Is someone Chichikov buying up dead souls? Gogol is a great mystifier, and this purchase and sale has a deep religious meaning. Many commentators reveal the image of Pavel Ivanovich as an agent of the devil, collecting profit for his master. It turns out that the truly dead souls are not the deceased peasants, but Chichikov’s “clients”, bearers of one passion or another: Sobakevich, Korobochka and others like them.
The traveling salesman of the evil one, buying up souls lost to God, is actually a biblical idea. In the 18th chapter of the book of the Apocalypse certain merchants of the earth, the list of goods of which includes human bodies and souls(see Rev. 18:13). Merchants carried out their trade in Babylon. Apocalyptic Babylon is a harlot city, a biblical symbol of anti-Christian civilization. God destroys Babylon and merchants mourn the fall of their business, including buying and selling human bodies and souls.
And to whom could the text of Revelation be attributed today? Who is suitable for the role? merchants of the earth? For example, are specialists in PR technologies not suitable? Especially those who do not take into account moral and religious principles in their work? It seems that mass manipulation of consciousness is the buying and selling of human souls these days.
I propose to test this idea by looking at the portrait of one of these modern merchants. This man can rightfully be called a great winner of souls, no worse than Chichikov.
Today he is called the “father of PR.” By birth a Jew, by residence an American, by family ties the nephew of Sigmund Freud and the great-grandson of the Chief Rabbi of Hamburg Isaac Bernays, he lived a long life (104 years, from 1891 to 1995). He was a pioneer in the use of psychology and other social sciences in PR technologies. His name is Edward Bernays.
There is a lot that can be said about Bernays' projects. In his work, he showed downright devilish ingenuity and resourcefulness.
For example, with the help of Bernays, smoking became an accepted norm for women. Freud's nephew convinced the world that a woman with a cigarette is cool, stylish, and beautiful. For the first time in the history of advertising, the effect of “star” authority was used. The brilliant PR man promoted the image of a smoking lady through personalities of such a level as Marlene Dietrich. At Bernays's request, numerous doctors vied with each other to write about the benefits of nicotine, famous opera singers - about the beneficial effects of smoking on the voice. With the help of a paid team, Bernays overcame one of the biggest social taboos: women smoking in public place.
Before Bernays, ladies were only allowed to smoke in special places or not allowed at all, until they were arrested. The PR genius managed to break this psychological barrier by pressing just two buttons: the authority of the star and the incredibly popular movement of women's emancipation at that time. Models with cigarettes were called “torches of freedom,” and female smoking became socially acceptable. Lucky Strike paid Bernays a huge sum.
Interestingly, Bernays reached the masses through news rather than advertising. He was rightly confident that news was the best way to convey an advertising image. A person reading or watching the news does not suspect that this moment he is under psychological attack, so at these moments he is especially vulnerable.
By the way, few people today think about what criteria are used to select news for us. There are thousands of news in the world per day. We recognize only a few, and these are the ones we are asked to focus on. It is clear that they are served with a special sauce. The wording and title are crucial for perception. The frequency of news today is like powerful artillery fire.
Also, for example, Bernays contributed to the fact that the American nation began to eat more and became fat. Tasked with boosting meat sales from the bacon industry, Edward conducted a little social research: What do Americans eat for breakfast? It turned out to be coffee, a bun, orange juice. The PR specialist heard from his doctor that the body loses a lot of energy at night, so a hearty breakfast may be preferable to a light one. Bernays asked the doctor for permission to send a letter on his behalf to five thousand doctors: did they agree with this statement? Approximately 4,500 doctors answered yes. Then an enterprising PR man published articles in all newspapers of the country with headlines like “4,500 doctors advise eating meat for breakfast.” There was also a choice of dishes: scrambled eggs and bacon. After the publication, bacon sales skyrocketed.
In general, the use of authorities is Bernays’ favorite method of working with public consciousness. “If you can influence leaders, whether they realize it or not, you automatically influence the groups of people under their influence,” he said.
Even in his youth, the PR man was offered the task of promoting a new play about prostitutes. Let me remind you that this is not today, but Puritan America at the beginning of the 20th century. Bernays went wild and created a fund to combat sexually transmitted diseases. After the charitable foundation declared the play instructive and highly moral, people flocked to the performance.
Bernays's contribution to the development of political PR is noteworthy. While serving in Woodrow Wilson's administration during World War I, he assured millions of people that the U.S. military was establishing "democracy throughout Europe."
What is a merchant like? A real Chichikov, isn't he?
Bernays is a genius and unique, but still he is not alone. Today a huge army of PR technologists is working with public consciousness. Advertising and news have long ceased to be just advertising and news, but have moved into a social direction. In fact, they artificially form a person’s circle of interests and way of thinking, as well as the way of clothing, nutrition, communication, and etiquette.
“Don’t want to drink something that doesn’t really quench your thirst, all sorts of Pepsi and Sprite? Let's force it! You will also say thank you. Don't want to wear some weird stuff called clothes? You will wear it, my dears; You will also stand in line and buy for crazy money. Don't want to change your smartphone to a new model? Nothing, change it, and you will be happy with the new thing. We'll make you do whatever we need!"
Today, PR technologists get into the very soul of a person and change it from the inside
Today, PR technologists get into the very soul of a person and change it from the inside. The current “”, for which advertising and news work, concern issues more serious than women’s smoking. On the agenda are gender issues, the rights of sexual minorities, the decomposition of traditional societies, and so on. Political technologies are a completely different matter.
Today no one can hide from PR attacks. The vast majority of the population European countries All conscious life takes place on the Internet. Everything is known about our accounts: the history of our movements, the list of requests, the frequency of visits to certain sites. Google advertising offers everything that you were at least briefly interested in recently on any social network. Specialists have more and more opportunities and resources to promote ideas. Social networks and the Internet in general can be considered as a mature alternative reality. It’s amazing how individual Bernays ideas have now been brought almost to the point of automatism. The system works on the “how to sell” principle.
“There is also a direct resale of souls - through deception. There is a whole system of trade carried out with the help of PR - activities aimed at forming public opinion about something. This is real, classic soul trading. PR is not just advertising, it is advertising of ideology, imposition of values. Most advertising now is not just advertising of a product, but advertising of sin, advertising of the ideology of sin. This is a conscious, classic selling of a certain way of thinking. All mortal sins, without exception, are now advertised on our television and promoted by billboards on the streets,” wrote Father Daniil Sysoev.
Yes, one cannot fail to mention that preaching the Gospel is possible and necessary on the Internet. But on the other hand, you look at all this, and you understand: the snare is tightening...
Why do we talk about such topics? Because today's war for souls is being waged in the information field. Soul catchers rely on human passions and the age-old craving for breaking taboos. How does a person live, who does he trust and who does he listen to, what does he love and what does he want? The answers to these questions determine who his soul belongs to and who he is.
The above passage from the Apocalypse shows: before the end of the world, the scale of spiritual captivity of people will reach such a level that there will be no point in continuing the history of the world. Humanity will be divided into two categories: merchants of the earth and consumers of their goods. Of course, the Church will remain, but it will be persecuted, and there will hardly be many truly believers. Everyone else will become a commodity merchants of the earth.
Today we examined the handwriting of these merchants. We will be careful not to end up on the list. dead souls…
The author called “Dead Souls” a poem and thereby emphasized the significance of his creation. The poem is a lyrical-epic work of significant volume, distinguished by its depth of content and wide coverage of events. This definition is still controversial. With the publication of Gogol's satirical works, the critical direction in Russian realistic literature is strengthened. Gogol's realism is more saturated with accusatory, flagellating force - this distinguishes him from his predecessors and contemporaries.
Artistic method
Gogol was called critical realism. The writer's favorite technique is hyperbole - an exorbitant exaggeration that enhances the impression. Gogol found that the plot of “Dead Souls,” suggested by Pushkin, was good because it gave complete freedom to travel all over Russia with the hero and create many different characters. The author arranged the chapters about landowners, to whom more than half of the first volume is devoted, in a strictly thought-out order: the wasteful dreamer Manilov is replaced by the thrifty Korobochka; she is opposed by the ruined landowner, the rascal Nozdryov; then again a turn to the economic landowner-kulak Sobakevich; The gallery of serf owners is closed by the miser Plyushkin, who embodies the extreme degree of moral decline of the landowner class.
Reading "Dead Souls", we notice that the writer repeats the same techniques in depicting landowners: he gives a description of the village, the manor house, appearance landowner. The following is a story about that. How did certain people react to Chichikov’s proposal to sell dead souls? The author shows Chichikov's attitude towards each of the landowners, depicts the scene of the purchase and sale of dead souls. This coincidence is not accidental. A monotonous closed circle of techniques allows the artist to flaunt conservatism, the backwardness of provincial life, the isolation and limitations of the landowners, and to emphasize stagnation and dying.
We learn about the “very courteous and courteous landowner Manilov” in the first chapter. Depicting his appearance, the author highlights his eyes - sweet as sugar. The new acquaintance was crazy about Chichikov, “she shook his hand for a long time and asked him convincingly to honor him by coming to the village.”
Looking for Manilovka. Chichikov confuses the name when asking the men about the village of Zamanilovka. The writer plays on this word: “The village of Manilovka could not lure many with its location.” And then it starts detailed description landowner's estate. “The manor’s house stood alone on the south... open to all the winds...” On the sloping mountain “two or three flower beds with lilac and yellow acacia bushes were scattered in English;... a gazebo with a flat green dome, wooden blue columns and the inscription “Temple of Solitary Reflection” , lower down is a pond covered with greenery...” And finally, the “gray log huts” of the men. The owner himself looks behind all this - the Russian landowner, nobleman Manilov.
The dullness of the appearance of the Manilov estate is complemented by a landscape sketch: a “pine forest darkening to the side with a dull bluish color” and a completely uncertain day: “either clear, or gloomy, but some kind of light gray color.” Dreary, bare, colorless. Gogol exhaustively revealed that such a Manilovka could lure few people. Gogol completes the portrait of Manilov in an ironic manner: “His facial features were not without pleasantness.” But this pleasantness seemed to have “too much sugar in it.” Sugar is a detail indicating sweetness. And then a devastating description: “There is a kind of people known by the name: so-so people, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan.”
Manilov’s character is expressed in a special manner of speaking, in a storm of words, in the use of the most delicate turns of phrase: “let me not allow you to do this,” “no, excuse me, I will not allow such a pleasant and educated guest to pass behind me.” Manilov’s beautiful spirit and his ignorance of people are revealed in his assessment of city officials as “most respectable and most amiable” people. Step by step, Gogol inexorably exposes the vulgarity of this man, irony is constantly replaced by satire: “There is Russian cabbage soup on the table, but from the heart,” the children, Alcides and Themistoclus, are named after ancient Greek commanders as a sign of the education of their parents. Mrs. Manilova is worthy of her husband. Her life is devoted to sweet lisping, bourgeois surprises (a beaded toothpick case), languid long kisses, and housekeeping is a low occupation for her. “Manilova is so well brought up,” Gogol quips.
And Manilov lacks economic savvy: “When the clerk said: “It would be nice, master, to do this and that,” “Yes, not bad,” he usually answered.” Manilov did not manage the farm, did not know his peasants well, and everything was falling into disrepair, but he dreamed of an underground passage, of a stone bridge across a pond, which two women forded, and with trading shops on both sides of it. The writer's gaze penetrates Manilov's house, where the same disorder and lack of taste reigns. Some rooms are unfurnished; two armchairs in the owner's office are covered with matting. There are piles of ash in the office, on the windowsill there is a book open on page 14 for two years - the only evidence of the owner’s work in the office.
Manilov shows "concern for the future views of Russia." The writer characterizes him as an empty phrase-monger: where does he care about Russia if he cannot restore order in his own household. Chichikov easily manages to convince his friend of the legality of the transaction, and Manilov, as an impractical and unbusinesslike landowner, gives Chichikov dead souls and takes on the costs of drawing up the deed of sale.
Manilov is tearfully complacent, devoid of living thoughts and real feelings. He himself is a “dead soul”, doomed to destruction just like the entire autocratic-serf system of Russia. Manilovs are harmful and socially dangerous. What consequences for the economic development of the country can be expected from Manilov’s management!
The landowner Korobochka is thrifty, “gains a little money little by little,” lives secluded in her estate, as if in a box, and her homeliness over time develops into hoarding. Narrow-mindedness and stupidity complete the character of the “club-headed” landowner, who is distrustful of everything new in life. The qualities inherent in Korobochka are typical not only among the provincial nobility.
Following Korobochka in Gogol's gallery of freaks is Nozdryov. Unlike Manilov, he is restless, nimble, lively, but his energy is wasted on trifles in a cheating card game, in petty dirty tricks of lies. With irony, Gogol calls him “in some respects a historical person, because wherever Nozdryov was, there were stories,” that is, without a scandal. The author gives him what he deserves through the mouth of Chichikov: “Nozdryov is a man of rubbish!” He squandered everything, abandoned his estate and settled at the fair in a gaming house. Emphasizing the vitality of the Nozdrevs in Russian reality, Gogol exclaims: “Nozdrev will not be removed from the world for a long time.”
The hoarding characteristic of Korobochka turned into genuine kulaks among the practical landowner Sobakevich. He looks at the serfs only as labor force and, even though he has built huts for the peasants that were wonderfully cut down, he skins them to pieces. He transferred some peasants to the monetary-tire system, which was beneficial to the landowner.
The image of Sobakevich was created in Gogol’s favorite hyperbolic manner. His portrait, in which the comparison with a bear is given, the situation in the house, the harshness of his reviews, his behavior at dinner - everything emphasizes the animal essence of the landowner. Sobakevich quickly saw through Chichikov’s idea, realized the benefits and charged a hundred rubles per head. The tight-fisted landowner sold off the dead souls for his own benefit, and even deceived Chichikov by slipping him one female person. “Fist, fist, and a beast to boot!” - this is how Chichikov characterizes him.
Seeing Plyushkin for the first time, Chichikov “for a long time could not recognize what gender the figure was: a woman or a man. The dress she was wearing was completely indefinite, very similar to a woman’s hood, on her head was a cap worn by village courtyard women, only her voice seemed to him somewhat hoarse for women: "Oh, woman! - he thought to himself and immediately added: - Oh, no! Of course, woman!” It never occurred to Chichikov that this was a Russian gentleman, a landowner, the owner of serf souls.
The passion for accumulation disfigured Plyushkin beyond recognition; he hoards only for the sake of hoarding. He starved the peasants to death, and they are “dying like flies” (80 souls in three years). He himself lives from hand to mouth and dresses like a beggar.
According to Gogol’s apt words, Plyushkin has turned into some kind of hole in humanity. In an era of growing monetary relations, Plyushkin’s household is run in the old fashioned way, based on corvee labor, the owner collects food and things, senselessly accumulates for the sake of accumulation. He ruined the peasants, ruining them with backbreaking work. Plyushkin saved, and everything he collected rotted, everything turned into “pure manure.” A landowner like Plyushkin cannot be the support of the state and move its economy and culture forward. And the writer sadly exclaims: “And a person could descend to such insignificance, pettiness, disgusting! He could change so much! And does this look like the truth? Everything looks like the truth, anything can happen to a person.”
Gogol endowed each landowner with original, specific features. Whatever the hero, he is a unique personality. But at the same time, his heroes retain their ancestral, social signs: low cultural level, lack of intellectual demands, desire for enrichment, cruelty in treatment of serfs, moral uncleanliness, lack of a basic concept of patriotism. These moral monsters, as Gogol shows, are generated by feudal reality and reveal the essence of feudal relations based on the oppression and exploitation of the peasantry.
Gogol's work stunned, first of all, the ruling circles and landowners. The ideological defenders of serfdom argued that the nobility was the best part of the Russian population, passionate patriots, the support of the state. Gogol dispelled this myth with his images. Herzen said that the landowners “pass before us without masks, without embellishment, flatterers and gluttons, obsequious slaves of power and ruthless tyrants of their enemies, drinking the life and blood of the people... “Dead Souls” shocked all of Russia.”
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..."
The author called “Dead Souls” a poem and thereby emphasized the significance of his creation. The poem is a lyrical-epic work of significant volume, distinguished by its depth of content and wide coverage of events. This definition is still controversial. With the publication of Gogol's satirical works, the critical direction in Russian realistic literature is strengthened. Gogol's realism is more saturated with accusatory, flagellating force - this distinguishes him from his predecessors and contemporaries.
Gogol's artistic method was called critical realism. The writer's favorite technique is hyperbole - an exorbitant exaggeration that enhances the impression. Gogol found that the plot of “Dead Souls,” suggested by Pushkin, was good because it gave complete freedom to travel all over Russia with the hero and create a wide variety of characters. The author arranged the chapters about landowners, to whom more than half of the first volume is devoted, in a strictly thought-out order: the wasteful dreamer Manilov is replaced by the thrifty Korobochka; she is opposed by the ruined landowner, the rascal Nozdryov; then again a turn to the economic landowner-kulak Sobakevich; The gallery of serf owners is closed by the miser Plyushkin, who embodies the extreme degree of moral decline of the landowner class.
Reading “Dead Souls”, we notice that the writer repeats the same techniques in depicting landowners: he gives a description of the village, the manor’s house, the appearance of the landowner. The following is a story about that. How did certain people react to Chichikov’s proposal to sell dead souls? The author shows Chichikov's attitude towards each of the landowners, depicts the scene of the purchase and sale of dead souls. This coincidence is not accidental. A monotonous closed circle of techniques allows the artist to flaunt conservatism, the backwardness of provincial life, the isolation and limitations of the landowners, and to emphasize stagnation and dying.
We learn about the “very courteous and courteous landowner Manilov” in the first chapter. Depicting his appearance, the author highlights his eyes - sweet as sugar. The new acquaintance was crazy about Chichikov, “she shook his hand for a long time and asked him convincingly to honor him by coming to the village.”
Looking for Manilovka. Chichikov confuses the name when asking the men about the village of Zamanilovka. The writer plays on this word: “The village of Manilovka could not lure many with its location.” And then a detailed description of the landowner’s estate begins. “The manor’s house stood alone on the south... open to all the winds...” On the slope of the mountain “two or three flower beds with lilac and yellow acacia bushes were scattered in English;... a gazebo with a flat green dome, wooden blue columns and the inscription “Temple of Solitary Reflection” , lower down is a pond covered with greenery...” And finally, the “gray log huts” of the men. The owner himself looks behind all this - the Russian landowner, nobleman Manilov.
The dullness of the appearance of the Manilov estate is complemented by a landscape sketch: a “pine forest darkening to the side with a dull bluish color” and a completely uncertain day: “either clear, or gloomy, but some kind of light gray color.” Dreary, bare, colorless. Gogol exhaustively revealed that such a Manilovka could lure few people. Gogol completes the portrait of Manilov in an ironic manner: “His facial features were not devoid of pleasantness.” But this pleasantness seemed to have “too much sugar in it.” Sugar is a detail indicating sweetness. And then a devastating description: “There is a kind of people known by the name: so-so people, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan.”
Manilov’s character is expressed in a special manner of speaking, in a storm of words, in the use of the most delicate turns of phrase: “let’s not allow this,” “no really. Sorry, I won’t allow such a pleasant and educated guest to pass behind me.” Manilov’s beautiful spirit and his ignorance of people are revealed in his assessment of city officials as “most respectable and most amiable” people. Step by step, Gogol inexorably exposes the vulgarity of this man, irony is constantly replaced by satire: “There is Russian cabbage soup on the table, but from the heart,” the children, Alcides and Themistoclus, are named after ancient Greek commanders as a sign of the education of their parents. Mrs. Manilova is worthy of her husband. Her life is devoted to sweet lisping, bourgeois surprises (a beaded toothpick case), languid long kisses, and housekeeping is a low occupation for her. “Manilova is so well brought up,” Gogol quips.
And Manilov lacks economic savvy: “When the clerk said: “It would be nice, master, to do this and that,” “Yes, not bad,” he usually answered.” Manilov did not manage the farm, did not know his peasants well, and everything was falling into disrepair, but he dreamed of an underground passage, of a stone bridge across a pond, which two women forded, and with trading shops on both sides of it. The writer's gaze penetrates Manilov's house, where the same disorder and lack of taste reigns. Some rooms are unfurnished; two armchairs in the owner's office are covered with matting. There are piles of ash in the office, on the windowsill there is a book open on page 14 for two years - the only evidence of the owner’s work in the office.
Manilov shows “concern for the future views of Russia.” The writer characterizes him as an empty phrase-monger: where does he care about Russia if he cannot restore order in his own household. Chichikov easily manages to convince his friend of the legality of the transaction, and Manilov, as an impractical and unbusinesslike landowner, gives Chichikov dead souls and takes on the costs of drawing up the deed of sale.
Manilov is tearfully complacent, devoid of living thoughts and real feelings. He himself is a “dead soul”, doomed to destruction just like the entire autocratic-serf system of Russia. Manilovs are harmful and socially dangerous. What consequences for the economic development of the country can be expected from Manilov’s management!
The landowner Korobochka is thrifty, “gains little money little by little,” lives secluded in her estate, as if in a box, and her homeliness over time develops into hoarding. Narrow-mindedness and stupidity complete the character of the “club-headed” landowner, who is distrustful of everything new in life. The qualities inherent in Korobochka are typical not only among the provincial nobility.
Following Korobochka in Gogol's gallery of freaks is Nozdryov. Unlike Manilov, he is restless, nimble, lively, but his energy is wasted on trifles in a cheating card game, in petty dirty tricks of lies. With irony, Gogol calls him “in some respects a historical person, because wherever Nozdryov was, there were stories,” that is, without a scandal. The author gives him what he deserves through the mouth of Chichikov: “Nozdryov is a man of rubbish!” He squandered everything, abandoned his estate and settled at the fair in a gaming house. Emphasizing the vitality of the Nozdrevs in Russian reality, Gogol exclaims: “Nozdrev will not be removed from the world for a long time.”
The hoarding characteristic of Korobochka turned into genuine kulaks among the practical landowner Sobakevich. He looks at the serfs only as labor force and, even though he has built huts for the peasants that were wonderfully cut down, he skins them to pieces. He transferred some peasants to the monetary-tire system, which was beneficial to the landowner.
The image of Sobakevich was created in Gogol’s favorite hyperbolic manner. His portrait, in which the comparison with a bear is given, the situation in the house, the harshness of his reviews, his behavior at dinner - everything emphasizes the animal essence of the landowner. Sobakevich quickly saw through Chichikov’s idea, realized the benefits and charged a hundred rubles per head. The tight-fisted landowner sold off the dead souls for his own benefit, and even deceived Chichikov by slipping him one female person. “Fist, fist, and a beast to boot!” - this is how Chichikov characterizes him.
Seeing Plyushkin for the first time, Chichikov “for a long time could not recognize what gender the figure was: a woman or a man. The dress she was wearing was completely indefinite, very similar to a woman’s hood, on her head was a cap worn by village courtyard women, only her voice seemed somewhat hoarse for a woman: “Oh, woman! - he thought to himself and immediately added: - Oh, no! Of course, woman! It could never have occurred to Chichikov that he was a Russian gentleman, a landowner, the owner of serf souls.
The passion for accumulation disfigured Plyushkin beyond recognition; he hoards only for the sake of hoarding. He starved the peasants to death, and they are “dying like flies” (80 souls in three years). He himself lives from hand to mouth and dresses like a beggar.
According to Gogol’s apt words, Plyushkin has turned into some kind of hole in humanity. In an era of growing monetary relations, Plyushkin’s household is run in the old fashioned way, based on corvee labor, the owner collects food and things, senselessly accumulates for the sake of accumulation. He ruined the peasants, ruining them with backbreaking work. Plyushkin saved, and everything he collected rotted, everything turned into “pure manure.” A landowner like Plyushkin cannot be the support of the state and move its economy and culture forward. And the writer sadly exclaims: “And a person could condescend to such insignificance, pettiness, and disgustingness! Could have changed so much! And does this seem true? Everything seems to be true, anything can happen to a person.”
Gogol endowed each landowner with original, specific features. Whatever the hero, he is a unique personality. But at the same time, his heroes retain generic, social characteristics: low cultural level, lack of intellectual demands, desire for enrichment, cruelty in treatment of serfs, moral uncleanliness, lack of an elementary concept of patriotism. These moral monsters, as Gogol shows, are generated by feudal reality and reveal the essence of feudal relations based on the oppression and exploitation of the peasantry.
Gogol's work stunned, first of all, the ruling circles and landowners. The ideological defenders of serfdom argued that the nobility was the best part of the Russian population, passionate patriots, the support of the state. Gogol dispelled this myth with his images. Herzen said that the landowners “pass before us without masks, without embellishment, flatterers and gluttons, obsequious slaves of power and ruthless tyrants of their enemies, drinking the life and blood of the people... “Dead Souls” shocked all of Russia.”
Conversation between Chichikov and Manilov (analysis of episode 2 of chapter 2 of N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”).
N.V. Gogol worked on one of the main works of his life, the poem “Dead Souls,” at first without much enthusiasm. Perhaps she just didn’t grab it right away. Perhaps because the plot was found not by the writer himself, but by Pushkin.
The plot was based entirely real event, a real gamble with the purchase of “dead souls”. The fact is that it was beneficial both to the landowners, for whom dead peasants were a burden, and, naturally, to the buyer himself. In Gogol's poem, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov brought to life a similar fraud. Arriving in the provincial town of NN, he immediately began to act. Firstly, he visited all the major local officials, visited places where “the most noble, pleasant” and, most importantly, the right people. At one of these dinners, Chichikov met Manilov, who failed to invite his new friend to visit.
So, Chichikov is the first to visit Manilovka. How does he see her? Gray, ordinary, the appearance of which was enlivened only by two women, “who, having picked up their dresses picturesquely and tucked themselves on all sides, wandered knee-deep in the pond,” and who, as it turned out, were quarreling.”
Manilov, who greeted Chichikov with a smile and talked with him later on the same note, brightens up the picture a little. Which has too much light gray in it. Before and during dinner, the interlocutors carry on a rather empty conversation about the governor, “a most respectable and most amiable man,” about the vice-governor, also “nice” and “very worthy,” about the police chief’s wife, “a most amiable woman,” and so on in the same spirit.
All these conversations have a sweet and sugary tone, which comes, naturally, from the owner of the estate - Manilov. His very appearance speaks of this: his face had “an expression that was not only sweet, but even cloying, similar to that potion that a clever secular doctor sweetened mercilessly, imagining to please the patient with it.” He also wants to please his guest, and in this endeavor he greatly “overdoes it.” Well, of course, he considers Chichikov a highly educated person who “has a high art of expressing himself,” in the words of Manilov himself.
In this empty chatter “about nothing,” the reader discovers Manilov through his speech.
If we talk about Chichikov, he is distinguished by extraordinary patience and the ability to adapt to a person. Later we are convinced that the hero varies his communication style depending on the character of the interlocutor. Therefore, Manilov’s impression from the conversation with Chichikov can be described by the words: “you feel some kind of spiritual pleasure.”
But we know that Pavel Ivanovich did not come to Manilovka for a “pleasant conversation.” He needs dead souls, which is what he starts talking about after lunch in Manilov’s office. Gradually, step by step, he finds out the number of dead peasants. It is interesting that Manilov, at first, without suspicion, without even thinking, helps Chichikov in this, but suddenly asks the question: “For what reasons do you need this?”
This is where the fun begins. Chichikov blushed from the “tension to express something.” The swindler and swindler, speaking about his desire to buy peasants, became isolated and did not finish his speech. Despite all his skill in such matters, he gives in to those who sincerely do not understand what he is talking about. we're talking about, Manilov's facial expression.
The behavior of Manilov and Chichikov is truly comical. The first one dropped the receiver and remained with his mouth open for several minutes; both fixed their eyes on each other; Chichikov was even more sedate than usual, which forced Manilov to refuse the proposal about the guest’s madness; Finally, Manilov couldn’t think of anything else but to let the smoke out of his mouth in a thin stream.
Chichikov brings Manilov out of such a confused state, again with the help of his business acumen. He pulled himself together and explained to the landowner in more detail what and how, not forgetting to clarify that this commercial transaction did not violate the law. And Chichikov did not lie: the whole story of the purchase of dead souls was told by the writer in full accordance with the legislation in force at that time. It’s not for nothing that Pavel Ivanovich says that he “is accustomed to not deviating from civil laws in anything.” Chichikov's fantastic deal was carried out in full accordance with the paragraphs of the law.
As soon as our hero mentioned the legality of this enterprise, Manilov forgot about the essence of the purchase. For him, the guest’s idea is just a “fantastic wish”, which he, Manilov, fulfills. And what an honor it is for him! “He would definitely like to prove with something the attraction of the heart, the magnetism of the soul.” Besides, “dead souls are, in some ways, complete rubbish.”
But this whole performance is not over yet, it’s too early to lower the curtain. Chichikov would not be Chichikov if he had not expressed gratitude to Manilov. “Not without feeling and expression,” he delivered his speech. He, a man without family and tribe, always subject to persecution and trials, is now saved. And he didn’t forget to shed a tear. This was enough: “Manilov was completely moved.”
This was the outcome of Manilov’s conversation with Chichikov. This was Pavel Ivanovich's first success in buying up dead souls. The success of the deal was due to Manilov’s character, striving for the high and noble in everything.
Chichikov no longer had to meet with such landowners. Manilov is the first in the gallery of landowners created by Gogol. Despite all his good manners and ability to deal with guests, we can say with confidence: this is vulgarity, which is revealed when looking inside the hero. Vulgarity, ever increasing from landowner to landowner.
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Purchase and sale of dead souls Manilov
Having lived in the city of NN for a week, Chichikov decided to move his visits out of town and visit his new acquaintance, the landowner Manilov. The coachman Selifan harnessed the horses, and Chichikov's chaise rushed along the road.
Having reached the place, Chichikov saw a rather large village. In the features and location of the estate, two character traits of the owners were discernible at the same time: their claims to educated sophistication - and extreme impracticality. The manor house had flower beds and a pond arranged in the English style. But the flower beds were unkempt, the pond was overgrown with greenery, and the house itself was located on a hill exposed to all the winds. Among the trees one could see a gazebo with blue columns and the inscription: “Temple of Solitary Reflection.”
The owner of the estate ran out onto the porch and, showering pleasantries, greeted the guest. Manilov was one of the people about whom the proverb says: neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan. His face was quite pleasant, but this pleasantness was too laced with sugar; there was something ingratiating in his techniques and turns. He did not have any strong passions or hobbies, but he loved to spend time in fantastic dreams, which he never tried to put into practice. Manilov hardly did any housekeeping, relying on the clerk, but, looking at his overgrown pond, he often dreamed about how good it would be to build an underground passage from the house or to build a stone bridge across the pond with merchant shops. In Manilov's office there was always a book with a bookmark on page fourteen, which he had been constantly reading for two years. His wife was a match for Manilov, brought up in a boarding school where the three main subjects were French, playing the piano and knitting purses.
The hero of “Dead Souls” Manilov. Artist A. Laptev
As usual, Manilov went out of his way to please Chichikov. He did not agree to walk through the door ahead of him, called the meeting with him “the name day of the heart” and “exemplary happiness,” and assured that he would gladly give half of his fortune to have part of the advantages that his guest has. Manilov first of all asked how Chichikov liked the provincial officials - and he himself admired their extraordinary talents.
Chichikov was invited to the table. Manilov’s two sons, 8 and 6 years old, who bore the ancient names Themistoclus and Alcides, were also present at dinner.
After lunch, Chichikov said that he would like to talk with Manilov about an important matter. They both went into the study, where the owner of the house, according to fashionable custom, lit a pipe. A little worried and even looking back for some reason, Chichikov asked Manilov how many of his peasants had died since the last tax audit. Manilov himself did not know this, but he called the clerk and sent him to make a list of the deceased.
Chichikov explained that he would like to buy these dead souls. Hearing such a strange desire, Manilov dropped the pipe from his mouth and remained motionless for some time, gazing at his interlocutor. Then he cautiously inquired whether a deal with dead souls would not be in accordance with civil regulations and further developments in Russia?
Chichikov assured that no, and pointed out that the treasury would even receive benefits from this in the form of legal duties. The calmed down Manilov, due to his courtesy, could not refuse the guest. Having agreed with him to buy the dead, Chichikov hurried with his departure, asking for directions to the neighboring landowner Sobakevich.
Manilov stood on the porch for a long time, following the retreating chaise with his eyes. Returning to the room, with a pipe in his mouth, he indulged in plans to build a house with such a high belvedere that he could even see Moscow from there, drink tea there in the evening in the open air and talk about pleasant subjects. Manilov dreamed that he would invite Chichikov to these tea parties, and the sovereign, having learned about such friendship, would grant them generals.
Analysis of the scene of buying and selling “dead souls”. Dialogue between Chichikov and Korobochka
Let's move on to the analysis of the climactic episode of the chapter— scenes of buying and selling “dead souls.” The dialogue between Chichikov and Korobochka should be heard in the classroom. It’s good if students who have been prepared in advance read it in their faces. This is a highly comic scene. Based on the dialogue between Korobochka and Chichikov, we can conclude that it is in this scene that the landowner’s character is revealed most fully, revealing not only her petty frugality and efficiency, but also her stupidity, greed, and serfdom beliefs. Korobochka trades with the same practicality in the products of her estate and the peasants, considering them as ordinary goods, like honey, lard, bird feathers, and most of all afraid of selling things out: “I gave up the living ones. ", etc.
Commenting on this episode, let us simultaneously draw attention to a characteristic device of Gogol’s style - the motif of the machine gun, emphasizing the spiritual misery of the landowner, her inability to think independently: “Really, I don’t know, because I’ve never sold dead people before”; “The only thing that bothers me is that they are already dead”; “Really, my father, it has never happened before that they sold me dead people,” etc. An extremely important point in working on the image of Korobochka is the question of the typicality of her character. Gogol did not at all want to present the image of Korobochka as a typical phenomenon of purely provincial life. This is eloquently evidenced by Korobochka’s comparisons with “a different and respectable and statesmanlike man,” who “no matter how hard he gets into his head, nothing can overpower him,” as well as with an aristocratic lady from a high-society St. Petersburg drawing room. Each of these comparisons is aimed at the very top of the social pyramid of the landowner-bureaucratic society and highlights the scale of Gogol’s generalization.
DEAD SOULS
SUBJECT:"These insignificant people." Images of landowners in “Dead Souls”
Having looked at the poem from the perspective of modern literary criticism, we will try to comprehend its innermost meaning with schoolchildren, adding interpretations that are new to the school to the traditional path. Following Gogol's plan - and his heroes go along the road "hell - purgatory - heaven", let's try to look at the world that was before him.
Considering himself a prophet, Gogol sincerely believed that it was he who should point out to humanity its sins and help get rid of them.
- So what sins entangled our heroes?
- What evil do they preach?
To answer these questions, you can conduct a lesson “These insignificant people” using a group form of work.
The class is divided into 5 groups(by the number of chapters devoted to the description of landowners) and, as part of educational research, looks for parallels between Gogol’s heroes and Dante’s “Divine Comedy”.
The landscape of Manilov's estate fully corresponds to the description of the first circle of hell - Limbo: in Dante: a green hill with a castle - and Manilov's house on a hill; twilight illumination of Limbo - and for Gogol it’s day. either clear or gloomy, but some kind of light gray color”; the pagans living in Limbo - and the bizarre Greco-Roman names of Manilov's children.
Students may notice that there is a lot of smoke in Manilov’s house, since the owner constantly smokes a pipe, and the description of his office includes piles of ash. And smoke and ash are associated with demonism. This means that the devil has already entered the hero’s soul and it requires cleansing.
When Chichikov leaves, Manilov draws his attention to the clouds, trying to distract the guest from completing his planned journey. But even as one descends into the underworld, the darkness grows! However, already in the scene of purchase and sale, the author’s hope for the resurrection of even the most lost and “trashy” soul is heard in Chichikov’s words. Manilov claims that dead souls are an insignificant commodity, and Chichikov objects and defends the dead, speaking about them: “Not very rubbish!” "
There is an assumption that Chichikov’s visit to Korobochka’s house is a visit to the second circle of hell. Dante describes it this way: “Moaning, the circle of Shadows rushed, driven by an undefeatable blizzard.” In Gogol’s words, “the darkness was such that you could poke out your eyes.” And Korobochka confirms: “It’s such a turmoil and a blizzard.”
Where does the blizzard come from during a thunderstorm? In the underworld, everything is possible, and Dante’s third circle of hell was generally the circle of rain. Korobochka's home resembles the Witch's cave: mirrors, a deck of cards, paintings with birds. These objects are difficult to see, because the room is twilight, and Chichikov’s eyes are sticking together. In the buying and selling scene, Korobochka does not scold his deceased peasants, like Manilov, but expresses the hope that the dead “will somehow be needed on the farm just in case.” Thus, Gogol’s innermost thought begins to acquire more distinct contours. The idea of resurrection is also embedded in the name of Korobochka - Anastasia - “resurrected”.
The third circle of hell is gluttony (gluttony). Therefore, it is no coincidence that Chichikov ends up in a tavern from Korobochka. In this case, an analysis of the episode “In the tavern” is appropriate. “The Fat Old Woman” continues the theme of Korobochka.
The whole story with Nozdryov corresponds to the fourth circle of hell, where stingy and wasteful souls are tormented. And Nozdryov, a reckless reveler who stupidly squanders his fortune, is a wasteful person. His passion for playing checkers emphasizes his gambling, and he invites the guest to play. Barking dogs - important detail episodes of the chapter about Nozdryov. Nozdryov's dogs are associated with the hellish dog Cerberus, fulfilling his mission.
The transaction scene can be interpreted this way. If in the previous chapters the methods of saving the soul are depicted allegorically, then Nozdryov’s method is a dishonest deal, swindle, deception, an attempt to get into the kingdom of heaven undeservedly, like a king.
Antibogatyr Sobakevich is also ready for resurrection. In the buying and selling scene, he seems to resurrect his dead peasants with praise. The “method of revival” here is not fraud, like Nozdryov’s, and not digging out of the ground, like Korobochka’s, but the desire for virtue and valor. An analysis of the episode will allow us to conclude that the salvation of the soul comes at a price - it is bought by a life full of work and dedication. Therefore, the owner “signs out” everyone “with the meaning of commendable qualities.”
Next comes the “heroic” parallel. The exploits of Russian heroes and the “exploits” of Sobakevich. Sobakevich is a hero at the table. When analyzing the episode “Lunch at Sobakevich’s” you can pay attention to the exposure of such human vice like gluttony. Once again this sin appears in close-up in the poem: Gogol considered it especially grave.
Plyushkin is the last, fifth in the gallery of landowners. We know that Gogol wanted to make Plyushkin, like Chichikov, a character in the second volume, to lead him to moral regeneration. That is why the author tells us in detail about the past of Stepan Plyushkin, drawing the story of the impoverishment of the human soul.
What method of saving the soul is proposed by Plyushkin? He found it right away, but didn’t understand it. Stepan Plyushkin saves things, lifting everything in his path, but we need to lift souls, save them. After all, the main idea of “dead souls” is the idea of the spiritual resurrection of fallen man, “resurrection,” the revival of his soul. Plyushkin says goodbye to Chichikov: “God bless you!” “Plyushkin is ready for rebirth, he just needs to remember that it is not things that need to be raised, but the soul.
After the groups' presentations, the following questions can be discussed:
All landowners, as we have seen, are not alike; each of them has a certain individuality. What brings them together?
Why does Chichikov begin his journey with a visit to Manilov, and end it with a visit to Plyushkin?
Chapter 4 contains Gogol’s thoughts about Nozdrev. For what purpose were they introduced by the writer? What's bothering him?
Why does the chapter about Plyushkin begin with a lyrical digression?
Plyushkin is not deader, but more alive than others, is that true?
Manilov lives among the flowering lilac bushes, therefore, in May. The box is harvested at this time, which means in September. It’s summer in Plyushkin, the heat all around is unbearable (only it’s cold in the house), and in the provincial town it’s winter. Why is that? Chichikov comes to Korobochka when there is a blizzard in the yard, and the pig in the yard is eating watermelon rinds. Is this a coincidence?
Each landowner lives, as it were, in his own closed world. Fences, wattle fence, gates, “thick wooden bars,” the boundaries of the estate, the barrier - everything closes the life of the heroes, cutting it off from the outside world. Here the wind blows, the sky, the sun blows, peace and comfort reign, there is a kind of drowsiness, stillness, everything is dead here. Everything stopped. Everyone has their own time of year. This means that there is no reality of time inside these circle worlds. Thus, the heroes of the poem live, adapting time to themselves. The heroes are static, that is, dead. But each of them can save their soul if they want.
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 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 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 he minor characters are endowed with exclusively expressive, distinctive speech that is unique to them.
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