In Gogol's work, one can discern both good and bad sides in Russia. As dead souls, the author positions neither the dead, but officials and townsfolk, whose soul has hardened from callousness and indifference to others.
One of the main characters of the poem was Chichikov, who visited five landowners' estates. And in this series of trips, Chichikov concludes for himself that each of the landowners, the owner of a nasty and dirty soul. At the beginning, it may seem that Manilov, Sobakevich, Nozdrev, Korobochka are completely different, but nevertheless they are connected by ordinary worthlessness, which reflects the whole landowner's foundation in Russia.
The author himself appears in this work like a prophet, who describes these terrible events in the life of Rus', and then draws a way out, albeit to a distant, but bright future. The very essence of human ugliness is described in the poem at the moment when the landowners are discussing how to deal with "dead souls", to make an exchange or a profitable sale, or maybe even give it to someone.
And despite the fact that the author describes a rather stormy and active life of the city, at its core it is just empty fuss. The worst thing is that a dead soul is a common occurrence. Gogol also unites all the officials of the city into one, into one faceless face, which differs only in the presence of warts on it.
So, according to Sobakevich, one can see that everyone around is swindlers, Christ-sellers, that each of them pleases and covers the other, for the sake of their own benefit and well-being. And above all this stench, pure and bright Rus' rose, which, as the author hopes, will definitely be reborn.
According to Gogol, only the people have living souls. Who, under all this pressure of serfdom, has kept the Russian soul alive. And she lives in the word of the people, in their deeds, in a sharp mind. In a lyrical digression, the author created the very image of ideal Rus' and its heroic people.
Gogol himself does not know which path Rus' will choose, but he hopes that it will not contain such characters as Plyushkin, Sobakevich, Nozdrev, Korobochka. And only with understanding and insight, without all this spirituality, the Russian people can rise from their knees, recreating an ideal spiritual and pure world.
Option 2
The great Russian writer N.V. Gogol worked at a difficult time for Russia. The unsuccessful Decembrist uprising is put down. Courts and repressions all over the country. The poem "Dead Souls" is a portrait of modernity. The plot of the poem is simple, the characters are written simply and are easy to read. But sadness is felt in everything written.
Gogol's concept of "dead souls" has two meanings. Dead souls are dead serfs, and landowners with dead souls. The writer considered slave serfdom to be a great evil in Russia, which contributed to the extinction of the peasants, the devastation of the culture and economy of the country. Speaking of the dead souls of landlords, Nikolai Vasilyevich also embodied autocratic power in them. Describing his heroes, he hopes for the revival of Rus', for warm human souls.
Russia is revealed in the work through the eyes of the main character Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. The landowners are described in the poem not as a pillar of the state, but as a decaying part of the state, dead souls that cannot be relied upon. Plyushkin's bread is dying, without benefit to the people. Manilov carelessly manages in an abandoned estate. Nozdryov, having brought the economy into complete decline, plays cards and gets drunk. On these images, the writer shows what is happening in modern Russia. "Dead souls", oppressors, Gogol contrasts ordinary Russian people. People deprived of any rights who can be bought and sold. They appear as "living souls".
Gogol writes with great warmth and love about the abilities of the peasants, about their diligence and talents.
The carpenter Cork, a healthy hero, traveled almost all of Russia, built many houses. Mityai makes beautiful and durable carriages. The stove-maker Milushkin puts together solid stoves. Shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov could sew boots from any material. Serfs in Gogol are shown as conscientious workers, enthusiastically doing their job.
Gogol ardently believes in the bright future of his Russia, in the huge, but for the time being hidden talents of the people. He hopes that a ray of happiness and kindness will break through even into the dead souls of the landlords. Its main character Chichikov P.I. remembers the love of his mother and his childhood. This gives hope to the author that even callous people have something human left in their souls.
Gogol's works are funny and sad at the same time. Reading them, you can laugh at the shortcomings of the characters, but at the same time think about what can be changed. Gogol's poem is a vivid example of the author's negative attitude towards serfdom.
Some interesting essays
In life, not everything goes as smoothly as sometimes you want or think. More often than not, it's much more difficult. But we must live, we must somehow exist, think about others, because most often, many people, creatures, depend on us
In 1842, the poem "Dead Souls" was published. Gogol had many problems with censorship: from the title to the content of the work. The censors did not like that in the title, firstly, the social problem of fraud with documents was actualized, and secondly, concepts that were opposite from the point of view of religion were combined. Gogol flatly refused to change the name. The writer's idea is truly amazing: Gogol wanted, like Dante, to describe the whole world that Russia was, to show both positive and negative features, to depict the indescribable beauty of nature and the mystery of the Russian soul. All this is conveyed using a variety of artistic means, and the language of the story itself is light and figurative. No wonder Nabokov said that only one letter separates Gogol from the comic to the cosmic. The concepts of "dead living souls" in the text of the story are mixed, as if in the Oblonskys' house. It becomes a paradox that the living soul in "Dead Souls" is only among the dead peasants!
landowners
In the story, Gogol draws portraits of contemporary people, creates certain types. After all, if you look closely at each character, study his home and family, habits and inclinations, then they will practically have nothing in common. For example, Manilov loved lengthy reflections, he liked to splurge a little (as evidenced by the episode with the children, when Manilov asked his sons various questions from the school curriculum under Chichikov). Behind his external attractiveness and courtesy there was nothing but senseless daydreaming, stupidity and imitation. He was not at all interested in household trifles, and he gave away the dead peasants for free.
Nastasya Filippovna Korobochka knew literally everyone and everything that happened on her small estate. She remembered by heart not only the names of the peasants, but also the reasons for their death, and she had complete order in the household. The enterprising hostess tried to give, in addition to the souls she bought, flour, honey, lard - in a word, everything that was produced in the village under her strict guidance.
Sobakevich, on the other hand, filled the price of every dead soul, but he escorted Chichikov to the state chamber. He seems to be the most businesslike and responsible landowner among all the characters. His complete opposite is Nozdryov, whose meaning of life comes down to gambling and drinking. Even children cannot keep the master at home: his soul constantly requires more and more new entertainment.
The last landowner from whom Chichikov bought souls was Plyushkin. In the past, this man was a good owner and family man, but due to unfortunate circumstances, he turned into something sexless, shapeless and inhuman being. After the death of his beloved wife, his stinginess and suspicion gained unlimited power over Plyushkin, turning him into a slave to these base qualities.
Lack of real life
What do all these landowners have in common?
What unites them with the mayor, who received the order for nothing, with the postmaster, police chief and other officials who use their official position, and whose purpose in life is only their own enrichment? The answer is very simple: lack of desire to live. None of the characters feel any positive emotions, do not really think about the sublime. All these dead souls are driven by animal instincts and consumerism. There is no internal originality in the landowners and officials, they are all just empty shells, just copies of copies, they do not stand out in any way from the general background, they are not exceptional personalities. Everything lofty in this world is vulgarized and reduced: no one admires the beauty of nature, which the author describes so vividly, no one falls in love, does not perform feats, does not overthrow the king. In the new corrupt world, there is no longer a place for an exceptional romantic personality. Love as such is missing here: parents don't like children, men don't like women - people just take advantage of each other. So Manilov needs children as a source of pride, with the help of which he can increase weight in his own eyes and in the eyes of others, Plyushkin does not even want to know his daughter, who ran away from home in her youth, and Nozdryov does not care if he has children or not.
The worst thing is not even this, but the fact that idleness reigns in this world. At the same time, you can be a very active and active person, but at the same time sit back. Any actions and words of the characters are devoid of an inner spiritual filling, devoid of a higher goal. The soul is dead here, because it no longer asks for spiritual food.
The question may arise: why does Chichikov buy only dead souls? The answer to it, of course, is simple: he does not need extra peasants, and he will sell documents for the dead. But will such an answer be complete? Here the author subtly shows that the worlds of the living and dead souls do not intersect and can no longer intersect. That's just the "living" souls are now in the world of the dead, and the "dead" - came to the world of the living. At the same time, the souls of the dead and the living in Gogol's poem are inextricably linked.
Are there living souls in the poem "Dead Souls"? Of course there is. Their role is played by the dead peasants, who are credited with various qualities and characteristics. One drank, another beat his wife, but this one was hard-working, and this one had strange nicknames. These characters come to life both in the imagination of Chichikov and in the imagination of the reader. And now we, together with the main character, represent the leisure of these people.
hope for the best
The world depicted by Gogol in the poem is completely depressing, and the work would be too gloomy if it were not for the finely written landscapes and beauties of Rus'. That's where the lyrics, that's where the life! It seems that in a space devoid of living beings (that is, people), life has been preserved. And here again the opposition according to the principle of living and dead is actualized, turning into a paradox. In the final chapter of the poem, Rus' is compared to a dashing trio, which rushes along the road into the distance. "Dead Souls", despite the general satirical nature, ends with inspiring lines in which enthusiastic faith in the people sounds.
Characteristics of the protagonist and landowners, a description of their general qualities will be useful to students in grade 9 in preparing for an essay on the topic "Dead Living Souls" based on Gogol's poem.
Artwork test
A short essay-reasoning on literature on the topic: Peasant Rus' in the poem "Dead Souls" for grade 9. The image of the people in the poem
When we hear the mention of Gogol's "Dead Souls", we involuntarily pop up before our eyes the "acquirer" Chichikov and the galaxy of vicious landowners trailing behind him. And this is the right association, because the most frequent topics for reflection were precisely these images, it is not without reason that the poem is called “Dead Souls”. But how many people tried to find on what pages Gogol hid living souls, bright images in which the author's hope for the future of Russia is felt? Are they there at all? Maybe the writer saved these characters for two other volumes that he never finished? And, in the end, do these “living souls” exist at all, or is there only evil in us, inherited from those same landlords?
I want to dispel doubts right away: for an inquisitive reader, Gogol has living souls in store! You just have to look closely at the text. The writer only mentions them in passing, either not wanting to show these images ahead of time, or strictly observing the concept of the work, in accordance with which there should have been only dead souls. We see these images on the pages of the "revision tales" that Sobakevich wrote about his dead peasants in the hope of selling them at a higher price. Stepan Cork was listed with him as “a hero who would have been suitable for the guard”, Maxim Telyatnikov - “a miracle, not a shoemaker”, Yeremey Sorokoplekhin - the one that “brought five hundred rubles a quitrent”. Also, some runaway peasants of Plyushkin were awarded a mini-biography. For example, Abakum Fyrov, a free barge hauler, pulling his strap "under one endless, like Rus', song." All these people flash only once, few even stop at their names at the first reading, but it is with the help of their stories that Gogol creates an even greater contrast between the “dead and the living” in the poem. It turns out a double oxymoron: on the one hand, living people are presented in the poem as “dead”, hopeless, vulgar, and people who have gone to another world seem to us more “alive” and brighter. Isn't this a hint that Gogol sees only decline in a country where worthy people, the foundation on which the power stands, "go to the ground", and the "dead" landowners continue to grow rich and profit from honest workers?
The writer expresses his idea that all the greatness of the country rests not on vile landowners who do not bring any benefit to the Fatherland, but on the contrary, only breed its poverty, raging with fat, ruining their serfs. All the hope of the author rests on the Russian people, ordinary people who are oppressed and offended in every possible way, but who do not give up, truly loving their country and paving the right way for the “bird-troika” with their own efforts.
It is difficult to understand who is really a “dead soul” and who is not, because in Gogol it is not so unambiguous and is understood after repeated reading. “A real book cannot be read at all - it can only be re-read,” Nabokov said, and this is definitely about Dead Souls. There are many unresolved questions in this poem, but there are just as many answers given by the author to the fact that there is our country and the people in it, who is a great evil on Russia's path to prosperity, and who, not knowing the greatness of their everyday small deeds, is all leads her to well-being and success.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!The greatest work of Russian literature is Gogol's poem Dead Souls. It tells about two classes of people: dead souls-peasants and living souls - their owners. But as it turns out later, the souls of the landowners are even more dead than those of the peasants. So let's start in order.
The main character goes to different people to acquire dead souls. The first to become Manilov.
At first he looks to us as very well-mannered, educated and intelligent. But this is only the first impression. For example, he has a book on his desk, all dusty. But in fact, this person is an empty talker, he is dreamy and not very smart.
The second was a trip to Korobochka. This old woman is very old and stupid. She trades peasants like some kind of commodity. She is only interested in profit and nothing else.
Chichikov next meets Nozdryov. At first glance, this is a rather cheerful and sweet man. But his only occupation is wasting money. He belongs to those people who like to spoil their surroundings.
The fourth was Sobakevich. He is very big, like a bear. He does everything for his own interests. He doesn't care what's going on around him.
And the last in the landowners' galley was Plyushkin. Once he was a very hardworking man. But after the death of his wife, he became very miserly. A lot of good is collected in his house, but he does not spend anything, but collects everything.
So, Gogol in this poem says that the life of the landowners is even more meaningless than the life of the peasants. After all, they are not interested in anything other than money. In fact, I really feel sorry for such people who put money above everything else.
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Updated: 2017-06-16
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Explaining the idea of "Dead Souls", Gogol wrote that the images of the poem "are not at all portraits of insignificant people, on the contrary, they contain the features of those who consider themselves better than others." "Dead souls" are representatives of the social strata that dominated at that time. The poem is built as an adventure of the "acquirer" Chichikov, who actually buys the dead, but legally alive, i.e. not crossed out from the audit lists, souls. The central place in the first volume is occupied by five "portrait" chapters. These chapters, built according to the same plan, show how different types of serf-owners were formed on the basis of serfdom and how serfdom in the 20-30s of the 19th century, in connection with the growth of capitalist forces, led the landlord class to economic decline. Gogol gives these chapters in a certain order:
The mismanaged landowner Manilov is replaced by the petty Korobochka, the careless waster of life Nozdryov is stingy Sobakevich. This gallery of landowners is completed by Plyushkin, a miser who brought his estate and peasants to complete ruin. With great expressiveness in the "portrait" chapters, a picture of the decline of the landlord class is given. From the idle dreamer, living in the world of his dreams, Manilov, to the "club-headed" Korobochka, from it to the reckless spendthrift, liar and sharpie Nozdrev, then to the savage fist "hole in humanity" Plyushkin, Gogol leads us, showing an increasing moral decline and decay representatives of the landowning world. The poem turns into a brilliant denunciation of serfdom, the class that is the arbiter of the fate of the state. Gallery of portraits of landowners opens with the image of Manilov
The image of Manilov captures the type of an idle dreamer, a "romantic" loafer. The landowner's economy is in complete decline. "The manor's house stood at a juncture, that is, on a hill, open to all the winds, whatever it takes to blow..." The housekeeper steals, "stupidly and uselessly preparing in the kitchen," "empty in the pantry," "unclean and drunken servants." Meanwhile, a "gazebo with a flat green dome, wooden columns and an inscription:" The Temple of Solitary Reflection "was erected." Manilov's dreams are absurd and absurd. build a stone bridge across the pond ... "Gogol shows that Manilov is vulgar and empty, he has no real spiritual interests. "In his office there was always some kind of book, bookmarked on the fourteenth page, which he had been constantly reading for two years." Gogol with stunning artistic power, he shows the deadness of Manilov, the worthlessness of his life.Behind the external attractiveness lies spiritual emptiness.
The image of the hoarder Korobochka is already devoid of those "attractive" features that distinguish Manilov. And again we have a type in front of us - "one of those mothers, small landowners who ... are gaining a little money in colorful bags placed in drawers of chests of drawers." Korobochka's interests are entirely focused on the household. "Strong-headed" and "club-headed" Nastasya Petrovna is afraid to sell cheap, selling "dead souls" to Chichikov. The "silent scene" that occurs in this chapter is curious. We find similar scenes in almost all chapters showing the conclusion of a deal between Chichikov and another landowner. This makes it possible to show with special convexity the spiritual emptiness of Pavel Ivanovich and his interlocutors. At the end of the third chapter, Gogol talks about the typical image of Korobochka, the slight difference between her and another aristocratic lady.
The gallery of "dead souls" is continued in Nozdrev's poem. Like other landowners, he does not develop internally, does not change depending on age. "Nozdryov at thirty-five was the same perfect as he was at eighteen and twenty: a hunter for a walk." The portrait of a dashing reveler is satirical and sarcastic at the same time. "He was of medium height, a very well-built fellow with full ruddy cheeks ... Health seemed to be squirting from his face." However, Chichikov notices that one of Nozdryov's sideburns was smaller and not as thick as the other (the result of another fight). Passion for lies and card games largely explains the fact that not a single meeting where Nozdryov was present was complete without history. The landowner's life is absolutely soulless. In the office "there were no traces of what happens in the offices, that is, books or paper; only a saber and two guns hung ..." Of course, Nozdryov's household was ruined. Even lunch consists of dishes that are burnt, or, on the contrary, not cooked.
Chichikov's attempt to buy dead souls from Nozdrev is a fatal mistake. It is Nozdryov who blabs a secret at the governor's ball. The arrival in the city of Korobochka, who wished to find out "how much dead souls go", confirms the words of the dashing "talker".
The image of Nozdrev is no less typical than the image of Manilov or Korobochka. Gogol writes: "Nozdryov will not leave the world for a long time. He is everywhere between us and, perhaps, only walks in a different caftan; but people are frivolously impenetrable, and a person in a different caftan seems to them a different person."
Typification techniques are also used by Gogol to describe the image of Sobakevich. The village and the landowner's economy testify to a certain prosperity. "The yard was surrounded by a strong and excessively thick wooden lattice. The landowner seemed to be fussing a lot about strength ... The village huts of the peasants were also cut down marvelously ... everything was fitted tightly and as it should." Describing the appearance of Sobakevich, Gogol resorts to zoological analogy (comparison of a landowner with a bear). In his judgments about food, Sobakevich rises to a kind of "gastronomic" pathos: "For me, when pork - put the whole pig on the table, lamb - drag the whole ram, goose - just the goose!" However, Sobakevich (in this he differs from Plyushkin and most other landowners) has a certain economic streak (he does not ruin his own serfs, achieves a certain order in the economy, profitably sells dead souls to Chichikov, knows very well the business and human qualities of his peasants).
The ultimate degree of human decline is captured by Gogol in the image of the richest landowner of the province (more than a thousand serfs) Plyushkin. The biography of the character allows you to trace the path from a "thrifty" owner to a half-crazy miser. “But there was a time when he ... was married and a family man, and a neighbor came to dine with him ... two pretty daughters came out to meet ... a son ran out ... The owner himself appeared at the table in a frock coat ... But the good housewife died, some of the keys, and with them petty worries passed to him. Plyushkin became more restless and, like all widowers, more suspicious and stingy. Soon the family completely fell apart, and unprecedented pettiness and suspicion develop in Plyushkin: "... he himself has finally turned into some kind of hole in humanity." So, it was by no means social conditions that led the landowner to the last frontier of moral decline. Before us, the tragedy of loneliness is played out, developing into a nightmarish picture of lonely old age.
In the village of Plyushkin, Chichikov notices "some special dilapidation." Entering the house, Chichikov sees a strange heap of furniture and some street rubbish. Plyushkin is an insignificant slave of his own things. He lives worse than "the last shepherd of Sobakevich." Countless riches are wasted... Gogol's words sound warning: "And to what insignificance, pettiness, disgustingness a person could descend! Could change like that!.. Everything can happen to a person."
Thus, the landowners in "Dead Souls" are united by common features: inhumanity, idleness, vulgarity, spiritual emptiness.
Officials in the poem are shown satirically. For the author, like the landowners, they are “dead souls”. The symbolic meaning of the title of the work also applies to officials. Talking about them, Gogol skillfully displays the individual qualities of the governor, prosecutor, postmaster and others and at the same time creates a collective image of the bureaucracy. They rob both the state and petitioners. Embezzlement, bribery, robbery of the population are everyday and quite natural phenomena. The chief of police "has only to blink, passing by a fish row or a cellar," as balyks and excellent wines appear on his table. No request is considered without a bribe. The chairman of the chamber warns Chichikov: "... do not give anything to officials ... My friends should not pay." Monstrous immorality is revealed in these words of a high-ranking person. He calls everything by its proper name, not even trying to hide the general venality. All officials use their official position for personal interests. In bureaucratic Russia, this has become an unwritten law. There is no significant difference in the actions and views of officials, in their way of life. Gogol creates a group portrait of people bound together by mutual responsibility. When Chichikov's scam was revealed, the officials were confused and everyone "suddenly found ... sins in themselves." The tragicomic situation in which the "owners of the city" found themselves was created as a result of their criminal activities.
The entire gallery of images given in the first volume of "Dead Souls" convincingly reveals the inner squalor and the inert, musty appearance of the serf-owners - soul owners. The "dead souls" of the poem are opposed to the "living" ones - talented, hardworking, long-suffering people. Gogol saw the lack of rights of the peasantry, its humiliated position and the stupidity and savagery that were the result of serfdom. Such are Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyay, the serf girl Pelageya, who did not distinguish between right and left, Plyushkin's Proshka and Mavra, beaten to the extreme. But even in this social depression, Gogol saw the living soul of the "brisk people" and the quickness of the Yaroslavl peasant. He speaks with admiration and love of the ability of the people, courage and prowess, endurance and thirst for freedom. Fortress hero, carpenter Cork "would fit into the guard." He walked with an ax in his belt and boots on his shoulders all over the provinces. The carriage maker Mikhey created carriages of extraordinary strength and beauty. The stove maker Milushkin could put a stove in any house. Talented shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov "what pierces with an awl, then boots, that boots, then thanks." And Yeremey Sorokoplekhin "brought five hundred rubles a quitrent!" Here is the fugitive serf Plyushkin Abakum Fyrov, his soul could not stand the oppression of bondage, he was drawn to the wide expanse of the Volga, he "walks noisily and cheerfully on the grain pier, having contracted with merchants." But it is not easy for him to walk with barge haulers, "dragling a strap under one endless song, like Rus'." In the songs of barge haulers, Gogol heard an expression of longing and the desire of the people for a different life, for a wonderful future. An ardent faith in the hidden until the time, but the immense strength of the whole people, love for the motherland, allowed Gogol to brilliantly foresee its great future.
As during a thunderstorm clouds thicken and fill with lead, tension in the atmosphere grows, as in Dead Souls the colors gradually darken. Just as a detente occurs during a thunderstorm, so in the poem, Chichikov’s private history imperceptibly turns into a discussion about the fate of Rus', the “brisk, irrepressible trio”, which is the main living force that is able to fight the carrion and overcome it. In other words - in the words of Herzen - "to resist" dead souls "should be a remote, full of strength nationality, in which everything is colorful, bright, animated."
