Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol more than once addressed the topic of bureaucratic Russia. The satire of this writer affected contemporary officials in such works as “The Inspector General,” “The Overcoat,” and “Notes of a Madman.” This theme is also reflected in the poem by N.V. Gogol " Dead Souls", where, starting from the seventh chapter, bureaucracy is in the spotlight. In contrast to the portraits of landowners depicted in detail in this work, the images of officials are given only a few strokes. But they are so masterful that they give the reader a complete picture of what a Russian official was like 30-40s of the XIX century.
This is the governor, embroidering on tulle, and the prosecutor with thick black eyebrows, and the postmaster, the wit and philosopher, and many others. The miniature portraits created by Gogol are well remembered for their characteristic details, which give a complete picture of a particular character. For example, why is the head of the province, a person occupying a very responsible government position, described by Gogol as a good-natured man who embroiders on tulle? The reader is forced to think that he is not capable of anything else, since he is characterized only from this side. And a busy person is unlikely to have time for such an activity. The same can be said about his subordinates.
What do we know from the poem about the prosecutor? It is true that he, as an idle man, sits at home. This is how Sobakevich speaks of him. One of the most significant officials of the city, called upon to monitor the rule of law, the prosecutor did not bother public service. All he did was sign papers. And all the decisions were made for him by the solicitor, “the first grabber in the world.” Therefore, when the prosecutor died, few could say what was outstanding about this man. Chichikov, for example, thought at the funeral that the only thing the prosecutor could be remembered for was his thick black eyebrows. “...Why he died or why he lived, only God knows” - with these words Gogol speaks of the complete meaninglessness of the life of a prosecutor.
And what meaning is the life of the official Ivan Antonovich Kuvshinnoe Rylo filled with? Collect more bribes. This official extorts them using his official position. Gogol describes how Chichikov placed a “piece of paper” in front of Ivan Antonovich, “which he did not notice at all and immediately covered with a book.”
N.V. Gogol in the poem “Dead Souls” not only introduces the reader to individual representatives of the bureaucracy, but also gives them a unique classification. He divides them into three groups - lower, thin and thick. The lower ones are represented by petty officials (clerks, secretaries) Most of them are drunkards. The thin ones are the middle layer of the bureaucracy, and the fat ones are the provincial nobility, who know how to derive considerable benefit from their high position.
The author also gives us an idea of the lifestyle of Russian officials in the 30s and 40s of the nineteenth century. Gogol compares officials with a squadron of flies swooping down on tasty morsels of refined sugar. They are occupied by playing cards, drinking, lunches, dinners, and gossip. In the society of these people, “meanness, completely disinterested, pure meanness” flourishes. Gogol portrays this class as thieves, bribe-takers and slackers. That is why they cannot convict Chichikov of his machinations - they are bound by mutual responsibility, each, as they say, “has a cannon.” What if they try to detain Chichikov? for fraud, all their sins will come out.
In “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin,” Gogol completes the collective portrait of an official he gave in the poem. The indifference that the disabled war hero Kopeikin faces is terrifying. And here we are no longer talking about some small county officials. Gogol shows how a desperate hero, who is trying to get the pension he is entitled to, reaches the highest authorities. But even there he does not find the truth, faced with the complete indifference of a high-ranking St. Petersburg dignitary. Thus, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol makes it clear that vices have affected the entire bureaucratic Russia - from a small county town to the capital. These vices make people “dead souls.”
N.V. Gogol, when creating his poem “Dead Souls,” thought about showing what Rus' looks like from one side.” Chichikov is the main character of the poem and Gogol talks about him most of all. This is an ordinary official who buys “dead souls” from landowners. The author managed to show the entire sphere of activity of Russian officials, talk about the city and its inhabitants as a whole.
The first volume of the work clearly shows the bureaucratic and landowner life of Russia from the negative side. The entire provincial society, officials and landowners are part of a kind of “dead world”.
(Gogol's provincial town in the poem "Dead Souls")
The provincial town is shown very clearly. Here one can see the indifference of the authorities to ordinary residents, emptiness, disorder and dirt. And only after Chichikov comes to the landowners does general form Russian officials.
Gogol shows bureaucracy from the point of view of lack of spirituality and thirst for profit. The official Ivan Antonovich loves bribes very much, so he is ready to do anything for the sake of it. To get it, he is even ready to sell his soul.
(Official conversations)
Unfortunately, such officials are a reflection of the entire Russian bureaucracy. Gogol tries to show in his work a large concentration of swindlers and thieves who create a kind of corporation of corrupt officials.
The bribe becomes a legal matter the moment Chichikov goes to the chairman of the chamber. The most interesting thing is that the chairman himself accepts him as an old friend and immediately gets down to business, telling him that friends do not have to pay anything.
(Ordinary moments of social life)
During a conversation with an official appear interesting points life of city officials. Sobakevich characterizes the prosecutor as an “idle man” who constantly sits at home, and the lawyer does all the work for him. At the head of the entire system is the police chief, whom everyone calls the “benefactor.” His charity is to steal and enable others to do the same. No one in power has any idea what honor, duty and legality are. These are completely soulless people.
Gogol's story reveals all the masks, showing people from the side of their cruelty and inhumanity. And this applies not only to provincial, but also to district officials. The work is dedicated to the heroic year of 1812, which shows all the contrast of the petty, soulless bureaucratic world that Gogol saw at that time in modern Russia.
(Courtyard meetings and balls)
The worst thing is that the work shows the fate of the captain, who fought for his Motherland, is completely crippled, he cannot feed himself, but this does not bother anyone at all. The highest ranks of St. Petersburg do not pay any attention to him and this is very frightening. Society is on the verge of indifference to everything.
The work written by Gogol many years ago does not leave residents indifferent modern world, since all the problems and this moment remain relevant.
Who did not become first of all
man, he is a bad citizen.
V.G. Belinsky
In his poem, Gogol mercilessly castigates officials with the light of satire. They are like a collection of strange and unpleasant insects collected by the author. Not a very attractive image, but are the officials themselves pleasant? If we remember that all these “statesmen” are in the service; if we remember that Gogol described the province (where the picture of the state is most typical); If we remember that Gogol was very criticized (which most clearly shows the veracity of the poem, despite all the grotesquery) for his work, it becomes truly scary for Russia, for the form in which it existed. Let's take a closer look at this eerie collection.
Russia has always divided modern critics into two parts: the peasantry, the people, and the landowners and officials. Here it would be necessary to add a third layer, which was still nascent at that time; his representative is Chichikov. He is like a pale toadstool growing on the bodies of landowners collapsing into oblivion. But was the landowner and bureaucratic layer really doomed? After all, the state existed, and it seemed to be good...
What is an urban society? In his description, Gogol used one, but very bright image: officials “... flashed and rushed separately and in heaps here and there, like flies rushed,... and air squadrons..., lifted by light air, take off boldly, like complete masters... not to eat, but just to show oneself...” With one comparison, Gogol immediately shows the great Emptiness, Emptiness with a capital V, reigning in the minds and souls of officials.
What are landowners and officials like individually? Let's start with the “statesmen” who are in service, personifying state power; on which the life of the people depends.
Prosecutor. His “silence” and “seriousness,” taken by everyone as a sign of a great mind, are only evidence that he simply has nothing to say. It is clear that he is the biggest bribe-taker: the news of “dead souls” and the worries associated with it shock him so much that he, unable to withstand the enormous, all-consuming fear... dies.
Here is the chairman of the chamber. He is a “very” reasonable “amiable person”. All! This is where his characterization ends. Nothing is said about this person’s hobbies or inclinations - there’s simply nothing to talk about!
The postmaster is not much better than the rest. Only during the card game is a “thinking face” depicted on his face. The rest of the time he is “talkative.” But nothing is said about the content of the speeches. Obviously, as unnecessary.
One should not think that there are important differences between landowners and officials. Both are endowed with power that brings money.
Chichikov successively visits four landowners in the poem. A visit to Manilov shows highest degree emptiness and worthlessness. Manilov, about whom it can be said that his hobby - dreams - turned into a “profession”, brought his farm to such a state in which everything is collapsing from airy dilapidation and instability. ABOUT future fate You can guess the money and estates: they will be mortgaged if they don’t fall apart first.
Korobochka and Plyushkin. These are two forms of the same phenomenon: senseless and greedy hoarding. This greed is brought to the point of absurdity: Korobochka and Plyushkin differ only in the size of the smallest and most worthless object, dragged into the house, into chests, and generally “inside.” Both Korobochka and Plyushkin have complete isolation and isolation from the world, in one it is expressed in a solid fence and chained dogs, in sitting at home all the time; the other - in misanthropism, hatred of all potential wasters, and, as a consequence, of all people. Plyushkin's farm is already ruined remains; Korobochka’s farm is a “fortress”, ready to become moldy and collapse within itself.
Sobakevich is a strong owner. It seems that it is his farm - strong, although uncouth, made of oak - that will last the longest. The peasants live relatively well... Although we don’t know if this is so - we know about the peasants of Sobakevich only from their dwellings - gray but strong huts. One can guess that Sobakevich keeps his peasants under strict discipline. Who can guarantee that in some bad year the peasants will not rebel and sweep away Sobakevich with his family and estate? The Russian revolt will be all the more senseless and merciless because peasants from Manilovki, Vshivy Spesei and other villages will probably join it.
And so - Chichikov, by position - an official, by intentions - a landowner, by nature - a crafty slave, humiliating himself before the right person. “By adapting, people want to preserve themselves, and at the same time lose themselves,” said Russian essayist M.I. Prishvin. This is very similar to Chichikov. Looking at the masks under which Chichikov is hiding, you can barely see him true face scoundrel and opportunist. But the failures that haunt him are an inevitable consequence of his machinations directed against people.
As for the environment in which such ugly personal computers appeared, they shaped it, adjusted it to themselves. The environment, musty and dark, produced more and more officials and landowners serving it. Only a revolution could break this vicious circle, which ultimately took place after 1861 and 1905.
So, where is the future of Russia, which will eventually rise and bloom? It is already clear that these are neither landowners nor Chichikov, the latter does not even have his own clear face, he is rather an exception; nor the officials who have subjugated power and law. The people, the Russian people, who will rise up, finally feeling freedom, part of which are both the intelligentsia and part of the truly tenacious, business people, this is Russia, us and our future.
Collection of essays: Officials of the city of NN in N. V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”
The theme of bureaucracy, bureaucratic arbitrariness and lawlessness runs through the entire work of N.V. Gogol. Images of officials are found in romantic stories“Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”, in the realistic works of “Mirgorod” and stories about St. Petersburg. The comedy "The Inspector General" is dedicated to bureaucracy.
IN " Dead souls“This theme is intertwined with the theme of serfdom. The guardians of order are in many ways akin to the landowners. Gogol draws the attention of readers to this already in the first chapter of the work. Talking about thin and fat gentlemen, the author of the poem comes to the conclusion: “Finally, the fat man, having served God and the sovereign, having earned universal respect, leaves the service... and becomes a landowner, a glorious Russian gentleman, a hospitable man, and lives and lives well...” The work gives an evil satire on robber officials and on the “hospitable” Russian bar.
So, the officials in the poem are shown satirically. For the author, like the landowners, they are “dead souls.” Symbolic meaning The title of the work also refers to officials. Talking about them, Gogol skillfully displays the individual qualities of the governor, prosecutor, postmaster and others and at the same time creates collective image bureaucracy.
While still in the city, before his trip to the noble estates, Chichikov pays visits to city officials. This allows the author to introduce officials to the reader and draw their expressive portraits. Here is one of them - a portrait of the governor: like Chichikov, he “was neither fat nor thin, had Anna on his neck, and it was even rumored that he had been introduced to a star; however, he was a great good-natured man and even sometimes embroidered on tulle himself...” Gogol combines “high” and “low” in his characterization: “star” and embroidery. It turns out that the governor was nominated for an award not for his services to the Fatherland, but for his ability to embroider. With the help of subtle irony, the author exposes the idleness of one of the most important persons in the city.
Gogol uses the same technique of inconsistency when describing the postmaster, “a short man, but a wit and a philosopher.” The author deliberately violates logic: he connects the incompatible in the characterization of the hero. After all, “short” is distinctive feature a person’s appearance, and “philosopher” is an assessment of his mental abilities. The adversarial conjunction “but” in this phrase strengthens the alogism: despite his short stature, the hero is a philosopher. Words in strange proximity take on a different meaning. The word "short" no longer denotes a feature of external appearance, but refers to inner life person. It is in this way that Gogol exposes the low demands of the official. The postmaster, it turns out, has only one strong passion in his life. This is not a service, but a game of cards. Only at the playing table does the “grandiose” mental principle in the character manifest itself: “... having taken the cards in his hands, he immediately expressed a thinking physiognomy on his face, covered his upper lip with his lower lip and maintained this position throughout the entire game.”
By visiting important persons of the city with Chichikov, the reader is convinced that they do not burden themselves with concerns about state affairs. Officials live idly, devoting all their time to dinner parties and playing cards. For example, Chichikov went “...to lunch with the police chief, where from three o’clock in the afternoon they sat down to whist and played until two o’clock in the morning.” When registering the purchase of serfs, witnesses were required. “Send now to the prosecutor,” says Sobakevich, “he is a man he’s idle and probably sits at home: the solicitor does everything for him.”
With irony, bordering on sarcasm, the author shows the level of culture and education of provincial officials. They were “... more or less enlightened people: some read Karamzin, some Moskovskie Vedomosti, some even read nothing at all.” The topic of conversation at social events is a clear indication of the spiritual poverty and narrow outlook of civil servants. They talk about horses, dogs, talk about playing billiards and “making hot wine.” Often at parties they gossip about the tricks of judges and “customs overseers and officials.”
In the society of officials, “meanness, completely disinterested, pure meanness” flourishes. Ladies quarrel, and their husbands quarrel. “There was no duel, of course, between them, because they were all civil officials, but on the other hand, each tried to harm the other wherever possible, which, as we know, is sometimes more difficult than any duel.”
Gogol shows the immorality of officials even through the description of the public places where they serve. “On the square there is a large three-story stone house, all white as chalk...” The author ironically explains: “... white as chalk, probably to depict the purity of the souls of the positions housed in it.” These “pure souls” want only one thing: to live widely at the expense of “the sums of their dearly beloved fatherland.”
Officials rob both the state and the petitioners. Embezzlement, bribery, robbery of the population are everyday and completely natural phenomena. The police chief “only has to blink when passing a fish row or a cellar,” as balyks and excellent wines appear on his table. Not a single request is considered without a bribe. The chairman of the chamber warns Chichikov: “... you don’t give anything to the officials... My friends should not to pay". Monstrous immorality is revealed in these words of a high-ranking official. He calls everything by its proper name, without even trying to hide his general corruption. 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 connected by mutual responsibility. When Chichikov’s scam was revealed, the officials were confused and everyone “suddenly found ... sins in themselves.” Hence their indecision: is Chichikov the kind of person “who needs to be detained and captured as ill-intentioned, or is he the kind of person who can seize and detain them all himself?” as ill-intentioned." The tragicomic situation in which the “owners of the city” found themselves was created as a result of their criminal activities.
Gogol angrily and mercilessly ridicules officials. He cannot tolerate arbitrariness and lawlessness. By showing people in power as crooks, the author makes the reader horrified and think about true human destiny.
Relevance of images
IN artistic space one of the most famous works Gogol, landowners and people in power are connected. Lies, bribery and the desire for profit characterize each of the images of officials in Dead Souls. It’s amazing with what ease and ease the author draws essentially disgusting portraits, and so masterfully that you don’t doubt for a minute the authenticity of each character. Using the example of officials in the poem “Dead Souls,” the most actual problems Russian Empire mid-19th century. In addition to serfdom, which hampered natural progress, the real problem was the extensive bureaucratic apparatus, for the maintenance of which huge sums were allocated. People in whose hands power was concentrated worked only to accumulate own capital and improve their well-being by stealing from 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 described images of civil servants, but nevertheless, the life and characters are shown very accurately. Images of city N officials appear from the first pages of the work. Chichikov, who decided to pay a visit to each of powerful of the world This, gradually introduces the reader to the governor, vice-governor, prosecutor, chairman of the chamber, police chief, postmaster and many others. Chichikov flattered everyone, as a result of which he managed to win over everyone important person, and all this is shown as a matter of course. In the bureaucratic world, pomp reigned, bordering on vulgarity, inappropriate pathos and farce. Thus, during a regular dinner, the governor’s house was lit up as if for a ball, the decoration was blinding, and the ladies were dressed in their best dresses.
Officials in county town There were two types: the first were thin and followed the ladies everywhere, trying to charm them with bad French and greasy compliments. Officials of the second type, according to the author, resembled Chichikov himself: neither fat nor 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 harm each other, to do some kind of meanness, usually this happened because of the ladies, but no one was going to fight over such trifles. But at dinners they pretended that nothing was happening, they discussed Moscow News, dogs, Karamzin, delicious dishes and gossiped about officials from other departments.
When characterizing the prosecutor, Gogol combines the high and the low: “he was neither fat nor thin, had Anna on his neck, and it was even rumored that he was introduced to a star; however, he was a great good-natured man 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 given “ those who love the truth, piety and fidelity", and is also awarded for military merit. But there is no mention at all of any battles or special episodes where piety and loyalty are mentioned. The main thing is that the prosecutor is engaged in needlework, not his own job responsibilities. Sobakevich speaks unflatteringly about the prosecutor: the prosecutor, they say, is an idle person, so he sits at home, and a lawyer, a well-known grabber, works for him. There is nothing to talk about here - what kind of 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 technique is used to describe the postmaster, a serious and silent man, short, but witty and philosopher. Only in this case, various qualitative characteristics are combined into one row: “short”, “but a philosopher”. That is, here growth becomes an allegory for mental capacity this man.
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 previous form. And meetings, according to Gogol, were only successful when they could go out for a treat or have lunch, but this, of course, is not the fault of the officials, but the mentality of the people.
Gogol in “Dead Souls” depicts 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. The department unequivocally hints to Pavel Ivanovich that things will not be done without a bribe, and there is nothing to say about a quick resolution of the issue without a certain amount. This is confirmed by the police chief, who “only has to blink when passing a fish row or a cellar,” and his balyks and good wines. No request is considered without a bribe.
Officials in “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin”
The most cruel story is about Captain Kopeikin. A war invalid in search of truth and help travels from Russian outback to the capital to ask for an audience with the king himself. Kopeikin’s hopes are dashed by a terrible reality: while cities and villages are in poverty and lacking money, the capital is chic. Meetings with the king and high-ranking officials are constantly postponed. Completely desperate, Captain Kopeikin makes his way into the reception room of a high-ranking official, demanding that his question be immediately put forward 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 along with Kopeikin, riding in the chaise, hopes and believes in the best. However, the story ends disappointingly: after this incident, no one met Kopeikin again. This episode is actually scary because human life turns out to be an insignificant trifle, the loss of which will not suffer at all to the entire system.
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 the kind who would detain everyone and make them guilty. The characteristics 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. Extravagance, bureaucracy, bribery, nepotism and meanness - this is what characterized the people in power in Russia XIX century.
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