Lesson 5
N.V. Gogol « Dead Souls" Chichikov as new hero era and as an anti-hero.
Goals : continue to familiarize students with the content of the poem, characterize the main character of Chichikov’s poem, develop students’ ability to write character descriptions, develop skills and abilities to construct an answer to a question about a work of art based on theoretical and literary knowledge; improve skills of analytical work with prose text; contribute to the aesthetic and moral education of students; cultivate a culture of reading perception.
Equipment : tables, textbook, text of the poem “Dead Souls”, handouts, table, illustrative material on the topic of the lesson.
Lesson type : lesson - analysiswork of art
Predicted results : students knowabout the system of images of the poem by N.V. Gogol
“Dead Souls” are able to characterize the main character Chichikov, analyze the text, retell individual episodes in the form of description,participate in the conversation, develop their point of view on the work of art in accordance with the author’s position and historical era.
During the classes
I . Organizational stage
II . Updating of reference knowledge
III . Motivation for learning activities
Teacher: In chapter 11 N.V. Gogol writes that Russian literature paid a lot of attention to the “virtuous” hero: “There is no writer who would not ride him on horseback, urging him on with a whip, and with everything he could get his hands on.” But in reality, in a feudal society, last role Scoundrel people are playing. It seems that Gogol’s attitude towards his hero is extremely clear. Does Chichikov have a future? Who, finally, is in the chaise drawn by three, which rushes into the distance? Let's turn again to the main character. This image is the link between the chapters. What do we know about him?
IV . Working on the lesson topic
A) Reading the episode “Chichikov in the tavern”
How did you see P.I. Chichikova?
B) Reading the episode “Meeting of Manilov and Chichikov”
How do you see Chichikov in this episode?
Acquaintance with the serf owners begins with Manilov, a rather pleasant-looking person. Chichikov is looking for “Zamanilovka,” but “the village of Manilovka could lure few with its location. The manor's house stood alone on the south - open to all winds... the slope of the mountain on which it stood was covered with trimmed turf. Two or three flower beds with lilac and yellow acacia bushes were scattered on it in English style! five or six birch trees in small clumps... Under two of them there was a gazebo... with the inscription: “Temple of Solitary Reflection”... there were two women who, having picked up their dresses picturesquely... were on their knees in the pond, dragging ... nonsense." Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov and the readers are presented with a rather pretentious and at the same time pitiful picture. Manilov himself behaves too kindly, to the point of cloying, in his meeting with Chichikov. The author says about him that Manilov can be described as such: " There is a kind of people known by the name: people to themselves, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan...” Manilov initially seems like a pleasant and courteous person, but Gogol every now and then introduces details into the description that characterize him not With the best side. In the owner’s office “there was always some kind of book, bookmarked on page fourteen, which he had been constantly reading for two years.” A magnificent detail showing the mental level of the landowner. His aesthetic requests are limited to the fact that he dumps ashes from a pipe onto the windowsill, building either random heaps or “building” something fantastic. Manilov does not take care of the farm at all, entrusting the peasants to the thief clerk. He himself does not know how many serfs died, nor does the clerk who was summoned to report. Manilov is not interested in the essence of Chichikov’s case. He cannot understand why Pavel Ivanovich needs dead souls. Chichikov, adapting to the “elegant style” of the owner, expresses his thoughts floridly, calling the dead “who in some way ended their existence.” Chichikov puzzles Manilov for a moment, but then everything goes away: the landowner is not used to thinking, the word of a swindler is enough for him, and Manilov is ready to continue to admire Pavel Ivanovich, for the sake of his “new friend” he will rewrite the list of all the dead peasants with his own hand and decorate it with a silk ribbon. How clearly Manilov’s character shines through. He does a thoughtlessly “dirty” thing, but ties the “packaging” with a beautiful ribbon; he is not interested in the essence, but in external beauty. For this gullible, Chichikov’s inarticulate phrases are enough to calm his conscience, or maybe it never woke up?! The image of Chichikov is also interesting. He is an excellent psychologist who understands the “nature of Manilov.” Pavel Ivanovich, speaking with the landowner, begins to smile just as unctuously, fawning over the Owner, accepting his manner of behavior. It is important for Chichikov to achieve his goal - to collect as many souls of dead peasants as possible who did not pass the audit fairy tale. He has conceived a grandiose scam and is now going headlong towards his goal. For him there is no moral barrier that cannot be bypassed. Gogol was able to see the emerging capitalist class and brilliantly depicted its individual types. The writer was one of the first to see the unsightly “face” of capital and its hall “in all its glory” in the poem “Dead Souls”.
2. Analytical conversation
What are the similarities and differences in the characters of Chichikov and each landowner. In what situations does the hero behave like landowners? How is Chichikov fundamentally different from landowners?
Thanks to what qualities does Chichikov manage to win the sympathy of the landowners? What is the secret of his charm?
Who is Captain Kopeikin? Do Chichikov's ideal and Captain Kopeikin's concept of capital intersect?
How are the images of landowners and Chichikov related to the title of the work?
Are there “living souls” in the poem? Who are they?
What is the role in the poem “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin”?
3. Collective work on compiling tables “Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov”, “The similarities of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov with other landowners”
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov
| Stages of life | |
| Childhood | He did not have a noble origin, there was no material wealth in the family, everything was gray, dull, painful - “this is the poor picture of his initial childhood, of which he barely retained a pale memory.” |
| Education | He received his education in the classes of the city school, where his father took him and gave him the following instructions: “Look, Pavlusha, study, don’t be stupid and don’t hang around, but most of all please your teachers and bosses. If you please your boss, then even though you won’t have time in science and God hasn’t given you talent, you’ll get ahead of everyone else. Don’t hang out with your comrades, they won’t teach you any good; and if it comes to that, then hang out with those who are richer, so that on occasion they can be useful to you. Don’t treat or treat anyone, but behave better so that you will be treated, and most of all, take care and save a penny: this thing is the most reliable thing in the world. A comrade or friend will deceive you and in trouble will be the first to betray you, but a penny will not betray you, no matter what trouble you are in. You will do everything, you will ruin everything in the world with a penny.” |
| Service | “He got an insignificant place, a salary of thirty or forty rubles a year...” Thanks to his iron will, the ability to deny himself everything, while maintaining neatness and pleasant appearance, he managed to stand out among the same “nondescript” employees: “...Chichikov represented the complete opposite in everything, both by his somberness of face, and the friendliness of his voice, and his complete non-drinking of any strong drinks.” |
| Acquisition " dead souls»
| After Chichikov was kicked out of his service at customs, he tries to find a new service. “And in anticipation of the best, I was even forced to take up the title of attorney.” |
| The appearance of Chichikov in the provincial town | Using practical intelligence, courtesy and resourcefulness, Chichikov managed to charm both the provincial city and the estates. Having quickly figured out a person, he knows how to find an approach to everyone. One can only be amazed at the inexhaustible variety of all the “shades and subtleties of his appeal.” |
| Chichikov uses “irresistible strength of character,” “quickness, insight and perspicacity,” and all his ability to charm a person to achieve the desired enrichment. |
|
Similarities between Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov and other landowners
| the landowner and his distinguishing feature | How does this trait manifest itself in Chichikov’s character? |
| Manilov- “sweetness”, cloying, uncertainty | All residents of the provincial town recognized Chichikov as a pleasant man in all respects. “In a word, no matter where you turn, he was a very decent person. All officials were pleased with the arrival of a new person. The governor explained about him that he was a well-intentioned person; the prosecutor - that he is a sensible person; the gendarme colonel said that he was a learned man, the chairman of the chamber - that he was a knowledgeable and respectable person; the police chief - that he is a respectable and kind man; the police chief's wife - that he is the most kind and courteous person. Even Sobakevich himself, who rarely spoke well of anyone... told her [his wife]; “I, darling, was at the governor’s party, and had dinner with the police chief, and met the collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov: a pleasant person!” |
| Box- petty stinginess | The famous Chichikov box, in which everything is laid out with the same diligent pedantry as in Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka’s chest of drawers. |
| Nozdryov- narcissism | The desire and ability to please everyone; to experience favor from everyone - this is the need and necessity for Chichikov: “Our hero responded to everyone and everyone and felt some kind of extraordinary dexterity: he bowed to the right and left, as usual, somewhat to one side; but completely freely, so that he charmed everyone...” |
| Sobakevich- gross tight-fistedness and cynicism | Even Nozdryov notes that in Chichikov there is “... no straightforwardness or sincerity! Perfect Sobakevich." |
| Plyushkin- collecting unnecessary things and storing them carefully | While exploring the city, N “... tore off a poster nailed to a post so that when he got home, he could read it thoroughly,” and then the hero “... folded it up neatly and put it in his little chest, where he used to put everything that was came across." |
| Chichikov's character is multifaceted, the hero turns out to be a mirror of the landowner he meets, because he has the same qualities that form the basis of the landowners' characters. |
|
4. Mini-discussion
Can Chichikov be called a hero of his time?
Why can’t Chichikov’s activities be creative?
Under what conditions could such a personality appear?
How interesting is such a hero to the modern reader?
V . Reflection. Summing up the lesson
Teacher's summary word
Chichikov is a great hero, classic work, created by a genius, a hero who embodied the result of the author’s observations and reflections on life, people, and their actions. An image that has absorbed typical features, and therefore has long gone beyond the scope of the work itself. His name became a household name for people - nosy careerists, sycophants, money-grubbers, outwardly “pleasant,” “decent and worthy.” Moreover, some readers' assessment of Chichikov is not so clear. Comprehension of this image is possible only through a painstaking, careful analysis of not only the work itself, but also a huge array critical literature, and the subsequent life of the image in Russian literature and culture in general.
VI . Homework
Creative task: Write an essay-reasoning on the statement “And one more reason... prevented Gogol from entering the field of the novel: Gogol bypassed the female character in all its depth.” Do you agree with this statement?
N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls". Chichikov as a new hero of the era and as an anti-hero.
Objectives: to continue familiarizing students with the content of the poem, to characterize the main character of Chichikov’s poem, to develop in students the ability to write character descriptions, to develop the skills to construct an answer to a question about a work of art based on theoretical and literary knowledge; improve skills of analytical work with prose text; contribute to the aesthetic and moral education of students; cultivate a culture of reading perception.
Equipment: tables, textbook, text of the poem “Dead Souls”, handouts, table, illustrative material on the topic of the lesson.
Lesson type: lesson – analysis of a work of art
Predicted results: students know about the system of images of N.V.’s poem. Gogol
“Dead Souls” are able to characterize the main character Chichikov, analyze the text, retell individual episodes in the form of a description, participate in a conversation, and develop their own point of view on a work of art in accordance with the author’s position and historical era.
During the classes
I. Organizational stage
II. Updating of reference knowledge
III. Motivation for learning activities
Teacher: In chapter 11 N.V. Gogol writes that Russian literature paid a lot of attention to the “virtuous” hero: “There is no writer who would not ride him on horseback, urging him with a whip, and with anything else.” But in reality, in a feudal society, scoundrels play an important role . It seems that Gogol’s attitude towards his hero is extremely clear. Does Chichikov have a future? Who, finally, is in the chaise drawn by three, which rushes into the distance? Let's turn again to the main character. This image is the link between the chapters. What do we know about him?
IV. Working on the lesson topic
A) Reading the episode “Chichikov in the tavern”
How did you see P.I. Chichikova?
B) Reading the episode “Meeting of Manilov and Chichikov”
How do you see Chichikov in this episode?
Acquaintance with the serf owners begins with Manilov, a rather pleasant-looking person. Chichikov is looking for “Zamanilovka,” but “the village of Manilovka could lure few with its location. The manor's house stood alone on the Jura, open to all the winds... the slope of the mountain on which it stood was covered with trimmed turf. Two or three flower beds with lilac and yellow acacia bushes were scattered on it in English style! five or six birch trees in small clumps... Under two of them there was a gazebo... with the inscription: “Temple of Solitary Reflection”... there were two women who, having picked up their dresses picturesquely... were on their knees in the pond, dragging ... nonsense." Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov and the readers are presented with a rather pretentious and at the same time pitiful picture. Manilov himself behaves too kindly, to the point of cloying, in his meeting with Chichikov. The author says about him that Manilov can be described as such: " There is a kind of people known by the name: people to themselves, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan...” Manilov initially seems like a pleasant and courteous person, but Gogol every now and then introduces details into the description that characterize him not on the best side. In the owner’s office “there was always some kind of book, bookmarked on page fourteen, which he had been constantly reading for two years. A magnificent detail showing the mental level of the landowner. His aesthetic requests are limited to the fact that he dumps ashes on the windowsill.” from the tube, building either random heaps or “building” something fantastic. Manilov does not take care of the farm at all, entrusting the peasants to the thief clerk. He himself does not know how many serfs died, nor does the clerk who was summoned to report. Manilov is not interested in the essence of Chichikov’s case. He cannot understand why Pavel Ivanovich needs dead souls. Chichikov, adapting to the “elegant style” of the owner, expresses his thoughts floridly, calling the dead “who in some way ended their existence.” Chichikov puzzles Manilov for a moment, but then everything goes away: the landowner is not used to thinking, the word of a swindler is enough for him, and Manilov is ready to continue to admire Pavel Ivanovich, for the sake of his “new friend” he will rewrite the list of all the dead peasants with his own hand and decorate it with a silk ribbon. How clearly Manilov’s character shines through. He does a thoughtlessly “dirty” thing, but ties the “packaging” with a beautiful ribbon; he is not interested in the essence, but in external beauty. For this gullible, Chichikov’s inarticulate phrases are enough to calm his conscience, or maybe it never woke up? ! The image of Chichikov is also interesting. He is an excellent psychologist who understands the “nature of Manilov.” Pavel Ivanovich, speaking with the landowner, begins to smile just as unctuously, fawning over the Owner, accepting his manner of behavior. It is important for Chichikov to achieve his goal - to collect as many souls of dead peasants as possible who did not pass the audit fairy tale. He has conceived a grandiose scam and is now going headlong towards his goal. For him there is no moral barrier that cannot be bypassed. Gogol was able to see the emerging capitalist class and brilliantly depicted its individual types. The writer was one of the first to see the unsightly “face” of capital and its hall “in all its glory” in the poem “Dead Souls”.
2. Analytical conversation
What are the similarities and differences in the characters of Chichikov and each landowner. In what situations does the hero behave like landowners? How is Chichikov fundamentally different from landowners?
Thanks to what qualities does Chichikov manage to win the sympathy of the landowners? What is the secret of his charm?
Who is Captain Kopeikin? Do Chichikov's ideal and Captain Kopeikin's concept of capital intersect?
How are the images of landowners and Chichikov related to the title of the work?
Are there “living souls” in the poem? Who are they?
What is the role in the poem “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin”?
3. Collective work on compiling tables “Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov”, “The similarities of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov with other landowners”
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov
Stages of life
He did not have a noble origin, there was no material wealth in the family, everything was gray, dull, painful - “this is the poor picture of his initial childhood, of which he barely retained a pale memory.”
Education
a) father's order
b) gaining personal experience
He received his education in the classes of the city school, where his father took him and gave him the following instructions: “Look, Pavlusha, study, don’t be stupid and don’t hang around, but most of all please your teachers and bosses. If you please your boss, then even though you won’t have time in science and God hasn’t given you talent, you’ll get ahead of everyone else. Don’t hang out with your comrades, they won’t teach you any good; and if it comes to that, then hang out with those who are richer, so that on occasion they can be useful to you. Don’t treat or treat anyone, but behave better so that you will be treated, and most of all, take care and save a penny: this thing is the most reliable thing in the world. A comrade or friend will deceive you and in trouble will be the first to betray you, but a penny will not betray you, no matter what trouble you are in. You will do everything, you will ruin everything in the world with a penny.”
He managed to build relationships with his classmates in such a way that they treated him; managed to collect money, adding it to the half ruble left by his father. I used every opportunity to save money:
- made a bullfinch from wax, painted it and sold it;
- I bought some food at the market and offered it to my hungry classmates who were richer;
- trained a mouse, taught it to stand on its hind legs and sold it;
- was the most diligent and disciplined student, able to prevent any desire of the teacher.
Service
a) start of service
b) career continuation
“He got an insignificant place, a salary of thirty or forty rubles a year...” Thanks to his iron will, the ability to deny himself everything, while maintaining neatness and pleasant appearance, he managed to stand out among the same “nondescript” employees: “...Chichikov represented the complete opposite in everything, both by his somberness of face, and the friendliness of his voice, and his complete non-drinking of any strong drinks.”
To advance in his career, he used an already tried method - pleasing his boss, finding his “weak spot” - his daughter, whom he “fell in love” with himself. From that moment on, he became a “noticeable person.”
Service in the commission “for the construction of some government-owned capital structure.” I began to allow myself “certain excesses”: a good cook, good shirts, expensive fabric for suits, purchasing a pair of horses...
Soon I lost my “warm” place again. I had to change two or three places. “I got to customs.” He pulled off a risky operation, in which he first got rich, and then got burned and lost almost everything.
Acquisition of "dead souls"
How did the idea for the acquisition come about?
After Chichikov was kicked out of his service at customs, he tries to find a new service. “And in anticipation of the best, I was even forced to take up the title of attorney.”
The appearance of Chichikov in the provincial town
Using practical intelligence, courtesy and resourcefulness, Chichikov managed to charm both the provincial city and the estates. Having quickly figured out a person, he knows how to find an approach to everyone. One can only be amazed at the inexhaustible variety of all the “shades and subtleties of his appeal.”
Chichikov uses “irresistible strength of character,” “quickness, insight and perspicacity,” and all his ability to charm a person to achieve the desired enrichment.
Similarities between Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov and other landowners
the landowner and his distinctive feature
How does this trait manifest itself in Chichikov’s character?
Manilov - “sweetness”, cloying, uncertainty
All residents of the provincial town recognized Chichikov as a pleasant man in all respects. “In a word, no matter where you turn, he was a very decent person. All officials were pleased with the arrival of a new person. The governor explained about him that he was a well-intentioned person; the prosecutor - that he is a sensible person; the gendarme colonel said that he was a learned man, the chairman of the chamber - that he was a knowledgeable and respectable person; the police chief - that he is a respectable and kind man; the police chief's wife - that he is the most kind and courteous person. Even Sobakevich himself, who rarely spoke well of anyone... told her [his wife]; “I, darling, was at the governor’s party, and had dinner with the police chief, and met the collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov: a pleasant person!”
Box - petty stinginess
The famous Chichikov box, in which everything is laid out with the same diligent pedantry as in Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka’s chest of drawers.
Nozdryov - narcissism
The desire and ability to please everyone; to experience favor from everyone - this is the need and necessity for Chichikov: “Our hero responded to everyone and everyone and felt some kind of extraordinary dexterity: he bowed to the right and left, as usual, somewhat to one side; but completely freely, so that he charmed everyone...”
Sobakevich - rude tight-fistedness and cynicism
Even Nozdryov notes that in Chichikov there is “... no straightforwardness or sincerity! Perfect Sobakevich."
Plyushkin - collecting unnecessary things and carefully storing them
While exploring the city, N “... tore off a poster nailed to a post so that when he got home, he could read it thoroughly,” and then the hero “... folded it up neatly and put it in his little chest, where he used to put everything that was came across."
Chichikov's character is multifaceted, the hero turns out to be a mirror of the landowner he meets, because he has the same qualities that form the basis of the landowners' characters.
4. Mini-discussion
Can Chichikov be called a hero of his time?
Why can’t Chichikov’s activities be creative?
Under what conditions could such a personality appear?
How interesting is such a hero to the modern reader?
V. Reflection. Summing up the lesson
Teacher's summary word
Chichikov is the hero of a great, classic work created by a genius, a hero who embodied the result of the author’s observations and reflections on life, people, and their actions. An image that has absorbed typical features, and therefore has long gone beyond the scope of the work itself. His name became a household name for people - nosy careerists, sycophants, money-grubbers, outwardly “pleasant,” “decent and worthy.” Moreover, some readers' assessment of Chichikov is not so clear. Comprehension of this image is possible only through a painstaking, careful analysis of not only the work itself, but also a huge array of critical literature, and the subsequent life of the image in Russian literature and culture as a whole.
VI. Homework
Creative task: Write an essay-argument on the statement “And one more reason... prevented Gogol from entering the field of the novel: Gogol bypassed the female character in all its depth.” Do you agree with this statement?
Lesson topic : Chichikov. Hero or anti-hero?
The purpose of the lesson: create conditions conducive to the formation of a holistic assessment of the literary hero.
Educational: continue to develop the ability to give a comprehensive assessment literary hero;
Developmental: develop the communicative culture of students;
Educating: to form a value-based attitude towards a literary character, to cultivate tolerance for the existence of different points of view on the same fact.
Equipment: portraits of Chichikov and landowners, statements by literary scholars about Chichikov, Fogelson’s diagram, the text of the poem “Dead Souls”, “Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language” by S.I. Ozhegov, tables: “The author about his hero”, “What brings Chichikov closer to the landowners”, “ How does Chichikov differ from the landowners,” “Qualities of Chichikov that contributed to his career growth.”
Lesson Plan
I. Updating basic knowledge (dramatization of an episode of V.M. Shukshin’s story “Stalled”) - transition to the topic of the lesson).
II. Statement of the lesson problem: “Who is Chichikov: “scoundrel”, “acquirer” or...?”
III. Questions for discussion (on the board):
1. Chichikov in the understanding of critics.
2. Chichikov through the eyes of landowners and city officials N N: “a nice person.”
3. What brings Chichikov closer to the landowners?
4. How does Chichikov differ from landowners?
5.What qualities business man contributed to his career growth?
6. Why does the author still call him a “scoundrel”?
7.Can Chichikov be called a “dead soul”? (Analysis of two episodes: the scene of the meeting with the blonde and the scene at the ball).
8.Is there hope for the hero’s revival?
IV. Lesson summary.
V. Homework: writing a miniature essay on the topic of the lesson.
During the classes
This character is the most difficult N.G. Chernyshevsky
I. Literary warm-up . 1) The proximity of Gogol’s chapters is significant. Showing various landowners, he forces us to compare and find in them what they have in common, which classifies them as “dead souls.” (The warm-up is carried out by the student who prepared the message about the Box.) Reading business card Boxes.Landowner. Korobochka Nastasya Petrovna - a collegiate secretary, "club-headed", superstitious and narrow-minded - is always waiting for you in her village and is ready to sell you even her soul for favorable price
2) We meet this hero in the 4th chapter of the poem, in which Chichikov, having left the compassionate Korobochka, went to Sobakevich. Having stopped at a tavern for lunch, Chichikov meets Nozdryov there, who rushes to him as to an old acquaintance. (The description of Nozdryov is read from the words: “He was a tall man...” and to the words: “... his face was splashing.”)
3) “Patriot of the Russian stomach”, a hater of culture and enlightenment. Brute strength and assertiveness, boundless arrogance. A real landowner is a huckster and a hoarder. (Sobakevich)
II. Message of the topic and purpose of the lesson. Transition to the topic of the lesson The lesson begins with a dramatization of an episode of V.M. Shukshin’s story “Stalled.”
The plot of the story is quite simple: the hero, listening to his son cramming the passage assigned for homework about the bird-three from “Dead Souls,” involuntarily thinks about the question: “Who are they taking? Horses? This...Chichikov? They're bringing this guy who bought up dead souls and traveled around the edges. ... Russia is a troika, everything is thundering, everything is flooding, and in the troika there is a rogue, a cheater...”
This question tormented the main character of Vasily Shukshin’s story, Roman Zvyagin.
Many generations of readers have asked themselves this question. Interest in Chichikov, the main character of N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls,” continues unabated even now.
What is the appeal of this image? Why has the controversy around it not subsided since the poem was published?
The answer to this question lies in the statement of the young Chernyshevsky: “This character is the most difficult.”
In the minds of many generations of readers, they collided and argued with each other and had different impressions and opposite feelings.
How can we explain the ambiguity in the readers' assessment of the main character of the poem?
The reason lies in author's description Chichikova.
On the one hand, Gogol calls him a scoundrel: “No, it’s time to finally hide the scoundrel too. So, let’s harness the scoundrel!”
And in the same chapter another characteristic is heard: “That he is not a hero, full of perfection and virtue, is clear. Who is he? So, a scoundrel? Why a scoundrel, why be so strict with others?.. It would be fairer to call him: master, acquirer. Acquisition is the fault of everything; Because of him, deeds were carried out, to which the world gives the name of not very pure deeds...”
So who is Chichikov: “a scoundrel, an “acquirer” or...? This is exactly the topic of our lesson today.
Today we will look at Chichikov through the eyes of different people: literary scholars, heroes of the poem, through the eyes of a modern reader and, of course, through the eyes of the author himself. Such a multifaceted view will help to comprehend the mystery of the complex character of the main character and deepen the understanding of the ideological and artistic originality of the poem.
III. Work in groups on questions, discuss the group’s conclusions.
1 . Literary scholars:
V. Kozhinov: “Chichikov is a truly strong personality...”.
S.I. Mashinsky: “In the epic with “dead souls” the devilish energy and ingenuity of Chichikov, his character as a businessman and inventor of a new formation were most clearly revealed...”
V. Nabokov: “Fool...it was stupid to trade dead souls with the old woman and Nozdryov.”
M. B. Khrapchenko: “One of Chichikov’s qualities is the ability to mimicry, the contradiction between the desire to appear and the inner essence of character.”
A.I. Herzen: “One active person is Chichikov, and that is a limited rogue.”
I.P. Zolotussky “After all, he cheats, and a cheat cannot help but take risks. The life of a rogue consists of ups and downs - that’s the law. But still, but still...”
V.G. Marantsman: “Chichikov, different from the landowners, is also a “dead soul.” The “brilliant joy of life” is inaccessible to him.
So, Chichikov, in the understanding of critics, is a “rogue”, “synthetic character”, “ordinariness”, “a fool capable of mimicry”, “a businessman”, “an acquirer” - and a completely opposite point of view: “a strong personality”. Literary scholars not only disagree, but also express completely opposite points of view.
2 . Heroes of the poem:
Let's listen to those from whom Chichikov bought dead souls.
Word to Manilov!
Manilov: “Pavel Ivanovich?! ABOUT! He is an extremely pleasant, educated person. He honored me and my darling Lizanka with his visit... It truly brought me such pleasure... May day... my heart's name day... Yes, the occasion brought me happiness, one might say exemplary, to talk with Pavel Ivanovich and enjoy a pleasant conversation.- Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka! What can you say about Chichikov?
Box: "A! That visitor? Then he bought dead souls from me for 15 rubles. He also buys bird feathers. And he promised to buy a lot of things. And he also puts lard into the treasury, and that’s probably why he’s a cheat.
- Let's listen to what Nozdryov has to say about Chichikov.
Nozdryov: “Who is Chichikov? Yes, he is a big scammer. If I were his boss, then, by God, I would hang him from the first tree. He also wanted, he’s such a pig, a cattle breeder, to take away the governor’s daughter. I myself undertook to help him in this matter, because we are great friends! Do you want to know who Chichikov is?! Yes, he is a fetish, in a word, a fetish. Now it is clear that he is a two-faced person. Now I know him well, he’s such a rakalia, really. I thought before that he was at least somewhat a decent person, but he doesn’t understand any kind of treatment. You can’t talk to him in any way as if you were a close person. No straightforwardness, no sincerity! Perfect Sobakevich, such a scoundrel!!!”
- Mikhailo Semyonovich Sobakevich! What is your opinion about Chichikov?
Sobakevich: “Chichikov - good man.
Word to Stepan Plyushkin! What can you say about Chichikov?
Plyushkin: “Yes, I must admit, I see little use in this Chichikov: he has started a very indecent custom of going on visits, but there are omissions in the farm... and feed the horses with hay.So we listened to those from whom Chichikov bought an unusual product - dead souls. And what did we hear?! “The nicest, most educated person”, “a rogue”, “such rubbish”, “generous”. Opinions vary, but overall he is a good person.
- What will the officials of the city of NN say: the governor, the prosecutor, the police chief, the chairman of the chamber?
Governor: “Chichikov is a well-intentioned person.”
Prosecutor: “Pavel Ivanovich is a efficient person.”
Chief of Police: “He is a respectable and kind man.”
Chairman of the Chamber: “Knowledgeable and respectable man.”
- Let's hear the ladies' opinion about Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov.
Ladies of the city NN: “Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov?! The most kind and courteous person.
And here the most flattering reviews were heard.
Thus, Chichikov made a pleasant impression on everyone. So Chichikov is a good person!? Yes. But in the minds of whom? In the minds of those whom Alexander Ivanovich Herzen called “dead souls”, and Gogol called “sky-smokers”.
V.G. Marantsman believes that Chichikov is related to dead souls, is their mirror, and therefore makes a pleasant impression on them.
3 . General conclusion on the issue:
Chichikov is somewhat similar to each of them. (In the Manilov spirit, he daydreamed at a party with the police chief, imagining himself as a Kherson landowner. Like Korobochka, he saves money in a bag. In collecting all sorts of rubbish, he is not inferior to Plyushkin. Like Sobakevich, Chichikov is greedy and unyielding in money matters. But he is not capable of lying worse than Nozdryov)
Chichikov does not care about the public good. (All his activities are selfish and contrary to the high ideals of morality and humanity)
Thus, Chichikov is a “collector” negative traits all landowners.
4. Conversation: how does Chichikov differ from landowners?
Chichikov has a past. (This is a “sour and unpleasant” childhood, and the first lessons of frugality, and years of study, years of service in the treasury chamber and at customs, until the minute when Chichikov came up with the idea of acquiring dead souls)
Chichikov, unlike the landowners, reflects and tries to analyze his actions. (After one of his failures - dismissal from customs for smuggling - he reflects: “Why me? Why did trouble befall me? ... Why do others prosper, and why should I disappear like a worm?”)
Chichikov's character is given in development. (From event to event, the thirst for profit grows in him)
Chichikov has energy and will.
Chichikov “was not overcome by stinginess and stinginess.” (“He had no attachment to money itself for the sake of money. No, it was not they that motivated him: he imagined a life ahead of him in all pleasures, with all prosperity”)
Chichikov starts “from scratch” and makes his way through his own efforts.
Thus, Chichikov, unlike the landowners, is endowed with will, energy, he has a goal to which, overcoming obstacles, he tirelessly strives. Patiently and persistently, he overcomes career barriers, gradually climbing the career ladder.
Here is the Vogelson diagram. (see appendix 1)
It reflects the main milestones of Chichikov’s life, the history of his ups and downs. They inevitably replace each other. But, pay attention, after another crash, Chichikov again reaches the top and makes a career.
5 .Drawing up a table " Business qualities Chichikov"
The ability to do something at the right time, to plan a “business” that brings profit. Practicality, ingenuity.
Determination.
The ability to conduct “business” (from the category of unclean).
Ability to maintain a conversation; breadth of interests.
Knows human psychology. (Chichikov easily transforms and easily moves from one manner of behavior to another, without, however, changing in any way either himself or his goals.)
Knows how to make a good impression.
Typical appearance of a successful business person.
Mimicry, adaptability. (Finding himself in a new situation, in any environment, he immediately acquires its color, its coloring, everywhere becoming “his”, a close person. Constant adaptability has perfectly polished Chichikov: sharp, sharp features are alien to his appearance, the stamp of some kind of streamlinedness lies on his external portrait)
The ability to withstand “the blows of fate.”
So, Chichikov has everything this world needs, everything that contributes to career growth and leads to enrichment.
If you create a portrait of Chichikov according to these characteristics, excluding the author’s view of the main character, you will get a portrait of an interesting business man.
6 . Drawing up a diagram of “Chichikov the Scoundrel”
To understand why the author calls Chichikov a scoundrel, you need to look at where all his energy is directed, what the purpose of life is, what means he uses to achieve it.
Chichikov is driven by one passion - acquisition. Money is the only goal of his life. Father’s instruction: “And most of all, take care and save a penny: this thing is more reliable than anything in the world,” “sank deep into the soul,” and went to good use. The desire to acquire a penny, which guided Chichikov with early childhood, turned into a passionate thirst for wealth. Maybe wanting money isn't such a bad thing. But the fact is that for Chichikov there are no moral ideals, and he does not disdain, does not disdain any means. Any means to achieve a goal are good.
Thus, the sphere of action for Chichikov is not of particular importance. The result is important to him. Chichikov does not believe in anything except money. He does not give a moral assessment by his action. Maybe there was an attempt to analyze my actions once, after the confiscation of stolen goods at customs: “Why me? Why did trouble befall me..." But this is most likely an attempt to justify oneself.
On the way to his goal, he betrays his old teacher. But this doesn't bother him. Money for Chichikov more important than fate the man who used to love him. So, the absence moral ideals, the passion for profit kills everything human in the main character, corrupts his soul.
“The author does not look deeper into Chichikov’s soul, do not stir at the bottom of it that which escapes and hides from the light, do not discover the innermost thoughts that a person does not entrust to anyone else, but show him the way he appeared to the whole city, Manilov and other people, and everyone would be happy and take him for an interesting person,” writes N.V. Gogol about his hero.
But thanks to the penetrating, testing gaze of the author, the main character appeared in a different, true light. Having compared Chichikov's lack of spirituality with the beautiful packaging in which it is served, we saw: before us is a scoundrel capable of breaking all moral laws for the sake of enrichment.
-What conditions contributed to the development of the thirst for profit in Chichikov? (Employment is widespread everywhere: bribes, extortions. Capital becomes the true owner).
-How are those who have capital treated? (This one word gives rise to a “tender disposition of meanness.” Others are controlled by those who own capital, and capital controls those who control others)
So, we have witnessed how the thirst for enrichment and the lack of moral ideals led to the death of Chichikov’s soul. We observed the process of desouling the immortal soul.
7. Conversation: “Is Chichikov a dead soul?” Many researchers of Gogol's work believe that the main character joined the gallery of dead souls. Is it so? Let's turn to the text of the poem.
- Let's remember what Chichikov talks about in chapter 7? (He talks about purchased peasants).
With Chichikov, according to Gogol, something unusual is happening.
- What exactly? (“When he then looked at the peasants, who, as if they had once been peasants, some strange feeling, incomprehensible to himself, took possession of him”)
Please note: “Chichikov was overcome by feeling”!
- Can this happen to someone who, according to P. Antokolsky, is a “dead soul”?
Opinions of literary scholars on this issue divided.
Some believe, including V.G. Belinsky, that these thoughts are alien to Chichikov and that they are essentially expressed by the author of the poem, only slightly hiding behind his hero.
Other literary scholars believe that there are some bright principles in Chichikov’s nature, which he, however, does not give way to, but which sometimes cause him to have serious thoughts about life.
So, we move on to the next controversial issue:“Does Gogol endow his main character with living human feelings?”
On this issue, the opinions of critics were divided, so we will now turn again to the text of the poem and, taking the position of the disputing parties, we will try to substantiate their points of view.
The first group, relying on the text of the poem, will prove that human feeling is not alien to Chichikov. The second group, also referring to the text, will prove the opposite. (Two episodes are analyzed: the scene of the meeting with the blonde on the road and the scene at the ball.)
Analysis of these episodes once again emphasizes the duality of the protagonist of the poem. On the one hand, the main character is of a “cautious and chilled character.” On the other hand, these two episodes reveal something unexpected in this character: as if some force tore Chichikov “for a few minutes from the stream of vulgarity and prose with which he was fused with every cell of his being. “And the Chichikovs turn into poets for a few minutes in their lives,” says Gogol and continues, “but the word poet will be too much.” Notice how careful Gogol is, how he constantly clarifies himself: confusion, but “not a feeling of love,” similar to a “poet,” but not a “poet.”
Y. Mann interprets this episode interestingly: “And yet,” writes the critic, “what an unusually high experience for the vulgar Chichikov. And how much stronger it is than his reaction at the first meeting with a stranger! Here Chichikov felt “almost like a hussar.” This, by the way, did not escape the attention of young Chernyshevsky. In his diary, the future critic made a note: “I marveled at Gogol’s deep look at Chichikov, how he sees the poetic or hussar movement of his soul.” “Finally,” Yu. Mann continues, at the first meeting of Chichikov with the blonde, it was emphasized that it was not Chichikov, but another, “who had just begun the field of life,” who would freeze motionless when looking at the beauty. “He would stand for a long time senselessly in one place, staring senselessly into the distance.”
- And now?.. Now Chichikov had to experience a similar thing.
- What does this mean?
“Chichikov, of course, is not a poet,” says Gogol. His experience is incomparably weaker and shallower. Moreover, these are rare, exceptional moments of his life. But those minutes were there! And this is important!
Igor Petrovich Zolotussky, our contemporary, gives an interesting assessment of the story with the governor’s daughter at the ball: “Didn’t she finally let him down? Wasn’t it on her that he cut himself off and let go of happiness, perhaps already ready to flutter into his hands? If Chichikov had not neglected the attention of the city ladies, everything would have been wonderful... But he became angry, showed his feelings at the ball and was immediately punished.”
Thus, Chichikov, having lost his vigilance and caution, collapses again. And the reason for the next fall was, according to Zolotussky, Chichikov’s ability to lively move the soul.
8. group conclusions: is there hope for the hero’s revival?
And these unusual moments in Chichikov’s biography, his ability to respond to female beauty, sparkle in Volume I as distant harbingers of a future revival. I'm talking about N.V. Gogol's plan to lead Chichikov through the temptation of possessiveness, through life's dirt and abomination to moral rebirth.
Having the past behind him, Chichikov could also have a future. “And perhaps,” Gogol writes, “in this very Chichikov, the passion that attracts him is no longer from him, and in his cold existence lies something that will later drive a person to dust and to his knees before the wisdom of heaven.”
And this faith of Gogol in the ability of the Russian person to change, faith in the potential capabilities of his soul, predetermined not only the central place of Chichikov in Volume I, but also his intended life path in subsequent volumes. Main character had to go through hell Russian life, purify and be reborn. This possibility of spiritual rebirth is indicated by the name of the main character - Paul. There is an opinion that: the persecutor of Christians, Saul, is miraculously transformed into Paul, then follows Christ and becomes the holy apostle.
9. Teacher's word. Why is the image of Chichikov so contradictory?
But just as Gogol did not believe in the spiritual rebirth of his hero, his correction in Chapter II was difficult. And, as you know, 9 days before his death he burns the final copy of volume 2.
- Why did this happen?
““A lot, too much has been promised,” Belinsky wrote after the release of Volume I, so much that there is nowhere to get what to fulfill the promise, because it doesn’t exist in the world yet.” Life itself was against Gogol, and even his talent, uncompromisingly consistent and faithful to the truth.
Now let's return to the question posed at the beginning of the lesson: “Who is Chichikov: a scoundrel, an acquirer or..?” Write down the statement of the writer whose point of view is closer to you. Express your opinion and justify it.
So, they sounded different points vision. We see that Chichikov is capable of living human feelings, but deliberately suppresses them, subordinating his entire life to acquisition and enrichment. The passion for profit took over his entire being.
Chichikov is the author’s unfulfilled hope, the one with whom Gogol connected the bright future of Russia. This is a man with great potential, although he is a “scoundrel.”
10. Conversation on questions:
- Does Chichikov have a literary predecessor? (Molchalin)
- How is Chichikov similar to Molchalin?
* Both follow their father's instructions.
* Able to adapt to people.
* Both play the role of a lover in order to make their path to wealth easier.
* After the rise of heroes, a fall inevitably follows.
* Make a pleasant impression on others.
* Behind external attractiveness hide base, vile characters.
- “Silent people are blissful in the world!”Can these words be attributed to Chichikov? (Yes. His ideals and the apparent speed of achieving them are always attractive in the modern world too).
IV. Lesson summary. Assessment.
The Chichikovs are tenacious. Their dedication and patience allow them to be constantly reborn.
- Why do you think this image is eternal? (1) the goal - enrichment - is attractive 2) the speed of achieving the goal is attractive.)
- Are the Chichikovs scary? (The Chichikovs are scary because, at first glance, everything is fine in appearance, in behavior, and even in goals, if not for their complete lack of spirituality, but their ideals are seductive and human conscience is sold for them at all times and in our too. The Chichikovs free themselves from everything human and are merciless towards those who stand in their way).
V. Homework: writing a miniature essay on the topic of the lesson.
Annex 1
Vogelson scheme
Exposure
Customs service
Catastrophe
Superintendent. Member of the construction commission.
Service in the treasury chamber
/ “Fatherly Instruction At School”
went to waste” / Difficult childhood
Father’s testament: “You can beat everything in the world with a penny.”
Biography of Chichikov
Appendix 2
Chichikov's character traits
The desire to become one of the people
Closedness
Selfishness, individualism,
Perseverance
Economy,
Thrift;
Practicality,
Adaptability;
Mind,
- flattery,
- hypocrisy,
- immorality,
- the ability to achieve what you want at any cost, overcoming any obstacles,
- cunning,
- determination,
- prudence,
- the ability to be found everywhere and in everything.
- exceptional dedication,
- will, energy,
- persistence,
- perseverance,
- practical knowledge,
- constant activity,
- obsequiousness,
- politeness,
- ability to behave in society,
- tenacity of mind,
- survivability,
- amazing resourcefulness,
- adaptability,
- entrepreneurial spirit,
- dexterity,
- turnover,
- obsequiousness,
- insight,
- ability to be reborn,
- economy,
- prudence,
- desire for enrichment.
- magnificent knowledge of people,
- amazing ability to adapt to any conditions (chameleonism),
- observation,
- diplomacy,
- patience,
- persistence,
- obsequiousness,
- ability to convince,
- activity, energy.
- flattery,
- “the great secret of liking”
- observation
Appendix 3
Student Scorecard
Student's name______________________________________________________________________________
Type of workSelf-esteem
Group Rating
Teacher rating
final grade
1. Group work
2. Creative work
3.Activity and interest throughout the lesson
Gogol, according to V. G. Belinsky, “was the first to look boldly and directly at Russian reality.” The writer's satire was directed against the “general order of things”, and not against individuals, bad executors of the law. The predatory money-grubber Chichikov, the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich, Nozdryov and Plyushkin, the officials of the provincial city from Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” are terrible in their vulgarity. “One could go crazy,” wrote A. I. Herzen, “at the sight of this menagerie of nobles and officials who wander around in the deepest darkness, buying and selling the “dead souls” of peasants.” The image of Chichikov reflects a new phenomenon in Russian life - the emergence of the bourgeoisie. This is a typical hero of the original capitalist accumulation, a representative of those businessmen who appeared in large numbers in Russia in the 30s, when the crisis of the serfdom system sharply emerged.
Chichikov is the son of a poor nobleman, who inherited a “dilapidated house with an insignificant piece of land”, and became a real tradesman in his lifestyle. All his life he remembered and followed his father’s instructions - most of all to take care and save a penny: “You will do everything and you will spend everything with a penny”; to please teachers and bosses, while at the same time blatantly deceiving them in order to get a lucrative position. Already in his youth, the hero learned to evaluate people from the point of view of real benefit for himself, showed resourcefulness, iron restraint and baseness of soul. Through small speculations, he “made increments” to the half ruble donated by his father. “When he had enough money to reach five rubles, he sewed up the bag and began saving it in another.” A bag of money replaced Chichikov's friendship, honor and conscience.
Deciding on a scam with dead souls, he thinks: “Now is the right time. We lost at cards, went on a spree and squandered it like it should.” Chichikov’s whole life became a chain of fraudulent machinations and crimes, his slogan was: “if he caught it, he dragged it, if it fell through, don’t ask.” Chichikov shows enormous efforts and inexhaustible ingenuity, and indulges in any scam if they promise success and promise the coveted penny. The hero understands that capital becomes the master of life, that all the power is in the box with which he travels around Russia, buying up dead souls from landowners. Life and the environment taught him that “you can’t take a straight road and that an oblique road is more straight forward.”
Ready to deceive and rob the nobles, Chichikov himself is under the spell of the life of the noble class. Having imagined himself as a Kherson landowner, he sincerely strives to adapt psychologically and everyday life to the nobility, which is expressed in the appearance and habits of the hero.
Chichikov can be called a gentleman in manners and a bourgeois entrepreneur at heart. His bourgeois entrepreneurship still appears in the form that characterizes the period of primitive accumulation. Gogol calls Chichikov a scoundrel, a master, an acquirer. The hero’s meanness lies in the fact that he is ready to profit from the grief and illness of people. The author notes that Chichikov strives to get to those provinces where epidemics and epidemics occurred, since more peasants died there. For the same reason, he is interested in crop failures and famines occurring more often. About the hero’s acquisition, the author writes: “Acquisition is the fault of everything; because of it, deeds were carried out that the world calls not very pure.”
Images of landowners are created by describing the village, manor house and interior, portrait characteristics, attitude to Chichikov’s proposal, description of the purchase and sale process itself; At the same time, Gogol highlights the leading, main character trait of the character. Chichikov is revealed somewhat differently. There is no demonstration here through the attitude towards serfdom, through a description of everyday life. If all the landowners, except Plyushkin, are given statically, then Chichikov is given in development, in the process of becoming. Depicting landowners, the writer highlights their defining features, while Chichikov is revealed in many ways.
In order to more clearly illuminate the origin and life development of a new type - Chichikov, and to comprehend his historical place, the writer dwells in detail on his biography, character and psychology. Gogol shows how his ability to adapt to the situation and navigate in any situation developed; Depending on the conditions, Chichikov’s manner and tone of conversation changes. Everywhere he charms, sometimes arouses admiration and always achieves his goal: “You need to know that Chichikov was the most decent person who has ever existed in the world... He never allowed himself an indecent word in his speech and was always offended if he saw in the words of others lack of due respect for rank or title..."
The new hero of the era has many advantages that the landed nobles do not have: some education, energy, enterprise, extraordinary dexterity. Chichikov knows how to find an approach to every person, quickly guessing the character traits of people, accurately identifying their strengths and weaknesses; win over new acquaintances, the guise of good manners helps the hero gain confidence. In a conversation with Manilov, he looks like Manilov; with Korobochka, Chichikov “spoke... with more freedom than with Manilov, and did not stand on ceremony at all.”
In conversations “with rulers, he very skillfully knew how to flatter everyone. He somehow hinted in passing to the governor that entering his province was like entering paradise, the roads were velvet everywhere... He said something very flattering to the police chief about the city guards...” Constantly changing his appearance, Chichikov carefully hides his fraudulent goals from those around him.
Symbolizing the advent of the era of the bourgeois, the era of dexterous, tenacious, energetic people who profess the morality of acquisition, Chichikov demonstrates perseverance, energy, practicality of mind, and willpower. Gogol writes: “We must do justice to the irresistible force of his character.” In terms of practical ingenuity and resourcefulness, the hero - the “acquirer” stands out strongly among the representatives of the patriarchal landed order, in whom immobility, inertia and deadness have firmly built a nest for themselves.
At the same time, Chichikov also has features in common with landowners - a lack of civic interests and socio-political conservatism. Chichikov does not worship either humility or virtue, but he needs them to achieve his goal. He is calculating and knows how to patiently wait for the right moment. The thirst for profit and the desire to occupy a commanding position in society haunt him. Civil and patriotic feelings are alien to Chichikov; he treats with complete indifference everything that does not concern his personal, selfish interests.
Noble society mistook the swindler and rogue Chichikov for an outstanding person. Gogol writes that “the word “millionaire” is to blame for everything, not the millionaire himself, but precisely one word; for in one sound of this word, besides every money bag, there is something that affects both scoundrel people, and neither this nor that, and good people, in a word, it affects everyone.” In Chichikov, bourgeois traits manifest themselves with such strength and truthfulness that contemporaries already saw the broad social significance of this type.
But nevertheless, it is Chichikov who in the poem- one of the few “people of the path” who, according to Gogol, were destined to be reborn. Yes, the hero’s goal is petty, but movement towards it is better than complete immobility. However, the second volume of the poem, in which the hero was supposed to come to the purification of the soul, was never published. The social soil on which the Chichikovs flourished has long been destroyed. And the evil of hoarding continues to entangle humanity. Is this why the image of Chichikov can be considered Gogol’s brilliant discovery?
Chichikov not only tireless in inventing cunning plans. His entire appearance is already adapted to make it easier to “save a penny.” There are no striking features in his appearance, he is “not too fat, not too thin,” “not handsome, but not bad-looking either.” Chichikov knows people well and speaks to everyone in a language understandable to the interlocutor. He captivates officials with “the pleasantness of his secular address”, he charms Manilov with his sugary tone, he knows how to intimidate Korobochka, and with Nozdryov he plays checkers for the souls of dead peasants. Even with Plyushkin, who avoids communicating with people, Chichikov finds a common language.
Origin of the hero, as the author says, “dark and modest.” His parents are impoverished nobles, and his father, sending Pavlush to a city school, can leave him only “half a copper” and a wise instruction: to please teachers and bosses and, most importantly, to save and save a penny. Even as a child, Pavlusha reveals great practicality. He knows how to deny himself everything, just to save at least a small amount. He pleases teachers, but only as long as he depends on them. After graduating from college, Pavlusha no longer considers it necessary to help the drunken teacher.
We must give the hero his due. He does not enjoy patronage and lacks stars from the sky; everything he achieves is the result of hard work and constant hardship. Moreover, every time the contours of luck appear on the horizon, another disaster befalls the hero. Gogol pays tribute to the “irresistible strength of his character,” for he understands how difficult it is for a Russian person to “throw a rein on everything that would like to jump out and walk free.”
Certainly, it is no coincidence that officials compare Chichikov with Captain Kopeikin. Within the framework of the plot, this comparison is comical (the postmaster does not pay attention to the fact that Chichikov’s arms and legs are in place), but for the writer it is of great importance, it is not for nothing that even the surname of the noble captain is consonant with Chichikov’s “save a penny.” The hero of the War of 1812 personifies the romantic era of the recent past, but now time has finally shrunk, and the Chichikovs have become his heroes. And the worst thing is that in life they are perceived by people the same way as in the poem. They are called interesting, everyone is happy with them. And therefore Gogol considers it necessary to look deeper into their souls, to discover their “innermost thoughts,” that which “eludes and hides from the light.”
« All Rus' will appear in it“- said N.V. Gogol about his work “Dead Souls”. Sending his hero on the road across Russia, the author strives to show everything that is characteristic of the Russian national character, everything that forms the basis of Russian life, the history and modernity of Russia, tries to look into the future... From the height of his ideas about the ideal, the author judges “all the terrible, amazing the mire of little things that entangle our lives,” Gogol’s penetrating gaze explores the life of Russian landowners, peasants, and the state of people’s souls. The broad typification of the poem's images became the prerequisite for the fact that the names of many of Gogol's heroes became household names. And yet Gogol could be considered a genius just by creating the image of the “dearest man” Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. What kind of person is this Chichikov? The author emphasizes that the time of virtuous heroes has passed, and therefore shows us... a scoundrel.
Chichikov represents a new type of businessman-entrepreneur for Russian reality. But this does not mean that Gogol excludes him from a number of literary associations. Sometimes Pavel Ivanovich resembles a romantic secular hero who “...was ready to give an answer, probably no worse than those given in fashionable stories...”. Secondly, Pavel Ivanovich has something of the image of a romantic robber (according to rumors, he breaks into Korobochka “like Rinald Rinaldina”). Thirdly, city officials compare him to Napoleon, who was “released” from Helena. Finally, Chichikov is even identified with the Antichrist. Of course, such associations are parodic. But not only. The worst thing, according to Gogol, is that the appearance of such a hero means that vice has ceased to be majestic, and evil has ceased to be heroic. Chichikov is an anti-hero, an anti-villain. He embodies only the prose of adventurism for the sake of money.
Chichikov convinces himself, that there is no “attachment to money itself for money’s sake.” Money is a means to achieve a life of “all pleasures.” The author notes with bitter irony that the hero of the poem would sometimes even like to help people, “but only so that it does not involve a significant amount.” And so gradually the desire for hoarding obscures the most important moral principles for the hero. Deception, bribery, meanness, fraud at customs - these are the means by which Pavel Ivanovich tries to ensure a decent existence for himself and his future children. It is not surprising that it is precisely such a hero who conceives a fantastic scam: the purchase of “dead souls” with the aim of pawning them in the treasury. He has long been no longer interested in the moral aspect of such transactions; he completely justifies himself by the fact that he “takes advantage of the surplus,” “takes where everyone would take.”