Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is a special, colorful figure in Russian literature. A lot of mystical, strange and even scary is connected with his name. What is one of the most mystical stories of the XIX century - "Wii"! In fact, Gogol has several more strange and instructive works, one of which is The Overcoat. The history of Gogol's creation of the “Overcoat” has its roots in the problems of 19th-century society.
Plot
Petty official Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin leads a very quiet, modest and inconspicuous life. He works in the office, rewrites any papers, and only in this activity finds any outlet. Colleagues laugh at him and openly scoff at him, his bosses do not notice him, he has neither relatives nor friends.
Once Bashmachkin realizes that his old overcoat has completely fallen into disrepair and an urgent need for replacement. To save up for a new coat, Akaki Akakievich takes unprecedented measures, he saves on food, candles and even walks on toes so as not to tear off his shoes. After months of hardship, he finally buys a new greatcoat. At work, everyone - maliciously, kindly - admire the old man’s acquisition and invite one of his colleagues for an evening out.
Akaki Akakievich is happy, he spent a wonderful evening at a party, but when the hero returned home late at night, he was robbed, the very new overcoat was taken from him. In desperation, Bashmachkin runs to the authorities, but in vain, goes to the reception of a "high" person, but he only yells at a petty official. Akaki Akakievich returns to his closet, where he soon dies, and residents of St. Petersburg learn about the mysterious ghost that rips off his greatcoats from wealthy citizens and shouts “Mine!”
The history of the creation of Gogol's “Overcoat” reflects an entire era with special problems, shows the unusual and distant history of our country, and at the same time touches on the eternal questions of humanity, which are still relevant today.
The theme of the "little man"
In the 19th century, the direction of realism took shape in Russian literature, encompassing all the little things and features of real life. The heroes of the works were ordinary people with their daily problems and passions.
If we talk briefly about the history of the creation of Gogol’s “Overcoat”, the theme of the “little man” in a large and alien world is especially sharply reflected here. A petty official floats in the course of life, never resents, does not experience either strong ups, or strong downfalls. The writer wanted to show that the real hero of life is not a shining knight or an intelligent and sensitive romantic character. But such an insignificant person, crushed by circumstances.
The image of Bashmachkin became the starting point for the further development of not only Russian, but also world literature. European authors of the 19th and 20th centuries tried to find ways out of the "little man" from psychological and social fetters. It was from here that the characters of Turgenev, E. Zola, Kafka or Camus were born.
The history of the creation of the "Overcoat" by N. V. Gogol
According to researchers of the work of the great Russian writer, the original idea of ​​the story was born from a joke about a petty official who wanted to buy a gun and saved for a long time for his dream. Finally, having bought the coveted gun, he, floating in the Gulf of Finland, lost it. The official returned home and soon died of worries.
The story of the creation of Gogol's “Overcoat” begins back in 1839, when the author was only making rough drafts. Some documentary evidence has been preserved, but passages testify that initially it was a comic story without special morality and deep meaning. In the next 3 years, Gogol took up the story several times, but brought it to the end only in 1841. During this time, the work almost lost all humor and became more pathetic and deep.
Criticism
The history of the creation of Gogol's “Overcoat” cannot be understood without taking into account the assessments of contemporaries, ordinary readers, and literary critics. After the collection was published, the writer's writings with this story were not paid due attention to at first. At the end of the 30s of the XIX century in Russian literature, the theme of a distressed official was very popular, and “The Overcoat” was initially attributed to similarly sentimental works.
But already in the second half of the 19th century it became clear that Gogol’s “Overcoat”, the history of the creation of the novel, became the beginning of a whole trend in art. The theme of human shredding and the quiet revolt of this insignificant creation have become relevant in Russian authoritarian society. The writers saw and believed that even such an unhappy and “small” person is a person who thinks, analyzes, and knows how to assert his rights in his own way.
B. M. Eichenbaum, “How the Overcoat Is Made
A great contribution to understanding the history of the creation of the novel “The Overcoat” of Gogol was made by B. M. Eichenbaum, one of the most famous and honored Russian critics of the 19th century. In his work “How the Overcoat Is Made,” he revealed to the reader and other authors the true meaning and purpose of this work. The researcher noted the original, fantastic manner of narration, which allows the author to express his attitude to the hero during the story. In the first chapters, he taunts the pettiness and pity of Bashmachkin, but in the last he already feels pity and sympathy for his character.
The history of the creation of Gogol's “Overcoat” cannot be studied without interruption from the social situation of those years. The author is indignant and indignant at the terrible and humiliating “Table of Ranks” system, which puts a person in a certain framework, which not everyone can get out of.
Religious interpretation
Gogol was often accused of playing too freely with Orthodox religious symbols. Someone saw his pagan images of Wii, a witch and a trait as a manifestation of spirituality, a departure from Christian traditions. Others, on the contrary, said that in such ways the author is trying to show the reader the path to salvation from evil spirits, namely Orthodox humility.
Therefore, some researchers saw the story of the creation of the novel “The Overcoat” of Gogol precisely in a certain religious internal conflict of the author. And Bashmachkin no longer appears as a collective image of a petty official, but as a person subjected to temptation. The hero invented an idol for himself - an overcoat, lived and suffered because of her. In favor of a religious interpretation is the fact that Gogol was very fanatical about God, various rites and carefully observed everything.
Place in literature
The course of realism in literature and other forms of art made a real sensation in the world. Writers, poets, artists and sculptors tried to depict life as it is, without embellishment and gloss. And in the image of Bashmachkin, we see, among other things, ridicule of the outgoing romantic hero. He had lofty goals and magnificent images, but here a person has the meaning of life - a new overcoat. This idea made the reader think deeper, seek answers to questions in real life, and not in dreams and novels.
The history of the creation of the novel “Overcoat” by N. V. Gogol is the history of the formation of Russian national thought. The author correctly saw and guessed the trend of the time. People no longer wanted to be slaves in the literal and figurative sense, riot ripened, but so far quiet and timid.
After 30 years, the theme of the already matured and bolder “little man” will be raised by Turgenev in his novels, Dostoevsky in the work “Poor People” and partly in his famous “Pentateuch”. Moreover, the image of Bashmachkin migrated to other forms of art, to the theater and cinema, and here he got a new sound.