Message dead and living souls in the poem. Who are the "dead souls" in the poem? Who are the "living souls" in the poem

The poem "Dead Souls" is a work of mystery and wonder. The writer worked on the creation of the poem for many years. He devoted so much deep creative thought, time and hard work to her. That is why the work can be considered immortal, brilliant. Everything in the poem is thought out to the smallest detail: characters, types of people, their way of life and much more.

The title of the work - "Dead Souls" - contains its meaning. It describes not the dead souls of serfs, but the dead souls of landlords, buried under the petty, insignificant interests of life. Buying up dead souls, Chichikov, the protagonist of the poem, travels around Russia and pays visits to landowners. This happens in a certain sequence: from less bad to worse, from those who still have a soul to completely soulless.

The first person Chichikov comes to is the landowner Manilov. Behind the external pleasantness of this gentleman lies senseless daydreaming, inactivity, feigned love for the family and peasants. Manilov considers himself educated, noble, educated. But what do we see when we look into his office? A pile of ashes, a dusty book that has been open to page fourteen for two years now.

Something is always missing in Manilov's house: only part of the furniture is upholstered in silk, and two armchairs are covered with matting; the household is handled by the clerk, who ruins both the peasants and the landowner. Idle daydreaming, inactivity, limited mental abilities and vital interests, with seeming intelligence and culture, allow us to attribute Manilov to "idle non-smokers" who give nothing to society. The second estate that Chichikov visited was Korobochka's estate. Her callousness lies in her strikingly petty vital interests. Besides the price of honey and hemp, Korobochka cares little, if not to say that she doesn't care about anything. The hostess is "an elderly woman, in some kind of sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck, one of those mothers, small landowners who cry for crop failures, losses and hold their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile they are gaining a little money in motley bags…" Even in the sale of dead souls, Korobochka is afraid to sell too cheap. Everything that goes beyond her meager interests simply does not exist. This hoarding borders on insanity, because "all the money" is hidden and not put into circulation.

The next on the way to Chichikov is the landowner Nozdrev, who was gifted with all possible "enthusiasm". At first, he may seem like a lively and active person, but in fact it turns out to be empty. His amazing energy is directed to continuous revelry and senseless extravagance.

Added to this is another trait of Nozdrev's character - a passion for lies. But the lowest and most disgusting thing in this hero is "the passion to spoil one's neighbor." In my opinion, the soullessness of this hero lies in the fact that he cannot direct his energy and talents in the right direction. Then Chichikov gets to the landowner Sobakevich. The landowner seemed to Chichikov "very similar to a medium-sized bear." Sobakevich is a kind of "fist" whom nature "simply chopped off from the whole shoulder", not particularly clever over his face: "she grabbed with an ax once - her nose came out, she grabbed it in another - her lips came out, she poked her eyes with a large drill and, without scraping, let her on light, saying, "lives."

The insignificance and pettiness of Sobakevich's soul emphasizes the description of things in his house. The furniture in the landlord's house is as heavy as the owner. Each of Sobakevich's objects seems to say: "And I, too, Sobakevich!".

The gallery of landlord "dead souls" is completed by the landowner Plyushkin, whose soullessness has taken on completely inhuman forms. Once Plyushkin was an enterprising and hardworking owner. Neighbors came to him to learn "stingy wisdom." But after the death of his wife, everything went to dust, suspicion and stinginess intensified to the highest degree. Soon the Plyushkin family also fell apart.

This landowner has accumulated huge stocks of "good". Such reserves would be enough for several lives. But he, not content with this, walked every day through his village and collected everything that came across and put it in a heap in the corner of the room. Mindless hoarding has led to a very rich owner starving his people, and his supplies rotting in barns.

Next to the landlords and officials - "dead souls" - there are bright images of ordinary people who are the embodiment of the ideals of spirituality, courage, love of freedom in the poem. These are the images of the dead and fugitive peasants, first of all, the peasants of Sobakevich: the miraculous master Mikheev, the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov, the hero Stepan Cork, the stove-maker Milushkin. Also, this is the fugitive Abakum Fyrov, the peasants of the rebellious villages Vshivaya-arrogance, Borovka and Zadiraylova.

It seems to me that Gogol in Dead Souls understands that a conflict between two worlds is brewing: the world of serfs and the world of landowners. He warns of the upcoming collision throughout the book. And he ends his poem with a lyrical reflection on the fate of Russia. The image of Russia-troika affirms the idea of the unstoppable movement of the motherland, expresses the dream of its future and the hope for the emergence of real "virtuous people" who can save the country.

The title of the work - "Dead Souls" - contains its main meaning. This poem describes both the dead revisionist souls of serfs and the dead souls of landlords, buried under the insignificant interests of life. But it is interesting that the first, formally dead, souls turn out to be more alive than the breathing and talking landlords.

Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, carrying out his brilliant scam, visits the estates of the provincial nobility. This gives us the opportunity "in all its glory" to see the "living dead".

The first person Chichikov pays a visit to is the landowner Manilov. Behind the outward pleasantness, even the sweetness of this gentleman, is hidden senseless daydreaming, inactivity, idle talk, false love for the family and peasants. Manilov considers himself educated, noble, educated. But what do we see when we look into his office? A dusty book that has been open on the same page for two years.

Something is always missing in Manilov's house. So, in the study, only part of the furniture is covered with silk, and two chairs are covered with matting. The economy is managed by a "dexterous" clerk who ruins both Manilov and his peasants. This landowner is distinguished by idle daydreaming, inactivity, limited mental abilities and vital interests. And this is despite the fact that Manilov seems to be an intelligent and cultured person.

The second estate that Chichikov visited was the estate of the landowner Korobochka. It is also "dead soul". The soullessness of this woman lies in the amazingly petty interests of life. Apart from the price of hemp and honey, Korobochka cares little. Even in the sale of dead souls, the landowner is only afraid to sell too cheap. Everything that goes beyond her meager interests simply does not exist. She tells Chichikov that she does not know any Sobakevich, and, consequently, he does not exist in the world.

In search of the landowner Sobakevich, Chichikov runs into Nozdryov. Gogol writes about this "merry fellow" that he was gifted with all possible "enthusiasm". At first glance, Nozdryov seems to be a lively and active person, but in fact he turns out to be completely empty. His amazing energy is directed only to revelry and senseless extravagance. Added to this is the passion for lies. But the lowest and most disgusting thing in this hero is "the passion to spoil one's neighbor." This is the type of people "who will start with a satin stitch and finish with a reptile." But Nozdryov, one of the few landowners, even evokes sympathy and pity. The only pity is that he directs his indomitable energy and love for life into an "empty" channel.

The next landowner on Chichikov's path is, finally, Sobakevich. He seemed to Pavel Ivanovich "very similar to a medium-sized bear." Sobakevich is a kind of "fist", which nature "simply chopped from the whole shoulder." Everything in the guise of the hero and his house is thorough, detailed and large-scale. The furniture in the landlord's house is as heavy as the owner. Each of Sobakevich's objects seems to say: "And I, too, Sobakevich!".

Sobakevich is a zealous owner, he is prudent, prosperous. But he does everything only for himself, only in the name of his interests. For their sake, Sobakevich will go to any fraud and other crime. All his talent went only into the material, completely forgetting about the soul.

The gallery of landowners' "dead souls" is completed by Plyushkin, whose soullessness has taken on completely inhuman forms. Gogol tells us the background of this hero. Once Plyushkin was an enterprising and hardworking owner. Neighbors came to him to learn "stingy wisdom." But after the death of his wife, the suspicion and stinginess of the hero intensified to the highest degree.

This landowner has accumulated huge stocks of "good". Such reserves would be enough for several lives. But he, not content with this, walks every day in his village and collects all the rubbish that he puts in his room. Senseless hoarding has led Plyushkin to feed himself on leftovers, while his peasants "die like flies" or run away.

The gallery of "dead souls" in the poem is continued by the images of the officials of the city of N. Gogol draws them as a single faceless mass, mired in bribes and corruption. Sobakevich gives officials an evil, but very accurate description: "A swindler sits on a swindler and drives a swindler." Officials mess around, cheat, steal, offend the weak and tremble before the strong.

At the news of the appointment of a new governor-general, the inspector of the medical board feverishly thinks of the patients who died in significant numbers from a fever, against which proper measures were not taken. The chairman of the chamber turns pale at the thought that he has made a bill of sale for dead peasant souls. And the prosecutor generally came home and suddenly died. What sins were behind his soul that he was so frightened? Gogol shows us that the life of officials is empty and meaningless. They are just smokers of air, who have wasted their precious lives on meanness and fraud.

Next to the "dead souls" in the poem, there are bright images of ordinary people who are the embodiment of the ideals of spirituality, courage, love of freedom, talent. These are the images of the dead and fugitive peasants, primarily the men of Sobakevich: the miracle worker Mikheev, the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov, the hero Stepan Cork, the stove-maker Milushkin. Also, this is the fugitive Abakum Fyrov, the peasants of the rebellious villages Vshivaya-arrogance, Borovka and Zadiraylova.

It was the people, according to Gogol, who retained in themselves a "living soul", national and human identity. Therefore, it is with the people that he connects the future of Russia. The writer planned to write about this in the continuation of his work. but he couldn't, he couldn't. We can only guess about his thoughts.

Having begun work on Dead Souls, Gogol wrote about his work: "All Russia will appear in it." The writer most carefully studied the past of the Russian people - from its very sources - and the results of this work formed the basis of his work, written in a living, poetic form. On none of his works, including the comedy The Inspector General, did Gogol work with such faith in his vocation as a citizen writer, with which he created Dead Souls. He did not devote so much deep creative thought, time and hard work to any other work of his.

The main theme of the poem-novel is the theme of the present and future fate of Russia, its present and future. Passionately believing in a better future for Russia, Gogol mercilessly debunked the "masters of life" who considered themselves bearers of high historical wisdom and creators of spiritual values. The images drawn by the writer testify to the exact opposite: the heroes of the poem are not only insignificant, they are the embodiment of moral deformity.

The plot of the poem is quite simple: its main character, Chichikov, a born swindler and dirty businessman, opens up the possibility of profitable deals with dead souls, that is, with those serfs who have already gone to another world, but were still among the living. He decides to buy dead souls on the cheap and for this purpose goes to one of the county towns. As a result, readers are presented with a whole gallery of images of landowners, whom Chichikov visits in order to bring his plan to life. The storyline of the work - the purchase and sale of dead souls - allowed the writer not only to show the inner world of the characters in an unusually vivid way, but also to characterize their typical features, the spirit of the era. Gogol opens this gallery of portraits of local owners with an image of a hero who, at first glance, seems to be quite an attractive person. In the guise of Manilov, it is primarily his “pleasantness” and his desire to please everyone that are striking. Manilov himself, this "very courteous and courteous landowner", admires and is proud of his manners and considers himself an extremely spiritual and educated person. However, during his conversation with Chichikov, it becomes clear that this person's involvement in culture is just an appearance, the pleasantness of manners smacks of cloying, and behind the flowery phrases there is nothing but stupidity. The whole way of life of Manilov and his family gives off vulgar sentimentality. Manilov himself lives in the illusory world he created. He has idyllic ideas about people: no matter who he talks about, everyone came out very pleasant, "most amiable" and excellent. From the very first meeting, Chichikov won the sympathy and love of Manilov: he immediately began to consider him his invaluable friend and dream about how the sovereign, having learned about their friendship, would grant them to the generals. Life in Manilov's view is complete and perfect harmony. He does not want to see anything unpleasant in her and replaces knowledge of life with empty fantasies. In his imagination there are a variety of projects that will never be implemented. Moreover, they arise not at all because Manilov seeks to create something, but because fantasizing itself gives him pleasure. He is carried away only by a game of imagination, but he is completely incapable of any real action. It turned out to be easy for Chichikov to convince Manilov of the benefits of his enterprise: all he had to do was say that this was done in the public interest and fully consistent with "further views of Russia", since Manilov considers himself a person who guards public welfare.

From Manilov, Chichikov goes to Korobochka, which, perhaps, is the exact opposite of the previous hero. Unlike Manilov, Korobochka is characterized by the absence of any claims to higher culture and some kind of peculiar "simplicity". The absence of "splendor" is emphasized by Gogol even in the portrait of Korobochka: she has too unattractive, shabby appearance. The "simplicity" of Korobochka is also reflected in her relationships with people. "Oh, my father," she turns to Chichikov, "but you, like a boar, have mud all over your back and side!" All Korobochka's thoughts and desires are centered around the economic strengthening of her estate and unceasing accumulation. She is not an inactive dreamer, like Manilov, but a sober acquirer, forever swarming around her home. But Korobochka's thriftiness reveals precisely her inner insignificance. Acquisitive impulses and aspirations fill the entire consciousness of the Box, leaving no room for any other feelings. She seeks to profit from everything, from household trifles to the profitable sale of serfs, who are for her, first of all, property that she has the right to dispose of as she pleases. It is much more difficult for Chichikov to agree with her: she is indifferent to any of his arguments, since the main thing for her is to benefit herself. It is not for nothing that Chichikov calls Korobochka a "clubhead": this epithet characterizes her very aptly. The combination of a secluded lifestyle with gross money-grubbing determines the extreme spiritual poverty of Korobochka.

Further - again the contrast: from Korobochka - to Nozdryov. In contrast to the petty and mercenary Korobochka, Nozdryov is distinguished by violent prowess and a "wide" scope of nature. He is extremely active, agile and playful. Without hesitation for a moment, Nozdryov is ready to take on any Business, that is, everything that for some reason comes to his mind: “At that very moment, he suggested that you go anywhere, even to the ends of the world, enter into whatever enterprise you want, change whatever you have for whatever you want." Nozdryov's energy is devoid of any purpose. He easily starts and quits any of his ventures, immediately forgetting about him. Its ideal is people who live noisily and cheerfully, without burdening themselves with any daily worries. Wherever Nozdryov appears, a mess is started and scandals arise. Boasting and lying are the main features of Nozdryov's character. He is inexhaustible in his lies, which have become so organic for him that he lies without even feeling any need for it. With all his acquaintances, he is familiar, keeps with them on a short leg, considers everyone his friend, but he never remains true to his words or relationships. After all, it was he who subsequently debunked his "friend" Chichikov in front of the provincial society.

Sobakevich is one of those people who stands firmly on the ground, soberly assesses both life and people. When necessary, Sobakevich knows how to act and achieve what he wants. Describing the everyday way of life of Sobakevich, Gogol emphasizes that here everything "was stubborn, without shaking." Solidity, strength are the distinguishing features of both Sobakevich himself and his everyday environment. However, the physical strength of both Sobakevich and his way of life is combined with some kind of ugly clumsiness. Sobakevich looks like a bear, and this comparison is not only external: the animal nature prevails in the nature of Sobakevich, who has no spiritual needs. According to his firm conviction, the only important thing can only be taking care of one's own existence. Saturation of the stomach determines the content and meaning of his life. He considers enlightenment not only an unnecessary, but also a harmful invention: "They talk about enlightenment, enlightenment, and this enlightenment is poof! I would say another word, but it's just indecent at the table." Sobakevich is prudent and practical, but, unlike Korobochka, he understands the environment well, knows people. This is a cunning and impudent businessman, and Chichikov had a rather difficult time with him. Before he had time to utter a word about the purchase, Sobakevich had already offered him a deal with dead souls, and he had broken the price as if it were a question of selling real serfs.

Practical acumen distinguishes Sobakevich from other landowners depicted in Dead Souls. He knows how to settle down in life, but it is in this capacity that his base feelings and aspirations are manifested with particular force.

All the landowners, so vividly and ruthlessly shown by Gogol, as well as the central hero of the poem, are living people. But can you say the same about them? Can their souls be called alive? Haven't their vices and base motives killed everything human in them? The change of images from Manilov to Plyushkin reveals an ever-increasing spiritual impoverishment, an ever-increasing moral decline of the owners of serf souls. Calling his work "Dead Souls", Gogol had in mind not only the dead serfs, whom Chichikov was chasing, but also all the living heroes of the poem, who had long since become dead.

At the beginning of work on the poem, N.V. Gogol wrote to V.A. Zhukovsky: "What a huge, what an original plot! What a diverse pile! All Russia will appear in it." So Gogol himself defined the scope of his work - all of Russia. And the writer was able to show in its entirety both negative and positive aspects of life in Russia of that era. Gogol's idea was grandiose: like Dante, to portray the path of Chichikov, first in "hell" - Volume I of "Dead Souls", then "in purgatory" - Volume II of "Dead Souls" and "in paradise" - Volume III. But this plan was not carried out to the end, only Volume I, in which Gogol shows the negative aspects of Russian life, reached the reader in full.

In Korobochka, Gogol presents us with another type of Russian landowner. Household, hospitable, hospitable, she suddenly becomes "club-headed" in the scene of the sale of dead souls, afraid to sell too cheap. This is the type of person on his mind. In Nozdryov, Gogol showed a different form of decomposition of the nobility. The writer shows us two essences of Nozdryov: at first he is an open, daring, direct face. But then you have to make sure that Nozdryov's sociability is an indifferent familiarity with everyone you meet and cross, his liveliness is an inability to concentrate on some serious subject or business, his energy is a waste of energy in carousing and debauchery. His main passion, according to the writer himself, is "to spoil your neighbor, sometimes for no reason at all."

Sobakevich is akin to Korobochka. He, like her, is a hoarder. Only unlike Korobochka, this is a smart and cunning hoarder. He manages to deceive Chichikov himself. Sobakevich is rude, cynical, uncouth; No wonder he is compared with an animal (bear). By this Gogol emphasizes the degree of man's savagery, the degree of necrosis of his soul. Plyushkin completes this gallery of "dead souls". This is the eternal image of the miser in classical literature. Plyushkin is an extreme degree of economic, social and moral decay of the human personality.

Provincial officials adjoin the gallery of landlords, who are essentially "dead souls".

Who can we call living souls in the poem, and do they exist? I think Gogol did not intend to oppose the life of the peasantry to the suffocating atmosphere of the life of officials and landlords. On the pages of the poem, the peasants are far from being depicted in pink colors. The footman Petrushka sleeps without undressing and "always carries with him some special smell." The coachman Selifan is not a fool to drink. But it is precisely for the peasants that Gogol has both kind words and a warm intonation when he speaks, for example, about Pyotr Neumyvay-Koryto, Ivan Koleso, Stepan Probka, and the resourceful peasant Yeremey Sorokoplekhin. These are all the people whose fate the author thought about and asked the question: "What did you, my hearts, do in your lifetime? How did you survive?"

But there is at least something bright in Russia, not susceptible to corrosion under any circumstances, there are people who make up the "salt of the earth." Did Gogol himself come from somewhere, this genius of satire and singer of the beauty of Russia? There is! Must be! Gogol believes in this, and therefore, at the end of the poem, an artistic image of Russia-troika appears, rushing into the future, in which there will be no nostrils, plushies. A trio bird rushes forward. "Rus, where are you going? Give me an answer. Doesn't give an answer."

Griboedov Pushkin literary plot

A short essay-reasoning on literature on the topic: Peasant Russia in the poem "Dead Souls" for grade 9. The image of the people in the poem

When we hear the mention of Gogol's "Dead Souls", we involuntarily pop up before our eyes the "acquirer" Chichikov and the galaxy of vicious landowners trailing behind him. And this is the right association, because the most frequent topics for reflection were precisely these images, it is not without reason that the poem is called “Dead Souls”. But how many people tried to find on what pages Gogol hid living souls, bright images in which the author's hope for the future of Russia is felt? Are they there at all? Maybe the writer saved these characters for two other volumes that he never finished? And, in the end, do these “living souls” exist at all, or is there only evil in us, inherited from those same landlords?

I want to dispel doubts right away: for an inquisitive reader, Gogol has living souls in store! You just have to look closely at the text. The writer only casually mentions them, either not wanting to show these images ahead of time, or strictly observing the concept of the work, in accordance with which there should have been only dead souls. We see these images on the pages of the "revision tales" that Sobakevich wrote about his dead peasants in the hope of selling them at a higher price. Stepan Cork was listed with him as “a hero who would have been suitable for the guard”, Maxim Telyatnikov - “a miracle, not a shoemaker”, Yeremey Sorokoplekhin - the one that “brought five hundred rubles a quitrent”. Also, some runaway peasants of Plyushkin were awarded a mini-biography. For example, Abakum Fyrov, a free barge hauler, pulling his strap "under one endless, like Russia, song." All these people flash only once, few even stop at their names at the first reading, but it is with the help of their stories that Gogol creates an even greater contrast between the “dead and the living” in the poem. It turns out a double oxymoron: on the one hand, living people are presented in the poem as “dead”, hopeless, vulgar, and people who have gone to another world seem to us more “alive” and brighter. Isn't this a hint that Gogol sees only decline in a country where worthy people, the foundation on which the power stands, "go to the ground", and the "dead" landowners continue to grow rich and profit from honest workers?

The writer expresses his idea that all the greatness of the country rests not on vile landowners who do not bring any benefit to the Fatherland, but on the contrary, only breed its poverty, raging with fat, ruining their serfs. All the hope of the author rests on the Russian people, ordinary people who are oppressed and offended in every possible way, but who do not give up, truly loving their country and paving the right way for the “bird-troika” with their own efforts.

It is difficult to understand who is really a “dead soul” and who is not, because in Gogol it is not so unambiguous and is understood after repeated reading. “A real book cannot be read at all - it can only be re-read,” Nabokov said, and this is definitely about Dead Souls. There are many unresolved questions in this poem, but there are just as many answers given by the author to the fact that there is our country and the people in it, who is a great evil on Russia's path to prosperity, and who, not knowing the greatness of their everyday small deeds, is all leads her to well-being and success.

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Who are the "dead souls" in the poem?

“Dead Souls” - this title carries something terrifying in itself ... Not revisionists - dead souls, but all these Nozdrevs, Manilovs and others - these are dead souls and we meet them at every step, ”wrote Herzen.

In this meaning, the expression "dead souls" is no longer addressed to the peasants - living and dead - but to the masters of life, landowners and officials. And its meaning is metaphorical, figurative. After all, physically, financially, “all these Nozdrevs, Manilovs and others” exist and for the most part flourish. What can be more certain than the bear-like Sobakevich? Or Nozdryov, about whom it is said: “He was like blood with milk; health seemed to spurt from his face. But physical existence is not yet human life. Vegetative existence is far from true spiritual movements. “Dead souls” in this case mean deadness, lack of spirituality. And this lack of spirituality manifests itself in at least two ways. First of all, it is the absence of any interests, passions. Remember what is said about Manilov? “You won’t expect any lively or even arrogant words from him, which you can hear from almost anyone if you touch the subject that bullies him. Everyone has his own, but Manilov had nothing. Most hobbies or passions cannot be called high or noble. But Manilov did not have such passion either. He didn't have anything at all. And the main impression that Manilov made on his interlocutor was a feeling of uncertainty and "mortal boredom."

Other characters - landowners and officials - are far from being so impassive. For example, Nozdrev and Plyushkin have their own passions. Chichikov also has his own "enthusiasm" - the enthusiasm of "acquisition". And many other characters have their own "bullying subject", setting in motion a wide variety of passions: greed, ambition, curiosity, and so on.

So, in this respect, "dead souls" are dead in different ways, to different degrees and, so to speak, in different doses. But in another respect they are dead in the same way, without distinction or exception.

Dead soul! This phenomenon seems contradictory in itself, composed of mutually exclusive concepts. Can there be a dead soul, a dead person, that is, something that is by its nature animate and spiritual? Can't live, shouldn't exist. But it exists.

A certain form remains from life, from a person - a shell, which, however, regularly sends vital functions. And here another meaning of Gogol's image of "dead souls" is revealed to us: the revision dead souls, that is, the conventional designation of dead peasants. Revision dead souls are concrete, reviving faces of peasants who are treated as if they were not people. And the dead in spirit - all these Manilovs, Nozdrevs, landowners and officials, a dead form, a soulless system of human relationships ...

All these are facets of one Gogol concept - "dead souls", artistically realized in his poem. And the facets are not isolated, but make up a single, infinitely deep image.

Following his hero, Chichikov, moving from one place to another, the writer leaves no hope of finding such people who would carry the beginning of a new life and rebirth. The goals that Gogol and his hero set for themselves are diametrically opposed in this respect. Chichikov is interested in dead souls in the literal and figurative sense of the word - revisionist dead souls and people who are dead in spirit. And Gogol is looking for a living soul in which a spark of humanity and justice burns.

Who are the "living souls" in the poem?

The "dead souls" of the poem are opposed to the "living" people - talented, hardworking, long-suffering people. With a deep sense of patriotism and faith in the great future of his people, Gogol writes about him. He saw the lack of rights of the peasantry, its humiliated position and the stupidity and savagery that were the result of serfdom. Such are Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyay, the serf girl Pelageya, who did not distinguish between right and left, Plyushkin's Proshka and Mavra, beaten to the extreme. But even in this social depression, Gogol saw the living soul of the “brisk people” and the quickness of the Yaroslavl peasant. He speaks with admiration and love of the ability of the people, courage and prowess, endurance and thirst for freedom. Fortress hero, carpenter Cork "would fit into the guard." He walked with an ax in his belt and boots on his shoulders all over the provinces. The carriage maker Mikhey created carriages of extraordinary strength and beauty. The stove maker Milushkin could put a stove in any house. Talented shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov - "what pricks with an awl, then boots, that boots, then thanks." And Yeremey Sorokoplekhin “brought five hundred rubles a quitrent!” Here is Plyushkin's fugitive serf Abakum Fyrov. His soul could not stand the yoke of bondage, he was drawn to the wide expanse of the Volga, he "walks noisily and cheerfully on the grain pier, having contracted with merchants." But it is not easy for him to walk with barge haulers, "dragling a strap under one endless song, like Russia." In the songs of barge haulers, Gogol heard an expression of longing and the desire of the people for a different life, for a wonderful future. Behind the bark of lack of spirituality, callousness, carrion, the living forces of people's life are fighting - and here and there they make their way to the surface in the living Russian word, in the fun of barge haulers, in the movement of Russia-troika - the key to the future revival of the motherland.

An ardent faith in the hidden until the time, but the immense strength of the whole people, love for the motherland, allowed Gogol to brilliantly foresee its great future.

Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is one of the best works of world literature. The writer worked on the creation of this poem for 17 years, but never completed his plan. "Dead Souls" is the result of many years of Gogol's observations and reflections on human destinies, the destinies of Russia.
The title of the work - "Dead Souls" - contains its main meaning. This poem describes both the dead revisionist souls of serfs and the dead souls of landlords, buried under the insignificant interests of life. But it is interesting that the first, formally dead, souls turn out to be more alive than the breathing and talking landlords.
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, carrying out his brilliant scam, visits the estates of the provincial nobility. This gives us the opportunity "in all its glory" to see the "living dead".
The first person Chichikov pays a visit to is the landowner Manilov. Behind the outward pleasantness, even the sweetness of this gentleman, is hidden senseless daydreaming, inactivity, idle talk, false love for the family and peasants. Manilov considers himself educated, noble, educated. But what do we see when we look into his office? A dusty book that has been open on the same page for two years.
Something is always missing in Manilov's house. So, in the study, only part of the furniture is covered with silk, and two chairs are covered with matting. The economy is managed by a "dexterous" clerk who ruins both Manilov and his peasants. This landowner is distinguished by idle daydreaming, inactivity, limited mental abilities and vital interests. And this is despite the fact that Manilov seems to be an intelligent and cultured person.
The second estate that Chichikov visited was the estate of the landowner Korobochka. It is also "dead soul". The soullessness of this woman lies in the amazingly petty interests of life. Apart from the price of hemp and honey, Korobochka cares little. Even in the sale of dead souls, the landowner is only afraid to sell too cheap. Everything that goes beyond her meager interests simply does not exist. She tells Chichikov that she does not know any Sobakevich, and, consequently, he does not exist in the world.
In search of the landowner Sobakevich, Chichikov runs into Nozdryov. Gogol writes about this "merry fellow" that he was gifted with all possible "enthusiasm". At first glance, Nozdryov seems to be a lively and active person, but in fact he turns out to be completely empty. His amazing energy is directed only to revelry and senseless extravagance. Added to this is the passion for lies. But the lowest and most disgusting thing in this hero is "the passion to spoil one's neighbor." This is the type of people "who will start with a satin stitch and finish with a reptile." But Nozdryov, one of the few landowners, even evokes sympathy and pity. The only pity is that he directs his indomitable energy and love for life into an "empty" channel.
The next landowner on Chichikov's path is, finally, Sobakevich. He seemed to Pavel Ivanovich "very similar to a medium-sized bear." Sobakevich is a kind of "fist", which nature "simply chopped from the whole shoulder." Everything in the guise of the hero and his house is thorough, detailed and large-scale. The furniture in the landlord's house is as heavy as the owner. Each of Sobakevich's objects seems to say: "And I, too, Sobakevich!"
Sobakevich is a zealous owner, he is prudent, prosperous. But he does everything only for himself, only in the name of his interests. For their sake, Sobakevich will go to any fraud and other crime. All his talent went only into the material, completely forgetting about the soul.
The gallery of landowners' "dead souls" is completed by Plyushkin, whose soullessness has taken on completely inhuman forms. Gogol tells us the background of this hero. Once Plyushkin was an enterprising and hardworking owner. Neighbors came to him to learn "stingy wisdom." But after the death of his wife, the suspicion and stinginess of the hero intensified to the highest degree.
This landowner has accumulated huge stocks of "good". Such reserves would be enough for several lives. But he, not content with this, walks every day in his village and collects all the rubbish that he puts in his room. Senseless hoarding led Plyushkin to the fact that he himself feeds on leftovers, and his peasants "die like flies" or run away.
The gallery of "dead souls" in the poem is continued by the images of the officials of the city of N. Gogol draws them as a single faceless mass, mired in bribes and corruption. Sobakevich gives officials an evil, but very accurate description: "A scammer sits on a scammer and drives a scammer." Officials mess around, cheat, steal, offend the weak and tremble before the strong.
At the news of the appointment of a new governor-general, the inspector of the medical board feverishly thinks of the patients who died in significant numbers from a fever, against which proper measures were not taken. The chairman of the chamber turns pale at the thought that he has made a bill of sale for dead peasant souls. And the prosecutor generally came home and suddenly died. What sins were behind his soul that he was so frightened?
Gogol shows us that the life of officials is empty and meaningless. They are just smokers of air, who have wasted their precious lives on slander and fraud.
Next to the "dead souls" in the poem, there are bright images of ordinary people who are the embodiment of the ideals of spirituality, courage, love of freedom, talent. These are the images of the dead and fugitive peasants, primarily the men of Sobakevich: the miracle worker Mikheev, the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov, the hero Stepan Cork, the stove-maker Milushkin. Also, this is the fugitive Abakum Fyrov, the peasants of the rebellious villages Vshivaya-arrogance, Borovka and Zadiraylova.
It was the people, according to Gogol, who retained in themselves a “living soul”, national and human identity. Therefore, it is with the people that he connects the future of Russia. The writer planned to write about this in the continuation of his work. but he couldn't, he couldn't. We can only guess about his thoughts.

State educational institution

"Secondary school No. 11 of Svetlogorsk"

ESSAY

“Dead and living souls in the poem by N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls"

Completed by: Fedotov Vladislav

student: 9 "B" class

Svetlogorsk, 2015

1. The history of the creation of the poem "Dead Souls"…………………………. 3

2. The purpose of Chichikov's life. Testament of the father……………………………………..4

3. What are “dead souls”? .............................................. ...........................5

4. Who are the "dead souls" in the poem? ..6

5. Who are the “living souls” in the poem? .................7

6. The second volume of "Dead Souls" is a crisis in Gogol's work…………..8

7. Journey to Meaning…………………………………………………..9

Bibliography

The history of the creation of the poem "Dead Souls"

There are writers who easily and freely invent the plots of their writings. Gogol was not one of them. He was painfully uninventive on plots. With the greatest difficulty, the idea of each work was given to him. He always needed an external push to inspire his imagination. Contemporaries tell how eagerly Gogol listened to various everyday stories, anecdotes picked up on the street, there were also fables. I listened professionally, like a writer, memorizing every characteristic detail. Years passed, and another of these accidentally heard stories came to life in his works. For Gogol, P.V. Annenkov, "nothing was wasted."

The plot of "Dead Souls" Gogol, as you know, was obliged to A.S. Pushkin, who had long encouraged him to write a great epic work. Pushkin told Gogol the story of the adventures of a certain adventurer who bought dead peasants from the landlords in order to pledge them, as if they were alive, in the Board of Trustees and receive a hefty loan against them.

But how did Pushkin know the plot that he presented to Gogol?

The history of fraudulent tricks with dead souls could become known to Pushkin during his exile in Kishinev. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, tens of thousands of peasants fled here, to the south of Russia, to Bessarabia, from different parts of the country, fleeing from paying arrears and various fees. Local authorities obstructed the resettlement of these peasants. They were pursued. But all measures were in vain. Fleeing from pursuers, fugitive peasants often took the names of dead serfs. They say that during Pushkin's stay in Chisinau exile, a rumor spread throughout Bessarabia that the city of Bendery was immortal, and the population of this city was called "an immortal society." No deaths have been recorded there for many years. An investigation has begun. It turned out that in Bendery it was accepted as a rule: the dead "do not be excluded from society", and their names should be given to the fugitive peasants who arrived here. Pushkin visited Bendery more than once, and he was very interested in this story.

Most likely, it was she who became the grain of the plot, which, almost a decade and a half after the Chisinau exile, was retold by the poet Gogol.

It should be noted that Chichikov's idea was by no means such a rarity in life itself. Frauds with "revision souls" were a fairly common thing in those days. It can be safely assumed that not only one specific case formed the basis of Gogol's design.

The core of the plot of "Dead Souls" was Chichikov's adventure. It only seemed incredible and anecdotal, but in fact it was reliable in all the smallest details. Serfdom reality created very favorable conditions for such adventures.

By decree of 1718, the so-called household census was replaced by a poll. From now on, all male serfs, "from the oldest to the very last baby", were subject to taxation. Dead souls (dead or fugitive peasants) became a burden for the landlords, who naturally dreamed of getting rid of it.

The purpose of Chichikov's life. father's testament

Here is what V.G. wrote. Sakhnovsky in his book “About the play“ Dead Souls ”:

“... It is known that Chichikov was not too fat, not too thin; that, according to some, he even looked like Napoleon, that he possessed the remarkable ability to talk to everyone as an expert on what he talked pleasantly about. Chichikov's goal in communication was to make the most favorable impression, to win over and inspire confidence in himself. It is also known that Pavel Ivanovich has a special charm, with which he overcame two catastrophes that would have knocked someone else down forever. But the main thing that characterizes Chichikov is his passionate desire for acquisition. To become, as they say, “a person with weight in society”, being a “person of dignity”, without a clan or tribe, who rushes like “some kind of barque among the ferocious waves” - this is Chichikov’s main task. To get a solid place in life for oneself, regardless of anyone's or any interest, public or private - this is what Chichikov's end-to-end action is.

And everything that did not respond with wealth and contentment made an impression on him, incomprehensible to himself, - Gogol writes about him. His father's admonition - "take care and save a penny" - went to him for the future. He was not possessed by stinginess or stinginess. No, he imagined a life ahead of him with all sorts of prosperity: carriages, a house perfectly arranged, delicious dinners.

“You will do everything and break everything in the world with a penny,” his father bequeathed to Pavel Ivanovich. He learned this for the rest of his life. "Self-sacrifice, patience and limitation of needs he showed unheard of." So Gogol wrote in the Biography of Chichikov (Chapter XI).

... Chichikov comes to poison. There is evil that rolls across Russia, like Chichikov on a troika. What is this evil? It is revealed in each in its own way. Each of those with whom he conducts business has his own reaction to Chichikov's poison. Chichikov leads one line, but he has a new role with each character.

... Chichikov, Nozdryov, Sobakevich and other heroes of "Dead Souls" are not characters, but types. In these types, Gogol collected and generalized many similar characters, revealing in all of them a common life and social way of life ... "

What are "dead souls"?

The primary meaning of the expression "dead souls" is as follows: these are dead peasants who are still on the revision lists. Without such a very specific meaning, the plot of the poem would be impossible. After all, Chichikov's strange enterprise lies in the fact that he buys dead peasants who were listed as alive in the audit lists. And that this is legally feasible: it is enough just to draw up a list of peasants and arrange the purchase and sale accordingly, as if the subject of the transaction are living people. Gogol shows with his own eyes that in Russia the law of the sale of living goods rules, and that such a situation is natural and normal.

Consequently, the very factual basis, the very intrigue of the poem, built on the sale of revisionist souls, was social and accusatory, no matter how the narrative tone of the poem seemed harmless and far from accusation.

True, one may recall that Chichikov does not buy living people, that the subject of his deal are the peasants who have died. However, Gogol's irony hides here too. Chichikov buys up the dead in exactly the same way as if he were buying up living peasants, according to the same rules, observing the same formal and legal norms. Only at the same time, Chichikov expects to give a much lower price - well, as if for a product of lower quality, stale or spoiled.

"Dead Souls" - this capacious Gogol formula begins to fill with its deep, changing meaning. That is the conventional designation of the deceased, the phrase, behind which there is no person. Then this formula comes to life - and real peasants stand behind it, whom the landlord has the power to sell or buy, specific people.

The ambiguity of meaning is already hidden in Gogol's phrase itself. If Gogol wanted to emphasize a single meaning, then he would most likely take the expression "revision soul". But the writer deliberately put in the title of the poem the phrase unusual, bold, not found in everyday speech.

Who are the "dead souls" in the poem?

All these are facets of one Gogol concept - "dead souls", artistically realized in his poem. And the facets are not isolated, but make up a single, infinitely deep image.

Who are the "living souls" in the poem?

An ardent faith in the hidden until the time, but the immense strength of the whole people, love for the motherland, allowed Gogol to brilliantly foresee its great future.

The second volume of "Dead Souls" - a crisis in the work of Gogol

"Dead souls," Herzen testifies, "shook the whole of Russia." He himself, having read them in 1842, wrote in his diary: "... an amazing book, a bitter reproach of modern Russia, but not hopeless."

The Northern Bee, a newspaper published at the expense of the III Department of the personal office of Nicholas I, accused Gogol of depicting some special world of scoundrels that never existed and could not exist. Critics criticized the writer for a one-sided depiction of reality.

But the landowners betrayed themselves. A contemporary of Gogol, the poet Yazykov, wrote to his relatives from Moscow: “Gogol receives news from everywhere that he is strongly scolded by Russian landowners; here is clear proof that their portraits were written off by him correctly and that the originals were hurt to the quick! Such is the talent! Many before Gogol described the life of the Russian nobility, but no one angered him as much as he did.

Violent controversy boiled over Dead Souls. They solved, in the words of Belinsky, "a question as much literary as social." The famous critic, however, very sensitively caught the dangers that awaited Gogol in the future, when he fulfilled his promises to continue Dead Souls and show Russia already "from the other side." Gogol did not understand that his poem was finished, that "all Russia" was outlined, and that another work would turn out (if it turned out).

This contradictory idea was formed by Gogol towards the end of the work on the first volume. Then it seemed to the writer that the new idea was not opposed to the first volume, but directly emerged from it. Gogol did not yet notice that he was cheating on himself, he wanted to correct that vulgar world that he so truthfully painted, and he did not refuse the first volume.

Work on the second volume was slow, and the further, the more difficult. In July 1845, Gogol burned what he had written. Here is how Gogol himself explained a year later why the second volume was burned: “Bringing out several excellent characters that reveal the high nobility of our breed will lead to nothing. It will arouse only one empty pride and boasting... No, there is a time when it is impossible otherwise to direct society or even the whole generation towards the beautiful, until you show the full depth of real abomination; there is a time when one should not even talk about the lofty and beautiful, without immediately showing clearly ... the ways and roads to it. The last circumstance was little and poorly developed in the second volume, and it should be almost the main thing; and therefore he was burned ... "

Gogol, thus, saw the collapse of his plan as a whole. It seems to him at that time that in the first volume of Dead Souls he depicted not the real types of landlords and officials, but his own vices and shortcomings, and that the revival of Russia must begin with the correction of the morality of all people. It was a rejection of the former Gogol, which caused indignation both of the writer's close friends and of all progressive Russia.

Journey to Meaning

Each subsequent era in a new way opens up classical creations and such facets in them, which are in one way or another consonant with its own problems. Contemporaries wrote about "Dead Souls" that they "woke up Russia" and "awakened in us the consciousness of ourselves." And now the Manilovs and Plyushkins, Nozdrevs and Chichikovs have not yet died out in the world. They, of course, became different than they were in those days, but they did not lose their essence. Each new generation discovered in Gogol's images new generalizations that prompted reflection on the most essential phenomena of life.

Such is the fate of great works of art, they outlive their creators and their era, overcome national borders and become the eternal companions of mankind.

"Dead Souls" is one of the most read and revered works of Russian classics. No matter how much time separates us from this work, we will never cease to be amazed at its depth, perfection, and, probably, we will not consider our understanding of it exhausted. Reading "Dead Souls", you absorb the noble moral ideas that every brilliant work of art carries in yourself, and imperceptibly for yourself you become both purer and more beautiful.

In Gogol's time, the word "invention" was often used in literary criticism and art history. Now we refer this word to the products of technical, engineering thought, but before it also meant artistic, literary works. And this word meant the unity of meaning, form and content. After all, in order to express something new, you need to invent - to create an artistic whole that has never existed before. Let us recall the words of A.S. Pushkin: "There is the highest courage - the courage of invention." Learning the secrets of "invention" is a journey that does not involve the usual difficulties: it does not need to meet anyone, you do not need to move at all. You can go after the literary hero, and make in your imagination the path that he went through. All you need is time, a book, and a desire to think about it. But this is also the most difficult journey: one can never say that the goal has been achieved, because behind every understood and meaningful artistic image, a secret solved, a new one arises - even more difficult and fascinating. That is why a work of art is inexhaustible and the journey to its meaning is endless.

Bibliography

goldeneye dead soul chichikov

1. Mann Yu. "Courage of invention" - 2nd ed., Supplementary - M .: Det. lit., 1989. 142 p.

2. Mashinsky S. "Dead Souls" by Gogol "- 2nd ed., Supplemented - M .: Khudozh. Lit., 1980. 117 p.

3. Chernyshevsky N.G. Essays on the Gogol period of Russian literature.- Full. Sobr. cit., v.3. M., 1947, p. 5-22.

4. www.litra.ru.composition

5. www.moskva.com

6. Belinsky V.G. "The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls" - Poln. coll. cit., vol. VI. M., 1955, p. 209-222.

7. Belinsky V.G. "A few words about Gogol's poem..." - Ibid., p. 253-260.

8. Sat. "Gogol in the memoirs of his contemporaries", S. Mashinsky. M., 1952.

9. Sat. “N.V. Gogol in Russian criticism, A. Kotova and M. Polyakova, M., 1953.

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