Poem " Dead souls» occupies a special place in Gogol's work. The writer considered this work to be the main work of his life, the spiritual testament of Pushkin, who suggested to him the basis of the plot. In the poem, the author reflected the way of life and morals of different layers of society - peasants, landowners, officials. The images in the poem, according to the author, “are not at all portraits of insignificant people; on the contrary, they contain the features of those who consider themselves better than others.” Close up The poem shows landowners, owners of serf souls, “masters” of life. Gogol consistently, from hero to hero, reveals their characters and shows the insignificance of their existence. Starting with Manilov and ending with Plyushkin, the author intensifies his satire and exposes the criminal world of landowner-bureaucratic Russia.
Main character works - Chichikov- until the last chapter of the first volume remains a mystery to everyone: both for officials of the city of N and for readers. Inner world The author reveals Pavel Ivanovich in scenes of his meetings with landowners. Gogol draws attention to the fact that Chichikov is constantly changing and almost copies the behavior of his interlocutors. Talking about Chichikov’s meeting with Korobochka, Gogol says that in Russia a person talks differently to the owners of two hundred, three hundred, five hundred souls: “... even if you reach a million, there will be all shades.”
Chichikov has studied people well, knows how to find a benefit in any situation, and always says what they would like to hear from him. So, with Manilov, Chichikov is pompous, amiable and flattering. He talks to Korobochka without any special ceremony, and his vocabulary is in tune with the style of the hostess. Communication with the arrogant liar Nozdryov is not easy, since Pavel Ivanovich does not tolerate familiar treatment, “...unless the person is of too high a rank.” However, hoping for a profitable deal, he does not leave Nozdryov’s estate until the last moment and tries to become like him: he addresses himself as “you,” adopts a boorish tone, and behaves familiarly. The image of Sobakevich, personifying the thoroughness of a landowner's life, immediately prompts Pavel Ivanovich to start as thorough a conversation as possible about dead souls Oh. Chichikov manages to win over the “hole in the human body” - Plyushkin, who has long lost touch with outside world and forgot the rules of politeness. To do this, it was enough for him to play the role of a “motishka”, ready, at a loss to himself, to save a casual acquaintance from the need to pay taxes for dead peasants.
It is not difficult for Chichikov to change his appearance, because he has all the qualities that form the basis of the characters of the depicted landowners. This is confirmed by the episodes in the poem where Chichikov is left alone with himself and does not need to adapt to those around him. While examining the city of N, Pavel Ivanovich “teared off a poster nailed to a post so that when he came home, he could read it thoroughly,” and after reading it, “he folded it neatly and put it in his little chest, where he used to put everything he came across.” This is reminiscent of the habits of Plyushkin, who collected and stored various kinds of rags and toothpicks. The colorlessness and uncertainty that accompany Chichikov until the last pages of the first volume of the poem make him similar to Manilov. That is why officials provincial town they make ridiculous guesses, trying to establish the true identity of the hero. Chichikova's love for neatly and pedantically arranging everything in his little chest brings him closer to Korobochka. Nozdryov notices that Chichikov looks like Sobakevich. All this suggests that in the character of the main character, as in a mirror, the traits of all landowners were reflected: Manilov’s love for meaningless conversations and “noble” gestures, and Korobochka’s pettiness, and Nozdryov’s narcissism, and Sobakevich’s rudeness, and Plyushkin’s hoarding.
And at the same time, Chichikov differs sharply from the landowners shown in the first chapters of the poem. He has a different psychology than Manilov, Sobakevich, Nozdryov and other landowners. He is characterized by extraordinary energy, business acumen, and determination, although morally he does not rise at all above the owners of serf souls. Many years of bureaucratic activity left a noticeable imprint on his demeanor and speech. Evidence of this is the warm welcome given to him in the provincial “high society”. Among officials and landowners he new person, the acquirer who will replace the Manilovs, Nozdrevs, Sobakevichs and Plyushkins.
Chichikov's soul, just like the souls of landowners and officials, became dead. The “brilliant joy of life” is inaccessible to him; he is almost completely devoid of human feelings. In order to achieve his practical goals, he pacified his blood, which “played strongly.”
Gogol sought to understand the psychological nature of Chichikov as a new phenomenon, and for this he last chapter The poem tells about his life. Chichikov's biography explains the formation of the character revealed in the poem. The hero's childhood was dull and joyless, without friends and maternal affection, with constant reproaches from his sick father, and could not help but affect his future fate. His father left him an inheritance of half a copper and a covenant to study diligently, please teachers and bosses, and, most importantly, save a penny. Pavlusha learned his father’s instructions well and directed all his energy towards achieving his cherished goal - wealth. He quickly realized that all lofty concepts only interfere with the achievement of his goal, and began to make his own way. At first, he acted childishly and straightforwardly - he pleased the teacher in every possible way and thanks to this he became his favorite. As he grew up, he realized that you can find a special approach to each person, and began to achieve more significant success. Promising to marry the daughter of his boss, he received a position as a military officer. While serving at customs, he managed to convince his superiors of his integrity, and later established contacts with smugglers and made a huge fortune. All of Chichikov’s brilliant victories ultimately ended in failure, but no failures could break his thirst for profit.
However, the author notes that in Chichikov, unlike Plyushkin, “there was no attachment to money for the sake of money, he was not possessed by miserliness and stinginess. No, it was not they who moved him - he imagined life ahead in all its pleasures, so that finally later, over time, he would certainly taste all this, that’s why the penny was saved.” Gogol notes that the main character of the poem is the only character capable of manifesting the movements of the soul. “Apparently the Chichikovs also turn into poets for a few minutes,” says the author, when his hero stops “as if stunned by a blow” in front of the governor’s young daughter. And it was precisely this “human” movement of the soul that led to the failure of his promising venture. According to the author, sincerity, sincerity and selflessness are the most dangerous qualities in a world where cynicism, lies and profit reign. The fact that Gogol transferred his hero to the second volume of the poem suggests that he believed in his spiritual revival. In the second volume of the poem, the writer planned to spiritually “cleanse” Chichikov and put him on the path of spiritual resurrection. The resurrection of the “hero of the time,” according to him, was supposed to be the beginning of the resurrection of the entire society. But, unfortunately, the second volume of “Dead Souls” was burned, and the third was not written, so we can only guess how Chichikov’s moral revival took place.
All topics in the book “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol. Summary. Features of the poem. Essays":
Summary poem "Dead Souls":
N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” is distinguished by its variety of images of landowners, but one of the central and main ones is the characterization of Chichikov, the main character of the work.
It is known about the landowner’s appearance that he is neither thin nor fat, neither old nor too young (middle-aged). He was friendly and easy to find common language with people and approach to each individual person, which helped him buy up dead souls. The main character of the poem was an incredibly energetic person, with an incredible reserve of strength.
Chichikov loves to flatter people, secretive, as he does not tell anything about himself. Also, one of the characteristics of the landowner was veneration of rank. Chichikov held the post of collegiate adviser, although he did not come from a noble, poor family. He was well-mannered, resourceful, intelligent, persistent, thoughtful, neat, calculating, with good manners, and knew how to win over Chichikov’s people - purposeful person, achieves his goal, and even managed to increase the amount received.
His goal was to buy up dead serfs, that is, to become their owner only on paper. After purchasing a large number of them, for example thousands, he should have been given about 200 rubles for each. In the future, Chichikov wanted to buy himself an estate with this money. This tells us that he is a cunning, crafty, and to some extent dishonest person who deceived the souls of peasants from other landowners.
With Manilov, he is good-natured, amiable and generally imitates the owner of the house.
With Korobochka he becomes abrupt and nervous, because the landowner does not understand anything, and he himself becomes a clubhead.
With Nozdryov, Chichikov is unpredictable, and could not become one, because he does not know what to expect from him.
With Sobakevich, the landowner does not even need to change his mind, since the owner of the house is the same as himself: thrifty, prudent, who was not even surprised at the news of buying dead shower.
Chichikov was on an equal footing with Plyushkin, since Plyushkin was the most ordinary landowner. In general, he communicated with him their pity, since he saw how bad life from this person.
In his work, Nikolai Gogol wanted to show the image of a vile, rotten landowner who truly was the very dead soul. Chichikov directs his enormous energy in the wrong direction, towards bad deeds.
Option 2
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is main character works and personifies in his image the social situation of Russian reality of that time.
The writer reveals the image of Chichikov by narrating his meetings with representatives of the Russian landowner class for the purpose of buying up the papers of deceased peasants (dead souls).
Chichikov is a middle-aged man, pleasant-looking, reasonably well-fed, and has a flattering voice. Pavel Ivanovich serves in a fairly high rank of collegiate adviser.
WITH early childhood Chichikov set himself the goal of achieving significant heights in life and acquiring enormous wealth, so he cultivated numerous abilities in himself. Pavel Ivanovich is well versed in mathematical sciences, since he received good education and has mental logic and resourcefulness of the mind. At the same time, Chichikov is distinguished by caution, prudence, and the ability to notice important details.
To achieve his own goals, the hero of the work can be cunning, crafty, patient, a sycophant, using methods known only to him psychological techniques to the interlocutor and changing behavioral manner and speech style depending on the circumstances. At the same time, he is firm in his convictions on the path to obtaining wealth, so fear is not characteristic of him.
The image of Chichikov is characterized by incredible versatility, expressed in the ability to portray himself as a secular, literate and decent person with ostentatious goodwill, which is used only as a means of profitably using the location of the right people.
Skillfully adapting and adapting to every person he needs, Chichikov shows amazing resourcefulness, resourcefulness and perseverance. Communicating with the colorless Manilov, Pavel Ivanovich reveals himself in the image of a delicate, sensitive and helpful guest who knows how to sweetly flatter and fawn. Persuading the petty Box to agree to a deal on selling the dead shower, Chichikov reveals himself from the opposite side, as he acts rudely, arrogantly, assertively, without ceremony. In the estate of the narcissistic Nozdryov, the hero tries to the last to imitate the arrogant and deceitful owner, treating him familiarly in a boorish tone. Both with the rude Sobakevich and with the greedy Plyushkin, Chichikov skillfully and talentedly plays the roles he needs, forcing the landowners to sincerely believe him.
It is not difficult for Chichikov to change his appearance and behavior, since characteristic qualities landowners form the basis of his own nature and are manifested in himself. However, unlike the landowners, Chichikov is endowed with extraordinary energy, business acumen, and determination, but all these traits of the protagonist are present in him in the absence of moral and moral principles without hearing the quiet voice of conscience. After all, to obtain his own benefit, Chichikov resorts to fraud, deception, insults and bribery.
Describing the image of his hero, the writer presents an example of a person with a new way of life, new formation, an entrepreneur with a commercial spirit and striving to constantly generate his own income.
Essay Characteristics and image of Chichikov
Chichikov is the main character of the work, where the entire poem is practically about him. When the poet made him the main character, he did not give any guarantee that the image of his created main character would please his readers. Already at the beginning of the poem, the image and character of Chichikov becomes clear. First, Ivan Vasilyevich shows his hero with positive side. Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov knew how to communicate correctly and culturally with others, regardless of their age and status.
The author decides to tell about the biography of Chichikov, what he was like and what he became. Already from youth Pavel's dad taught him the simplest truths of life, for example: that every coin must be treated wisely and taken care of. And this, truth, life, did not help him badly, he learned to find his own benefit in almost everything. With age, he learns to find a common language with people.
Chichikov graduates with honors and with a mark of impeccable behavior. Thinking about later life, he imagines himself only as a successful and wealthy person. All the negativity of his character is revealed at his work in different places. Thanks to bribes and major frauds, he becomes successful. But he is quickly taken to clean water, and complete bankruptcy occurs. As a result of several unsuccessful attempts To become successful, Pavel Ivanovich decides that he needs to acquire dead souls. He knew that during global checks, soul owners were hit hard. And he understood that it would be inexpensive to count those who died during the break between checks as alive.
And he decides to come to the city of officials, and dead souls become his goal. Being present at many events, he makes many friends with officials, and tries to find out from them who could provide him with dead souls.
“Scoundrel” - Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol calls him, since his bad qualities completely cover his positive traits.
Essay 4
The poem "Dead Souls" is considered Gogol's best creation. The idea for the content of the book was suggested to the author by A.S. Pushkin. In the poem, the author described the life activities and morals social strata society. The book fully describes the owners of serf souls, landowners and officials.
The main character of the book is Pavel Chichikov. From beginning to end of the work, Chichikov remained a mysterious character. He was a man of many characters and was constantly changing. He copied the conversational manners and actions of his acquaintances. The guy studied all people and could get out of any situation, and did not miss his advantage.
With Manilov, the hero behaved arrogantly, flatteringly and kindly. When communicating with the arrogant deceiver Nozdryov, he tried to become like his interlocutor for his own benefit. Chichikov managed to please Plyushkin, who had lost touch with the real world and courtesy. For his own benefit, the hero played the role of a man inclined to kill a peasant in order to save himself from paying taxes.
It was not difficult for Chichikov to constantly change his appearance, since he owned characteristic features, characteristic of rich landowners. Left alone with himself, the hero showed his true qualities. While walking around the city, Pavel Chichikov tore off the glued poster to read it later. He read the poster and put it in the box. So he repeated Plyushkin’s habit. The uncertainty and colorlessness of the character of the hero reveal his similarity with Manilov. And so city officials speculated, trying to unravel Paul's identity. The habit of putting all things in their places brings the hero closer to Korobochka. Nozdryov found similarities between Chichikov and Sobakevich. Chichikov reflected all the character traits of the landowners, Manilov’s love of empty chatter, pettiness and narcissism, hoarding and rudeness.
At the same time, the hero stands out for his own qualities. Unlike landowners and officials, the hero had special energy, determination and business acumen. The activities of officials significantly influenced Chichikov’s behavior and speech. As time passed, Chichikov’s soul, like that of the landowners, became completely dead. Pavel was deprived of all human feelings and did not enjoy life at all. To achieve his goal, he showed neither anger nor joy. Towards the end of the poem, the author described the biography of Chichikov. Pavel's childhood was dull. He didn't experience mother's love. He had no friends. He had to endure the reproaches of his sick father. His childhood had a negative impact on his future. As an inheritance from his father, Chichikov received only the instruction to study well and save his last penny. The boy learned the instructions well and set himself the goal of becoming wealthy.
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We often say that happiness is not found in money, but at the same time we always note that a person with money is in more advantageous position, can afford more than a poor person. Many works of art on the topic of a wedding with an unloved but rich person or the injustice that has arisen associated with bribery brings to mind another well-known phrase: money rules the world. This is probably why a person with small capital often strives to improve his financial situation at any cost. These methods and methods are not always legal; they often contradict the principles of morality. N. Gogol talks about one of these actions in the poem “Dead Souls”.
Who is Chichikov and why does he come to town N
The main character of the story is a retired official Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. He “is not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; I can’t say that I’m old, but I can’t say that I’m too young.” He considers himself a person of pleasant appearance, he especially liked his face “which he loved sincerely and in which, it seems, he found the chin most attractive, for he very often boasted of it to one of his friends.”
This man travels through the villages of Russia, but his goal is by no means as noble as one might think at first glance. Pavel Ivanovich buys “dead souls”, that is, documents for the ownership of people who have died but have not yet been included in the lists of the dead. The census of peasants was carried out every few years, so these same “dead souls” hovered and were considered alive in documents. They represented a lot of trouble and waste, since it was necessary to make payments for them before the next census (revision tales).
Chichikov's proposal to sell these people to the landowners sounds more than tempting. Many find the item to be purchased very strange, it sounds suspicious, but the desire to quickly get rid of the “dead souls” takes its toll - one by one the landowners agree to the sale (the only exception was Nozdryov). But why does Chichikov need “dead souls”? He himself speaks about it this way: “Yes, if I bought all these people who died out before they submitted new revision tales, buy them, let’s say, a thousand, yes, let’s say, the guardianship council will give two hundred rubles per head: that’s two hundred thousand for the capital " In other words, Pavel Ivanovich plans to resell his “dead souls”, passing them off as living people. Of course, it is impossible to sell serfs without land, but he finds a way out here too - buying land in a remote place, “for pennies.” Naturally, such a plan was not dictated good conditions life and financial situation, but, whatever one may say, this dishonest act.
Last name meaning
It is difficult to judge unambiguously about the etymology of Pavel Ivanovich’s surname. It is not as prosaic as the surnames of other characters in the poem, but the very fact that the surnames of other characters are their characteristics (they draw attention to moral or physical flaws) suggests that there should be a similar situation with Chichikov.
And so, it is likely that this surname came from the word “chichik”. In Western Ukrainian dialects, this is the name given to a small songbird. N. Gogol was associated with Ukraine, so we can assume that he had in mind precisely this meaning of the word - Chichikov, like a bird, sings beautiful songs to everyone. There are no other meanings recorded in dictionaries. The author himself does not explain anywhere why the choice fell on this particular word and what he wanted to say by awarding Pavel Ivanovich such a surname. That's why this information should be perceived at the level of a hypothesis, it should be argued that this absolutely correct explanation is impossible due to the small amount of information on this matter.
Personality and character
Arriving in the city of N, Pavel Ivanovich meets the local landowners and the governor. He makes a good impression on them. This beginning of a trusting relationship contributed to Chichikov’s further purchases - they spoke of him as a man of high morals and excellent upbringing - such a person cannot be a swindler and a deceiver. But, as it turned out, this was just a tactical move that allowed him to cleverly deceive the landowners.
The first thing that surprises you about Chichikov is his attitude to hygiene. For many of his new acquaintances, this became a sign of a man from high society. Pavel Ivanovich “waking up very early in the morning, washed himself, wiped himself from head to toe with a wet sponge, which was done only by Sundays" He “rubbed both cheeks with soap for an extremely long time,” when he washed himself, “plucked out two hairs that had come out of his nose.” As a result, those around him decided that “the visitor showed such attentiveness to the toilet that has not even been seen everywhere.”
Chichikov is a suck-up. “In conversations with these rulers, he very skillfully knew how to flatter everyone.” At the same time, he tried not to say anything specific about himself, using general phrases; those present thought that he was doing this out of modesty.
In addition, the phrases “he is an insignificant worm of this world and is not worthy of being cared for much, that he has experienced a lot in his life, endured in the service for the truth, had many enemies who attempted even on his life, and that now, wanting to calm down, looking to finally choose a place to live” evoked a certain feeling of pity for Chichikov among those around him.
Soon, all his new acquaintances began to speak flatteringly about him and tried to please “such a pleasant, educated guest.”
Manilov, characterizing Chichikov, asserted that “he is ready to vouch, as for himself, that he would sacrifice all his estate in order to have a hundredth share of Pavel Ivanovich’s qualities.”
“The governor explained about him that he is a well-intentioned person; the prosecutor - that he is a sensible person; the gendarme colonel said that he learned man; the chairman of the chamber - that he is 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.”
As we see, Pavel Ivanovich managed to gain the trust of the landowners and the governor in the best possible way.
He managed to keep a fine line and not go too far with flattery and praise towards the landowners - his lies and sycophancy were sweet, but not so much that the lies were noticeable. Pavel Ivanovich not only knows how to present himself in society, but also has the talent to convince people. Not all landowners agreed to say goodbye to their “dead souls” without question. Many, like Korobochka, had great doubts about the legality of such a sale. Pavel Ivanovich manages to achieve his goal and convince that such a sale is nothing unusual.
It should be noted that Chichikov has developed intellectual abilities. This is manifested not only when thinking about a plan to get rich from “dead souls”, but also in the manner of conducting a conversation - he knows how to maintain a conversation at the proper level, without having sufficient knowledge in a particular issue, it is unrealistic to look smart in the eyes of others and no amount of flattery and sycophancy unable to save the situation.
In addition, he is very friendly with arithmetic and knows how to quickly carry out mathematical operations in his mind: “Seventy-eight, seventy-eight, thirty kopecks per head, that will be ... - here our hero thought for one second, no more, and suddenly said: - it will be twenty-four rubles ninety-six kopecks.”
Pavel Ivanovich knows how to adapt to new conditions: “he felt that the words “virtue” and “rare properties of the soul” could be successfully replaced with the words “economy” and “order”,” although he cannot always quickly figure out what to say: “Already Plyushkin stood for several minutes without saying a word, and Chichikov still could not start a conversation, entertained both by the appearance of the owner himself and by everything that was in his room.”
Having acquired serfs, Pavel Ivanovich feels awkward and anxious, but these are not pangs of conscience - he wants to get the matter over with as quickly as possible and is afraid that something might go wrong “still the thought came to me: that souls are not entirely real and that in similar cases Such a burden always needs to be lifted off one’s shoulders as quickly as possible.”
However, his deception was revealed - Chichikov in an instant turns from an object of worship and a desired guest into an object of ridicule and rumors; he is not allowed into the governor’s house. “It’s just that you alone are not ordered to be allowed in, but all others are allowed,” the doorman tells him.
The others are also not happy to see him - they mumble something incomprehensible. This confuses Chichikov - he cannot understand what happened. Rumors about his scam reach Chichikov himself. As a result, he leaves home. In the last chapter, we learn that Pavel Ivanovich is of humble origin, his parents tried to provide him better life, so sending it to independent life, gave him such advice that, as his parents thought, would allow him to occupy good place in life: “Pavlusha, study... please your teachers and bosses most of all. Don’t hang out with your comrades, they won’t teach you any good; and if it comes to that, 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... You will do everything and lose everything in the world with a penny.”
Thus, Pavel Ivanovich, guided by the advice of his parents, lived in such a way as not to spend money anywhere and save money, but to earn significant capital in an honest way turned out to be unrealistic, even with strict savings and acquaintance with the rich. The plan to buy “dead souls” was supposed to provide Chichikov with fortune and money, but in practice this turned out not to be the case. The stigma of a swindler and a dishonest person firmly stuck to him. Whether the hero himself learned a lesson from their current situation is a rhetorical question; it is likely that the second volume should have revealed the secret, but, unfortunately, Nikolai Vasilyevich destroyed him, so the reader can only guess what happened next and whether Chichikov should be blamed for such an act or it is necessary to mitigate his guilt by referring to the principles to which society is subject.
Chichikov in the story by N.V. Gogol’s “Dead Souls”: analysis of the hero, image and characteristics
4.4 (87.14%) 14 votesIn 1846, Belinsky, known for his critical insight, noted that Chichikov “as an acquirer no less, if not more than Pechorin, is a hero of our time.” Chichikov can acquire “dead souls”, railway shares, he can collect donations for charities. It doesn't matter what type of activity he is engaged in.
One thing is indisputable: Chichikov is an immortal type. You can meet him everywhere, he belongs to all countries and all times: he only accepts various shapes, according to the conditions of place and time. The action in the poem “Dead Souls” begins with the reader meeting the main character. Who is he? Neither this nor that, the golden mean: “not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; I can’t say that I’m old, but I can’t say that I’m too young.” How does the venerable collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov begin his stay in the new city? From visits: to the governor, vice-governor, prosecutor, police chief, tax farmer, head of state-owned factories, etc. Behaving like a completely well-intentioned person, Chichikov “in conversations with these rulers ... very skillfully knew how to flatter everyone”: he praised the governor for the “velvet roads” of his province, the police chief “said something very flattering about the city guards,” twice mistakenly called the vice-governor and chairman of the chamber “your excellency.”
He paid the governor a compliment, “quite decent for a middle-aged man with a rank neither too high nor too low,” and called himself “an insignificant worm of this world,” complaining that he had experienced a lot in his life, “suffered in the service for the truth, had many enemies who even attempted his life.”
A characteristic feature of Chichikov is his ability to carry on a conversation: “Whether there was a conversation about a horse factory, he also talked about a horse factory; were they talking about good dogs, and here he made very sensible remarks... But it’s remarkable that he knew how to dress it all up with some kind of sedateness, he knew how to behave well. He spoke neither loudly nor quietly, but absolutely as he should.” As we see, Chichikov learned to wear the mask of vulgarity and imaginary decency masterfully, but the true content of his thoughts and actions is hidden under this mask of a completely decent, decent gentleman. In the first chapter, the author only indirectly, allegorically expresses his attitude towards the hero and his actions. And the hero himself, in his discussions about the world of fat and thin, gives some hint of his true vision of the world around him: “Fat people know how to manage their affairs in this world better than thin people. The thin ones serve more on special assignments or are just registered and wander here and there.”
Chichikov is attributed by the author to the world of fat people who sit securely and firmly in their places. Thus, confirming the appearance of Chichikov, who he seems to be, the author begins preparations to expose him, to “reveal” the truth about him. The first success (the deal with Manilov) strengthens Chichikov’s confidence in the ease and safety of the scam he is carrying out. Inspired by this success, the hero is in a hurry to conclude new deals. On the way to Sobakevich, Chichikov meets Korobochka, who showed Chichikov that his enterprise requires not only persistence, but also subtlety, and most importantly, caution. The lesson, however, did not serve him well. Chichikov hurries to Sobakevich, but meets Nozdryov and goes to him. Among Nozdryov’s qualities, perhaps the main one is “the passion to spoil one’s neighbor, sometimes for no reason at all.” And Chichikov unwittingly falls for this bait: in the end, he reveals the true purpose of acquiring “dead souls.” This reveals the weakness and frivolity of the hero. Of course, Chichikov subsequently scolded himself for acting carelessly in talking to Nozdryov about such a delicate matter. As we see, perseverance and determination in cases where they go too far turn into a disadvantage. Finally, Chichikov arrives at Sobakevich, who, being resourceful and persistent in the pursuit of his benefit, most likely guesses why Chichikov needs “dead souls”. He bargains shamelessly, and even praises dead peasants: “And Eremey Sorokoplekhin, this guy alone will stand for everyone, he traded in Moscow, brought one rent for five hundred rubles. After all, this is what people are like! This is not something that some Plyushkin will sell you.” Chichikov’s enterprise ends with a deal with Plyushkin, for whom even the money goes out of circulation, having been placed “in one of the boxes, where, most likely, they are destined to be buried until... he himself is buried.” Chichikov is at his best: the papers are all signed and in the eyes of ordinary people he turns into a “millionaire.” As you know, a “millionaire” is magic word, which opens all roads and “acts on scoundrel people, and on neither this nor that, and on good people - in a word, it affects everyone.”
However, soon the triumph of Chichikov the “millionaire” ends with Nozdryov’s revelation: “Ah! Kherson landowner, Kherson landowner!.. What? did you sell a lot of dead people? You don’t know, Your Excellency... he sells dead souls!” There is commotion and confusion in the city, as well as in the minds of the reader. After all true biography The author saved the hero for the finale of the poem. Chichikov seemed decent and virtuous, but under this guise there was a different essence. The son of a semi-poor nobleman, his face did not even resemble either his father or his mother. “At the beginning,” Gogol writes, “life looked at him somehow sourly and unpleasantly, through some cloudy window covered with snow: neither a friend nor a comrade in childhood!” Suddenly, one fine day, the father decided to send the boy to the city school. There were no tears at parting, but an important and intelligent fatherly instruction was given: “Look, Pavlusha, study, don’t be stupid and don’t hang around... please your teachers and bosses... And most of all, take care and save a penny: this thing is more reliable than anything in the world.”
The lonely and unsociable Pavlusha accepted this instruction with all his heart and was guided only by it all his life. In the school classes, he quickly grasped the spirit of his superiors and realized what his behavior should be. During lessons, Chichikov sat as quietly as water, lower than the grass, and as a result, having no special abilities or talents, upon graduation he received “a certificate and a book with golden letters for exemplary diligence and trustworthy behavior.” After graduating from college, Pavlusha plunged into the reality of life: his father died, leaving him as an inheritance only “four irretrievably worn sweatshirts, two old frock coats” and an insignificant amount of money. It is noteworthy that at the same time another event occurs that reveals the true qualities of the future swindler. The teacher, who so loved the meek student Chichikov, was fired from the school and disappeared without a piece of bread in a forgotten kennel. Former rebellious and arrogant students collected money for him, and only Pavlusha limited himself to a nickel, citing his extreme poverty.
No, Chichikov was not stingy, but “he imagined a life ahead of him in all comforts, with all sorts of prosperity: carriages, a well-appointed house, delicious dinners.” For this, Chichikov was ready to go hungry and do “hot” work. He soon realized that honest work would not bring him what he wanted. In search of new opportunities to improve his position, he begins to court the daughter of his boss, but having received a long-awaited promotion, he completely forgets about his virtue. Bribes and scams - this is the path Pavlusha took. Gradually, he achieved some visible prosperity, but a military man, a strict one, into whose trust Chichikov could not ingratiate himself, was appointed to replace the former boss.
He moves to another city, where by luck he becomes a customs official and enters into “commercial” relations with smugglers. After some time, this criminal conspiracy was uncovered, and the perpetrators, including Chichikov, were brought to justice - this is exactly how the hero “suffered in the service.” Taking care of his descendants (“Such a sensitive subject!”), Chichikov decides on a new scam, which we witness in “Dead Souls.”
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// The image of Chichikov in Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”
He worked on his grandiose poem “” for about seventeen years. Of course, over such a long period, the meaning and parts of the poem have changed several times. But the essence of the work remained untouched. The great author decided to create a poem in which he would characterize the life around him, describe the picture of that modern Russia, which is filled with different, absolutely not similar people. In the text of the poem we meet many heroes and learn a lot of interesting things about their fates. But, nevertheless, the person of the main character, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, attracts attention.
He was a new class of entrepreneur, of which there were not many in those days. This hero has a double characteristic of the author himself. On the one hand, he is a vile person, in whose head terrible thoughts are born. On the other hand, he is quite inventive and bright character, who was able to come up with a cunning plan to profit from dead peasants.
Chichikov buys the dead souls of peasants from other landowners, thereby receiving profit and income. In those days, audits of peasants were rarely carried out, therefore, according to the documents, all those people were actually alive. The main character does not break the law. He simply takes advantage of such a mess in the documentation and puts his plan into action.
Getting to know all the landowners, he finds an approach to each of them. Chichikov establishes connections with both men and women. He evokes sympathy and friendly relations. Thanks to the ability to adapt to the environment, he gains the trust of the right people, and then uses them for his own purposes.
With the landowner he is polite like a woman, but firm. He is gentle and kind. Pavel Ivanovich communicates with the landowner carefully. He is trying with all his might to bring down the price for dead souls set by the vigilant owner.
Chichikov's personality is distinguished by extraordinary ingenuity. The hero tries with all his might to bring his plan to life. He wants to gain his wealth by any means, going to completely shameless, and far from noble deeds. Although, for such perseverance and demonstrated willpower, he must be given credit. Pavel Ivanovich, through difficulties and obstacles, moved forward in order to carry out his plans and collect dead souls.
Such endurance and accumulative character traits have been formed in the main character since childhood. Pavel's family lived poorly, so the boy had to invent various ways receiving money. He himself made a bullfinch from wax, painted it and sold it. Pavlusha decided to train the mouse and then sell it. And the most interesting thing is that as a child, he did not spend money, but carefully collected every penny, refusing everything. Pavel Ivanovich's father left him a will with parting words. He ordered his son to study, obey teachers, collect and save a penny. And how this should be done - nothing is said. So Chichikov decided that in life a penny is much more valuable than friendship and friends.
Of course, we cannot call the main character a completely immoral person. He felt both regret and sympathy. But for this he demanded quite a decent amount. Definitely, I can call Chichikov’s personality quite talented and inventive. It’s a pity that his skills were not useful, but only led to such a dirty scam. This idea of buying “dead souls” did not make the hero rich and successful. After all, how can you profit from such a soulless idea?