N.V.Gogol, perhaps, is the most mysterious writer of the 19th century. His works of mystical content are sometimes fascinatingly interesting, sometimes scary. The writer skillfully weaves a fantastic element even into realistic stories and stories. A striking example of this combination is the St. Petersburg story. It would not be wrong to say that the image of St. Petersburg is central to them. In the story "The Overcoat" the writer describes in detail the streets of this city and its inhabitants. In his interpretation of this city, Gogol draws closer to the tradition of Dostoevsky, exposing all the negative sides of St. Petersburg.
N.V. Gogol "The Overcoat": the main character, content
The protagonist of the story - Akaky AkakievichBashmachkin. He is a titular adviser, downtrodden and intimidated by superiors and colleagues. Gogol dwells in detail on how Bashmachkin was born, how he was chosen a name. Since the father was Akaki, then the son will be him. Parents knew in advance that a titular adviser would come out of it. Such predetermination underscores the fact that Akaky Akakievich is a small person who can in no way influence either his life or other people. His colleagues cruelly scoff at him, scatter papers on his head, but he cannot say anything.
The main theme of the story "The Overcoat" is the substitutioneverything spiritual in man is material. Even the name of the hero indicates this. Akaky Akakievich is obsessed with repairing his overcoat, but the tailor refuses him. Then the hero decides to save money for a new one. And now his dream has come true. In the new overcoat, he was finally noticed, even invited to visit one of the clerk. Finally, Akaky Akakiyevich felt full. But on the way back from him tore his new robe. At that moment it seemed to him that it was not the clothes that were being removed, but a part of him. The heartbroken hero decides to go to the "significant person", but he yells at him. After this incident, Bashmachkin’s health deteriorates, and he sees strange visions. As a result, the hero dies. A ghost walks the streets of the city, tearing his overcoats from passersby.
Petersburg in the story
The image of Petersburg in the story "The Overcoat" isvery significant not only for the understanding of the work itself, but also in order to understand the plan of the whole cycle of Petersburg narratives. The city in the pages of the story is phantasmagoric and unnatural. It resembles a ghost town. In such a situation, it is impossible to have a full-fledged life of people, only purposeless and useless existence is possible. Gogol describes the entrances and houses of St. Petersburg; he particularly stops at a strange, caustic smell. The image of Petersburg in the story "The Overcoat" is close to how it is presented in the novel Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky also writes about Peter’s characteristic “stink”. However, Dostoevsky has no mystical element in his description.
The motive of the hostility of the city
From the very beginning there is a feeling thatthe city wants to drive out the people, it rejects them. But not all. Suffer in the first place such as Akaki Akakievich. The enemy of all officials with a meager salary is the Petersburg frost. The cold in the story also symbolizes the space of death, first of all spiritual. After all, neither the people surrounding Bashmachkin, nor he himself has any other interests than the thing.
The urban landscape is described in detail whenBashmachkin goes to the tailor to fix his overcoat. Front rich entrances contrast with the smelly, dirty black steps of the houses of the poor. The hero himself is lost in populous Petersburg, he does not have his own face. From this point of view, it is important to have a portrait description of the main character, which is given at the very beginning of the story. He is not tall and not low, his face is not thin and not fat, that is, the author does not mention anything concrete, thereby showing that the hero does not have any distinctive features, he is faceless, because of this he practically does not cause sympathy.
Live Petersburg
Олицетворение - еще один прием, к которому N.V. Gogol resorts. “The Overcoat” is rightfully considered the central story in the cycle, because it is here (as in “Nevsky Prospect”) that the city seems to become the main character. After the death of the hero, "Petersburg was left without Akakievich." But surprisingly, no one noticed. Lost a creature that no one needed.
But in the city, in relation to which Gogol uses the same words as a living creature, not people go, but collars, overcoats, frock coats. The motive of things is important for all the stories of this cycle.
The function of the cityscape in the story
The image of St. Petersburg first appears on the pagesGogol's prose is still in the story "The Night Before Christmas". From the very beginning, the city became a space opposed to Ukraine, and to be more precise, Dykanka. Already here Petersburg is a living city, staring at the hero with the fiery eyes of houses. Over the years of his life in St. Petersburg, Gogol began to distinguish more clearly for the pomp and beauty of the palaces the inhumanity, greed, and predatory nature of the people who inhabit it.
С описанием городского пейзажа тесно связана the main idea of the story "The Overcoat". Gogol exposed the social contrasts of this city, raised the subject of humiliated and offended, suffering, powerless people. He heard a joke about a poor official from his acquaintances, the story was deeply sunk into the writer's soul, and he decided to create such a work that reflected all his compassion for a little man such as Bashmachkin.
Author's assessment in the story
Despite all the compassion, the story of GogolThe Overcoat is ironic. The author makes his hero miserable. After all, he is not just kind, calm, gentle and characterless, he is pitiful. He can not oppose anything to his colleagues, he is afraid of the authorities. In addition, he also can not do anything except to rewrite. A higher position — to rewrite, making corrections — Akaky Akakiyevich is not to his liking, he rejects it. By this, Gogol shows that the hero himself does not particularly strive to get out of his humiliated state. With obvious sarcasm, the author talks about how Bashmachkin is obsessed with the idea of acquiring a greatcoat, as if this is not a thing, but the goal of his whole life. What is this life in which the main idea is to buy a coat?
Silence in the story
Пожалуй, это основной мотив, к которому сводятся all the threads of the story, including the image of St. Petersburg. In the story "The Overcoat" the spiritlessness of the protagonist appears clearly and distinctly. He can not even speak normally, he expresses some pretexts and interjections, which emphasizes the lack of mind and soul in him. He is so absorbed in the idea of acquiring a greatcoat that she becomes his idol. The colleagues of Akaky Akakiyevich are cruel who cannot sympathize. The authorities revel in their power and are ready to tear anyone apart for disobedience. And in place of Bashmachkin, a new titular adviser is arranged, about which Gogol says only that his handwriting is higher and more inclined.
conclusions
Таким образом, повесть Гоголя "Шинель" является a prime example of a grotesque phantasmagoric piece with a fantastic element. Moreover, mysticism is connected not only with the appearance of a ghost at the end, but also with the city itself, which rejects people, it is hostile. Petersburg in the story "The Overcoat" is intended to show the author's assessment, and also helps to understand the main idea of the work. It is thanks to the description of the city landscape that the reader understands all the cruelty, inhumanity, and heartlessness of the environment in which there are such pathetic people as Akaki Akiyevich Bashmachkin.
