A severe realist of a critical direction, and yet -a mystic, a satirist exposing the plagues and vices of his time, and a subtle, heartfelt lyric poet; a patriot who painfully loves the Russian people, Russia, but at the same time kept close ties with his native Russia, Malorossia ... This is Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, one of the most interesting and mysterious writers of the 19th century.
Poem "Dead Souls"
Retell the summary of "Dead Souls"we will begin, of course, with the famous arrival in the provincial city of NN of a certain gentleman of the "middle hand": not too fat, but not bad; not young, but not old, not handsome, but not a monster. This is the protagonist of the work, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, collegiate assessor. He came here for his private affairs, settled in a hotel where cockroaches in the size of prunes ran in every room, and began to question the owner about what was happening in the city and the surrounding area.
Further, in the summary of "Dead Souls" followsinclude a story about Chichikov's visit to city officials. Gogol, in one or two words, gives accurate, precise characteristics to all governors, drawing in passing a general picture of the customs and practices prevailing in NN. It turns out that bribery, double-dealing, circumcision, outright theft of state funds and many other lawlessness flourish here. But Chichikov is not worried about this. It is important for him to know what large landowners live in the district, whether there was any morality in their side, epidemics and other disasters. With officials, Pavel Ivanovich behaves extremely courteously, politely, well-mannered. About himself, he says little, reports only that the victim of service injustices and wants in these parts to settle in peace. To each official, he knows how to pick up a key, because everywhere it is accepted with pleasure and open arms.
Peasant Russia evokes in Gogol and usan ambivalent impression. On the one hand, the breadth and expanse of its expanses remind us of the remarkable strength and talents of the Russian people. On the other hand, the frank poverty and poverty of the villages, the dirt and dullness of the landscapes set the mood for a sad mood. Serfdom is truly terrible in its everyday life.
Chichikov visits the Manilov estate in turn,Boxes, Nozdryov and other landlords. To all he treats with a strange request - to sell him the dead peasants as if they were alive. Each landowner has his own, specific reaction to the proposal. If Manilov is somewhat taken aback and gives Chichikov "soul", then Korobochka, Sobakevich, Plyushkin, he has to sweat a lot and spend to get what he wanted. And Gogol has a wonderful opportunity to show in all its "beauty" the terrible face of serfdom, to prove that not the dead peasants, but living landlords and officials are those "dead souls", "non-believers" who, like parasites, have attached themselves to the people and live , eating its "juices" - people's labor.
A special role is played in the poem "Dead Souls" 11the chapter, the brief content of which can be reduced to a story about the life of Chichikov. Gogol reveals to us not only the essence of his fraud, but details about his childhood, school years, youth. The passion for a "kopeck", for the accumulation, soon ruined his soul, turned him into a mean, unscrupulous scoundrel, a scoundrel who would not stop before any morally unscrupulous acts in order to obtain the desired profit and profit. Therefore, in the story "Dead Souls", a brief summary of Chapter 11 can be considered an ideological and artistic center of the work.
Chichikov's idea failed. Instead of a dizzying success, he has to flee the city. But the hero does not fall in spirit. His "bird-troika" rushes through the expanses of Russia as an inevitable fate, as a sign of the advent of a new century - the century of capitalism, predation, moral decay, the fall of morality. And Chichikov himself is a hero of modern times, a capitalist who is replacing the feudal landlords who are becoming obsolete.
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