character evokes mixed feelings in us: on the one hand, he is a good person, smart and optimistic, but on the other hand, his passion is money, which makes the hero live dishonestly.
In 1846, Belinsky, known for his critical insight, remarked that Chichikov "as an acquirer no less, if not more than Pechorin, is a hero of our time." Chichikov can acquire "dead souls", railway shares, he can collect donations for charitable institutions. It doesn't matter what kind of work he does.
One thing is indisputable: Chichikov is an immortal type. You can meet him everywhere, he belongs to all countries and all times: he only accepts various forms according to the conditions of place and time. The action in the poem "Dead Souls" begins with the reader's acquaintance with the main character. Who is he? Neither this nor that golden mean: “not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but it is not so that he is too young. How does the venerable collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov begin his stay in the new city? From visits: to the governor, vice-governor, prosecutor, police chief, farmer, head of state-owned factories, etc. Behaving like a completely well-intentioned person, Chichikov “in conversations with these rulers ... very skillfully knew how to flatter everyone”: he praised the governor for the "velvet roads" of his province, he "said something very flattering about the city watchmen" to the police chief, twice mistakenly called the vice-governor and the chairman of the chamber "your excellency."
He made a compliment to the governor, “very decent for a middle-aged man, who has a rank that is not too big and not too small,” and he called himself “an insignificant worm of this world,” lamenting that he had experienced a lot in his lifetime, “suffered in the service for the truth, had many enemies who even attempted on his life.
A characteristic feature of Chichikov is the ability to keep up the conversation: “Whether it was about a horse factory, he also talked about a horse factory; did you talk about good dogs, and here he reported very sensible remarks ... But it is remarkable that he knew how to clothe all this with some degree, knew how to behave well. He spoke neither loudly nor softly, but exactly as he should. As you can see, Chichikov learned to wear the mask of vulgarity and imaginary decency masterfully, while the true content of his thoughts and actions is hidden under this mask-mask of a completely decent, decent gentleman. In the first chapter, the author only indirectly, allegorically expresses his attitude towards the hero and his actions. Yes, and the hero himself, in his discussions about the world of thick and thin, gives some hint of his true vision of the world around him: “Fat people know how to better manage their affairs in this world than thin ones. The thin ones serve more on special assignments, or they are only registered and wag hither and thither.”
Chichikov is attributed by the author to the world of fat people who sit securely and firmly in their places. Thus, confirming the visibility of Chichikov, who he seems to be, the author begins preparations for exposing him, "revealing" the truth about him. The first success (the deal with Manilov) strengthens Chichikov's confidence in the ease and safety of the scam he is carrying out. Inspired by this success, the hero is in a hurry to make new deals. On the way to Sobakevich, Chichikov meets Korobochka, who showed Chichikov that his enterprise requires not only perseverance, but also subtlety, and most importantly, caution. The lesson, however, did not go well for him. Chichikov hurries to Sobakevich, but meets Nozdryov and goes to him. Among the properties of Nozdryov, perhaps the main one is "the passion to spoil one's neighbor, sometimes for no reason at all." And Chichikov involuntarily falls for this bait: in the end, he reveals the true purpose of acquiring "dead souls." This reveals the weakness and frivolity of the hero. Of course, later Chichikov scolded himself for having acted carelessly, talking with Nozdryov about such a delicate matter. As you can see, perseverance and purposefulness, when they go too far, turn into a disadvantage. Finally, Chichikov arrives at Sobakevich, who, being resourceful and persistent in pursuing his own benefit, most likely guesses why Chichikov needs “dead souls”. He shamelessly bargains, and even praises dead peasants: “But Yeremey Sorokoplekhin, this peasant alone will stand for everyone, he traded in Moscow, he brought one quitrent for five hundred rubles. After all, what a people! This is not something that some Plyushkin will sell you. Chichikov's enterprise ends with a deal with Plyushkin, for whom even the money goes out of circulation, laid by him "in one of the boxes, where, right, they are destined to be buried until ... they bury him himself." Chichikov is on top: the papers are all signed and in the eyes of the townsfolk he turns into a "millionaire". As you know, "millionaire" is a magic word that opens all roads and "acts on scoundrel people, and on people for nothing, and on good people - in a word, it affects everyone."
However, soon the triumph of Chichikov the "millionaire" ends with Nozdrev's exposure: "Ah! Kherson landowner, Kherson landowner!.. What? traded a lot of the dead? You don't know, Your Excellency... he trades in dead souls!" A commotion and confusion begins in the city, as well as in the mind of the reader. After all, the author saved the true biography of the hero for the finale of the poem. Chichikov seemed decent and virtuous, but under this guise there was a different essence. The son of a semi-poor nobleman, he did not even look like his father or mother. “Life at the beginning,” writes Gogol, “looked at him somehow sourly and uncomfortably, through some kind of muddy, snow-covered window: no friend, no comrade in childhood!” Suddenly, one fine day, the father decided to send the boy to the city school. At parting, there were no tears, but an important and intelligent fatherly instruction was given: “Look, Pavlusha, study, don’t be a fool and don’t hang out ... please teachers and bosses ... And most of all, take care and save a penny: this thing is most reliable in the world. "
The lonely and unsociable Pavlusha accepted this instruction with all his heart and was guided only by him all his life. In the classrooms of the school, he quickly comprehended the spirit of the authorities and realized what his behavior should be. At the lessons, Chichikov sat quieter than water, lower than the grass, and as a result, having no special abilities and talents, upon graduation he received "a certificate and a book with golden letters for exemplary diligence and trustworthy behavior." After graduating from college, Pavlusha plunged into the reality of life: his father died, leaving him as a legacy only “four irrevocably worn sweatshirts, two old coats” and a small amount of money. It is noteworthy that at the same time another event occurs that reveals the true qualities of the future swindler. The teacher, who loved the humble student Chichikov so much, was fired from the school and disappeared without a piece of bread in a forgotten kennel. Former recalcitrant and arrogant students collected money for him, and only Pavlusha limited himself to a nickel, citing his extreme poverty.
No, Chichikov was not stingy, but “he imagined ahead of him life in all contentments, with all sorts of prosperity: carriages, a house perfectly arranged, delicious lunches". For the sake of this, Chichikov was ready to starve and "hot" to engage in service. He soon realized that honest work would not bring him what he wanted. In search of new opportunities to improve his situation, he begins to look after his boss's daughter, but having received a long-awaited promotion, he completely forgets about his virtue-le. Bribes, scams - this is the path that Pavlusha took. Gradually, he achieved some apparent prosperity, but a military man, strict, was appointed to the place of the former boss, into whose confidence Chichikov could not ingratiate himself.
He moves to another city, where by a lucky chance he becomes a customs officer and enters into a "commercial" relationship with smugglers. After some time, this criminal conspiracy was uncovered, and the perpetrators, including Chichikov, were put on trial - in this way the hero "suffered in the service." Taking care of his descendants (“Such a sensitive subject!”), Chichikov decides on a new scam, which we witness in Dead Souls.
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The image, character, characteristics of the official Chichikov in the poem Dead Souls
If, drawing images of landowners. ( This material will help to correctly write on the topic The image, character, characteristics of the official Chichikov in the poem Dead Souls. Summary does not make it clear the whole meaning of the work, so this material will be useful for a deep understanding of the work of writers and poets, as well as their novels, short stories, stories, plays, poems.) Gogol gave a picture of the economic collapse of subsistence serfdom and the moral degeneration of the ruling class, then in the image of Chichikov he showed typical features predator, "scoundrel", "acquirer" of the bourgeois fold, generated by the initial stage, capitalist accumulation.
In the eleventh chapter of the first volume, Gogol talks in detail about life path Chichikov from birth to the moment when this "hero" started buying up dead souls; how Chichikov's character developed, what vital interests formed in him under the influence environment guided his behavior.
Even as a child, he received instructions from his father on how to break into people: “most of all please teachers and bosses ... hang out with those who are richer so that they can be useful to you on occasion ... and most of all, take care and save a penny, this thing is more reliable than anything in the world ... You will do everything and break everything in the world with a penny. This covenant of the father and put it in the basis of his relations with people, even from school bench. To save a penny, but not for its own sake, but as a means to achieve material well-being and a prominent position in society, became the main goal of his whole life.
Already at the school, he quickly achieved the location of the teacher and, having a "great mind on the practical side", successfully accumulated money.
Service in various institutions developed and polished his natural data in Chichikovo - a practical mind, deft ingenuity, hypocrisy, patience, the ability to “comprehend the spirit of the boss”, find a weak chord in a person’s soul and skillfully influence it for personal purposes, energy and perseverance in achieving conceived, complete promiscuity in means and heartlessness.
Having received the post of assistant, Chichikov “became a noticeable person. Everything turned out to be in him that is necessary for this world: both pleasantness in turns and actions, and glibness in business affairs. All this distinguished Chichikov in his further service; this is how he appears before us during the purchase of dead souls.
“Irresistible strength of character”, “quickness, insight and clairvoyance”, all his ability to charm a person, Chichikov puts into play in order to achieve the desired enrichment.
Widely applying all his practical acumen, courtesy and resourcefulness, Chichikov managed to charm and provincial city, and estates. Having quickly guessed the person, he knows how to approach everyone in a special way, subtly calculating his moves and adapting the manner of address and the very tone of speech to the character of the landowner. One has only to follow how Chichikov behaves and speaks with Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich and Plyushkin to be convinced of this and be amazed at the inexhaustible variety of "all the shades and subtleties of his manner."
This internal "many-sidedness" of Chichikov, elusiveness is also emphasized by his appearance, given by Gogol in indefinite tones. “In the britzka sat a gentleman who was not handsome, but not bad-looking either, neither too fat nor too thin, one cannot say that he was old, but not so much that he was too young.”
Chichikov's facial expression is constantly changing, depending on who and what he is talking about. Going to the governor's ball, he whole hour spends in front of a mirror, studying various facial expressions and mannerisms to apply them at the ball. “I tried to tell him (the person) a lot different expressions: now important and sedate, now respectful, but with a certain smile, then simply respectful without a smile; several bows were made in the mirror, accompanied by indistinct sounds, partly similar to French ones, although Chichikov did not know French at all.
Gogol constantly emphasizes the external neatness of his hero, his love for cleanliness, a good, fashionable suit. Chichikov is always carefully shaved and perfumed; he always wears clean underwear and a fashionable dress of "brown and reddish colors with a spark" or "the color of Navarino smoke with flames."
And this outward neatness and cleanliness of Chichikov, strikingly contrasting with the internal dirt and uncleanliness of this hero, fully completes the image of a “scoundrel”, “acquirer”-predator, who uses everything to achieve his main goal - profit, acquisition.
Gogol satirically castigates his hero - a "scoundrel", a representative of those predators, of which there were many in the 30s, when the bourgeois-capitalist forces had already begun to develop even within the framework of the feudal-serf system. This was noted by Belinsky, who said that "Chichikov, as an acquirer, is no less, if not more than Pechorin, a hero of our time."
Belinsky and Chernyshevsky noted that Chichikov was typical for the bourgeois world.
Belinsky wrote that “the same Chichikovs are found abroad, only in a different dress: in France and England they do not buy up dead souls, but bribe living souls in free parliamentary elections! The whole difference is in civilization, not in essence. Chernyshevsky wrote that in England "the Chichikovs ... are busy with stock exchange and factory tricks."
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The poem Dead Souls is one of the most famous works Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The key character in it is the adventurer Chichikov. The image of the protagonist masterfully written by the author often becomes the subject of discussion both by professional critics and ordinary readers. To understand why this character deserves such attention, you need to turn to the plot of the work.
The work tells about a official named Chichikov. This man really wanted to get rich and gain weight in society. He decided to achieve his goal by buying up the so-called dead souls, that is, serfs who are owned by the landlord on paper, although in fact they are no longer alive. Both the seller and the buyer benefited from this. Chichikov thus acquired fictitious property, on the security of which he could take a loan from a bank, and the landowner was released from the obligation to pay taxes for a dead peasant.
The work is mandatory studied at school. In literature classes, students are often asked to write an essay on the topic: Dead Souls. The image of Chichikov. Sure to write competent work, you need to carefully read the original source and form your own idea of \u200b\u200bits main character. But if for some reason this is not possible, you can familiarize yourself with detailed information about the character. This information will be useful when writing an essay, compiling comparison tables for different actors or preparing a presentation.
Text analysis allows you to reveal all the main features image Chichikov in the poem Dead Souls. A summary of the actions and deeds of the character, revealing his nature, begins with an acquaintance with Chichikov.
Briefly, the author described the appearance of the hero already at the beginning of the work. Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is in some way an ordinary character who may meet to any historical era and in any geographic point. There is nothing remarkable in his portrait:
- his appearance is not beautiful, but not ugly either;
- the physique is neither full nor thin;
- he is no longer young, but not yet old.
Thus, in all respects, this venerable collegiate adviser maintains a “golden mean”.
The arrival of the character in "city N"
Chichikov starts your adventure from arrival in a city not named by the author. An intelligent man, who is also characterized by hypocrisy, he begins his activity by paying visits to the following officials:
- the prosecutor;
- governor and family
- lieutenant governor;
- the chief of police;
- the chairman of the chamber.
Of course, under such behavior of Peter Ivanovich, a subtle calculation was visible. The hero's intentions are well revealed by his own quote: "Have no money, have good people for appeal."
Get the location of those who had the rank and influence in the city, it was very useful for the implementation of the plan. And he did it perfectly. Chichikov knew how to impress the people he needed. Belittling his dignity and in every possible way showing his insignificance, he demonstrated impeccable speech manners, made skillful compliments to the rulers: he admired the success of their activities and called them unjustifiably high titles as "your excellency". He spoke a little about himself, but from his story one could conclude that he had to go through an exceptionally difficult life path and experience a lot for his own honesty and justice.
They began to call him to receptions, where he maintained a favorable first impression of himself by the ability to take part in a conversation on any topic. At the same time, he behaved very decently and showed extensive knowledge about the subject of conversation. His speech was meaningful, his voice was neither quiet nor loud.
At this moment, one can already catch a hint that this integrity is only a mask under which lies true character and aspirations of the hero. Chichikov divides all people into fat and thin. At the same time, the thick ones have a strong position in this world, while the thin ones only serve as executors of other people's orders. The protagonist himself, of course, belongs to the first category, because he intends to firmly take his place in life. The author himself speaks about this, and this information begins to reveal another, true face of the character.
Start of activity
Chichikov begins his scam with an offer to buy non-existent peasants from the landowner Manilov. The master, burdened by the need to pay taxes for the dead servants, gave them away for nothing, although he was surprised at the unusual deal. In this episode, the main character is revealed as an easily addicted person who can quickly turn his head with success.
Deciding that the activity he invented is safe, he goes to a new deal. His path lies to a certain Sobakevich, but long road forces the hero to stop at Korobochka's landowner. As a quick-witted person, he does not waste time there either, acquiring almost two dozen more coveted dead souls.
Only after escaping from Korobochka, he gets to visit Nozdryov. main feature this man had a desire to spoil the lives of everyone around him. But Chichikov did not immediately understand this and inadvertently decided to try his luck in a deal with this landowner as well. Nozdryov led the swindler by the nose for a long time. He agreed to sell souls only together with real goods, for example, a horse, or offered to win them in dominoes, but in the end, Pyotr Ivanovich was left with nothing. This meeting showed that the hero of the poem is a frivolous person, unable to calculate his own actions.
Chichikov finally got to Sobakevich and outlined his proposal to him. However, the landowner was no less cunning than the buyer. His benefits he didn't want to miss out. Guessing that the actions of Pyotr Ivanovich were not entirely legal, he skillfully played on this, inflating the price of non-existent peasants. This made Chichikov very tired, but he showed determination. Ultimately, the seller and the buyer found a compromise, and the deal was made.
While Sobakevich was bargaining, he said a few words about a certain Plyushkin, and the hero followed to visit this landowner. The economy of the master did not cause positive emotions in the arrival. Everything there was in disrepair, and the owner himself had a dirty, untidy appearance. The landowner was not poor, but turned out to be a real miser. All money and things of any value, he kept hidden in chests. The painful stinginess of this character, whose name has become a household name, helped Chichikov make a good deal. Plyushkin was wary of this sale, but he was pleased to be able to get rid of the need to pay taxes on dead peasants.
At first glance, Plyushkin did not play in the plot of the work big role, but if you compare this character with the main character, there is something in common between them. Being a landowner and a nobleman, they were supposed to be a support for the state and an example to follow, while in reality both turned out to be useless people for society, seeking to fill their pockets.
Trying to leave the city
Be that as it may, but after the deal with Plushkin, Chichikov has reached his goal and no longer saw the need to stay in the city. In an effort to leave him as soon as possible, he went to court to certify the authenticity of the documents. But this procedure required time, which he gladly spent at receptions and surrounded by ladies interested in him.
However, the triumph turned into a failure. Nozdryov hastened to expose Chichikov's scam. This message caused quite a commotion in the city. The guest accepted everywhere suddenly became unwelcome.
Throughout the story, the reader, while understanding the dubious benevolence of the protagonist's actions, does not yet know him. complete history, which could form final opinion about Chichikov. The author tells about the origin and upbringing of the hero, as well as the events preceding his arrival in the "city N", in chapter 11.
The hero grew up poor family. Although they belonged to the high class of the nobility, they had very few serfs at their disposal. The childhood of Pavel Ivanovich was overshadowed by the absence of friends and acquaintances. When the child grew up a little, his father sent him to school. Parting with his son did not upset Ivan, but in parting he gave Pavel one order. The instruction spoke of the need to learn and win the favor of those who are higher in position. The head of the family called money the most valuable and reliable thing that should be protected.
Chichikov followed this advice all his life. He did not have good learning abilities, but he quickly figured out how to earn the love of teachers. Quiet and meek behavior allowed him to get a good certificate, but after graduating from college, he showed his unsightly quality. His face was revealed when one of his mentors who loved him fell into an extremely difficult financial situation. For the almost starving teacher, classmates-hooligans collected money, while the diligent Chichikov sparingly allocated an insignificant amount.
Meanwhile, the father of the protagonist died, leaving behind a miserable legacy. Chichikov, who is not stingy by nature, is forced to starve and look for ways to earn money. He is hired and tries to work honestly, but soon realizes that such work will not bring him the desired wealth with luxury home, a carriage with a coachman and expensive entertainment.
Wanting to get promoted, he wooed his boss by marrying his daughter. But as soon as the goal was achieved, he did not need a family. While Chichikov was advancing in the service, there was a change of leadership. Despite all efforts, the hero could not find mutual language with a new leader and was forced to look for other ways to obtain material wealth.
The luck of becoming a customs officer smiled at the hero in the next city. But he decided to improve his financial situation with bribes, for which he soon appeared before the court. Always striving to please those in power, Chichikov had some connections that allowed him to escape punishment for a crime.
His nature was such that he turned this discrediting episode of his life into a story about how he innocently suffered in the service.
Unfortunately, one can judge such a curious character as Chichikov only by the first volume. The second part of the work was burned by the author himself, and he never started the third. According to the surviving sketches and drafts, it is known that the hero tried to continue his fraudulent activities. It is not known how the poem would end, but the talentedly created image is still relevant. After all, to this day on the path of life you can meet such a person as Chichikov.
Description of the hero by critics
Critics, for the most part deservedly those who appreciated the poem noted this grasp and the fraudulent nature of the character. Experts made the following judgments about the hero:
- V. G. Belinsky called him a real hero modern era who sought to acquire wealth, without which it was impossible to succeed in the emerging capitalist society. People like him bought stocks or collected donations for charity, but they all had this desire in common.
- K. S. Aksakov ignored moral qualities hero, only noted his roguishness. For this criticism, the main thing was that Chichikov was a truly Russian person.
- A. I. Herzen characterized the hero as the only active person, whose efforts in the end still cost little, as they were limited to fraud.
- V. G. Marantsman saw in the hero himself a “dead soul”, full of negative qualities and devoid of morals.
- P. L. Weil and A. A. Genis saw in Chichikovo " little man", that is, a simple-minded rogue whose activities were neither smart nor large-scale.
The final image of Chichikov is ambiguous. This clearly intelligent person sets himself the goal of arranging own life, but each time chooses the wrong means for this. His ebullient activity and determination could have brought him prosperity for a long time, but the thirst for wealth and luxury, inaccessible to him in childhood, pushes him to commit crimes and fraud.
