Dead souls are the main idea. Souls dead and alive in the poem “Dead Souls”

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is one of the most mysterious writers of the 19th century. His life and work are full of mysticism and secrets. Our article will help you prepare qualitatively for a literature lesson, for the Unified State Exam, test assignments, and creative work on the poem. When analyzing Gogol’s work “Dead Souls” in grade 9, it is important to rely on additional material in order to familiarize yourself with the history of creation, issues, and understand what artistic media used by the author. In “Dead Souls” the analysis is specific due to its substantive scope and compositional features works.

Brief Analysis

Year of writing– 1835 -1842 The first volume was published in 1842.

History of creation– the idea for the plot was suggested to Gogol by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. The author worked on the poem for about 17 years.

Subject- the morals and life of landowners in Rus' in the 30s of the 19th century, a gallery of human vices.

Composition– 11 chapters of the first volume, united by the image of the main character – Chichikov. Several chapters of the second volume that survived and were found and published.

Direction– realism. The poem also contains romantic traits, but they are secondary.

History of creation

Nikolai Vasilyevich wrote his immortal brainchild for about 17 years. He considered this work the most important mission in his life. The history of the creation of “Dead Souls” is full of gaps and mysteries, as well as mystical coincidences. While working on the work, the author became seriously ill, being on the verge of death, but he was suddenly miraculously healed. Gogol took this fact as a sign from above, which gave him a chance to finish his main work.

The idea of ​​“Dead Souls” and the very fact of their existence as a social phenomenon was suggested to Gogol by Pushkin. It was Alexander Sergeevich, according to the author, who gave him the idea to write a large-scale work capable of revealing the entire essence of the Russian soul. The poem was conceived as a work in three volumes. The first volume (published in 1842) was conceived as a collection of human vices, the second gave the characters the opportunity to realize their mistakes, and in the third volume they change and find the path to the right life.

While in work, the work was edited by the author many times, its main idea, characters, plot changed, but only the essence was preserved: the problems and plan of the work. Gogol finished the second volume of “Dead Souls” shortly before his death, but according to some information, he himself destroyed this book. According to other sources, it was given by the author to Tolstoy or one of his close friends, and then lost. There is an opinion that this manuscript is still kept by the descendants of high society around Gogol and will someday be found. The author did not have time to write the third volume, but there is information about its intended content from reliable sources, the future book, its idea and general characteristics, were discussed in literary circles.

Subject

Meaning of the name“Dead Souls” is twofold: this phenomenon itself - the sale of dead serf souls, rewriting them and transferring them to another owner and the image of people like Plyushkin, Manilov, Sobakevich - their souls are dead, the heroes are deeply unspiritual, vulgar and immoral.

Main topic“Dead Souls” - the vices and morals of society, the life of a Russian person in the 1830s of the 19th century. The problems that the author raises in the poem are as old as the world, but they are shown and revealed in the way that is characteristic of a researcher of human characters and souls: subtly and on a large scale.

Main character - Chichikov buys from landowners long-dead but still registered serfs, whom he needs only on paper. Thus, he plans to get rich by receiving payment for them from the board of guardians. Chichikov's interaction and collaboration with scammers and charlatans like himself becomes the central theme of the poem. The desire to get rich in every possible way is characteristic not only of Chichikov, but also of many of the heroes of the poem - this is the disease of the century. What Gogol’s poem teaches is between the lines of the book - Russian people are characterized by adventurism and a craving for “easy bread.”

The conclusion is clear: the most correct way is to live according to the laws, in harmony with conscience and heart.

Composition

The poem consists of the complete first volume and several surviving chapters of the second volume. The composition is subordinated to the main goal - to reveal a picture of Russian life, contemporary to the author, to create a gallery of typical characters. The poem consists of 11 chapters, full of lyrical digressions, philosophical discussions and wonderful descriptions of nature.

All this breaks through the main plot from time to time and gives the work a unique lyricism. The work ends with a colorful lyrical reflection on the future of Russia, its strength and power.

The book was originally conceived as a satirical work, this influenced the overall composition. In the first chapter, the author introduces the reader to the residents of the city, to the main character - Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. From the second to the sixth chapters the author gives portrait characteristic landowners, their unique way of life, a kaleidoscope of quirks and morals. The next four chapters describe the life of bureaucrats: bribery, arbitrariness and tyranny, gossip, the way of life of a typical Russian city.

Main characters

Genre

To determine the genre of “Dead Souls”, it is necessary to turn to history. Gogol himself defined it as a “poem,” although the structure and scale of the narrative are close to the story and novel. The prose work is called a poem due to its lyricism: a large number of lyrical digressions, remarks and comments by the author. It is also worth considering that Gogol drew a parallel between his brainchild and Pushkin’s poem “Eugene Onegin”: the latter is considered a novel in verse, and “Dead Souls” is, on the contrary, a poem in prose.

The author emphasizes the equivalence of the epic and the lyrical in his work. Criticism has a different opinion about the genre features of the poem. For example, V. G. Belinsky called the work a novel, and this opinion is usually taken into account, since it is completely justified. But according to tradition Gogol's work called a poem.

Work test

Rating Analysis

Average rating: 4.7. Total ratings received: 3875.

Essay based on the text:

Does the end always justify the means? This is precisely the question asked by the Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol in the text he offered me.

Discussing this problem on the pages of the poem “Dead Souls,” the author paints a dual image of the main character. On the one hand, he (Chichikov) has a great desire to “hotly engage in service, to conquer and overcome everything.” We see a selfless, patient person who limits himself to all the needs. On the other hand, the writer clarifies by what means the hero achieved his goal: he “began to please his boss in all sorts of unnoticeable little things,” began to court his daughter and even promised to marry her. The author shows that in order to achieve a successful career, Chichikov neglects the laws of morality: he is deceitful, calculating, hypocritical and cynical. It is no coincidence that in the final part of the fragment N.V. Gogol emphasizes that the moral “threshold” was the most difficult and after that it was not difficult for the hero to deceive, please and be mean in order to achieve his goals. So the author warns the reader: turn away from moral path easy - hard to return to it. Gogol suggests thinking: is it worth going against universal human principles, becoming a scoundrel even to achieve what you want?

Of course, I agree with this point of view and believe that the desire to achieve what you want at any cost not only does not lead to happiness and well-being, but can also affect the lives of other people.

I would like to substantiate my point of view by referring to Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”. Using the example of his heroine Helen Kuragina, an impeccable woman external beauty and gloss, we understand what the selfish desire to get one's own can lead to. Hunting for the wealth of Count Bezukhov, she achieves her goal: she marries Pierre and becomes one of the richest women in St. Petersburg. But marriage does not bring happiness to young people: Helen does not love her husband, does not respect him, and continues to lead her usual lifestyle. We see how the heroine's cynical calculation leads to the collapse of the family. The story of Helen and Pierre makes you think about whether it makes sense to achieve the desired goal by any means.

I would like to substantiate my position by referring to Richard Matheson's story "Press the Button." This is the average Lewis family. At first glance, we cannot blame Arthur and Norma for lack of spirituality, because at first Mr. Stewart’s offer to exchange the life of a stranger for fifty thousand dollars causes disgust and indignation among the spouses. Unfortunately, the very next day the heroine begins to seriously think about the agent’s tempting offer, in her opinion. We see how in this difficult internal struggle the dream of traveling around Europe, a new cottage, fashionable clothes wins... Reading this story, you understand that the inability to set priorities, the rejection of generally accepted values ​​is destructive for a person: the price of Norma’s desires was the life of her husband Arthur. Thus, Richard Matheson showed what the desire to achieve what you want at any cost can lead to.

The works of N.V. Gogol, L.N. Tolstoy and R. Matheson make it possible to understand that a person should not set goals for himself, the achievement of which requires the abandonment of universal moral laws.

Text by N.V. Gogol

After leaving school, he did not even want to rest: his desire was so strong to quickly get down to business and service. He got an insignificant place, a salary of thirty or forty rubles a year. But he decided to get busy with his service, to conquer and overcome everything. And, indeed, he showed unheard-of self-sacrifice, patience and limitation of needs. Chichikov could not help but be noticed and distinguished among other officials, presenting a complete contrast in everything with his good looks, the friendliness of his voice, and his complete non-use of any strong drinks.

But despite all this, his road was difficult. He fell under the command of an already elderly police officer, who was the image of some kind of stony insensibility and unshakability. It seemed that there was no human strength to approach such a person and attract his favor, but Chichikov tried. At first he began to please in all sorts of unnoticeable details: he carefully examined the mending of the feathers with which he wrote, and, having prepared several according to their model, placed them under his hand every time; blew sand and tobacco off his table; got a new rag for his inkwell; I found his hat somewhere, the worst hat that had ever existed in the world, and every time I placed it next to him a minute before the end of his presence; cleaned his back if he stained it with chalk against the wall. But all this remained resolutely without any comment, as if none of this had been done. Finally, he sniffed out his home, family life: he found out that he had a mature daughter, with a nondescript face, exactly like that of a police officer. It was from this side that he came up with the idea to launch an attack. He found out which church she came to on Sundays, stood opposite her every time, cleanly dressed, with a very starched shirtfront, and the job was a success: the stern police officer staggered and invited him to tea! And before the office had time to look back, things had worked out in such a way that Chichikov moved into his house, became a necessary and indispensable person, bought flour and sugar, treated his daughter like a bride, treated his father as a police officer and kissed his hand. Everyone in the ward decided that there would be a wedding at the end of February, before Lent. The stern police officer even began to bother his boss on his behalf, and after a while Chichikov himself was appointed as a police officer to fill one vacant position that had opened up. This, it seemed, was the main purpose of his connections with the old police officer, because he immediately sent his chest secretly home and the next day he found himself in another apartment. The foreman stopped calling him daddy and no longer kissed his hand, and the matter of the wedding was hushed up, as if nothing had happened at all. However, when meeting him, he always affectionately shook his hand and invited him to tea, so that the old police officer, despite his eternal immobility and callous indifference, shook his head every time and said under his breath: “You cheated, you cheated, you damn son !

This was the most difficult threshold he crossed. From then on things went easier and more successfully. He became a noticeable person. Everything turned out to be in him that is needed for this world: pleasantness in turns and actions, and agility in business affairs.

(According to N.V. Gogol)

Poem " Dead souls“Many associate it with mysticism, and for good reason. Gogol was the first Russian writer to combine the supernatural with reality. The second volume of Dead Souls, the reasons for the burning of which are still debated to this day, has become synonymous with an unrealized plan. The first volume is a guide to the life of the Russian nobility in the 1830s, an encyclopedia of landowner and bureaucratic sins. Memorable images, lyrical digressions filled with deep thoughts, subtle satire - all this, coupled with the artistic talent of the author, not only helps to understand the specific features of the era, but also brings true reading pleasure.

When it comes to Russian literature of the first half of the nineteenth century, two writers most often come to mind: Pushkin and Gogol. But not everyone, however, knows the following interesting fact: it was Pushkin who suggested to his friend the themes of “The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls”. The poet himself extracted the idea from the story of fugitive peasants who did not have documents, who took the names of the dead and thus did not allow a single death to be registered in the city of Bendery.

Having picked up the idea, Gogol began to develop a general plan. On October 7, 1835, he writes to Pushkin (this is when the documented history of the creation of the work begins):

I started writing Dead Souls. The plot stretches out into a long novel and, it seems, will be very funny.

Gogol's idea, according to one version, was to create a poem modeled after Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy. The first volume is hell. The second is purgatory. The third is heaven. We can only guess whether this was really the author’s plan, and also why Gogol did not finish the poem. There are two versions on this matter:

1. N.V. Gogol was a believer and listened to all the recommendations of his confessor (the priest who accepted his confessions and advised him). It was his confessor who ordered him to burn “Dead Souls” entirely, since he saw in them something ungodly and unworthy of a Christian. But the first volume had already been distributed so widely that it was impossible to destroy all copies. But the second one was very vulnerable at the preparation stage and fell victim to the author.
2. The writer created the first volume with enthusiasm and was pleased with it, but the second volume was artificial and strained, because it corresponded to Dante's concept. If hell in Russia was depicted without difficulty, then heaven and purgatory did not correspond to reality and could not be depicted without a stretch. Gogol did not want to betray himself and try to do something that was too far from the truth and alien to him.

Genre, direction

The main question is why the creation “Dead Souls” is called a poem. The answer is simple: Gogol himself defined the genre this way (obviously, in terms of structure, language and number of characters, this epic work, more precisely - a novel). Perhaps this was his way of emphasizing genre originality: equality of the epic (the actual description of Chichikov’s journey, way of life, characters) and lyrical (the author’s thoughts) principles. According to a less common version, Gogol made a reference to Pushkin, or set his work in contrast to “Eugene Onegin”, which, on the contrary, is called a novel, although it has all the signs of a poem.

WITH literary direction easier to understand. It is obvious that the writer resorts to realism. This is indicated by a fairly meticulous description of the noble way of life, especially estates and landowners. The choice of direction is explained by the demiurgic task that Gogol chose for himself. In one work, he undertook to describe the whole of Russia, to bring to the surface all the bureaucratic dirt, all the chaos going on both in the country and within each civil servant. Other trends simply do not have the necessary tools; Gogol’s realism does not get along with, say, romanticism.

Meaning of the name

The title used is probably the most famous oxymoron in the Russian language. The very concept of the soul includes the concept of immortality and dynamism.

It is obvious that dead souls are the subject around which Chichikov’s machinations and, accordingly, all the events of the poem are built. But the poem is named not only and not so much to denote an extraordinary product, but because of the landowners who willingly sell or even donate souls. They themselves are dead, but not physically, but spiritually. It is these people, according to Gogol, who make up the contingent of hell; it is them (if you believe the hypothesis about borrowing the composition from Dante) that heaven awaits after the atonement of sins. Only in the third volume could they become “alive”.

Composition

The main feature of the composition “Dead Souls” is the ring dynamics. Chichikov enters the city of NN, makes a journey within it, during which he makes the necessary acquaintances and carries out his planned scam, looks at the ball, after which he leaves - the circle closes.

In addition, acquaintances with landowners occur in descending order: from least “ dead soul", Manilov, to Plyushkin, mired in debts and problems. The story of Captain Kopeikin, woven by the author into the tenth chapter as the story of one of the employees, is intended to show the mutual influence of man and the state. It is noteworthy that Chichikov’s biography is described in last chapter, after his chaise left the city.

The essence

The main character, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, arrives in provincial town NN with the goal of buying up dead souls from landowners (supposedly for withdrawal to the Kherson province, where land was distributed for free), pawning them on the board of guardians and receiving two hundred rubles for each. In a word, he passionately wanted to get rich and did not hesitate to use any methods. Upon arrival, he immediately meets government officials and charms them with his manners. No one suspects what a brilliant but dishonest idea lies at the heart of all his activities.

At first, everything went smoothly, the landowners were happy to meet the hero, sold or even gave him souls, and invited him to visit them again. However, the ball that Chichikov attends before leaving nearly deprived him of his reputation and nearly derailed his scheme. Rumors and gossip about his fraud begin to spread, but the swindler manages to leave the city.

The main characters and their characteristics

Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov- "middle-class gentleman." He really is an average character in everything: “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.” From the eleventh chapter we learn that his character was largely determined by his father’s instructions to obey teachers and superiors in everything, and also to save a penny. Toadying, cloying in communication, hypocrisy - all these are means for fulfilling the father's decree. In addition, the hero has a sharp mind, he is characterized by cunning and dexterity, without which the idea with dead souls could not have been realized (and perhaps would not have occurred to him). You can learn more about the hero from the Many-Wise Litrecon.

The images of landowners are described in accordance with the chronology of their appearance in the work.

• Manilov- the first landowner to meet Chichikov and stand on a par with him in terms of sweetness and vulgar mannerisms. But the motives for Chichikov’s behavior are clearly defined, while Manilov is gentle in himself. Soft and dreamy. If these qualities were supported by activity, his character could be classified as positive. However, everything Manilov lives by is limited to demagoguery and having his head in the clouds. Manilov - from the word beckons. It’s easy to get bogged down in him and his estate and lose your bearings. However, Chichikov, faithful to his task, receives souls and continues on his way...
• A box he meets by chance when he cannot find his way. She gives him a place to stay for the night. Like Chichikov, Korobochka strives to increase her wealth, but she lacks mental acuity and is “club-headed.” Her last name symbolizes a state of detachment from the outside world, limitation; she closed herself in her estate as if in a box, trying to see benefit in every insignificant detail. You can find out more about this image in.
• Nozdryov– a real playmaker. This is indicated at least by the fact that Chichikov’s meeting with him took place in a tavern. Nozdryov whiles away his days in such establishments. He is not involved in the affairs of his estate, but he drinks a lot and squanders money at cards. Self-centered, vain. He tries in every possible way to arouse interest in his person by telling fables that he himself composed. However, we should give him his due - he is the only landowner who refused to sell his soul to Chichikov.
• Sobakevich- a bear in human form. Also clumsy, he also sleeps a lot and eats even more. Food is the main joy in his life. And after eating - sleep. He feeds Chichikov almost to death, which is reminiscent of Manilov, who also seems to “entangle the wanderer,” detaining him on the estate. However, Sobakevich is amazingly pragmatic. Everything in his household is of good quality, but without excessive pretentiousness. He bargains with the main character for a long time, and ends up selling many souls at a favorable price.
• Plyushkin- “a hole in humanity.” He abandoned the affairs of the estate, does not look after his own appearance so much so that at the first meeting it is difficult to determine his gender. His passion for hoarding is the apotheosis of stinginess. His estate brings only losses, there is barely enough food to survive (it spoils and rots in the barns), the peasants die. An ideal situation for Chichikov, who buys many souls for next to nothing. It is worth noting the connection between these characters. Only their biographies are given by the author; nothing is said about the past of the others. This may serve as a basis for the hypothesis that they could go through purgatory (the second volume) and go to heaven in the third. The Many-wise Litrekon wrote more about this image in a small one.
• Captain Kopeikin- great veteran Patriotic War. He lost an arm and a leg, and therefore had to stop working. He went to St. Petersburg to beg for benefits, however, having received nothing, he returned to his hometown and, according to rumors, became a robber. This character embodied the image of an oppressed people rejected by the state. It is noteworthy that the edition of the fragment, permitted by the censorship of that time, carries a diametrically opposite message: the state, unable to do so, helps the veteran, and he, despite this, goes against him. You can learn about the role and significance of this story from.
• Three bird, appearing at the very end of the poem, embodies Rus' and is also one of the characters. Where is she going? Chichikov's journey is the historical path of the country. His main problem is the lack of a home. He can't come anywhere. Odysseus had Ithaca, but Chichikov only has a chaise, moving in an unknown direction. Russia, according to the author, is also in search of its place in the world and, of course, will find it.
• Author's image, revealed through lyrical digressions, brings a pinch of sanity into the swamp of sin and vice. He sarcastically describes his heroes and reflects on their destinies, drawing funny parallels. His image combines cynicism and hope, a critical mind and faith in the future. One of the most famous quotes written by Gogol on his own behalf is “What Russian doesn’t like driving fast?” - is familiar even to those who have not read the poem.
• The system of images introduced by Gogol still finds correspondence in reality. We meet walking Nozdryovs, sleepy Manilovs, enterprising opportunists like Chichikov. But Russia is still moving in an unclear direction, still looking for its “home”.

Topics and issues

1. The main theme raised in the poem is Historical path of Russia(in a broader sense - the theme of the road). The author tries to comprehend the imperfection of the bureaucratic apparatus that led to the current state of affairs. After the publication of Gogol’s work, they criticized him for his lack of patriotism and for putting Russia in a bad light. He foresaw this and gave an answer to the skeptics in one of the digressions (the beginning of the seventh chapter), where he compared the fate of a writer who glorifies the great, the sublime, with the fate of the one who dared to “call out everything that is every minute before the eyes and which indifferent eyes do not see, all the terrible, stunning mud of little things that entangle our lives, the whole depth of cold, fragmented, everyday characters with which our earthly, sometimes bitter and boring path is teeming, and with the strong force of an inexorable chisel, who dared to expose them prominently and brightly to the eyes of the people!” True patriot- not the one who does not notice and does not show the shortcomings of the homeland, but the one who plunges headlong into them, explores them, describes them in order to eradicate them.
2. The theme of the relationship between the people and the authorities represented by the antithesis of landowners - peasants. The latter represent Gogol's moral ideal. Despite the fact that these people did not receive a good upbringing and education, it is in them that one sees a glimpse of a real, living feeling. It is their unbridled energy that can transform today's Russia. They are oppressed, but active, while the landowners have complete freedom, but sit with their hands folded - this is exactly what Gogol ridicules.
3. The phenomenon of the Russian soul is also a topic of thought for the author. Despite all the problems raised in the book, our people are fraught with real wealth of talent and character. The Russian soul is visible even in morally inferior landowners: Korobochka is caring and hospitable, Manilov is kind-hearted and open, Sobakevich is economical and businesslike, Nozdryov is cheerful and full of energy. Even Plyushkin is transformed when he remembers friendship. This means that Russian people are unique by nature, and even in the worst of them there are virtues and dormant abilities for creation.
4. Family theme also interested the writer. The inferiority and coldness of the Chichikov family gave rise to vices in him, a talented young man. Plyushkin became a distrustful and malicious miser when he lost his support - his wife. The role of family in the poem is central to moral purification dead souls.

The main problem of the work is the problem of the “death of the Russian soul”. The gallery of landowners in the first volume clearly demonstrates this phenomenon. Leo Tolstoy in his novel Anna Karenina came up with the following formula, which later began to be applied to many areas of life: “All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” She surprisingly accurately notices the peculiarity of Gogol's characters. Although he shows us only one positive landowner (Kostanjoglo from the second volume), and we cannot verify the first part of the formula, the second part is confirmed. The souls of all the characters in the first volume are dead, but in different ways.

Ultimately, it is the totality of characters, insignificant for society individually, that becomes the cause of a social and moral crisis. It turns out that every somewhat influential person, through his activities, can change the state of things in the city - Gogol comes to this conclusion.

Bribery and embezzlement, sycophancy, ignorance are components of the problem of “death of the soul.” It is interesting that all these phenomena were called “Chichikovism”, which was used by our ancestors for a long time.

main idea

The main idea of ​​the poem lies in the seventh chapter, in the passage where Chichikov “revives” the souls he bought and fantasizes about what all these people could be like. “Were you a master, or just a peasant, and what kind of death killed you?” - the hero asks. He thinks about the fate of those whom he previously considered goods. This is the first glimpse of his soul, the first important question. Here the hypothesis about the possibility of purifying Chichikov’s soul begins to seem plausible. If this is so, then every dead soul is capable of moral rebirth. The author believed in a happy and great future for Russia and connected it with the moral resurrection of its people.

In addition, Gogol shows the liveliness, spiritual strength, and purity of each peasant character. “Stepan is a traffic jam, that’s the hero who would be fit for the guard!”, “Popov, a yard man, should be literate.” He does not forget to pay tribute to workers and peasants, although the subject of his coverage is Chichikov’s machinations, his interaction with the rotten bureaucracy. The point of these descriptions is not so much to show as to ridicule and condemn dead souls in order to raise the conscious reader to a new height of understanding and help him set the country on the right course.

What does it teach?

Everyone will draw their own conclusion after reading this book. Someone will object to Gogol: the problems of corruption and fraud are characteristic to one degree or another for any country; they cannot be eliminated completely. Someone will agree with him and become convinced that the soul is the only thing that any person should care about.

If it were necessary to identify a single morality, it might look like this: a person, no matter who he is, cannot live life to the fullest and be happy if you do not use energy for creative purposes, while enriching yourself illegally. What's interesting is even active work coupled with illegal methods cannot make a person happy. As an example, Chichikov is forced to hide the true motives of his behavior and fear for the disclosure of his plans.

Artistic details and language

Grotesque is Gogol's favorite technique. The famous Soviet literary critic Boris Eikhenbaum in his article “How Gogol’s Overcoat was Made” showed that his genius is manifested not so much in the content of his works, but in their form. The same can be said about “Dead Souls”. Playing with different stylistic registers - pathetic, ironic, sentimental - Gogol creates a real comedy. Grotesqueness is the discrepancy between the seriousness and importance of the chosen topic and the language used. The writer was guided by the principle “the longer we look at a funny work, the sadder it seems.” With a satirical style, he lured the reader, forcing him to return to the text and see the terrible truth under the humor.

A striking example of satire is the use speaking names. Some of them are described in the section on characteristics of landowners. The meaning of some (Disrespect-Trough, You-Won’t-Reach, Sparrow) can be debated. Historicisms (britchka, goats, radiator) make the details difficult to understand modern reader.

Meaning, originality and features

“Dead Souls” occupy a central place in Gogol’s work. Despite the fact that “we all came out of Gogol’s “Overcoat”” (according to Eugene de Vogüe), the poem about Chichikov also needs careful study.

There are many interpretations of the text. The most popular is continuity with the Divine Comedy. Poet, writer and literary critic Dmitry Bykov believes that Gogol was guided by Homer's Odyssey. He draws the following parallels: Manilov - Sirens, Korobochka - Circe, Sobakevich - Polyphemus, Nozdryov - Aeolus, Plyushkin - Scylla and Charybdis, Chichikov - Odysseus.

The poem is interesting for the presence of many features available only to professional researchers and writers. For example, at the beginning of the first chapter we read: “His entry made absolutely no noise in the city and was not accompanied by anything special; only two Russian men standing at the door of the tavern opposite the hotel made some comments...” Why clarify that the men are Russian, if it is clear that the action takes place in Russia? This is a characteristic of the poem technique of the “figure of fiction”, when something (often a lot) is said, but nothing is defined. We see the same thing in the description of the “average” Chichikov.

Another example is the awakening of the hero at Korobochka as a result of a fly flying into his nose. Mukha and Chichikov actually play similar roles - they awaken from sleep. The first awakens the hero himself, while Chichikov, with his arrival, awakens the dead city and its inhabitants.

Criticism

Herzen wrote “Dead souls shook Russia.” Pushkin exclaimed: “God, how sad our Russia is!” Belinsky put the work above everything that was in Russian literature, but complained about the extremely pompous lyricism, which was not combined with the theme and message (obviously, he perceived only the content, discarding the ingenious language game). O.I. Senkovsky believed that “Dead Souls” was a humorous comparison with all the great epics.

There were many statements from critics and amateurs about the poem, they are all different, but one thing is certain: the work caused a huge resonance in society, forced us to look deeper at the world and ask serious questions. A creation can hardly be called great if it pleases and pleases everyone. Greatness comes later, in heated debate and research. Time must pass before people can appreciate the works of geniuses, which undoubtedly includes Nikolai Gogol.

Souls dead and alive in the poem “Dead Souls”.

Goals: deepen students’ understanding of the main conflict of the poem; help clarify the social position of the author of “Dead Souls”; determine the main character traits of Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdryov, Sobakevich, Plyushkin; pay attention to the general plan of the image of the landowners; understand why central character the author of the poem was made by Chichikov; consider the motives of behavior of city officials; summarize the students’ knowledge about the poem, consider how the people are depicted, what the writer sees as their strength and weakness.

1. The main conflict of the poem “Dead Souls”.

2.Characteristics various types landowners. Souls "dead":

Manilov

Sobakevich

Box

Nozdryov

Plyushkin

3. The image of Chichikov.

4. Living souls are the embodiment of the talent of the people.

5. The moral degradation of the people is the result of the moral emptiness of society.

The pinnacle of creativity was the poem “Dead Souls”. When starting to create his grandiose work, he wrote: “All of Rus' will appear in it”!

IN the basis of the poem's conflict Gogol posited the main contradiction of contemporary reality between the gigantic spiritual forces of the people and their enslavement. Gogol addressed the most pressing problems of that time: the state of the landowner economy, the moral character of the local and bureaucratic nobility, the relationship of the peasantry with the authorities, the fate of the peoples of Russia. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" displays a whole gallery of types that have become common nouns. Gogol consistently portrays officials, landowners and the main character of Chichikov's poem. Plot-wise, the poem is structured as the story of the adventures of Chichikov, an official who buys up dead souls.

Half of the first volume of the poem is devoted to the characteristics of various types of Russian landowners. Gogol creates five portraits that are different from each other, but at the same time, in each of them the typical features of a Russian landowner appear. The images of landowners are presented in contrast in the poem, because they carry various vices. One after another, each more spiritually insignificant than the previous one, follow the owners of the estates: Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin. If Manilov is sentimental and sweet to the point of cloying, then Sobakevich is straightforward and rude. Their views on life are polar: for Manilov, everyone around them is beautiful, for Sobakevich they are robbers and swindlers. Manilov does not show real concern for the well-being of the peasants, for the well-being of the family; he entrusts all management to a rogue clerk who ruins both the peasants and the landowner. But Sobakevich is a strong owner, ready to engage in any scam for the sake of profit. Manilov is a careless dreamer, Sobakevich is a cynical fist-burner.

Korobochka's callousness is manifested in petty hoarding. The only thing that worries her is the price of hemp and honey; wouldn't sell it too cheap selling the dead shower. Korobochka resembles Sobakevich in his stinginess and passion for profit, although the stupidity of the “clubhead” takes these qualities to a comical limit.

The “accumulators”, Sobakevich and Korobochka, are opposed to the “spendthrifts” - Nozdryov and Plyushkin. Nozdryov is a desperate spendthrift and debauchee, a devastator and ruiner of the economy. His energy turned into a scandalous bustle, aimless and destructive.

If Nozdryov threw away his entire fortune, then Plyushkin turned his into mere appearance. Gogol shows the last trait to which the death of the soul can lead a person using the example of Plyushkin, whose image completes the gallery of landowners. This hero is terrible and pitiful, since, unlike previous characters, he loses not only his spirituality, but also his human appearance. Chichikov, seeing him, wonders for a long time whether it is a man or a woman, and finally decides that the housekeeper is in front of him. And yet he is a landowner, the owner of more than a thousand souls and huge storerooms. True, in these storerooms bread rots, flour turns into stone, cloth and linens turn into dust. A no less eerie picture appears in the manor’s house, where everything is covered with dust and cobwebs, and in the corner of the room there is piled “a heap of things that are coarser and that are unworthy to lie on the tables. It was difficult to decide what exactly was in this pile, just as it was difficult to figure out what the owner’s robe was made from.

How did it happen that a rich, educated man, a nobleman turned into a “hole in humanity”? To answer this question, Gogol turns to the hero’s past. The writer very accurately traces the degradation of man, and the reader understands that man is not born a monster, but becomes one. This means the soul could live! But Gogol notes that over time, a person submits himself to the prevailing laws in society and betrays the ideals of his youth.

All Gogol's landowners are bright, memorable characters. But their essence is the same: while possessing living souls, they themselves have long ago turned into dead souls. They lack spiritual content, which is why these heroes are funny.

Convincing the reader that his landowners are typical, Gogol names other nobles, even characterizing them by their last names: Svinin, Trepakin, Blokhin, Potseluev, Bespechny, etc.

Gogol shows the reason for the death of the human soul using the example of the formation of the character of the main character - Chichikova. A joyless childhood, deprived of parental love and affection, service and the example of bribe-taking officials - these factors formed a scoundrel who is like everyone else around him. In the final chapter, which completes the biography of Chichikov, he is finally exposed as a clever predator, acquirer and entrepreneur of the bourgeois type, a civilized scoundrel, the master of life. But Chichikov, differing from the landowners in his entrepreneurial spirit, is also a “dead” soul. The happiness of a “decent person” is based on money. Calculation crowded out all human feelings from him.

Gogol shows the emergence of a new person in Russian life, who has neither a noble family nor a title, but who, at the cost of his own efforts, thanks to his intelligence and resourcefulness, is trying to make a fortune. His ideal is a penny; marriage is thought of as a profitable deal. Having quickly figured out a person, he knows how to approach everyone in a special way. His inner diversity is also emphasized by his appearance: “There was a gentleman sitting in the chaise, neither too fat nor too thin, one cannot say that he was old, but not that he was too young.” Gogol was able to discern the features of an emerging type in his contemporary society and brought them together in the image of Chichikov.

- City officialsNN even more impersonal than the landowners. Their deadness is shown in the ball scene: no people are visible, muslins, satins, tailcoats, uniforms, shoulders, necks, ribbons are everywhere. The whole interest of life is focused on gossip, gossip, and envy. They differ from each other only in the size of the bribe. These are also “dead” souls.

But behind the dead souls of Chichikov, officials and landowners, Gogol saw the living souls of the peasants, the strength national character. According to Gogol's poem, “Behind the dead souls are living souls.” The talent of the people is revealed in the dexterity of the coachman Mikheev, the shoemaker Telyatnikov, and the carpenter Stepan Probka. The strength and sharpness of the people's mind was reflected in the glibness and accuracy of the Russian word, the depth and integrity of Russian feeling - in the sincerity of the Russian song, the breadth and generosity of the soul - in the unbridled joy of folk holidays.

However, serfdom's deadness destroys the good inclinations in a person and destroys the people. Against the backdrop of the majestic endless expanses of Rus', real pictures of Russian life seem especially bitter. Gogol sees how high and good qualities are distorted in the kingdom of “dead” souls, how peasants die, driven to despair, rushing into any risky business, just to get out of serfdom.

Not finding the truth from the supreme authorities, Captain Kopeikin, helping himself, becomes the chieftain of the robbers. “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” reminds the authorities of the threat of revolutionary rebellion in Russia.

Having depicted Russia “from one side” in its negative essence, in stunning “pictures of triumphant evil and suffering hatred” in the poem, Gogol once again convinces that in his time “it is impossible otherwise to direct society or even an entire generation towards the beautiful until you show all the depth of its true abomination."

1.What is the meaning of the title of the poem?

2. Why is the chapter telling about Chichikov’s biography located at the end of the work?

Literature lesson in 9th grade on the topic: “Dead Souls” - the history of creation, plot features, system of images. Chichikov and the landowners"

The article belongs to the section: Teaching literature

Lesson objectives:

2. A more detailed examination of the chapters telling about Chichikov’s visit to the landowners;

3.Training in analytical retelling.

Vocabulary work:

System of images.

Equipment:

Portrait of a writer,

Creative works of students,

Projector,

Illustrations for Gogol's works.

Lesson progress

I. Implementation of homework:

At the beginning of our lesson, I want to give a short quiz, which will be the implementation of your homework and prepare you for the perception new topic. I would like to draw your attention to the illustrations presented on the board. Some of them may be a little help in doing your job. So, the quiz questions.

Quiz.

1.Where and when was you born?

2.What kind of education did Gogol receive?

3. What were the names of the gymnasium literary magazines, of which Gogol was an organizer and participant?

4.What female role did Gogol play in the student play?

6.What was the name of the beekeeper, on whose behalf the story is told in “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”?

7. In which theater was Gogol’s play “The Inspector General” first staged?

8. Who owns the words spoken after the first performance of “The Inspector General”: “What a play! Everyone got it, and I got it more than everyone else!”?

9. What proverb did Gogol take as the epigraph to the comedy “The Inspector General”?

10. In what year does the play “The Inspector General” take place?

11. Where is the city in which the events of the play “The Inspector General” take place?

(collection of sheets with student answers)

It was a quiz on the works of Gogol that we had studied earlier. You yourself have prepared similar quizzes and tests today.

1st student: test on the story “Terrible Revenge”

2nd student: test on the story “Taras Bulba”

3rd student: test on the comedy “The Inspector General”

Opening remarks teachers.

... Much is known about the work and life of the Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, but very little is known about the spiritual life of the writer.

Penetration into the depths of the soul is potentially accessible to many, but only a few rush from external life to the other “side”, more precisely: to the point of intersection of the lines of time and space, beyond the boundaries of the known, studied and supposedly become the law for the direction of thought. Is a deep understanding of Gogol's work possible today?

Today we have an unusual lesson. A new meeting with the great writer and his work will not happen the way it usually happens in the classroom. Today you will hold this meeting yourself and introduce each other to the material that you have selected during your research.

II. Announcement of the topic. Study of material by students.

1st presentation. History of creation. System of images. Chichikov and landowners.

2nd presentation. Genre originality.

3rd presentation. Chichikov and landowners.

III. Teacher's word.

Now I want to draw your attention to how I prepared for this lesson. I, too, like you, wanted to tell you that I conceived my poem thanks to A. S. Pushkin, whom I considered my teacher. He often visited him (imagine a picture of the artist), often reread his manuscripts to him and consulted with the poet. A. Zhukovsky was also a connoisseur of Gogol’s work.

When the manuscript was first read by Gogol to Pushkin and Zhukovsky, one of them exclaimed, “God, how sad our Russia is!”

I would like to supplement the presentations of our students with a definition of the poem.

Poem - lyric epic genre, poetic narrative work with a detailed plot and a pronounced lyrical assessment of what the story is about.

Presentation of the reference diagram by the teacher. Construction of the poem “Dead Souls”. System of images.

Russia... How much it means to many of us! No matter how our life develops in the future, she will always be with us in a corner of our heart, our soul. The feeling of the Motherland, Russia... What does it mean to us? Russia is our home, our mother, the street we grew up on, and our Russian bread and salt. The Russian soul is so broad, direct, and emotional. Remember from Gogol: “Aren’t you, Rus', like a brisk, unstoppable troika, rushing?”? Troika is not only Rus', but also its entire nature, its villages and cities, it is all Russian.

All of Rus' appeared in this work. Together with the adventurer Chichikov, whose goal was to buy dead serfs, “dead souls,” we saw Russia in the 19th century with its shortcomings, vices, and its acute social problems and contradictions, the landowner and bureaucratic world, the world of “dead souls”, the whole tragedy of the people.

Many pages of the poem are directly devoted to the Motherland, Russia, and its future.

This is the kingdom of officials that we saw during Chichikov’s travels across Russia. It is no coincidence that the author named the city where Gogol’s hero stopped at the beginning of his journey N. This letter N means that in the time of the writer there were many such impersonal cities, they were all similar to each other. The kingdom of officials is in a dead sleep. Talking about the habits of city residents, Gogol makes a remark that allows us to attribute symbolic meaning the title “Dead Souls” to the city: “All those who had long ceased all acquaintances and knew only, as they say, the landowners Zavalishin and Polezhaev (famous terms derived from the verbs lie down and fall over, which are in great use in Rus') "

We see lazy Rus' not only in the image of the landowners, but also in the appearance of the city itself: “He also looked into the city garden, which consisted of thin trees, poorly grown, with supports at the bottom, in the form of triangles, very beautifully painted green oil paint" For city dwellers, green paint replaces the greenery of trees. Gogol mockingly compares the “bad, thin” trees with their luxurious descriptions in newspapers. Yes, servility reigned in Russia and among its sentimental inhabitants.

But what about landowner Russia? Traveling with Chichikov through the pages of the poem, we see that real-life landowners are actually “dead souls.” Manilov's estate is the front façade of Russia. The inside of the house is empty, dirty, the colors are gray, and wasteful idleness coexists nearby.

Nozdryov wastes his life without any purpose of existence. Plyushkin's stinginess turned into wastefulness. Korobochka's life is the personification of hoarding in Russia. It turns out that there are no “living souls” in the city of N and its surroundings? Well, aren’t there any of them in Rus', has it become extinct? What about the peasants? Herzen said that in Gogol’s poem “behind the dead souls - living souls” appear.

The common Russian people are talented, but Chichikov does not notice this throughout his entire journey, because he himself is a “dead soul.” The “astute reader” will definitely notice this. The carriage maker Mikheev, the carpenter Stepan Probka - their talent is revealed in their dexterity, in the breadth and generosity of their souls, in rage and unbridled joy... “The barge crew is having fun, saying goodbye to their mistresses and wives, tall, slender, in monists and ribbons; round dances, songs, the whole square is in full swing...” The living strength of the people is also emphasized by the reluctance of the peasants to endure oppression. Proof of this is the murder of assessor Drobyazhkin, the mass flight from the landowners.

High and good qualities are distorted in the kingdom of “dead souls”, peasants, driven to despair, perish. “Oh, Russian people! doesn’t like to die a natural death!”

The conflict of the poem lies in the contradiction between Gogol’s contemporary reality, the spiritual forces of the people and their enslavement.

Today we have done a lot of search work. I am pleased to see that in your ideas you spoke about the composition of the poem and its genre uniqueness, and asked questions about the meaning of the poem. Much of your research comes from the following lessons. But I want to ask one more question in this lesson.

Why didn't Gogol finish his poem?

Gogol dreamed of creating a harmonious trilogy. In the first part, vice triumphs, in the second it is reborn into virtue, in the third it does good deeds. However, if for the first volume of “Dead Souls” Russian life provided material in abundance, then already in the second volume the writer had to rely solely on the flight of his own imagination. For some reason, swindlers did not want to turn into fighters for justice, landowners did not want to live for the benefit of their serfs, officials did not want to return the bribes they received and publicly repent of committing official crimes. The matter was limited to the partial collapse of Chichikov’s scam with dead souls at the end of the first volume. The ideological task of the writer is to show the attractive sides of Russian reality, and the transformation of a bad person into a good one turned out to be in an insoluble contradiction both with the truth of life and with the creative capabilities of Gogol himself. And I want to end this lesson with the words of our contemporary poet Peter Vegin.

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol,

eternal overcoat - scribble,

looking around our bareness,

sitting in his yard.

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol...

Who can solve it

like a burn

is his seal on his forehead?

Having started lies with myself,

He put it in the fireplace's mouth,

Like a devoted dog -

"Dead Souls" part two!

But the chimney pipe

handwritten smoke billowing,

satanic round dance

The hero himself and after him -

all others.

That's how it is!

How can this be

If the manuscript is burnt,

Did the hero survive?

Through the distance, through the years

He's thrown into trouble

Chimney catapult

Into the modern environment

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol,

How long can we sit like this?

at odds with yourself and with God,

look into a clear street?

There stands at a crossroads

near the city gate

among the heroes of our everyday life

dead souls are an ancient family.

And like in a circus in the arena,

in its rooms is not new.

everything is misleading and misleading

Khlyust, khanyga Khlestakov!

Fireproof, even if it cracks,

in this century, as in that...

Apparently, you will have to get up from your chair,

Write a burned volume.

V. Homework

1. Prepare questions - tests to test knowledge of the text.

2. Creative work - the coat of arms of the landowner. (introduce students to similar work, present creative works senior comrades)

Methodological development of a literature lesson in the 9th grade on the topic “Who is Chichikov: a scoundrel, an acquirer or ...?”

,

The article belongs to the section: Teaching literature

Objective of the lesson for the teacher:

create conditions conducive to the formation of a holistic assessment of the literary hero.

1) Educational: continue to develop the ability to give a comprehensive assessment of a literary character;

2) Developmental: develop the communicative culture of students;

3) 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 critics about Chichikov, Fogelson’s diagram, the text of the poem “Dead Souls”, “ Dictionary Russian language”, 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 the story “Stalled”) - exposition (introduction to the topic of the lesson).

II. Isolating the problem of the lesson: “Who is Chichikov: “scoundrel”, “acquirer” or...?”

III. Research the problem

3.1. Chichikov in the understanding of critics.

3.2. Chichikov through the eyes of landowners and city officials N N: “a nice person.”

3.3.What brings Chichikov closer to the landowners?

3.4. How does Chichikov differ from landowners?

3.5.What qualities of a business person contributed to his career growth?

3.7. 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).

3.8.Is there hope for the hero’s revival?

3.9. Why is the image of Chichikov so contradictory?

3.10. Place of Chichikov’s image in the gallery literary heroes. Chichikov and Molchalin.

IV. Lesson summary.

Lesson progress

This character is the most difficult

I. Exposition (introduction to the topic of the lesson).

The lesson begins with a dramatization of an episode of the 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 are bringing this scumbag, who bought up dead souls, traveled around the region... Rus' is a troika, everything is thundering, everything is flooded, and in the troika there is a scoundrel, a cheater...”

This question tormented the main character of Vasily Shukshin’s story, Roman Zvyagin.

This question has been asked by many generations of readers. Interest in Chichikov, the main character of the 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?

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...?

II. Isolating the lesson problem. State the topic and purpose of the lesson.

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. Research of the problem.

We give the floor to literary scholars.

V. Kozhinov: “Chichikov for real strong personality…”.

: “In the epic with “dead souls,” Chichikov’s devilish energy and ingenuity, 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.”

: “One of Chichikov’s qualities is the ability to mimicry, the contradiction between the desire to appear and the inner essence of character.”

: “One active person is Chichikov, and he is a limited rogue.”

“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...”

: “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.

. -What will the heroes of the poem say about Chichikov?

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 is a good person.

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 did Chichikov buy an unusual product - dead souls? And what did we hear?! “The most pleasant, most educated person”, “a rogue”, “such rubbish”, “generous”. Opinions vary, but overall he’s 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”.

believes that Chichikov is related to dead souls, is their mirror, and therefore makes a pleasant impression on them.

. - So, what brings Chichikov closer to the landowners - “sky-smokers”?

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” of the negative traits of all landowners.

- 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, trying 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 for the sake of money. No, it was not they that moved him: he imagined a life ahead of him with all the pleasures, with all the 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.

.- What qualities of Chichikov contributed to his career growth, and, consequently, to his enrichment?

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 himself or his goals in any way.) He knows how to make a pleasant 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.

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 from 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. For Chichikov, money is more important than the fate of the person who used to love him. So, the absence moral ideals, the passion for profit kills everything human in the main character, corrupts his soul.

“Do not the author look deeper into Chichikov’s soul, do not stir at the bottom of it what is escaping and hiding from the light, do not discover the innermost thoughts that a person does not entrust to anyone else, but show him as he appeared to the whole city, Manilov and other people , and everyone would be happy and take him for interesting person”, writes 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.

The question arises: “Is Chichikov a dead soul?”

Many researchers of Gogol's work believe that the main character joined the gallery of dead souls. Is this true? 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”?

The opinions of literary scholars on this issue are divided.

Some believe, among other things, 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,” continues Yu. Mann, 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.

Is there any hope for the hero's revival?

And these unusual moments in Chichikov’s biography, his ability to respond to feminine beauty sparkle in Volume I as distant harbingers of a future revival. I'm talking about the 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,” writes Gogol, “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. The 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.

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?

“Much, 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 does not 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, different points of view were voiced. 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.

The place of Chichikov's image in the gallery of literary heroes. Chichikov and Molchalin.

- 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 modern world Same).

IV. Lesson summary (dialogue-conversation).

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 an essay on the topic of the lesson.

Images of landowners in the poem "Dead Souls"

, teacher of Russian language and literature

The article belongs to the section: Teaching literature

Lesson objectives:

Show skill in describing the characters of landowners in the poem “Dead Souls.” Develop the ability to read, think about the text, find key words, significant details in literary text, draw conclusions. Cultivate a love of Russian literature and interest in the study of creativity.

Design:

Portraits of Chichikov and landowners. Text of the poem “Dead Souls”. Presentation “Images of landowners in the poem “Dead Souls”. (Appendix 1) Fragments of the video film “Dead Souls”. (DVD series “Russian Classics”)

PROGRESS OF THE LESSON

I. Organizational moment

(greetings).

Slide 1

Presentation

Reporting the topic of the lesson, goal setting.

II. Teacher's opening speech.

The close-up images of landowners, these “masters of life”, who are responsible for its economic and cultural condition, for the fate of the people, are drawn in close-up in the poem “Dead Souls”.

What are they, the masters of life? A plan is proposed to analyze the images of landowners. Slide 2

III. Analysis of the image of Manilov.

Which landowner does Chichikov visit first? Slide 3

When does Chichikov's first meeting with Manilov take place? View V ideological fragment “Chichikov at Manilov”

Assignment: using the memo plan, tell about Manilov. Performance by the 1st group of students.

What detail in the description of the hero is dominant?

What is hidden behind Manilov’s smiling face? How the author himself characterizes the hero ?

A pleasant Manilov smile for everyone is a sign of deep indifference to everything around him; such people are not capable of experiencing anger, sorrow, joy.

With the help of what details does Gogol give a comic coloring to the images of his characters?

An integral part of Gogol's portrait drawing are poses, clothing, movements, gestures, and facial expressions. With their help, the writer enhances the comic coloring of the images and reveals the true essence of the hero. Manilov's gestures indicate mental impotence, an inability to comprehend what goes beyond the boundaries of his wretched little world.

What is distinguishing feature Manilov?

Home it psychological trait- the desire to be liked by everyone and always.

Manilov is a calm observer of everything that happens; bribe takers, thieves, embezzlers - all the most respected people for him. Manilov is an indefinite person; he has no living human desires. This is a dead soul, a person “so-so, neither this nor that.”

Conclusion. Slide 4

Instead of real feeling, Manilov has a “pleasant smile”, cloying courtesy and a sensitive phrase; instead of thought - some kind of incoherent, stupid reflections, instead of activity - either empty dreams, or such results of “labor” as “slides of ash knocked out of a pipe, arranged, not without effort, in very beautiful rows.”

IV. Analysis of the image of the Box.

Slide 5

Briefly describe the contents of Chapter 3.

What can you find out about main feature Character Boxes from direct author's characteristics?

Gogol does not hide the irony regarding her thinking abilities: she thought, opened her mouth, looked almost with fear. “Well, the woman seems to be strong-minded!”

The essence of Korobochka’s character is especially visible through the dialogic speech of the characters. The dialogue between Korobochka and Chichikov is a masterpiece of comedic art. This conversation can be called a dialogue of the deaf.

Watching the video clip “Dialogue between Korobochka and Chichikov”

What character traits of Korobochka were revealed in the bargaining scene?

She was not embarrassed by the trade in dead souls, she is ready to trade in dead souls, but she is afraid of selling herself cheap. She is characterized by tedious slowness and caution. She went to the city to find out how much “dead souls” were being sold these days.

What is the situation of the peasants near Korobochka?

The village is a source of honey, lard, and hemp, which Korobochka sells. She also trades with peasants.

Draw a conclusion about the meaning of the box's thriftiness .

It turns out that landlordism can have the same vile, inhuman meaning as mismanagement.

What made Korobochka like this?

Traditions in the conditions of patriarchal life suppressed Korobochka’s personality and stopped her intellectual development at a very low level; all aspects of life not related to hoarding remained inaccessible to her.

Assignment: using the memo plan, tell about the Box. Performance of the 2nd group of students

Conclusion : Slide 6

The “club-headed” box is the embodiment of those traditions that have developed among provincial small landowners leading subsistence farming.

She is a representative of a departing, dying Russia, and there is no life in her, since she is turned not to the future, but to the past.

V. Analysis of Nozdryov’s image.

It consists of separate fragments that tell about the hero’s habits, episodes from his life, manners and behavior in society. Each of these sketches is a condensed story that reveals one or another trait of his character: drunken revelry, a passion for changing everything, an addiction to playing cards, empty vulgar talk, complete lies.

How is Nozdryov’s desire to lie exposed?

In Nozdryov's office, Turkish daggers are shown, on one of which was carved: master Savely Sibiryakov.

What is the hero's speech? ?

Swear words: fetish, pig, scoundrel, rubbish. And this reveals not only a personal, but also a social trait. He is sure that he is allowed to insult and deceive with impunity - after all, he is a landowner, a nobleman, the master of life.

What are Nozdryov’s life goals ?

What Nozdrev cares about is profit: this tavern hero is in no way suitable for the role of an acquirer. He is possessed by a thirst for pleasures - those that are available to his dirty soul. And Nozdryov plays dirty tricks on his neighbor with pleasure, without any malicious intentions, even good-naturedly, since his neighbor is only a means or source of pleasure for him. Pleasure was denied or it did not take place: “fetish”, “scoundrel”, “rubbish”

Assignment: using the memo plan, tell about Nozdryov. Speech by the 3rd group of students

Conclusion. Slide 8

In general, Nozdryov is an unpleasant person, since he completely lacks the concepts of honor, conscience, and human dignity.

Nozdryov’s energy turned into scandalous vanity, aimless and destructive.

VI. Analysis of the image of Sobakevich.

Slide 9

What details - things does Gogol use when characterizing Sobakevich? ?

Description of the manor house: “...a wooden house with a mezzanine could be seen... “...In a word, everything he looked at was stubborn, without swaying, in some kind of strong and awkward order.

The Greek heroes in the pictures in his living room were strong, with thick loungers, unheard of

mustache

Is there a difference in the characterization of Sobakevich in chapters 1 and 5?

In Chapter 1, Sobakevich is characterized as a person “clumsy in appearance.” This quality is emphasized and deepened in Chapter 5: he looks “like a medium-sized bear.” The author persistently plays on the word “bear”: a bear-colored tailcoat, his name was Mikhail Semyonovich.

What is striking about Sobakevich’s portrait?

In the portrait, what is most striking is the complexion: “.. stony, hot, like the one on a copper coin”;

“It is known that there are many such persons in the world, over the finishing of which nature did not hesitate for long, did not use any small tools, such as files, gimlets and other things, but simply chopped with all their might: if you hit it with an ax once, your nose would come out, it was enough to another - her lips came out, she picked her eyes with a large drill...”

“Chichikov glanced sideways at him again as they walked into the dining room: bear! A perfect bear!”

Why is Chichikov careful in his conversation with Sobakevich: he did not call the souls dead, but only non-existent?

Sobakevich immediately “smelled” that the proposed deal was fraudulent. But he didn’t even blink an eye.

“Do you need dead souls? - Sobakevich asked very simply, without the slightest surprise, as if we were talking about bread.”

Assignment: using the memo plan, tell about Sobakevich Speech by the 4th group of students

Chichikov is right in thinking that Sobakevich would have remained a kulak even in St. Petersburg, although he was raised according to fashion. Yes, it would have turned out even worse: “if he had tasted the top of some science, he would let him know later, having taken a more prominent place. To all those who actually learned some science.

Sobakevich, like Korobochka, is smart and practical in a business way: they do not ruin men, because it is unprofitable for themselves. They know that in this world everything is bought and sold

VII. Analysis of the image of Plyushkin.

Slide 11

The theme of moral decline, spiritual death of the “masters of life” ends with a chapter dedicated to Plyushkin.

Plyushkin is the last portrait in the gallery of landowners. Before us is the complete collapse of the human in man.

How and why a hardworking owner turned into “a hole in humanity” ?

Why does the chapter about Plyushkin begin with lyrical digression about youth?

Why does Gogol recount the life story of Plyushkin in detail? ?

Gogol turns to the hero’s past, since the moral ugliness is the same as that of other landowners: spiritual possession, which gives rise to soullessness, loss of ideas about the meaning of life, about moral duty, about responsibility for everything that happens around. Plyushkin's tragedy is that he lost contact with people. He sees enemies in everyone, even his own children and grandchildren, ready to plunder good

The image of Plyushkin is the embodiment of extreme dilapidation and moldiness, and in the characteristics of objects associated with him, Gogol reflected these qualities.

Find in the text artistic means with the help of which the author reveals the essence of the image of Plyushkin .

All the buildings were dilapidated, the logs on the huts were dark and old, the roofs were see-through like a sieve, the fence was broken...

Assignment: using the memo plan, tell about Plyushkin. Performance by the 5th group of students

Conclusion. Slide 12

Mold, dust, rot, and death emanate from the Plyushkin estate. Other details also chill the heart: the old man did not give a penny to either his daughter or his son.

So, for what purpose is the image of Plyushkin depicted in the poem? ?

Consistently, from hero to hero, Gogol exposes the worthless life of the landowners.

The images of landowners are given according to their spiritual impoverishment and moral decline.

It is shown how the disintegration of the human personality gradually took place.

Once upon a time, Plyushkin was just a thrifty owner. The thirst for enrichment turned him into a miser and isolated him from society.

His image reveals one of the varieties of spiritual death. Plyushkin's image is typical.

Gogol exclaimed bitterly:

“And a person could condescend to such insignificance, pettiness, and disgustingness! Could have changed so much! And does this seem true? Everything seems to be true, anything can happen to a person.”

VIII. Similarities between Chichikov and landowners.

Slide 13

Slide 14

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.

IX. Crossword

. Slides 15 to 24

X. Summing up.

XI. Homework.

1. Fill out the table according to plan:

brief description landowner; description of the landowner's estate; description of a shared meal; how landowners react to Chichikov’s proposal; further actions of the landowners.

2. Write a miniature essay “Why did Chichikov visit the landowners in such a sequence?”

1. Life path Chichikova.
2. The goal and means of the hero.
3. The tenacity of a businessman.

From the labors of the righteous one cannot make stone chambers.
Russian folk proverb

Traditionally, the image of Chichikov, the main character of N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls,” is usually viewed as clearly negative. However, is the hero so straightforward and simple as to rank him among the host of textbook villains? Can an image recreated in work of art talented master?

Chichikov's life priorities are values new era, the values ​​of capitalism, which is replacing the feudal-serf system that persisted in Rus' for too long compared to other European countries.

Chichikov's life path, with all his might, cannot be called easy and pleasant. Early childhood Gogol’s hero was sad and monotonous: “At the beginning, life looked at him somehow sourly and unpleasantly, through some cloudy window covered with snow: no friend, no comrade in childhood!” Gogol did not say a word about any games common to a child: no, only poverty and labor - these are the memories Chichikov brought back from early childhood.

The hero’s school years were not distinguished by the brightness of his impressions: however, it was at this time that his practical talents began to reveal themselves. The father, who took his son to school, gave him parting words, which the son remembered well and which he tried to follow to the best of his ability: “If you please your boss, then, even though you don’t have time in science and God didn’t give you talent, you will put everything into action and get ahead of everyone.” ... Most of all, take care and save a penny, this thing is more reliable than anything in the world.”

Young Chichikov skillfully came up with various ways to make a profit: he did not spend anything from the money left to him by his father, but, on the contrary, increased it. His efforts to please the teacher were also not in vain. Although he did not shine with special abilities in the sciences, “upon graduation he received full honors in all sciences, a certificate and a book with golden letters for exemplary diligence and trustworthy behavior.”

Chichikov’s career before he started buying up “dead souls” was a series of ups and downs that showed in full force the vitality and entrepreneurial nature of this character.

Gogol repeatedly mentions the cleanliness and neatness of his hero, that Chichikov is always well dressed and behaves decently. Even at a time when the aspiring young official served in an insignificant position, he stood out from his colleagues in that “he knew how to maintain neatness, dress decently, give a pleasant expression to his face and even something noble in his movements.” The contrast to the external presentability of the hero is the means that he uses to achieve his goal. However, it should be noted right away that Chichikov’s goal is quite natural: he wants to have a family, children, to live in prosperity and comfort. Of course, there is nothing criminal in such a goal. Indiscriminateness in the means leading to its achievement is not so much a manifestation of Chichikov’s personal depravity as a consequence of the powerful influence on him of the environment in which he developed. The father’s instruction to “save a penny” was vividly perceived by the child’s mind: there was no talk about in what ways it was permissible to do this and in what ways it was not. Open robbery, robbery, murder, of course, in the eyes of Chichikov are crimes. As for various economic frauds, Gogol’s hero views them as a completely normal way of doing business. It must be emphasized again: Chichikov was not the only one who held this opinion. Let’s remember Gogol’s mayor from the comedy “The Inspector General”. He, too, was sincerely convinced that bribes and embezzlement were hardly an institution of God.

For such an outlook on life, it is not so much Chichikov himself who is to blame, but rather the system of government in Russia as a whole, the prevailing universally respectful attitude towards people who have money, regardless of how they acquired it, and a disdainful attitude towards those who do not have money, even if they honestly served their homeland, sparing no effort and life, like Captain Kopeikin, for example. Chichikov’s actions are primarily driven by a natural desire to get out of poverty and provide himself with a reliable rear. When Chichikov laments that he lost his position in customs after machinations with smugglers, he reasons like this: “Why me? Why did trouble befall me? Who yawns for positions? everyone buys. I didn’t make anyone unhappy, I didn’t rob a widow, I didn’t let anyone go around the world, I used from the excess, I took where everyone would have taken, if I hadn’t taken advantage, others would have taken advantage. Why do others prosper, and why should I perish as a worm?” It cannot be said that these arguments are completely devoid of justice: in fact, someone has appropriated more than Chichikov, and lives for his own pleasure, without experiencing the slightest remorse or any concern on the part of the authorities.

Gogol shows many positive traits your hero. So, Chichikov has a huge reserve of patience. There was so much he had to endure, especially at the beginning of his career: the monotony of clerical work, the drunken faces of other officials, the indifference of the first boss to the zeal of the young official. How many times did it seem that luck favored Chichikov, and then collapse befell him, and he had to start all over again. “We must do justice to the irresistible force of his character. After all that would have been enough, if not to kill, then to cool and pacify a person forever, the incomprehensible passion in him did not go out.” Those outlandish machinations that Chichikov indulges in testify to his intelligence, enterprise and courage.

By nature, Chichikov is an adventurer. He is one of those people who at all times relentlessly pursued the goal, despite the obstacles. However, only a few choose a goal that is difficult to achieve in its sublimity, such as spiritual purification, creative self-realization, or improving the life of society. The goal of the vast majority of people is much more modest - a life of prosperity, health, and a strong family. Chichikov’s tragedy is that, despite his extraordinary practical talents, he cannot realize them in activities that would be both legal and sufficiently profitable. It makes no sense to accuse Chichikov of legal nihilism: the behavior that Gogol’s hero demonstrates is only a reproduction of the patterns prevailing in the society that raised him.