Dead souls image of a provincial town. Image of the provincial town of NN (analysis of an episode from Chapter I of N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”). Characteristics of the location of the city NN
In N. V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls,” a panorama of Russia in the 1930s is revealed to the reader, because the writer’s plan was “to show, at least from one side, all of Rus'.” It is this global concept that explains the genre originality of the work: the genre of the poem allows you to combine both the epic and lyrical principles in one text, that is, the author’s voice, his position, his pain are very strong in “Dead Souls”, and the poem also assumes a wider scope of the events depicted . One of the tasks of the work is to characterize all social strata of society, which is why the poem presents landowners, the provincial nobility, the bureaucracy, the metropolitan society, and the peasants.
The work begins with a description of the provincial town of NN, a typical Russian city of that time (it is no coincidence that the city does not have a specific name, because there could be any other in its place).
First, the reader meets the residents of the city - two peasants who are discussing a chaise that has driven through the gate with Chichikov sitting in it. Their conversation is very colorful: the men are wondering whether the chaise wheel will reach Moscow first, and then Kazan. Gogol, on the one hand, draws his characters ironically: two idle peasants solve a completely worthless problem; and on the other hand, the reader is already ready to perceive “dead souls”, which will later turn out to be officials of a provincial city and landowners. Compared to them, peasants are the only “living souls”, distinguished by a lively mind, curiosity, thirst for life, and interest in it.
The reader gets a second impression of the provincial city when he gets acquainted with the hotel where Chichikov stays. The author strongly emphasizes the fact that the hotel is no different from similar establishments in other cities: it is long, two floors, the top of which is painted with “eternal yellow paint,” and the bottom contains benches; “quiet” rooms with cockroaches and doors filled with chests of drawers. The author does not hide his irony in relation to the life of a provincial city; for example, he compares the face of the sbitennik with his own samovar, emphasizing that the only difference between them is the beard.
To characterize the city, the reaction of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is important, who, after resting, went to inspect the surrounding area. The hero was satisfied because “the city was in no way inferior to other provincial cities.” The wretchedness and gloom of the Russian province is striking: yellow and gray paint, a wide street with houses randomly located on it, endless wooden fences, shabby little shops, the absurdity of which Gogol emphasizes with the inscription on one of them: “Foreigner Vasily Fedorov”; The most common places to visit were drinking establishments, which indicates the main hobby of the city residents. The writer draws attention to the condition of the pavement, since roads are, in a sense, the face of the city. The city garden, which, according to newspaper reports, was supposed to be “shady, wide-branched trees that provide coolness on a hot day,” in fact consisted of thin twigs, and this fact testifies, firstly, to the activities of city rulers, and - secondly, about the corruption and hypocrisy of the city press.
Thus, without yet becoming acquainted with the city authorities, the reader gets an idea of them and their activities “for the benefit of the city.” When Gogol presents a gallery of local officials whom Chichikov (without exceptions) visits to pay his respects, then first of all they are characterized by the fact that Pavel Ivanovich is treated kindly by everyone and accepted as one of their own, he is immediately invited to some at a house party, some to lunch, some for Boston, some for a cup of tea.
Naturally, the calling card of the city is its governor, whose belonging to the “neither fat nor thin” class gives him a unique right to power. Usually, when introducing a person, they try to point out his best qualities, and if this is a person on whom the fate of a city or country depends, then it is necessary to determine his business qualities. The distinctive feature of the governor was that he had Anna around his neck. Ironizing him, Gogol emphasizes that, despite “Anna,” the governor was a good-natured person and even embroidered on tulle. It is unlikely that all this can be useful for the head of the city, as well as for a huge number of other city officials: the vice-governor, the prosecutor, the chairman of the chamber, the police chief, the tax farmer, the head of state-owned factories, and so on (the author hints that it is impossible to remember all of them) .
It is significant that the “powers of this world” do not even have names, because the most important thing that is valued in this society is rank, and only this criterion is important for assessing Gogol’s officials. In addition, the author makes it clear to the reader that in place of the city of NN there could be any other provincial city and there will be the same set of people “performing service”. The ladies of the city also do not have names, because for them the main thing is appearance, so one will be considered “a simply pleasant lady”, the other - “a pleasant lady in all respects”. Characterizing them, Gogol claims that they “were what is called presentable,” thereby emphasizing that observing conventions and following etiquette are the meaning of life for this circle of people.
The climax of the episode is the governor's ball scene. Gogol very subtly chooses artistic means to describe local society. The most striking is the comparison of the audience present with black flies on “white shining refined sugar during the hot July summer...” People scurrying around at the ball are “air squadrons” of flies that have gathered together just to show off, to circle this way and that. , then fly away again, then fly back again. That is, their movement is completely meaningless, chaotic, and the fly people themselves do not evoke any positive emotions.
In addition, Gogol gives a certain classification of the men present at the ball, thereby showing that we are not looking at individuals, but only human types, and their typicality is determined primarily by external factors, and these factors “work” not only in the provincial town of NN , but also “everywhere”. Men were divided into thin, fat, and also not too fat, but not thin either, and the fate of each was predetermined precisely by which group he belonged to. The faces are also extremely colorful: those of the fat ones are full and round, with warts and pockmarks; hair is either low cut or slicked down; facial features are rounded and strong; Naturally, these are honorary officials of the city and they know how to “manage their affairs.” Among the thin ones, the most important activities at the ball are courting the ladies and dancing, and among the fat ones - cards, which officials indulge in with all seriousness: “All conversations have completely stopped, as always happens when they finally indulge in something meaningful.”
Thus, the provincial town represents, as it were, a cross-section of the life of Russia as a whole with its structure, political and social, with its vices and shortcomings, with its bureaucratic apparatus, unusually numerous and equally insolvent, with its dullness and lack of education, eternal drunkenness, idleness and so on. Getting to know the provincial town of NN together with Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, the reader comprehends the uniqueness of Russian life in the thirties of the nineteenth century and is immersed in the position of the author, sharing his pain and his hope for the future of Russia.
Review. The essay is distinguished by its literacy and thoughtfulness. The author has a good command of the text of Gogol's poem and skillfully uses it to prove his thoughts. From the work it becomes clear that the author understood Gogol’s position and realized that the image of a provincial town is a significant page in the characterization of all of Russia.
The image of the city in the poem “Dead Souls”
Compositionally, the poem consists of three externally closed, but internally interconnected circles - landowners, the city, Chichikov's biography - united by the image of a road, plot-related by the main character's scam.
But the middle link - the life of the city - itself consists, as it were, of narrowing circles gravitating towards the center: this is a graphic image of the provincial hierarchy. It is interesting that in this hierarchical pyramid the governor, embroidering on tulle, looks like a puppet figure. True life is in full swing in the civil chamber, in the “temple of Themis.” And this is natural for administrative-bureaucratic Russia. Therefore, the episode of Chichikov’s visit to the chamber becomes central, the most significant in the theme of the city.
The description of presence is the apotheosis of Gogol's irony. The author recreates the true sanctuary of the Russian empire in all its funny, ugly form, revealing all the power and at the same time the weakness of the bureaucratic machine. Gogol’s mockery is merciless: before us is a temple of bribery, lies and embezzlement - the heart of the city, its only “living nerve”.
Let us recall once again the relationship between “Dead Souls” and Dante’s “Divine Comedy”. In Dante's poem, the hero is led through the circles of Hell and Purgatory by Virgil, the great Roman poet of the pre-Christian era. He - a non-Christian - has no way only to Paradise, and in Paradise the hero is met by Beatrice - his eternal bright love, the embodiment of purity and holiness.
In the description of the Temple of Themis, the most important role is played by the comic refraction of the images of the Divine Comedy. In this supposed temple, in this citadel of depravity, the image of Hell is being revived - albeit vulgarized, comical - but truly Russian Hell. A peculiar Virgil also appears - he turns out to be a “minor demon” - a chamber official: “... one of the priests who were right there, who made sacrifices to Themis with such zeal that both sleeves burst at the elbows and the lining had long been coming out of there, for which he received his time as a collegiate registrar, he served our friends, as Virgil had once served Dante, and led them into the presence room, where there were only wide armchairs and in them, in front of the table, behind a mirror and two thick books, sat the chairman alone, like the sun. Virgil felt such reverence in that place that he did not dare to put his foot there...” Gogol’s irony is brilliant: the chairman is incomparable - the “sun” of the civil chamber, this wretched Paradise is inimitably comical, before which the collegiate registrar is seized with sacred awe. And the funniest thing is like the most tragic, the most terrible! - that the newly-minted Virgil truly honors the chairman as the sun, his office as Paradise, his guests as holy Angels...
How shallow, how desolate souls are in the modern world! How pitiful and insignificant are their ideas about the concepts fundamental to a Christian - Heaven, Hell, Soul!..
What is considered a soul is best shown in the episode of the death of the prosecutor: after all, those around him guessed that “the dead man definitely had a soul” only when he died and became “only a soulless body.” For them, the soul is a physiological concept. And this is the spiritual catastrophe of Gogol’s contemporary Russia.
In contrast to the quiet, measured life of a landowner, where time seems to have stood still, the life of the city is outwardly seething and bubbling. Nabokov comments on the scene of the governor’s ball in the following way: “When Chichikov arrives at the governor’s party, a chance mention of gentlemen in black tailcoats scurrying around the powdered ladies in the dazzling light leads to an allegedly innocent comparison of them to a swarm of flies, and in the next moment a new one is born.” life. “Black tailcoats flashed and rushed separately and in heaps here and there, like flies rush on white shining refined sugar during the hot July summer, when the old housekeeper [here she is!] chops and divides it into sparkling fragments in front of the open window; the children [here is the second generation!] are all looking, gathered around, curiously following the movements of her hard hands, raising the hammer, and the aerial squadrons of flies, lifted by the light air [one of those repetitions characteristic of Gogol’s style, from which years could not rid him work on each paragraph], they fly in boldly, like complete masters, and, taking advantage of the old woman’s blindness and the sun disturbing her eyes, they sprinkle tidbits, sometimes randomly, sometimes in thick heaps.”<…>Here the comparison with flies, parodying Homer’s branchy parallels, describes a vicious circle, and after a complex, dangerous somersault without a longe, which other acrobat writers use, Gogol manages to turn back to the original “separately and in heaps.”
It is obvious that this life is illusory, it is not activity, but empty vanity. What stirred up the city, what made everything in it move in the last chapters of the poem? Gossip about Chichikov. What does the city care about Chichikov’s scams, why did city officials and their wives take everything so to heart, and did it make the prosecutor think for the first time in his life and die from unusual stress? Gogol’s draft note to “Dead Souls” best comments and explains the entire mechanism of city life: “The idea of a city. Emptiness that has arisen to the highest degree. Idle talk. Gossip that has crossed the limits, how all this arose from idleness and took on the expression of the ridiculous in the highest degree... How the emptiness and powerless idleness of life are replaced by a dull, meaningless death. How this terrible event is happening is senseless. They don't touch. Death strikes the untouchable world. Meanwhile, the dead insensibility of life should be presented to readers even more strongly.”
The contrast between bustling external activity and internal ossification is striking. The life of the city is dead and meaningless, like all the life of this crazy modern world. The illogical features in the image of the city are taken to the limit: the story begins with them. Let us remember the dull, meaningless conversation between the men about whether the wheel will roll to Moscow or to Kazan; the comical idiocy of the signs “And here is the establishment”, “Foreigner Ivan Fedorov”... Do you think Gogol composed this? Nothing like this! In the wonderful collection of essays on the everyday life of the writer E. Ivanov, “Apt Moscow Word,” an entire chapter is devoted to the texts of signs. The following are cited: “Kebab master from young Karachay lamb with Kakhetian wine. Solomon”, “Professor of chansonnet art Andrei Zakharovich Serpoletti”. But here are completely “Gogolian”: “Hairdresser Monsieur Joris-Pankratov”, “Parisian hairdresser Pierre Musatov from London. Haircut, breeches and perms.” How can poor “Foreigner Ivan Fedorov” care about them! But E. Ivanov collected curiosities at the beginning of the 20th century - that is, more than 50 years have passed since the creation of “Dead Souls”! Both the “Parisian hairdresser from London” and “Monsieur Joris Pankratov” are the spiritual heirs of Gogol’s heroes.
In many ways, the image of the provincial town in Dead Souls is reminiscent of the image of the city in The Government Inspector. But let's pay attention! - the scale has been enlarged. Instead of a town lost in the wilderness, from where “even if you drive for three years, you won’t reach any state,” the central city is “not far from both capitals.” Instead of the small fry of the mayor, there is a governor. But life is the same - empty, meaningless, illogical - “dead life”.
The artistic space of the poem consists of two worlds, which can be conventionally designated as the “real” world and the “ideal” world. The author builds a “real” world by recreating the contemporary reality of Russian life. In this world live Plyushkin, Nozdrev, Manilov, Sobakevich, the prosecutor, the police chief and other heroes, who are original caricatures of Gogol’s contemporaries. D.S. Likhachev emphasized that “all the types created by Gogol were strictly localized in the social space of Russia. With all the universal human traits of Sobakevich or Korobochka, they are all at the same time representatives of certain groups of the Russian population of the first half of the 19th century.” According to the laws of the epic, Gogol recreates a picture of life in the poem, striving for maximum breadth of coverage. It is no coincidence that he himself admitted that he wanted to show “at least from one side, but all of Russia.” Having painted a picture of the modern world, creating caricatured masks of his contemporaries, in which the weaknesses, shortcomings and vices characteristic of the era are exaggerated, brought to the point of absurdity - and therefore at the same time disgusting and funny - Gogol achieves the desired effect: the reader saw how immoral his world is. And only then does the author reveal the mechanism of this distortion of life. The chapter “The Knight of the Penny,” placed at the end of the first volume, compositionally becomes an “insert short story.” Why don't people see how vile their lives are? How can they understand this if the only and main instruction the boy received from his father, the spiritual covenant, is expressed in two words: “save a penny”?
“The comic is hidden everywhere,” said N.V. Gogol. “Living among it, we don’t see it: but if an artist transfers it into art, onto the stage, then we will laugh at ourselves.” He embodied this principle of artistic creativity in “Dead Souls.” Having allowed readers to see how terrible and comical their lives are, the author explains why people themselves do not feel this, and at best they do not feel it acutely enough. The author’s epic abstraction from what is happening in the “real” world is due to the scale of the task facing him to “show all of Rus'”, to let the reader see for himself, without the author’s instructions, what the world around him is like.
The “ideal” world is built in strict accordance with true spiritual values, with the high ideal to which the human soul strives. The author himself sees the “real” world so comprehensively precisely because he exists in a “different coordinate system”, lives according to the laws of the “ideal” world, judges himself and life according to higher criteria - by aspiration towards the Ideal, by proximity to it.
The title of the poem contains the deepest philosophical meaning. Dead souls are nonsense, the combination of the incongruous is an oxymoron, for the soul is immortal. For the “ideal” world, the soul is immortal, for it is the embodiment of the Divine principle in man. And in the “real” world there may well be a “dead soul”, because in this world the soul is only what distinguishes a living person from a dead person. In the episode of the prosecutor’s death, those around him realized that he “had a real soul” only when he became “only a soulless body.” This world is crazy - it has forgotten about the soul, and lack of spirituality is the cause of decay, the true and only one. Only with an understanding of this reason can the revival of Rus' begin, the return of lost ideals, spirituality, and soul in its true, highest meaning.
The “ideal” world is the world of spirituality, the spiritual world of man. There is no Plyushkin and Sobakevich in it, there cannot be Nozdryov and Korobochka. There are souls in it - immortal human souls. It is ideal in every sense of the word, and therefore this world cannot be recreated epically. The spiritual world describes a different kind of literature - lyrics. That is why Gogol defines the genre of the work as lyric-epic, calling “Dead Souls” a poem.
Let us remember that the poem begins with a meaningless conversation between two men: will the wheel reach Moscow; with a description of the dusty, gray, endlessly dreary streets of the provincial city; from all sorts of manifestations of human stupidity and vulgarity. The first volume of the poem ends with the image of Chichikov’s chaise, ideally transformed in the last lyrical digression into a symbol of the eternally living soul of the Russian people - a wonderful “three-bird”. The immortality of the soul is the only thing that instills in the author faith in the obligatory revival of his heroes - and of all life, therefore, of all Rus'.
Bibliography
Monakhova O.P., Malkhazova M.V. Russian literature of the 19th century. Part 1. - M., 1994
>Essays on the work Dead Souls
Image of the city
The work of N.V. Gogol is an amazing book glorifying Rus' and its folk foundations. This is partly a satirical poem exposing reality. The main character of the poem, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, wanders through the cities of Russia with the aim of ransoming the “dead souls” of peasants. In depicting the city, the author used the technique of typification. Chichikov arrives in the ordinary provincial town of NN, which serves as a collective image. It is the same as all other cities. Thus, it is easy to reproduce a picture of the morals of the entire country.
In the first chapter, the hero, walking through the streets, notices that there are typical houses with a mezzanine, the usual signs washed out by the rain, and only the sign “Pub House” is found more often than usual. At first glance, this city seems to Chichikov to be a little more lively than others. Balls, receptions, joint dinners, trips to public places, etc. are often held here. But upon closer examination, it becomes clear that here there is still the same sleepy, frozen spirit of landowner life, and the representatives of the elite are faceless and spiritually dead. They eke out an aimless existence from day to day and are “non-smokers”.
The author pays special attention to the description of officials, the so-called arbiters of the destinies of city residents. These people are so useless and faceless that he gives them very brief characteristics. So, for example, the governor was neither fat nor thin, but kind-hearted. The prosecutor had very black thick eyebrows. The postmaster was short, but witty and philosophical. It is noteworthy that all the officials in the city of NN were poorly educated. Gogol specifically emphasizes that one read Karamzin, another Moskovskie Vedomosti, and many did not read anything at all. Not a single case was considered without bribes. All people with administrative power necessarily robbed the population, engaged in embezzlement and bribery.
Describing the life of the provincial city, the author pays special attention to the female half, that is, the wives of officials. Despite the fact that they put on luxurious dresses and all kinds of ribbons, at heart they are empty and worthless. Gogol pays tribute to their taste, noting that the ladies of the city are in no way inferior to the capital and even Paris. However, he immediately notes their imitative details like peacock feathers and unprecedented caps. By nature, the ladies of the city are active. They not only spread gossip with lightning speed, but also have a strong influence on their husbands. They make them believe incredible rumors and even turn them against each other. The author notes that all provincial residents have certain ideals associated with metropolitan life. Perhaps for this reason, St. Petersburg is mentioned in almost every chapter.
At first glance, the city described by Gogol in the poem Dead Souls is no different from ordinary cities: the same houses and buildings. It seems that the energy here is in full swing. But in fact, all this is so meaningless, because all the officials have long been dead in soul, and they have no goal in life.
Gogol emphasizes that the life of the entire city depends on officials. In this poem they are described as faceless, useless and unnecessary people.
They are all uneducated. Officials are characterized by such traits as deceit, bribery, and love of money.
In one of the episodes, Gogol describes the death of a prosecutor. It shows the emptiness inside people. No one can even understand why that man lived.
A special place in Gogol's poem is occupied by female characters, mainly the wives of officials. The author also shows them as faceless creatures who love to show off their outfits and gossip. They had widespread influence over their husbands, forcing them to believe various gossip, and also sometimes pitted them against each other.
Unfortunately, this image of the city described by Gogol is characteristic of our time and our country.
Updated: 2017-06-16
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The image of the city NN in N. V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”
N.V. Gogol’s work “Dead Souls,” according to Herzen, is “an amazing book, a bitter reproach to modern Rus', but not hopeless.” Being a poem, it was intended to glorify Rus' in its deep folk foundations. But it is still dominated by satirical accusatory pictures of the author’s contemporary reality.
As in the comedy “The Inspector General,” in “Dead Souls” Gogol uses the technique of typification. The action of the poem takes place in the provincial town of NN. which is a collective image. The author notes that “it was in no way inferior to other provincial cities.” This makes it possible to reproduce a complete picture of the morals of the entire country. The main character of the poem, Chichikov, draws attention to the typical “houses of one, two and one and a half floors, with an eternal mezzanine,” to “signs almost washed away by the rain,” to the inscription “Drinking House” that appears most often.
At first glance, it seems that the atmosphere of city life is somewhat different from the sleepy, serene and frozen spirit of landowner life. Constant balls, dinners, breakfasts, snacks and even trips to public places create an image full of energy and passion, vanity and trouble. But a closer look reveals that all this is illusory, meaningless, unnecessary, that the representatives of the top of urban society are faceless, spiritually dead, and their existence is aimless. The “calling card” of the city becomes the vulgar dandy who met Chichikov at the entrance to the city: “... I met a young man in white rosin trousers, very narrow and short, in a tailcoat with attempts at fashion, from under which a shirtfront buttoned with a Tula shirt was visible a pin with a bronze pistol.” This random character personifies the tastes of provincial society.
The life of the city depends entirely on numerous officials. The author paints an expressive portrait of administrative power in Russia. As if emphasizing the uselessness and facelessness of city officials, he gives them very brief characteristics. It is said about the governor that he “was neither fat nor thin, had Anna around his neck...; however, he was a great good-natured man and even embroidered on tulle himself.” It is known about the prosecutor that he had “very black thick eyebrows and a somewhat winking left eye.” It was noted about the postmaster that he was a “short” man, but “a wit and a philosopher.”
All officials have a low level of education. Gogol ironically calls them “more or less enlightened people,” because “some have read Karamzin, some have read Moskovskie Vedomosti, some have not even read anything at all...” Such are the provincial landowners. Both are almost related to each other. The author shows in his reflection on “thick and thin” how gradually state people, “having earned universal respect, leave the service... and become glorious landowners, glorious Russian bars, hospitable people, and live and live well.” This digression is an evil satire on robber officials and on the “hospitable” Russian bar, leading an idle existence, aimlessly smoking the sky.
Officials are a kind of arbiters of the destinies of the inhabitants of the provincial city. The solution to any, even small, issue depends on them. Not a single case was considered without bribes. Bribery, embezzlement and robbery of the population are constant and widespread phenomena. The police chief had only to blink, passing by the fish row, as “beluga, sturgeon, salmon, pressed caviar, freshly salted caviar, herrings, stellate sturgeon, cheeses, smoked tongues and balyks appeared on his table - this was all from the side of the fish row.”
“Servants of the People” are truly unanimous in their desire to live widely at the expense of the sums of “their dearly beloved Fatherland.” They are equally irresponsible in their direct responsibilities. This is especially clearly shown when Chichikov executed deeds of sale for serfs. Sobakevich proposes to invite as witnesses the prosecutor, who “is probably sitting at home, since the lawyer Zolotukha, the greatest grabber in the world, does everything for him,” and the inspector of the medical board, as well as Trukhachevsky and Belushkin. According to Sobakevich’s apt remark, “they are all burdening the earth for nothing!” In addition, the author’s remark is characteristic that the chairman, at Chichikov’s request, “could extend and shorten ... his presence, like the ancient Zeus.”
The central place in the characterization of the bureaucratic world is occupied by the episode of the death of the prosecutor. In just a few lines, Gogol managed to express the entire emptiness of the lives of these people. No one knows why the prosecutor lived and why he died, since he does not understand why he himself lives, what his purpose is.
When describing the life of the provincial city, the author pays special attention to the women's party. First of all, these are the wives of officials. They are just as impersonal as their husbands. Chichikov notices not people at the ball, but a huge number of luxurious dresses, ribbons, and feathers. The author pays tribute to the taste of the provincial ladies: “This is not a province, this is the capital, this is Paris itself!”, but at the same time he exposes their imitative essence, noticing in places “a cap never seen on earth” or “almost a peacock feather.” “But it’s impossible without this, this is the property of a provincial city: somewhere it will certainly end.” A noble feature of provincial ladies is their ability to express themselves with “extraordinary caution and decency.” Their speech is elegant and ornate. As Gogol notes, “in order to further refine the Russian language, almost half of the words were completely thrown out of the conversation.”
The life of bureaucratic wives is idle, but they themselves are active, so gossip throughout the city spreads with amazing speed and takes on a terrifying appearance. Because of the ladies' gossip, Chichikov was recognized as a millionaire. But as soon as he stopped paying attention to the female society, absorbed in the sight of the governor’s daughter, the hero was credited with the idea of stealing the object of contemplation and many other terrible crimes.
The ladies of the city have enormous influence on their official husbands and not only make them believe incredible gossip, but are also able to turn them against each other. “Duels, of course, did not occur between them, because they were all civil officials, but one tried to harm the other wherever possible...”
All Gogol's heroes dream of achieving a certain ideal of life, which for most representatives of provincial society is seen in the image of the capital, brilliant St. Petersburg. Creating a collective image of a Russian city of the 30-40s of the 19th century, the author combines the features of the province and the characteristic features of metropolitan life. Thus, mention of St. Petersburg occurs in every chapter of the poem. This image was outlined very clearly, without embellishment, in “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.” Gogol notes with amazing frankness that in this city, decorous, prim, drowning in luxury, it is absolutely impossible for a little person like Captain Kopeikin to live. The writer speaks in “The Tale...” about the cold indifference of the powers that be to the troubles of an unfortunate disabled person, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812. This is how the theme of contrasting state interests and the interests of the common man arises in the poem.
Gogol is sincerely indignant against the social injustice reigning in Russia, putting his indignation into satirical forms. In the poem he uses a “situation of delusion.” This helps him reveal certain aspects of the life of the provincial city. The author confronts all officials with one fact and reveals all the “sins” and crimes of each: arbitrariness in the service, lawlessness of the police, idle pastime and much more. All this is organically woven into the general characteristics of the city of NN. and also emphasizes his collectivity. After all, all these vices were characteristic of modern Gogol's Russia. In “Dead Souls,” the writer recreated a real picture of Russian life in the 30s and 40s of the 19th century, and this is his greatest merit.
