My attitude towards Plyushkin is dead souls. Plyushkin - characterization of the hero of the poem “Dead Souls”

Gallery « dead souls"ends in the poem with Plyushkin. The origins of this image are found in the comedies of Plautus, Moliere, and in the prose of Balzac. However, at the same time, Gogol’s hero is a product of Russian life. “In an environment of general extravagance and ruin... in the society of the Petukhovs, Khlobuevs, Chichikovs and Manilovs... a suspicious and intelligent person... should involuntarily be seized by fear for his well-being. And so stinginess naturally becomes the mania into which his frightened suspiciousness develops... Plyushkin is a Russian miser, a miser out of fear for the future, in the organization of which the Russian man is so helpless,” notes the pre-revolutionary critic.

Plyushkin's main traits are stinginess, greed, thirst for accumulation and enrichment, wariness and suspicion. These features are masterfully conveyed in the portrait of the hero, in the landscape, in the description of the situation and in the dialogues.

Plyushkin's appearance is very expressive. “His face was nothing special; it was almost the same as that of many thin old men, one chin only protruded very far forward, so that he had to cover it with a handkerchief every time so as not to spit; the small eyes had not yet gone out and ran from under their high eyebrows, like mice, when, sticking their sharp muzzles out of the dark holes, their ears alert and their noses blinking, they look out to see if the cat is hiding somewhere...” Plyushkin’s outfit is noteworthy - greasy and a torn robe, rags wrapped around the neck... S. Shevyrev admired this portrait. “We see Plyushkin so vividly, as if we remember him in a painting by Albert Durer in the Doria Gallery...” the critic wrote.

Small running eyes, similar to mice, indicate Plyushkin’s wariness and suspicion, generated by fear for his property. His rags resemble the clothes of a beggar, but not of a landowner with more than a thousand souls.

The motif of poverty continues to develop in the description of the landowner's village. In all the village buildings, “some kind of special dilapidation” is noticeable; the huts are made of old and dark logs, the roofs look like a sieve, and there is no glass in the windows. Plyushkin’s own house looks like “some kind of decrepit invalid.” In some places it is one floor, in others it is two, there is green mold on the fence and gates, a “naked plaster lattice” can be seen through the decrepit walls, only two of the windows are open, the rest are closed or boarded up. The “beggarly appearance” here metaphorically conveys the spiritual poverty of the hero, the severe limitation of his worldview by a pathological passion for hoarding.

Behind the house stretches a garden, equally overgrown and decayed, which, however, is “quite picturesque in its picturesque desolation.” “The connected tops of trees growing in freedom lay on the celestial horizon like green clouds and irregular, flutter-leaved domes. A colossal white birch trunk... rose from this green thicket and rounded in the air like... a sparkling marble column... In places, green thickets, illuminated by the sun, diverged...” A dazzling white marble birch trunk, green thickets, bright, sparkling sun - in the brightness of its colors and the presence of lighting effects, this landscape contrasts with the description interior decoration a landowner's house, recreating the atmosphere of lifelessness, death, and grave.

Entering Plyushkin's house, Chichikov immediately finds himself in darkness. “He stepped into the dark, wide hallway, from which a cold breath blew, as if from a cellar. From the hallway he found himself in a room, also dark, slightly illuminated by light coming out from under a wide crack located at the bottom of the door.” Further, Gogol develops the motif of death and lifelessness outlined here. In another room of the landowner (where Chichikov ends up) there is a broken chair, “a clock with a stopped pendulum, to which the spider has already attached its web”; a chandelier in a canvas bag, thanks to the layer of dust, looking “like a silk cocoon in which a worm sits.” On the walls, Pavel Ivanovich notices several paintings, but their subjects are quite definite - a battle with screaming soldiers and drowning horses, a still life with a “duck hanging head down.”

In the corner of the room, a huge pile of old rubbish is piled on the floor; through a huge layer of dust, Chichikov notices a piece of a wooden shovel and an old boot sole. This picture is symbolic. According to I.P. Zolotussky, the Plyushkin pile is “a tombstone above the materialist ideal.” The researcher notes that every time Chichikov meets one of the landowners, he makes an “examination of his ideals.” Plyushkin in in this case“represents” state, wealth. In fact, this is the most important thing that Chichikov strives for. It is financial independence that opens the way for him to comfort, happiness, well-being, etc. All this is inextricably fused in Pavel Ivanovich’s mind with home, family, family ties, “heirs,” and respect in society.

Plyushkin takes the opposite route in the poem. The hero seems to be revealing to us the other side of Chichikov’s ideal - we see that the landowner’s house is completely neglected, he has no family, he has severed all friendly and family ties, and there is not a hint of respect in the reviews of other landowners about him.

But Plyushkin was once a thrifty owner, he was married, and “a neighbor stopped by to have lunch with him” and learn housekeeping from him. And everything was no worse with him than with others: a “friendly and talkative hostess”, famous for her hospitality, two pretty daughters, “blond and fresh as roses”, a son, a “broken boy”, and even a French teacher. But his “good mistress” and his youngest daughter died, the eldest ran away with the captain, “the time has come for his son to serve,” and Plyushkin was left alone. Gogol carefully traces this process of decay human personality, the development in the hero of his pathological passion.

The lonely life of a landowner, widowhood, “gray hair in his coarse hair,” dryness and rationalism of character (“human feelings...were not deep in him”) - all this provided “well-fed food for stinginess.” Indulging in his vice, Plyushkin gradually ruined his entire household. Thus, his hay and bread rotted, flour in the cellars turned into stone, canvases and materials “turned to dust.”

Plyushkin's passion for hoarding became truly pathological: every day he walked the streets of his village and collected everything that came to hand: an old sole, a woman's rag, an iron nail, a clay shard. There was so much in the landowner’s yard: “barrels, crosses, tubs, lagoons, jugs with and without stigmas, twins, baskets...”. “If someone had looked into his work yard, where there was a stock of all sorts of wood and utensils that had never been used, he would have wondered if he had ended up in Moscow at the wood chip yard, where efficient mothers-in-law and mother-in-law go every day. ..make your household supplies...,” writes Gogol.

Submitting to the thirst for profit and enrichment, the hero gradually lost all human feelings: he ceased to be interested in the lives of his children and grandchildren, quarreled with his neighbors, and drove away all the guests.

The character of the hero in the poem is entirely consistent with his speech. As V.V. Litvinov notes, Plyushkin’s speech is “one continuous grumbling”: complaints about others - about relatives, peasants and abuse with his servants.

In the scene of buying and selling dead souls, Plyushkin, like Sobakevich, begins to bargain with Chichikov. However, if Sobakevich, not caring about the moral side of the issue, probably guesses the essence of Chichikov’s scam, then Plyushkin does not even think about it. Having heard that he could make a “profit,” the landowner seemed to forget about everything: he “waited,” “his hands trembled,” he “took the money from Chichikov in both hands and carried it to the office with the same caution as if would be carrying some liquid, every minute afraid of spilling it.” Thus, the moral side of the issue leaves him by itself - it simply fades under the pressure of the “surging feelings” of the hero.

It is these “feelings” that take the landowner out of the category of “indifferent”. Belinsky considered Plyushkin a “comical person,” disgusting and disgusting, denying him the significance of his feelings. However, in the context of the author’s creative intent, presented in the poem life story hero given character seems the most difficult among Gogol's landowners. It was Plyushkin (together with Chichikov), according to Gogol’s plan, who was supposed to appear morally reborn in the third volume of the poem.

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In Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" all the characters have collective and typical traits. Each of the landowners whom Chichikov visits with his strange request for the purchase and sale of “dead souls” personifies one of the characteristic images of the landowners of Gogol’s modernity. Gogol’s poem in terms of describing the characters of landowners is interesting primarily because Nikolai Vasilyevich was a foreigner in relation to Russian people, Ukrainian society was closer to him, so Gogol was able to notice specific features character and behavior of certain types of people.

Plyushkin's age and appearance

One of the landowners whom Chichikov visits is Plyushkin. Before the moment of personal acquaintance, Chichikov already knew something about this landowner - mainly it was information about his stinginess. Chichikov knew that thanks to this trait, Plyushkin’s serfs were “dying like flies,” and those who did not die were running away from him.

We invite you to read it, which reveals the theme of patriotism and love for the Motherland.

In the eyes of Chichikov, Plyushkin became an important candidate - he had the opportunity to buy up many “dead souls.”

However, Chichikov was not ready to see Plyushkin’s estate and get to know him personally - the picture that opened before him plunged him into bewilderment; Plyushkin himself also did not stand out from the general background.

To his horror, Chichikov realized that the person he mistook for the housekeeper was in fact not the housekeeper, but the landowner Plyushkin himself. Plyushkin could have been mistaken for anyone, but not for the richest landowner in the district: he was extremely skinny, his face was slightly elongated and just as terribly skinny as his body. His eyes were small and unusually lively for an old man. The chin was very long. His appearance was complemented by a toothless mouth.

The theme is revealed in the work of N.V. Gogol little man. We invite you to read its summary.

Plyushkin's clothes were absolutely not like clothes; they could hardly even be called that. Plyushkin paid absolutely no attention to his suit - he was worn out to such an extent that his clothes began to look like rags. It was quite possible for Plyushkin to be mistaken for a tramp.

Natural aging processes were also added to this appearance - at the time of the story, Plyushkin was about 60 years old.

The problem of the name and the meaning of the surname

Plyushkin's name never appears in the text; it is likely that this was done deliberately. In this way, Gogol emphasizes Plyushkin’s detachment, the callousness of his character and the lack of a humanistic principle in the landowner.

There is, however, a point in the text that can help reveal the name Plyushkin. The landowner from time to time calls his daughter by her patronymic - Stepanovna, this fact gives the right to say that Plyushkin was called Stepan.

It is unlikely that this character's name was chosen as a specific symbol. Translated from Greek, Stepan means “crown, diadem” and indicates a permanent attribute of the goddess Hera. It is unlikely that this information was decisive when choosing a name, which cannot be said about the hero’s surname.

In Russian, the word “plyushkin” is used to nominate a person distinguished by stinginess and a mania for accumulating raw materials and material resources without any purpose.

Marital status of Plyushkin

At the time of the story, Plyushkin is a lonely person leading an ascetic lifestyle. He has been a widow for a long time. Once upon a time, Plyushkin’s life was different - his wife brought the meaning of life into Plyushkin’s being, she stimulated the emergence of positive qualities in him, contributed to the emergence of humanistic qualities. They had three children in their marriage - two girls and a boy.

At that time, Plyushkin was not at all like a petty miser. He happily received guests and was a sociable and open person.

Plyushkin was never a spender, but his stinginess had its reasonable limits. His clothes were not new - he usually wore a frock coat, it was noticeably worn, but looked very decent, there wasn’t even a single patch on it.

Reasons for character change

After the death of his wife, Plyushkin completely succumbed to his grief and apathy. Most likely, he did not have a predisposition to communicate with children, he was of little interest and fascination with the process of education, so the motivation to live and be reborn for the sake of children did not work for him.

Later, he begins to develop a conflict with his older children - as a result, they, tired of constant grumbling and deprivation, leave their father’s house without his permission. The daughter gets married without Plyushkin’s blessing, and the son starts marriage military service. Such freedom became the reason for Plyushkin’s anger - he curses his children. The son was categorical towards his father - he completely broke off contact with him. The daughter still did not abandon her father, despite this attitude towards her family, she visits the old man from time to time and brings her children to him. Plyushkin does not like to bother with his grandchildren and perceives their meetings extremely coolly.

Plyushkin's youngest daughter died as a child.

Thus, Plyushkin remained alone in his large estate.

Plyushkin's estate

Plyushkin was considered the richest landowner in the district, but Chichikov, who came to his estate, thought it was a joke - Plyushkin’s estate was in a dilapidated state - repairs had not been made to the house for many years. Moss could be seen on the wooden elements of the house, the windows in the house were boarded up - it seemed that no one actually lived here.

Plyushkin's house was huge, now it was empty - Plyushkin lived alone in the whole house. Because of its desolation, the house resembled ancient castle.

The inside of the house was not much different from the outside. Since most of the windows in the house were boarded up, the house was incredibly dark and it was difficult to see anything. The only place where he penetrated sunlight– these are Plyushkin’s personal rooms.

An incredible mess reigned in Plyushkin's room. It seems that the place has never been cleaned - everything was covered in cobwebs and dust. Broken things were lying everywhere, which Plyushkin did not dare to throw away, because he thought that he might still need them.

The garbage was also not thrown away anywhere, but was piled right there in the room. Plyushkin's desk was no exception - important papers and documents lay mixed in with trash.

There is a huge garden behind Plyushkin’s house. Like everything else in the estate, it is in disrepair. No one has looked after the trees for a long time, the garden is overgrown with weeds and small bushes that are entwined with hops, but even in this form the garden is beautiful, it stands out sharply against the background of deserted houses and dilapidated buildings.

Features of Plyushkin's relationship with serfs

Plyushkin is far from the ideal of a landowner; he behaves rudely and cruelly with his serfs. Sobakevich, talking about his attitude towards the serfs, claims that Plyushkin starves his subjects, which significantly increases the mortality rate among the serfs. The appearance of Plyushkin’s serfs becomes confirmation of these words - they are excessively thin, immeasurably skinny.

It is not surprising that many serfs run away from Plyushkin - life on the run is more attractive.

Sometimes Plyushkin pretends to take care of his serfs - he goes into the kitchen and checks whether they are eating well. However, he does this for a reason - while undergoing food quality control, Plyushkin manages to eat to his heart’s content. Of course, this trick was not hidden from the peasants and became a reason for discussion.

Plyushkin always accuses his serfs of theft and fraud - he believes that the peasants are always trying to rob him. But the situation looks completely different - Plyushkin has intimidated his peasants so much that they are afraid to take at least something for themselves without the knowledge of the landowner.

The tragedy of the situation is also created by the fact that warehouse space Plyushkin's are overflowing with food, almost all of it becomes unusable and then thrown away. Of course, Plyushkin could give the surplus to his serfs, thereby improving their living conditions and raising his authority in their eyes, but greed takes over - it’s easier for him to throw away unsuitable things than to do a good deed.

Characteristics of personal qualities

In his old age, Plyushkin became an unpleasant type due to his quarrelsome character. People began to avoid him, neighbors and friends began to visit less and less, and then they stopped communicating with him altogether.

After the death of his wife, Plyushkin preferred a solitary way of life. He believed that guests always do harm - instead of doing something truly useful, you have to spend time in empty conversations.

By the way, this position of Plyushkin did not bring desired results– his estate steadily fell into disrepair until it finally took on the appearance of an abandoned village.

There are only two joys in the life of the old man Plyushkin - scandals and the accumulation of finances and raw materials. Sincerely speaking, he gives himself wholeheartedly to both one and the other.

Plyushkin surprisingly has the talent to notice any little things and even the most insignificant flaws. In other words, he is overly picky about people. He is unable to express his comments calmly - he mainly shouts and scolds his servants.

Plyushkin is not capable of doing anything good. He is a callous and cruel person. He is indifferent to the fate of his children - he has lost contact with his son, and his daughter periodically tries to reconcile, but the old man stops these attempts. He believes that they have a selfish goal - his daughter and son-in-law want to enrich themselves at his expense.

Thus, Plyushkin is a terrible landowner who lives for a specific purpose. In general, he is endowed with negative character traits. The landowner himself does not realize the true results of his actions - he seriously thinks that he is a caring landowner. In fact, he is a tyrant, ruining and destroying the destinies of people.

Plyushkin in the poem “Dead Souls”: analysis of the hero, image and characteristics

In the poem “Dead Souls” N. Gogol depicted a gallery of Russian landowners. Each of them embodies negative moral qualities. Moreover new hero turns out to be worse than the previous one, and we become witnesses to the extremes to which impoverishment can reach human soul. The image of Plyushkin closes the series. In the poem "Dead Souls", according to apt definition author, he acts as a “hole in humanity.”

First impression

“Patched” - this is the definition given to the master by one of the men from whom Chichikov asked the way to Plyushkin. And it is completely justified, you just have to look at this representative landed nobility. Let's get to know him better.

Having passed through a large village, which was striking in its squalor and poverty, Chichikov found himself at the manor’s house. This one didn't look much like a place where people lived. The garden was just as neglected, although the number and nature of the buildings indicated that there had once been a strong, prosperous economy here. The characterization of Plyushkin in the poem “Dead Souls” begins with such a description of the master’s estate.

Meeting the landowner

Having driven into the yard, Chichikov noticed how someone—either a man or a woman—was arguing with the driver. The hero decided that it was the housekeeper and asked if the owner was at home. Surprised by the appearance of a stranger here, this “some creature” escorted the guest into the house. Finding himself in a bright room, Chichikov was amazed at the disorder that reigned in it. It seemed as if garbage from all over the area had been taken here. Plyushkin really collected on the street everything that came to hand: a bucket forgotten by a man, and fragments of a broken shard, and a feather that no one needed. Taking a closer look at the housekeeper, the hero discovered a man in her and was completely stunned to learn that this was the owner. Then the author of the work “Dead Souls” moves on to the image of the landowner.

Gogol draws Plyushkin’s portrait like this: he was dressed in a worn, torn and dirty robe, which was decorated with some rags around his neck. The eyes were constantly moving, as if they were looking for something. This indicated the hero’s suspicion and constant vigilance. In general, if Chichikov did not know that standing in front of him was one of the richest landowners in the province, he would have taken him for a beggar. In fact, the first feeling that this person evokes in the reader is pity, bordering on contempt.

Life story

The image of Plyushkin in the poem “Dead Souls” differs from others in that he is the only landowner with a biography. In the old days, he had a family and often received guests. He was considered a thrifty owner who had plenty of everything. Then the wife died. Soon eldest daughter she ran away with the officer, and her son joined the regiment instead of serving. Plyushkin deprived both children of his blessing and money and became stingier every day. Ultimately, he focused on his wealth alone, and after the death of his youngest daughter, all his former feelings finally gave way to greed and suspicion. Bread was rotting in his barns, and he regretted even an ordinary gift for his own grandchildren (over time, he forgave his daughter and took her in). This is how Gogol portrays this hero in the poem “Dead Souls”. The image of Plyushkin is complemented by the bargaining scene.

Successful deal

When Chichikov began the conversation, Plyushkin was annoyed at how difficult it was to receive guests these days: he had already had dinner, but it was expensive to light the stove. However, the guest immediately got down to business and found out that the landowner had one hundred and twenty souls unaccounted for. He offered to sell them and said that he would bear all costs. Having heard that it was possible to get benefits from peasants that no longer existed, Plyushkin, who began to bargain, did not delve into the details and ask how legal it was. Having received the money, he carefully took it to the bureau and, pleased with the successful transaction, even decided to treat Chichikov to a cracker left over from the Easter cake his daughter had brought and a glass of liqueur. The image of Plyushkin in the poem “Dead Souls” is completed by the message that the owner wanted to give a gold watch to the guest who pleased him. However, he immediately changed his mind and decided to include them in the deed of gift, so that Chichikov would remember him with a kind word after his death.

Conclusions

The image of Plyushkin in the poem “Dead Souls” was very significant for Gogol. His plans were to leave in the third volume of all the landowners only him, but already morally reborn. Several details indicate that this is possible. First, the hero’s living eyes: let us remember that they are often called the mirror of the soul. Secondly, Plyushkin is the only one of all the landowners who thought about gratitude. The rest also took money for dead peasants, but took it for granted. It is also important that at the mention of his old comrade, a ray of light suddenly ran across the landowner’s face. Hence the conclusion: if the hero’s life had turned out differently, he would have remained a thrifty owner, a good friend and family man. However, the death of his wife and the actions of his children gradually turned the hero into that “hole in humanity” that he appeared in the 6th chapter of the book “Dead Souls”.

Plyushkin's characterization is a reminder to readers of the consequences that life's mistakes can lead to.

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✪ Plyushkin. In Plyushkin's house

✪ Chichikov at Plyushkin's

✪ Plyushkin. Deal

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Biography of Plyushkin:

In his youth he was married and was the father of two daughters and a son. He was the owner of a rich estate. He was known as a thrifty owner:

a neighbor stopped by to have lunch with him, listen and learn from him about housekeeping and wise stinginess. Everything flowed briskly and happened at a measured pace: mills, fulling mills moved, cloth factories, carpentry machines, spinning mills worked; everywhere the keen eye of the owner entered into everything and, like a hardworking spider, ran busily, but efficiently, along all ends of his economic web. Too strong feelings were not reflected in his facial features, but his mind was visible in his eyes; His speech was imbued with experience and knowledge of the world, and the guest was pleased to listen to him; the friendly and talkative hostess was famous for her hospitality; two pretty daughters came out to meet them, both blond and fresh as roses; the son, a broken boy, ran out and kissed everyone, paying little attention to whether the guest was happy or not happy about it. All the windows in the house were open, the mezzanine was occupied by the apartment of a French teacher, who shaved well and was a great shooter: he always brought grouse or ducks for dinner, and sometimes just sparrow eggs, from which he ordered himself scrambled eggs, because there were more in the whole house no one ate it. His compatriot, the mentor of two girls, also lived on the mezzanine. The owner himself came to the table in a frock coat, although somewhat worn, but neat, the elbows were in order: there was no patch anywhere. But the good housewife died; Some of the keys, and with them minor worries, went to him. Plyushkin became more restless and, like all widowers, more suspicious and stingy. He could not rely on his eldest daughter Alexandra Stepanovna for everything, and he was right, because Alexandra Stepanovna soon ran away with the captain of God knows what cavalry regiment, and married him somewhere hastily in a village church, knowing that her father does not like officers due to a strange prejudice, as if all military gamblers and money-makers. Her father sent a curse on her way, but did not bother to pursue her. The house became even emptier. The owner's stinginess began to become more noticeable; the glint of gray hair in his coarse hair, her faithful friend, helped her develop even more; the French teacher was released because it was time for his son to go to work; Madame was driven away because she turned out to be not innocent in the kidnapping of Alexandra Stepanovna; the son, having been sent to the provincial city in order to learn in the ward, in the opinion of his father, significant service, was instead assigned to the regiment and wrote to his father already according to his determination, asking for money for uniforms; It is quite natural that he received for this what is popularly called a shish. Finally, the last daughter who remained with him in the house died, and the old man found himself alone as a watchman, guardian and owner of his wealth. Lonely life has given satisfying food to stinginess, which, as you know, has a ravenous hunger and the more it devours, the more insatiable it becomes; human feelings, which were not deep in him anyway, became shallow every minute, and every day something was lost in this worn-out ruin. If it happened at such a moment, as if on purpose to confirm his opinion about the military, that his son lost at cards; he sent him his father’s curse from the bottom of his heart and was never interested in knowing whether he existed in the world or not. Every year the windows in his house were closed, until only two remained.<…>Every year more and more important parts of the household disappeared from sight, and his shallow glance turned to the pieces of paper and feathers that he collected in his room; He became more unyielding to the buyers who came to take away his economic products; the buyers haggled and haggled and finally abandoned him altogether, saying that he was a demon, not a man; hay and bread rotted, luggage and stacks turned into pure manure, even if you planted cabbage on them, flour in the cellars turned into stone, and it was necessary to chop it, it was scary to touch cloth, linens and household materials: they turned to dust. He had already forgotten how much of anything he had, and only remembered where in his closet there was a decanter with the remainder of some tincture, on which he himself made a mark so that no one would drink it by stealing, and where the feather lay or sealing wax. Meanwhile, on the farm, income was collected as before: the peasant had to bring the same amount of rent, every woman had to pay the same amount of nuts, the weaver had to weave the same amount of linen - all this was dumped in the storerooms, and everything became rotten and torn , and he himself finally turned into some kind of hole in humanity. Alexandra Stepanovna once came twice with her little son, trying to see if she could get something; Apparently, camp life with a captain-captain was not as attractive as it seemed before the wedding. Plyushkin, however, forgave her and even gave his little grandson a button lying on the table to play with, but he didn’t give her any money. Another time, Alexandra Stepanovna arrived with two little ones and brought him a cake for tea and a new robe, because the priest had such a robe that he was not only ashamed to look at, but even ashamed. Plyushkin caressed both grandchildren and, sitting them one on his right knee and the other on his left, rocked them in exactly the same way as if they were riding horses, took a cake and a robe, but gave absolutely nothing to his daughter; And with that, Alexandra Stepanovna left.

Describing the manic greed of his hero, Gogol reports: ...every day he walked along the streets of his village, looked under the bridges, under the crossbars and everything that he came across: an old sole, a woman’s rag, an iron nail, a clay shard - he dragged everything to himself and put it in the pile that Chichikov noticed in the corner of the room... after him there was no need to sweep the street: a passing officer happened to lose a spur, this spur instantly went into the well-known pile: if a woman... forgot the bucket, he dragged away the bucket too.

The writer gives the following description of the appearance of his unusual hero: his face did not represent anything special and looked like that of other thin old men. Only his chin protruded very far forward, and his small eyes, darting like mice from under his highly raised eyebrows, attracted attention. His outfit was much more remarkable: no amount of effort or effort could have been used to find out what his robe was made of: the sleeves and upper flaps were so greasy and shiny that they looked like the kind of yuft that goes into boots; Behind, instead of two, there were four floors dangling, from which cotton paper came out in flakes. There was also something tied around his neck that could not be made out: a stocking, a garter, or a belly, but not a tie.

The meeting of the hero Chichikov with Plyushkin is preceded by a description of the devastated village and the dilapidated family estate of Plyushkin: he noticed some special disrepair(that is, Chichikov) on all wooden buildings: the logs on the huts were dark and old; many roofs were visible like a sieve: on others there was only a ridge at the top and poles on the sides in the form of ribs... The windows in the huts were without glass, others were covered with a rag or a zipun... The manor's house began to appear in parts... This strange castle looked like some kind of decrepit invalid, long, exorbitantly long... The walls of the house were cracked in places by the bare plaster lattice... Only two of the windows were open, the others were covered with shutters or even boarded up... Green mold had already covered the fence and gate. The “cheerful garden” - old, overgrown and decayed, leading somewhere behind the estate into a field - brought some animation into this sad picture.

When the owner of this entire estate, which had fallen into complete disrepair, appears, Chichikov initially mistakes him for the old housekeeper - he was so outlandishly, dirty and poorly dressed: “Listen, mother,” he said, getting out of the chaise, “What’s the master?...

Perception:

According to some researchers of N.V. Gogol’s work, the image of this half-crazed hoarding landowner is the most vivid and successful in the description of Chichikov’s “business partners” in the poem “Dead Souls” and was of the greatest interest to the writer himself. IN literary criticism There was a perception of this unusual character of N.V. Gogol as a kind of standard of hoarding, greed and pettiness. The writer himself is undoubtedly interested in the history of the transformation of this educated and intelligent man in his youth into a walking laughing stock even for his own peasants and into a sick, malicious person who refused support and participation in the fate of his own daughters, son and grandchildren.

In Russian colloquial language and in literary tradition the name “Plyushkin” has become a household name for petty, stingy people, overcome by a passion for accumulating things they do not need, and sometimes completely useless. His behavior, described in the poem by N.V. Gogol, is a typical manifestation of such a mental illness (mental disorder) as pathological hoarding. In foreign medical literature even a special term was introduced - “

A brief description of Plyushkin in the work “Dead Souls” is a realistic description of the old landowner, his character and way of life. The fact is that this character is presented by the author in an unusual manner for him - without humor.

Stepan Plyushkin is one of the landowners in the poem by N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls". This is one of the most significant and deep characters not only of the mentioned work, but of the entire Russian literature generally.

The hero first appears in the sixth chapter, when he comes to the landowner to buy from him “ dead souls».

The image and characteristics of Plyushkin in the poem “Dead Souls”

The landowner is incredibly stingy and unkind.

The hero symbolizes spiritual collapse strong man, drowned in the vice of boundless stinginess, bordering on cruelty: a huge amount of food is stored in the landowner’s barns, which no one is allowed to take, as a result of which the peasants go hungry, and the supplies are lost as unnecessary.

Plyushkin is quite rich, he has a whole thousand serfs on his account. However, despite this, the old man lives like a beggar, eating crackers and dressing in rags.

Symbolism of the surname

Like most characters in Gogol's works, Plyushkin's surname is symbolic. With the help of contrast or synonymy of the surname in relation to the character of the corresponding character, the author reveals certain features of a given personality.

The meaning of the surname Plyushkina symbolizes an unusually stingy and greedy person, whose goal is the accumulation of material wealth without a specific purpose for their use. As a result, the collected wealth is not spent anywhere or is used in minimal quantities.

It is noteworthy that Plyushkin’s name practically does not appear in the text of the work. In this way, the author shows the hero’s callousness, detachment, and the absence of even a hint of humanity in him.

The fact that the landowner's name is Stepan can be learned from his words about his daughter, whom he calls by her patronymic. By the way, ordinary men from other estates did not know such a surname at all, calling the landowner by the nickname “patched.”

Plyushkin family

This character is the only one of all the landowners who has enough detailed biography. The hero's life story is very sad.

In the plot narration, Plyushkin appears before us as a completely lonely person leading a hermit’s lifestyle. The wife who inspired him to show the best human qualities and made his life meaningful has long left this world.

In their marriage they had three children, whom their father raised very carefully and with great love. During the years of family happiness, Plyushkin was completely different from his current self. At that time, he often invited guests to his house, knew how to enjoy life, and had a reputation as an open and friendly person.

Of course, Plyushkin was always very economical, but his stinginess always had reasonable limits and was not so reckless. His clothes, although not sparkling with newness, still looked neat, without a single patch.

After the death of his wife, the hero changed a lot: he became extremely distrustful and very stingy. The last straw that hardened Plyushkin’s temper was new problems in the family: his son lost a large amount playing cards, the eldest daughter ran away from home, and the youngest died.

Surprisingly, glimmers of light sometimes illuminate the dark recesses of the dead soul of the landowner. Having sold his “souls” to Chichikov and reflecting on the issue of drawing up a deed of purchase, Plyushkin remembers his school friend. At this moment, a faint reflection of feeling appeared on the old man’s wooden face.

This fleeting manifestation of life, according to the author, speaks of the possibility of the revival of the hero’s soul, in which, as if in twilight, the dark and light sides mixed with each other.

Description of the portrait and first impression of Plyushkin

When meeting Plyushkin, Chichikov first mistakes him for the housekeeper.

After talking with the landowner, main character realizes with horror that he was mistaken.

In his opinion, the old man looks more like a beggar than a rich owner of the estate.

All of him appearance, like this: a long chin covered with a scarf; small, colorless, mobile eyes; a dirty, patched robe indicates that the hero has completely lost touch with life.

Appearance and condition of the suit

Plyushkin's face is very elongated and at the same time is distinguished by excessive thinness. The landowner never shave, and his beard began to look like a horse comb. Plyushkin has no teeth left at all.

The hero’s clothes can hardly be called such; they look more like old rags - the clothes look so worn and unkempt. At the time of the story, the landowner is about 60 years old.

The character, demeanor and speech of the landowner

Plyushkin is a man with a difficult character. Probably, the negative traits that manifested themselves so clearly in him in his old age also existed in previous years, but their such pronounced appearance was smoothed out by family well-being.

But after the death of his wife and daughter, Plyushkin finally broke away from life, became spiritually impoverished, and began to treat everyone with suspicion and hostility. The landowner experienced such an attitude not only towards strangers, but also towards relatives.

By the age of 60, Plyushkin had become very unpleasant due to his difficult character. Those around him began to avoid him, his friends visited him less and less, and then completely stopped all communication with him.

Plyushkin’s speech is abrupt, laconic, caustic, loaded with colloquial expressions, for example: “poditka, they beat, ehva!, actor, already, podtibrila.”

The landowner is able to notice any little things and even the most insignificant errors and shortcomings. In this regard, he often finds fault with people, expressing his comments by shouting and cursing.

Plyushkin is not capable of good deeds, he became insensitive, distrustful and cruel. He doesn’t even care about the fate of his own children, and the old man suppresses his daughter’s attempts to establish a relationship with him in every possible way. In his opinion, his daughter and son-in-law are trying to get closer to him in order to get material benefits from him.

It is noteworthy that Plyushkin absolutely does not understand the true consequences of his actions. He actually fancies himself a caring landowner, although, in fact, he is a tyrant, an incredible miser and a stingy man, a rude and grumpy old man who destroys the destinies of the people around him.

Favorite activities

The joy in Plyushkin's life consists of only two things - constant scandals and the accumulation of material wealth.

The landowner likes to spend time in all alone. He sees no point in receiving guests or acting as such. For him, this is just a waste of time that can be spent on more useful activities.

Despite large financial savings, the landowner leads an ascetic lifestyle, denying literally everything not only to relatives, servants and peasants, but also to himself.

One more thing favorite activity Plyushkina - to grumble and become poor. He believes that the supplies stored in his barns are not enough, there is not enough land and there is not even enough hay. In fact, the situation is completely opposite - there is plenty of land, and the amount of reserves is so huge that they spoil right in the storage facilities.

Plyushkin loves to create scandals for any reason, even if it is an insignificant trifle. The landowner is always dissatisfied with something and demonstrates it in the most rude and unsightly form. A picky old man is very difficult to please.

Attitude to the economy

Plyushkin is a rich but very stingy landowner. However, despite the huge reserves, it seems to him that they are not enough. As a result, a huge number of unused products become unusable without leaving the storage facility.

Having a large fortune at his disposal, including 1000 serfs, Plyushkin eats crackers and wears rags - in a word, he lives like a beggar. The landowner has not been monitoring what is going on on his farm for many years, but at the same time he does not forget to control the amount of liquor in the decanter.

Plyushkin's life goals

In short, the landowner has no specific goal in life. Plyushkin is completely absorbed in the process of accumulating material resources without a specific purpose for their use.

House and interior of rooms

Plyushkin's estate reflects the spiritual desolation of the character himself. The buildings in the villages are very old, dilapidated, the roofs have long since become leaky, the windows are clogged with rags. There is devastation and emptiness all around. Even the churches look lifeless.

The estate seems to be falling apart, which indicates that the hero has fallen out of real life: instead of the main things, the focus of his attention is on empty and meaningless tasks. It’s not for nothing that this character is practically devoid of a name and patronymic - it’s as if he doesn’t exist.

The Plyushkin estate is striking in its appearance - the building is in a terrible, dilapidated condition. From the street, the house looks like an abandoned building in which no one has lived for a long time. It’s very uncomfortable inside the building – it’s cold and dark all around. Natural light enters only one room – the owner’s room.

The whole house is littered with old things, which are becoming more and more every year - Plyushkin never throws away broken or unnecessary things, because he thinks that they can still be useful.

The landowner's office is also in complete disarray. The appearance of the room embodies real chaos. There is a chair that cannot be repaired, as well as a clock that has stopped long ago. In the corner of the room there is a dump - in the shapeless heap you can see an old shoe and a broken shovel.

Attitude towards others

Plyushkin is a picky, scandalous person. Even the most insignificant reason is enough for him to start a quarrel. The hero shows his dissatisfaction in the most unsightly way, stooping to rudeness and insults.

The landowner himself is completely confident that he is behaving caringly and kindly, but people simply do not notice or appreciate this, because they are biased towards him.

Probably due to the fact that his son once lost at cards and did not return home, Plyushkin is prejudiced towards officers, considering them all to be spendthrifts and gamblers.

Plyushkin's attitude towards the peasants

Plyushkin treats the peasants cruelly and irresponsibly. The appearance, clothing and dwellings of the serfs look almost the same as those of the owner. They themselves walk around half-starved, skinny, exhausted. From time to time, escapes occur among the peasants - Plyushkin's existence as a serf looks less attractive than life on the run.

The landowner speaks negatively about his serfs - in his opinion, they are all quitters and slackers. In fact, the peasants work honestly and diligently. It seems to Plyushkin that the serfs are robbing him and doing their work very poorly.

But in reality, things are different: the landowner intimidated his peasants so much that, despite the cold and hunger, they under no circumstances dare to take anything from the master’s storehouse.

Did Plyushkin sell Dead Souls to Chichikov?

The landowner sells about two hundred “souls” to the main character. This number exceeds the number of “peasants” that Chichikov purchased from other sellers. This traces Plyushkin’s desire for profit and accumulation. When entering into a deal, the hero understands perfectly well what it is and what profit he can get for it.

Quoted description of Plyushkin

Conclusion

The image of Plyushkin and the characteristics of his essence serve illustrative example to how much a person can sink morally and physically. It is no coincidence that the author calls this hero “a hole in humanity.”

Plyushkin is not interested in the spiritual development of his personality; he is indifferent to his own inner world. The landowner is characterized by pettiness, stinginess and a complete lack of deep feelings. There is no shame, no conscience, no sympathy in him.

The name Plyushkina became a household name. It denotes pathological greed, pettiness and stinginess. IN modern world the so-called “Plyushkin syndrome” occurs quite often and characterizes those people who strive for the aimless accumulation of material resources.