The road in Gogol's works. Essay “Image of the road in the poem N
The image of the road in "Dead Souls". Help) and got the best answer
Answer from Elena Ladynina[guru]
The poem “Dead Souls” begins with a description of a road carriage; The main action of the main character is travel. After all, only through the traveling hero, through his wanderings, could the global task be accomplished: “to embrace all of Rus'.” The theme of the road, the journey of the protagonist, has several functions in the poem.
First of all, this is a compositional technique that links together the chapters of the work. Secondly, the image of the road performs the function of characterizing the images of the landowners whom Chichikov visits one after another. Each of his meetings with the landowner is preceded by a description of the road and estate. For example, this is how Gogol describes the way to Manilovka: “Having traveled two miles, we came across a turn onto a country road, but already two, three, and four miles, it seems, were done, and the two-story stone house was still not visible. Then Chichikov remembered that if a friend invites you to his village fifteen miles away, it means that it is thirty miles away.” The road in the village of Plyushkina directly characterizes the landowner: “He (Chichikov) did not notice how he drove into the middle of a large village with many huts and streets. Soon, however, he was made aware of this by a considerable jolt produced by the log pavement, in front of which the city stone pavement was nothing. These logs, like piano keys, rose up and down, and the careless rider acquired either a bump on the back of his head or a blue spot on his forehead... He noticed some special disrepair in all the village buildings...”
In the seventh chapter of the poem, the author again turns to the image of the road, and here this image opens the lyrical digression of the poem: “Happy is the traveler who, after a long, boring road with its cold, slush, dirt, sleep-deprived station guards, jangling bells, repairs, squabbles, coachmen , blacksmiths and all kinds of scoundrels on the road, he finally sees a familiar roof with lights rushing towards him...” Next, Gogol compares the two paths chosen by the writers. One chooses the beaten path, on which glory, honors, and applause await him. “They call him the great world poet, soaring high above all the geniuses of the world...” But “fate has no mercy” for those writers who chose a completely different path: they dared to call out everything “that is every minute before the eyes and that the indifferent do not see.” eyes, - all the terrible, stunning mud of little things that entangle our lives, all the depth of the cold, fragmented, everyday characters with which our earthly, sometimes bitter and boring path teems... "The field of such a writer is harsh, since the indifferent crowd does not understand him, he is doomed to loneliness. Gogol believes that the work of just such a writer is noble, honest, and lofty. And he himself is ready to go hand in hand with such writers, “to look around at the whole enormous rushing life, to look at it through the laughter visible to the world and the invisible tears unknown to him.” In this lyrical digression, the theme of the road grows to a deep philosophical generalization: the choice of a field, path, vocation. The work ends with a poetic generalization - the image of a flying bird-three, which is a symbol of the entire country. The problems raised by Gogol in the poem are not a specifically posed question, and only in the concluding lines of the first volume of Dead Souls does it sound clearly and distinctly: “...Rus, where are you rushing? “And we understand that for the author, Rus' is a troika rushing along the road of life. And life is the same road, endless, unknown, with peaks and valleys, dead ends, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes just pure dirt, without beginning or end. In “Dead Souls,” the theme of the road is the main philosophical theme, and the rest of the story is just an illustration of the thesis “the road is life.” Gogol ends the poem with a generalization: he moves from the life path of an individual to the historical path of the state, revealing their amazing similarities.
Answer from 2 answers[guru]
Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: The image of the road in “Dead Souls”. Help)
Answer from Alexey Berdnikov[newbie]
“On the road! on the road!.. At once and suddenly we will plunge into life with all its silent chatter and bells...” - this is how Gogol ends one of the most heartfelt and deeply philosophical lyrical digressions in the poem “Dead Souls.” The motif of the road, path, movement appears more than once on the pages of the poem. This image is multi-layered and very symbolic.
The movement of the protagonist of the poem in space, his journey along the roads of Russia, meetings with landowners, officials, peasants and urban inhabitants form before us a broad picture of the life of Rus'.
The image of a tangled road, lying in the wilderness, leading nowhere, only circling the traveler, is a symbol of the deceptive path, the unrighteous goals of the protagonist. Next to Chichikov, sometimes invisibly, sometimes coming to the fore, there is another traveler - this is the writer himself. We read his remarks: “The hotel was... of a famous kind...”, “everyone passing by knows very well what these common rooms are like,” “the city was in no way inferior to other provincial cities,” etc. With these words, Gogol did not only emphasizes the typicality of the phenomena depicted, but also makes us understand that the invisible hero, the author, is also well acquainted with them.
However, he considers it necessary to emphasize the discrepancy between these heroes’ assessment of the surrounding reality. The poor furnishings of the hotel, receptions from city officials, and profitable deals with landowners suit Chichikov quite well, and cause undisguised irony for the author. When events and phenomena reach the peak of ugliness, the author's laughter reaches the peak of mercilessness.
The flip side of Gogol's satire is the lyrical principle, the desire to see a person as perfect, and his homeland as powerful and prosperous. Different heroes perceive the road differently. Chichikov feels pleasure from driving fast (“And what Russian doesn’t like driving fast?”), can admire a beautiful stranger (“having opened the snuff box and sniffed the tobacco,” he will say: “Nice grandmother!”). But more often he notes the “throwing force” of the pavement, enjoys the soft ride on a dirt road, or dozes off. The magnificent landscapes passing before his eyes do not give him much thought. The author, too, is not deluded by what he sees: “Rus! Rus'! I see you, from my wonderful, beautiful distance I see you: poor, scattered and uncomfortable in you... nothing will seduce or enchant the gaze.” But at the same time, for him there is “how strange, and alluring, and carrying, and wonderful in the word: road!” The road awakens thoughts about the homeland, about the writer’s purpose: “How many wonderful ideas, poetic dreams were born in you, how many wonderful impressions were felt!...”
The real road along which Chichikov travels turns into the author’s image of the road as a path in life. “As for the author, he should under no circumstances quarrel with his hero: the two of them will have to go through quite a lot of road and road hand in hand...” With this Gogol points out the symbolic unity of the two approaches to the road, their mutual complement and interconversion.
Chichikov’s road, which passed through different corners and crannies of the N province, seems to emphasize his vain and false path in life. At the same time, the author’s journey, which he makes together with Chichikov, symbolizes the harsh thorny but glorious path of the writer preaching “love with a hostile word of denial.”
The real road in “Dead Souls,” with its potholes, bumps, mud, barriers, and unrepaired bridges, grows into a symbol of “hugely rushing life,” a symbol of Russia’s historical path.
On the pages that conclude the 1st volume, instead of Chichikov’s troika, a generalized image of a troika bird appears, which is then replaced by the image of rushing, “God-inspired” Rus'. This time she is on the true path, which is why Chichikov’s filthy crew of a bird or three has been transformed - a symbol of a free Russia that has found a living soul.
“Dead Souls” is a brilliant work by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. It was on him that Gogol placed his main hopes.
The plot of the poem was suggested to Gogol by Pushkin. Alexander Sergeevich witnessed fraudulent transactions with “dead souls” during his exile in Chisinau. It was about how a clever rogue found a dizzyingly bold way of enriching himself in Russian conditions.
Gogol began work on the poem in the fall of 1835, at that time he had not yet started writing “The Inspector General.” Gogol, in a letter to Pushkin, wrote: “The plot has stretched out into a very long novel and, it seems, will be funny... In this novel I want to show at least from one side all of Rus'.” When writing “Dead Souls,” Gogol pursued the goal of showing only the dark sides of life, collecting them “in one pile.” Later, Nikolai Vasilyevich brings the characters of the landowners to the fore. These characters were created with epic completeness and absorbed phenomena of all-Russian significance. For example, “Manilovschina”, “Chichikovschina” and “Nozdrevschina”. Gogol also tried in his work to show not only bad, but also good qualities, making it clear that there is a path to spiritual rebirth.
As he writes “Dead Souls,” Nikolai Vasilyevich calls his creation not a novel, but a poem. He had an idea. Gogol wanted to create a poem similar to the Divine Comedy written by Dante. The first volume of Dead Souls is thought of as “hell”, the second volume is “purgatory”, and the third is “paradise”.
Censorship changed the title of the poem to “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls” and on May 21, 1842, the first volume of the poem was published.
The most natural way of storytelling is to show Russia through the eyes of one character, which is where the theme of the road emerges, which became the core and connecting theme in “Dead Souls.” The poem “Dead Souls” begins with a description of a road carriage; The main action of the main character is travel.
The image of the road serves as a characterization of the images of the landowners whom Chichikov visits one after another. Each of his meetings with the landowner is preceded by a description of the road and estate. For example, this is how Gogol describes the way to Manilovka: “Having traveled two miles, we came across a turn onto a country road, but already two, three, and four miles, it seems, were done, and the two-story stone house was still not visible. Then Chichikov remembered that if a friend invites you to his village fifteen miles away, it means that it is thirty miles away.” The road in the village of Plyushkina directly characterizes the landowner: “He (Chichikov) did not notice how he drove into the middle of a vast village with many huts and streets. Soon, however, he was made aware of this by a considerable jolt produced by the log pavement, in front of which the city stone pavement was nothing. These logs, like piano keys, rose up and down, and the careless traveler acquired either a bump on the back of his head, or a blue spot on his forehead... He noticed some special disrepair on all the village buildings...”
“The city was in no way inferior to other provincial cities: the yellow paint on the stone houses was very striking and the gray paint on the wooden ones was modestly dark... There were signs almost washed away by the rain with pretzels and boots, where there was a store with caps and the inscription: “Foreigner Vasily Fedorov”, where there was billiards... with the inscription: “And here is the establishment.” Most often the inscription came across: “Drinking house”
The main attraction of the city of NN is the officials, and the main attraction of its surroundings is the landowners. Both of them live off the labor of other people. These are drones. The faces of their estates are their faces, and their villages are an exact reflection of the economic aspirations of the owners.
Gogol also uses interiors to describe comprehensively. Manilov is “empty daydreaming”, inaction. It would seem that his estate was arranged quite well, even “two or three flower beds with lilac and yellow acacia bushes were scattered in English, “a gazebo with a flat green dome, wooden blue columns and the inscription: “Temple of Solitary Reflection” was visible...”. But there was still something “always missing in the house: in the living room there was beautiful furniture, covered in smart silk fabric... but there wasn’t enough for two armchairs, and the armchairs were simply upholstered in matting...”, “in another room there was no there was furniture,” “in the evening a very dandy candlestick made of dark bronze with three antique graces, with a dandy mother-of-pearl shield, was served on the table, and next to it was placed some simple copper invalid, lame, curled to one side and covered in fat...” . Instead of taking up and completing the improvement of the house, Manilov indulges in unrealistic and useless dreams about “how nice it would be if suddenly an underground passage was built from the house or a stone bridge was built across the pond, on which there would be shops on both sides, and so that merchants could sit in them and sell various small goods needed by the peasants.”
The box represents “unnecessary” hoarding. In addition to the “talking” surname, this heroine is also clearly characterized by the interior decoration of the room: “...behind every mirror there was either a letter, or an old deck of cards, or a stocking...”.
There is no order in the house of the slob Nozdryov: “In the middle of the dining room there were wooden trestles, and two men, standing on them, whitewashed the walls... the floor was all splashed with whitewash.”
And Sobakevich? Everything in his house complements the “bearish” image of Mikhail Semenovich: “...Everything was solid, clumsy to the highest degree and had some strange resemblance to the owner of the house himself; in the corner of the living room stood a pot-bellied walnut bureau on the most absurd four legs, a perfect bear. The table, armchairs, chairs - everything was of the heaviest and most restless quality - in a word, every object, every chair seemed to say: “And I, too, Sobakevich!” or: “And I also look very much like Sobakevich!” "
The extreme degree of poverty and hoarding of the owner is revealed by the description of the “situation” in the house of Plyushkin, whom the men called “patched.” The author devotes a whole page to this in order to show that Plyushkin has turned into a “hole in humanity”: “On one table there was even a broken chair and next to it a clock with a stopped pendulum, to which the spider had already attached a web... On the bureau. .. there was a lot of all sorts of things: a bunch of finely written pieces of paper, covered with a green marble press... a lemon, all dried up, no bigger than a hazelnut, a broken arm of a chair, a glass with some kind of liquid and three flies... a piece somewhere a raised rag, two feathers, stained with ink, dried up, as if in consumption...”, etc. - this is what was more valuable in the owner’s understanding. “In the corner of the room there was a heap of things piled up on the floor that were rougher and unworthy to lie on the tables... A broken piece of a wooden shovel and an old boot sole were sticking out.” Plyushkin's thriftiness and thriftiness turned into greed and unnecessary hoarding, bordering on theft and beggaring.
The interior can tell a lot about the owner, his habits and character.
Trying to show “all of Rus' from one side,” Gogol covers many areas of activity, the inner world, interiors, and the surrounding world of the inhabitants of the province. He also touches on the topic of nutrition. It is shown quite voluminously and deeply in chapter 4 of the poem.
“It is clear that the cook was guided more by some kind of inspiration and put in the first thing that came to hand: if there was pepper near him, he threw in pepper, or if he came across cabbage, he put in cabbage, stuffed milk, ham, peas, in a word, roll and go, it was It would be hot, but some kind of taste would probably come out.” This one phrase contains both a description of, so to speak, a “talking” menu, but also the author’s personal attitude to this. The decadence of landowners and officials is so ingrained in their minds and habits that it is visible in everything. The tavern was no different from the hut, with only the slight advantage of space. The dishes were in less than satisfactory condition: “she brought a plate, a napkin so starched that it stood on end like dried bark, then a knife with a yellowed bone block, thin as a penknife, a two-pronged fork and a salt shaker, which could not possibly be placed directly on the table "
From all of the above, we understand that Gogol very subtly notices the process of death of the living - a person becomes like a thing, a “dead soul.”
“Dead Souls” is rich in lyrical digressions. In one of them, located in Chapter 6, Chichikov compares his worldview with the objects around him while traveling.
“Before, long ago, in the years of my youth, in the years of my irrevocably flashed childhood, it was fun for me to drive up for the first time to an unfamiliar place: it didn’t matter whether it was a village, a poor provincial town, a village, a settlement - I discovered a lot of curious things in there is a childish curious look. Every building, everything that bore the imprint of some noticeable feature - everything stopped me and amazed me... If a district official walked past, I was already wondering where he was going... Approaching the village of some landowner, I looked curiously at a tall narrow wooden bell tower or a wide dark wooden old church...
Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and indifferently look at its vulgar appearance; It’s unpleasant to my chilled gaze, it’s not funny to me, and what would have awakened in previous years a lively movement in the face, laughter and silent speech, now slides past, and my motionless lips keep an indifferent silence. O my youth! oh my freshness!
All this suggests that he has lost interest in life, he is of little interest, his goal is profit. The surrounding nature and objects no longer arouse his special interest or curiosity. And at that time it was not just Chichikov who was like this, but many representatives of that time. This was the dominant example of the bulk of the population, with the exception of serfs.
Chichikov is an exponent of new trends in the development of Russian society; he is an entrepreneur. All the landowners described in the poem “Dead Souls” became worthy business partners of the acquirer, Pavel Ivanovich. These are Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdryov, Sobakevich, and Plyushkin. It was in this sequence that Chichikov visited them. This is not accidental, because by doing so Gogol showed representatives of this class with an increase in vices, with a great fall, degradation of the soul. However, it is necessary to build a number of worthy partners the other way around. After all, the more base, fallen, and “dead” the landowners were, the more calmly they agreed to this scam. For them it was not immoral. Therefore, Chichikov’s worthy partners look like this: Plyushkin, Sobakevich, Nozdrev, Korobochka, Manilov.
Traveling with Chichikov around Russia is a wonderful way to understand the life of Nikolaev Russia. This hero's journey helped the writer make the poem "Dead Souls", a poem - a monitor of the life of Russia for centuries and broadly depict the life of all social strata in accordance with his plan. A journey presupposes a road, and it is this that we observe throughout the entire duration of the work. The road is the theme. With its help, readers understand much more voluminously, more colorfully, and more deeply the entire situation at this stage of history. It is with her help that Gogol manages to grasp everything that is required in order to “describe all of Rus'.” Reading the poem, we imagine ourselves either as an invisible participant in this plot, or as Chichikov himself, we are immersed in this world, the social foundations of that time. Through captivity, we become aware of all the holes in society and people. A huge mistake of that time catches our eye; instead of the gradation of society and politics, we see a different picture: the degradation of the free population, the death of souls, greed, selfishness and many other shortcomings that people can have. Thus, traveling with Chichikov, we get to know not only that time with its merits, but also observe the huge flaws of the social system, which so badly crippled many human souls.
When the great Russian writer was overcome by life's adversities and painful experiences, he wanted only one thing - to leave, hide, change the situation. Which is what he did every time when another collapse of creative plans was planned. The road adventures and impressions that Nikolai Gogol received during his trips helped him to unwind, find inner harmony and get rid of the blues. Perhaps it was precisely these sentiments that were reflected by the image of the road in the poem “Dead Souls.”
How beautiful you are, long road!
This enthusiastic exclamation includes the well-known philosophical and lyrical digression in the novel about the adventures of an adventurer, a buyer of dead souls. The author addresses the road as a living creature: “How many times have I, a perishing person, grabbed hold of you, and each time you generously saved me!”
The writer used to think about his future creations on the road. It was on the way, to the sound of hooves and the ringing of bells, that his characters took shape. While driving, he suddenly began to hear their speeches and peer into the expressions of their faces. He witnessed the actions of his heroes and comprehended their inner world. Depicting the image of the road in the poem “Dead Souls,” the author pays tribute to his inspiration, uttering the following words: “How many wonderful ideas and poetic dreams were born in you!”
Chapter written on the road
But so that the road pictures and corresponding moods did not leave him and fade from memory, the writer could interrupt his journey and sit down to write an entire fragment of the work. This is how the first chapter of the poem “Dead Souls” was born. In correspondence with one of his friends, the writer told how one day, while traveling through Italian cities, he accidentally wandered into a noisy tavern. And such an irresistible desire to write gripped him that he sat down at the table and created an entire chapter of the novel. It is no coincidence that the image of the road in the poem “Dead Souls” is key.
Compositional technique
It so happened that the road became a favorite in Gogol’s work. The heroes of his works are certainly going somewhere, and something happens to them along the way. The image of the road in the poem “Dead Souls” is a compositional device characteristic of the entire work of the Russian writer.
In the novel, trips and travel became the main motives. They are the compositional core. The image of the road in “Dead Souls” declared itself in full force. It is multifaceted and carries an important semantic load. The road is both the main character and the difficult path in Russian history. This image serves as a symbol of development and all humanity. And also the image of the road in the work we are considering is the fate of the Russian people. What awaits Russia? Which path is destined for her? Gogol's contemporaries asked similar questions. The author of “Dead Souls” tried to give answers to them using his rich figurative language.
Chichikov Road
Looking in the dictionary, you will find that the word “road” is almost an absolute synonym for the word “path”. The difference lies only in subtle, barely perceptible shades. The path has a general abstract meaning. The road is more specific. In the description of Chichikov's Travels, the author uses objective meaning. The road in “Dead Souls” is a polysemantic word. But in relation to an active character, it has a specific meaning, used to indicate the distance that he overcomes and thereby approaches more and more to his goal. It should be said that Chichikov experienced pleasant moments before each trip. Such sensations are familiar to those whose usual activities are not related to roads and crossings. The author emphasizes that the hero-adventurer is inspired by the upcoming trip. He sees that the road is difficult and bumpy, but he is ready to overcome it, like other obstacles on his life's path.
Life roads
The work contains many lyrical and philosophical discussions. This is the peculiarity of Gogol’s artistic method. The theme of the road in “Dead Souls” is used by the author to convey his thoughts about man as an individual and about humanity as a whole. When discussing philosophical topics, he uses various adjectives: narrow, deaf, crooked, impassable, leading far to the side. All this is about the road that humanity once chose in search of eternal truth.
Roads of Russia
The roads in the poem “Dead Souls” are associated with the image of a three-bird. The britzka is an object detail that complements it and also performs plot functions. There are many episodes in the poem in which the action is motivated precisely by a chaise rushing along Russian roads. Thanks to her, for example, Chichikov manages to escape from Nozdryov. The chaise also creates the ring structure of the first volume. At the beginning, the men argue about the strength of her wheel; at the end, this part breaks, as a result of which the hero has to linger.
The roads along which Chichikov travels are chaotic. They can unexpectedly lead to the outback, to a hole where people live who are devoid of any moral principles. But still, these are the roads of Rus', which in itself is a long path that absorbs a person, leading him to God knows where.
The road in the plot composition of the poem is the core, the main outline. And characters, things, and events play a role in creating her image. Life goes on as long as the road goes on. And the author will tell his story along the way.
M.A. Slabous
DVGGU, Faculty of Philology, 3rd year
SYMBOLIC SPACE “ROAD”
IN THE POEM “DEAD SOULS”
Many studies have been devoted to the poem “Dead Souls”. The classic's work was examined in a wide variety of aspects. In the poem, the historical and philosophical plan of the narrative is highlighted, its symbolic ambiguity is noted; attention was focused on the special significance of lyrical digressions. Of course, it cannot be said that the theme of the road in “Dead Souls” remained outside the field of research attention. On the contrary, it is difficult to find works where this topic is not discussed. For a poem whose plot is based on a journey, the “wandering” of a character, the image of the road, of course, is key. This article sets the task of studying the symbolic plan of the image of the road in the poem “Dead Souls”.
Understanding the image of the road in “Dead Souls” has its own tradition. Even Andrei Bely (1880-1934) in his book “Gogol’s Mastery” included the image of the road in the context of his consideration and connected the motives of Chichikov’s “leaving” and “turning off” from the main road with unexpected turns in the logic of events.
In this regard, the work of M. Gus (1900-1984) “Living Russia and “Dead Souls”” is interesting, where the author traces the history of Chichikov’s journey; proves that in Gogol’s poem the reader sees not only a real traveler, but also an invisible one, a kind of lyrical hero who gives his own assessment of Chichikov’s actions.
I.P. most consistently addressed this image. Zolotussky (1930). He devoted two voluminous works to the study of the personality of N.V. Gogol and his work: “In the footsteps of Gogol” and “Prose Poetry.” In the first book devoted to the writer’s biography, the scientist notes that the theme of the road is close to the author of “Dead Souls” also because he himself traveled a lot. In another study, I. Zolotussky draws attention to the ambiguity and ambiguity of the image of the three-bird, and subtly analyzes the solar images of the wheel and the penny.
One should also mention the work of Yu.M. Lotman (1922-1993) “On Gogol’s “realism”. Yu.M. Lotman approached the study of the meaning of the image of the road in the poem from a theoretical perspective. He, following M.M. Bakhtin, calls the road a universal form of organizing space and draws a fine line between the synonyms “path” and “road”, distinguishing them.
Before moving on to a direct analysis of the symbolic image of the road used by N.V. Gogol in “Dead Souls,” let us recall the small dialogue with which the narrative opens: “Look,” one said to the other, “there’s a wheel!” What do you think, would that wheel, if it happened, get to Moscow or not?” “It will get there,” answered the other. “But I don’t think he’ll get to Kazan?” “He won’t get to Kazan,” answered another.”
The dialogue is an argument between two simple men about a wheel. Chichikov's journey begins with such a conversation. It may seem that this episode represents a very everyday picture and has nothing to do with the further narrative, except that the wheel belongs to Chichikov’s chaise. However, the dispute that precedes the further narration carries an important semantic load. In mythology, various ideas are associated with the image of the wheel, the common basis of which is the consideration of the image of the wheel as an image of cyclic rhythm, the continuity of the universe. During the reading process, the reader repeatedly encounters the motif of a cyclically closed space: the action of the poem begins in the city of N and ends here; while visiting the landowners, Chichikov has to constantly leave the main road and return again.
In addition to N.V. Gogol, some other Russian writers also resorted to the image of the wheel, among them A.N. Ostrovsky (1904-1936) can be distinguished. In the play “A Profitable Place,” he depicted fortune in the form of a wheel: “Fate is the same as fortune... as depicted in the picture... a wheel, and people on it... rises up and falls down again, rises and then humbles itself, exalts himself and again nothing... everything is so circular. Build your well-being, work, acquire property... rise in your dreams... and suddenly you’re naked!” . Chichikov’s life path from his arrival in the city of N to his exposure at the governor’s ball appears before the reader like fortune.
Despite the importance of the image of the wheel in constructing the plot of the poem, the central role belongs to the image of the road. The chronotope of the road is the main way of organizing artistic space in a work. M.M. Bakhtin (1895-1975) in his work “Epic and Novel”, along with the chronotope of the road, identifies the associated chronotope of the meeting and says that the “road” is the predominant place of chance meetings. On the road, the paths of the most diverse people intersect - representatives of all classes, conditions and ages. Here the series of human destinies and lives are uniquely combined. The “road” is the starting point and the place where events take place. On the road, the socio-historical diversity of the country is revealed and shown.
And if we turn to Slavic mythology, which is close to Gogol, it turns out that here the “road” is a ritually and sacredly significant locus. This definition reflects the multifaceted metaphorization of the path-road: “life path”, “enter a new road”, “historical path”. The connection of the road with the semantics of the path makes it a place where fate is learned, success or failure is manifested, which are realized during chance meetings with people and animals. The mythological semantics and ritual functions of the road are most manifested at the intersection of two or more roads, at forks. The road motif is very close to N.V. Gogol. Many of his works take place on the road. His first story opens from the road leading to Sorochintsy, and the last one ends on the road (“Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”); “Dead Souls” is Chichikov’s road.
The road in the poem is given in several semantic planes. First of all, the chronotope of the road helps the author to most fully reveal to the reader the nature of Chichikov’s adventure with dead souls. In addition, the lyrical aspect of considering the image of the road cannot be ignored. The author skillfully introduces lyrical digressions into the structure of the narrative, thanks to which the road comes to life and becomes a full-fledged hero of the poem.
Let's consider the image of the road as the life path of Chichikov Pavel Ivanovich. It would be advisable to compare Chichikov’s fate, revealed to the reader on the pages of the poem, with N.A. Ostrovsky’s “wheel of fortune.” Indeed, the story of Chichikov is the story of his gradual ascent and loud fall.
From the first pages of the poem, Chichikov’s arrival does not make any noise in the provincial town of N. Quietly and imperceptibly, the chaise on soft springs rolled up to the hotel gates. Here, in the city, the plot begins. Here the still semi-mysterious Chichikov makes acquaintances, and, as in the prologue, almost all the characters pass by.
The movement begins with the second chapter. Chichikov, warming his insidious plans in his heart, decides to go out of town. The first among the landowners he visited was Manilov. Chichikov's departure made much more noise in the city than his recent arrival. Britzka with thunder left the hotel. On the way, the carriage attracted the attention of the townspeople passing by: “A passing priest took off his hat, several boys in soiled shirts extended their hands, saying: “Master, give it to the little orphan.” Particularly noteworthy is the orphan’s address to our hero: “Master.” Here we see a hint of ambition, Chichikov’s cherished dream, striving to make his way from a simple gentleman, as Gogol describes him in the first chapter, from “neither this nor that” to a “master”, before whom even hats are taken off. The action develops according to the “law of the wheel.”
In parallel, Gogol describes city and suburban roads. As soon as the britzka pulled out onto the pavement, it jumped on the stones. The pavement here is compared to flour, the salvation from which the coachman Selifan, like many others, sees in the striped barrier. Having driven off the pavement, the heroes rushed along the soft ground. A sharp dissonance is caused by the description of a suburban road: “As soon as the city had gone back, they began to write, according to our custom, nonsense and game on both sides of the road: hummocks, a spruce forest, low thin bushes of young pines, charred trunks of old ones, wild heather and the like nonsense."
Thus, Chichikov from the environment of high society, balls, is immersed in a lower environment, the environment of the village, where very often he will have to see dust and dirt. The words with which the author characterizes the suburban road are significant - “nonsense and game.” The fact is that Chichikov’s adventures are not an easy journey along a bright highway; on the contrary, he will have to wander, turning from the main road into alleys.
Despite the impending success of the deal with Manilov, the path to it turned out to be quite difficult for the character. As soon as he left the city road onto the pillar, Chichikov got lost. He drives the fifteenth mile, then the sixteenth, but still does not see the village. The narrator explains this phenomenon as a typical feature of a Russian person: “if a friend invites you to his village fifteen miles away, it means that there are thirty faithful to her.” The further route to Manilovka was suggested by the men Chichikov met. The description of the road leading to the village is noteworthy: “You drive a mile, then straight to the right. There is a master's house on the mountain." A very important detail is presented here. Chichikov, leaving the main road, turns right. Turns and vicissitudes now become the effective beginning of Chichikov’s dubious wanderings. If you graphically depict Chichikov’s turn from the main road and his return to it, you will get a circle, that is, a symbolic image of a wheel, a cyclic rhythm. Repeated repetition of a certain action causes associations with the performance of a certain ritual. It was already noted earlier that it is at the intersection of the road that its mythological and sacred significance is most manifested. It can be assumed that the turn of Chichikov’s carriage to the right before visiting the landowners and making a deed of sale with them is a kind of ritual, a kind of spell for good luck.
So, having made a right turn, Chichikov goes to the village of Manilov. According to the “law of the wheel,” this deal, the first for the hero, ended more than successfully. He hurries to return to the main road to go to Sobakevich. Being in a contented mood, Chichikov does not pay any attention to the road that passes outside the window. The coachman Selifan is also busy with his thoughts. Only a strong clap of thunder made both of them wake up. Sunny moods are instantly replaced by gloomy ones.
The colors of the sky are thickened by clouds, and the dusty road is sprinkled with raindrops, making it dirty, clayey and sticky. The result is a very believable descent into darkness. Soon the rain becomes so intense that the road becomes invisible. Thus, fate, or the author’s powerful hand, forces Chichikov’s chaise to turn from the main path to a side one. The coachman Selifan, unable to remember how many turns he passed, turns right again.
The author draws a clear line between the wide and bright high road and the alley into which the heroes moved. No wonder the soil around the bend is compared to a harrowed field. The collisions of Chichikov’s journey were convincingly explained by D.S. Merezhkovsky (1865-1941) in his work “Gogol and the Devil”: the highway for Chichikov is a bright, kind and true path in his life. But, obsessed with the idea of getting rich, he is forced to turn aside and move along a different, dark path. But even when turning, Chichikov encounters trouble: “He [Selifan] began to slightly turn the chaise, turned and turned, and finally turned it completely on its side.” Chichikov’s chaise will be “smeared” with mud more than once. Let us remember the girl whom Korobochka sends along with the crew to show the guests the high road. She, placing one foot on the master’s step, “first stained it with mud, and then climbed to the top.” Secondly, the rain that fell the day before is also making itself felt. The author describes how the wheels of the chaise, gripping the dirty earth, “soon became covered with it like felt.” Don't these details play the role of a prediction, a warning of Chichikov's adventure? By focusing on such details, Gogol points out that Chichikov is achieving his very noble goal - to get rich - through completely ignoble means. This is expressed in the fact that, striving for the heights, he steps into the dirt, and this path seems to be the easiest for him. However, having once committed such an offense, he is no longer able to refuse easy “profit”, as a result of which he has to plunge into it more than once, as evidenced by the image of a wheel covered with mud like felt. In the near future, Chichikov will face an almost heroic “fight” with the local landowner Korobochka; and a little further on he will fall into the mud, but in a figurative sense, at the governor’s ball. This once again confirms that the action of the poem develops according to the “law of the wheel.”
In the poem “Dead Souls,” along with “living” heroes who appear before the reader in human form, “non-living” heroes appear - the wheel and the road - which, nevertheless, carry a very important semantic load. The wheel acts as an identifier, or a litmus test, which very quickly indicates changes in the personality of the main character, be they external or internal. Just yesterday, cheerful and dreamy, today the coachman Selifan, leaving Korobochka, “is stern all the way and at the same time very attentive.” Once at Nozdrev's, Chichikov and some other characters immediately went to inspect his possessions. N.V. Gogol describes them in the following ways: “Nozdryov led his guests through a field, which in many places consisted of hummocks. Guests had to make their way between fallow fields and harrowed fields. In many places their feet squeezed out the water underneath them.” The author also awards this road with the epithet “ugly”. It is noteworthy that the character of Nozdryov himself was similar to this bumpy and “disgusting” road.
Soon Chichikov, realizing the mistake of visiting Nozdryov, and most importantly, his initiation into his plans, rushes away from the village at all times. The entire crew, including the horses harnessed to it, turns out to be out of sorts, so few people pay attention to the road. And again, we, describing the circle, return to the incident when Chichikov, being in a dreamy state of mind, was driving from Manilov. The road does not forgive an inattentive attitude towards itself - a well-known wisdom. This is how it was conceived according to the plot of N.V. Gogol. This time, our heroes “came to their senses and woke up only when a carriage with six horses galloped towards them and almost over their heads the screams of the ladies sitting in it, abuse and threats of someone else’s coachman were heard.” Let us remind you that the motive of the meeting is an important detail of the chronotope of the road. M.M. Bakhtin, as noted above, said that the predominant place for chance meetings is the road.
The meeting with the ladies plays an important role in the further development of the plot. She prepares Chichikov for the governor's ball, where he will rotate among many representatives of high society. Some researchers, in particular D.S. Merezhkovsky, in Chichikov’s attitude towards the beautiful girl, see the main positive idea of the hero - the idea of "babies and Chichenkas", which, however, is aimed only at the complete affirmation of his own existence. However, Chichikov’s admiration reveals his next desire for a “penny”. After all, our hero, as soon as he says “Nice little grandma!”, begins to think about her position in society: “Would it be interesting to know whose she is? What, how is her father? Is he a rich landowner of respectable character or simply a well-meaning person with capital acquired in the service? After all, if, let’s say, this girl was given a dowry of two thousand thousand, she could make a very, very tasty morsel.”
The trip to Sobakevich was supposed to be Chichikov’s last visit for “dead souls,” but here he learns about Plyushkin, a local landowner whose peasants are “dying like flies.” Gogol does not go into a description of the road from Sobakevich to Plyushkin. The fact is that at this stage of the trip the reader is distracted by Chichikov’s lyrical digression and thoughts about the nickname that the men gave to Plyushkin. As a result of this, the author, trying to make up for the loss of pace, takes a number of measures to attract the reader's attention to the new cycle. Thus, the description of the road appears before us only when entering the village. Here the heroes were met with a “quite a jolt” by the pavement: “its logs, like piano keys, rose up and down, and the careless rider acquired either a bump on the back of his head, or a blue spot on his forehead, or happened to bite off the tip of his own tongue with his own teeth.” . The log pavement is a reminder of the city pavement, which became a real torment for the coachman Selifan. Note that Gogol strengthens the description of the village pavement in order to indicate the degree of devastation that reigned on Plyushkin’s estate. However, just like the first time, Chichikov’s torment promises him good luck. We see the successful completion of the transaction and the departure of the chaise to the city.
The plot of N.V. Gogol's poem is built according to the law of ring composition. Chichikov returns to the provincial town of N, where his journey began, but returns in a different status: he is famous and “rich.” This fact is another reminder that the action of the poem is built according to the “law of the wheel”, which we stipulated at the very beginning.
So, returning to the city, Chichikov makes a deed of sale. Like a talisman, Manilov accompanies him everywhere. Sobakevich is present in the chamber when the papers are signed. It is noteworthy that none of them mentions that souls are dead and papers are just fiction. Thus, the author in every possible way postpones the time of exposure, thereby giving Chichikov, as well as himself, the opportunity to carefully prepare for the meeting. The deal, meanwhile, has been successfully completed, and the main scene of action is transferred to the governor's ball. Both governor's balls (the first - acquaintance with Chichikov, universal sympathy for him, the beginning of his success; the second - in fact, farewell to him, scandal, growth of suspicion) form a symmetrical structure in the form of a frame structure. A visit to the chamber, a conversation with its chairman and the execution of a deed form a connecting link, strictly speaking, which does not have an independent compositional meaning within the fragment under consideration, but is actualized in connection with the theme of the later developed scandal associated with the exposure of Chichikov.
Nozdryov was called upon to dispel the aura of lies around the figure of Chichikov. He planted a seed of doubt in the minds of those present, which changed the attitude towards Chichikov to the diametrically opposite. Korobochka was called upon to complete the matter, coming to the city, worried whether she had gone cheap with the sale of “dead souls.” The exposed Chichikov soon leaves the ill-fated city of N: “Our hero, having sat down better on a Georgian rug, put a leather pillow behind his back, pressed two hot rolls, and the crew began to dance and sway.” It is noteworthy that N.V. Gogol completes Chichikov’s story with precisely the same gallery of images of nature with which he opens it: “Meanwhile, the britzka turned into deserted streets; Soon there were only long wooden fences, foreshadowing the end of the city. Now the pavement is over, and the barrier, and the city is behind, and there is nothing, and again on the road.” This description, along with other events, forms the ring (or frame) composition of the poem.
Summing up the results of the study of the symbolic meaning of the image of the road in N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”, it is necessary to talk about the versatility of this image. First of all, as M.M. Bakhtin noted, the chronotope of the road serves as the main way of organizing artistic space and, thereby, contributes to the movement of the plot. Along with this, we note that the image of the road within this poem is closely related to the image of the wheel, which, in turn, contributes to the formation of certain circles and cycles in the work.
Notes
Bely, A. Gogol's mastery: Research. – M.: MALP, 1996. – 351 p.
Gus, M.S. Living Russia and “Dead Souls”. – M.: Soviet writer, 1981. – 336 p.
Zolotussky, I.P. In the footsteps of Gogol. – M.: Children's literature, 1984. – 191 p.
Zolotussky, I.P. Prose poetry: articles about Gogol. – M.: Soviet writer, 1987. – 240 p.
Lotman, Yu.M. About Gogol's "realism". // Gogol in Russian criticism: Anthology / Compiled by S.G. Bocharov. – M.: Fortuna EL, 2008. - p. 630-652
Gogol, N.V. Dead Souls. // Collected works in 7 volumes. / under the general editorship of S.I. Mashinsky and M.B. Khrapchenko. – M.: Fiction, 1978. volume 5.
Ostrovsky, A.N. Plum. // Collected works in 3 volumes. – M.: Fiction, 1987. volume 1.
Bakhtin, M.M. Epic and novel. – St. Petersburg: Azbuka, 2000. – 304 p.
Julien, N. Dictionary of symbols. – Ch.: Ural L.T.D., 1999. – 498 p.
Merezhkovsky, D.S. Gogol and the devil. – M.: Scorpion, 1906. – 219 p.
Answers to exam questions on literature, grade 11, 2005.
Cheat sheet >> Literature and Russian language... Souls « dead" and "live" in poem N.V. Gogol " Dead souls". (Ticket 10) 20. Lyrical digressions in poem N.V. Gogol " Dead souls"...narratives introduced huge geographical space: Polovtsian steppe. ... melancholy (“Winter road"), mental torment...
Answers to exam questions on literature, grade 11, 2006.
Cheat sheet >> Literature and Russian languageMy decent creation." Why poem? "Dead souls" were conceived by analogy with... Russia. Not only in the airless space fantasy, but also in a certain, ... iron road". Iron road here is an image symbolic. Before us is iron road life...
A word about Igor's regiment. Basic images. The idea of patriotism
Abstract >> Literature and Russian language... "On the railway road"- not difficult to carry out... develops into symbolic, receiving... the scale of the depicted space and time... Dead souls" poem. « Dead souls" N.V. Gogol. The meaning of the name and the originality of the genre. The concept " dead
Gogol had long dreamed of writing a work “in which all of Rus' would appear.” This was supposed to be a grandiose description of the life and customs of Russia in the first third of the 19th century. The poem “Dead Souls,” written in 1842, became such a work.
Gogol’s plan was grandiose: like Dante, to depict Chichikov’s path first in “hell” - Volume I, then “in purgatory” - Volume II and “in heaven” - Volume III. But this plan was not fully realized; only volume I, in which Gogol shows the negative aspects of Russian life, reached the reader in full
The images of landowners contemporary to the author are most widely represented on the pages of the poem. Gogol shows them in order of increasing moral degradation. Provincial officials also join the gallery of landowners, who are essentially “dead souls.”
An image-symbol-road is carried through the entire poem. The road appears in its direct, real meaning, these are the country roads along which Chichikov’s chaise travels. In my opinion, the britzka is nothing other than all of Rus'; it gets bumps, dust, and dirt. The expanses of Russia are vast, and it’s not difficult to get lost here.
Chichikov’s journey is “ruled” not only by his coachman, but also by chance (for example, a trip to Korobochka). If we stick to the britzka-Rus analogy, it turns out that the Russian path is impossible without random twists of fate.
Gogol loved Russia very much and believed in it. Behind the “dead souls” the writer saw living souls. But the path of Russia's development was not clear to Gogol. Rus' does not give him an answer to the constantly repeated question: “Where are you rushing to?” Gogol was convinced that great historical achievements were ahead of Russia. The embodiment of the mighty rise of vital energy and aspiration to the future is the image of Rus', like a troika of birds rushing into the vast distance. “Aren’t you, Rus', like a brisk and unstoppable troika, rushing along? The road beneath you smokes, the bridges rattle, everything falls behind and is left behind. The contemplator, amazed by God's miracle, will stop: is this not lightning thrown from the sky? What does this terrifying movement mean? and what kind of unknown power is contained in these... horses? Eh, horses, horses, what kind of horses? Are there whirlwinds in your manes? ... The bell rings with a wonderful ringing; The air, torn to pieces, thunders and becomes the wind; “everything on earth flies past, and other peoples and states give way to it.”
The lyrical digression is built on contrasts and comparisons: rapidly flying roads, versts, wagons, forest - and a whirlwind flying troika; a simple Yaroslavl man - and a great master; “beard and mittens” - and the extraordinary art of the coachman. And the composition of the entire lyrical digression is built on a comparison: the winged troika - and Rus' flying forward into the future.
The road and path is one of the main themes of the poem. “Pushkin found that the plot of Dead Souls was good because it gave complete freedom to travel all over Russia with the heroes and bring out a wide variety of characters,” said Gogol. Because this is both the everyday path and the creative path of the author.
The road is a symbol along which Rus' flies among other cities and states. Her paths are inscrutable, the roads are crooked, deaf, narrow, impassable, leading far from the main path, but still she “rushes, all inspired by God,” towards prosperity and perfection.
The paths in the poem are something other than reflections of Chichikov’s everyday path and the author’s creative path.
In Chichikov, this path can be represented as a castle
The importance of the peasant theme in N.V. Gogol’s work is already indicated by its title. The problem of the people, their social status and future fate is one of the central ones in the poem. Gogol reveals different facets of folk character. He shows...
Explaining the concept of “Dead Souls,” Gogol wrote that the images of the poem are “in no way portraits of insignificant people; on the contrary, they contain the traits of those who consider themselves better than others.” The “main property” of Gogol’s gift is “...to outline vulgarity in such force...
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is the central character of Gogol's poem “Dead Souls”. The story about him runs through the entire work, and other characters are largely characterized precisely through their relationships with him. What role does the author assign to this character?...
N.V. Gogol's play "The Inspector General" was first staged on April 19, 1836 at the St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky Theater. Nicholas I remarked: “Well, what a play! Everyone enjoyed it, and most of all, I!” Later, in the "Author's Confession",...
