Problems of the work of an overcoat. Gogol, "The Overcoat": analysis of the work
The idea for the story “The Overcoat” arose from N.V. Gogol under the influence of a story told to him real story. One poor official had been saving money for a very expensive gun for a long time. Having bought it and gone hunting, the official did not notice how the priceless purchase slipped off the boat into the river. The shock of the loss was so strong that the unlucky hunter became seriously ill. The official’s health began to improve only after his friends chipped in and bought him exactly the same gun.
Gogol took this funny incident very seriously. He knew firsthand about the hard life of poor officials. In the first years of his service in St. Petersburg, the writer himself “spent the whole winter in a summer overcoat.”
By uniting main idea from the story of an official with his own memories, in 1839 Gogol began work on “The Overcoat.” The story was completed in early 1841 and first published a year later.
Meaning of the name
The overcoat in the story is not just a piece of clothing. She practically becomes one of the heroes of the work. Not only the happiness of poor Akaki Akakievich, but even his life turns out to be dependent on an ordinary overcoat.
The main theme of the story is the plight of petty officials.
The main character Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin evokes genuine pity for himself. All life path was destined for him from birth. At baptism, the child made such a face, “as if he had a presentiment that there would be a titular councilor.”
Akaki Akakievich is just a cog in a huge bureaucratic machine. The job of an official consists of primitive copying of documents. Akakiy Akakievich is not capable of more.
The authorities treat Bashmachkin “coldly and despotically.” In addition, he serves as a constant target for jokes from his colleagues. Akaki Akakievich does not react to ridicule in any way. Only in extreme cases does he plaintively ask: “Leave me, why are you offending me?”
In the eyes of those around him, Bashmachkin’s life is boring and colorless. Although the official himself sees a “varied and pleasant world” in his copying of papers. Akaki Akakievich does not even notice anything around, completely immersing himself in his monotonous work.
Bashmachkin is brought out of a state of detachment by the “strong enemy” of all minor officials - the Russian frost. Akaki Akakievich realizes with horror that buying a new overcoat is a dire necessity. The required amount could only be accumulated through the most severe savings and limiting expenses. This led Bashmachkin to an even more disastrous financial situation, but, on the other hand, it gave him the first real goal in his life.
Dreaming of a new overcoat, Akaki Akakievich seemed to be born again: “he somehow became more lively, even stronger in character.” “Fire sometimes appeared in the eyes” of the humble titular councilor.
The long-awaited fulfillment of a dream became the most significant event in the life of Akaki Akakievich - “a great solemn holiday.” Thanks to an ordinary overcoat, he felt like a different person and even agreed to go to a colleague’s birthday, which he had never done.
Akaki Akakievich's bliss did not last long. Having been attacked at night and deprived of his fulfilled dream, he fell into despair. Efforts to find the criminal did not help. The only remedy was the help of one “significant person.” However harsh reception, given to Bashmachkin by the general, killed his last hope. “Proper scolding” led to fever and quick death.
The figure of the titular councilor was so insignificant that at the service they learned about his funeral only on the fourth day. Replacing the position with another official was completely painless for the work of the institution.
Issues
The main problem of the story is that in Gogol’s era a huge number of people were the same Akaki Akakievichs. Their lives passed without a trace and were of no value. For any higher official, Akaki Akakievich is not even a person, but a submissive and defenseless executor of orders.
The bureaucratic system gives rise to a callous attitude towards people. A striking example is “significant person”. “Compassion was... not alien to this man,” but the position he holds kills the best feelings in him. Upon learning of the death of the poor petitioner, the general experiences remorse, but it quickly passes. The ending of the story with the appearance of the ghost of an official emphasizes that in real life the death of Akaki Akakievich would not have affected the established order in any way.
Composition
The story is the life story of the official Bashmachkin, the main event in which was the purchase of a new overcoat. The end of the work is the fantastic revenge of the deceased titular adviser.
What the author teaches
Gogol knew from his own experience what a negative impact his cramped financial situation has on a person. He calls to pay attention to downtrodden and humiliated people, to take pity on them and try to help, because their lives may depend on it.
The genre of “The Overcoat” is a social story; the plot of the work is built on an acute social conflict. It is formed by the image, on the one hand, of the soulless state bureaucratic machine, and on the other, the life of a small, poor official. The events of the story take place in St. Petersburg, the capital of the state, a big city, therefore the story is also called St. Petersburg, since it develops the theme of St. Petersburg, which has become widespread in the works of Russian writers. Thus, Pushkin called the poem “” (1833) a “Petersburg story”. The theme of St. Petersburg appeared in Russian literature as an awareness of a new phenomenon in Russian life: a city built in defiance of nature on the muddy banks of the Neva; a city modeled after Western European cities; a city that in a short time occupied, along with Moscow, a key place in the history of the Russian people and the Russian state.
The founder of which was Pushkin and which was developed by Gogol in the 1830s, acquired a new sound and understanding in “The Overcoat”. Following Pushkin, Gogol focuses his attention on the personality of a person, showing his mental suffering, but depicts “ little man"otherwise: if Pushkin creates the image of Samson Vyrin in "" as the image of a poor and humiliated man, but full of dignity and pride, then Gogol paints the image of Bashmachkin as an image of a downtrodden and resigned man, lost in the "mud of little things" that reveal the pitiful life of the hero. It was this difference in the heroes of Pushkin and Gogol that another “little man”, a poor official from the novel, saw in the letters of F.M. Dostoevsky's "Poor People", who empathized with Vyrin and was offended by the image of Bashmachkin. The difference between Samson Vyrin and Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin reflects the peculiarities of the Pushkin and Gogol movements in Russian literature.
Gogol deliberately condenses the characteristics when describing Akaki Akakievich. He depicts the hero himself and the life around him, emphasizing that they are the result of an insignificant reality. For example, when the hero was christened at birth, “he cried and made such a grimace, as if he had a presentiment that there would be a titular councilor,” or the ridicule of young officials, who “immediately told him various stories compiled about him,” “rained down on his head.” him pieces of paper, calling it snow,” or the hero’s special art of “running under the window at the very time when all sorts of rubbish was thrown out of it, and therefore he always carried away watermelon and melon rinds and similar nonsense on his hat.” There are many similar descriptions in the work.
In the story “The Overcoat” by Gogol, the world of officials is described in detail: his superiors, among whom the figure of a “significant person” stands out, Akaki Akakievich’s colleagues, and minor employees. Gogol was well acquainted with the world of officials, since at the beginning of his life in St. Petersburg he himself served in the department. Gogol’s general technique when describing this world is depersonalization. Thus, the writer calls a character to whom he does not give a last name, a general-official, a “significant person,” using here the technique of a hidden oxymoron.
Everything understandable, simple and human is forgotten in this world, so Gogol deliberately cites in the story an incident when a young official heard in the words of Akaki Akakievich: “Leave me alone, why are you offending me?” - other words, imbued with moral, religious, humanistic pathos: “I am your brother.” In addition to officials, Gogol also carefully painted a picture of the St. Petersburg people - this minor characters(tailor Petrovich and landlady Bashmachkina) and episodic characters (watchmen, private bailiff, doctor and others).
The St. Petersburg stories appeared in the darkest times.
V.I. Lenin, characterizing this era, noted:
“Serf Russia is downtrodden and motionless. A tiny minority of nobles protest, powerless without the support of the people. But the best people from the nobles helped awaken the people.”
N.V. himself Gogol never called the cycle of these stories “Petersburg Tales,” so the name is purely businesslike. The story “The Overcoat” also belongs to this cycle, which, in my opinion, is the most significant of all the others.
Its importance, significance and meaningfulness compared to other works are increased by the theme touched upon in “The Overcoat”: the little man.
Brute force and lawlessness of those in power reigned and dominated the destinies and lives of little people. Among these people was Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin.
“Little people” like our hero and many others seem to have to fight for a normal attitude towards them, but they do not have enough strength, either physical, moral, or spiritual.
Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin is a victim who is not only under the yoke of the surrounding world and his own powerlessness, but does not understand the tragedy of his life situation. This is a spiritually “erased” personality. The author sympathizes with the little man and demands attention to this problem.
Akaki Akakievich is so inconspicuous and insignificant in his position that none of his colleagues remembers “when and at what time” he entered the service. You can even talk about him vaguely, which, by the way, is what N.V. does. Gogol: “Served in one department.”
Or maybe by this he wanted to emphasize that this incident could have happened in any department or work establishment. To say that there are very, very many people like Bashmachkin, but no one notices them.
What is the image of the main character? I think there are two sides to the image.
The first side is the spiritual and physical failure of the character. He doesn't even try to achieve more, so at the beginning we don't feel sorry for him, we understand how wretched he is. You can’t live without perspective, without realizing yourself as an individual. You cannot see the meaning of life only in rewriting papers, but consider the purchase of an overcoat as the goal, the meaning. The idea of acquiring it makes his life more meaningful and fills it. In my opinion, this is brought to the fore to show the personality of Akaki Akakievich.
The second side is the heartless and unfair attitude of others towards Akaki Akakievich. Look at how people around him treat Bashmachkin: they laugh at him, mock him. He thought that by purchasing an overcoat he would look more noble, but this did not happen. Soon after the purchase, misfortune “unbearably befell” the downtrodden official. “Some people with mustaches” took away his barely bought overcoat. Together with her, Akaki Akakievich loses the only joy in life. His life becomes sad and lonely again. For the first time, trying to achieve justice, he goes to a “significant person” to tell him about his grief. But again he is ignored, rejected, exposed to ridicule. No one wanted to help him in difficult times, no one supported him. And he died, died from loss, grief.
N.V. Gogol, within the framework of the image of one “little man,” shows the terrible truth of life. The humiliated “little people” died and suffered not only on the pages of numerous works covering this problem, but also in reality. However, the world around them remained deaf to their suffering, humiliation and death, just as cold as a winter night, arrogant Petersburg remains indifferent to the death of Bashmachkin.
Plan
1. Introduction
2. History of creation
3.The meaning of the name
4.Kind and genre
5.Theme
6. Problems
7.Heroes
8.Plot and composition
N.V. Gogol is the founder of critical realism in Russian literature. His "Petersburg Tales" had a huge influence on F. M. Dostoevsky. This cycle includes the story "The Overcoat", in which the problem of the "little man" is acutely posed. V. G. Belinsky considered the work “one of Gogol’s most profound creations.”
P.V. Annenkov recalled that Gogol was told a funny story about a poor official who saved on everything for a very long time and managed to save money to buy an expensive gun. Having gone hunting with a precious weapon, the official inadvertently drowned it. The shock of the loss was so great that the official fell ill with fever. Concerned friends got together and bought the poor guy a new gun. The official recovered, but until the end of his life he could not remember this incident without shuddering. Gogol did not find it funny. He very subtly felt the suffering of the “little man” and, as Annenkov assures, conceived the story “The Overcoat”. Another source for the story was the writer’s personal memories. In the first years of his life in St. Petersburg, the petty official Gogol himself spent the whole winter wearing a summer overcoat.
Meaning of the name The overcoat underlies the entire story. In fact, this is another main acting character. All the thoughts of poor Akaki Akakievich are focused on this item of clothing. The long-awaited purchase became the happiest day of his life. The loss of his overcoat ultimately led to his death. The idea of returning the overcoat was even able to fantastically resurrect Akaki Akakievich in the guise of a ghost official.
Gender and genre. Tale.
Main topic works - the humiliated position of a petty St. Petersburg official. This is a heavy cross that many generations of residents of the capital have been forced to bear. The author's remark at the beginning of the story is typical. At birth, Akaki made such a face, “as if she had a presentiment that there would be a titular councilor.” The life of Akaki Akakievich is boring and aimless. His only calling is to rewrite papers. He can’t do anything else, and he doesn’t want to. Buying a new overcoat became the official’s first real goal in life. This acquisition literally inspired him and gave him the courage to communicate with other people. The night attack and the loss of his overcoat shattered the new position of Akaki Akakievich. His humiliation increased manifold while trying to get the overcoat returned. The climax was a conversation with a “significant person”, after which the official took to bed and soon died. Akaki Akakievich was such an insignificant “creature” (not even a person!) that the department learned about his death only on the fourth day after the funeral. A man who lived in the world for more than fifty years left no trace of himself. Nobody mentioned him kind words. The only joy in life for Akaki Akakievich himself was the short-lived possession of an overcoat.
Main problem the story lies in the fact that a person’s financial situation inevitably changes his spiritual world. Akaki Akakievich, receiving a more than modest salary, is forced to limit himself in everything. The same limitation is gradually imposed on his communication with other people and on the level of spiritual and material needs. Akakiy Akakievich is the main object of jokes for his colleagues. He is so used to it that he takes it for granted and doesn’t even try to fight back. The official’s only defense consists of a pitiful phrase: “Leave me alone, why are you offending me?” So says a man who is already more than fifty years old. Years of thoughtless copying of papers had a serious impact on the mental abilities of Akaki Akakievich. He is no longer capable of any other work. He can't even change the form of verbs. The plight of Akaki Akakievich leads to the fact that the simple acquisition of an overcoat becomes the main event in his life. This is the whole tragedy of the story. Another problem lies in the image of a “significant person”. This is a person who has recently received a promotion. He is still getting used to his new position, but he is doing it quickly and decisively. The main method is to increase your “significance”. Basically it's good and kind person, but due to the beliefs established in society, he strives for maximum unreasonable severity. Akakiy Akakievich's "disgrace" was caused by the desire to show his friend his "significance."
Heroes Bashmachkin Akaki Akakievich.
Plot and composition Poor official Akaki Akakievich, limiting himself in everything, orders a new overcoat from a tailor. At night, thieves attack him and take away his purchase. Contacting a private bailiff does not produce results. Akaki Akakievich, on advice, goes to a “significant person”, where he receives “scolding”. The official develops a fever and dies. Soon the ghost of an official appears in the city, tearing off the greatcoats of passers-by. A “significant person” is also attacked, recognizing Akaki Akakievich in the ghost. After this, the spirit of the official disappears.
What the author teaches Gogol convincingly proves that a cramped financial situation gradually turns a person into a downtrodden and humiliated creature. Akakiy Akakievich needs very little to be happy, but even a reprimand from a higher official can kill him.
The well-known phrase of the French critic E. Vogüe that a whole galaxy of writers grew out of Gogol’s “The Overcoat” is quite true. The image of the “little man”, which became popular thanks to Charlie Chaplin, in a sense also comes from there, from her. In the thirties and forties, descriptions of the great feats of outstanding personalities not only became boring to the reader, but they wanted something different, unusual. It was at this time that Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol wrote “The Overcoat”. The analysis of this work was carried out repeatedly, both before and after the revolution. It contained either dreams of universal equality and brotherhood, or even calls for the overthrow of the autocracy. Today, having re-read the story through the eyes of a contemporary, we can safely say that there is none of this there.
Main character, A. A. Bashmachkin
To confirm the opinion that the story lacks not only revolutionary motives, but also a social idea in general, it is enough to understand about whom N.V. Gogol wrote “The Overcoat”. Analysis of the protagonist's personality leads to the search for modern analogies. The notorious “middle managers” come to mind, also contemptuously called “office plankton”, carrying out routine assignments. Workers, according to one literary character, are divided into two main categories: the majority are not capable of anything, and only a few can do almost everything. Judging by the description of Akaki Akakievich and his relationship with the team, he does not belong to the all-powerful minority. But Gogol would not have been himself if he had not seen certain advantages in him, which he also writes about with a fair amount of irony. Bashmachkin, a typical “eternal titular” (in the Soviet Army they were called fifteen-year-old captains, based on their length of service in the junior officer rank), loves his work, he is diligent and submissive to the point of humility. He reacts gently and peacefully to the jokes of his comrades, sometimes evil. He has no friends other than beautiful calligraphic letters, and he doesn’t need them.
In order to assess Bashmachkin’s financial situation, to the modern reader you need to delve into the literature and understand what and how much it cost then. This activity requires diligence and patience. Prices for many things were completely different, just as the assortment of a modern supermarket differs from the selection of goods in shops and stores of the era in which Gogol wrote “The Overcoat”. Purchasing power analysis can be done approximately.
It is completely impossible to compare prices of the mid-19th century with today's. Nowadays, many products have appeared that do not fit into the then consumer basket at all ( mobile phones, computers, etc.). In addition, the choice of clothing has become very wide (from cheap consumer goods made by our Chinese friends to offers from super-prestigious boutiques). It is more appropriate to compare with salaries in the relatively recent Soviet past.
Calculation of the main character's financial capabilities
The hero's salary is known - 800 rubles a year. By the standards of that time, not so little, you won’t die of hunger. Judging by indirect evidence and based on the text of the story, we can conclude that the scale of prices approximately corresponded to the capabilities of an ordinary engineer of the late Soviet era (70s or 80s), who received a salary of 120 rubles. It is also known how much the new overcoat cost Akakiy Akakievich. The story was written in 1842, there was no shortage of food and no queues, but acquaintance with the right people already mattered then. “Through connections” a certain Petrovich, a tailor, is ready to cope the right thing for only 80. It was impossible to buy a decent coat in the USSR for that kind of money, and in order to save for new clothes, an ordinary worker needed to save for several months.
So Akakiy Akakievich cut his budget in order to sew himself a new overcoat. His problems were exclusively economic in nature, and, in general, were completely solvable.
What happened?
Gogol's plot was inspired by a story about an equally poor and ordinary official who had been saving for a gun for a long time and lost it on his first hunt. It would take a genius to see in such an unfunny anecdote the plot of a future work and develop it into a tragicomedy, which the story “The Overcoat” is rightfully considered to be. Its main characters are also officials, and for the most part they receive the same amount as Bashmachkin, or more, but not much. Having seen a new thing, they jokingly demand to “sprinkle it” (today they more often use the verbs “wash” or “tag”). Colleagues know that Bashmachkin does not have money for excesses, and if he did, then, obviously, he would not be in a hurry to part with it either - they have studied his character over many years. Help came from the clerk's assistant (judging by the title of the position, he is also not a great rich man), who offers refreshments and invites him to visit him. And after the banquet, Akaki Akakievich was robbed and stripped, taking away his new overcoat. A brief summary of the scene of a friendly drinking party clearly shows how the modest official was soaring in spirit, having bought, in general, an ordinary thing. He even shows interest in a certain lady, but not for long.
And then such a collapse.
The image of the boss
Of course, Nikolai Vasilyevich tells us not just a story about how an unknown official found and lost his overcoat. The story, like all others, is outstanding literary works, about relationships between people. A person is known by gaining power. Some people just need to get a position...
So the new boss, who recently took up his post, shows off in front of his friend, scolding Akaki Akakievich on the far-fetched pretext of improper treatment, and in general, the concern of the highest authority on such a minor issue as some kind of overcoat. Summary angry tirade Significant person(as it is designated by the author) comes down to a reminder of who Bashmachkin is talking to, who he is standing in front of, and a rhetorical question about how he dares. At the same time, the general has his own problems, he was appointed recently, and does not know at all how to behave, which is why he puts fear into everyone. At heart, he was a kind, decent, good comrade, and even not stupid (in many respects).
Having received such an affront, the poor official came home, fell ill, and died, it is unclear whether from a cold or due to extreme stress.
What did the author want to say?
The tragic ending is also typical for other Russians writers of the XIX and XX centuries, “grew” from the same mentioned outerwear. A.P. Chekhov (“Death of an Official”) also “kills” (only without subsequent mysticism) his main character, just like N.V. Gogol (“The Overcoat”). An analysis of these two works and their comparison suggests the spiritual kinship of the masters of the pen and their general rejection of fear of anyone. The declaration of inner freedom became the main leitmotif of both works, created on the basis of the antithesis technique. The classics seem to be telling us: “Don’t be Akaki Akakievichs!” Live boldly, don't be afraid of anything! All problems can be solved!”
How strange that over the past decades and centuries only a few have taken this call to heart.
