Relevance of images
In the artistic space of one of the most famous works of Gogol, the landowners and those in power are linked. Lies, bribery and the desire for profit characterize each of the images of officials in Dead Souls. It's amazing how easily and naturally the author draws essentially disgusting portraits, and so skillfully that you don't doubt the authenticity of each character for a moment. Using the example of officials in the poem "Dead Souls" were shown the most pressing problems of the Russian Empire in the middle of the 19th century. In addition to serfdom, which hindered natural progress, the real problem was the vast bureaucratic apparatus, for the maintenance of which huge sums were allocated. The people in whose hands the power was concentrated worked only for the sake of accumulating their own capital and improving their well-being, robbing both the treasury and ordinary people. Many writers of that time addressed the topic of exposing officials: Gogol, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Dostoevsky.
Officials in Dead Souls
In "Dead Souls" there are no separately prescribed images of civil servants, but nevertheless life and characters are shown very accurately. The images of the officials of the city of N appear from the first pages of the work. Chichikov, who decided to pay a visit to each of the mighty of this world, gradually acquaints the reader with the governor, the vice-governor, the prosecutor, the chairman of the chamber, the police chief, the postmaster and many others. Chichikov flattered everyone, as a result of which he managed to win over every important person, and all this is shown as a matter of course. The bureaucratic world was dominated by pomp, bordering on vulgarity, inappropriate pathos and farce. So, the governor's house during the usual dinner was lit up as if for a ball, the decoration dazzled the eyes, and the ladies were dressed in their best dresses.
Officials in the county town were of two types: the first were subtle and everywhere chased the ladies, trying to charm them with bad French and greasy compliments. Officials of the second type, according to the author, resembled Chichikov himself: not fat or thin, with round pockmarked faces and slicked hair, they looked sideways, trying to find an interesting or profitable business for themselves. At the same time, everyone tried to spoil each other, do some meanness, usually because of the ladies, but no one was going to shoot over such trifles. But at dinners they pretended that nothing was happening, discussed the Moskovskie Vesti, dogs, Karamzin, delicious dishes and gossip about officials from other departments.
When characterizing the prosecutor, Gogol combines the high and the low: “he was neither fat nor thin, he had Anna on his neck, and it was even said that he was presented to a star; however, he was a great good-natured person and sometimes even embroidered tulle himself ... "Note that nothing is said here about why this man received the award - the Order of St. Anne is awarded" to those who love truth, piety and loyalty ", and is also awarded for military merits. But after all, no battles or special episodes where piety and fidelity would be mentioned are not mentioned at all. The main thing is that the prosecutor is engaged in needlework, and not in his official duties. Sobakevich speaks unflattering about the prosecutor: the prosecutor, they say, is an idle person, so he sits at home, and works for him as a solicitor, a famous grabber. There is nothing to talk about - what order can there be if a person who does not understand the issue at all is trying to solve it while an authorized person is embroidering on tulle.
A similar trick is used when describing the postmaster, a serious and silent person, a short but witty and philosopher. Only in this case, various qualitative characteristics are combined in one row: "low", "but a philosopher." That is, here growth becomes an allegory for the mental abilities of this person.
The reaction to worries and reforms is also shown very ironically: from new appointments and the number of papers, civil servants are losing weight ("And the chairman lost weight, and the inspector of the medical board lost weight, and the prosecutor lost weight, and some Semyon Ivanovich ... and he lost weight"), but there were and those who courageously kept themselves in their former form. And the meetings, according to Gogol, were successful only when it was possible to have a party or dine, but this, of course, is not the fault of the officials, but the mentality of the people.
In Dead Souls, Gogol portrays officials only at dinners, playing whist or other card games. Only once does the reader see officials at the workplace, when Chichikov came to draw up a bill of sale for the peasants. In the department, Pavel Ivanovich is unequivocally hinted that things will not be done without a bribe, and there is nothing to say about a quick solution to the issue without a certain amount. This is confirmed by the chief of police, who “has only to blink, passing by the fish row or cellar,” and he gets balyks and good wines. No request is considered without a bribe.
Officials in "The Tale of Captain Kopeikin"
The most cruel is the story of Captain Kopeikin. A disabled war veteran, in search of truth and help, travels from the Russian hinterland to the capital to ask for an audience with the tsar himself. Kopeikin's hopes are dashed against the terrible reality: while cities and villages are in poverty and receive less money, the capital is chic. The meeting with the king and dignitaries is constantly postponed. Completely desperate, Captain Kopeikin sneaks into the reception room of a high-ranking official, demanding that his issue be immediately brought up for consideration, otherwise he, Kopeikin, will not leave the office. The official assures the veteran that now the assistant will take the latter to the emperor himself, and for a second the reader believes in a happy outcome - he rejoices with Kopeikin riding in the chaise, hopes and believes in the best. However, the story ends disappointingly: after this incident, no one else met Kopeikin. This episode is actually frightening, because human life turns out to be an insignificant trifle, from the loss of which the entire system will not suffer at all.
When Chichikov's scam was revealed, they were in no hurry to arrest Pavel Ivanovich, because they could not understand whether he was the kind of person who needed to be detained, or one who would detain everyone and make everyone guilty. A characteristic of officials in Dead Souls can be the words of the author himself that these are people who sit quietly on the sidelines, accumulate capital and arrange their lives at the expense of others. Excitement, bureaucracy, bribery, nepotism and meanness - this is what characterized the people who ruled in Russia in the 19th century.
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Officialdom in N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls"
Approximate text of the essay
In tsarist Russia in the 30s-40s of the 19th century, not only serfdom, but also a vast bureaucratic bureaucratic apparatus was a real disaster for the people. Called to stand guard over law and order, representatives of the administrative authorities thought only about their own material welfare, robbing the treasury, extorting bribes, and mocking people without rights. Thus, the topic of exposing the bureaucratic world was very relevant for Russian literature. Gogol repeatedly addressed her in such works as The Inspector General, The Overcoat, and Notes of a Madman. She found expression in the poem "Dead Souls", where, starting from the seventh chapter, the bureaucracy is in the center of the author's attention. Despite the absence of detailed and detailed images similar to heroes-landowners, the picture of bureaucratic life in Gogol's poem is striking in its breadth.
With two or three masterful strokes, the writer paints wonderful miniature portraits. This is the governor, embroidering on tulle, and the prosecutor with very black thick eyebrows, and the short postmaster, wit and philosopher, and many others. These sketched faces are remembered for their characteristic funny details that are filled with deep meaning. Indeed, why is the head of an entire province characterized as a kind-hearted man who sometimes embroiders on tulle? Probably because there is nothing to say about him as a leader. From this it is easy to draw a conclusion about how negligent and dishonest the governor is to his official duties, to his civic duty. The same can be said about his subordinates. Gogol makes extensive use of the characterization of the hero by other characters in the poem. For example, when a witness was needed to register the purchase of serfs, Sobakevich tells Chichikov that the prosecutor, as an idle person, is probably sitting at home. But this is one of the most significant officials in the city, who must administer justice, enforce the rule of law. The characterization of the prosecutor in the poem is enhanced by the description of his death and funeral. He did nothing but mindlessly signing papers, as he left all the decisions to the solicitor, "the world's first grabber." Obviously, the reason for his death was the rumors about the sale of "dead souls", since it was he who was responsible for all the illegal cases in the city. Gogol's bitter irony is heard in reflections on the meaning of the life of the prosecutor: "... why he died, or why he lived, God alone knows." Even Chichikov, looking at the funeral of the prosecutor, involuntarily comes to the conclusion that the only thing that the deceased can remember is his thick black eyebrows.
The writer gives a close-up the typical image of the official Ivan Antonovich Pitcher snout. Taking advantage of his position, he extorts bribes from visitors. It is ridiculous to read how Chichikov put a "piece of paper" in front of Ivan Antonovich, "which he did not notice at all and immediately covered it with a book." But it is sad to know what a hopeless situation Russian citizens have found themselves in, depending on dishonest, greedy people representing the state power. This idea is emphasized by Gogol's comparison of an official of the Civil Chamber with Virgil. At first glance, it is unacceptable. But the ugly official, like the Roman poet in The Divine Comedy, leads Chichikov through all circles of bureaucratic hell. This means that this comparison strengthens the impression of the evil that pervades the entire administrative system of tsarist Russia.
Gogol gives in the poem a peculiar classification of the bureaucracy, dividing the representatives of this class into lower, thin and fat. The writer gives a sarcastic characterization of each of these groups. The lower ones are, according to Gogol's definition, nondescript clerks and secretaries, as a rule, bitter drunkards. By "thin" the author means the middle stratum, and "thick" - this is the provincial nobility, which firmly holds on to their places and deftly derives considerable income from their high position.
Gogol is inexhaustible in his choice of surprisingly accurate and apt comparisons. So, he likens officials to a squadron of flies that swoop down on tidbits of refined sugar. The poem also characterizes the provincial officials in their usual activities: playing cards, drinking, lunches, dinners, gossip Gogol writes that "meanness, completely disinterested, pure meanness" flourishes in the society of these public servants. Their quarrels do not end with a duel, because "they were all civilian officials." They have other methods and means, thanks to which they do dirty tricks to each other, which is more difficult than any duel. There are no significant differences in the way of life of officials, in their actions and views. Gogol portrays this estate as thieves, bribe-takers, loafers and swindlers who are bound to each other by mutual responsibility. Therefore, officials feel so uncomfortable when Chichikov's scam was revealed, because each of them remembered their sins. If they try to detain Chichikov for his fraud, then he can accuse them of dishonesty. A comic situation arises when people in positions of power help the swindler in his illegal machinations and are afraid of him.
Gogol in the poem pushes the boundaries of the district town, introducing into it "The Tale of Captain Kopeikin". It tells no longer about local abuses, but about the arbitrariness and lawlessness that are committed by the highest Petersburg officials, that is, the government itself. The contrast between the unheard-of luxury of St. Petersburg and the miserable poverty-stricken position of Kopeikin, who shed blood for his fatherland, lost an arm and a leg, is striking. But, despite his injuries and military merit, this war hero is not even entitled to his pension. A desperate disabled person tries to find help in the capital, but his attempt breaks down on the cold indifference of a high-ranking dignitary. This disgusting image of a soulless St. Petersburg nobleman completes the characterization of the world of officials. All of them, starting with the petty provincial secretary and ending with a representative of the highest administrative authority, are dishonest, mercenary, cruel people, indifferent to the fate of the country and the people. It is to this conclusion that the remarkable poem of N. V. Gogol "Dead Souls" leads the reader.
The share of the prosecutor's participation in the narrative is small: Chichikov's first meeting with him at the governor's house, Nozdryov's appearance at a ball in society, the death of the prosecutor, and Chichikov's collision with the funeral procession - nevertheless, Gogol pays attention to the prosecutor for a reason.
The inability of those in power to discern a fraud in a visitor underlines a very important idea - to show "insignificant people."
“I needed,” Gogol wrote, “to take away from all the beautiful people I knew, everything vulgar and disgusting that they had accidentally seized, and return to its rightful owners. Don't ask why the first part should be all vulgarity and why everything is in it. every face must be ASX: other topics will give you an answer. That's all! "
So, Chichikov successfully buys dead souls, and the one who should have stopped him - the prosecutor - dies.
The prosecutor becomes one of the first listeners of Nozdryov's revelations. They almost shout in his ears that Chichikov is buying up dead souls. The atmosphere thickens. A lady's invention about the kidnapping of the governor's daughter is brought to the attention of the prosecutor. All this needs to be considered.
"... He began to think, to think and suddenly, as they say, he died for no reason. Whether he was paralyzed, or something else caught him, only he, as he sat, slumped backwards from the chair. They screamed, as usual, throwing up their hands: "Oh, my God!" - they sent for the doctor to bleed, but they saw that the prosecutor was already one soulless body. Then only with condolences did they learn that the deceased had, for sure, a soul, although he, by his modesty never showed it. "
V. Ermilov, assessing the significance of the figure of the prosecutor for the theme of "Dead Souls", wrote: "The subtlest sad irony is hidden in the history of the prosecutor. The comic remark of Sobakevich that in the whole city there is only one prosecutor" a decent man, and that pig "has its own Indeed, after all, the prosecutor experiences the deepest general confusion and fear caused by Chichikov's “case.” He even dies for the sole reason that he began to think ... He died from habit of thinking. most of all to think about everything that surfaced in the minds of the shocked officials, in connection with the incomprehensible case of Chichikov ... "
The death of the prosecutor gives Gogol the opportunity for another lyrical insertion, reflections on the fact that in the face of death, everyone is equal: "Meanwhile, the appearance of death was just as scary in small things as it is scary in a great man: the one who walked not so long ago , moved, played whist, signed various papers and was so often seen between officials with his thick eyebrows and a blinking eye, now he was lying on the table, his left eye no longer blinked at all, but one eyebrow was still raised with some kind of questioning expression What the deceased asked about: why he died or why he lived - only God knows about this. "
But no death will make city officials think about the frailty of the world: "All their thoughts were concentrated at that time in themselves: they thought what the new governor-general would be like, how he would get down to business and how he would accept them ... the first volume of the poem ends with a sad picture.
The landowner Stepan Plyushkin - a cruel serf-owner, stingy, suspicious, distrustful of everyone - does not want to see you in his estate and is not going to treat you even to last year's cake. Plyushkin Petty suspicious Spiritually and physically degenerate Human appearance is lost Slave of things Accumulator Extremely stingy Degraded man
Ivan Antonovich "jug snout" - a subtle official The ability of an official to turn into an eagle or a fly is striking. At his desk Ivan Antonovich is an eagle, and in the chief's office there is a fly. He is a bribe-taker, a bureaucrat, a clever solicitor of all illegal matters. Even Chichikov gave him a bribe, although he was a friend of his boss.
Police chief Alexei Ivanovich What characteristic does N.V. Gogol to the Chief of Police in Chapter 7? How do the townspeople treat him? What the hell does a police chief contribute to this? Why is the phrase “I have grasped my position perfectly” in relation to the chief of police? Artist P. Boklevsky
Conclusion about the image of the chief of police The police chief, "the father and benefactor of the city", must strictly and unswervingly monitor how the laws are being implemented, bring those who violate them to justice, but when he visits the seating yard, he feels here as in his own pantry. "Even though he will take, the merchants say, he will not betray you." In other words, a bribe will hide a crime. By this he acquired love and “perfect nationality”.
Conclusion: The prosecutor did nothing but mindlessly signing papers, since he provided all the decisions to the solicitor, "the first grabber in the world." Obviously, the reason for his death was rumors about the sale of "dead souls", since it was he who was responsible for all the illegal affairs that took place in the city. Bitter Gogolian irony is heard in meditations about the meaning of the prosecutor's life: "... why he died, or why he lived, God alone knows." Even Chichikov, looking at the funeral of the prosecutor, involuntarily comes to the idea that the only thing that the deceased can remember is his thick black eyebrows.
Provincial Olympus Conclusions: The governors of the city are unanimous only in their desire to live widely at the expense of "the sums of their dearly beloved fatherland." Officials rob both the state and the petitioners. Embezzlement, bribery, and robbery of the population are everyday and quite natural phenomena. No request is considered without a bribe.
Ch. 9 Ladies of the city N Gogol makes fun of the vulgarity, hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness characteristic of provincial ladies. Gossip, empty chatter about city news, heated debates about outfits are combined with claims to taste and education. These women strive to imitate the metropolitan society in the manner of speaking and dressing, blindly copying foreign traditions. Gogol reveals the emptiness of their spiritlessness of the inner world. How does the dialogue between two "nice" ladies characterize?
One said that Chichikov was a doer of state bills, and then he himself added: "maybe not a doer"; another claimed that he was an official of the governor-general’s office, and immediately added: but the devil only knows, you cannot read it on your forehead. ”Officials Officials. The nullity of their bureaucratic rule.
Thus, bribes, theft, honor, mutual guarantee are the vices of officials. Officials are cruel and inhuman. Satirically portraying provincial officials, the author strikes a blow at the bureaucratic apparatus of the entire autocratic-serf state and makes it clear that these "keepers of order and law" are as dead souls as the landowners.
Gogol, a contemporary of Pushkin, created his works in the historical conditions prevailing in our country after the unsuccessful performance of the Decembrists in 1825. Thanks to the new socio-political situation, the workers of literature and social thought were faced with tasks that were deeply reflected in the work of Nikolai Vasilyevich. Developing the principles in his work, this author became one of the most significant representatives of this trend in Russian literature. In Belinsky's opinion, it was Gogol who was able to look directly and boldly at Russian reality for the first time.
In this article, we will describe the image of officials in the poem "Dead Souls".
The collective image of officials
Nikolai Vasilyevich's notes referring to the first volume of the novel contain the following remark: "The dead insensibility of life." This, according to the author, is the collective image of officials in the poem. It should be noted the difference in the image of them and the landowners. The landowners in the work are individualized, but the officials, on the contrary, are impersonal. It is possible to compose only a collective portrait of them, from which the postmaster, the police chief, the prosecutor and the governor stand out slightly.
Names and surnames of officials
It should be noted that all the persons who make up the collective image of officials in the poem "Dead Souls" do not have surnames, and names are often called in grotesque and comic contexts, sometimes duplicated (Ivan Antonovich, Ivan Andreevich). Of these, some are highlighted only for a short time, after which they disappear into the crowd of others. The subject of Gogol's satire was not positions and personalities, but social vices, the social environment, which is the main object of the depiction in the poem.
It should be noted the grotesque beginning in the image of Ivan Antonovich, his comic, crude nickname (Pitcher Snout), simultaneously referring to the world of animals and inanimate things. The department is ironically described as "the temple of Themis". This place is important for Gogol. The department is often depicted in Petersburg stories, in which it appears as an antiworld, a kind of hell in miniature.
The most important episodes in the image of officials
The image of officials in the poem "Dead Souls" can be traced back to the following episodes. This is primarily the governor's "house party" described in the first chapter; then - a ball at the governor (eighth chapter), as well as breakfast at the chief of police (tenth). In general, in the 7-10th chapters, it is the bureaucracy that is highlighted as a psychological and social phenomenon.
Traditional motives in the image of officials
You can find many traditional motifs characteristic of Russian satirical comedies in Nikolai Vasilyevich's "bureaucratic" plots. These techniques and motives date back to Griboyedov and Fonvizin. The officials of the provincial town are also very reminiscent of their "colleagues" from the abuses, arbitrariness, inactivity. Bribery, reverence for honor, bureaucracy are social evil, traditionally ridiculed. Suffice it to recall the story described in "The Overcoat" with a "significant person", the fear of the auditor and the desire to bribe him in the work of the same name, and the bribe given to Ivan Antonovich in the 7th chapter of the poem "Dead Souls". The images of the chief of police, "benefactor" and "father", who visited the guest house and the shops, as if they were in his storeroom, are very characteristic; the chairman of the civil chamber, who not only exempted his friends from bribes, but also from the need to pay for the paperwork of his friends; Ivan Antonovich, who did nothing without "gratitude."
Compositional construction of the poem
The poem itself is based on the adventures of an official (Chichikov) who buys up dead souls. This image is impersonal: the author practically does not talk about Chichikov himself.
The first volume of the work, according to Gogol's plan, shows various negative aspects of the life of Russia at that time - both bureaucratic and landlord. The entire provincial society is part of the "dead world".
The exposition is given in the first chapter, in which a portrait of one provincial town is drawn. Everywhere desolation, disorder, dirt, which emphasizes the indifference of local authorities to the needs of residents. Then, after Chichikov visited the landowners, chapters 7 through 10 describe a collective portrait of the bureaucracy of then Russia. In several episodes, various images of officials are given in the poem "Dead Souls". The chapters show how the author characterizes this social class.
What do officials have in common with landowners?
However, the worst thing is that such officials are no exception. These are typical representatives of the bureaucratic system in Russia. Among them, venality and bureaucracy reign.
Registration of deeds
Together with Chichikov, who returned to the city, we are transferred to the court chamber, where this hero will have to issue a bill of sale (7th chapter). The characterization of the images of officials in the poem "Dead Souls" is given in this episode very detailed. Ironically, Gogol uses a high symbol - a temple in which the "priests of Themis", impartial and incorruptible, serve. However, first of all, the desolation and dirt in this "temple" are striking. The "unattractive appearance" of Themis is explained by the fact that she receives visitors in a simple way, "in a dressing gown."
However, this simplicity actually turns out to be an outright disregard for the laws. Nobody is going to do business, and the "priests of Themis" (officials) only care about how to take tribute from visitors, that is, bribes. And they really do do well at that.
There is a rush with papers, vanity, but all this serves only one purpose - to confuse the petitioners so that they cannot do without the help, kindly provided for a fee, of course. Chichikov, this rogue and connoisseur of behind-the-scenes affairs, nevertheless had to use her to get into the presence.
He got access to the required person only after he openly offered a bribe to Ivan Antonovich. How much of a legalized phenomenon she has become in the life of the bureaucracy of Russia, we understand when the main character finally gets to the chairman of the chamber, who accepts him as his old acquaintance.
Conversation with the chairman
The heroes, after courteous phrases, get down to business, and here the chairman says that his friends "should not pay". The bribe here, it turns out, is so obligatory that only close friends of officials can do without it.
Another noteworthy detail from the life of the city bureaucracy is revealed in a conversation with the chairman. The analysis of the image of an official in the poem "Dead Souls" is very interesting in this episode. It turns out that even for such an unusual activity, which was described in the judicial chamber, by no means all representatives of this class consider it necessary to go to service. As an "idle person" the prosecutor sits at home. All cases for him are decided by the solicitor, who in the work is called "the first grabber."
Ball at the Governor's
In the scene described by Gogol on (8th chapter) we see a review of dead souls. Gossip and balls become for people a form of poor mental and social life. The image of officials in the poem "Dead Souls", a brief description of which we are compiling, can be supplemented in this episode with the following details. At the level of discussing fashionable styles and colors of material, officials have ideas about beauty, and solidity is determined by how a person ties a tie and blows his nose. There is not and cannot be real culture, morality here, since norms of behavior depend entirely on ideas about how it should be. That is why Chichikov was at first received so cordially: he knows how to react sensitively to the requests of this public.
This is, in short, the image of officials in the poem "Dead Souls". We did not describe the summary of the work itself. We hope you remember him. The characteristics presented by us can be supplemented based on the content of the poem. The topic "The image of officials in the poem" Dead Souls "is very interesting. Quotes from the work, which can be found in the text, referring to the chapters indicated by us, will help you complement this characteristic.
