Mortification of the soul. Deadness or insensibility of the heart to spiritual objects. The problem of the mortification of the human soul. The mortification of the soul. Gogol dead souls problems works - Poets and writers

“Dead Souls” is a poem for the ages. The plasticity of the depicted reality, the comic nature of situations and the artistic skill of N.V. Gogol paints an image of Russia not only of the past, but also of the future. Grotesque satirical reality in harmony with patriotic notes create an unforgettable melody of life that sounds through the centuries.

The essence of the work

Collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov goes to distant provinces to buy serfs. However, he is not interested in people, but only in the names of the dead. This is necessary to submit the list to the board of trustees, which “promises” a lot of money. For a nobleman with so many peasants, all doors were open. To implement his plans, he pays visits to landowners and officials of the city of NN. They all reveal their selfish nature, so the hero manages to get what he wants. He is also planning a profitable marriage. However, the result is disastrous: the hero is forced to flee, as his plans become publicly known thanks to the landowner Korobochka.

History of creation

N.V. Gogol believed A.S. Pushkin as his teacher, who “gave” the grateful student a story about Chichikov’s adventures. The poet was sure that only Nikolai Vasilyevich, who has a unique talent from God, could realize this “idea.”

The writer loved Italy and Rome. In the land of the great Dante, he began work on a book suggesting a three-part composition in 1835. The poem was supposed to be similar to Dante's Divine Comedy, depicting the hero's descent into hell, his wanderings in purgatory and the resurrection of his soul in paradise.

The creative process continued for six years. The idea of ​​a grandiose painting, depicting not only “all Rus'” present, but also the future, revealed “the untold riches of the Russian spirit.” In February 1837, Pushkin died, whose “sacred testament” for Gogol became “Dead Souls”: “Not a single line was written without me imagining him before me.” The first volume was completed in the summer of 1841, but did not immediately find its reader. The censorship was outraged by “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin”, and the title led to bewilderment. I had to make concessions by starting the title with the intriguing phrase “The Adventures of Chichikov.” Therefore, the book was published only in 1842.

After some time, Gogol writes the second volume, but, dissatisfied with the result, burns it.

Meaning of the name

The title of the work causes conflicting interpretations. The oxymoron technique used gives rise to numerous questions to which you want to get answers as quickly as possible. The title is symbolic and ambiguous, so the “secret” is not revealed to everyone.

In the literal sense, “dead souls” are representatives of the common people who have passed into another world, but are still listed as their masters. The concept is gradually being rethought. The “form” seems to “come to life”: real serfs, with their habits and shortcomings, appear before the reader’s gaze.

From a metaphorical point of view, the “gallery” of portraits of the ruling class is distinguished by the deadness of its own feelings and thoughts, suppressing everything blooming. The “masters of life” are simply “smoking the earth,” because human nature is unthinkable without true spiritual movements. Therefore, their souls are truly dead, but the serfs have a creative, living force that can change the country for the better. We wrote more about this in the essay: The meaning of the title of the poem “Dead Souls”.

Characteristics of the main characters

1. Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is a “mediocre gentleman.” Somewhat cloying manners in dealing with people are not without sophistication. Well-mannered, neat and delicate. “Not handsome, but not bad-looking, not... fat, nor.... thin..." Calculating and careful. He collects unnecessary trinkets in his little chest: maybe it will come in handy! Seeks profit in everything. The generation of the worst sides of an enterprising and energetic person of a new type, opposed to landowners and officials. We wrote about him in more detail in the essay “ Image of Chichikov».
2. Manilov - “knight of the void”. A blond "sweet" talker with "blue eyes." He covers up the poverty of thought and avoidance of real difficulties with a beautiful phrase. He lacks living aspirations and any interests. His faithful companions are fruitless fantasy and thoughtless chatter.
3. The box is “club-headed”. A vulgar, stupid, stingy and tight-fisted nature. She cut herself off from everything around her, shutting herself up in her estate - the “box”. She turned into a stupid and greedy woman. Limited, stubborn and unspiritual.
4. Nozdryov is a “historical person”. He can easily lie whatever he wants and deceive anyone. Empty, absurd. He thinks of himself as broad-minded. However, his actions expose a careless, chaotic, weak-willed and at the same time arrogant, shameless “tyrant.” Record holder for getting into tricky and ridiculous situations.
5. Sobakevich is “a patriot of the Russian stomach.” Outwardly it resembles a bear: clumsy and irrepressible. Completely incapable of understanding the most basic things. A special type of “storage device” that can quickly adapt to the new requirements of our time. He is not interested in anything except running a household. Images of landowners we described in the essay of the same name.
6. Plyushkin - “a hole in humanity.” A creature of unknown gender. A striking example of moral decline, which has completely lost its natural appearance. The only character (except Chichikov) who has a biography that “reflects” the gradual process of personality degradation. A complete nonentity. Plyushkin’s manic hoarding “pours out” into “cosmic” proportions. And the more this passion takes possession of him, the less of a person remains in him. We analyzed his image in detail in the essay The image of Plyushkin.

Genre and composition

Initially, the work began as an adventurous picaresque novel. But the breadth of the events described and the historical truthfulness, as if “compressed” together, gave rise to “talking” about the realistic method. Making precise remarks, inserting philosophical arguments, addressing different generations, Gogol imbued “his brainchild” with lyrical digressions. One cannot but agree with the opinion that Nikolai Vasilyevich’s creation is a comedy, since it actively uses the techniques of irony, humor and satire, which most fully reflect the absurdity and arbitrariness of the “squadron of flies that dominates Rus'.”

The composition is circular: the chaise, which entered the city of NN at the beginning of the story, leaves it after all the vicissitudes that happened to the hero. Episodes are woven into this “ring”, without which the integrity of the poem is violated. The first chapter provides a description of the provincial city of NN and local officials. From the second to the sixth chapters, the author introduces readers to the landowner estates of Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdryov, Sobakevich and Plyushkin. The seventh – tenth chapters are a satirical depiction of officials, the execution of completed transactions. The string of events listed above ends with a ball, where Nozdryov “narrates” about Chichikov’s scam. The reaction of society to his statement is unambiguous - gossip, which, like a snowball, is overgrown with fables that have found refraction, including in the short story (“The Tale of Captain Kopeikin”) and the parable (about Kif Mokievich and Mokiya Kifovich). The introduction of these episodes allows us to emphasize that the fate of the fatherland directly depends on the people living in it. You cannot look indifferently at the disgrace happening around you. Certain forms of protest are maturing in the country. The eleventh chapter is a biography of the hero who forms the plot, explaining what motivated him when committing this or that act.

The connecting compositional thread is the image of the road (you can learn more about this by reading the essay “ The image of the road in the poem Dead Souls"), symbolizing the path that the state takes in its development “under the modest name of Rus'.”

Why does Chichikov need dead souls?

Chichikov is not just cunning, but also pragmatic. His sophisticated mind is ready to “make candy” out of nothing. Not having sufficient capital, he, being a good psychologist, having gone through a good life school, mastering the art of “flattering everyone” and fulfilling his father’s behest to “save a penny,” starts a great speculation. It consists of a simple deception of “those in power” in order to “warm up their hands”, in other words, to gain a huge amount of money, thereby providing for themselves and their future family, which Pavel Ivanovich dreamed of.

The names of dead peasants bought for next to nothing were entered into a document that Chichikov could take to the treasury chamber under the guise of collateral in order to obtain a loan. He would have pawned the serfs like a brooch in a pawnshop, and could have re-mortgaged them all his life, since none of the officials checked the physical condition of the people. For this money, the businessman would have bought real workers and an estate, and would have lived in grand style, enjoying the favor of the nobles, because the nobles measured the wealth of the landowner in the number of souls (peasants were then called “souls” in noble slang). In addition, Gogol's hero hoped to gain trust in society and profitably marry a rich heiress.

main idea

A hymn to the homeland and people, the distinguishing feature of which is hard work, sounds on the pages of the poem. The masters of golden hands became famous for their inventions and their creativity. The Russian man is always “rich in invention.” But there are also those citizens who hinder the development of the country. These are vicious officials, ignorant and inactive landowners and swindlers like Chichikov. For their own good, the good of Russia and the world, they must take the path of correction, realizing the ugliness of their inner world. To do this, Gogol mercilessly ridicules them throughout the entire first volume, but in subsequent parts of the work the author intended to show the resurrection of the spirit of these people using the example of the main character. Perhaps he felt the falseness of the subsequent chapters, lost faith that his dream was feasible, so he burned it along with the second part of “Dead Souls.”

However, the author showed that the main wealth of the country is the broad soul of the people. It is no coincidence that this word is included in the title. The writer believed that the revival of Russia would begin with the revival of human souls, pure, untainted by any sins, selfless. Not just those who believe in the free future of the country, but those who make a lot of effort on this fast road to happiness. “Rus, where are you going?” This question runs like a refrain throughout the book and emphasizes the main thing: the country must live in constant movement towards the best, advanced, progressive. Only on this path “do other peoples and states give her the way.” We wrote a separate essay about Russia’s path: What moral path does Gogol outline for his country??

Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls?

At some point, the thought of the messiah begins to dominate in the writer’s mind, allowing him to “foresee” the revival of Chichikov and even Plyushkin. Gogol hopes to reverse the progressive “transformation” of a person into a “dead man”. But, faced with reality, the author experiences deep disappointment: the heroes and their destinies emerge from the pen as far-fetched and lifeless. Did not work out. The impending crisis in worldview was the reason for the destruction of the second book.

In the surviving excerpts from the second volume, it is clearly visible that the writer portrays Chichikov not in the process of repentance, but in flight towards the abyss. He still succeeds in adventures, dresses in a devilish red tailcoat and breaks the law. His revelation does not bode well, because in his reaction the reader will not see a sudden insight or a hint of shame. He doesn’t even believe in the possibility of such fragments ever existing. Gogol did not want to sacrifice artistic truth even for the sake of realizing his own plan.

Issues

1. Thorns on the path of development of the Motherland are the main problem in the poem “Dead Souls” that the author was worried about. These include bribery and embezzlement of officials, infantilism and inactivity of the nobility, ignorance and poverty of the peasants. The writer sought to make his contribution to the prosperity of Russia, condemning and ridiculing vices, educating new generations of people. For example, Gogol despised doxology as a cover for the emptiness and idleness of existence. The life of a citizen should be useful to society, but most of the characters in the poem are downright harmful.
2. Moral problems. He views the lack of moral standards among representatives of the ruling class as the result of their ugly passion for hoarding. The landowners are ready to shake the soul out of the peasant for the sake of profit. Also, the problem of selfishness comes to the fore: nobles, like officials, think only about their own interests, the homeland for them is an empty, weightless word. High society does not care about the common people, they simply use them for their own purposes.
3. The crisis of humanism. People are sold like animals, lost at cards like things, pawned like jewelry. Slavery is legal and is not considered immoral or unnatural. Gogol illuminated the problem of serfdom in Russia globally, showing both sides of the coin: the slave mentality inherent in the serf, and the tyranny of the owner, confident in his superiority. All these are the consequences of tyranny that permeates relationships in all levels of society. It corrupts people and ruins the country.
4. The author's humanism is manifested in his attention to the “little man” and critical exposure of the vices of the government system. Gogol did not even try to avoid political problems. He described a bureaucracy that functioned only on the basis of bribery, nepotism, embezzlement and hypocrisy.
5. Gogol's characters are characterized by the problem of ignorance and moral blindness. Because of it, they do not see their moral squalor and are not able to independently get out of the quagmire of vulgarity that drags them down.

What is unique about the work?

Adventurism, realistic reality, a sense of the presence of the irrational, philosophical discussions about earthly good - all this is closely intertwined, creating an “encyclopedic” picture of the first half of the 19th century.

Gogol achieves this by using various techniques of satire, humor, visual means, numerous details, a wealth of vocabulary, and compositional features.

• Symbolism plays an important role. Falling into the mud “predicts” the future exposure of the main character. The spider weaves its webs to capture its next victim. Like an “unpleasant” insect, Chichikov skillfully runs his “business”, “entwining” landowners and officials with noble lies. Image of the road“sounds” like the pathos of Rus'’s forward movement and affirms human self-improvement.
• We observe the heroes through the prism of “comic” situations, apt author’s expressions and characteristics given by other characters, sometimes built on the antithesis: “he was a prominent man” - but only “at first glance”.
• The vices of the heroes of Dead Souls become a continuation of the positive character traits. For example, Plyushkin’s monstrous stinginess is a distortion of his former thrift and thriftiness.
• In small lyrical “inserts” - the writer’s thoughts, difficult thoughts, an anxious “I”. In them we feel the highest creative message: to help humanity change for the better.
• The fate of people who create works for the people or not to please “those in power” does not leave Gogol indifferent, because in literature he saw a force capable of “re-educating” society and promoting its civilized development. Social strata of society, their position in relation to everything national: culture, language, traditions - occupy a serious place in the author’s digressions. When it comes to Rus' and its future, through the centuries we hear the confident voice of the “prophet”, predicting the difficult, but aimed at a bright dream, future of the Fatherland.
• Philosophical reflections on the frailty of existence, lost youth and impending old age evoke sadness. Therefore, it is so natural for a tender “fatherly” appeal to youth, on whose energy, hard work and education depends on which “path” the development of Russia will take.
• The language is truly folk. The forms of colloquial, literary and written business speech are harmoniously woven into the fabric of the poem. Rhetorical questions and exclamations, the rhythmic construction of individual phrases, the use of Slavicisms, archaisms, sonorous epithets create a certain structure of speech that sounds solemn, excited and sincere, without a shadow of irony. When describing landowners' estates and their owners, vocabulary characteristic of everyday speech is used. The image of the bureaucratic world is saturated with the vocabulary of the depicted environment. Images of officials we described in the essay of the same name.
• The solemnity of comparisons, high style, combined with original speech, create a sublimely ironic manner of narration, serving to debunk the base, vulgar world of the owners.

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“Dead souls” - ontological issues

The pinnacle of N.V. Gogol’s creativity was the poem “Dead Souls”. When starting to create his grandiose work, he wrote to Zhukovsky that “all of Rus' will appear in it!” Gogol based the conflict of the poem on the main contradiction of contemporary reality between the gigantic spiritual forces of the people and their enslavement.

Realizing this conflict, he turned to the most pressing problems of that period: the state of the landowners' economy, the moral character of the local and bureaucratic nobility, the relationship of the peasantry with the authorities, the fate of the people in Russia. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” displays a whole gallery of moral monsters, types that have become household names. 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 “dead souls.” "Dead Souls". Gogol's idea was to show all of Rus'.

Gogol calls “Dead Souls” a poem. By this definition of the genre, the author shows that his works are not similar to examples known to the reader.

Lyrical digressions expand the artistic space in the poem and deepen the philosophical. The title of the poem is ambiguous: 1. These are the souls of those landowners and officials whom Chichikov visits. 2. These are the souls of the peasants whom Chichikov is buying up.

3. This is a philosophical question about what kills the human soul and what can revive it. The leading opposition of the poem is the dead and the living. This principle explains the choice of actors.

All characters can be divided into 2 groups: the 1st is associated with the motif of a dead, motionless principle, these are doll people, for example, Manilov, Korobochka. 2nd group - those characters who are associated with the motive of movement, for example, Plyushkin, Chichikov, the author. Gogol writes the 1st chapter, in which he shows the terrible sides of Russian life. To do this, he resorts to the technique of hyperbole, i.e.

it increases the negative trait, and because of this, the heroes lose their human appearance. The author often compares his characters to things or animals. It is no coincidence that Manilov opens the gallery of landowners - he is neutral, he does not have any bright features, and even the color scheme is gray.

It is no coincidence that Stepan Plyushkin completes the gallery. Plyushkin's biography is a biography of losses: at the beginning his wife dies, then his daughter runs away with a military man, his son loses government money. Gogol in an original way develops the type of “miserly rich man” known in world literature. Plyushkin does not collect wealth, he collects garbage. The result of Plyushkin is the result of human life; what remains from human activity is a heap of garbage.

Gogol shows the reason for the death of a person’s soul using the example of the formation of the character of the main character, Chichikov. 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 around him. Chichikov is a new hero in life and in literature. Gogol creates the image of a modern man, all of whose tricks are in the name of a penny. The author calls his hero a scoundrel, although Chichikov also has attractive features: he is active, dissatisfied with his position and strives to change it for the better. Gogol exposes the main temptation of modern man - service to the body, and the faith of modern man only in the material basis of existence.

But behind the “dead” souls of Chichikov, officials and landowners, Gogol discerned the living souls of the peasants, the strength of national character. According to A.I. Herzen, in Gogol’s poem “behind the dead souls - living souls” appear. The talent of the people is revealed in the dexterity of the coachman Mikheev, the shoemaker Telyatnikov, the brickmaker Milushkin, and the carpenter Stepan Probka. The strength and acuity 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 brightness and unbridled joy of folk holidays.

Unlimited dependence on the usurper power of the landowners, who condemn the peasants to forced, exhausting labor, to hopeless ignorance, gives rise to stupid Mityaev and Minyaev, downtrodden Proshek and Pelageya, who do not know “where is right and where is left. 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. V. G. Belinsky called the poem “a creation snatched from the hiding place of people’s life, a creation profound in thought, social, public and historical. You had to be a poet to write such a poem in prose... a Russian national poet in the entire space of this word.”

Neither in a story, nor in a novel, nor in a novel can the author so freely intrude his “I” into the course of the narrative. Digressions organically introduced into the text help the author touch on various problems and aspects of life, and make the description of the characters in the poem more complete. The works of the later period differ from the first period of creativity. The creative manner and style changes: laughter and grotesqueness go away, visual images are replaced by music.

To characterize Gogol’s artistic world, Zaitsev resorts to impressionistic images: “His very word is spiritualized. There is no longer anything in it that catches the eye with paint or design. Everything is now smooth, covered with a uniform, pearl-gray patina and full of harmony” (9, 309). According to Zaitsev, Gogol’s artistic method evolved from realism to spiritual realism, but the writer did not guess his artistic purpose: “Over the years, the contradictions in Gogol increased. He drew closer to God more and more, and in art he depicted darkness more and more irresistibly” (9, 306).

In accordance with this idea, Zaitsev evaluates the writer’s creativity. In The Inspector General, Zaitsev saw “an almost brilliant grotesque”, in places, however, going into popular print. In Dead Souls, Gogol “showed brightness and prominence, in a kind of deadness of the stereoscope, almost terrible.

This is kind of a hellish world. It is given in slate tones. His heroes exist statuesquely, as in a museum, as grave specimens of humanity” (9, 306).

Related materials:

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/ Works / Gogol N.V. / Dead Souls / The problem of the death of the human soul in the works of Russian writers of the 19th century (N.V. Gogol, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin)

Many Russian writers were painfully worried about the fact that their contemporary reality gave birth to “new” people who were very far from the ideal they represented. At different times, N.V. Gogol, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, A.P. Chekhov openly accused life. In their brilliant works, they exposed with unsurpassed acuteness the harmful, corrupting influence of property on human character, and showed the inevitability of moral and physical destruction of the personality of a person who neglects the laws of morality.

The pinnacle of N.V. Gogol’s creativity is the poem “Dead Souls” - one of the outstanding works of world literature, according to Belinsky’s definition, “a creation snatched from the hiding place of people’s life.” In the poem, Gogol again turns to one of his main themes - the theme of Russian landownership. The picture of the wild, grossly ignorant, stupidly senseless landowner kingdom, the picture of the deep decay of Nicholas Russia was drawn by Gogol with amazing life truth, with enormous completeness and power of artistic realistic embodiment. The gallery of characters created by Gogol clearly demonstrates the gradual and ever deeper death of man. From Manilov to Plyushkin, a frightening picture of the gradual extinction of everything human in a person is revealed to us. The provincial town of NN is no better. which Gogol himself called “the untouchable world.” But Chichikov occupies a special place among the characters in the work. It revealed new trends in the development of Russian life in a very unique, one-sided way, in its negative aspects, in its specific bourgeois adventurism. It is not for nothing that N.V. Gogol not only calls this new hero of Russian reality “master”, “acquirer”. The writer branded him with the name of “scoundrel.” In Chichikov, the new character of a predator-acquirer is subtly outlined, who has developed the ability to cunningly adapt to people and circumstances, who has learned to subordinate moral principles to material interests. Angrily condemning the feudal nobility, N.V. Gogol, in the image of Chichikov, denounced bourgeois predation. It was he who vulgarized the image of the romantic robber, Napoleon, the knight, for he becomes the “knight of the penny.” Gogol calls people of this type the most terrible evil.

Insignificance acquires the meaning of a terrible, oppressive force, and this happens because it is based on serfdom morality, on law and religion. Judas’s trampling of all the norms of humanity brought him retribution and inevitably led to greater destruction of his personality. In his degradation, he went through three stages of moral decay: a binge of idle talk, a binge of idle thinking and a drunken binge, which ended the shameful existence of a “bloodsucker.” The image of Judushka Golovlev is a symbol of the social and moral decay of the nobility. A.P. Chekhov's short story “Ionych” continues and deepens the theme of internal degeneration, the vulgarization of the intellectual in a philistine environment that sucks in and destroys a person. Chekhov proves that an intelligent, educated person can become vulgar, morally fade away, not only if there is no work, work, goal in his life, but also if this work, work is aimed at achieving a base goal - personal enrichment. Chekhov shows how the atmosphere of Russian life drowns out everything that is morally good and healthy in a person. The trouble and at the same time the guilt of Startsev, the future Ionych, was that he stopped resisting internally and turned out to be too susceptible and pliable to the surrounding vulgarity. Along with the impoverishment of Startsev’s soul, all connections with beauty, music, and nature disappear. His favorite pastime is counting money in the evenings. He is indifferent to everyone around him and to himself. At the end of the story we have a real money-grubber who has been “overcome by greed.” Before us is a doctor who has lost his main quality - philanthropy. Ultimately, life turns out to be merciless for Ionych himself. Yes, he is rich, he “has an estate and two houses in the city,” but he is lonely, “his life is boring, nothing interests him.” And most importantly, he loses his memory of the past, forgets his love, which “was his only joy and probably his last.” Ionych renounced his culture, intelligence, his business and his love. Before us is a mercilessly harsh story about a man who stopped resisting the environment and stopped being human.

Thus, the best writers of critical realism, whose work has become a classic of Russian literature, sharply and mercilessly exposed not only the “dead souls” of the heroes, but also the society that gives rise to the Chichikovs, Jews, and Ions.

/ Works / Gogol N.V. / Dead Souls / The problem of the death of the human soul in the works of Russian writers of the 19th century (N.V. Gogol, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin)

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How does Dead Souls reveal the problem of the relationship between the artist and the crowd?

How does Dead Souls reveal the problem of the relationship between the artist and the crowd?

At the beginning of the 7th chapter of the poem “Dead Souls” N.V. Gogol reflects on the relationship between the artist and the crowd.

The author compares two types of writers. One of them is a sublime romantic who passes by “boring, disgusting characters, striking with their sad reality” and never changes “the sublime structure of his lyre.” Such an artist is favored by the reading public, he has the great fame of “world poet”. But such is not the fate of the realist writer, the satirist, who dared to “call out” “all the terrible, stunning mud of little things that entangle our lives, all the depth of cold, fragmented, everyday characters.” This artist will not receive worldwide recognition, the public will not appreciate his creations, and will consider them “insignificant and low.” The author reflects with bitter feeling on the tragic fate of the realist satirist and his spiritual loneliness.

Of course, in this lyrical digression Gogol writes about himself. All these principles of reflecting reality are reflected in the poem “Dead Souls”, in which the writer deeply explores the characters and elements of Russian life. Gogol's authorial position is quite definite: emphasizing the typicality of the images he creates, he deeply and subtly explores the environment that gave birth to them. The writer gives us all the details of the characters' lives, scrupulously describes rooms, things, and everyday details. So, for example, he draws in detail a portrait of Manilov, his estate, landscape, lunch, and gives us details of his way of life. All this helps him to reveal the inner world of the hero, to most fully describe the character, to reproduce the type of an idle dreamer, an indefinite, inert person. And this is how the author explores almost each of the characters.

To a certain extent, these descriptions are predetermined by the genre originality of the work (Gogol called “Dead Souls” a poem, and the epic style was noted by many researchers). But the principles of realism that the author follows also play an important role. We can consider the poem “Dead Souls” to be a realistic work, since the writer follows the principle of historicism in it (the subject of research is modern life), typical characters are given in typical circumstances, and certain means of satirical typification are also used (referring to the hero’s past, author’s characteristics, hyperbole etc.). Hyperbole and grotesque are the most important elements of N.V.’s style. Gogol, often creating the effect of “twisted” reality. That is why some researchers call his style “fantastic realism.” However, the romantic current is also very noticeable in the poem “Dead Souls”. It makes its way through the author’s lyrical digressions and his thoughts about the future of Russia.

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The problem of Russian national character in the poem Dead Souls

In the poem Dead Souls, Gogol strives to more clearly portray the Russian people. To better understand his character, he introduces into the narrative representatives of three classes: landowners, officials and peasants. And, although he pays most attention to the landowners, Gogol shows that the real bearers of the Russian national character are the peasants.

Bearers of Russian national character

One of the main paradoxes of this poem is that the so-called. dead souls in Russia are mainly still living landowners, numb in caring for their farms, and not dead peasants bought up by Chichikov. They, in turn, demonstrate the full strength of the Russian spirit.

The poem shows how talented the common people are, what skill the craftsmen have (Gogol introduces coachmaker Mikheev, shoemaker Telyatnikov, brickmaker Milushkin, carpenter Stepan Probka into the narrative). Particular attention is paid to the strength and sharpness of the people's mind, the sincerity of folk songs, the brightness and generosity of folk holidays.

Gogol also shows that the strength of the Russian character does not allow the peasants to endure oppression. To do this, he briefly but expressively mentions in the poem cases of peasant rebellion against the serfdom: the murder of assessor Drobyakin, the mass flight of peasants from the landowners.

The problem of Russian character

However, Gogol is not inclined to idealize the Russian national character. This reflects his real attitude to reality, and not feigned patriotism. He notes that any meeting of Russian people is characterized by some confusion, that one of the main problems of the Russian person: the inability to complete the work begun.

Gogol also notes that a Russian person is often able to see the correct solution to a problem only after he has performed some action, but at the same time he really does not like to admit his mistakes to others.

Gogol emphasizes that modern reality is destroying the Russian people. The desire of ordinary people for education and the impossibility of its implementation leads to idle talk, and the ardent desire to escape from the serfdom sometimes leads peasants to absurd actions.

And Gogol paints all this tragedy of Russian reality against the backdrop of the majestic and endless Russian expanses; he believes that Russia initially had great potential and opportunities, but the autocratic government limited them all.

Such a description of peasant life, everyday details, was a kind of preface to the story The Overcoat, starting from which a whole new literary movement later arose - the natural school.

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The main theme of the poem “Dead Souls” is the theme of the present and future

The main theme of the poem “Dead Souls” is the theme of the present and future of Russia. Mercilessly scolding the order that existed in the country, Gogol was confident that Russia would be a prosperous country, that the time would come when Russia would become an ideal for other countries. This conviction arose from a sense of enormous creative energy that lay hidden in the depths of the people. The image of the homeland in the poem serves as the personification of everything great that the Russian people are capable of. Towering above all the pictures and images drawn in the poem, the image of Russia is covered with the ardent love of the author, who dedicated his creative work to his native country. In his poem, Gogol denounces those who interfered with the development of the creative forces of the nation and people, and mercilessly debunks the “masters of life” - the nobles. People like Manilov, Sobakevich, Plyushkin, Chichikov cannot be the creators of spiritual values.

The embodiment of the mighty rise of vital energy and aspiration to the future is the amazing image of Russia, like a trio of birds rushing into the vast distance. “Aren’t you, Rus', like a brisk and unstoppable troika, rushing along? The road beneath you smokes, the bridges rattle, everything lags behind and remains behind... everything that is on earth flies past, and, looking askance, other peoples and states step aside and give way to it.” The author's lyrical statements are filled with high pathos. “...What a sparkling, wonderful, unfamiliar distance to the earth!

Rus!" One after another, Gogol sketches pictures of Russian nature that appear before the gaze of a traveler rushing along an autumn road. It is no coincidence that the writer contrasts the stagnation of local owners with the rapid movement of Russia forward. This expresses his faith in the future of the country and people. The writer's lyrical reflections on the living character of the hardworking Russian nation are among the most heartfelt pages, warmed by the unquenchable flame of patriotism. Gogol understood perfectly well that the inventive mind and creative talents of the Russian people would only turn into a powerful force when they were free. Fervently believing in the great future of Russia, Gogol, however, did not clearly imagine the path along which it was supposed to come to power, glory and prosperity.

“Rus', where are you going, give me the answer? Doesn't give an answer." The writer did not know the real ways by which the contradictions between the country’s state of depression and its prosperity could be overcome. In his denunciation of social evil, Gogol objectively reflected the protest of broad sections of the people against the serfdom system. It was on this basis that his flagellating satire grew, exposing the rulers of serf souls, bureaucratic rulers. Work on the second volume of the poem coincided with the writer’s deep spiritual crisis.

During this period of life, tendencies of bourgeois development began to inevitably appear. Gogol hated the kingdom of dead souls, but capitalism scared him. Gogol, as a deeply religious man, opposed any revolution. This was his attitude in life. If Saltykov-Shchedrin's laughter is aimed directly at undermining social foundations, then Gogol's laughter is fundamentally creative and humanistic. Possessing a gift of genius, N.V. Gogol created an outstanding work.

The lyrical pages of the poem dedicated to the people are the best in the work. Gogol endlessly loves his country and its people.

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Gogol dead souls problems works - Poets and writers

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Essay “Heroes and Problems of the Poem” (Dead Souls)

Only the first volume of the poem has reached us in its finished form.

N.V. Gogol “Dead Souls”. This piece is a masterpiece

Russian literature and the pinnacle of Gogol's creativity. However

among the writer’s contemporaries there were readers who did not accept the book,

created some kind of “gallery of freaks”. Critics of the poem did not understand

that Gogol’s well-aimed satire serves a higher purpose: to correct Russian

and universal human shortcomings. Gogol thought the work

in three volumes, like Dante's Divine Comedy. In the first

In this volume, the writer depicted in a condensed form all the dark sides

reality, and in the continuation of the poem he was going to show the way

to the ideal. Gogol depicted with such artistic power and scope

negative aspects of life that a worthy person could not create

"counterbalance" to the first volume. Feeling it coming

death, the writer destroyed the manuscript of the second volume. Why is he doing this

did remains a mystery. Perhaps Gogol decided that “positive

"The sequel loses out before the brilliant beginning.

Let's try to find out what negative phenomena Gogol exposes.

The title itself reflects the idea of ​​the work. Among the heroes of the poem

there is not one with an exalted, noble soul. Chichikov,

landowners, officials - everyone is mired in petty selfish interests,

laziness, idleness, gluttony, greed, stupidity. Main

the subject of Gogol's denunciation becomes general vulgarity. Writer

widely understood this phenomenon, meaning by it grinding,

the baseness of human nature. Outwardly, the heroes of the poem live,

but their souls are dead.

It is symbolic that the main character, Chichikov, is engaged in buying

“dead souls” listed as living in the census. He wants to cheat

way to pledge them to the guardianship council and receive a large

amount. The composition of the poem is constructed in such a way that only

in the last chapter we learn the biography of the main character. Before

moment Chichikov and his activities remain a mystery to us. We

we see that the main character is diligently hiding under the mask of a respectable

the landowner and carries out his secret affairs. Chichikov

you can’t deny observation, cunning, dexterity, diplomacy,

but he spends all his abilities on personal enrichment.

At the end of the poem it becomes clear how the

the character of the main character. Fate has prepared for him a miserable existence

a minor official, but Chichikov, from his school years, showed remarkable

enrichment abilities. Gogol paints a joyless

a picture of Russian society in which it is almost impossible to achieve

success in an honest way. For Chichikov there are no moral barriers,

he easily breaks the law and worries not about his soul, but about

so he doesn't get caught. Chichikov is defeated several times

in his machinations, but continues to stubbornly strive for wealth.

Gogol calls the hero a “scoundrel,” but immediately makes a reservation: maybe

Perhaps it would be more correct to call him an “acquirer.” The writer managed

depict the type of capitalist emerging in Russia, who

achieves success through his own efforts, not disdaining any

Unlike Chichikov, who continuously travels in a chaise along

Russian roads in search of profit, landowners are in a centuries-old

kills the living soul in a person, creates fertile soil

for vices. The writer uses various characteristics of landowners:

interior Gogol is a master of artistic detail, helping

a “so-so” person, neither this nor that. At the first moment Manilov could seem

pleasant, but then one noticed his excessive sweetness,

lack of will, inner emptiness. Manilov spends time

in fruitless dreams and completely does not notice the falling apart

economy, the absurdity of the situation in one’s own home, where luxury

adjacent to desolation. He speaks differently about people

as “most honorable” and “most gracious”, although absolutely

indifferent to them. Manilov is not interested in anything at all, he lives

in some kind of blissful half-sleep.

Korobochka is a much more “down to earth” character. This widow-

the landowner fully lives up to her surname: her whole life is directed

for petty hoarding. Despite the lack of education,

Chichikov "dead souls".

Nozdryov in many ways resembles Khlestakov from Gogol’s comedy

"Inspector". His whole life is continuous crazy actions. landowner,

father of two children, he only thinks about fun, rides

at fairs, gets drunk, is rowdy, exchanges money for good, cheats

in cards, is periodically beaten by friends, but continues

behave exactly the same. Nozdryov is a shameless liar and braggart, he

ready to slander anyone, even himself. When we walked around the city

ridiculous rumors that Chichikov is going to kidnap the governor's office

daughter, Nozdryov weaved a whole story in which he was the main

acting person. Chichikov barely carried his feet out of his house, forgetting

and think about “dead souls”.

Sobakevich may seem at first glance to be a good owner.

Peasant huts in his village, manor house, furniture,

the paintings - in a word, everything is extraordinarily solid, durable, ponderous.

Characterizing Sobakevich, Gogol repeatedly emphasizes

his resemblance to a bear. Sobakevich knows his peasants by name,

praises their abilities. However, Chichikov quickly understands

that in front of him is a “fist man”, thinking only about his profit.

Sobakevich does not mince words: all his officials are “scammers”

", "robbers" and "pigs". Sobakevich was mired in gluttony.

Gogol uses the technique of hyperbole when describing Sobakevich’s gigantic portions.

Even Chichikov, with all his resourcefulness, has difficulty negotiating

Sobakevich has “dead souls”.

Plyushkin reached the extreme degree of vulgarity. His stinginess wears

character of insanity, he turned into a “tear in humanity

" Being a rich landowner, Plyushkin walks around in some rags,

eats poorly and starves the serfs. In huge

food is rotting in his barns and barns, but Plyushkin, like Korobochka,

He’s afraid to sell things down and doesn’t sell anything. Plyushkin is no longer

as funny as it is terrible: in it the death of the soul is clearly

Despite the bleak picture of Russian life in the poem,

the work does not leave a feeling of hopelessness. Happening

this is thanks to lyrical digressions in which it sounds sincere,

"What insignificance, pettiness, disgusting" can a person reach, but

believes in the possibility of correction. The poem ends with a grandiose

three." From the dark sides of reality the reader is drawn

Shamova Olga Yurievna,

teacher of Russian language and literature

MBOU secondary school No. 53 of the city of Kirov.

Gogol was looking for answers to questions that were more important than the problems of artistic creativity, even if they were very sophisticated, although they could not help but attract his imagination: after all, he was an artist. He was an artist of the highest level, but he also possessed a heightened religious talent, and it prevailed in him over a purely artistic thirst for creativity. Gogol realized: art, no matter how high it rises, will remain among the treasures on earth. For Gogol, treasures in heaven were always more needed.

Belinsky also felt this with irritation. This was later discussed and written by many, many who tried to comprehend Gogol’s fate - assessing it differently, of course. Gogol's religious pilgrimage was not without wanderings and falls. One thing is certain: it was Gogol who directed Russian literature to the conscious service of Orthodox Truth. It seems that K. Mochulsky was the first to clearly formulate this: “In the moral field, Gogol was brilliantly gifted; he was destined to abruptly turn all Russian literature from aesthetics to religion, to move it from the path of Pushkin to the path of Dostoevsky. All the features that characterize the “great Russian literature”, which has become world literature, were outlined by Gogol: its religious and moral system, its citizenship and public spirit, its militant and practical character, its prophetic pathos and messianism. With Gogol, a wide road begins, the open spaces of the world.” This is the main treasure bequeathed by Gogol, which everyone could and can inherit, given their inner need. This inner need to give is the true acquisition of not imaginary values. One of the great Fathers of the Church, Maximus the Confessor, said this: “What is mine is only what I have given.”

We will try to consider the most complex question about the meaning of life from the point of view of the Christian faith using the example of the heroes of the most famous work of N.V. Gogol, a landmark work for all Russian literature, his great poem “Dead Souls”

The title of the poem is multifaceted; it combines the plot and spiritual plans of the work. It must also be said that the combination “dead souls” was “invented” by Gogol. The language contained the combination “waning souls.” From Pogodin’s letter to Gogol on May 6, 1847: There are no “dead souls” in the Russian language. There are souls who are audited, assigned, departed, and arrived.” Gogol wanted to give these words a special meaning not only to Chichikov’s scam, but to the entire work. The fact that in the title Gogol points to landowners and officials, Chichikov himself, was obvious already to Gogol’s first readers. A.I. Herzen wrote in his diary in 1842: “... it’s not the revisionists who are dead souls, but all these Nozdryovs, Manilovs and all the others - these are dead souls and we meet them at every step.” Everyone understands the lexical meaning of the word “dead” - deprived of life, deceased. But it is also clear that in the poem the “dead souls” are completely living people who even, let’s say, succeed, first of all, in their own opinion. So why are they “dead” even though they are alive. Obviously, the answer to this question is that their lives do not have the higher meaning that they should have.

Gogol puts into the mouth of old man Murazov (in the second volume of Dead Souls) one of his most sincere thoughts: “It’s not a pity that you became guilty before others, but it’s a pity that you became guilty before yourself - before rich powers and gifts, which were your inheritance. Your purpose is to be a great man, but you have wasted and ruined yourself.” These words addressed to Chichikov, without a doubt, were recognized by the author as addressed to every person. The heroes of the poem, passing before the reader exactly in the order in which the brilliant Gogol arranged them, stand on the steps of a staircase, but a staircase leading not up, but down. Not towards God, but in a completely different direction. Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdryov, Sobakevich, Plyushkin. From my own experience, I can say that the guys are very attracted and the image of Plyushkin evokes the greatest response in them. Therefore, I would like to dwell on this hero, standing at the very end of the gallery of Gogol’s landowners.

As the writer and literary critic Igor Volgin said, “Gogol’s landowners are types cast in bronze.” Gogol's great talent paints them with scrupulous accuracy and brightness. Gogol describes the estate, the house, the appearance of the characters, and the expressive speech of the characters. They all react differently to Chichikov’s offer to sell them dead peasants. But the story about Plyushkin differs significantly from the chapters about other landowners. The sixth chapter of the poem opens with a lyrical digression, in which the writer recalls his youth. In this lyrical digression we see a very important word - vulgarity. Vulgarity is the key word when it comes to Gogol's work. Pushkin first uttered it, and Gogol adopted and approved this concept in relation to the life he depicted: “They talked a lot about me, analyzing some of my sides, but they did not define my main essence. Only Pushkin heard it. He always told me that no writer had ever had this gift of showing the vulgarity of life so clearly, of being able to outline the vulgarity of a vulgar person with such force, so that all the little things that escape the eye would flash large in everyone’s eyes. This is my main property, which belongs to me alone and which, for sure, other writers do not have. It subsequently deepened within me even more deeply...”, as Gogol testified later (in “Selected Places...”). O. Vasily Zenkovsky, who devoted perhaps the best pages of his research on Gogol to the topic of vulgarity, wrote: “The topic of vulgarity is, therefore, a topic about the impoverishment and perversion of the soul, about the insignificance and emptiness of its movements in the presence of other forces that can raise a person. Everywhere where vulgarity is involved, one can hear the author’s hidden sadness - if not real “tears through laughter,” then a mournful feeling of the tragedy of everything that a person’s life actually boils down to, what it actually consists of. Vulgarity is an essential part of the reality that Gogol describes...”

Pay attention to the last words from Fr. Vasily Zenkovsky: “... a mournful feeling of the tragedy of everything that a person’s life actually boils down to, what it actually consists of.” The chapter about Plyushkin, like no other, is imbued with this sense of tragedy.

The garden, once wonderful and vibrant, has fallen into disrepair. An analogy with the garden of the human soul suggests itself. A village in which everything: both the roads and the houses of the peasants, resemble half-decomposed bodies (comparison of logs and dismantled roofs with protruding ribs), rotten bread in huge treasures. Two! rural churches, empty, stained and cracked. The house, almost already dead, with closed windows - eyes (one and a half were just looking at this world). Cold coming from Plyushkin's house. Plyushkin himself is in a terrible, greasy robe. A story about his constant collecting of all sorts of unnecessary things. And most importantly, this is the story of Plyushkin’s life, the story of his rebirth from a zealous, intelligent owner and kind husband and father into “a hole in humanity,” into a “demon,” according to the buyers who stopped coming to see him. The reader sees Gogol’s grief over “to what insignificance, pettiness, and disgust a person can descend.” “Everything quickly turns into a person; Before you have time to look back, a terrible worm has already grown inside, autocratically turning all the vital juices to itself. And more than once, not only a broad passion, but an insignificant passion for something small grew in someone born to the best deeds, forced him to forget great and holy duties and see great and holy things in insignificant trinkets,” writes Gogol. (You can correlate these words with a detail: the chandelier is like a cocoon with a worm sitting inside it under the ceiling in Plyushkin’s room).

Why? Why did this happen to a person? Because Gogol’s hero (all his landowner heroes, and Chichikov as well) lives in a horizontal direction, he loses his connection with heaven and ceases to be a person. He is wasting his energy on the wrong things. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” - we read in the Gospel of Mark. What is the use of all these riches that have rotted and brought no happiness and joy to anyone? “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” - Gospel of Matthew. Plyushkin does not see that his heart is where everything is rotten, everything is empty and cold. It’s scary that he also condemns other people for their love of money (prisoners who ask for payment for their work). A spiritually dead, truly dead soul, Plyushkin mentions God several times, but these are only words. His faith is dead, because it is not the meaning of life for him, does not lead to spiritual life, and does not bear fruit.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh said: “Will our well-being close our eyes to the fact that life has depth, and meaning, and purpose, and that we are striving to meet with God, and that this meeting will be the last and truly terrible judgment, if we do not is there love - pure, true love? “Spiritual progress is ultimately and best verified by only one thing: our ability to love. To love - in the sense of pure respect, service, selfless affection that does not require reciprocal payment; in the sense of “sympathy” or “empathy”, which encourages us to forget about ourselves in order to “sympathize”, “feel in another,” wrote Olivier Clément, French theologian, historian, professor at the St. Sergius Orthodox Institute in Paris, author many books. There is no love or mercy in Plyushkin’s life: he sends curses to his children, peasants for him are only thieves and swindlers, he suspects and condemns everyone, he is completely alone. The first step on the path to God is to see your passions and sins, realize them, and repent. But this is not the case in Plyushkin’s life. And therefore “he himself finally turned into some kind of hole in humanity.” And his life itself becomes a semblance of death among the stench and decay. How scary. But it’s even more terrible that Gogol, who perfectly knows the hearts of people in which, according to Dostoevsky, the devil fights with God, is trying to reach every reader, especially the young. Everyone knows the words of the writer: “And to what insignificance, pettiness, and disgust a person could condescend! could have changed so much! And does this seem true? Everything seems to be true, anything can happen to a person. Today's fiery young man would recoil in horror if they showed him his own portrait in old age. Take with you on the journey, emerging from the soft years of youth into stern, embittered courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you will not pick them up later!

Gogol liked to repeat that his images will not be alive if every reader does not feel that they were taken “from the same body from which we are.” This property of Gogol’s images - a certain recognition, closeness to the soul of each of us - was already noted by the writer’s contemporaries. “After our youth, don’t we all, one way or another, lead one of the lives of Gogol’s heroes? - Herzen wrote in his diary in July 1842. “One remains with Manilov’s dull daydreaming, another rages a la Nosdreff, the third is Plyushkin...” “Each of us,” said Belinsky, “no matter how good a person he may be, if he delve into himself with the impartiality with which he delves into in others, he will certainly find in himself, to a greater or lesser extent, many of the elements of many of Gogol’s heroes.” Gogol's great book, written in the mid-19th century, is also addressed to us. The book has a deep spiritual meaning. It is revealed by Gogol in his suicide note: “Be not dead, but living souls. There is no other door except that indicated by Jesus Christ, and everyone who climbs otherwise is a thief and a robber.” According to Gogol, the souls of his heroes did not completely die. In them, as in every person, lies true life - the image of God, and at the same time hope for rebirth. Jesus said: I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6). The writer followed the evangelical tradition in the poem, to which the understanding of the “dead” soul as spiritually dead goes back. Gogol’s plan is consonant with the Christian moral law formulated by the holy Apostle Paul: “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will come to life” (1 Cor. 15:22). The main idea of ​​“Dead Souls” is connected with this - the idea of ​​​​the spiritual resurrection of fallen man. It had to be embodied primarily by the main character of the poem. “And perhaps this very Chichikov contains something that will later bring a person to dust and to his knees before the wisdom of heaven,” the author predicts the coming revival of his hero, that is, the revival of his soul. Not only Chichikov, but also other heroes had to be reborn in soul - even Plyushkin, perhaps the most “dead” of all. When asked by Archimandrite Theodore whether the other characters in the first volume would be resurrected, Gogol answered with a smile: “If they want.” Spiritual rebirth is one of the highest abilities granted to man, and, according to Gogol, this path is open to everyone. And this revival had to take place on the basis of “our indigenous nature, forgotten by us,” and serve as an example not only for compatriots, but also for all humanity. This was one of the “super-tasks” of Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”.

And in conclusion, I would like to quote Yuri Mann’s statement: “According to the publisher of the poem, “Dead Souls” is a great book, but it is understandable only to Russian people; foreigners will not understand it.” But a collection was published in England called “1001 Works You Must Read Before You Die.” There are two books by N.V. Gogol. The poem “Dead Souls” was named first.

Orthodox psychotherapy [patristic course of healing the soul] Vlahos Metropolitan Hierotheos