Poem by N. V. Gogol " Dead Souls” was written in the late 40s of the XIX century. In this work, Gogol depicts the society of Russia at that time, all the shortcomings of autocratic-feudal Russia. The main character of the poem is the nobleman Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. He came out of the pillar or personal nobles - this is not known to us. He received a modest education, but due to his "excellent" abilities, he was promoted, although he did not sit in one place for a long time.
The parents of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov belonged to a bankrupt
Nobility and lived far from the city in their abandoned estate. Chichikov spent all his childhood at home - "he did not go anywhere and did not go anywhere." His life was very dull and imperceptible. His father, a sick man, always told him: "Do not lie, obey your elders and carry virtue in your heart."
And so nine years passed. One spring morning, on an old horse, his father takes Pavlusha to the city to study in classes. From here it starts independent life our hero.
Before leaving, Pavel Ivanovich's father gave him guidance for life. They became the “prayer” of his life: “Look, Pavlusha, study, don’t be a fool and don’t hang out, but most of all please teachers and bosses. Don’t hang out with your comrades, they won’t teach you good things, and if it’s already gone to that, then hang out with those who are richer, so that on occasion they can be useful to you. Take care and save a penny, it will not give out, no matter what trouble you are in. You will do everything and break everything in the world with a penny. Chichikov never forgot these instructions of his father in his life, he followed them everywhere and always, they became the goal and stimulus of his worthless life, for only self-interest, money and selfishness entered the heart of this man from childhood.
From the next day, Pavlusha began to go to school. He did not have special abilities for any of the sciences, but he turned out to have completely different abilities, from the practical side. From the very first day, he began to follow his father’s instructions: he was friends only with the rich, he was the first favorite, “he sat so quietly in the lessons that no one could sit like that even for a minute - teachers loved him very much for this. With a call, he jumped up, gave the teacher a briefcase, and then met him five times in the corridor, greeted him and bowed low.
From the very first days, Chichikov was also interested in the material issue. He starts saving money. Either he makes a figurine out of wax and sells it profitably either at the market or among his comrades, then he buys gingerbread and waits for his comrades to tighten their stomachs, and then “tear off four skins” for him. He put the money in a bag. When they accumulated up to five rubles, Chichikov sewed it together and began to save it in another.
When our hero left the school, he immediately set to work. He worked day and night, slept on tables in the office rooms, dined with the watchmen, but at the same time he always kept neatness.
Chichikov was noticed by the authorities, and he was sent to one old assistant under the leadership. All the time, Pavel Ivanovich pleased his mentor and became his “son”. He promised to marry the clerk's daughter. The old official gave a recommendation to Chichikov, and he also received the rank of officer. This was exactly what Pavel Ivanovich needed. He stopped going to his "patron" and did not think about marrying his daughter. Chichikov became a famous official. In the service, he took bribes, and the treasury did not go unnoticed by our hero - he got there too. Now he walked very fashionably and richly dressed. But suddenly, in place of the former chief-mattress was sent new person military, Strict, enemy of bribe-takers and everything that is called a lie. He quickly sorted things out, and Chichikov was expelled from the service.
After some time, Chichikov enters the customs service. There he also “robs” people and the state, but at the same time he works very well. The authorities say about him: "He is a devil, not a man."
When checking cases at customs, many shortcomings were found. Many officials were arrested. Seeing this, Chichikov leaves the service himself. “He has ten thousand money left, a small chaise, two serfs,” - all that Pavel Ivanovich managed to “put together” with such efforts for himself.
Time has passed. Chichikov again lives in "beggarly conditions, walks in one frock coat and wears dirty shirts." Once he was lucky, and he gets a job as an attorney, where he again conducts his scams and hides.
Pavel Ivanovich is on the road again. So she brings him to the scene of the novel. Here Chichikov decided to play another business: he wants to buy dead serfs from the landowners, dead souls, who are listed on the revision
fairy tale alive.
After getting to know the city, its official fathers, attending all kinds of dinners and balls, Chichikov sets off on a journey through the landowners in order to carry out his plan to buy dead souls.
The first of the landowners, Chichikov, visits Manilov, a sugary, sentimental man who always dreams of various fables. Then he visits the dull-headed landowner Korobochka, Nozdryov - a reckless and reveler, Sobakevich - a strong owner, Plyushkin - a miser and a morally dead person. In all these houses, Chichikov behaves differently, acquiring dead souls by any means. Manilov simply gives them to our hero "out of love and respect for him." The box only sells souls because it's afraid evil spirits, with which our businessman scared her. Sobakevich also sells dead peasants, but not out of fear, but because of his own benefit. And Plyushkin sells the peasants "afraid for every penny." Only Pavel Ivanovich does not acquire anything from Nozdryov, but instead almost falls into the hands of a drunken landowner, then, for the same reason, he hastily leaves the city of N.
That's all we know about the life of our hero. After reading Gogol's poem, we can say about its main character as a low and vile person, dodgy and unscrupulous. Yes, it's not ideal to follow. But ... Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov - typical representative a new kind of bourgeois businessman of feudal Russia the first half of XIX century.
Only Chichikov himself cannot be blamed for his behavior (although it largely depends on the person himself). Here significant role plays time itself, the course of history.
N.V. Gogol showed in "Dead Souls" the face of Russia of that time when the nobility as a class is degrading, when new people come to the first place in life - businessmen-purchasers, people whose thoughts are low, in whose heart there is nothing human left, except for profit, personal gain.
In his poem, the writer exposes feudal Russia (Chichikov, landlords, officials), whose life is measured only by money, where the dead are bought, where the living are sold. And all this is ruled by "dead souls" - people without souls and hearts. “Where are you rushing, Russia-troika, what are you striving for if you are dead and only the dead live with you?” - Gogol asks his readers. Gogol wrote his poem, trying to revive Russia and protect it from Chichikov and his ilk.
The creation of the poem "Dead Souls" fell just at the time when in Russia there was a change in the traditional, outdated foundations of society, reforms were brewing, changes in people's thinking. Even then it was clear that the nobility with its old traditions and outlook on life was slowly dying out, and a new type of person had to come to replace it. Gogol's goal is to describe the hero of his time, declare him in full voice, describe his positive and explain what his activities will lead to, as well as how it will affect the fate of other people.
The central character of the poem
Nikolai Vasilyevich Chichikova in the poem made central character, he cannot be called the main character, but it is on him that the plot of the poem rests. The journey of Pavel Ivanovich is the framework for the entire work. It is not for nothing that the author placed the hero’s biography at the very end, the reader is not interested in Chichikov himself, he is curious about his actions, why he collects these dead souls and what it will lead to in the end. Gogol does not even try to reveal the nature of the character, but he introduces the peculiarities of his thinking, thus giving a hint where to look for the essence of this act of Chichikov. Childhood is where the roots come from, even at a tender age the hero formed his own worldview, vision of the situation and the search for ways to solve problems.
Description of Chichikov
The childhood and early years of Pavel Ivanovich are unknown to the reader at the beginning of the poem. Gogol portrayed his character as faceless and voiceless: against the backdrop of bright, colorful images of landowners with their quirks, Chichikov's figure is lost, becomes small and insignificant. He has neither his own face nor the right to vote, the hero resembles a chameleon, skillfully adapting to his interlocutor. This is an excellent actor and psychologist, he knows how to behave in a given situation, instantly determines the character of a person and does everything to win him over, says only what they want to hear from him. Chichikov skillfully plays a role, pretends to hide true feelings, tries to be his own among strangers, but he does all this in order to achieve the main goal - his own well-being.
The childhood of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov
A person's worldview is formed at a young age, so many of his actions in adulthood can be explained by studying his biography well. What guided him, why he collected dead souls, what he wanted to achieve with this - all these questions are answered. The hero’s childhood cannot be called happy, he was constantly haunted by boredom and loneliness. Pavlush did not know any friends or entertainment in his youth, he did monotonous, tedious and completely uninteresting work, listened to the reproaches of his sick father. The author did not even hint about maternal affection. One conclusion can be drawn from this - Pavel Ivanovich wanted to make up for lost time, to receive all the benefits that were not available to him in childhood.
But do not think that Chichikov is a soulless cracker, thinking only about his enrichment. He was a kind, active and sensitive child, subtly perceiving the world. The fact that he often ran away from his nanny in order to explore places never seen before indicates Chichikov's curiosity. Childhood shaped his character, taught him to achieve everything on his own. Father taught Pavel Ivanovich to save money and please bosses and rich people, and he put these instructions into practice.
Chichikov's childhood and studies were gray and uninteresting, he tried in every possible way to break into people. First, he pleased the teacher in order to become a favorite student, then he promised the boss to marry his daughter in order to get a promotion, working at customs, he convinces everyone of his honesty and impartiality, and he makes a huge fortune on smuggling. But Pavel Ivanovich does all this not with malicious intent, but with the sole purpose of making his childhood dream of a big and bright house, a caring and loving wife, a bunch of cheerful children come true.
Chichikov's communication with the landowners
Pavel Ivanovich could find an approach to everyone, from the first minutes of communication to understand what a person is. For example, he did not stand on ceremony with Korobochka, he spoke in a patriarchal-pious and even slightly patronizing tone. With the landowner, Chichikov felt relaxed, used colloquial, rude expressions, completely adjusting to the woman. With Manilov, Pavel Ivanovich is pompous and amiable to the point of cloying. He flatters the landowner, uses flowery phrases in his speech. Refusing the proposed treat, even Plyushkin was pleased by Chichikov. "Dead Souls" very well demonstrate the changeable nature of a person, because Pavel Ivanovich adapted to the mores of almost all landowners.
What does Chichikov look like in the eyes of other people?
The activities of Pavel Ivanovich greatly frightened the city officials and landlords. At first they compared him with the romantic robber Rinald Rinaldin, then they began to look for similarities with Napoleon, thinking that he had escaped from the island of Helena. In the end, the real Antichrist was recognized in Chichikovo. Of course, such comparisons are absurd and even somewhat comical, Gogol ironically describes the fright of narrow-minded landowners, their speculation about why they actually collect Chichikov dead souls. The characterization of the character hints that the characters are no longer the same as they were before. The people could be proud, take an example from the great commanders and defenders, and now there are no such people, they were replaced by selfish Chichikovs.
The real "I" of the character
One would think that Pavel Ivanovich is an excellent psychologist and actor, since he easily adapts to the people he needs, instantly guesses their character, but is it really so? The hero was never able to adapt to Nozdryov, because arrogance, arrogance, familiarity are alien to him. But even here he is trying to adapt, because the landowner is incredibly rich, hence the appeal to “you”, the boorish tone of Chichikov. Childhood taught Pavlusha to please the right people, so he is ready to step over himself, to forget about his principles.
At the same time, Pavel Ivanovich practically does not pretend to be with Sobakevich, because they are united by serving the “penny”. And with Plyushkin, Chichikov has some similarities. The character tore off the poster from the post, having read it at home, folded it neatly and put it in a chest in which all sorts of unnecessary things were stored. This behavior is very much like Plyushkin, who is prone to hoarding various rubbish. That is, Pavel Ivanovich himself did not depart so far from the same landowners.
The main goal in the life of the hero
And once again money - it was for this that Chichikov collected dead souls. The characterization of the character indicates that he invents various frauds not just for the sake of profit, there is no stinginess and stinginess in him. Pavel Ivanovich dreams that the time will come when he will finally be able to use his savings, live a calm, prosperous life, not thinking about tomorrow.
The attitude of the author to the hero
There is an assumption that in subsequent volumes Gogol planned to re-educate Chichikov, to make him repent of his actions. Pavel Ivanovich in the poem is not opposed to the landowners or officials, he is the hero of the capitalist formation, the “first accumulator”, who replaced the nobility. Chichikov is a skilled businessman, an entrepreneur who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Scam with dead souls failed, but after all, Pavel Ivanovich did not suffer any punishment either. The author hints that there are a huge number of such Chichikovs in the country, and no one wants to stop them.
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov ... The famous hero of the poem by N.V. Gogol, who for centuries became famous for serving the “penny”, was her slave, ready for any “enterprises” and meanness for the sake of profit. What are the main life principles of Chichikov? And who had a hand in their formation? Of course, father. How in " Captain's daughter" Grinev Sr. urged his son to "cherish honor from a young age," and in "Dead Souls" his father also instructed Pavlusha, but he did not say anything about honor, or duty, or dignity. He did not say because he had his own outlook on life.
The first important point of my father's instruction was "do not be a fool and do not hang out," but "please teachers and bosses." So did Pavlusha. And at school, the boy shone not with knowledge, but with diligence. But if diligence and neatness did not help, he used another life principle priests: “Don’t mess with your comrades, they won’t teach you good things; and if it comes to that, then hang out with those who are richer, so that on occasion they can be useful to you.
And Chichikov’s most important rule was his father’s instruction to save and save a penny: “A comrade or friend will cheat on you and in trouble will be the first to betray you, but a penny will not give out, no matter what trouble you are in. You will do everything and break everything in the world with a penny.
Even at the school, one of the main goals in his life was the accumulation of capital for further existence: “Even as a child, he already knew how to deny himself everything. He didn’t spend a penny of the fifty given by his father, on the contrary, in the same year he already made increments to it ... ”But growing up, gaining wisdom, he begins to save not only for his happy life, but for the joyful life of future children. So the acquisition of "dead souls", no matter how strange it may sound, is largely for the happiness of descendants.
After graduating from college, Pavel Ivanovich "took the civil path." Going towards his goal - enrichment - Chichikov changed several places of service: the state chamber, the commission for the construction of a state building, customs. And everywhere the hero considered it possible to break any moral law: he was the only one who did not give money to a sick teacher, deceived a girl, pretending to be in love, for the sake of a “bread town”, plundered government property, took bribes. And how our "philosopher" figuratively defined his career failures: "suffered in the service"!
When Chichikov left for the city of N, readers knew practically nothing about him, but as events unfolded in the poem, we began to understand a little, although it was still uncertain what kind of person he was, why and for what purposes he came. Chichikov frightened us a little by how quickly he “copied” the external mannerisms of his interlocutors, by the fact that he was an integral part of provincial society(there is some unity of the protagonist with inner world people he met). Although we cannot say that Chichikov has a purely inhuman, negative character.
For example, he is repelled by many features in everyday life, in appearance, in the psychology of his new acquaintances, but it cannot be said that he was going to make any adjustments to his plans.
Father and life taught Chichikov to save every penny, to please the boss, not to hang out with comrades who “will not teach good”, to behave in such a way that, on occasion, the comrades would regale and treat him. “There were no special abilities for science in him; he distinguished himself more by diligence and neatness; but on the other hand, he turned out to have a great mind from the practical side. Judging by these words, we can say that the character of Chichikov was formed depending on the conditions in which he fell. Pavlusha followed his father's advice.
Moreover, already in childhood, his mind was very inventive, “showed almost extraordinary resourcefulness: he molded a bullfinch from wax, painted it and sold it very profitably. Then, for some time, he embarked on other speculations: having bought edibles in the market, he sat in the classroom next to those who were richer, and as soon as he noticed that a friend was starting to feel sick, ... he took money, considering his appetite. Pavlusha trained a mouse for two months and also sold it very profitably. It cannot be said that the nature of the hero was callous (remember how he treated his school mentor), it cannot be said that he did not know either pity or compassion.
He began his career twice: the first time, when he entered the state chamber with great difficulty and served diligently at first to become noticeable, the second time, when he served at customs. But all his attempts to become rich were unsuccessful. Chichikov is a smart, energetic, enterprising person. He miraculously escapes prison and again decides to take the next step.
Acquisition dead peasants- this is the purpose of his arrival in the city of N. But this requires both a good education and knowledge of legal affairs. Chichikov possesses all this. The hero is also distinguished by a gentle character, sociability, he is only a mask, behind which an amazing perseverance was hidden. Chichikov is an excellent psychologist, he has the ability to immediately determine the character of a person. So, Chichikov is a “new” person in Russia, who aroused the greatest interest and curiosity. He lived at a time when capital was the master in the minds and hearts of people.
For N.V. Gogol, Chichikov is not a petty crook. The writer saw indomitable energy in the Chichikovs (precisely in the Chichikovs, because Russia is great, there are many of them on earth, and the image of Chichikov seems to me to be collective), in the pursuit of capital, of a “million”. But he also understood that, striving for millions, people are freed from everything pure, honest, noble in their souls and become merciless towards people who impede the implementation of their plans.
“My hero is not a villain at all ...” - these are the words that Gogol wrote in one of his letters to friends. They can be attributed to Chichikov. He is the only character whose life story is described in all details.
The whole life of the hero passes before us. In order to more fully portray the character of Chichikov, it was important for the writer to show him in the origins - psychological and social - and the process of his subsequent development.
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Fulfilling his task of "showing at least one side of all of Russia," Gogol creates the image of an entrepreneur-adventurer, almost unknown before him in Russian literature. Gogol was one of the first to notice that modern age- this is the age of mercantile relations, when material wealth becomes the measure of all values in human life. In Russia at that time, a type of a new person appeared - an acquirer, the goal of whose life aspirations was money. The rich tradition of the picaresque novel, centered on a low-born hero, a rogue and a deceiver seeking to profit from his adventures, gave the writer the opportunity to create artistic image reflecting the Russian reality of the first third of the 19th century.
In contrast to the virtuous character of classic novels, as well as the hero of romantic and secular stories, Chichikov did not possess either nobility of character or nobility of origin. Defining the type of hero with whom the author had to go hand in hand for a long time, he calls him a "scoundrel." The word "scoundrel" has several meanings.
It also denotes a person of low origin, a native of the mob, and one who is ready for anything to achieve the goal. Thus, the central figure of Gogol's poem is not a tall hero, but an anti-hero. The result of the upbringing that the tall hero received was honor. Chichikov, on the other hand, is following the path of "anti-education", the result of which is "antiquity". Instead of a high code of morality, he learns the art of living amid adversity and misfortune.
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