An example of indifference from the work of N. V.

The story of Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, the “eternal titular adviser,” is the story of the life and death of a person under the rule of social circumstances. The bureaucratic system brings the hero to complete stupor, limiting the whole meaning of his existence to the rewriting of absurd government papers. It is not surprising that Bashmachkin, placed in such conditions, experiences a kind of “insight” in the story of the overcoat, which became his “ideal goal” and filled his existence with meaning. Starving in order to save money to sew an overcoat, he “but fed spiritually, carrying an eternal idea in his thoughts.” The overcoat was the light of his life. What a blow it was for the hero that he was deprived of this value, this light. “Misfortune falls unbearably” on the poor man’s head. An evil, indifferent element is approaching Bashmachkin: the deserted streets become more desolate, the streetlights flicker on them less often. Akakiy Akakievich is in distress due to the rampant nature and wants to find protection from the State. Not wanting to accept the need to take a step back and return to a meaningless existence, he decides to fight. Bashmachkin goes to the “private person”, and then straight to the general, a “significant person”. However, in his old “hood” he arouses the general’s dissatisfaction and suspicion: the victim’s appearance does not correspond very much to the statement of a rich overcoat. With his “scolding” he put the hero in his place, which he could not bear. Thus, in the person of the servants of the law, the hero is faced with complete indifference to his fate. His request for protection only inflamed the general’s proud arrogance: “Do you know who you are talking to? Do you understand who is standing in front of you? do you understand this, do you understand this? I'm asking you." After such an attitude, Bashmachkin felt bad. The indifference of the “significant person” merged with the evil cold of nature, and he returned home completely exhausted and sick.

A terrible mental shock from human injustice and cruelty leads to the fact that the hero falls ill and dies: “A creature has disappeared and disappeared, not protected by anyone, not dear to anyone, not interesting to anyone.” But in his dying delirium, he experiences another “insight” and utters “the most terrible words” never heard from him before.

The plot of the story does not end with the death of the hero. Now retribution begins, the elements that have come to the surface of life are raging. The deceased Bashmachkin turns into an avenger and tears off the greatcoat from the general himself. The author here resorts to fiction in order to more deeply reveal the protesting, rebellious beginning hidden in a timid and intimidated person, a representative of the “lower class” of society.

Gogol's story is filled symbolic images, helping to most clearly reveal the main idea of ​​the work - callousness, indifference, inactivity of the authorities in relation to the common man. Thus, the image of the general depicted on Petrovich’s snuff box is symbolic, “which general is unknown, because the place where the face was was pierced with a finger and then sealed with a rectangular piece of paper.” This is a symbol of power that has lost face, that has lost the “image of God.” Also characteristic is the image of a watchman who saw with his own eyes, “how a ghost appeared from behind one house... he did not dare to stop him, but just followed him...” This image is the image of a guardian of power at the lowest, but also its most restless level, passively wandering behind the raging elements - is also deeply symbolic.

Gogol later develops the main idea of ​​this story in “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends.” This helps us to better understand the intention of the work: “...rare of us has had so much love for good that he decided to sacrifice for it both ambition, and self-love, and all the trifles of his easily irritated egoism and made it an indispensable law for himself - to serve his land, and not himself, to remember every minute that he took the place for the happiness of others, and not for his own.” Thus, this conclusion, contained in the subtext of “The Overcoat,” concerns not only a small person, a minor official, not only a “significant person,” but also the entire Russian State, headed by the Sovereign himself.

Bernard Shaw's statement is beyond doubt. Indeed, there is no worse sin than an indifferent attitude towards people. Each of us hopes for sympathy from another person, but often instead of understanding and empathy, he receives coldness and indifference. This is depressing and leads to disappointment, despondency, melancholy, and sometimes even more serious consequences.

In N.V. Gogol’s work “The Overcoat” there is an example of how an indifferent attitude towards a person leads him to death. We meet with the unfortunate Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin. He dies not because his overcoat was stolen from him, but because of the complete indifference of those who could (even should) help him. Gogol’s hero does not find an answer to any of his requests for help. He rushes about in despair and eventually dies. The indifference of people leads a person to lose faith that his business is interesting to someone else. The loss of the overcoat turned out to be the outcome of his entire life for Akaki Akakievich. But no one extended a helping hand to him, showed him sympathy, or understood the problem. As a result, the man lost his life...

In Leo Tolstoy's story “After the Ball,” an indifferent, cruel attitude towards people radically changes the life of another person. We are watching the scene of the beating of a poor soldier. The colonel, who had recently danced at a ball with his daughter Varenka, handsome and successful, now stood on the parade ground and cruelly punished the offending soldier. He was merciless to his cries for help. And he even hit one of the soldiers in the face, who, in his opinion, did not hit the punished man with a stick hard enough. He hit him in the face because the other showed sympathy for the man being beaten... Everything he saw so influenced the consciousness of the main character (Ivan Vasilyevich, Varenka’s beloved) that he changed his life. He gave up his career because he didn't want to hurt anyone. He was afraid to seem cruel, indifferent, indifferent to the fate of other people. And from the lips of other heroes of L. Tolstoy’s story, we learn that all his life he tried to help people. The hero was not inhuman, he could not do otherwise.

Indifference kills every living thing in a person. Hatred and anger are also feelings, albeit negative ones, and indifference is their complete absence. And this is the worst thing that can happen to a person.

What is indifference? I'll try to think about this. Indifference is one of the lowest and most vile feelings, characterized by a complete lack of compassion and understanding for other people. It seems to me that indifference can be attributed to the main signs of a lack of humanism.

To support this, I will give an example from Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s story “The Overcoat”. The main character of the work, Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, who works as a titular adviser, is constantly mocked by his colleagues for the sake of laughter.

Poor, timid and whimsical Akaki Akakievich endures all this and can only fight back if he is prevented from working. Officials do not think about the pain, suffering and insult they cause to a person, thereby revealing their indifference and heartlessness.

An example of indifference can be found in modern society. Increasingly in the news, the Internet and social networks Video clips appear in which passers-by simply pass by a person who has become ill on the street, trying not to pay any attention to him. This whole situation is incredibly terrible!!! After all, a person can die because people do not take any measures to provide help. And the scary thing is that many do not realize the full responsibility in such difficult moments. Unfortunately, over time, indifference penetrates more and more into the hearts of people.

So, we can say that indifference is one of the most important vices of humanity. I would like to believe that in the future people will become kinder and more responsive to each other.

Updated: 2018-10-13

Attention!
If you notice an error or typo, highlight the text and click Ctrl+Enter.
By doing so, you will provide invaluable benefit to the project and other readers.

Thank you for your attention.

Useful material on the topic

"The Overcoat" - the last of the stories written by Gogol - was created simultaneously with the first volume " Dead souls" The story of Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, the “eternal titular adviser,” is the story of the death of a little man.” In the department they treated him without any respect and didn’t even look at him when they gave him something to rewrite. The hero's zealous fulfillment of his duties - rewriting government papers - is the only interest and meaning of his life. The poor official's squalor and timidity are expressed in his tongue-tied speech. In a conversation, having started, he did not finish the phrase: “This, really, is absolutely ...” - and then nothing happened, and he himself forgot, thinking that he had already said everything.” Despite his humiliated position, Akaki Akakievich is quite pleased with his lot. In the story with the overcoat, he experiences a kind of epiphany. The overcoat became his “ideal goal”, warmed him, filled his existence. Starving in order to save money to sew it, he “fed spiritually, carrying in his thoughts the idea of ​​a future overcoat.” The hero even became stronger in character, daring, courageous thoughts flashed through his head - “should I really put a marten on my collar?” .

Faced with the blatant indifference of life in the form of a “significant person”, experiencing mental shock, Bashmachkin falls ill and dies. In his dying delirium, he utters terrible blasphemous speeches never heard from him. And here his thoughts revolved around the same overcoat. When he died, “Petersburg was left without Akaki Akakievich, as if he had never been there. A creature disappeared and disappeared, not protected by anyone, not dear to anyone, not interesting to anyone...” Only a few days later the department learned that Bashmachkin had died, and even then only because his place was empty.

But the story about the poor official does not end there. The deceased Bashmachkin turns into an avenging ghost and tears off the overcoat from the “significant person” himself. After meeting the dead man, he, feeling the reproaches of his conscience, morally corrects himself. Sometimes they think that the deceased Akaki Akakievich troubles the conscience of a “significant person” and is only a ghost in his imagination. However, such a plausible explanation violates the logic of Gogol’s world - just as it would be violated if the action of “The Nose” were explained as a dream of Major Kovalev.

However, the author does not give a final answer to all questions here either. “One Kolomna watchman,” he writes, “saw with his own eyes how a ghost appeared from behind one house; but being somewhat powerless by nature... he did not dare to stop him, and so he followed him in the darkness until finally the ghost suddenly looked around and, stopping, asked: “What do you want?” - and showed such a fist, which you will not find among the living. Buduchnik said: “Nothing,” and turned back the same hour ago. The ghost, however, was already much taller, wore an enormous mustache and, directing his steps, as it seemed, towards the Obukhov Bridge, disappeared completely into the darkness of the night.”

This is how the story ends. Gogol leaves it up to the reader to decide whether the ghost had anything to do with Akaki Akakievich or whether all this is the fruit of idle inventions and urban gossip.

In “The Overcoat” Gogol shows how a person puts his whole soul without reserve into a thing - an overcoat. This side of the hero of the story, deserving not only compassion, but also censure, was noted by Apollo Grigoriev, who wrote that in the image of Bashmachkin “the poet outlined the last facet of the shallowness of God’s creation to the extent that a thing, and the most insignificant thing, becomes a source for a person boundless joy and destroying grief, to the point that the overcoat becomes a tragic fatum in the life of a being created in the image and likeness of the Eternal..."

Gogolevsky Akakiy Akakievich as a hero is not reduced as a hero only to the St. Petersburg type of official, - this is a universal image that applies to everyone like him, no matter where and whenever they live, no matter what conditions they die or disappear from life just as imperceptibly for others, like Akaki Akakievich. The same misfortune befell him “as it befell the kings and rulers of the world...”

History of creation

Gogol, according to the Russian philosopher N. Berdyaev, is “the most mysterious figure in Russian literature.” To this day, the writer’s works cause controversy. One of such works is the story “The Overcoat”.

In the mid-30s, Gogol heard a joke about an official who had lost his gun. It sounded like this: there lived one poor official who was a passionate hunter. He saved for a long time for a gun, which he had long dreamed of. His dream came true, but, sailing across the Gulf of Finland, he lost it. Returning home, the official died of frustration.

The first draft of the story was called “The Tale of an Official Stealing an Overcoat.” In this version, some anecdotal motives and comic effects were visible. The official's last name was Tishkevich. In 1842, Gogol completed the story and changed the hero's surname. The story is published, completing the cycle of “Petersburg Tales”. This cycle includes the stories: “Nevsky Prospekt”, “The Nose”, “Portrait”, “The Stroller”, “Notes of a Madman” and “The Overcoat”. The writer worked on the cycle between 1835 and 1842. The stories are united based on a common place of events - St. Petersburg. Petersburg, however, is not only the place of action, but also a kind of hero of these stories, in which Gogol depicts life in its various manifestations. Typically, writers, when talking about St. Petersburg life, illuminated the life and characters metropolitan society. Gogol was attracted to petty officials, artisans, and poor artists - “little people.” It was no coincidence that St. Petersburg was chosen by the writer; it was this stone city that was especially indifferent and merciless to “ little man" This topic was first opened by A.S. Pushkin. She becomes the leader in the work of N.V. Gogol.

Genre, genre, creative method

The story “The Overcoat” shows the influence of hagiographic literature. It is known that Gogol was an extremely religious person. Of course, he was well acquainted with this genre of church literature. Many researchers have written about the influence of the life of St. Akaki of Sinai on the story “The Overcoat,” including famous names: V.B. Shklovsky and G.P. Makogonenko. Moreover, in addition to the striking external similarity of the destinies of St. Akaki and Gogol's hero were traced the main common points of plot development: obedience, stoic patience, the ability to endure various kinds of humiliation, then death from injustice and - life after death.

The genre of “The Overcoat” is defined as a story, although its volume does not exceed twenty pages. It received its specific name - a story - not so much for its volume, but for its enormous semantic richness, which is not found in every novel. The meaning of the work is revealed only by compositional and stylistic techniques with the extreme simplicity of the plot. Simple story about a poor official who invested all his money and soul into a new overcoat, after the theft of which he dies, under the pen of Gogol found a mystical denouement and turned into a colorful parable with enormous philosophical overtones. "The Overcoat" is not just an accusatory satirical story, it is a beautiful work of art, revealing the eternal problems of existence that will not be translated either in life or in literature as long as humanity exists.

Sharply criticizing the dominant system of life, its internal falsehood and hypocrisy, Gogol’s work suggested the need for a different life, a different social structure. The great writer’s “Petersburg Tales,” which include “The Overcoat,” are usually attributed to the realistic period of his work. Nevertheless, they can hardly be called realistic. The sad story about the stolen overcoat, according to Gogol, “unexpectedly takes on a fantastic ending.” The ghost, in whom the deceased Akaki Akakievich was recognized, tore off everyone’s greatcoat, “without discerning rank and title.” Thus, the ending of the story turned it into a phantasmagoria.

Subjects

The story raises social, ethical, religious and aesthetic problems. Public interpretation emphasized the social side of “The Overcoat.” Akaki Akakievich was viewed as a typical “little man”, a victim of the bureaucratic system and indifference. Emphasizing the typicality of the “little man’s” fate, Gogol says that death did not change anything in the department; Bashmachkin’s place was simply taken by another official. Thus the theme of man is victim social system- brought to its logical conclusion.

The ethical or humanistic interpretation was built on the pitiful moments of “The Overcoat”, the call for generosity and equality, which was heard in Akaki Akakievich’s weak protest against office jokes: “Leave me alone, why are you offending me?” - and in these penetrating words other words rang: “I am your brother.” Finally, the aesthetic principle, which came to the fore in the works of the 20th century, focused mainly on the form of the story as the focus of its artistic value.

Idea

“Why depict poverty... and the imperfections of our life, digging people out of life, the remote corners of the state?... no, there is a time when otherwise it is impossible to direct society and even a generation towards the beautiful until you show the full depth of its real abomination.” - wrote N.V. Gogol, and in his words lies the key to understanding the story.

The author showed the “depth of abomination” of society through the fate of the main character of the story - Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin. His image has two sides. The first is spiritual and physical squalor, which Gogol deliberately emphasizes and brings to the fore. The second is the arbitrariness and heartlessness of others towards the main character of the story. The relationship between the first and second determines the humanistic pathos of the work: even a person like Akaki Akakievich has the right to exist and be treated fairly. Gogol sympathizes with the fate of his hero. And it makes the reader involuntarily think about the attitude towards the entire world around him, and, first of all, about the sense of dignity and respect that every person should arouse towards himself, regardless of his social and financial status, but only taking into account his personal qualities and merits.

Nature of the conflict

The idea is based on N.V. Gogol lies in the conflict between the “little man” and society, a conflict leading to rebellion, to the uprising of the humble. The story “The Overcoat” describes not only an incident from the hero’s life. The whole life of a person appears before us: we are present at his birth, the naming of his name, we learn how he served, why he needed an overcoat and, finally, how he died. The life story of the “little man”, his inner world, his feelings and experiences, depicted by Gogol not only in “The Overcoat”, but also in other stories of the “Petersburg Tales” series, firmly entered into Russian literature of the 19th century century.

Main characters

The hero of the story is Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, a petty official of one of the St. Petersburg departments, a humiliated and powerless man “of short stature, somewhat pockmarked, somewhat reddish, somewhat blind in appearance, with a small bald spot on his forehead, with wrinkles on both sides of his cheeks.” The hero of Gogol's story is offended by fate in everything, but he does not complain: he is already over fifty, he did not go beyond copying papers, did not rise in rank above the titular councilor (a civil official of the 9th class, who does not have the right to acquire personal nobility - unless he born a nobleman) - and yet humble, meek, devoid of ambitious dreams. Bashmachkin has neither family nor friends, he does not go to the theater or to visit. All his “spiritual” needs are satisfied by copying papers: “It is not enough to say: he served zealously, - no, he served with love.” Nobody considers him to be a person. “The young officials laughed and made jokes at him, as much as their clerical wit was enough...” Bashmachkin did not answer a single word to his offenders, did not even stop working and did not make mistakes in the letter. All his life Akaki Akakievich serves in the same place, in the same position; His salary is meager - 400 rubles. per year, the uniform has long been no longer green, but a reddish flour color; Colleagues call an overcoat worn to holes a hood.

Gogol does not hide the limitations, scarcity of interests of his hero, and tongue-tiedness. But something else comes to the fore: his meekness, uncomplaining patience. Even the hero’s name carries this meaning: Akaki is humble, gentle, does not do evil, innocent. The appearance of the overcoat reveals the hero’s spiritual world; for the first time, the hero’s emotions are depicted, although Gogol does not give the character’s direct speech - only a retelling. Akaki Akakievich remains speechless even at the critical moment of his life. The drama of this situation lies in the fact that no one helped Bashmachkin.

An interesting vision of the main character from the famous researcher B.M. Eikhenbaum. He saw in Bashmachkin an image that “served with love”; in the rewriting, “he saw some kind of varied and pleasant world of his own,” he did not think at all about his dress or anything else practical, he ate without noticing the taste, did not indulge in any entertainment, in a word, he lived in some kind of ghostly and strange world, far from reality, was a dreamer in uniform. And it’s not for nothing that his spirit, freed from this uniform, so freely and boldly develops its revenge - this is prepared by the whole story, here is its whole essence, its whole whole.

Along with Bashmachkin, the image of an overcoat plays an important role in the story. It is also fully correlated with the broad concept of “uniform honor,” which characterized the most important element of noble and officer ethics, to the norms of which the authorities under Nicholas I tried to introduce commoners and all officials in general.

The loss of his overcoat turns out to be not only a material, but also a moral loss for Akaki Akakievich. Indeed, thanks to the new overcoat, Bashmachkin felt like a human being for the first time in a departmental environment. The new overcoat can save him from frost and illness, but, most importantly, it serves as protection for him from ridicule and humiliation from his colleagues. With the loss of his overcoat, Akaki Akakievich lost the meaning of life.

Plot and composition

“The plot of “The Overcoat” is extremely simple. The poor little official makes an important decision and orders a new overcoat. While she is being sewn, she turns into the dream of his life. The very first evening he puts it on, his overcoat is taken off by thieves on a dark street. The official dies of grief, and his ghost wanders around the city. That’s the whole plot, but, of course, the real plot (as always with Gogol) is in the style, in the internal structure of this... anecdote,” this is how V.V. retold the plot of Gogol’s story. Nabokov.

Hopeless need surrounds Akaki Akakievich, but he does not see the tragedy of his situation, since he is busy with business. Bashmachkin is not burdened by his poverty because he does not know any other life. And when he has a dream - a new overcoat, he is ready to endure any hardships, just to bring the realization of his plans closer. The overcoat becomes a kind of symbol of a happy future, a beloved brainchild, for which Akaki Akakievich is ready to work tirelessly. The author is quite serious when he describes his hero’s delight at realizing his dream: the overcoat is sewn! Bashmachkin was completely happy. However, with the loss of his new overcoat, Bashmachkin is overtaken by real grief. And only after death is justice done. Bashmachkin's soul finds peace when he returns his lost item.

The image of the overcoat is very important in the development of the plot of the work. The plot of the story revolves around the idea of ​​sewing a new overcoat or repairing an old one. The development of the action is Bashmachkin’s trips to the tailor Petrovich, an ascetic existence and dreams of a future overcoat, the purchase of a new dress and a visit to the name day, on which Akaki Akakievich’s overcoat must be “washed”. The action culminates in the theft of a new overcoat. And finally, the denouement lies in Bashmachkin’s unsuccessful attempts to return his overcoat; the death of the hero, who caught a cold without his overcoat and yearns for it. The story ends with an epilogue - a fantastic story about the ghost of an official who is looking for his overcoat.

The story about the “posthumous existence” of Akaki Akakievich is full of horror and comedy at the same time. In the deathly silence of the St. Petersburg night, he tears off the greatcoats from officials, not recognizing the bureaucratic difference in ranks and operating both behind the Kalinkin Bridge (that is, in the poor part of the capital) and in the rich part of the city. Only having caught up with the direct culprit of his death, “one significant person", who, after a friendly party with the bosses, goes to "a lady he knows, Karolina Ivanovna", and, having torn off his general's overcoat, the "spirit" of the dead Akaki Akakievich calms down and disappears from St. Petersburg squares and streets. Apparently, “the general’s overcoat suited him perfectly.”

Artistic originality

“Gogol’s composition is not determined by the plot - his plot is always poor, rather, there is no plot at all, but only one comic (and sometimes not even comic in itself at all) situation is taken, which serves, as it were, only as an impetus or reason for the development comic techniques. This story is especially interesting for this kind of analysis, because in it a pure comic tale, with all the techniques of language play characteristic of Gogol, is combined with pathetic declamation, forming, as it were, a second layer. to his acting persons in “The Overcoat,” Gogol allows little to be said, and, as always with him, their speech is formed in a special way, so that, despite individual differences, it never gives the impression of everyday speech,” wrote B.M. Eikhenbaum in the article “How Gogol’s “Overcoat” was Made.”

The narration in “The Overcoat” is told in the first person. The narrator knows the life of officials well and expresses his attitude to what is happening in the story through numerous remarks. “What to do! the St. Petersburg climate is to blame,” he notes regarding the hero’s deplorable appearance. The climate forces Akaki Akakievich to go to great lengths to buy a new overcoat, that is, in principle, directly contributes to his death. We can say that this frost is an allegory of Gogol’s Petersburg.

All artistic media that Gogol uses in the story: a portrait, an image of the details of the situation in which the hero lives, the plot of the story - all this shows the inevitability of Bashmachkin’s transformation into a “little man”.

The style of storytelling itself, when a pure comic tale, built on wordplay, puns, and deliberate tongue-tiedness, is combined with sublime, pathetic declamation, is an effective artistic means.

Meaning of the work

The great Russian critic V.G. Belinsky said that the task of poetry is “to extract the poetry of life from the prose of life and to shake souls with a faithful portrayal of this life.” N.V. is precisely such a writer, a writer who shakes the soul by depicting the most insignificant pictures of human existence in the world. Gogol. According to Belinsky, the story “The Overcoat” is “one of Gogol’s most profound creations.”
Herzen called “The Overcoat” a “colossal work.” The enormous influence of the story on the entire development of Russian literature is evidenced by the phrase recorded by the French writer Eugene de Vogüe from the words of “one Russian writer” (as is commonly believed, F.M. Dostoevsky): “We all came out of Gogol’s “The Overcoat.”

Gogol's works have been repeatedly staged and filmed. One of the last theatrical productions“The Overcoat” was undertaken at the Moscow Sovremennik. On the new stage of the theater, called “Another Stage”, intended primarily for staging experimental performances, “The Overcoat” was staged by director Valery Fokin.

“Staging Gogol’s “The Overcoat” has been my long-time dream. In general, I believe that there are three main works by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol - these are “The Inspector General”, “ Dead souls" and "Overcoat," said Fokin. I had already staged the first two and dreamed of “The Overcoat,” but I couldn’t start rehearsing because I didn’t see the leading actor... It always seemed to me that Bashmachkin was an unusual creature, neither feminine nor masculine, and someone here an unusual, and indeed an actor or actress, had to play this,” says the director. Fokin's choice fell on Marina Neelova. “During the rehearsal and in what happened during the work on the play, I realized that Neelova was the only actress who could do what I had in mind,” says the director. The play premiered on October 5, 2004. The set design of the story and the performing skills of actress M. Neyolova were highly appreciated by the audience and the press.

“And here is Gogol again. Sovremennik again. Once upon a time, Marina Neelova said that she sometimes imagines herself as a white sheet of paper, on which every director is free to depict whatever he wants - even a hieroglyph, even a drawing, even a long, tricky phrase. Maybe someone will imprison a blot in the heat of the moment. A viewer who looks at “The Overcoat” may imagine that there is no woman named Marina Mstislavovna Neyolova in the world, that she was completely erased from the drawing paper of the universe with a soft eraser and a completely different creature was drawn in her place. Gray-haired, thin-haired, evoking in everyone who looks at him both disgusting disgust and magnetic attraction.”