What are the main occupations of officials dead souls. The image of officials in N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls. What do officials have in common with landowners?

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The city governor is one of the minor characters in the poem "Dead Souls". Like other officials of the city of N, the governor is delighted with the charming swindler Chichikov, invites him to his evening and introduces him to his wife and daughter. The stupid governor, like all other officials, realizes too late who Chichikov is. The swindler Chichikov safely leaves the city with ready-made documents for the “dead souls”.

Vice-Governor “...with the Vice-Governor and the Chairman of the Chamber, who were still only state councilors...” “...And the Vice-Governor, isn’t it, what a nice person?..” (Manilov about him) “...Very, very worthy a man,” answered Chichikov...” “... He and the vice-governor are Goga and Magog!...” (Sobakevich says that the vice-governor and the governor are robbers)

The prosecutor is one of the officials of the city of N in the poem “Dead Souls” by Gogol. The main features of the prosecutor's appearance are his thick eyebrows and his blinking eye. According to Sobakevich, among all the officials the prosecutor is the only decent person, but he is still a “pig.” When Chichikov's scam is revealed, the prosecutor is so worried that he suddenly dies.

The postmaster is one of the officials of the city of N in the poem “Dead Souls”. This article presents a quotation image and characteristics of the postmaster in the poem “Dead Souls”: a description of the appearance and character of the hero
The chairman of the chamber is one of the officials of the city N in the poem "Dead Souls". Ivan Grigorievich is a rather nice, amiable, but rather stupid person. Chichikov easily deceives both the chairman and other officials. The stupid chairman of the chamber does not suspect Chichikov’s scam and even helps himself draw up documents for the “dead souls.”

Police chief Alexey Ivanovich is one of the officials of the provincial city N in the poem “Dead Souls”. Sometimes this character is mistakenly called "police chief". But, according to the text of “Dead Souls,” the hero’s position is called “police chief.” This article presents a quotation image and characteristics of the police chief in the poem “Dead Souls”: a description of the appearance and character of the hero.
Inspector of the medical board “...he even came to pay respects to the inspector of the medical board...” “... Inspector of the medical board, he is also an idle person and, probably, at home, if he didn’t go somewhere to play cards...” (Sobakevich about him) “... Inspector the doctor's office suddenly turned pale; he imagined God knows what: didn’t the word “dead souls” mean sick people who died in significant numbers in hospitals and other places from epidemic fever, against which no proper measures were taken, and that Chichikov was not sent ... "

City mayor “...Then I was […] at a snack after mass, given by the city mayor, which was also worth lunch...” “Nozdryov […] read in the mayor’s note that there might be a profit, because they were expecting some newcomer for the evening...” (the mayor hopes to profit)

Gendarme Colonel “...the Gendarme Colonel said that he was a learned man...” (Colonel about Chichikov)

Manager of state-owned factories “...then he was […] with the head of state-owned factories..”
City architect “...he even came to pay respects […] to the city architect

Relevance of images

In the artistic space of one of Gogol's most famous works, landowners and people in power are connected with each other. Lies, bribery and the desire for profit characterize each of the images of officials in Dead Souls. It’s amazing with what ease and ease the author draws essentially disgusting portraits, and so masterfully that you don’t doubt for a minute the authenticity of each character. Using the example of officials in the poem “Dead Souls,” the most pressing problems of the Russian Empire of the mid-19th century were shown. In addition to serfdom, which hampered natural progress, the real problem was the extensive bureaucratic apparatus, for the maintenance of which huge sums were allocated. People in whose hands power was concentrated worked only to accumulate their own capital and improve their well-being, robbing both the treasury and ordinary people. Many writers of that time addressed the topic of exposing officials: Gogol, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Dostoevsky.

Officials in "Dead Souls"

In “Dead Souls” there are no separately described images of civil servants, but nevertheless, the life and characters are shown very accurately. Images of city N officials appear from the first pages of the work. Chichikov, who decided to pay a visit to each of the powerful, gradually introduces the reader to the governor, vice-governor, prosecutor, chairman of the chamber, police chief, postmaster and many others. Chichikov flattered everyone, as a result of which he managed to win over every important person, and all this is shown as a matter of course. In the bureaucratic world, pomp reigned, bordering on vulgarity, inappropriate pathos and farce. So, during a regular dinner, the governor’s house was lit up as if for a ball, the decoration was blinding, and the ladies were dressed in their best dresses.

The officials in the county town were of two types: the first were subtle and followed the ladies everywhere, trying to charm them with bad French and greasy compliments. Officials of the second type, according to the author, resembled Chichikov himself: neither fat nor thin, with round pockmarked faces and slicked hair, they looked sideways, trying to find an interesting or profitable business for themselves. At the same time, everyone tried to harm each other, to do some kind of meanness, usually this happened because of the ladies, but no one was going to fight over such trifles. But at dinners they pretended that nothing was happening, discussed Moscow News, dogs, Karamzin, delicious dishes and gossiped about officials of other departments.

When characterizing the prosecutor, Gogol combines the high and the low: “he was neither fat nor thin, had Anna on his neck, and it was even rumored that he was introduced to a star; however, he was a great good-natured man and sometimes even embroidered on tulle himself...” Note that nothing is said here about why this man received the award - the Order of St. Anne is given to “those who love truth, piety and fidelity,” and is also awarded for military merit. But no battles or special episodes where piety and loyalty were mentioned are mentioned at all. The main thing is that the prosecutor is engaged in handicrafts, and not in his official duties. Sobakevich speaks unflatteringly about the prosecutor: the prosecutor, they say, is an idle person, so he sits at home, and the lawyer, a well-known grabber, works for him. There is nothing to talk about here - what kind of order can there be if a person who does not understand the issue at all is trying to solve it while an authorized person is embroidering on tulle.

A similar technique is used to describe the postmaster, a serious and silent man, short, but witty and philosopher. Only in this case, various qualitative characteristics are combined into one row: “short”, “but a philosopher”. That is, here growth becomes an allegory for the mental abilities of this person.

The reaction to worries and reforms is also shown very ironically: from new appointments and the number of papers, civil servants are losing weight (“And the chairman lost weight, and the inspector of the medical board lost weight, and the prosecutor lost weight, and some Semyon Ivanovich ... and he lost weight”), but there were and those who courageously kept themselves in their previous form. And meetings, according to Gogol, were only successful when they could go out for a treat or have lunch, but this, of course, is not the fault of the officials, but the mentality of the people.

Gogol in “Dead Souls” depicts officials only at dinners, playing whist or other card games. Only once does the reader see officials at the workplace, when Chichikov came to draw up a bill of sale for the peasants. The department unequivocally hints to Pavel Ivanovich that things will not be done without a bribe, and there is nothing to say about a quick resolution of the issue without a certain amount. This is confirmed by the police chief, who “only has to blink when passing a fish row or a cellar,” and balyks and good wines appear in his hands. No request is considered without a bribe.

Officials in “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin”

The most cruel story is about Captain Kopeikin. A disabled war veteran, in search of truth and help, travels from the Russian hinterland to the capital to ask for an audience with the Tsar himself. Kopeikin’s hopes are dashed by a terrible reality: while cities and villages are in poverty and lacking money, the capital is chic. Meetings with the king and high-ranking officials are constantly postponed. Completely desperate, Captain Kopeikin makes his way into the reception room of a high-ranking official, demanding that his question be immediately put forward for consideration, otherwise he, Kopeikin, will not leave the office. The official assures the veteran that now the assistant will take the latter to the emperor himself, and for a second the reader believes in a happy outcome - he rejoices along with Kopeikin, riding in the chaise, hopes and believes in the best. However, the story ends disappointingly: after this incident, no one met Kopeikin again. This episode is actually frightening, because human life turns out to be an insignificant trifle, the loss of which will not suffer at all to the entire system.

When Chichikov’s scam was revealed, they were in no hurry to arrest Pavel Ivanovich, because they could not understand whether he was the kind of person who needed to be detained, or the kind who would detain everyone and make them guilty. The characteristics of officials in “Dead Souls” can be the words of the author himself that these are people who sit quietly on the sidelines, accumulate capital and arrange their lives at the expense of others. Extravagance, bureaucracy, bribery, nepotism and meanness - this is what characterized the people in power in Russia in the 19th century.

Work test

Officialdom in N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls"

Sample essay text

In Tsarist Russia of the 30-40s of the 19th century, a real disaster for the people was not only serfdom, but also an extensive bureaucratic bureaucratic apparatus. Called to guard law and order, representatives of the administrative authorities thought only about their own material well-being, stealing from the treasury, extorting bribes, and mocking powerless people. Thus, the theme of exposing the bureaucratic world was very relevant for Russian literature. Gogol addressed it more than once in such works as “The Inspector General,” “The Overcoat,” and “Notes of a Madman.” It also found expression in the poem “Dead Souls,” where, starting from the seventh chapter, bureaucracy is the focus of the author’s attention. Despite the absence of detailed and detailed images similar to the landowner heroes, the picture of bureaucratic life in Gogol’s poem is striking in its breadth.

With two or three masterful strokes, the writer draws wonderful miniature portraits. This is the governor, embroidering on tulle, and the prosecutor with very black thick eyebrows, and the short postmaster, a wit and philosopher, and many others. These sketchy faces are memorable because of their characteristic funny details that are filled with deep meaning. In fact, why is the head of an entire province characterized as a good-natured man who sometimes embroiders on tulle? Probably because there is nothing to say about him as a leader. From here it is easy to draw a conclusion about how negligently and dishonestly the governor treats his official duties and civic duty. The same can be said about his subordinates. Gogol widely uses in the poem the technique of characterizing the hero by other characters. For example, when a witness was needed to formalize the purchase of serfs, Sobakevich tells Chichikov that the prosecutor, as an idle person, is probably sitting at home. But this is one of the most significant officials of the city, who must administer justice and ensure compliance with the law. The characterization of the prosecutor in the poem is enhanced by the description of his death and funeral. He did nothing but mindlessly sign papers, as he left all decisions to the solicitor, “the first grabber in the world.” Obviously, the cause of his death was rumors about the sale of “dead souls”, since it was he who was responsible for all the illegal affairs that took place in the city. Bitter Gogolian irony is heard in thoughts about the meaning of the prosecutor’s life: “...why he died, or why he lived, only God knows.” Even Chichikov, looking at the funeral of the prosecutor, involuntarily comes to the idea that the only thing the deceased can be remembered for is his thick black eyebrows.

The writer gives a close-up of a typical image of the official Ivan Antonovich, the Jug Snout. Taking advantage of his position, he extorts bribes from visitors. It’s funny to read about how Chichikov put a “piece of paper” in front of Ivan Antonovich, “which he did not notice at all and immediately covered with a book.” But it’s sad to realize what a hopeless situation Russian citizens found themselves in, dependent on dishonest, self-interested people representing state power. This idea is emphasized by Gogol’s comparison of the civil chamber official with Virgil. At first glance, it is unacceptable. But the vile official, like the Roman poet in The Divine Comedy, leads Chichikov through all the circles of bureaucratic hell. This means that this comparison strengthens the impression of the evil that permeates the entire administrative system of Tsarist Russia.

Gogol gives in the poem a unique classification of officials, dividing representatives of this class into lower, thin and fat. The writer gives a sarcastic characterization of each of these groups. The lowest are, according to Gogol's definition, nondescript clerks and secretaries, as a rule, bitter drunkards. By “thin” the author means the middle stratum, and the “thick” are the provincial nobility, which firmly holds on to their places and deftly extracts considerable income from their high position.

Gogol is inexhaustible in choosing surprisingly accurate and apt comparisons. Thus, he likens officials to a squadron of flies that swoop down on tasty morsels of refined sugar. Provincial officials are also characterized in the poem by their usual activities: playing cards, drinking, lunches, dinners, gossip. Gogol writes that in the society of these civil servants, “meanness, completely disinterested, pure meanness” flourishes. Their quarrels do not end in a duel, because “they were all civil officials.” They have other methods and means by which they harm each other, which can be more difficult than any duel. There is nothing in the way of life of officials, in their actions and views significant differences. Gogol portrays this class as thieves, bribe-takers, slackers and swindlers who are connected with each other by mutual responsibility. That is why the officials feel so uncomfortable when Chichikov’s scam was revealed, because each of them remembered their sins. for his fraud, then he will be able to accuse them of dishonesty. A comic situation arises when people in power help the swindler in his illegal machinations and are afraid of him.

In his poem, Gogol expands the boundaries of the district town, introducing into it “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.” It no longer talks about local abuses, but about the arbitrariness and lawlessness that is committed by the highest St. Petersburg officials, that is, the government itself. The contrast between the unheard-of luxury of St. Petersburg and the pitiful beggarly position of Kopeikin, who shed blood for his fatherland and lost an arm and a leg, is striking. But, despite his injuries and military merits, this war hero does not even have the right to the pension due to him. A desperate disabled person tries to find help in the capital, but his attempt is dashed by the cold indifference of a high-ranking official. This disgusting image of a soulless St. Petersburg nobleman completes the characterization of the world of officials. All of them, starting with the petty provincial secretary and ending with the representative of the highest administrative power, are dishonest, selfish, cruel people, indifferent to the fate of the country and the people. It is to this conclusion that N. V. Gogol’s wonderful poem “Dead Souls” leads the reader.

« Dead Souls"is one of the brightest works of Russian literature. According to the strength and depth of ideas, according to
In artistic mastery, “Dead Souls” ranks with such masterpieces of Russian classical literature as “Woe from Wit” by Griboyedov, “Eugene Onegin” and “The Captain’s Daughter” by Pushkin, as well as with the best works of Goncharov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Leskov.

When starting to create “Dead Souls,” Gogol wrote to Pushkin that in his work he wanted to show “from one side” all of Rus'. “All Rus' will appear in it!” - he also told Zhukovsky. Indeed, Gogol was able to illuminate many aspects of the life of contemporary Russia, to reflect with wide completeness the spiritual and social conflicts in its life.

Undoubtedly, " Dead Souls And" were very relevant for their time. Gogol even had to change the title when publishing the work, as it irritated the censors. The high political effectiveness of the poem is due to both the sharpness of the ideas and the topicality of the images.
The poem widely reflected the Nikolaev reactionary era, when all initiative and freethinking were suppressed, the bureaucratic apparatus grew significantly, and a system of denunciations and investigations was in place.

Dead Souls poses extremely important questions both for its time and for Russia in general: the question of serfs and landowners, bureaucracy and corruption in all spheres of life.

Depicting contemporary Russia, Gogol devoted significant space to the description of: provincial (VII-IX chapters) and capital (“The Tale of Captain Kopeikin”).

Provincial officials are represented in the images of officials of the city of N. It is characteristic that they all live as one family: they spend their leisure time together, address each other by name and patronymic (“My dear friend Ilya Ilyich!”), and are hospitable. Gogol doesn't even mention their last names. On the other hand, officials are bound by mutual responsibility in matters related to their service.

The widespread bribery that reigned in Russia was also reflected in Gogol’s work. This motive is very important in the description of life Officialdom in the poem Dead Souls: the police chief, despite the fact that he visits the Gostiny Dvor as if it were his own storeroom, enjoys the love of the merchants because he is not proud and courteous; Ivan Antonovich accepts a bribe from Chichikov deftly, with knowledge of the matter, as a matter of course.

The motive of bribery also appears in the biography of Chichikov himself, and the episode with a certain generalized petitioner can be considered a digression on bribes.

All officials treat service as an opportunity to make money at someone else’s expense, which is why lawlessness, bribery and corruption flourish everywhere, disorder and red tape reign. Bureaucracy is a good breeding ground for these vices. It was in his conditions that Chichikov’s scam was possible.

Because of their “sins” in their service, all officials are afraid of being checked by an auditor sent by the government. Chichikov's incomprehensible behavior terrifies the city Officialdom in the poem Dead Souls: “Suddenly both of them turned pale; fear is more sticky than the plague and is communicated instantly. “Everyone suddenly found sins in themselves that didn’t even exist.” Suddenly they have assumptions, there are rumors that Chichikov is Napoleon himself, or Captain Kopeikan, an auditor. The motif of gossip is typical for describing the life of Russian society in the literature of the 19th century; it is also present in “Dead Souls”.

The position of an official in society corresponds to his rank: the higher the position, the greater the authority, respect, and the preferable it is to get to know him. Meanwhile, there are some qualities necessary “for this world: pleasantness in appearance, in turns of speech and actions, and agility in business...” All of this was possessed by Chichikov, who knew how to carry on a conversation, present himself favorably to society, unobtrusively show respect, provide service. “In a word, he was a very decent person; That’s why it was so well received by the society of the city of N.”

Officials generally do not engage in service, but spend their time in entertainment (dinners and balls). Here they indulge in their only “good occupation” - playing cards. Playing cards is more common for fat people than for thin people, and that’s what they do at the ball. The city fathers devote themselves to playing cards without reserve, showing imagination, eloquence, and liveliness of mind.

Gogol did not forget to point out the ignorance and stupidity of officials. Saying sarcastically that many of them “were not without education,” the author immediately points out the limits of their interests: “Lyudmila” by Zhukovsky, Karamzin or “Moscow News”; many didn’t read anything at all.

Having introduced “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” into the poem, Gogol also introduced a description of the capital’s officials. Just like in a provincial town, Bureaucracy Petersburg is subject to bureaucracy, bribery, and veneration of rank.

Despite the fact that Gogol presented Bureaucracy more as one whole, individual images can also be distinguished. Thus, the governor, representing in his person the highest city power, is shown in a somewhat comic light: he had “Anna around his neck” and, perhaps, was presented to the star; but, however, he was “a great good-natured man and sometimes even embroidered on tulle himself.” He was “neither fat nor thin.” And if Manilov says that the governor is “the most respectable and most amiable person,” then Sobakevich directly declares that he is “the first robber in the world.” It seems that both assessments of the governor’s personality are correct and characterize him from different sides.

The prosecutor is an absolutely useless person in the service. In his portrait, Gogol points out one detail: very thick eyebrows and a seemingly conspiratorial winking eye. One gets the impression of dishonesty, uncleanliness, and cunning of the prosecutor. Indeed, such qualities are characteristic of court officials, where lawlessness flourishes: the poem mentions two of the many cases where an unjust trial was committed (the case of a fight between peasants and the murder of an assessor).

The inspector of the medical board is no less frightened by the talk about Chichikov than the others, since he is also guilty of sins: in the infirmaries there is no proper care for the sick, so people die in large numbers. The inspector is not embarrassed by this fact, he is indifferent to the fate of ordinary people, but he is afraid of the auditor, who can punish him and deprive him of his position.

Nothing is said about the postmaster’s occupation of postal affairs, which indicates that he does not do anything remarkable in his service: just like other officials, he is either inactive or trying to loot and profit. Gogol mentions only
The fact that the postmaster is engaged in philosophy and makes large extracts from books.

Some lyrical digressions also serve to reveal the images of officials. For example, a satirical digression about fat and thin typifies the images of officials. The author divides men into two kinds, characterizing them depending on their physical appearance: thin men like to look after women, and fat men, preferring to play whist over ladies, know how to “manage their affairs better” and always firmly and invariably occupy reliable places.

Another example: Gogol compares Russian officials with foreigners - “wise men” who know how to treat people of different status and social status differently. Thus, speaking about the veneration of officials and their understanding of subordination, Gogol creates the image of a kind of conditional manager of the office, radically changing in appearance depending on whose company he is in: among subordinates or in front of his boss.

The world presented by Gogol, called " Officialdom in the poem “Dead Souls”"very colorful, many-sided. Comic images of officials, collected together, create a picture of the ugly social structure of Russia. Gogol’s creation evokes both laughter and tears, because even after more than a century, it allows you to recognize familiar situations, faces, characters, destinies. Great Gogol’s talent, which so uniquely vividly accurately described reality, pointed out the ulcer of society, which they could not heal even a century later.

Composition: Officialdom in the poem “Dead Souls”

N.V. Gogol, when creating his poem “Dead Souls,” thought about showing what Rus' looks like from one side.” Chichikov is the main character of the poem and Gogol talks about him most of all. This is an ordinary official who buys “dead souls” from landowners. The author managed to show the entire sphere of activity of Russian officials, talk about the city and its inhabitants as a whole.

The first volume of the work clearly shows the bureaucratic and landowner life of Russia from the negative side. The entire provincial society, officials and landowners are part of a kind of “dead world”.

(Gogol's provincial town in the poem "Dead Souls")

The provincial town is shown very clearly. Here one can see the indifference of the authorities to ordinary residents, emptiness, disorder and dirt. And only after Chichikov comes to the landowners, a general view of Russian bureaucracy appears.

Gogol shows bureaucracy from the point of view of lack of spirituality and thirst for profit. The official Ivan Antonovich loves bribes very much, so he is ready to do anything for the sake of it. To get it, he is even ready to sell his soul.

(Official conversations)

Unfortunately, such officials are a reflection of the entire Russian bureaucracy. Gogol tries to show in his work a large concentration of swindlers and thieves who create a kind of corporation of corrupt officials.

The bribe becomes a legal matter the moment Chichikov goes to the chairman of the chamber. The most interesting thing is that the chairman himself accepts him as an old friend and immediately gets down to business, telling him that friends do not have to pay anything.

(Ordinary moments of social life)

During a conversation with an official, interesting moments in the life of city officials appear. Sobakevich characterizes the prosecutor as an “idle man” who constantly sits at home, and the lawyer does all the work for him. At the head of the entire system is the police chief, whom everyone calls the “benefactor.” His charity is to steal and enable others to do the same. No one in power has any idea what honor, duty and legality are. These are completely soulless people.

Gogol's story reveals all the masks, showing people from the side of their cruelty and inhumanity. And this applies not only to provincial, but also to district officials. The work is dedicated to the heroic year of 1812, which shows the full contrast of the petty, soulless bureaucratic world that Gogol saw at that time in modern Russia.

(Courtyard meetings and balls)

The worst thing is that the work shows the fate of the captain, who fought for his Motherland, is completely crippled, he cannot feed himself, but this does not bother anyone at all. The highest ranks of St. Petersburg do not pay any attention to him and this is very frightening. Society is on the verge of indifference to everything.

The work written by Gogol many years ago does not leave indifferent the inhabitants of the modern world, since all the problems remain relevant at the moment.