Images of peasants in dead souls table. Peasants in Gogol's poem "Dead Souls

In his famous address to the “bird-troika”, Gogol did not forget the master to whom the troika owes its existence: smart guy. " There is another hero in the poem about swindlers, parasites, owners of living and dead souls. Gogol's unnamed hero is serf slaves. In Dead Souls, Gogol made such a dithyramb to the Russian serf people, with such direct clarity he opposed it to the landowners and officials that it cannot go unnoticed.

Tragic fate enslaved people is reflected in the images of serfs. Gogol speaks of the dullness and savagery that slavery brings to man. It is in this light that we must consider the images of Uncle Mityai, the girl Pelageya, who could not distinguish between right and left, Plyushkin's Proshka and Mavra, who were beaten to the extreme. Social depression and humiliation were imprinted on Selifan and Petrushka. The latter even had a noble impulse to read books, but he was more attracted by “not what he read about, but more the reading itself, or, better to say, the process of reading itself, that now some word always comes out of the letters, which sometimes the devil knows what it means. "

The images of the people are given in two planes, forming a sharp contradiction between shadow and light. On the one hand, Gogol's humor in describing men is a fool, on the other, peasant Rus depicted with sympathy. The conversation of the peasants about the wheel of the Chichikovskaya chaise is the melancholy of "idiocy village life". The theme of "idiocy", slavery, a hopeless existence repeatedly emerges in the poem, embodied in Petrushka, in Selifan, in his patience, conversations with horses, and discussions about the merits of his master. The "idiocy of village life" emanates from the peasants' explanation about Manilovka and Zamanilovka, and from the scene where a crowd of peasants cannot budge the crews of Chichikov and the governor's daughter.

The dead peasants in the poem are contrasted with the living peasants with their poor inner world. They are endowed with fabulous, heroic features. Selling the carpenter Stepan, the landowner Sobakevich describes him as follows: “After all, what a force it was! If he had served in the guard, God knows what they would have given him, three arshins with a height ”. So Chichikov, returning after successful deals with the sellers of dead souls, seized with the most incomprehensible feelings, imagines the biographies of the slaves he bought. Here Cork Stepan, a carpenter who fell from the bell tower - a hero, would be suitable for the guard. Shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov, who learned his craft from a German, but burned out on obviously rotten raw materials and died from hard drinking. The coachman Micah created carriages of extraordinary strength and beauty. Stove-maker Milushkin could put a stove in any house. And Eremey Sorokoplekhin "brought one quitrent for five hundred rubles!" And still, and still, young, healthy, hard-working, gifted people are resurrected in the playing imagination of Chichikov. All this is strikingly different from the rest of Gogol's narration - so broadly, with such a will to generalize, the author's sympathy and love for the common people is expressed. For the first time in the poem, the most lively people stand up. In Chichikov's list, runaways are also placed next to the dead. When faced with the names and nicknames of the fugitive Chichikov, he is completely delighted: “And really, where is Fyrov now? He walks noisily and merrily on the grain pier, ordering with the merchants. Flowers, ribbons on the hat, the whole gang of burlaks is having fun ... There you will find some work, barge haulers! And together, as you used to walk and rage, you will take on the work and sweat, pulling the strap under one endless, like Russia, song ... "And here we see real images of peasants, full of life not crushed by poverty, slavery and lawlessness.

Giving such different images of serfs, Gogol makes it clear to the reader that squalor peasant life is a consequence of the way of life of society. " Dead Souls"Does not include only negative images... Along with the collective image of social evil, the image of the Russian people was created. And the people are goodie poems.

Interest in the work of Gogol continues unabated today. Probably, the reason is that Gogol was able to most fully show the character traits of a Russian person, the grandeur and beauty of Russia.

Dead Souls begins with a depiction of city life, sketches of pictures of the city, and a description of the bureaucratic society. Five chapters of the poem are devoted to the depiction of officials, five to the landlords and one to the biography of Chichikov. As a result, it is recreated the big picture Russia with a huge number actors different provisions and fortunes that Gogol snatches from the general mass, because in addition to officials and landowners, Gogol also describes other urban and rural residents - the bourgeoisie, servants, peasants. All this adds up to a complex panorama of the life of Russia, its present.

Let's see how Gogol portrays the baptism.

Gogol is by no means inclined to idealize them. Let us recall the beginning of the poem, when Chichikov drove into the city. Two men, examining the chaise, determined that one wheel was out of order and Chichikov would not go far. Gogol did not hide the fact that the peasants were standing near the tavern. Uncle Mityai and uncle Minyay, the serf Manilov, who is asking for a job, and himself going to drink, are shown as stupid in the poem. The girl Pelageya does not know how to distinguish between right and left. Proshka and Mavra are hammered and intimidated. Gogol does not blame them, but rather laughs at them good-naturedly.

Describing the coachman Selifan and the footman Petrushka, Chichikov's servants, the author shows kindness and understanding. Petrushka is seized with a passion for reading, although he is more attracted not by what he reads, but by the process of reading itself, as it is from the letters "some word always comes out, which sometimes the devil knows what it means." We do not see high spirituality and morality in Selifan and Petrushka, but they already differ from Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minay. Revealing the image of Selifan, Gogol shows the soul of the Russian peasant and tries to understand this soul. Let's remember what he says about the meaning of scratching in the back of the head among the Russian people: “What did this scratching mean? and what does it mean in general? Is it a pity that the meeting with my brother planned for the next day has not gone right ... or what a sweetheart has already started in a new place ... adversity? "

The expression of the ideal future of Russia is Russia, described in lyrical digressions. The people are also represented here. Let this people consist of "dead souls", but it has a lively and lively mind, it is a people "full of creative abilities of the soul ...". It was among such people that a "bird-three" could appear, which is easily controlled by the coachman. This is, for example, a quick man from Yaroslavl who made a wonderful carriage with one ax and a chisel. Chichikov bought him and other dead peasants. Rewriting them, he draws them in his imagination earthly life: “My priests, how many of you are crammed here! what have you, my dear ones, been doing in your lifetime? " The dead peasants in the poem are contrasted with the living peasants with their poor inner world. They are endowed with fabulous, heroic features. Selling the carpenter Stepan, the landowner Sobakevich describes him as follows: “After all, what a force it was! If he had served in the guard, God knows what they would have given him, three arshins with a height ”.

The image of the people in Gogol's poem gradually develops into the image of Russia. Here, too, one can see the opposition of real Russia to the ideal future Russia... At the beginning of the eleventh chapter, Gogol gives a description of Russia: “Rus! Russia! I see you ... "and" What a strange and alluring, and carrying, and wonderful in the word: road! " But these two lyrical digressions are torn apart by phrases: "Hold, hold, you fool!" - shouted Chichikov to Selifan. “Here I am with a broadsword! - shouted a courier galloping towards him with a mustache in an arshin. - Do not you see, devil take your soul: the official carriage! .. "

In lyrical digressions, the author refers to the "immense expanse", the "mighty space" of the Russian land. In the last chapter of the poem Chichikov's chaise, the Russian troika turns into a symbolic image of Russia, rapidly rushing into an unknown distance. Gogol, being a patriot, believes in a bright and happy future for the Motherland. Gogol's Russia in the future is a great and mighty country.

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CHICHIKOV

Genre originality poems

CHATSKY AND REPETILOV

The original title of the comedy was Woe to the Mind. In the language of Griboyedov, Pushkin, the Decembrists, "the mind is free-thinking, independence of judgment, free-thinking."

“The fate of smart people, my dear, most to spend life with fools, and what an abyss of them we have! " - wrote Griboyedov Begichev. The comedy shows the collision of "the present century" and the "past century". The comedy reflected not only the life and customs of Moscow and "the times of Ochakov and the conquest of the Crimea", but also the movement of progressive noble thought. In the guise of Chatsky, the idea of ​​an active creative mind and free human feeling is shown. Chatsky's love for freedom was formed under the same conditions as among the Decembrists. After a long absence, Chatsky returns to Moscow, arrives at Famusov's house. He finds that everything and everyone here has changed. He has also changed. Intelligent and educated, able to love, witty and eloquent, honest and active. The hero falls into " famus society", Where reverence for rank, careerism, flattery, stupidity, idle talk, and arrogance reign. Chatsky did not want to obey the laws of this society and paid for it. He was declared insane. But Chatsky - strong personality... He is “a man of action, only such a person can become a real winner, even if he is the only“ warrior in the field ”... Yes, the Famus society is afraid of Chatsky: after all, he burst into the silence of society like a whirlwind; with stormy joy, loud and uncontrollable laughter, ardent indignation, he disturbed their existence. And although now Chatsky is powerless, it is believed that his time will come. We perceive Chatsky as a hero, despite the fact that he leaves both Famusov's house and Moscow.

The complete opposite of Chatsky is Repetilov. The "soul" of a noble society, a jester, a gossip, a windbag, who has been huddled in, in order to keep up with fashion, in the circle of some pseudo-liberal chatterboxes. He appears at Famusov's when the ball ends and the guests begin to leave. Repetilov "runs in from the porch, falls as fast as he can and hurriedly recovers." The meeting with Chatsky made him happy. Repetilov understands that he is "pathetic, ridiculous, ignorant, fool." However, like many young people, he signed up for a "secret union". But when Chatsky asked what they were doing, Repetilov said: "We are making noise, brother, we are making noise." Business is not yet ripe, but around smartest people... Repetilov creates the appearance of activity, but all of it is meaningless and empty. And although he was the only one who doubted Chatsky's madness, he cowed in front of everyone, covered his ears and stepped aside. He is not a hero, he is an appearance of a hero, a parody of a hero. Repetilov wants to be in the spotlight, but his words and deeds are useless. And the proof of this is his last words: "Where to direct the path now ... Take it somewhere."

In the play, Chatsky speaks out against the “past century” and its ideas: against the permissiveness of serf-landlords, who can separate the children of peasants from their parents at their whim, exchange serfs for greyhounds; against the immorality of the Moscow nobility, which is used to evaluating people by rank and money. Moreover, Chatsky opposes this numerous camp alone. He is convinced that money and position in society cannot be the yardstick of the human person. Chatsky believes that honor and dignity should be the main values ​​in noble society... He expresses his views fearlessly, but is driven out of this environment, slandered, called a madman. The time for the Chatskikh has not yet come. But he was lonely only in Famusov's house. Outside its borders, Chatsky has like-minded people, and the victory of the "present century" will come later, but surely.

To more fully and from all sides reflect the features historical period, presented in the comedy, Griboyedov introduces Repetilov into the play "Woe from Wit". This hero appears on the stage in the last act, but he significantly expands the reader's understanding of the political situation in Russia at that time. Repetilov is a caricatured double of Chatsky, who is only able to repeat his words, but cannot grasp them. Repetilov's task is to gain weight in an aristocratic society. Chatsky's task is to expose and correct society.

CHICHIKOV

The poem "Dead Souls" occupies a special place in the work of Gogol. The writer considered this work to be the main work of his life, the spiritual testament of Pushkin, who suggested to him the basis of the plot. In the poem, the author reflected the way of life and customs of different strata of society - peasants, landowners, officials. The images in the poem, according to the author, "are not at all portraits of insignificant people, on the contrary, they contain the features of those who consider themselves better than others." Close-up shown in the poem landowners, owners of serf souls, "masters" of life. Gogol consistently, from hero to hero, reveals their characters and shows the insignificance of their existence. Starting with Manilov and ending with Plyushkin, the author intensifies his satire and exposes the underworld of landlord-bureaucratic Russia.

The protagonist of the work, Chichikov, remains a mystery to everyone up to the last chapter of the first volume: both for the officials of the city of N and for the readers. Inner world The author reveals Pavel Ivanovich in scenes of his meetings with landowners. Gogol draws attention to the fact that Chichikov is constantly changing and almost copies the demeanor of his interlocutors. Talking about the meeting between Chichikov and Korobochka, Gogol says that in Russia a person speaks differently with the owners of two hundred, three hundred, five hundred souls: "... even if you go up to a million, there will be all shades."

Chichikov perfectly studied people, in any situation he knows how to find benefits, he always says what they would like to hear from him. So, with Manilov, Chichikov is pompous, amiable and flattering. With Korobochka, he speaks without much ceremony, and his vocabulary is consonant with the style of the hostess. Communication with the arrogant liar Nozdrev is not easy, since Pavel Ivanovich does not tolerate familiar treatment, "... unless only if a person of too high a rank." However, hoping for a lucrative deal, he does not leave the estate of Nozdryov until the very end and tries to become like him: he turns to "you", adopts a boorish tone, behaves familiarly. The image of Sobakevich, personifying the solidity of landlord life, immediately prompts Pavel Ivanovich to lead the most thorough conversation about dead souls... Chichikov manages to win over human body"- Plyushkin, who has long lost contact with the outside world and has forgotten the norms of politeness. To do this, it was enough for him to play the role of a "moot", ready to save a casual acquaintance at a loss for himself from having to pay taxes for dead peasants.

It is not difficult for Chichikov to change his appearance, because it has all the qualities that form the basis of the characters of the depicted landowners. This is confirmed by episodes in the poem where Chichikov is left alone with himself and does not need to adapt to those around him. Examining town N, Pavel Ivanovich “tore off the poster nailed to the post so that when he came home he could read it thoroughly,” and after reading it, “rolled it up neatly and put it in his little chest, where he used to put everything that came across.” This is reminiscent of the habits of Plyushkin, who collected and stored all sorts of rags and toothpicks. Colorlessness and uncertainty accompanying Chichikov before last pages the first volume of the poem, they make him related to Manilov. That is why officials provincial town make ridiculous guesses, trying to establish the true identity of the hero. Lyubov Chichikova carefully and meticulously arranges everything in her little chest brings him closer to Korobochka. Nozdryov notes that Chichikov looks like Sobakevich. All this suggests that the character of the protagonist, as in a mirror, reflected the features of all landowners: Manilov's love for meaningless conversations and "noble" gestures, and Korobochka's pettiness, and Nozdryov's narcissism, and Sobakevich's rudeness, and Plyushkin's hoarding.

And at the same time, Chichikov sharply differs from the landowners shown in the first chapters of the poem. He has a different psychology than Manilov, Sobakevich, Nozdrev and other landowners. He is characterized by extraordinary energy, business acumen, purposefulness, although morally he does not rise above the owners of serf souls. Many years of bureaucratic activity left a noticeable imprint on his demeanor and speech. This is evidenced by the cordial welcome shown to him in the provincial "high society". Among officials and landowners, he new person, the purchaser who will replace the manilov, nostril, dogevichs and plushkins.

Chichikov's soul, just like the souls of landowners and officials, died. The "shining joy of life" is inaccessible to him, he is almost completely devoid of human feelings... For the sake of achieving his practical goals, he pacified his blood, which "played strong."

Gogol strove to understand the psychological nature of Chichikov as a new phenomenon, and for this, in the last chapter of the poem, he talks about his life. Chichikov's biography explains the formation of the character revealed in the poem. The hero's childhood was dull and joyless, without friends and motherly affection, with constant reproaches from his sick father, and could not but affect his further destiny... His father left him a legacy of half a copper and a covenant to study diligently, to please teachers and bosses, and, most importantly, to save a penny. Pavlusha learned his father's instructions well and directed all his energy towards achieving the cherished goal - wealth. He quickly realized that all lofty concepts only hinder the achievement of his goal, and began to punch his way himself. At first, he acted in a childishly straightforward manner - in every possible way he pleased the teacher and thanks to this he became his favorite. Growing up, he realized that each person can be found a special approach, and began to achieve more significant success. Having promised to marry the daughter of his boss, he got a job as a warrant officer. While serving at customs, he managed to convince his superiors of his incorruptibility, and later to establish contact with smugglers and make a huge fortune. All of Chichikov's brilliant victories ended in failure, but no setbacks could break his thirst for profit.

However, the author notes that in Chichikovo, in contrast to Plyushkin, “there was no attachment to money for money itself, it was not possessed by avarice and stinginess. No, they didn’t move him, - he saw life ahead in all its pleasures, so that finally later, in time, he would certainly taste all this, this is what a penny was kept for. " Gogol notes that the main character poems are the only character capable of manifesting the movements of the soul. “Apparently, the Chichikovs also turn into poets for a few minutes,” says the author, when his hero stops “as if stunned by a blow” in front of the governor's young daughter. And it was precisely this "human" movement of the soul that led to the failure of his promising venture. According to the author, sincerity, sincerity and unselfishness are the most dangerous qualities in a world where cynicism, lies and profit reign. The fact that Gogol transferred his hero to the second volume of the poem suggests that he believed in his spiritual rebirth. In the second volume of the poem, the writer planned to spiritually "cleanse" Chichikov and put him on the path of spiritual resurrection. The resurrection of the "hero of the time", according to him, was to be the beginning of the resurrection of the whole society. But, unfortunately, the second volume of Dead Souls was burned, and the third was not written, so we can only guess how Chichikov's moral revival took place.

The images of peasants in the poem by N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls"

In the poem "Dead Souls" Gogol managed to portray Russia in all its greatness, but at the same time with all its vices. Creating the work, the writer strove to comprehend the character of the Russian people, with whom he pinned hopes for a better future for Russia. There are many characters in the poem - various types of Russian landowners who idly live in their noble estates, provincial officials, bribe-takers and thieves who concentrated in their hands state power... Following Chichikov on his journey from one landlord estate to another, the reader is exposed to bleak pictures of the life of the serf peasantry.

The landowners treat the peasants as their slaves, dispose of them as things. Plyushkin's yard boy, thirteen-year-old Proshka, always hungry, who only hears from the master: "stupid as a log", "fool", "thief", "mug", "here I am with a birch broom for a taste." “Perhaps I'll give you a girl,” says Korobochka to Chichikov, “she knows the way with me, just look! Don't bring it, the merchants have already brought one to me ”. The owners of serf souls saw in the peasants only draft animals, they suppressed them living soul, deprived of opportunities for development. Over the course of many centuries of serfdom, such traits as drunkenness, insignificance and darkness were formed in the Russian people. This is evidenced by the images of stupid uncle Mityai and uncle Minay, who cannot breed horses entangled in the strings, the image of the yard girl Pelageya, who does not know where is right and where is left, a conversation between two men discussing whether the wheel will reach Moscow or Kazan. This is also evidenced by the image of the coachman Selifan, who, intoxicated, utters lengthy speeches addressed to horses. But the author does not accuse the peasants, but gently sneers and good-naturedly laughs at them.

Gogol does not idealize the peasants, but makes the reader think about the strength of the people and their darkness. Such characters cause both laughter and sadness at the same time. These are Chichikov's servants, the girl Korobochki, the peasants who meet on the road, as well as the "dead souls" bought by Chichikov, who come to life in his imagination. The author's laughter evokes the "noble motivation for enlightenment" of Chichikov's servant Petrushka, who is attracted not by the content of the books, but by the process of reading itself. According to Gogol, he didn't care what he read: the adventures of a hero in love, a primer, a prayer book, or chemistry.

When Chichikov reflects on the list of peasants he bought, a picture of the life and backbreaking work of the people, their patience and courage, is revealed to us. Rewriting the acquired “dead souls”, Chichikov draws in his imagination their earthly life: “My dears, how many of you are crammed here! what have you, my dear ones, been doing in your lifetime? " These peasants, either dead or crushed by serfdom, are hardworking and talented. The glory of the remarkable coachman Mikheev lives on in the memory of people even after his death. Even Sobakevich, with involuntary respect, says that that glorious master "should only work for the sovereign." The brick-maker Milushkin "could put a stove in any house", Maxim Telyatnikov sewed beautiful boots. Savvy and resourcefulness is emphasized in the image of Eremey Sorokoplekhin, who "traded in Moscow, brought one quitrent for five hundred rubles."

With love and admiration, the author speaks about the hardworking Russian people, about talented craftsmen, about the "smart Yaroslavl man" who gathered the Russian troika, about the "lively people", "the smart Russian mind", and with a pain in his heart talks about their fate. The shoemaker Maksim Telyatnikov, who wanted to acquire his own little house and shop, is drinking too much. The death of Grigory is absurd and senseless. You will not get there, who, out of boredom, turned into a tavern, and then straight into the ice-hole. Unforgettable is the image of Abakum Fyrov, who fell in love with a free life, sticking to the barge haulers. Bitter and humiliating is the fate of the fugitive serfs of Plyushkin, who are doomed to spend the rest of their lives on the run. “Eh, Russian people! Doesn't like to die a natural death! " - Chichikov argues. But the "dead souls" bought by him appear before the reader more alive than landowners and officials who live in conditions deadening human soul, in the world of vulgarity and injustice. Against the background of the death-watering of landowners and officials, the brisk and lively Russian mind, the people's prowess, and the wide sweep of the soul stand out especially clearly. These qualities, according to Gogol, are the basis of the national Russian character.

Gogol sees the mighty force of the people, crushed, but not killed by serfdom. It manifests itself in his ability not to lose heart under any circumstances, in festivities with songs and round dances, in which the national prowess, the scope of the Russian soul, is manifested in all its breadth. It also manifests itself in the talent of Mikheev, Stepan Probka, Milushkin, in the hard work and energy of the Russian people. “A Russian person is capable of anything and gets used to any climate. Send him even to Kamchatka, but give him only warm mittens, he will pat his hands, an ax in his hands, and he went to chop a new hut for himself, ”officials say, discussing the resettlement of Chichikov's peasants to the Kherson province.

Depicting paintings folk life, Gogol makes readers feel that the suppressed and humiliated Russian people are suppressed, but not broken. The protest of the peasantry against the oppressors is expressed both in the revolt of the peasants in the village of Vshivaya-arrogance and the village of Borovka, who wiped out the zemstvo police in the person of the assessor Drobyazhkin, and in the well-aimed Russian word. When Chichikov asked the peasant he met about Plyushkin, he rewarded this master with the surprisingly accurate word "patched." "Expressed strongly Russian people! " - exclaims Gogol, saying that there is no word in other languages, "which would be so ambitious, boldly, would burst out from under the very heart, would boil and live like a well-spoken Russian word."

Seeing the hard life of the peasants, full of poverty and hardship, Gogol could not help but notice the growing indignation of the people and understood that his patience was not unlimited. The writer fervently believed that the life of the people must change, he believed that a hardworking and talented people deserves a better life. He hoped that the future of Russia was not for the landlords and "knights of a penny", but for the great Russian people, keeping within themselves unprecedented opportunities, and that is why he ridiculed the contemporary Russia of "dead souls". It is no coincidence that the poem ends with a symbolic image of a three-bird. It contains the result of Gogol's many years of reflections on the fate of Russia, on the present and future of its people. After all, it is the people who oppose the world of officials, landowners, businessmen, like a living soul - a dead one.

Genre originality of the poem

The idea of ​​the work was extremely complex. He did not fit into the framework of genres generally accepted in the literature of that time and demanded a rethinking of views on life, on Russia, on people. It was necessary to find new ways of artistic embodiment of the idea. The usual framework of genres for the embodiment of the author's thought was narrow, therefore N.V. Gogol was looking for new forms for setting the plot and its development.

At the beginning of work on the work in the letters of N.V. Gogol often comes across the word "novel". In 1836, Gogol writes: "... the thing that I am sitting and working on now, and which I have pondered for a long time, and which I will ponder for a long time, does not look like either a story or a novel, it is long, long ..." And nevertheless, subsequently, the idea of ​​his new work N.V. Gogol decided to embody it in the genre of a poem. The writer's contemporaries were perplexed by his decision, since at that time, in the literature of the 19th century, a poem written in poetic form enjoyed great success. It focused on a strong and proud personality, which in the conditions modern society a tragic fate awaited.

Gogol's decision had more deep meaning... Conceiving to create collective image homeland, he was able to highlight the properties inherent different genres, and harmoniously combine them under one definition of "poem". In "Dead Souls" there are features of a rogue novel, and lyric poem, and a socio-psychological novel, and a story, and satirical work... At first glance, Dead Souls is more of a novel. This is evidenced by the system of brightly and in detail outlined characters. But Leo Tolstoy, having familiarized himself with the work, said: “Take Gogol's Dead Souls. What is it? Not a novel, not a story. Something completely original. "

The poem is based on the narrative of Russian life, in the center of attention is the personality of Russia, embraced from all sides. Chichikov, the hero of Dead Souls, is not an outstanding person, and it was such a person, according to Gogol, who was a hero of his time, an acquirer who managed to vulgarize everything, even the very idea of ​​evil. Chichikov's travels across Russia turned out to be the most convenient form for arranging artistic material. This form is original and interesting mainly because it is not only Chichikov who travels in the work, whose adventures are the connecting element of the plot. Together with his hero, the author travels around Russia. He meets with representatives of various social strata and, combining them into one whole, creates a rich gallery of character portraits.

Sketches of road landscapes, travel scenes, various historical, geographical and other information help Gogol to present to the reader's judgment complete picture Russian life in those years. Taking Chichikov along Russian roads, the author shows the reader a huge range of Russian life in all its manifestations: landowners, officials, peasants, estates, taverns, nature and much more. Exploring the particular, Gogol draws conclusions about the whole, paints a terrible picture of the mores of contemporary Russia and, which is especially important, examines the soul of the people.

The life of Russia at that time, the reality familiar to the writer is depicted in the poem from the "satirical side", which was new and unusual for the Russian Literature XIX century. Therefore, starting with the genre of the traditional adventure novel, N.V. Gogol, following an increasingly expanding concept, goes beyond the framework of the novel, and the traditional story, and the poem, and as a result creates a large-scale lyric epic work... The epic beginning in it is represented by the adventures of Chichikov and is connected with the plot. The lyrical beginning, the presence of which becomes more and more significant as the events unfold, is expressed in the author's lyrical digressions. In general, Dead Souls is a large-scale epic work that will amaze readers for a long time with its depth of analysis of the Russian character and a surprisingly accurate prediction of the future of Russia.

Works on literature: Peasants in Gogol's poem "Dead Souls"

What is the real world of Dead Souls? This is a world, typical representatives of which are Nozdrev, Sobakevich, police chief, prosecutor and many others. Gogol describes them with wicked irony, not sparing or sparing. He shows them funny and ridiculous, but this is laughter through tears. This is something terrible that has always been superfluous for Russia. The real world of "Dead Souls" is scary, disgusting, insane. This is a world devoid of spiritual values, a world of immorality, human shortcomings. It is clear that this world is not a place for Gogol's ideal, therefore his ideal in the first volume of Dead Souls is only in lyrical digressions and is removed from reality by a huge abyss.

Landowners, residents of the provincial city of N, are not the only inhabitants the real world... The peasants also live in it. But Gogol does not distinguish living peasants from the crowd of immoral Manilovites, Nozdrevites and prosecutors. Living peasants in reality appear before the reader as drunkards and ignoramuses. Guys arguing whether the wheel will make it to Moscow; stupid uncle Mityai and uncle Minyai; the serf Manilov, asking for a living, and himself going to get drunk - all of them do not arouse sympathy either from the readers or from the author: he describes them with the same evil irony as the landowners.

But there are still exceptions. These are the main representatives of the people in the poem - Selifan and Petrushka. The evil irony is no longer visible in their description. And although there is no high spirituality and morality in Selifan, he is often stupid, lazy, but nevertheless he differs from Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minay. Gogol often laughs at Selifan, but this kind laugh, laughter from the heart. The author's reflections on the soul are associated with the image of Selifan. common people, an attempt to understand his psychology.

In Dead Souls, the exponent of the ideal is people's Russia described in lyrical digressions. Gogol presents his ideal as if in two angles: as a generalized image of the people in lyrical digressions, as a concretization of this ideal in the images of dead peasants, "dead souls." In the final lyrical digression Gogol notes that such a "bird-three" flying across the vast expanses "could only be born among a lively people." Where Chichikov, rewriting the names of the dead peasants just bought him, draws in his imagination their earthly life, Gogol imagines how they lived, how their fate developed, how they died.

In general, such reasoning is not characteristic of Chichikov. One gets the impression that Gogol himself is arguing this. Images of the dead the peasants in the poem are ideal. Gogol endows them with such qualities as heroism and strength. Bogatyr-carpenter Stepan Probka. This is how Sobakevich said about him: “After all, what a power it was! If he had served in the guard, God knows what they would have given him, three arshins with an inch of height! " And what hardworking, skillful people are these shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov, coachman Mikheev. it is hard not to notice with what enthusiasm the author writes about these men! He takes pity on them, sympathizes with their hard life. Gogol contrasts this dead people, but with a living soul, to the living people of the poem, whose soul is dead.

In Dead Souls, Gogol shows us not only a strange reality Russian life, but at the same time, in dimensional deviations, Gogol draws to us his ideal of the future Russia and the Russian people, which is very far from modern life... It is likely that in the second, burnt volume, Gogol planned to transfer this perfect image v real life, make it a reality. After all, Gogol fervently believed that Russia would one day come out of this terrible world that it will be reborn, and this moment will surely come. But, unfortunately, Gogol was never able to find the ideal heroes of reality. This is the tragedy of his entire life, the tragedy of Russia.

"Dead Souls" is the pinnacle of Gogol's work, and at the same time his last word as an artist. Gogol worked on his poem for seventeen years (from 1835 to 1852). deepening, turned into a broad accusatory picture of serfdom RF.

Moving with Chichikov from landlord to landowner, the reader seems to sink deeper and deeper into the "stunning mud" of vulgarity, pettiness, and depravity. Negative traits gradually thickened, and the gallery of landowners, starting with the comic Manilov, consists of Plyushkin, who is not so much ridiculous as disgusting.

The main subject of the image for Gogol was the noble RF, but in the depths of the picture - in Chichikova's reflections on the list of fugitives and in the author's digressions - she spoke people's Russia, full of daring and courage, with a "sweeping" word and a "sweeping" will.

The theme of the people is one of the central themes of the poem. In addressing this topic, Gogol deviates from the traditional approach and distinguishes two aspects in its interpretation. On the one hand, it is ironic, and sometimes satirical image the life of the people, and the people of real existence. Gogol emphasizes the stupidity, ignorance, laziness, drunkenness characteristic of the Russian peasant. On the other hand, this image deep foundations Russian character. Gogol notes the inexhaustible diligence of the Russian peasant, intelligence and ingenuity, heroic strength. The Russian man is a jack of all trades. And it is no coincidence that Gogol draws attention to the rebellious qualities of the serfs - this proves that an irrepressible striving for freedom lives in Russian people. It is also noteworthy that the dead peasants appear before us as living people, because after death their deeds remained.

The images of serfs occupy a significant place in Dead Souls. Some of them run through the entire work, the author mentions others only in connection with individual events and scenes. The footman Petrushka and the coachman Selifan, uncle Mityai and uncle Minyai, Proshka and the girl Pelageya, who "does not know where is right or where left," are humorously depicted. Narrow spiritual world these downtrodden people. Their actions cause bitter laughter. A drunken Selifan makes lengthy speeches to the horses. Petrushka, reading books, monitors how some words are obtained from individual letters, completely not interested in the content of what he read: "If chemistry had been turned on him, he would not have given up on it." Stupid uncle Mityai and uncle Minyai cannot breed horses entangled in strings.

Gogol reveals the great drama of an enslaved people. feudal oppression, unlimited power over the peasants of boxes and buns cripples the living soul of the people, dooming them to ignorance and poverty.

However, Gogol also shows the bright sides of the life of the people. serfs are hardworking, any work is argued in their hands. The carriages of the coachman Mikheev were famous throughout the district. The carpenter Stepan Probka "walked all the provinces with an ax in his belt," and what a hero he was - "three arshins with a height of one inch!" To serve such a giant and strongman only in the guard. The brick-maker Milushkin could put a stove in any house, and the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov sewed such sturdy boots, even wearing them all his life.

Despite serfdom, the peasants did not become slaves by nature. They flee from the manor houses to the outskirts RF where you live more freely. Abakum Fogrov moved to the Volga, works and walks with a gang of barge haulers. "A Russian man is capable of anything and gets used to any climate. Send him even to Kamchatka, but give him only warm mittens, he will pat his hands, an ax in his hands, and went to chop his new hut." True to the truth of life, Gogol did not ignore popular riots. The peasants of the villages of Vshivaya arrogance and Borovki "demolished the zemstvo council in the person of an assessor, some Drobyazhkin".

Deep faith in the Russian people resounds in the lyrical conclusion of the poem - in a poetic comparison RF with a "brisk, unattainable troika" rushing uncontrollably into the distance, in front of which, "sideways," other peoples and states shun.