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Dead and living souls in Gogol's poem. Living and dead souls in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls"

23.04.2019

Souls “dead” and “alive” in N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”

When publishing Dead Souls, Gogol wished to design it himself title page. It depicted Chichikov’s carriage, symbolizing the path of Russia, and around there were many human skulls. The publication of this particular title page was very important for Gogol, as well as the fact that his book was published simultaneously with Ivanov’s painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People.” The theme of life and death, rebirth runs like a red thread through Gogol’s work. Gogol saw his task in correcting and directing true path human hearts, and these attempts were made through the theater, in civic activities, teaching and, finally, in creativity.

There is an opinion that Gogol planned to create the poem “Dead Souls” by analogy with Dante’s poem “ The Divine Comedy" This determined the proposed three-part composition of the future work. “The Divine Comedy” consists of three parts: “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”, which were supposed to correspond to the three volumes of “Dead Souls” conceived by Gogol. In the first volume, Gogol sought to show the terrible Russian reality, to recreate “hell” modern life. In the second and third volumes, Gogol wanted to depict the revival of Russia. Gogol saw himself as a writer-preacher who, drawing on the pages of his work a picture of the revival of Russia, leads it out of the crisis.

The artistic space of the first volume of the poem consists of two worlds: the real world, where the main character is Chichikov, and the ideal world of lyrical digressions, where the main character is the narrator.

“In this novel I want to show at least one side of all of Rus',” he writes to Pushkin. Explaining the concept of “Dead Souls,” Gogol wrote that the images of the poem are “in no way portraits of insignificant people; on the contrary, they contain the features of those who consider themselves better than others.” This is probably why the concept of “dead souls” in Gogol’s poem constantly changes its meaning, moving from one to another: these are not only dead serfs, whom the swindler Chichikov decided to buy, but also spiritually dead landowners and officials.

“Dead Souls” is a synthesis of all possible ways of fighting for human souls. The work contains both direct pathos and teachings, and artistic sermon, illustrated with the image of the dead souls themselves - landowners and city officials. Lyrical digressions also give the work the sense of an artistic sermon and sum up the terrible pictures of life and everyday life depicted. Appealing to all humanity as a whole and considering the ways of spiritual resurrection, revival, Gogol in lyrical digressions indicates that “darkness and evil are inherent not in the social shells of the people, but in the spiritual core” (N. Berdyaev). The subject of the writer’s study is human souls, depicted in terrible pictures of an “undue” life.

The main theme of the novel-poem is the theme of the real and future fate Russia, its present and future. Passionately believing in a better future for Russia, Gogol mercilessly debunked the “masters of life” who considered themselves bearers of high historical wisdom and creators of spiritual values. The images drawn by the writer indicate the exact opposite: the heroes of the poem are not only insignificant, they are the embodiment of moral ugliness.

The plot of the poem is quite simple: her main character, Chichikov, a born swindler and dirty entrepreneur, opens up the possibility of profitable deals with dead souls, that is, with those serfs who have already gone to another world, but were still counted among the living. He decides to buy dead souls cheaply and for this purpose goes to one of the county towns. As a result, readers are presented with a whole gallery of images of landowners, whom Chichikov visits in order to bring his plan to life. Story line works - the purchase and sale of dead souls - allowed the writer not only to show unusually clearly inner world characters, but also to characterize their typical features, the spirit of the era.

With great expressiveness, the “portrait” chapters present a picture of the decline of the landowner class. From an idle dreamer living in the world of his dreams, Manilov, to the “club-headed” Korobochka, from her to the reckless spendthrift, liar and cheater Nozdryov, then to the “real bear” Sobakevich, then to the brutalized fist Plyushkin, Gogol leads us, showing us everything greater moral decline and decay of representatives of the landowner world. The poem turns into a brilliant denunciation of serfdom, the class that is the arbiter of the destinies of the state.

Gogol does not show any internal development of the landowners and city residents, this allows us to conclude that the souls of the heroes of the real world of “Dead Souls” are completely frozen and petrified, that they are dead. Gogol portrays landowners and officials with evil irony, shows them as funny, but at the same time very scary. After all, these are not people, but only a pale, ugly semblance of people. There is nothing human left in them. The dead fossilization of souls, the absolute lack of spirituality, is hidden both behind the measured life of the landowners and behind the convulsive activity of the city. Gogol wrote about the city of “Dead Souls”: “The idea of a city that arose before highest degree. Emptiness. Idle talk... Death strikes an unmoved world. Meanwhile, the reader should imagine the dead insensibility of life even more strongly.”

The gallery of portraits of landowners opens with the image of Manilov. “In appearance he was a distinguished man; his facial features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to have too much sugar in it; in his techniques and turns there was something ingratiating favor and acquaintance. He smiled enticingly, was blond, with blue eyes.” Previously, he “served in the army, where he was considered the most modest, most delicate and most educated officer.” Living on the estate, he “sometimes comes to the city... to see the most educated people.” Compared to the inhabitants of the city and estates, he seems to be “a very courteous and courteous landowner,” who bears some imprint of a “semi-enlightened” environment. However, revealing Manilov’s inner appearance, his character, talking about his attitude to the household and pastime, drawing Manilov’s reception of Chichikov, Gogol shows the complete emptiness and worthlessness of this “existent”.

The writer emphasizes in Manilov’s character his sugary, meaningless daydreaming. Manilov had no living interests. He did not do the housework, entrusting it to the clerk. He didn’t even know if his peasants had died since the last audit. Instead of the shady garden that usually surrounded the manor’s house, Manilov has “only five or six birch trees...” with thin tops.

Manilov spends his life in idleness. He has retired from all work and doesn’t even read anything: for two years there has been a book in his office, still on the same 14th page. Manilov brightens up his idleness with groundless dreams and meaningless “projects” (projects), such as building underground passage in the house, stone bridge over the pond. Instead of a real feeling, Manilov has a “pleasant smile”, instead of a thought there are some incoherent, stupid reasonings, instead of activity there are empty dreams.

Manilov himself admires and is proud of his manners and considers himself an extremely spiritual and educated person. However, during his conversation with Chichikov, it becomes clear that this man’s involvement in culture is just an appearance, the pleasantness of his manners smacks of cloying, and behind the flowery phrases there is nothing but stupidity. It was not difficult for Chichikov to convince Manilov of the benefits of his enterprise: he just had to say that this was being done in the public interest and was fully consistent with the “further views of Russia,” since Manilov considers himself a person guarding public well-being.

From Manilov, Chichikov heads to Korobochka, which is, perhaps, the complete opposite to the previous hero. Unlike Manilov, Korobochka is characterized by the absence of any pretensions to higher culture and some kind of “simplicity”. The lack of “showiness” is emphasized by Gogol even in the portrait of Korobochka: she has too unattractive, shabby appearance. Korobochka’s “simplicity” is also reflected in her relationships with people. “Oh, my father,” she turns to Chichikov, “you’re like a hog, your whole back and side are covered in mud!” All Korobochka’s thoughts and desires are focused around the economic strengthening of her estate and continuous accumulation. She is not an inactive dreamer, like Manilov, but a sober acquirer, always poking around her home. But Korobochka’s thriftiness precisely reveals her inner insignificance. Acquisitive impulses and aspirations fill Korobochka’s entire consciousness, leaving no room for any other feelings. She strives to benefit from everything, from household details to the profitable sale of serfs, who for her are, first of all, property, which she has the right to dispose of as she pleases. She bargains, tries to raise the price, get more profit. It is much more difficult for Chichikov to come to an agreement with her: she is indifferent to any of his arguments, since the main thing for her is to benefit herself. It’s not for nothing that Chichikov calls Korobochka “club-headed”: this epithet very aptly characterizes her. The combination of a secluded lifestyle with crude acquisitiveness determines Korobochka’s extreme spiritual poverty.

Next is another contrast: from Korobochka to Nozdryov. In contrast to the petty and selfish Korobochka, Nozdryov is distinguished by his violent prowess and “broad” scope of nature. He is extremely active, mobile and perky. Without hesitation for a moment, Nozdryov is ready to do any business, that is, everything that for some reason comes to his mind: “At that very moment he invited you to go anywhere, even to the ends of the world, to enter into any enterprise you want, change whatever you have for whatever you want.” Nozdryov’s energy is devoid of any purpose. He easily starts and abandons any of his undertakings, immediately forgetting about it. His ideal is people who live noisily and cheerfully, without burdening themselves with any everyday worries. Wherever Nozdryov appears, chaos breaks out and scandals arise. Boasting and lying are the main character traits of Nozdryov. He is inexhaustible in his lies, which have become so organic for him that he lies without even feeling any need to do so. With all his acquaintances he keeps on short leg, considers everyone his friend, but never remains true to his words or relationships. After all, it is he who subsequently debunks his “friend” Chichikov in front of provincial society.

Sobakevich is one of those people who stands firmly on the ground and soberly evaluates both life and people. When necessary, Sobakevich knows how to act and achieve what he wants. Characterizing Sobakevich’s everyday way of life, Gogol emphasizes that everything here “was stubborn, without shakyness.” Solidity, strength - distinctive features both Sobakevich himself and the everyday environment around him. However, the physical strength of both Sobakevich and his way of life is combined with some kind of ugly clumsiness. Sobakevich looks like a bear, and this comparison is not only external: the animal nature predominates in the nature of Sobakevich, who does not have any spiritual needs. In his firm conviction, the only important matter there can only be concern for one's own existence. The saturation of the stomach determines the content and meaning of its life. He considers enlightenment not only an unnecessary, but also a harmful invention: “They interpret it as enlightenment, enlightenment, but this enlightenment is bullshit! I would have said a different word, but just now it’s indecent at the table.” Sobakevich is prudent and practical, but, unlike Korobochka, he understands the environment well and knows people. This is a cunning and arrogant businessman, and Chichikov had quite a difficult time dealing with him. Before he had time to utter a word about the purchase, Sobakevich had already offered him a deal with dead souls, and he charged such a price as if it was a question of selling real serfs. Practical acumen distinguishes Sobakevich from other landowners depicted in Dead Souls. He knows how to get settled in life, but it is in this capacity that his base feelings and aspirations manifest themselves with particular force.

However, the image of Sobakevich, it turns out, does not yet exhaust the measure of the fall of man. Pettiness, insignificance, and social ugliness reach their utmost expression in the image of Plyushkin, who completes the portrait gallery of local rulers. This is “a hole in humanity.” Everything human died in him; in the full sense of the word, he is a dead soul. Gogol leads us to this conclusion, developing and deepening the theme of the spiritual death of man. The village huts in the village of Plyushkina look “particularly dilapidated”, the manor’s house looks “disabled”, the log pavement has fallen into disrepair. What is the owner like? Against the backdrop of a miserable village, a strange figure appeared before Chichikov: either a man or a woman, in “an indefinite dress, similar to a woman’s hood,” so torn, oily and worn out that “if Chichikov had met him, so dressed up, somewhere at the church door, I would probably give him a copper penny.”

But it was not a beggar who stood before Chichikov, but a rich landowner, the owner of a thousand souls, whose storerooms, barns and drying sheds were full of all sorts of goods. However, all this good rotted, deteriorated, turned into dust. Plyushkin's relationship with buyers, his walks around the village collecting all sorts of rubbish, the famous piles of rubbish on his table and on the bureau expressively speak of how miserliness leads Plyushkin to senseless hoarding, which brings ruin to his household. Everything has fallen into complete disrepair, peasants are “dying like flies,” and dozens of them are on the run. The senseless stinginess that reigns in Plyushkin’s soul gives rise to suspicion of people, distrust and hostility to everything around him, cruelty and injustice towards serfs.

Was he always like this? No. This is the only character whose soul died only over time, withered away due to some circumstances. The chapter about Plyushkin begins with a lyrical digression, which has not happened in the description of any landowner. A lyrical digression immediately alerts readers to the fact that this chapter is significant and important for the narrator. The narrator does not remain indifferent and indifferent to his hero: in lyrical digressions (there are two in Chapter VI) he expresses his bitterness from the realization of the degree to which a person could sink.

The image of Plyushkin stands out for its dynamism among static heroes the real world of the poem. From the narrator we learn what Plyushkin was like before, and how his soul gradually coarsened and hardened. In Plyushkin's story we see a life tragedy. At the mention of a school friend, “some kind of warm ray slid across Plyushkin’s face, it was not a feeling that was expressed, but some kind of pale reflection of a feeling.” This means that Plyushkin’s soul has not yet completely died, which means that there is still something human left in it. Plyushkin’s eyes were also alive, not yet extinguished, “running from under his high eyebrows, like mice.” Chapter VI contains detailed description Plyushkin's garden, neglected, overgrown and decayed, but alive. The garden is a kind of metaphor for Plyushkin’s soul. There are two churches on Plyushkin’s estate alone. Of all the landowners, only Plyushkin utters an internal monologue after Chichikov’s departure. This distinguishes Plyushkin from all other landowners shown by Gogol.

All the landowners, so vividly and ruthlessly shown by Gogol, as well as the central character of the poem, are living people. But can you say that about them? Can their souls be called alive? Didn’t their vices and base motives kill everything human in them? The change of images from Manilov to Plyushkin reveals an ever-increasing spiritual impoverishment, an ever-increasing moral decline of the owners of serf souls. By calling his work “Dead Souls,” Gogol meant not only the dead serfs whom Chichikov was chasing, but also all the living heroes of the poem who had long since become dead.

The second and no less important reason for the death of souls according to Gogol is revealed - this is the rejection of God. “Every road must lead to the temple.” On the way, Chichikov did not meet a single church. “What twisted and inscrutable paths humanity has chosen,” exclaims Gogol. He sees the road of Russia as terrible, full of falls, swamp fires and temptations. But still, this is the road to the Temple, for in the chapter about Plyushkin we meet two churches; The transition to the second volume - Purgatory from the first - hellish is being prepared. This transition is blurred and fragile, just as Gogol deliberately blurred the antithesis “alive - dead” in the first volume. Gogol deliberately makes the boundaries between the living and the dead unclear, and this antithesis takes on a metaphorical meaning. Chichikov's enterprise appears before us as a kind of crusade.

The hero of the real world of the poem, who has a soul, is Chichikov. It is in Chichikov that the unpredictability and inexhaustibility of the living soul is most clearly shown, albeit not God knows how rich, even if it is becoming scarcer, but alive. Chapter XI is devoted to the history of Chichikov’s soul, it shows the development of his character. After all, it was Chichikov who had to cleanse himself and move from “Hell” to “Purgatory” and “Paradise”.

Thus, in the first volume of Dead Souls, Gogol depicts all the shortcomings, all negative sides Russian reality. Gogol shows people what their souls have become. He does this because he passionately loves Russia and hopes for its revival. Gogol wanted people, after reading his poem, to be horrified by their lives and awaken from a deadening sleep. This is the task of the first volume. Describing the terrible reality, Gogol depicts to us in lyrical digressions his ideal of the Russian people, speaks of the living, immortal soul of Russia. In the second and third volumes of his work, Gogol planned to transfer this ideal to real life. But, unfortunately, he was never able to show the revolution in the soul of the Russian people, he was unable to revive dead souls. This was Gogol’s creative tragedy, which grew into the tragedy of his entire life.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Municipal educational institution

Literature abstract on the topic:

“Souls dead and alive in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls"

Novocherkassk

1. The history of the creation of the poem “Dead Souls”

2. Souls dead and alive in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls"

2.1 The purpose of Chichikov’s life. Father's Testament

2.2 What are “dead souls”?

2.3 Who are the “dead souls” in the poem?

2.4 Who are the “living souls” in the poem?

3. The second volume of “Dead Souls” - a crisis in Gogol’s work

4. Journey to meaning

Bibliography

1. The history of the creation of the poem “Dead Souls”

There are writers who easily and freely come up with plots for their works. Gogol was not one of them. He was painfully inventive in his plots. The concept of each work was given to him with the greatest difficulty. He always needed an external push to inspire his imagination. Contemporaries tell us with what greedy interest Gogol listened to various everyday stories, anecdotes picked up on the street, and even fables. I listened professionally, like a writer, remembering every characteristic detail. Years passed, and some of these accidentally heard stories came to life in his works. For Gogol, P.V. later recalled. Annenkov, “nothing was wasted.”

Gogol, as is known, owed the plot of “Dead Souls” to A.S. Pushkin, who had long encouraged him to write a great epic work. Pushkin told Gogol the story of the adventures of a certain adventurer who bought up dead peasants from landowners in order to pawn them as if they were alive in the Guardian Council and receive a hefty loan for them.

But how did Pushkin know the plot that he gave to Gogol?

The history of fraudulent tricks with dead souls could have become known to Pushkin during his exile in Chisinau. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, tens of thousands of peasants fled here, to the south of Russia, to Bessarabia, from different parts of the country, fleeing from paying arrears and various taxes. Local authorities obstructed the resettlement of these peasants. They were pursued. But all measures were in vain. Fleeing from their pursuers, fugitive peasants often took the names of deceased serfs. They say that during Pushkin’s stay in exile in Chisinau, rumors spread throughout Bessarabia that the city of Bendery was immortal, and the population of this city was called “immortal society.” For many years, not a single death was recorded there. An investigation has begun. It turned out that in Bendery it was accepted as a rule: the dead “should not be excluded from society,” and their names should be given to the fugitive peasants who arrived here. Pushkin visited Bendery more than once, and he was very interested in this story.

Most likely, it was she who became the seed of the plot, which was retold by the poet to Gogol almost a decade and a half after the Chisinau exile.

It should be noted that Chichikov’s idea was by no means such a rarity in life itself. Fraud with “revision souls” was a fairly common thing in those days. It is safe to assume that not only one specific incident formed the basis of Gogol’s plan.

The core of the plot of Dead Souls was Chichikov’s adventure. It only seemed incredible and anecdotal, but in fact it was reliable in all the smallest details. Feudal reality created very favorable conditions for such adventures.

By a decree of 1718, the so-called household census was replaced by a capitation census. From now on, all male serfs, “from the oldest to the very last child,” were subject to taxation. Dead souls (dead or runaway peasants) became a burden for landowners who naturally dreamed of getting rid of it. And this created a psychological precondition for all kinds of fraud. For some, dead souls were a burden, others felt the need for them, hoping to benefit from fraudulent transactions. This is precisely what Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov hoped for. But the most interesting thing is that Chichikov’s fantastic deal was carried out in perfect accordance with the paragraphs of the law.

Many stories are based on Gogol's works- an absurd anecdote, an exceptional case, an emergency. And the more anecdotal and extraordinary the outer shell of the plot seems, the brighter, more reliable, more typical it appears before us real picture life. Here is one of the peculiar features of the art of a talented writer.

Gogol began working on Dead Souls in mid-1835, that is, even earlier than on The Inspector General. On October 7, 1835, he informed Pushkin that he had written three chapters of Dead Souls. But new thing has not yet captured Nikolai Vasilyevich. He wants to write a comedy. And only after “The Inspector General,” already abroad, Gogol really took up “Dead Souls.”

In the fall of 1839, circumstances forced Gogol to travel to his homeland and, accordingly, take a forced break from work. Eight months later, Gogol decided to return to Italy to speed up work on the book. In October 1841, he came to Russia again with the intention of publishing his work - the result of six years of hard work.

In December, the final corrections were completed, and the final version of the manuscript was submitted to the Moscow Censorship Committee for consideration. Here “Dead Souls” met with a clearly hostile attitude. As soon as Golokhvastov, who chaired the meeting of the censorship committee, heard the name “Dead Souls,” he shouted: “No, I will never allow this: the soul can be immortal - there cannot be a dead soul - the author is arming himself against immortality!”

They explained to Golokhvastov that we were talking about revision souls, but he became even more furious: “This certainly cannot be allowed... this means against serfdom!” Here the committee members chimed in: “Chichikov’s enterprise is already a criminal offense!”

When one of the censors tried to explain that the author did not justify Chichikov, they shouted from all sides: “Yes, he does not justify, but now he has exposed him, and others will follow the example and buy dead souls...”

Gogol was eventually forced to withdraw the manuscript and decided to send it to St. Petersburg.

In December 1841, Belinsky visited Moscow. Gogol turned to him with a request to take the manuscript with him to St. Petersburg and facilitate its speedy passage through the St. Petersburg censorship authorities. The critic willingly agreed to carry out this assignment and on May 21, 1842, with some censorship corrections, “The Adventures of Chichikov or Dead Souls” was published.

The plot of “Dead Souls” consists of three externally closed, but internally very interconnected links: landowners, city officials and the biography of Chichikov. Each of these links helps to more thoroughly and deeply reveal the ideological and artistic design Gogol.

2. Souls dead and alive in the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls"

2.1 The purpose of Chichikov’s life. Father's Testament

This is what V.G. wrote. Sakhnovsky in his book “About the performance “Dead Souls”:

“...It is known that Chichikov was not too fat, not too thin; that, according to some, he even resembled Napoleon, that he had the remarkable ability to talk to everyone as an expert on what he pleasantly talked about. Chichikov’s goal in communication was to make the most favorable impression, to win over and inspire confidence. It is also known that Pavel Ivanovich has a special charm, with which he overcame two disasters that would have knocked someone else down forever. But the main thing that characterizes Chichikov is his passionate attraction to acquisitions. To become, as they say, “a man of weight in society,” being a “man of rank,” without clan or tribe, who rushes about like “some kind of barge among the fierce waves,” is Chichikov’s main task. To get yourself a strong place in life, regardless of anyone’s or any interests, public or private, is what Chichikov’s through-and-through action consists of.

And everything that smacked of wealth and contentment made an impression on him that was incomprehensible to himself, Gogol writes about him. His father’s instruction – “take care and save a penny” – served him well. He was not possessed by stinginess or stinginess. No, he imagined a life ahead with all sorts of prosperity: carriages, a well-appointed house, delicious dinners.

“You will do everything and ruin everything in the world with a penny,” his father bequeathed to Pavel Ivanovich. He learned this for the rest of his life. “He showed unheard-of self-sacrifice, patience and limitation of needs.” This is what Gogol wrote in his Biography of Chichikov (Chapter XI).

...Chichikov comes to poison. There is an evil that is rolling across Rus', like Chichikov in a troika. What kind of evil is this? It is revealed in everyone in their own way. Each of those with whom he does business has his own reaction to Chichikov’s poison. Chichikov leads one line, but he has a new role with each character.

...Chichikov, Nozdryov, Sobakevich and other heroes of “Dead Souls” are not characters, but types. In these types, Gogol collected and generalized many similar characters, identifying in all of them a common life and social structure...”

2.2 What are “dead souls”?

The primary meaning of the expression “dead souls” is this: these are dead peasants who are still on the audit lists. Without such a very specific meaning, the plot of the poem would be impossible. After all, Chichikov’s strange enterprise lies in the fact that he buys dead peasants who were listed alive in the audit lists. And that this is legally feasible: it is enough just to draw up a list of peasants and formalize the purchase and sale accordingly, as if the subject of the transaction were living people. Gogol shows with his own eyes that the law of purchase and sale of living goods rules in Russia, and that this situation is natural and normal.

PRISONER

Open the prison for me,
Give me the shine of the day
The black-eyed girl
Black-maned horse.
I'm a beauty when I'm younger
First I will kiss you sweetly,
Then I’ll jump on the horse,
I'll fly away to the steppe like the wind.

But the prison window is high,
The door is heavy with a lock;
Black-eyed is far away,
In his magnificent mansion;
Good horse in a green field
Without a bridle, alone, by will
Jumps, cheerful and playful,
Spreading its tail in the wind...

I am alone - there is no joy:
The walls are bare all around,
The ray of the lamp shines dimly
By dying fire;
Only audible: behind the doors
Sound-measured steps
Walks in the silence of the night
Unresponsive sentry.

Ticket No. 6Composition of the novel “A Hero of Our Time”

The novel was created in 1838-1840. The novel is based on Caucasian memories received during 1 exile to the Caucasus (1837). The theme is the depiction of the fate of a contemporary. The novel lacks chronological sequence. The plot and plot of the novel do not coincide.

The main task facing M. Yu. Lermontov when creating the novel “A Hero of Our Time” was to paint the image of his contemporary, “as he understands him and... often met him.” This man is thinking, feeling, talented, but unable to find a worthy use for his “immense powers.” The novel consists of five parts, the action of which takes place at different times and in different places. The characters change, the narrators on whose behalf the story is told change. With the help of this creative technique, the author manages to give a versatile characterization to his main character. V. G. Belinsky called this composition of the novel “five paintings inserted into one frame.”
If we consider the causal-temporal sequence of the novel’s action (plot), we will see it like this: A young officer goes to the Caucasus on business. On the way he stops in Taman. There he meets with smugglers, they rob him and even try to drown him. (The story “Taman”.)
Arriving in Pyatigorsk, the hero encounters a “water society”. An intrigue ensues, which serves as a pretext for a duel. For participating in a duel in which Grushnitsky dies, Pechorin is sent to serve in the fortress. (“Princess Mary.”)
While serving in the fortress, Pechorin persuades Azamat to steal Bela for him. When Azamat brings his sister, Pechorin helps him steal Karagez, Kazbich’s horse. Kazbich kills Bela. (The story “Bela”.)
“Once it happened (Pechorin) to live for two weeks in a Cossack village.” Here the hero tests in practice the theory of predestination and fate. At the risk of his life, he disarms a drunken Cossack, who shortly before killed a man. (The story “Fatalist”.)
Having experienced a lot, having lost faith in everything, Pechorin sets off to travel and dies on the road. (The story “Maksim Maksimych”.)
In an effort to reveal the hero's inner world, the author refuses the eventual order of presentation. The plot of the novel disrupts the chronological course of events. The stories are arranged in the following order: “Bela”, “Maksim Maksimych”, “Taman”, “Princess Mary”, “Fatalist”.
This construction of the novel allows us to gradually introduce the reader to the hero and his inner world.
In “Bel” we see Pechorin through the eyes of Maxim Maksimych, an old officer. This is a rather superficial description of the character of the hero: “He was a nice guy... just a little strange. After all, for example, in the rain, in the cold, hunting all day; everyone will be cold and tired - but nothing to him. And another time he sits in his room, smells the wind, assures him that he has a cold; the shutter knocks, he shudders and turns pale; and with me he went to the wild boar one on one...”
In “Maxim Maksimych” Pechorin is described by a passing officer, a man who, in his own way, cultural level close to Pechorin. Here we see a fairly detailed portrait with some psychological observations. The portrait takes up one and a half pages of text. Here the author drew the figure, gait, clothes, hands, hair, skin, facial features. He pays special attention to the description of the hero’s eyes: “...they did not laugh when he laughed!.. This is a sign of either an evil disposition or deep constant sadness. Because of their half-lowered eyelashes, they shone with some kind of phosphorescent shine... It was not a reflection of the heat of the soul or the playing imagination: it was a shine, similar to the shine of smooth steel, dazzling, but cold...” The portrait is so eloquent that before us a visible image of a man who has experienced a lot and is devastated appears.
The remaining three stories are told in the first person. The author simply publishes Pechorin's journal, that is, his diaries. In them, the character of the hero is given in development.
The diaries begin in Taman, where the hero, still very young, experiences a romantic adventure. He is full of life, trusting, curious, thirsty for adventure._
In “Princess Mary” we meet a person capable of introspection. Here Pechorin characterizes himself, he explains how his bad qualities were formed: “... this has been my fate since childhood! Everyone read on my face signs of bad qualities that were not there; but they were assumed - and they were born... I became secretive... I became vindictive... I became envious... I learned to hate... I began to deceive... I became a moral cripple...”
The night before the duel, Pechorin asks himself: “Why did I live? for what purpose was I born?... And, it’s true, it existed, and, it’s true, I had a high purpose, because I feel immense strength in my soul...” This is an understanding of one’s purpose in life a few hours before possible death is the culmination of not only the story “Princess Mary”, but also the entire novel “A Hero of Our Time”. In “Princess Mary” the author, perhaps for the first time in Russian literature, gave the deepest psychological picture your hero.
The story “Fatalist” bears the stamp of Lermontov’s philosophical reflection on fate. His hero is painfully searching for the answer to the question: is it possible to change fate? He's testing his luck. No one ordered him to disarm the killer, and it was none of his business. But he wants to check whether anything depends on the person? If today he is destined to remain alive, then he will remain alive. And nothing can change this predestination. Therefore, he undertakes a deadly experiment and remains alive.
Thus, the arrangement of stories in the novel is not chronological order gave the author the opportunity to more deeply reveal the personality of his hero. In general, “A Hero of Our Time” is a socio-psychological novel. However, the parts of which it consists, in accordance with the socio-psychological tasks facing the author, gravitate towards a variety of genres. Thus, “Bela” can be called a romantic story, “Maxim Maksimych” - a travel essay, “Taman” - an adventure story, “Princess Mary” - a lyrical diary, “Fatalist” - a philosophical short story.
So, in “A Hero of Our Time,” composition is one of the most active elements in recreating the history of the human soul. The principle of chronological sequence is replaced by the psychological sequence of “recognition” of the hero by the reader.

Ticket No. 7Moral problems in the novel “A Hero of Our Time”

The novel “A Hero of Our Time” is the first realistic novel in the history of Russian literature with deep philosophical content. In the preface to the novel, Lermontov writes that his novel is a portrait “not of one person, but a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation in their full development.”
Pechorin lived in the first years after the defeat of the December uprising. These were difficult years for Russia. The best people were executed, exiled to the Siberian mines, others renounced their free-thinking ideas. In order to maintain faith in the future, to find the strength for active work in the name of the coming triumph of freedom, one had to have a noble heart, one had to be able to see real ways of struggle and serving the truth.
The overwhelming majority of thinking people in the 30s of the 19th century were precisely those who were unable or did not yet have time to gain this clarity of purpose, to give their strength to the struggle, from whom the ingrained order of life took away faith in the expediency of serving good, faith in its future triumph. The dominant type of the era was that type human personality, which is known in the history of Russian social thought under the bitter name extra person.
Pechorin entirely belongs to this type. Before us is a young twenty-five-year-old man, suffering from his restlessness, in despair asking himself the question: “Why did I live, for what purpose was I born?” Pechorin is not an ordinary representative of the secular aristocracy. He stands out from the people around him with his originality. He knows how to critically approach any event, any person. He gives clear and precise characteristics to people. He quickly and correctly understood Grushnitsky, Princess Mary, and Doctor Werner. Pechorin is brave, has great endurance and willpower. He is the only one who rushes into the hut, where Vulich’s killer sits with a pistol, ready to kill the first one who enters him. He does not reveal his excitement when he stands under Grushnitsky’s pistol.
Pechorin is an officer. He serves, but is not curated. And when he says: “My ambition is suppressed by circumstances,” it is not difficult to understand what he means: many were just making a career in those years, and “circumstances” did not at all prevent them from doing so.
Pechorin has an active soul, requiring will and movement. He prefers to expose his forehead to Chechen bullets over an inactive life, looking for oblivion in risky adventures and changing places, but all this is just an attempt to somehow dissipate, to forget about the huge emptiness that oppresses him. He is haunted by boredom and the consciousness that living like this is hardly “worth the trouble.”
In Pechorin, nothing betrays the presence of any public interests. The spirit of skepticism, disbelief, denial, which is sharply reflected in Pechorin’s entire internal make-up, in the cruel coldness of his merciless aphorisms, speaks for itself. And it’s not for nothing that the hero often repeats that he is “not capable of making great sacrifices for the good of humanity,” that he is used to “doubting everything.”
The main spring of Pechorin’s actions is individualism. He goes through life without sacrificing anything for others, even for those he loves: he also loves only “for himself,” for his own pleasure. Lermontov reveals Pechorin's individualism and examines not only his psychology, but also the ideological foundations of his life. Pechorin is a true product of his time, a time of search and doubt. He is in constant duality of spirit, the stamp of constant introspection lies on his every step. “There are two people in me: one lives in the full sense of the word, the other thinks and judges it,” says Pechorin.
For Pechorin there are no social ideals. What moral principles is he guided? “Of two friends, one is always the slave of the other,” he says. Hence his inability for true friendship and love. He is a selfish and indifferent person, looking “at the sufferings and joys of others only in relation to himself.” Pechorin considers himself the creator of his destiny and his only judge. He constantly reports to his conscience; he analyzes his actions, trying to penetrate into the origins of “good and evil.”
With the life story of Pechorin, Lermontov shows that the path of individualism is contrary to human nature and its needs.
A person begins to find true joys and true fullness of life only where relationships between people are built according to the laws of goodness, nobility, justice, and humanism.

Ticket No. 8Features of the genre and composition of the poem “Dead Souls”

Gogol had long dreamed of writing a work “in which all of Rus' would appear.” This was supposed to be a grandiose description of the life and customs of Russia first thirds of the XIX century. Such a work was the poem “Dead Souls,” written in 1842. The first edition of the work was called “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls.” This name reduced true meaning This work translated into the realm of an adventure novel. Gogol did this for censorship reasons, in order for the poem to be published.

Why did Gogol call his work a poem? The definition of the genre became clear to the writer only in last moment, since, while still working on the poem, Gogol calls it either a poem or a novel. To understand the features of the genre of the poem "Dead Souls", you can compare this work with the "Divine Comedy" of Dante, a poet of the Renaissance. Its influence is felt in Gogol's poem. The Divine Comedy consists of three parts. In the first part, the shadow of the ancient Roman poet Virgil appears to the poet, which accompanies lyrical hero to hell, they go through all the circles, a whole gallery of sinners passes before their eyes. The fantastic nature of the plot does not prevent Dante from revealing the theme of his homeland Italy, its fate. In fact, Gogol planned to show the same circles of hell, but hell in Russia. It is not for nothing that the title of the poem “Dead Souls” ideologically echoes the title of the first part of Dante’s poem “The Divine Comedy,” which is called “Hell.” Gogol, along with satirical negation, introduces an element of glorifying, creative image of Russia. Associated with this image is the “high lyrical movement”, which in the poem at times replaces the comic narrative.

A significant place in the poem “Dead Souls” is occupied by lyrical digressions and inserted episodes, which is characteristic of the poem as a literary genre. In them, Gogol touches on the most pressing Russian social issues. The author's thoughts about the high purpose of man, about the fate of the Motherland and the people are here contrasted with gloomy pictures of Russian life.

So, let's go for the hero of the poem "Dead Souls" Chichikov to N.

From the very first pages of the work, we feel the fascination of the plot, since the reader cannot assume that after Chichikov’s meeting with Manilov there will be meetings with Sobakevich and Nozdrev. The reader cannot guess the end of the poem, because all its characters are derived according to the principle of gradation: one is worse than the other. For example, Manilov, if considered as a separate image, cannot be perceived as positive hero(on his table there is a book open on the same page, and his politeness is feigned: “Let me not allow you to do this >>), but in comparison with Plyushkin, Manilov even wins in many ways. However, Gogol put the image of Korobochka in the center of attention , since she is a kind of unified beginning of all characters. According to Gogol, this is a symbol of the “box man”, which contains the idea of an insatiable thirst for hoarding.

The theme of exposing officialdom runs through all of Gogol’s work: it stands out both in the collection “Mirgorod” and in the comedy “The Inspector General”. In the poem “Dead Souls” it is intertwined with the theme of serfdom. “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” occupies a special place in the poem. It is plot-related to the poem, but has great importance to reveal the ideological content of the work. The form of the tale gives the story a vital character: it denounces the government.

The world of “dead souls” in the poem is contrasted with the lyrical image of folk Russia, which Gogol writes about with love and admiration.

Behind the terrible world of landowner and bureaucratic Russia, Gogol felt the soul of the Russian people, which he expressed in the image of a quickly rushing forward troika, embodying the forces of Russia: “Aren’t you, Rus', like a brisk, unstoppable troika rushing?” So, we settled on what Gogol depicts in his work. He depicts the social disease of society, but we should also dwell on how Gogol manages to do this.

Firstly, Gogol uses social typification techniques. In depicting the gallery of landowners, he skillfully combines the general and the individual. Almost all of his characters are static, they do not develop (except for Plyushkin and Chichikov), and are captured by the author as a result. This technique emphasizes once again that all these Manilovs, Korobochki, Sobakevichs, Plyushkins are dead souls. To characterize his characters, Gogol also uses his favorite technique of characterizing a character through detail. Gogol can be called a “genius of detail,” as sometimes details precisely reflect the character and inner world of a character. What is it worth, for example, the description of Manilov’s estate and house! When Chichikov drove into Manilov's estate, he drew attention to the overgrown English pond, to the rickety gazebo, to the dirt and desolation, to the wallpaper in Manilov's room, either gray or blue, to two chairs covered with matting, which his hands never reached at the owner's. All these and many other details bring us to main characteristic, made by the author himself: “Neither this nor that, but the devil knows what it is!” Let us remember Plyushkin, this “hole in humanity,” who even lost his gender.

He comes out to Chichikov in a greasy robe, some kind of incredible scarf on his head, desolation, dirt, disrepair everywhere. Plyushkin is an extreme degree of degradation. And all this is conveyed through detail, through those little things in life that A. page Pushkin so admired: “Not a single writer has ever had this gift to expose the vulgarity of life so clearly, to be able to outline in such force the vulgarity of a vulgar person, so that all that little thing, which escapes the eye, would flash large in the eyes of everyone."

main topic The poem is the fate of Russia: its past, present and future. In the first volume, Gogol revealed the theme of the past of his homeland. The second and third volumes he conceived were supposed to tell about the present and future of Russia. This idea can be compared with the second and third parts of Dante’s Divine Comedy: “Purgatory” and “Paradise”. However, these plans were not destined to come true: the second volume turned out to be unsuccessful in concept, and the third was never written. Therefore, Chichikov’s trip remained a trip into the unknown.

Gogol was at a loss, thinking about the future of Russia: “Rus, where are you going? Give me an answer! He doesn’t give an answer.”

Ticket No. 9Souls dead and alive. Dead Souls

Who are the “dead souls” in the poem?

“Dead souls” - this title carries something terrifying... It’s not the revisionists who are dead souls, but all these Nozdryovs, Manilovs and others - these are dead souls and we meet them at every step,” wrote Herzen.

In this meaning, the expression “dead souls” is no longer addressed to peasants - living and dead - but to the masters of life, landowners and officials. And its meaning is metaphorical, figurative. After all, physically, materially, “all these Nozdryovs, Manilovs and others” exist and, for the most part, are thriving. What could be more certain than the bear-like Sobakevich? Or Nozdryov, about whom it is said: “He was like blood and milk; health seemed to be dripping from his face.” But physical existence is not yet human life. Vegetative existence is far from real spiritual movements. “Dead souls” in this case mean deadness, lack of spirituality. And this lack of spirituality manifests itself in at least two ways. First of all, it is the absence of any interests or passions. Remember what they say about Manilov? “You won’t get any lively or even arrogant words from him, which you can hear from almost anyone if you touch an object that offends him. Everyone has their own, but Manilov had nothing. Most hobbies or passions cannot be called high or noble. But Manilov did not have such passion. He had nothing of his own at all. And the main impression that Manilov made on his interlocutor was a feeling of uncertainty and “deadly boredom.”

Other characters - landowners and officials - are not nearly as dispassionate. For example, Nozdryov and Plyushkin have their own passions. Chichikov also has his own “enthusiasm” - the enthusiasm of “acquisition”. And many other characters have their own “bullying object”, which sets in motion a wide variety of passions: greed, ambition, curiosity, and so on.

This means that in this regard, “dead souls” are dead in different ways, to different degrees and, so to speak, in different doses. But in another respect they are equally deadly, without distinction or exception.

Dead soul! This phenomenon seems contradictory in itself, composed of mutually exclusive concepts. How can there be a dead soul? dead man, that is, that which is by nature animate and spiritual? Can't live, shouldn't exist. But it exists.

What remains of life is a certain form, of a person - a shell, which, however, regularly performs vital functions. And here another meaning of the Gogol image of “dead souls” is revealed to us: revision dead souls, that is, a symbol for dead peasants. The revision's dead souls are concrete, reviving faces of peasants who are treated as if they were not people. And the dead in spirit are all these Manilovs, Nozdrevs, landowners and officials, a dead form, a soulless system of human relationships...

All these are facets of one Gogol concept - “dead souls”, artistically realized in his poem. And the facets are not isolated, but make up a single, infinitely deep image.

Following his hero, Chichikov, moving from one place to another, the writer does not give up hope of finding people who would carry within themselves the beginning of a new life and rebirth. The goals that Gogol and his hero set for themselves are directly opposite in this regard. Chichikov is interested in dead souls in the literal and figurative sense of the word - revision dead souls and people dead in spirit. And Gogol is looking for living soul, in which the spark of humanity and justice burns.

Gogol wrote his work “Dead Souls” over the course of 17 years. During this period, his idea changed several times. As a result, the poem presents us with a comprehensive picture of the author’s contemporary Rus'.

It is important to note that Gogol defined the genre of his work as a poem. This is no coincidence, because in his creation the author devoted a huge amount of space to human soul. And the title of the work itself confirms this. By the expression “dead souls” Gogol meant not only the revision souls of dead peasants, but also the lives of many people buried under petty interests.

Carrying out his idea, Chichikov travels almost all over Russia. Thanks to his journey, a whole gallery of “dead” souls appears before us. These are the landowners Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin, and officials provincial town N, and Chichikov himself.

Chichikov pays visits to the landowners in a certain sequence: from less bad to worse, from those who still have a soul to the completely soulless.

Manilov appears first before us. His soullessness lies in fruitless daydreaming and inactivity. Manilov leaves a trace of these qualities on everything in his estate. The choice of location for the manor's house is unfortunate; the claim to profundity is ridiculous (a gazebo with a flat dome and the inscription "Temple of Solitary Reflection"). The same idleness is reflected in the furnishings of the rooms of the house. The living room has beautiful furniture and two armchairs covered in matting. In his office there is a book “with a bookmark on page fourteen, which he has been reading constantly for two years.” In words he loves his family, the peasants, but in reality he does not care about them at all. Manilov entrusted all management of the estate to a rogue clerk who ruins both the peasants and the landowner. Idle daydreaming, inactivity, limited mental interests with apparent culture allows us to classify Manilov as an “idle sky-smoker” who contributes nothing to society.

In search of Sobakevich, Chichikov ends up with the landowner Korobochka. Her callousness is expressed in amazingly petty interests in life. Apart from the prices of hemp and honey, Korobochka doesn’t care about anything else. She is amazingly stupid (“club-headed,” as Chichikov called her), indifferent and completely disconnected from people. The landowner is not interested in anything that goes beyond the boundaries of her meager interests. When Chichikov asks if she knows Sobakevich, Korobochka replies that she doesn’t know, and therefore he doesn’t exist. Everything in the landowner’s house looks like boxes: the house is like a box, and the yard is like a box filled with all kinds of living creatures, and the chest of drawers is a box with money, and the head is like a wooden box. And the very name of the heroine - Korobochka - conveys her essence: limitations and narrow interests.

Still trying to find Sobakevich, Chichikov falls into the clutches of Nozdryov. This person is one of those people who “starts as a smooth surface and ends as a viper.” Nozdryov is gifted with all possible “enthusiasm”: amazing ability lie unnecessarily, cheat at cards, exchange for anything, arrange “stories,” buy and sell everything to the ground. He is endowed with a broad nature, amazing energy and activity. His deadness lies in the fact that he does not know how to direct his “talents” in a positive direction.

Next, Chichikov finally gets to Sobakevich. He is a strong master, a “kulak”, ready to engage in any fraud for the sake of profit. He doesn’t trust anyone: Chichikov and Sobakevich simultaneously transfer money and lists of dead souls from hand to hand. He judges city officials by himself: “A swindler sits on a swindler and drives the swindler around.” The pettiness and insignificance of Sobakevich’s soul is emphasized by the description of the things in his house. Each of Sobakevich’s objects seems to say: “And I, too, Sobakevich!” Things seem to come to life, revealing “some strange resemblance to the owner of the house himself,” and the owner himself resembles “a medium-sized bear.”

Sobakevich's soullessness took on completely inhuman forms in Plyushkin, whose peasants “died like flies.” He even deprived his own children of their livelihood. Plyushkin completes the gallery of landowner “dead souls”. He is a “tear in humanity”, personifying the complete disintegration of personality. This hero is given to us in the process of degradation. In the past, he was known as an experienced, enterprising, economic landowner. But with the death of his beloved wife, his suspicion and stinginess increased to the highest degree. Mindless hoarding has led to the fact that a very rich owner is starving his people, and his supplies are rotting in barns. Complete soullessness is characterized by a pile of rubbish in the middle of his room - he himself has turned into rubbish, devoid of all human characteristics. He looks more like a beggar than a landowner, a man without family and without gender (either a housekeeper or a housekeeper).

The gallery of “dead souls” is complemented by images of officials county town N. They are even more impersonal than the landowners. This is a “corporation of official thieves and robbers.” They are all slackers, “mattresses”, “babies”. The mortality of officials is shown in the ball scene: no people are visible, tailcoats, uniforms, muslins, satins, and ribbons are everywhere. Their entire interest in life is focused on gossip, petty vanity, and envy.

And the serf servants, being subordinate to soulless masters, themselves become the same (for example, the black-footed girl Korobochka, Selefan, Petrushka, Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai). And Chichikov himself, according to Gogol, is soulless, because he only cares about his own profit, not disdaining anything.

Having paid great attention to “dead souls”, Gogol shows us the living. These are images of dead or runaway peasants. These are the peasants of Sobakevich: the miracle master Mikheev, the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov, the hero Stepan Probka, the skilled stove maker Milushkin. Also this is the fugitive Abakum Fyrov, the peasants of the rebel villages of Vshivaya-arrogance, Borovka and Zadirailova.

It seems to me that Gogol’s view of contemporary Russia is very pessimistic. All his “living” souls are dead. While devoting enormous space to the description of “dead souls,” Gogol still believes that in the future Rus' will be reborn with the help of “living” souls. The lyrical digression about “Rus'-troika” at the end of the poem tells us about this: “The bell rings with a wonderful ringing... everything that is on earth flies past, and other peoples and states sideways and make way for it.”

When publishing Dead Souls, Gogol wanted to design the title page himself. It depicted Chichikov’s carriage, symbolizing the path of Russia, and around there were many human skulls. The publication of this particular title page was very important for Gogol, as well as the fact that his book was published simultaneously with Ivanov’s painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People.” The theme of life and death, rebirth runs like a red thread through Gogol’s work. Gogol saw his task in correcting and directing human hearts to the true path, and these attempts were made through the theater, in civic activities, teaching and, finally, in creativity.
There is an opinion that Gogol planned to create the poem “Dead Souls” by analogy with Dante’s poem “The Divine Comedy”. This determined the proposed three-part composition of the future work. “The Divine Comedy” consists of three parts: “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”, which were supposed to correspond to the three volumes of “Dead Souls” conceived by Gogol. In the first volume, Gogol sought to show the terrible Russian reality, to recreate the “hell” of modern life. In the second and third volumes, Gogol wanted to depict the revival of Russia. Gogol saw himself as a writer-preacher who, drawing on the pages of his work a picture of the revival of Russia, leads it out of the crisis.

“Dead Souls” is a synthesis of all possible ways of fighting for human souls. The work contains both direct pathos and teachings, and artistic sermon, illustrated with the image of the dead souls themselves - landowners and city officials. Lyrical digressions also give the work the sense of an artistic sermon and sum up the terrible pictures of life and everyday life depicted. Appealing to all of humanity as a whole and considering the ways of spiritual resurrection and revitalization, Gogol in lyrical digressions points out that “darkness and evil are embedded not in the social shells of the people, but in the spiritual core” (N. Berdyaev). The subject of the writer’s study is human souls, depicted in terrible pictures of an “undue” life.

The “dead souls” of the poem are contrasted with the “living” - a talented, hardworking, long-suffering people. With a deep sense of patriotism and faith in the great future of his people, Gogol writes about him. He saw the lack of rights of the peasantry, its humiliated position and the dullness and savagery of the peasants that were the result of serfdom. It is the dead peasants in “Dead Souls” who have living souls, in contrast to the living people of the poem, whose soul is dead.
Thus, in the first volume of Dead Souls, Gogol depicts all the shortcomings, all the negative aspects of Russian reality. Gogol shows people what their souls have become. He does this because he passionately loves Russia and hopes for its revival. Gogol wanted people, after reading his poem, to be horrified by their lives and awaken from a deadening sleep. This is the task of the first volume. Describing the terrible reality, Gogol depicts to us in lyrical digressions his ideal of the Russian people, speaks of the living, immortal soul of Russia. In the second and third volumes of his work, Gogol planned to transfer this ideal to real life. But, unfortunately, he was never able to show the revolution in the soul of the Russian people, he was unable to revive dead souls. This was Gogol’s creative tragedy, which grew into the tragedy of his entire life.

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