In 1835, on the advice of Pushkin, Gogol decided to write a grandiose work of art about Russia. Six years later, the book was published and had the title Dead Souls. In it in an allegorical form was depicted the whole people with their anxieties and hopes. The hero of this book is an adventurer entrepreneur, a man of a new formation. But still, the image of Russia in the poem Dead Souls has become the main one.
Unfinished romance
The book became the most significant work of Gogol. In it, he reflected all aspects of Russian life. But, according to some information, the genius novel was never completed. It was written during the period of the creative crisis. According to the writer's intentions, the sequel should not have a satirical connotation. In it, Gogol planned to depict the perfect picture of Russian life. But the writer's intentions were not destined to materialize. And the reader could not see the ideal image of Russia in the poem Dead Souls.
Images in the novel
The aim of the work was to display the vices of Russian society. And Gogol decided to create an unsightly image of Russia in the poem "Dead Souls" using images of typical representatives of that time. The dreamy idle Manilov, and the mean-spirited Korobochka, and the rowdy-reveler-idler Nozdrev, and the sullen Sobakevich became collective images. Finally, one of the common types of Russian landowners was the pathologically greedy Plyushkin. All these characters became elements without which it is impossible to imagine the full image of Russia in the poem Dead Souls.
Vestiges of the past
One has only to take a closer look at the heroes of the Gogolian poem, and it becomes clear that they are all once positive characters. The ossification in society and simple in social life contributed to the degradation of these individuals.
Immorality and ignorance led to the fact that Plyushkin’s frugality turned into avarice bordering on insanity, and Korobochka’s thriftiness turned into impenetrable stupidity. In the image of Sobakevich there are features of a hero who, under the influence of incessant accumulation, were transformed into suspicion and rudeness. Manilov is a good-natured romantic, whose carelessness, however, turned him into an empty, stupid person. And the heroic distance of Nozdrev was distorted in an atmosphere of gray ignorant existence. In the novel, he is portrayed as an unscrupulous liar, a loafer and a boor.
All of these characters represent a lifeless image of Russia in Dead Souls. But they did not become negative heroes in the work of Gogol. They are degraded individuals who were once positive. Only radical changes in the social life of Russia could return to this former quality.
Chichikov and Russia
There are no main characters in Dead Souls. Although the novel narrates the adventures of the entrepreneurial Chichikov, the center of the plot is Russian society, personified by the sad images of the landowners. The new capitalist tendencies that began to emerge were subjected to a derogatory assessment of the writer. The adventurous spirit and energy of the buyer of dead souls showed their failure on the background of Russian realities. Every now and then he went astray. The great Russian road brought him twice to the wrong places. But he did not despair and continued to move towards the intended goal. However, it was not achieved, which also has a certain symbolism.
Living Russia and the dead souls that temporarily settled in it - this is the idea of an unfinished work. The stationary and gloomy world of the landowners was contrasted by the author with the active image of Chichikov in the completed part. And already at the end of it, it becomes clear that the character traveling along the roads of Russia in search of dead souls is not her new hero. Chichikov and others like him will not be able to change this country. Who is capable of this? The answer was to be contained in subsequent volumes, which Gogol failed to create. It was in them that he intended to portray the coveted image of the homeland and people, whom he loved, despite terrible vices, above all.
Laughter through tears
Satyr Gogol is accompanied by bitter reasoning. A characteristic feature of the talent of this writer was the ability to combine comic with tragedy. In the transformation of society, an important role can be played by the exposure of the vices that prevail among its representatives, especially if done masterfully. Gogol believed in this. With unusually subtle irony, he described the usual provincial city and houses, almost lost in the fields.
He did not ignore even such seemingly trifles as signs at stations with ridiculous inscriptions, small trees called shady broad-leaved trees in the local newspaper. All these were components of the image of Russia. But the main thing in them was the road. Gogol had a special relationship with her. It was on the way that he created part of a brilliant poem.
The road disposed him to creative discoveries. She inspired the writer. In the artistic sense, the road, like no other image, complements the picture of Russian life so vividly.
Criticism
“Russia in Dead Souls” is an essay that is often written in literature lessons. To complete this creative task, you should study critical articles on the work of Nikolai Gogol.
Belinsky believed that Dead Souls required study. Even the thinking person cannot appreciate the artistic meaning the first time. The poem should be re-read. In order to write a full-fledged essay on the work of Gogol, it is worth reading Belinsky's article “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls”.