Question: Write an essay on the comedy N.V. Gogol's ''The Inspector General'' on the topic ''Morals of officials of a county town.'' Essay on the topic: life and customs of provincial Russia (based on N. Gogol's comedy "The Inspector General")

The period of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s creativity coincided with the dark era of Nicholas I. After the suppression of the Decembrist uprising, all dissidents were brutally persecuted by the authorities. Describing reality, N.V. Gogol creates brilliant literary works full of life realities. The theme of his work is all layers of Russian society - using the example of the morals and everyday life of a small county town. Gogol wrote that in The Inspector General he finally decided to gather together all that was bad in Russian society, which he saw and laughed at everything at once. Gogol made the officials of an ordinary district town the heroes of the comedy. Thanks to a seemingly simple plot device (a minor official passing by is mistaken for an auditor), the author vividly and colorfully describes the types and characters, their habits - in general, a description of Russia in miniature - a city from which you can ride for three years, but so You can’t get to any state. “There is a tavern on the streets, uncleanliness!” Near the ancient fence, which is located near the shoemaker, “all kinds of rubbish were piled on forty carts.” Even the church, which is located at a charitable institution, for the construction of which money was allocated five years ago, began to be built, but then burned down, and it still stands. How is life for the “merchants” and “citizens”? Here some are robbed, some are flogged by an official, some are beaten due to Derzhimorda’s hard work. In prisons, prisoners are not fed, hospitals are dirty, and the sick “all get better like flies.” Having learned that the arrival of the auditor is coming, officials immediately try to restore at least some order in the city.

Their actions come down to showing off, to observing only external decency (removing the hunting arapnik that was hanging in the presence, cleaning and clearing only the street along which the arriving inspector will travel). “As for the internal order... I can’t say anything... There is no person who does not have some sins behind him. This is how God himself arranged it,” says the mayor. Gogol shows the reader that life in a particular city directly depends on the attitude of officials towards their service. Those who, by virtue of their duty, are called upon to resist violations of the law and take care of the welfare of the townspeople, are mired in bribery, drunkenness, gambling and gossip. The mayor proudly declares: “I have been living in the service for thirty years! He deceived three governors! “The judge is not far behind him: “I tell you frankly that I take bribes... With greyhound puppies. This... is a different matter.” Even the postmaster was ridiculed by Gogol.

When he is given instructions to lightly open all the letters, he naively admits: “I do this not so much out of precaution, but more out of curiosity: I love to know what’s new in the world.” All the images created by Gogol in the comedy “The Inspector General” embody typical features, characteristic of officials from Nikolaev Russia. Vulgar, two-faced, poorly educated - the most “educated” of the comedy characters is Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin. He has read as many as five or six books in his entire life, so he is considered the most “well-read” and “somewhat free-thinking.” Unscrupulousness, self-interest, various abuses of official position - these are the morals of the district officials. It is interesting that embezzlement, bribery, robbery of the population - all these terrible social vices - are shown by Gogol as everyday and even natural phenomena.

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“Life in a county town before the arrival of the auditor”

One of the first works of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was the comedy “The Inspector General,” where he brought to the stage a whole gallery of Russian types. Comedy is not slander contemporary writer life, but its reflection. The epigraph to the comedy confirms this: “There is no point in blaming the mirror if your face is crooked.”

The work shows life in the county town after receiving news of the arrival of the auditor. This news frightened the officials, as they were afraid of losing their lucrative positions. Of course, there were reasons for this. So what were they? What was life like in the city before Khlestakov’s arrival?

At first glance, life in the city is favorable and decorous, but under this mask of favorableness and hypocrisy lies all the ugliness of the obscene Russian bureaucracy.

The main reason for the main characters' concerns was the chaos that was happening everywhere: the church at the charitable institution, for which the sum was allocated five years ago, had not even begun to be built. “In these two weeks, the non-commissioned officer’s wife was flogged! The prisoners were not given provisions! There's a tavern on the streets, it's unclean! “- says the mayor himself. The Derzhimord policeman, for the sake of order, puts flashlights under everyone’s eyes – both those who are right and those who are guilty. And look at the soldiers? “This crappy garrison will only wear a uniform on top of the shirt, and nothing underneath.”

The “fathers” of the district town were bribe-takers and slackers, they were busy only with satisfying their desires and whims; they were not at all interested in the life of the city.

The judge only goes after hares and keeps dogs in public places. He allows the watchmen to breed geese with little goslings in the front hall of the county court, and the assessor smells as if he had just come out of a distillery. And the behavior of judge Ammos Fedorovich himself is reprehensible: “I tell everyone openly that I take bribes, but with what bribes? Greyhound puppies,” we hear from him.

There was no less chaos in the hospital. Not only do they not use expensive medicines here, even the doctor here doesn’t speak a word of Russian. “A simple man: if he dies, he will die anyway; if he recovers, then he will recover,” argues Artemy Filippovich.

The local postmaster does absolutely nothing. Because of this, everything is in great disrepair, parcels are delayed. Instead of working, he shamelessly prints out and reads letters: “I love to know what’s new in the world.”

But the mayor is the worst of all. A bribe is his main weapon. Before the arrival of the auditor, he not only did not care about the townspeople subordinate to his authority, he robbed merchants and spent government money on his own needs.

But why are all the officials of the city “n”, although they are afraid of the arrival of the auditor, still not fulfilling their duties? It seems to me that this happens because the people of this city believe that there is no such person who cannot be bribed, including the auditor.

Gogol wrote about his work: “I decided to collect everything bad that I knew and laugh at it at once - this is the origin of “The Inspector General.” The writer was an honest artist, he showed the true life of Russia, harsh and dramatic, and this is his merit.

The period of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s creativity coincided with the dark era of Nicholas I. After the suppression of the Decembrist uprising, all dissidents were brutally persecuted by the authorities. Describing reality, N.V. Gogol creates brilliant literary works full of life realities. The theme of his work is all layers of Russian society - using the example of the morals and everyday life of a small county town. Gogol wrote that in “The Inspector General” he finally decided to put together all the bad things in Russian society that he saw and laugh at them all at once.

Gogol made the officials of an ordinary district town the heroes of the comedy. Thanks to a seemingly simple plot device (a minor official passing by is mistaken for an auditor), the author vividly and colorfully describes the types and characters, their habits - in general, a description of Russia in miniature - a city from which you can ride for three years, but so You can’t get to any state. “There is a tavern on the streets, uncleanliness!” Near the ancient fence, which is located near the shoemaker, “all kinds of rubbish were piled on forty carts.” Even the church, which is located at a charitable institution, for the construction of which money was allocated five years ago, began to be built, but then burned down, and it still stands.

How is life for the “merchants” and “citizens”? Here some are robbed, some are flogged by an official, some are beaten due to Derzhimorda’s hard work. In prisons, prisoners are not fed, hospitals are dirty, and the sick “all get better like flies.” Having learned that the arrival of the auditor is coming, officials immediately try to restore at least some order in the city. Their actions come down to showing off, to observing only external decency (removing the hunting arapnik that was hanging in the presence, cleaning and clearing only the street along which the arriving inspector will travel). “As for the internal order... I can’t say anything... There is no person who does not have some sins behind him. This is how God himself arranged it,” says the mayor. Gogol shows the reader that life in a particular city directly depends on the attitude of officials towards their service.

Those who, by virtue of their duty, are called upon to resist violations of the law and take care of the welfare of the townspeople, are mired in bribery, drunkenness, gambling and gossip.

The mayor proudly declares: “I have been living in the service for thirty years! He deceived three governors! “The judge is not far behind him: “I tell you frankly that I take bribes... With greyhound puppies. This... is a different matter.” Even the postmaster was ridiculed by Gogol. When he is given instructions to lightly open all the letters, he naively admits: “I do this not so much out of precaution, but more out of curiosity: I love to know what’s new in the world.” All the images created by Gogol in the comedy “The Inspector General” embody typical features characteristic of officials from Nikolaev Russia. Vulgar, two-faced, poorly educated - the most “educated” of the comedy characters is Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin. He has read as many as five or six books in his entire life, so he is considered the most “well-read” and “somewhat free-thinking.”

Unscrupulousness, self-interest, various abuses of official position - these are the morals of the district officials. It is interesting that embezzlement, bribery, robbery of the population - all these terrible social vices - are shown by Gogol as everyday and even natural phenomena.

The main character of N. V. Gogol’s play “The Inspector General” is the district town of N. This collective image, which includes both the city itself and its inhabitants, their morals, customs, views on life, etc.
The work is preceded by an epigraph taken by the playwright from folklore: “There is no point in blaming the mirror if your face is crooked.” Thus, the author warns readers that everything he described is the truth, and not fiction or, especially, slander.

Gogol depicts the life of a typical city, of which there were many throughout Russia. It is no coincidence that he does not give it a specific name. The author has in mind a certain city, of which there are many examples. We learn that it is located in the very outback (“from here, even if you ride for three years, you won’t reach any state”). The “set” of officials running the city is completely typical: judge, trustee charitable institutions, superintendent of schools, postmaster. And all this, like a little king, is ruled by the mayor.
The author shows us the life of all spheres of the city, how they are managed. And we understand that everything here is absolutely typical for Russia and is relevant today.
It is important that we get a fairly complete picture of the county town. In our head we have an idea of ​​it as an architectural object. The main action of the play takes place in the mayor's house. In addition, we are transported to the tavern where the imaginary auditor stopped. From the remarks and words of the characters, we get an idea of ​​the meager furnishings in Khlestakov’s room.
In addition, from the characters’ dialogues we learn other information about the city: about the bridge, about the old fence near the shoemaker, about that and near this fence “a lot of rubbish is piled up,” about the booth where pies are sold. We also know that in the city there is a school, government offices, a post office, a hospital, and so on. But all this is in an abandoned and deplorable state, because officials do not care about this at all. They are primarily interested in their own benefit. Based on this, all city management is built.
In addition to the bureaucracy, N. is also inhabited by other classes. The auditor, giving orders, speaks about citizenship, clergy, merchants, and philistines. From the very beginning we learn that all these classes suffer oppression and insults from officials: “What did you do with the merchant Chernyaev - huh? He gave you two arshins of cloth for your uniform, and you stole the whole thing. Look! You’re not taking it according to rank!”
We get to know representatives of different classes directly. They all come with requests to the “official” Khlestakov. First, the merchants “beat him with their foreheads.” They complain about the mayor, who “inflicts such insults that it is impossible to describe.” It is important that merchants are ready to give bribes, but “everything must be in moderation.”
In addition, a locksmith and a non-commissioned officer’s wife come to Khlestakov. And they also complain about the mayor, who does whatever he wants in the city. And nothing dictates him - neither the law nor his conscience.
Thus, we understand that all city residents, regardless of their social and financial situation, has one thing in common - the brazen outrages of officials.
We are convinced of them throughout the play. The very first sin of the mayor and his charges is bribery and theft. All officials care only about their pockets, thinking little about the inhabitants of the city. Even at the very beginning of the play, we see how the sick are treated in N., how children are taught, how justice works there. Patients in the city are “dying like flies,” public places are a mess and dirty, school teachers are drunk every day, and so on. We understand that city residents are not considered people - this is just a means to live well and fill your wallet.
But the officials themselves are not happy with life in N. We see that the mayor, like his family, dreams of St. Petersburg. That's where real life! And Khlestakov, with his fictitious stories, awakens these dreams in Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, makes him hope.

The comedy "The Inspector General", written by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol in 1835 and staged for the first time in 1836, reflected the writer's contemporary reality - Russia was the first half of the 19th century century. On stage, the comedy was a great success: the events described in it were so realistic and the features of the main characters were recognizable. characters. They say that Nicholas I, after watching the play, forced his ministers to attend the performance of The Inspector General. And critics characterized the comedy as “filled with life’s truth.” At the same time, thanks to The Inspector General, Gogol had many enemies. “The author invented some kind of Russia and some kind of city in it, into which he dumped all the abominations that you only occasionally find on the surface of real Russia: he accumulated so much trickery, meanness, ignorance.” But I think that such negative assessments only confirm the genius of the literary work and testify to the depth and extreme accuracy (which not everyone likes) of the life phenomena shown.

So, before us is a provincial town. Or rather, Gogol’s contemporary Russia in miniature. What is she?

Public places where domesticated geese and goslings are “scurrying around” in the hallway underfoot. The assessor, from whom he always “gives back a little vodka.” Hospitals, along the corridors of which “there is such cabbage that you only need to take care of your nose.”

There is “tavern, uncleanliness” on the streets. Near the old fence, “all kinds of rubbish were piled on forty carts.”

The private bailiff “cannot be used in the case” because he is dead drunk. “They’ve already poured out two buckets of water, and I still haven’t sobered up.” The quarterly steals silver spoons into his boots.

What about the townspeople? Some were flogged without any guilt, some were beaten by Derzhimorda.

Such is the depressing life of a district town. And the blame for its ugliness, in my opinion, lies with county officials. After all, it was their attitude to their duties that brought the city to this state. But officials have no time to serve for the good of the state. They spend their time at endless dinners, drinking parties, card games, and spend their efforts on vulgar conversations and stupid gossip.

In the comedy "The Inspector General" there is no character who would consider the bribery thriving in the town to be a vice. On the contrary, bribery, embezzlement, and theft of residents are perceived by officials, that is, people in public service, as a completely ordinary, even routine part of life. And how could it be otherwise if the main bribe-taker is the mayor himself?! It’s not for nothing that he self-confidently declares: “I’ve been living in the service for thirty years... I’ve deceived swindlers after swindlers, cheated swindlers and swindlers such that they are ready to rob the whole world, I’ve tricked them at random.”

Maybe that’s why the mayor, having learned that the quarterly “stole” a “piece of cloth” from the merchant, considers it his duty to only lightly reproach him: “Look! You’re not taking it according to rank!” And he, apparently, treats the judge’s “open” confession about bribery quite calmly: “Well, what does it matter if you take bribes like greyhound puppies? But you don’t believe in God..."

What other features are endowed with comedy characters? The low level of their education and the insignificance of their interests are immediately noticeable.

Judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin, who has mastered five or six books in his entire life, is considered the most “well-read.” Postmaster Shpekin “death loves to find out what’s new in the world.” But he gets information about news from other people’s letters, not considering it shameful to open them. The mayor's wife and daughter are hunting only for suitors, fresh gossip and new outfits.

But the main characteristic of officials that Gogol noticed is, perhaps, respect for rank. What, other than the desire to please the higher authorities, could make the mayor, who was skilled in official intrigues (“He deceived three governors!..”), see in Khlestakov, quite yet young man, pathetic “elistratishka”, “wittle” and “dummy”,

a formidable auditor? It is the fear of the capital inspector (and, as you know, even a thief’s cap will burn) that overshadows the mayor’s mind so much that the mayor accepts the pile of fables in the speeches of the tipsy Khlestakov at face value: “It’s curious to look into my hallway when I haven’t woken up yet: the counts and the princes mill around and buzz there like bumblebees,” “I’ll be promoted to field marshal tomorrow,” and so on.

It is characteristic that at first the mayor seeks to give the capital’s auditor a bribe (“Well, thank God, he took the money. Things seem to be going well now”), and then treat him to dinner, not skimping on wine. There is no doubt that similar actions against inspectors were taken almost throughout Nikolaev Russia.