Reading the first chapter of the poem “Dead Souls,” I thought about the fact that the image provincial town NN, given by Gogol with such reliability, is typical for any city in Russia in the first half of the 19th century century. This means that the gentleman could come to Orenburg, a typical, average city, “... not in the middle of nowhere, but, on the contrary, not far from both capitals,” no worse and no better than others. The same streets, pavements, inns, churches, squares... I believe that in our city there are still “corners of antiquity” that are reminiscent of history pre-revolutionary Russia, about the “life and morals” of townspeople in the first half of the 19th century.
Chichikov was “satisfied with his inspection of the city, because he found that the city was in no way inferior to other provincial cities.” Acquaintance with the “powers of this world” further strengthened his affection for the city. He found here everything he was looking for: officials, from the governor to the chief of police, did not suffer from inaccessibility and suspicion towards persons new to the city and reliably gave in to flattery. Chichikov also met the landowners peasant souls, received from many of them a kind invitation to visit their estates.
The author treats the city ironically. But this irony is quite difficult to identify. Gogol doesn’t seem to expose anything at all. On the contrary, he even speaks solemnly about many phenomena and persons, as if chanting and exalting them, but they are so insignificant that the sublime style only gives rise to laughter.
Here Gogol describes a hotel, “where for two rubles a day visitors get a quiet room with cockroaches peeking out like prunes from all corners, and a door to the next room, always filled with a chest of drawers, where the neighbor, a silent and calm person, but extremely curious, settles down.” interested in knowing all the details of the visitor.” Why do we laugh reading this phrase? What kind of peace can there be in a room with cockroaches and an always curious neighbor outside the door? This comic layer of the phrase is further strengthened by the comparison: cockroaches are not just any, but “like prunes,” that is, they are so clearly visible that just from this alone all “peace” will instantly disappear.
The author's mercilessly ironic view constantly coexists with Chichikov's condescending and friendly attitude towards the city. Chichikov’s tenderness is not disinterested - it comes from the desire to say something nice to the “city governors.” Walking around the city, Chichikov collects material for compliments that should make officials melt. However, the author does not allow the reader to be deceived by Chichikov’s enthusiasm. “He looked into the city garden, which consisted of thin trees, badly grown, with supports below, in the form of triangles, very beautifully painted green oil paint" What in this phrase conveys the author’s attitude and where is Chichikov’s opinion here? Of course, only Chichikov is able to find “very beautifully painted” tree supports. And Gogol is ironic, mockingly comparing the “badly received, thin” trees with their luxurious description in the newspapers. So at once Gogol laughed at Chichikov’s taste, and at the lies of the newspapers, and at the servility of sentimental ordinary people.
The symbolic city of NN, which arose in Gogol’s imagination, partly helps to reveal the idea of Dead Souls. This is evidenced by the author's draft notes for the first volume. "The idea of a city. Originated before highest degree emptiness. Idle talk. Gossip that went beyond limits, how all this arose from idleness and took on the expression of the most ridiculous.” The key idea of these notes is the idea of “urban idleness.” “Idleness” is not just being idle, in idleness. In Gogol's world you can be very active and at the same time not busy. In other words, this is an activity devoid of internal, spiritual content. "The inactivity of life" distinguishing feature not only the individual heroes of the poem, but also the entire city of NN.
The kingdom of officials is in the grip of the same dead asleep, as the estates. And this kingdom was depicted by Gogol with special satire, because officials are also “dead souls.” Their actions are guided by a passion for profit, mutual responsibility, robbery, arbitrariness, and deception. Complete indifference to man made these people deeply alien to the people. Subservience to significant officials deprived them of the opportunity to recognize a fraudster in Chichikov. Civic duty and public interests are alien concepts for officials.
Here is the first person in the city - the governor, an idle man, whose only merit is the ability to embroider various patterns on tulle. Here is the chief of police, “the father and benefactor of the city,” who runs the merchant shops and the guest courtyard as if it were his own storeroom.
These are “fat” officials. Gogol also rewarded their “subtle” brothers, among whom, for example, Ivan Antonovich, the “jug snout,” belongs. This is a typical bribe-taker and bureaucrat, a deft lawyer for all illegal matters. Even Chichikov gave him a bribe, although he was a friend of his boss: this is the unwritten law in this environment.
The possible arrival of the top authorities in connection with the disclosure of Chichikov’s scam frightened these people with a bad conscience to such an extent that panic began among them, which ended in the death of the prosecutor, the main “guardian of the law.”
IN " Dead souls“Gogol also touched on the “metropolitan” theme. In almost every chapter, Gogol recalls St. Petersburg in one way or another. Is this a coincidence? No, because Gogol does not have accidents. Having outlined the life and customs of the city of NN, the writer “casts a bait”: what is going on in the capital then? “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” will help us answer this question. This is a story about a disabled hero Patriotic War 1812, who arrived in St. Petersburg for the “royal favor.” While defending his homeland, he lost an arm and a leg and lost his livelihood. Captain Kopeikin seeks a meeting with the minister himself, a callous and soulless man. He is only annoyed that the visitor takes up so much of his time, because there are very important government matters. With what frankness are the interests of the “state” and the interests of the common man contrasted here!
St. Petersburg is also a symbol of this power - decorous, important, drowning in luxury. This is a city in which it is completely unthinkable for a poor person to live; no one will help him. As the minister did not help the disabled man, moreover, he ordered Kopeikin to be expelled from the capital. There was nothing left for him to do but become the chieftain of the gang.
In its internal meaning, the story about Captain Kopeikin is an important element in the ideological and artistic design Gogol's poem. The story, as it were, crowns the whole terrible picture of the Russian police painted in “Dead Souls.” The embodiment of arbitrariness and injustice is not only the provincial, but also the capital's bureaucracy, the government itself.
According to Herzen, “with laughter on his lips, Gogol without pity penetrates into the innermost folds of the unclean, evil bureaucratic soul. Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General” and his poem “Dead Souls” represent a terrible confession of modern Russia.”
As in “The Inspector General,” in “Dead Souls” N.V. Gogol paints a generalized picture of the Russian city, the administrative and bureaucratic center in general. Therefore, as always, the writer shows us the city through the image of officials. The governor, a fairly significant figure in Tsarist Russia, does beautiful tulle embroidery, and that’s his main thing.
dignity. The police chief enters the shops as if it were his home, but, as the merchants say, “at least he won’t give you away.” The prosecutor, according to Sobakevich, is an idle man... for
Solicitor Zolotukha does everything for him.”
The ability of the official of the serf expedition, Ivan Antonovich the jug-snout, to take bribes became a proverb. Gogol always believed in the high purpose of the state, and therefore the complete disregard of officials for their duties was especially terrible for him. A position for them is only a means of acquiring ranks, an opportunity to live an idle, carefree life. The entire administrative system in the city is designed in such a way that it is easier for officials to take bribes, rob the treasury and have fun. All officials are connected with each other, and therefore will not betray each other. It is no coincidence that in the drafts of the poem Sobakevich gives the following description of the city: “The whole city is a den of robbers.”
But it is not only administrative relations in the city that interest N.V. Gogol. As in the landowner, the writer tries to find the soul in the officials of the provincial city - and does not find it. It is no coincidence that, reflecting on what constitutes the main features of the city, N.V. Gogol emphasizes: an undisturbed world. In Gogol's philosophy, movement is one of the main categories. Everything immovable is not only dead in its essence, but also incapable of rebirth.
Need to download an essay? Click and save - » How does Gogol depict the city of NN? . And the finished essay appeared in my bookmarks.The action of the poem takes place in the city of N, where Chichikov arrives. N.V. Gogol did not specifically specify the name of the city, since the image of the city became collective, and many provincial cities were exactly like that.
In the city of N, an unremarkable everyday life flows. All the houses in the city are built like a carbon copy and painted gloomy grey colour. Hotels, as was expected in those days, had cockroaches. The townspeople had one entertainment - taverns. These establishments were similar to ordinary huts, only larger.
As in any provincial city, there were soulless officials who did not care about fate at all ordinary people. They did not hesitate to take bribes, and they themselves were uneducated people. They had no education, and they did not like to read books. Even the police had to blink an eye and the merchants would immediately provide them with the freshest goods.
The city was impersonal, and life in it was somehow worthless. Officials did not fulfill their duties, and their wives led an idle lifestyle. Ordinary people and the merchants had to bribe the officials, otherwise you wouldn’t get anything from them. It seems to me that the same thing is happening with modern cities. Life is going nowhere, and officials like “ dead souls“I don’t care about anything at all.
1. Pushkin’s role in the creation of the poem.
2. Description of the city.
3. Officials of the provincial city of NN.
It is known that A. S. Pushkin was highly valued by N. V. Gogol. Moreover, the writer often perceived the poet as an adviser or even a teacher. It is to Pushkin that lovers of Russian literature owe a lot in the appearance of such immortal works writer, like “The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls”.
In the first case, the poet simply suggested a simple plot to the satirist, but in the second he made him think seriously about how an entire era could be represented in a small work. Alexander Sergeevich was confident that his younger friend would certainly cope with the task: “He always told me that not a single writer has ever had this gift to expose the vulgarity of life so clearly, to outline the vulgarity of a vulgar person with such force, so that all that trifle, which escapes the eye, would flash large in the eyes of everyone.” As a result, the satirist managed not to disappoint the great poet. Gogol quickly determined the concept of his new work, “Dead Souls,” using as a basis a fairly common type of fraud in the purchase of serfs. This action has already become filled with a more significant meaning, being one of the main characteristics of everything. social order Russia under the reign of Nicholas.
The writer thought for a long time about what his work was. Quite soon he came to the conclusion that “Dead Souls” is an epic poem, since it “embraces not some features, but the entire era of time, among which the hero acted with the way of thoughts, beliefs and even knowledge that humanity had made at that time " The concept of the poetic is not limited in the work only to lyricism and author’s digressions. Nikolai Vasilyevich aimed at more: the volume and breadth of the plan as a whole, its universality. The action of the poem takes place approximately in the middle of the reign of Alexander I, after the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. That is, the writer returns to the events of twenty years ago, which gives the poem the status of a historical work.
Already on the first pages of the book, the reader meets the main character - Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, who visited the provincial town of NN on personal business. no different from other similar cities. The guest noticed that “the yellow paint on the stone houses was very striking and the gray paint on the wooden ones was modestly dark. The houses were one, two and one and a half floors with an eternal mezzanine, very beautiful, according to the provincial architects. In some places these houses seemed lost among the streets as wide as a field and endless wooden fences; in some places they huddled together, and here there was more noticeable movement of people and liveliness.” All the time emphasizing the ordinariness of this place and its similarity with many other provincial cities, the author hinted that the life of these settlements was probably also not much different. This means that the city began to acquire a completely general character. And so, in the imagination of readers, Chichikov no longer ends up in a specific place, but in a certain collective image cities of the Nicholas era: “In some places there were tables with nuts, soap and gingerbreads that looked like soap just on the street... Most often, darkened double-headed state eagles were noticeable, which have now been replaced by a laconic inscription: “Drinking house.” The pavement was pretty bad everywhere.”
Even in the description of the city, the author emphasizes the hypocrisy and deceit of the inhabitants of the city, or rather, its managers. So, Chichikov looks into the city garden, consisting of thin trees that have taken root poorly, but the newspapers said that “our city has been decorated, thanks to the care of the civil ruler, with a garden consisting of shady, wide-branched trees that provide coolness on a hot day.”
Governor of the city of NN. like Chichikov, 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 person and sometimes even embroidered on tulle.” On the very first day of his stay in the city, Pavel Ivanovich visited all secular society, and everywhere he managed to find mutual language with new friends. Of course, Chichikov’s ability to flatter and the narrow-mindedness of local officials played no small role in this: “They will somehow casually hint to the governor that you are entering his province as if you are entering paradise, the roads are velvet everywhere... He said something very flattering to the police chief about the city guards ; and in conversations with the vice-governor and the chairman of the chamber, who were still only state councilors, he even said twice in error: “Your Excellency,” which they liked very much.” This was quite enough for everyone to recognize the newcomer as a completely pleasant and decent person and invite him to the governor’s party, where the “cream” of local society gathered.
The writer ironically compared the guests of this event to squadrons of flies that fly around on white refined sugar in the midst of the July summer. Chichikov did not lose face here either, but behaved in such a way that soon all officials and landowners recognized him as a decent and most pleasant person. Moreover, this opinion was not dictated by any good deeds guest, but solely by his ability to flatter everyone. Already this fact eloquently testified to the development and morals of the inhabitants of the city of NN. Describing the ball, the author divided the men into two categories: “... some thin ones, who all hovered around the ladies; some of them were of such a kind that it was difficult to distinguish them from those from St. Petersburg... The other type of men were fat or the same as Chichikov... These, on the contrary, looked askance and backed away from the ladies and looked only around... These were honorary officials in the city." The writer immediately concluded: “...fat people know how to manage their affairs in this world better than thin ones.”
Moreover, many representatives of high society were not without education. So, the chairman of the chamber recited “Lyudmila” by V. A. Zhukovsky by heart, the police chief was a wit, others also read N. M. Karamzin, some “Moskovskie Vedomosti”. In other words, good level The education of officials was questionable. However, this did not at all prevent them from managing the city and, if necessary, jointly protecting their interests. That is, a special class was formed in a class society. Supposedly freed from prejudice, officials distorted the laws in their own way. In the city of NN. as in other similar cities, they enjoyed unlimited power. The police chief only had to blink when passing a fish row, and the ingredients for preparing a sumptuous dinner would be brought to his home. It was the customs and not too strict morals of this place that allowed Pavel Ivanovich to achieve his goals so quickly. Very soon the main character became the owner of four hundred dead souls. The landowners, without thinking and caring about their own benefit, willingly gave up their goods to him, and at the lowest price: dead serfs were in no way needed on the farm.
Chichikov didn’t even need to make any effort to make deals with them. The officials also did not ignore the most pleasant guest and even offered him their help for the safe delivery of the peasants to their place. Pavel Ivanovich made only one serious miscalculation, which led to trouble; he outraged the local ladies with his indifference to their persons and increased attention to the young beauty. However, this does not change the opinion of local officials about the guest. Only when Nozdryov blabbed to the governor that the new person was trying to buy dead souls from him, high society thought about it. But even here it was not common sense that guided, but gossip, growing like a snowball. That is why Chichikov began to be credited with the kidnapping of the governor’s daughter, and the organization of a peasant revolt, and the production of counterfeit coins. Only now have officials begun to feel so concerned about Pavel Ivanovich that many of them have even lost weight.
As a result, society generally comes to an absurd conclusion: Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise. The inhabitants of the city wanted to arrest the main character, but they were very afraid of him. This dilemma led to the prosecutor's death. All this unrest is unfolding behind the guest’s back, since he is sick and does not leave the house for three days. And it doesn’t occur to any of his new friends to just talk to Chichikov. Having learned about the current situation, the main character ordered to pack his things and left the city. In his poem, Gogol showed as completely and vividly as possible the vulgarity and baseness of the morals of the provincial cities of that time. Ignorant people in power in such places set the tone for the entire local society. Instead of managing the province well, they held balls and parties, solving their personal problems at public expense.
N.V. Gogol’s work “Dead Souls,” according to Herzen, is “an amazing book, a bitter reproach to modern Rus', but not hopeless.” Being a poem, it was intended to glorify Rus' in its deepest folk foundations. But it is still dominated by satirical accusatory pictures of the author’s contemporary reality.
As in the comedy “The Inspector General,” in “Dead Souls” Gogol uses the technique of typification. The action of the poem takes place in the provincial town of NN. which is a collective image. The author notes that “it was in no way inferior to other provincial cities.” This makes it possible to reproduce full picture morals of the whole country. Main character In the poem, Chichikov draws attention to typical “houses of one, two and one and a half floors, with an eternal mezzanine”, to “signs almost washed away by the rain”, to the inscription “Drinking House” that appears most often.
At first glance, it seems that the atmosphere of city life is somewhat different from the sleepy, serene and frozen spirit of landowner life. Constant balls, dinners, breakfasts, snacks and even trips to public places create an image full of energy and passion, vanity and trouble. But a closer look reveals that all this is illusory, meaningless, unnecessary, that the representatives of the top of urban society are faceless, spiritually dead, and their existence is aimless. “ Business card” of the city, the vulgar dandy who met Chichikov at the entrance to the city becomes: “... I met a young man in white rosin trousers, very narrow and short, in a tailcoat with attempts at fashion, from under which a shirtfront was visible, fastened with a Tula pin with a bronze pistol." This random character personifies the tastes of provincial society.
The life of the city depends entirely on numerous officials. The author paints an expressive portrait of administrative power in Russia. As if emphasizing the uselessness and facelessness of city officials, he gives them very brief characteristics. It is said about the governor that he “was neither fat nor thin, had Anna around his neck...; however, he was a great good-natured man and even embroidered on tulle himself.” It is known about the prosecutor that he had “very black thick eyebrows and a somewhat winking left eye.” It was noted about the postmaster that he was a “short” man, but “a wit and a philosopher.”
All officials have a low level of education. Gogol ironically calls them “more or less enlightened people,” because “some have read Karamzin, some have read Moskovskie Vedomosti, some have not even read anything at all...” Such are the provincial landowners. Both are almost related to each other. The author shows in his reflection on “thick and thin” how gradually statesmen, “having earned universal respect, they leave the service... and become glorious landowners, glorious Russian bars, hospitable people, and live and live well.” This digression is an evil satire on robber officials and on the “hospitable” Russian bar, leading an idle existence, aimlessly smoking the sky.
Officials are a kind of arbiters of the destinies of the inhabitants of the provincial city. The solution to any, even small, issue depends on them. Not a single case was considered without bribes. Bribery, embezzlement and robbery of the population are constant and widespread phenomena. The police chief had only to blink, passing by the fish row, as “beluga, sturgeon, salmon, pressed caviar, freshly salted caviar, herrings, stellate sturgeon, cheeses, smoked tongues and balyks appeared on his table - this was all from the side of the fish row.”
The “servants of the people” are truly unanimous in their desire to live widely at the expense of the sums of their “tenderly beloved Fatherland.” They are equally irresponsible in their direct responsibilities. This is especially clearly shown when Chichikov executed deeds of sale for serfs. Sobakevich proposes to invite as witnesses the prosecutor, who “is probably sitting at home, since the lawyer Zolotukha, the greatest grabber in the world, does everything for him,” and the inspector of the medical board, as well as Trukhachevsky and Belushkin. According to Sobakevich’s apt remark, “they are all burdening the earth for nothing!” In addition, the author’s remark is characteristic that the chairman, at Chichikov’s request, “could extend and shorten ... his presence, like the ancient Zeus.”
The central place in the characterization of the bureaucratic world is occupied by the episode of the death of the prosecutor. In just a few lines, Gogol managed to express the entire emptiness of the lives of these people. No one knows why the prosecutor lived and why he died, since he does not understand why he himself lives, what his purpose is.
When describing the life of the provincial city, the author Special attention devotes itself to the women's party. First of all, these are the wives of officials. They are just as impersonal as their husbands. Chichikov notices not people at the ball, but great amount luxurious dresses, ribbons, feathers. The author pays tribute to the taste of the provincial ladies: “This is not a province, this is the capital, this is Paris itself!”, but at the same time he exposes their imitative essence, noticing in places “a cap never seen on earth” or “almost a peacock feather.” “But it’s impossible without this, this is the property of a provincial city: somewhere it will certainly end.” A noble feature of provincial ladies is their ability to express themselves with “extraordinary caution and decency.” Their speech is elegant and ornate. As Gogol notes, “in order to further refine the Russian language, almost half of the words were completely thrown out of the conversation.”
The life of bureaucratic wives is idle, but they themselves are active, so gossip throughout the city spreads with amazing speed and takes on a terrifying appearance. Because of the ladies' gossip, Chichikov was recognized as a millionaire. But as soon as he stopped paying attention to the female society, absorbed in the sight of the governor’s daughter, the hero was credited with the idea of stealing the object of contemplation and many other terrible crimes.
The ladies of the city have enormous influence on their official husbands and not only make them believe incredible gossip, but are also able to turn them against each other. “Duels, of course, did not occur between them, because they were all civil officials, but one tried to harm the other wherever possible...”
All Gogol's heroes dream of achieving a certain ideal of life, which for most representatives of provincial society is seen in the image of the capital, brilliant St. Petersburg. Creating a collective image of a Russian city of the 30-40s of the 19th century, the author combines the features of the province and characteristics metropolitan life. Thus, mention of St. Petersburg occurs in every chapter of the poem. This image was outlined very clearly, without embellishment, in “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.” Gogol notes with amazing frankness that it is absolutely impossible to live in this city, sedate, prim, drowning in luxury. little man, such as Captain Kopeikin. The writer speaks in “The Tale...” about cold indifference powerful of the world this leads to the misfortunes of an unfortunate disabled person, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812. This is how the theme of contrasting state interests and the interests of the common man arises in the poem.
Gogol is sincerely indignant against the social injustice reigning in Russia, putting his indignation into satirical forms. In the poem he uses a “situation of delusion.” This helps him reveal certain aspects of the life of the provincial city. The author confronts all officials with one fact and reveals all the “sins” and crimes of each: arbitrariness in the service, lawlessness of the police, idle pastime and much more. All this is organically woven into general characteristics cities NN. and also emphasizes his collectivity. After all, all these vices were characteristic of modern Gogol's Russia. In “Dead Souls” the writer recreated real picture Russian life of the 30-40s XIX century, and this is his greatest merit.
N.V. Gogol’s work “Dead Souls,” according to Herzen, is “an amazing book, a bitter reproach to modern Rus', but not hopeless.” Being a poem, it was intended to glorify Rus' in its deep folk foundations. But it is still dominated by satirical accusatory pictures of the author’s contemporary reality.
As in the comedy “The Inspector General,” in “Dead Souls” Gogol uses the technique of typification. The action of the poem takes place in the provincial town of NN. which is a collective image. The author notes that “it was in no way inferior to other provincial cities.” This makes it possible to reproduce a complete picture of the morals of the entire country. The main character of the poem, Chichikov, draws attention to the typical “houses of one, two and one and a half floors, with an eternal mezzanine,” to “signs almost washed away by the rain,” to the inscription “Drinking House” that appears most often.
At first glance, it seems that the atmosphere of city life is somewhat different from the sleepy, serene and frozen spirit of landowner life. Constant balls, dinners, breakfasts, snacks and even trips to public places create an image full of energy and passion, vanity and trouble. But a closer look reveals that all this is illusory, meaningless, unnecessary, that the representatives of the top of urban society are faceless, spiritually dead, and their existence is aimless. The “calling card” of the city becomes the vulgar dandy who met Chichikov at the entrance to the city: “... I met a young man in white rosin trousers, very narrow and short, in a tailcoat with attempts at fashion, from under which a shirtfront buttoned with a Tula shirt was visible a pin with a bronze pistol.” This random character personifies the tastes of provincial society.
The life of the city depends entirely on numerous officials. The author paints an expressive portrait of administrative power in Russia. As if emphasizing the uselessness and facelessness of city officials, he gives them very brief characteristics. It is said about the governor that he “was neither fat nor thin, had Anna around his neck...; however, he was a great good-natured man and even embroidered on tulle himself.” It is known about the prosecutor that he had “very black thick eyebrows and a somewhat winking left eye.” It was noted about the postmaster that he was a “short” man, but “a wit and a philosopher.”
All officials have a low level of education. Gogol ironically calls them “more or less enlightened people,” because “some have read Karamzin, some have read Moskovskie Vedomosti, some have not even read anything at all...” Such are the provincial landowners. Both are almost related to each other. The author shows in his reflection on “thick and thin” how gradually state people, “having earned universal respect, leave the service... and become glorious landowners, glorious Russian bars, hospitable people, and live and live well.” This digression is an evil satire on robber officials and on the “hospitable” Russian bar, leading an idle existence, aimlessly smoking the sky.
Officials are a kind of arbiters of the destinies of the inhabitants of the provincial city. The solution to any, even small, issue depends on them. Not a single case was considered without bribes. Bribery, embezzlement and robbery of the population are constant and widespread phenomena. The police chief had only to blink, passing by the fish row, as “beluga, sturgeon, salmon, pressed caviar, freshly salted caviar, herrings, stellate sturgeon, cheeses, smoked tongues and balyks appeared on his table - this was all from the side of the fish row.”
The “servants of the people” are truly unanimous in their desire to live widely at the expense of the sums of their “tenderly beloved Fatherland.” They are equally irresponsible in their direct responsibilities. This is especially clearly shown when Chichikov executed deeds of sale for serfs. Sobakevich proposes to invite as witnesses the prosecutor, who “is probably sitting at home, since the lawyer Zolotukha, the greatest grabber in the world, does everything for him,” and the inspector of the medical board, as well as Trukhachevsky and Belushkin. According to Sobakevich’s apt remark, “they are all burdening the earth for nothing!” In addition, the author’s remark is characteristic that the chairman, at Chichikov’s request, “could extend and shorten ... his presence, like the ancient Zeus.”
The central place in the characterization of the bureaucratic world is occupied by the episode of the death of the prosecutor. In just a few lines, Gogol managed to express the entire emptiness of the lives of these people. No one knows why the prosecutor lived and why he died, since he does not understand why he himself lives, what his purpose is.
When describing the life of the provincial city, the author pays special attention to the women's party. First of all, these are the wives of officials. They are just as impersonal as their husbands. Chichikov notices not people at the ball, but a huge number of luxurious dresses, ribbons, and feathers. The author pays tribute to the taste of the provincial ladies: “This is not a province, this is the capital, this is Paris itself!”, but at the same time he exposes their imitative essence, noticing in places “a cap never seen on earth” or “almost a peacock feather.” “But it’s impossible without this, this is the property of a provincial city: somewhere it will certainly end.” A noble feature of provincial ladies is their ability to express themselves with “extraordinary caution and decency.” Their speech is elegant and ornate. As Gogol notes, “in order to further refine the Russian language, almost half of the words were completely thrown out of the conversation.”
The life of bureaucratic wives is idle, but they themselves are active, so gossip throughout the city spreads with amazing speed and takes on a terrifying appearance. Because of the ladies' gossip, Chichikov was recognized as a millionaire. But as soon as he stopped paying attention to the female society, absorbed in the sight of the governor’s daughter, the hero was credited with the idea of stealing the object of contemplation and many other terrible crimes.
The ladies of the city have enormous influence on their official husbands and not only make them believe incredible gossip, but are also able to turn them against each other. “Duels, of course, did not occur between them, because they were all civil officials, but one tried to harm the other wherever possible...”
All Gogol's heroes dream of achieving a certain ideal of life, which for most representatives of provincial society is seen in the image of the capital, brilliant St. Petersburg. Creating a collective image of a Russian city of the 30-40s of the 19th century, the author combines the features of the province and the characteristic features of metropolitan life. Thus, mention of St. Petersburg occurs in every chapter of the poem. This image was outlined very clearly, without embellishment, in “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.” Gogol notes with amazing frankness that in this city, decorous, prim, drowning in luxury, it is absolutely impossible for a little person like Captain Kopeikin to live. The writer speaks in “The Tale...” about the cold indifference of the powers that be to the troubles of an unfortunate disabled person, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812. This is how the theme of contrasting state interests and the interests of the common man arises in the poem.
Gogol is sincerely indignant against the social injustice reigning in Russia, putting his indignation into satirical forms. In the poem he uses a “situation of delusion.” This helps him reveal certain aspects of the life of the provincial city. The author confronts all officials with one fact and reveals all the “sins” and crimes of each: arbitrariness in the service, lawlessness of the police, idle pastime and much more. All this is organically woven into the general characteristics of the city of NN. and also emphasizes his collectivity. After all, all these vices were characteristic of modern Gogol's Russia. In “Dead Souls,” the writer recreated a real picture of Russian life in the 30s and 40s of the 19th century, and this is his greatest merit.