Completion of the purchase and sale transaction of dead souls Plyushkin. Plyushkin - characterization of the hero of the poem “Dead Souls”

Plyushkin with his whole appearance and unfriendly meeting puzzled Chichikov to such an extent that he immediately could not figure out where to start the conversation. In order to win over the gloomy old man and gain benefit for himself, he decides to try to influence him with such a flowery speech, which would combine respect for the owner, and the courtesy of Chichikov himself and his ability to dress his thoughts in a decent manner. cultured person book form.

The initial version was outlined by Chichikov as follows: “Having heard a lot about the virtue and rare properties of the soul (of the owner), ... I considered it my duty to personally pay tribute.” This option was instantly rejected, as it was too much. Chichikov replaces the moral and psychological nature of his “introduction” with an economic one (this is both more specific and closer to the point) and says that “having heard a lot about his economy and rare management of estates, ... he considered it a duty to get acquainted and personally pay his respects.”

When Plyushkin shows irritation from the very first words and begins to complain about his poverty, Chichikov deftly turns the conversation towards his goal: “However, they told me that you have more than a thousand souls.”

And Plyushkin’s next bilious remark, where he involuntarily touched upon the fever that was killing off his men, i.e., precisely the topic that interests the guest, Chichikov skillfully picks up and again leads directly to what he needs, but outwardly combines it with expression of participation: “Tell me! and starved a lot?” Chichikov is in a hurry to find out the number and cannot hide his joy at the upcoming profit. Hence: a stream of interrogative sentences: “How many in number... No... Really? A hundred and twenty?”

The businessman in him began to speak, and Chichikov forgot even about expressing condolences. However, he soon comes to his senses and decides to combine an expression of condolences with practical matter, presenting all this respectfully, even somewhat bookishly: “For your pleasure, I am ready to suffer a loss.” “This is how we will do it: we will make a deed of sale on them.” “Being motivated by participation..., I am ready to give.” “I suddenly understood your character. So, why not give me...”

It is not for nothing that Gogol twice here speaks of Chichikov like this: “he expressed his readiness.” Once Chichikov even literally repeats Plyushkin’s words: “I’ll fasten the buckle for two kopecks, if you please.” Thus, observations of the speech of Chichikov, as well as other main characters of the poem, convince us of the enormous skill that Gogol possessed in depicting characters by means of their individual speech characteristics.

Linguistic characterization is a brilliant means of revealing not only central characters, but also the minor characters of the poem. Gogol masters the art of linguistic characterization to such perfection that he minor characters are endowed with exclusively expressive, distinctive speech that is unique to them.

In the poem " Dead Souls» N. Gogol depicted a gallery of Russian landowners. Each of them embodies negative moral qualities. Moreover new hero turns out to be more terrible than the previous one, and we become witnesses to the extremes to which impoverishment can reach human soul. The image of Plyushkin closes the series. In the poem “Dead Souls,” according to the author’s apt definition, he appears as “a hole in humanity.”

First impression

“Patched” - this is the definition given to the master by one of the men from whom Chichikov asked the way to Plyushkin. And it is completely justified, you just have to look at this representative landed nobility. Let's get to know him better.

Having passed through a large village, which was striking in its squalor and poverty, Chichikov found himself at manor house. This one didn't look much like a place where people lived. The garden was just as neglected, although the number and nature of the buildings indicated that there had once been a strong, prosperous economy here. The characterization of Plyushkin in the poem “Dead Souls” begins with such a description of the master’s estate.

Meeting the landowner

Having driven into the yard, Chichikov noticed how someone—either a man or a woman—was arguing with the driver. The hero decided that it was the housekeeper and asked if the owner was at home. Surprised by the appearance of a stranger here, this “some creature” escorted the guest into the house. Finding himself in a bright room, Chichikov was amazed at the disorder that reigned in it. It seemed as if garbage from all over the area had been taken here. Plyushkin really collected on the street everything that came to hand: a bucket forgotten by a man, and fragments of a broken shard, and a feather that no one needed. Taking a closer look at the housekeeper, the hero discovered a man in her and was completely stunned to learn that this was the owner. Then the author of the work “Dead Souls” moves on to the image of the landowner.

Gogol draws Plyushkin’s portrait like this: he was dressed in a worn, torn and dirty robe, which was decorated with some rags around his neck. The eyes were constantly moving, as if they were looking for something. This indicated the hero’s suspicion and constant vigilance. In general, if Chichikov did not know that standing in front of him was one of the richest landowners in the province, he would have taken him for a beggar. In fact, the first feeling that this person evokes in the reader is pity, bordering on contempt.

Life story

The image of Plyushkin in the poem “Dead Souls” differs from others in that he is the only landowner with a biography. IN old times he had a family and often received guests. He was considered a thrifty owner who had plenty of everything. Then the wife died. Soon eldest daughter she ran away with the officer, and her son joined the regiment instead of serving. Plyushkin deprived both children of his blessing and money and became stingier every day. Ultimately, he focused on his wealth alone, and after the death of his youngest daughter, all his former feelings finally gave way to greed and suspicion. Bread was rotting in his barns, and he regretted even an ordinary gift for his own grandchildren (over time, he forgave his daughter and took her in). This is how Gogol portrays this hero in the poem “Dead Souls”. The image of Plyushkin is complemented by the bargaining scene.

Successful deal

When Chichikov began the conversation, Plyushkin was annoyed at how difficult it was to receive guests these days: he had already had dinner, but it was expensive to light the stove. However, the guest immediately got down to business and found out that the landowner had one hundred and twenty souls unaccounted for. He offered to sell them and said that he would bear all costs. Having heard that it was possible to get benefits from peasants that no longer existed, Plyushkin, who began to bargain, did not delve into the details and ask how legal it was. Having received the money, he carefully took it to the bureau and, pleased with the successful transaction, even decided to treat Chichikov to a cracker left over from the Easter cake his daughter had brought and a glass of liqueur. The image of Plyushkin in the poem “Dead Souls” is completed by the message that the owner wanted to give a gold watch to the guest who pleased him. However, he immediately changed his mind and decided to include them in the deed of gift, so that Chichikov would remember him with a kind word after his death.

conclusions

The image of Plyushkin in the poem “Dead Souls” was very significant for Gogol. His plans were to leave in the third volume of all the landowners only him, but already morally reborn. Several details indicate that this is possible. First, the hero’s living eyes: let us remember that they are often called the mirror of the soul. Secondly, Plyushkin is the only one of all the landowners who thought about gratitude. The rest also took money for dead peasants, but took it for granted. It is also important that at the mention of his old comrade, a ray of light suddenly ran across the landowner’s face. Hence the conclusion: if the hero’s life had turned out differently, he would have remained a thrifty owner, a good friend and family man. However, the death of his wife and the actions of his children gradually turned the hero into that “hole in humanity” that he appeared in the 6th chapter of the book “Dead Souls”.

Plyushkin's characterization is a reminder to readers of the consequences that life's mistakes can lead to.

Plyushkin with his whole appearance and unfriendly meeting puzzled Chichikov to such an extent that he immediately could not figure out where to start the conversation. In order to win over the gloomy old man and gain benefit for himself, Chichikov decides to try to influence him with such a flowery speech, which would combine respect for the owner, and the courtesy of Chichikov himself and his ability to put his thoughts into a book form decent for a cultured person.

The initial version was outlined by Chichikov as follows: “Having heard a lot about the virtue and rare properties of the soul (of the owner), ... I considered it my duty to personally pay tribute.” This option was instantly rejected, as it was too much. Chichikov replaces the moral and psychological nature of his “introduction” with an economic one (this is both more specific and closer to the point) and says that “having heard a lot about his economy and rare management of estates, ... he considered it a duty to get acquainted and personally pay his respects.”

When Plyushkin shows irritation from the very first words and begins to complain about his poverty, Chichikov deftly turns the conversation towards his goal: “However, they told me that you have more than a thousand souls.”

And Plyushkin’s next bilious remark, where he involuntarily touched upon the fever that was killing off his men, i.e., precisely the topic that interests the guest, Chichikov skillfully picks up and again leads directly to what he needs, but outwardly combines it with expression of participation: “Tell me! and starved a lot?” Chichikov is in a hurry to find out the number and cannot hide his joy at the upcoming profit. Hence: a stream of interrogative sentences: “How many in number... No... Really? A hundred and twenty?”

The businessman in him began to speak, and Chichikov forgot even about expressing condolences. However, he soon comes to his senses and decides to combine an expression of condolences with a practical matter, stating all this respectfully, even somewhat bookishly: “For your pleasure, I am ready to take a loss.” “This is how we will do it: we will make a deed of sale on them.” “Being motivated by participation..., I am ready to give.” “I suddenly understood your character. So, why not give it to me..."

It is not for nothing that Gogol twice here speaks of Chichikov like this: “he expressed his readiness.” Once Chichikov even literally repeats Plyushkin’s words: “I’ll fasten the buckle for two kopecks, if you please.” Thus, observations of the speech of Chichikov, as well as other main characters of the poem, convince us of the enormous skill that Gogol possessed in depicting characters by means of their individual speech characteristics.

Linguistic characterization is a brilliant means of revealing not only the central characters, but also the secondary characters of the poem. Gogol masters the art of linguistic characterization to such perfection that the secondary characters are endowed with exclusively expressive, precise speech that is unique to them.

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A brief description of Plyushkin in the work “Dead Souls” is a realistic description of the old landowner, his character and way of life. The fact is that this character is presented by the author in an unusual manner for him - without humor.

Stepan Plyushkin is one of the landowners in the poem by N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls". This is one of the most significant and deep characters not only of the mentioned work, but of the entire Russian literature generally.

The hero first appears in the sixth chapter, when he comes to the landowner to buy “dead souls” from him.

The image and characteristics of Plyushkin in the poem “Dead Souls”

The landowner is incredibly stingy and unkind.

The hero symbolizes spiritual collapse strong man, drowned in the vice of boundless stinginess, bordering on cruelty: a huge amount of food is stored in the landowner’s barns, which no one is allowed to take, as a result of which the peasants go hungry, and supplies are lost as unnecessary.

Plyushkin is quite rich, he has a whole thousand serfs on his account. However, despite this, the old man lives like a beggar, eating crackers and dressing in rags.

Symbolism of the surname

Like most characters in Gogol's works, Plyushkin's surname is symbolic. With the help of contrast or synonymy of the surname in relation to the character of the corresponding character, the author reveals certain features of a given personality.

The meaning of the surname Plyushkina symbolizes an unusually stingy and greedy person whose goal is to accumulate material goods without a specific purpose for their use. As a result, the collected wealth is not spent anywhere or is used in minimal quantities.

It is noteworthy that Plyushkin’s name practically does not appear in the text of the work. In this way, the author shows the hero’s callousness, detachment, and the absence in him of even a hint of humanity.

The fact that the landowner's name is Stepan can be learned from his words about his daughter, whom he calls by her patronymic. By the way, ordinary men from other estates did not know such a surname at all, calling the landowner by the nickname “patched.”

Plyushkin family

This character is the only one of all the landowners who has enough detailed biography. The hero's life story is very sad.

In the plot narration, Plyushkin appears before us as a completely lonely person leading a hermit’s lifestyle. The wife who inspired him to show the best human qualities and made his life meaningful has long since left this world.

In their marriage they had three children, whom their father raised very carefully and with great care. great love. During the years of family happiness, Plyushkin was completely different from his current self. At that time, he often invited guests to his house, knew how to enjoy life, and had a reputation as an open and friendly person.

Of course, Plyushkin was always very economical, but his stinginess always had reasonable limits and was not so reckless. His clothes, although not sparkling with newness, still looked neat, without a single patch.

After the death of his wife, the hero changed a lot: he became extremely distrustful and very stingy. The last straw that hardened Plyushkin’s temper was new problems in the family: the son lost a large sum at cards, the eldest daughter ran away from home, and the youngest died.

Surprisingly, glimmers of light sometimes illuminate the dark recesses of the dead soul of the landowner. Having sold his “souls” to Chichikov and reflecting on the issue of drawing up a deed of sale, Plyushkin remembers his school friend. At this moment, a faint reflection of feeling appeared on the old man’s wooden face.

This fleeting manifestation of life, according to the author, speaks of the possibility of the revival of the hero’s soul, in which, as if in twilight, the dark and light sides mixed with each other.

Description of the portrait and first impression of Plyushkin

When meeting Plyushkin, Chichikov first mistakes him for the housekeeper.

After talking with the landowner, main character realizes with horror that he was mistaken.

In his opinion, the old man looks more like a beggar than a rich owner of the estate.

All of him appearance, like this: a long chin covered with a scarf; small, colorless, mobile eyes; a dirty, patched robe indicates that the hero has completely lost touch with life.

Appearance and condition of the suit

Plyushkin's face is very elongated and at the same time is distinguished by excessive thinness. The landowner never shave, and his beard began to look like a horse comb. Plyushkin has no teeth left.

The hero’s clothes can hardly be called such; they look more like old rags - the clothes look so worn and unkempt. At the time of the story, the landowner is about 60 years old.

The character, demeanor and speech of the landowner

Plyushkin is a man with difficult character. Probably, negative traits, which manifested themselves so clearly in him in his old age, also took place in previous years, but their so bright appearance was smoothed out by family well-being.

But after the death of his wife and daughter, Plyushkin finally broke away from life, became spiritually impoverished, and began to treat everyone with suspicion and hostility. Similar attitude The landowner had feelings not only for strangers, but also for relatives.

By the age of 60, Plyushkin had become very unpleasant due to his difficult character. Those around him began to avoid him, his friends visited him less and less, and then completely stopped all communication with him.

Plyushkin’s speech is abrupt, laconic, caustic, loaded with colloquial expressions, for example: “poditka, they beat, ehva!, actor, already, podtibrila.”

The landowner is able to notice any little things and even the most insignificant errors and shortcomings. In this regard, he often finds fault with people, expressing his comments by shouting and cursing.

Plyushkin is not capable of good deeds; he has become insensitive, distrustful and cruel. He doesn’t even care about the fate of his own children, and the old man suppresses his daughter’s attempts to establish a relationship with him in every possible way. In his opinion, his daughter and son-in-law are trying to get closer to him in order to get material benefits from him.

It is noteworthy that Plyushkin absolutely does not understand the true consequences of his actions. He actually fancies himself a caring landowner, although, in fact, he is a tyrant, an incredible miser and a stingy man, a rude and grumpy old man who destroys the destinies of the people around him.

Favorite activities

The joy in Plyushkin's life consists of only two things - constant scandals and the accumulation of material wealth.

The landowner likes to spend time in all alone. He sees no point in receiving guests or acting as such. For him, this is just a waste of time that can be spent on more useful activities.

Despite large financial savings, the landowner leads an ascetic lifestyle, denying literally everything not only to relatives, servants and peasants, but also to himself.

Another favorite pastime of Plyushkin is to grumble and become poor. He believes that the supplies stored in his barns are not enough, there is not enough land and there is not even enough hay. In fact, the situation is completely opposite - there is plenty of land, and the amount of reserves is so huge that they spoil right in the storage facilities.

Plyushkin loves to create scandals for any reason, even if it is an insignificant trifle. The landowner is always dissatisfied with something and demonstrates it in the most rude and unsightly form. A picky old man is very difficult to please.

Attitude to the economy

Plyushkin is a rich but very stingy landowner. However, despite the huge reserves, it seems to him that they are not enough. As a result, a huge number of unused products become unusable without leaving the storage facility.

Having a large fortune at his disposal, including 1000 serfs, Plyushkin eats crackers and wears rags - in a word, he lives like a beggar. The landowner has not been monitoring what is going on on his farm for many years, but at the same time he does not forget to control the amount of liquor in the decanter.

Plyushkin's life goals

In short, the landowner has no specific goal in life. Plyushkin is completely absorbed in the process of accumulation material resources without a specific purpose for their use.

House and interior of rooms

Plyushkin's estate reflects the spiritual desolation of the character himself. The buildings in the villages are very old, dilapidated, the roofs have long since become leaky, the windows are clogged with rags. There is devastation and emptiness all around. Even the churches look lifeless.

The estate seems to be falling apart, which indicates that the hero has fallen out of real life: instead of the main things, the focus of his attention is on empty and meaningless tasks. It’s not for nothing that this character is practically devoid of a name and patronymic - it’s as if he doesn’t exist.

The Plyushkin estate is striking in its appearance - the building is in a terrible, dilapidated condition. From the street, the house looks like an abandoned building in which no one has lived for a long time. It’s very uncomfortable inside the building – it’s cold and dark all around. Natural light enters only one room – the owner’s room.

The whole house is littered with junk, which is becoming more and more every year - Plyushkin never throws away broken or unnecessary things, because he thinks that they can still be useful.

The landowner's office is also in complete disarray. The appearance of the room embodies real chaos. There is a chair that cannot be repaired, as well as a clock that has stopped long ago. In the corner of the room there is a dump - in the shapeless heap you can see an old shoe and a broken shovel.

Attitude towards others

Plyushkin is a picky, scandalous person. Even the most insignificant reason is enough for him to start a quarrel. The hero shows his dissatisfaction in the most unsightly way, stooping to rudeness and insults.

The landowner himself is completely confident that he is behaving caringly and kindly, but people simply do not notice or appreciate this, because they are biased towards him.

Probably due to the fact that his son once lost at cards and did not return home, Plyushkin is prejudiced towards officers, considering them all to be spendthrifts and gamblers.

Plyushkin's attitude towards the peasants

Plyushkin treats the peasants cruelly and irresponsibly. The appearance, clothing and dwellings of the serfs look almost the same as those of the owner. They themselves walk around half-starved, skinny, exhausted. From time to time, escapes occur among the peasants - Plyushkin's existence as a serf looks less attractive than life on the run.

The landowner speaks negatively about his serfs - in his opinion, they are all quitters and slackers. In fact, the peasants work honestly and diligently. It seems to Plyushkin that the serfs are robbing him and doing their work very poorly.

But in reality, things are different: the landowner intimidated his peasants so much that, despite the cold and hunger, they under no circumstances dare to take anything from the master’s storehouse.

Did Plyushkin sell Dead Souls to Chichikov?

The landowner sells about two hundred “souls” to the main character. This number exceeds the number of “peasants” that Chichikov purchased from other sellers. This traces Plyushkin’s desire for profit and accumulation. When entering into a deal, the hero understands perfectly well what it is and what profit he can get for it.

Quoted description of Plyushkin

Conclusion

The image of Plyushkin and the characteristics of his essence serve as an illustrative example of how much a person can deteriorate morally and physically. It is no coincidence that the author calls this hero “a hole in humanity.”

Plyushkin is not interested in spiritual development his personality, he is indifferent to his own inner world. The landowner is characterized by pettiness, stinginess and a complete lack of deep feelings. There is no shame, no conscience, no sympathy in him.

The name Plyushkina became a household name. It denotes pathological greed, pettiness and stinginess. IN modern world the so-called “Plyushkin syndrome” occurs quite often and characterizes those people who strive for the aimless accumulation of material resources.

1. Compositional structure.
2. Storyline.
3. “Dead” soul of Plyushkin.
4. Analysis of the episode.
5. Symbolic image"dead" souls.

The plot composition of N. V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” is structured in such a way that here one can consider three ideological lines or directions, logically connected and intertwined parts. The first reveals the life of landowners, the second - city officials, and the third - Chichikov himself. Each of the directions, manifesting itself, contributes to a deeper manifestation of the other two lines.

The action of the poem begins with the arrival of a new person in the provincial town of NN. The plot begins. Immediately in the first chapter, Chichikov meets almost all the characters in the poem. In the second chapter, the movement of the plot appears, which occurs with the main character, who goes on a trip to the surrounding villages for his own needs. Chichikov ends up visiting first one or another landowner, and is seen interesting feature. It’s as if the author deliberately arranges his heroes so that everyone new character even more “vulgar than the other.” Plyushkin is the last one, Chichikov has to communicate in this series, which means that we can assume that it is he who has the most anti-human essence. Chichikov returns to the city, and a colorful picture of the life of city officials unfolds before the reader. These people have long forgotten the meaning of words such as “honesty”, “justice”, “decency”. The positions they hold fully allow them to lead a prosperous and idle life, in which there is no room for awareness government debt, compassion for others. Gogol does not try to specifically focus attention on the very social elite of the city’s residents, however, fleeting sketches, quick conversations - and the reader already knows everything about these people. Here, for example, is a general who, at first glance, seems like a good person, but “... was sketched out in him in some kind of picture disorder... self-sacrifice, generosity in decisive moments, courage, intelligence - and on top of all this - a fair amount of a mixture of selfishness, ambition, pride and petty personal sensitivity.”

The dominant role in the plot of the work is given to Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. And it is he, his character traits, his life that come under the author’s close attention. Gogol is interested in this new variety people, which appeared in what was then Russia. Capital is their only aspiration, and for the sake of it they are ready to deceive, demean, and flatter. That is, “Dead Souls” is nothing more than a way to consider and understand pressing problems as deeply as possible public life Russia at that time. Of course, the plot is structured in such a way that the main place in the poem is occupied by the image of landowners and officials, but Gogol is not limited to only describing reality, he seeks to make the reader think about how tragic and hopeless the life of the common people is.

Plyushkin turns out to be the last in the gallery of landowners passing before the reader's eyes. Chichikov accidentally learned about this landowner from Soba-kevich, who gave a rather unfavorable recommendation to his neighbor on the estate. In the past, Plyushkin was an experienced, hardworking and enterprising person. He was not deprived of intelligence and worldly ingenuity: “Everything flowed briskly and happened at a measured pace: the mills moved,
felting mills, cloth factories, carpentry machines, spinning mills; everywhere the keen eye of the owner entered into everything and, like a hardworking spider, ran busily, but efficiently, along all ends of his economic web.” However, everything soon went wrong. The wife died. Plyushkin, who became a widower, became more suspicious and stingy. Then the eldest daughter ran away with the captain, the son chose military service instead of civil service, and was excommunicated from home. Youngest daughter died. The family fell apart. Plyushkin turned out to be the only custodian of all wealth.

The absence of family and friends led to an even greater aggravation of this man's suspicion and stinginess. Gradually he sinks lower and lower until he turns into “some kind of hole in humanity.” Even a thriving economy is gradually falling apart: “... he became more unyielding to the buyers who came to take away his economic products; the buyers haggled and haggled and finally abandoned him altogether, saying that he was a demon and not a man; hay and bread rotted, luggage and haystacks turned into pure manure, even if you planted cabbage in them, flour in the cellars turned to stone... it was scary to touch cloth, linens and household materials: they turned to dust.” He placed a curse on all the surviving children, which further aggravated his loneliness.

It was in such a disastrous state that Chichikov saw him. In the first moments of meeting, the main character for a long time could not understand who was in front of him: a woman or a man. A sexless creature in an old dirty robe was mistaken by Chichikov for the housekeeper. However, afterwards the main character was very surprised and shocked to learn that the owner of the house was standing in front of him. The author, describing Plyushkin’s wealth, immediately talks about how a previously thrifty man starves his peasants, and even himself, wears all sorts of rags instead of clothes, while food disappears in his pantries and basements, bread and cloth spoil. Moreover, the stinginess of the landowner leads to the fact that the entire master's house is littered with all sorts of rubbish, since while walking along the street, Plyushkin collects any objects and things forgotten or left unattended by the serfs, brings them into the house and dumps them in a heap.

In a conversation with Chichikov, the owner complains about his life, complaining about the serfs who rob him. It is they who are responsible for such a plight of the landowner. Plyushkin, owning a thousand souls, cellars and barns full of all kinds of food, tries to treat Chichikov to a dried moldy Easter cake left over from his daughter’s arrival, to give him a suspicious liquid to drink, which was once a tincture. In Plyushkin’s descriptions, Gogol tries to prove to the reader that such a landowner’s life story is not an accident, but that the course of events is predetermined. Moreover, what is in the foreground here is not so much the personal tragedy of the protagonist as the prevailing conditions of social existence. Plyushkin happily agrees to a deal with the visiting gentleman, especially since he bears all the expenses for paperwork. The landowner does not even think about why the guest needs “dead” souls. Greed takes over the owner so much that he has no time to think. The owner's main concern is how to save the paper that is required for a letter to the chairman. Even the spaces between lines and words make him regret: “... began to write, putting out letters similar to musical notes, constantly holding his nimble hand, which was scattering all over the paper, sparingly molding line after line and not without regret thinking that there would still be a lot of blank space left.” During the conversation, the main character learns that Plyushkin also has runaway serfs, who also lead him into ruin, since he has to pay for them in the audit.

Chichikov offers the owner to make another deal. A vigorous trade is taking place. Plyushkin’s hands are shaking with excitement. The owner does not want to give up two kopecks, only in order to receive the money and quickly hide it in one of the bureau drawers. After completing the transaction, Plyushkin carefully counts the banknotes several times and carefully puts them away so that he will never take them out again. The painful desire for hoarding takes over the landowner so much that he is no longer able to part with the treasures that have fallen into his hands, even if his life or the well-being of his loved ones depends on it. However, human feelings have not yet completely abandoned the landowner. At some point, he even contemplates whether to give Chichikov a watch for his generosity, but a noble impulse
passes quickly. Plyushkin again plunges into the abyss of stinginess and loneliness. After the departure of a random gentleman, the old man slowly walks around his storerooms, checking the watchmen, “who stood on all corners, pounding the empty barrel with wooden spatulas.” Plyushkin's day ended as usual: "... looked into the kitchen... ate a fair amount of cabbage soup and porridge and, having scolded everyone to the last for theft and bad behavior, returned to his room."

The image of Plyushkin, brilliantly created by Gogdl, most clearly shows readers the callousness and deadness of his soul, of everything that is human in a person. Here all the vulgarity and baseness of the serf landowner is manifested as clearly as possible. The question inevitably arises: who does the writer call “dead” souls: poor dead peasants or officials and landowners who control life in Russian districts.