Analysis of N. Gogol's story "Overcoat: the image of a" little man "
The theme of the story "The Overcoat" by Gogol is the story of the fate of the "little man", that is, a person insignificant in society. The protagonist of the story "The Overcoat", the official Bashmachkin, looks like a miserable person, because he has neither power, nor money, nor fame. But " small man"In reality, it is not a nonentity - it is the same person as everyone else. He is able to feel, suffer, and his feelings, troubles and joys are no less important than those of some brave hero, intellectual or aristocrat.
The hero of Gogol's story "The Overcoat" is a lower-ranking official - Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin. He lives in Petersburg, in poverty. After all, his meager rank and salary do not allow him anything in life. He does not have a family, because he simply cannot support it, he does not know fun and entertainment. However, Bashmachkin is satisfied with such a simple, modest existence, limited from all sides, because he does not know another.
The characterization of Akaky Akakievich in "The Overcoat" would be incomplete if we did not note such features of him as slow-wittedness and timidity. He was not accustomed to think and reason about anything. Therefore, he is incapable of any other service than copying papers.
The role of the overcoat in Gogol's story is symbolic, because the acquisition of a new overcoat was for Bashmachkin like a stepping stone to a new life. The overcoat is a symbol of the joy of life and human dignity.
When the purchase of a new overcoat has become a necessary goal for the hero, for the sake of it he subjects himself to austerity: he saves on washing clothes, does not allow himself tea, does not light candles, even walks on tiptoe so that his boots do not wear out. And when the new overcoat is ready, the hero seems to wake up and begin to feel self-respect. When it is stolen, it causes such a protest in poor Akaky Akakievich, such a shock, as if the world is turning upside down. For the first time, the submissive and intimidated Akaki Akakievich allows himself to rebel.
The "little man" with his grief turned out to be useless to anyone. Powerful and rich personalities do not want to help him when he knocks on their doorsteps, asking to find thieves. When Bashmachkin dies, no one notices his death, and another petty official takes his place.
The problem of the story "The Overcoat" by Gogol lies in the formulation of the problem of human dignity of the "little man". The hero of "The Overcoat", as best he can, enters the struggle and tries to defend his dignity and the right to a better life.
The idea of Gogol's "Overcoat" is that the writer showed the injustice and cruelty of society in relation to "small", but honest and conscientious people. He recalls that all people are worthy of respect, regardless of their social status.
Target:
Reveal the image of the "little man".
Tasks:
Conduct an ideological and thematic analysis of the work; to develop the skills of determining the character of the protagonist of the story "The Overcoat".
Create conditions for independent creative activity students; to promote the formation of analytical thinking and skills of comparison, generalization; to instill interest in the search work.
· Education of kindness, mercy, compassion for people; learn to understand the author's position.
Lesson type:
developing on the technology of critical thinking
Technology:
critical thinking technology
Equipment
: computer, screen, projector.
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Literature lesson on the topic “The image of a little man in the story of N.V. Gogol "Overcoat"»
Kuznetsova Galina Maksimovna, teacher of Russian language and literature, MBOU "Ust-Tsilemskaya secondary school"
Target:
Reveal the image of the "little man".
Tasks:
- Conduct an ideological and thematic analysis of the work;to develop the skills of determining the character of the protagonist of the story "The Overcoat".
- Create conditions for independent creative activity of students; to promote the formation of analytical thinking and skills of comparison, generalization; to instill interest in the search work.
- Education of kindness, mercy, compassion for people; learn to understand the author's position.
Lesson type:
developing on the technology of critical thinking
Technology:
critical thinking technology
Equipment
: computer, screen, projector.
During the classes
1. Lesson motivation.
What is the character in this passage?
“... I looked at his gray hair, at the deep wrinkles of his long-unshaven face, at his hunched back - and could not be surprised: how three or four years could turn a peppy man into a frail old man.”
Reminds me of the life story of Samson Vyrin. (Ananina Nastya)
the poor official of the fourteenth grade Samson Vyrin has no rights in life, and even the only meaning of his existence - his beloved daughter - is taken away from him by someone who belongs to the powerful of this world.
- 2. Actualization of knowledge.
What is the name of the type literary hero to which we refer this character?
Small man-
Guys, what associations do you have when you hear the phrase "little man"?
Let's turn to the card.
Choose the words that fit the description of "little man"
Katya Bychkova will explain to us the lexical meaning of this phrase.
("Little Man" in literature is a designation for rather heterogeneous heroes, united by the fact that they occupy one of the lowest places in the social hierarchy, and that this circumstance determines their psychology and social behavior: humiliation, combined with a sense of injustice, wounded by pride. "Little Man" is a person crushed by poverty and feeling his insignificance, not gifted with outstanding abilities, not distinguished by strength of character, but at the same time kind, not doing harm to anyone, harmless.)
All of you have read the story of N.V. Gogol's "Overcoat"
What feelings did you experience while reading this story?
What questions did you have while reading?
3. Work on the topic of the lesson.
State the topic of our lesson.
The theme of the "little man" in the story of N.V. Gogol's "Overcoat"
What will be the purpose of the lesson?
- Show the tragedy of the fate of the "little man" on the example of the image of Bashmachkin;
- identify the author's position and his own to this problem.
- Who is Bashmachnikov Akaki Akakievich?(Shishelov Sergey, FilippovS. (There is an official, but his face is not there, there is no unique human face, just as there is no personality.)
(Illustrations) (throughout text)
Why, when describing the hero, the author uses indefinite pronouns and adjectives with a suffix ovate?
They emphasize the feeling of fuzziness, vagueness, the absence of something outstanding, memorable.
- Why is the hero named Akaki?Do you agree that fate was determined when he was named Akaky Akakievich? (a word to Tanya Bulygina's group .. (Fate was sealed)
- How did colleagues treat Akaky Akakievich?
- The group (Klava Durkina) was preparing an answer to this question ... As if everything in his fate was predetermined. The name and surname emphasize the insignificance of the hero. Bashmachnikov, from the word "shoe", something insignificant, unremarkable, completely devoid of poetry.
- Do you sympathize with the hero? Why? (to everyone)
- He is somehow downtrodden, oppressed, miserable, some kind of faceless
- Indecisive, wordless, “downtrodden” official, N.V. Gogol wanted to say: you can’t live like that, you have to resist, defend yourself.
- 4. Physical minute.
- 5. Continued work on the topic of the lesson.
- We listen expressive reading excerpt prepared by Kalganova Alesya..
- Page 361-362.(124-
- What character traits of the hero can be called while listening to the excerpt? (all)
- He is a lonely man, his world is the rewriting of papers, the letters were his interlocutors, friends. Closed, taciturn, uncommunicative. Some kind of machine, not a person. Kind of pathetic.. In the world of letters, Akaky Akakievich finds happiness, pleasure, harmony, here he is completely satisfied with his lot, for he serves God: “Having written to his heart’s content, he went to bed smiling at the thought of tomorrow: will God send something to rewrite tomorrow?” It is terrible that a person's life is limited to rewriting papers.
- We carefully listen to the following passage, it is read by Tanya Bulygina ...
- Page 362
- How does this passage characterize Bashmachkin?
- Like a slovenly, poor man,
- Hood - loose-fitting women's home clothes.
- Let's listen to a fragment of "Dinner" page 363
- How did you see Akaki Akakievich?
He ate hastily, not noticing the taste, with flies and co ... He seemed to have atrophied senses. He doesn't know how to be happy. To experience pleasure, at least from food.
Listen to Akaki Akakievich's speech.
Page 129. How does the speech characterize the character?
He is an insecure person, some pathetic.
Do you agree that Akaki Akakievich is a small person?
Why is the story about a man called "The Overcoat"?The thing has replaced the person.
Not a person is important in society, but an overcoat. - In St. Petersburg, surrounded by Bashmachkin, a person was valued not for internal qualities, but for external details - for what kind of overcoat he was wearing.
As soon as Bashmachkin came in a new overcoat, everyone noticed him. The uniform replaced the personality, the rank overshadowed the person.
What associations does the word overcoat evoke in you?official, rank position, military, power).
Why did the hero decide to sew a new overcoat? What sacrifices does he make for this? The group of Masha Pozdeeva pondered over these questions….
- An overcoat for Akaky Akakievich is not a luxury, but a hard-won necessity. The acquisition of an overcoat colors his life with new colors. This, it would seem, humiliates him, but what he goes to for this, changes the entire familiar “coordinate system” in our minds. From every “ruble he spent, he put aside a penny in a small box”, besides this savings, he stopped drinking tea and lighting candles in the evenings, and, walking along the pavement, he stepped on his tiptoes, “so as not to abrade the soles” ... When he came home, he immediately took off his underwear so that it would not wear out, and sat in a shabby dressing gown. We can say that he LIVED a dream of a new overcoat.
Has the hero changed by acquiring the overcoat?(“He dined merrily and after dinner he didn’t write anything, no papers, and just a little sybaritized on the bed.” Recognized by officials as an equal among equals and even invited to the best part of the city.)
Fill in the table, what is positive and what is negative brought the overcoat to the hero. We work in pairs. So what did you get?
What caused the hero's death?After all, the loss of the overcoat, no matter how terrible in itself, should not have brought poor Akaky Akakievich to the grave. After all, he did not even catch a cold that evening when he returned home after the attack of the robbers undressed, without an overcoat.
The group (Alesya Kalganova.)
Did this tragedy happen to Bashmachkin alone?
Remember what is depicted on Petrovich's snuffbox?
Some general with a sealed paper face. Maybe it's a coincidence? But try to find a portrait of a "significant person" - you will not find it. The "significant person" has no face. The uniform, the thing replaced the personality, the rank replaced the person.
The uniform, the thing replaced the personality, the rank replaced the person.
Once in a lifetime, Bashmachkin felt his importance. No, not because of their dignity, but because of the overcoat. For others, the desire for such “significance” was natural, for him it was not. And the payoff is not long in coming. Life puts everything in its place at a catastrophic speed: an evening in that part of the city that is considered the “best”, the reception room of a significant person, illness and death. And the last attire of Bashmachkin corresponds to his position on the state ladder: the doctor advises the hostess to take not an oak, but a pine coffin - cheaper. Cold Petersburg met and escorted Bashmachkin through his clothes.
And the text plays again. The text is read by Tanya Kislyakova
Petersburg was left without Akaky Akakievich, as if he had never been there. A creature disappeared and disappeared, protected by no one, dear to no one, not interesting to anyone, not even attracting the attention and nature of an observer who does not miss putting an ordinary fly on a pin and examining it through a microscope. A creature who dutifully endured clerical ridicule and without any emergency descended into the grave, but for whom, even at the very end of his life, a bright guest flashed in the form of an overcoat, reviving a poor life for a moment, and on whom misfortune then fell just as unbearably as it fell on the kings and rulers of the world ... ".
But Gogol's story does not end with Akaki's death. Akakievich . He introduces a fantastic element into a realistic story.
What is the meaning of such an ending and why does the author use the grotesque - a combination of the real and the fantastic?
The whole class worked on this question.
- Bashmachkin dies not because of the theft of his overcoat, he dies because of the rudeness, indifference and cynicism of the world around him. The ghost of Akaky Akakievich acts as an avenger for his unlucky life. This is a rebellion, although it can be called a "kneeling rebellion." The author seeks to evoke in the reader a feeling of protest against the absurd conditions of life and a feeling of pain for the humiliation of human dignity. Gogol does not want to give a consoling denouement, he does not want to appease the reader's conscience.
So, the hero of Gogol, although after death, takes revenge for his offense. We see that the evolution of the “image of the “little man” is taking place: the triumph of justice is taking place. Gogol comes to the defense of a poor, humiliated person, calls people to generosity.The fantastic finale of the work is a utopian realization of the idea of justice. Instead of the submissive Akaky Akakievich, a formidable avenger appears, instead of a formidable "significant person" - a face that has become kinder and softened.
But in fact, this ending is disappointing: there is a feeling that the world has been abandoned by God. The immortal soul is seized with a thirst for vengeance and is forced to create this vengeance itself.
- If a writer had punished a Significant Person, a boring moralizing tale would have come out; would force to be reborn - a lie would come out; and he perfectly chose the fantastic form of the moment when vulgarity for a moment saw the light ...
All groups considered this question.
To blame a society that morally cripples a person. A person develops fear of the mighty of this world, some kind of inner trembling. Gogol wanted to make the reader think about the fate of the "little man". Treat his troubles, hardships and suffering with sympathy.
- Gogol appeals to a living soul, because most often there are pork snouts around, as in a nightmare of the hero of the comedy "The Government Inspector". Scary from dead souls.
- Words from Chekhov's story "Gooseberry":
“It is necessary that behind the door of each happy person someone stood with a gavel and reminded us of the unfortunate and destitute, of the vulgarity in our lives, of the “little people”.
So, what does the work of N. Gogol teach us? What does the author encourage readers to do? The bureaucratic system destroys everything good and human in a person. To take pity on the defenseless, humiliated, to stop an unfair word, to resist the rudeness and cruelty of the powerful of this world - this is the strength and wisdom of great Russian literature. This is what the story "The Overcoat" teaches us. This is what the words of the wonderful writer A.P. Chekhov are about: “... it is necessary that someone with a hammer should stand behind the door of every happy, happy person and constantly remind by knocking that there are unfortunate people”And Gogol cries out: there is nothing more valuable than a person!
6. Reflection.
What will you take home with you from class today?
What have you learned?
What were you thinking about?
Compose a syncwine on the topic of the lesson.
Human
small, unfortunate
suffers, endures, suffers
A person should not be small!
Personality
Homework to write an essay-reasoning on the topic "Does a person have to be "small"?"
Building a cluster.
What does Gogol mourn and to whom does Gogol sympathize in his story?
This is my commandment
yes love each other
for I have loved you.
Selfishness and composure - these are, perhaps, the characteristic features modern man. Self-care and criminal indifference to one's loved ones, one's compatriots is an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of Russia.
Such a society is historically doomed; many examples of this can be seen in the facts of the death of highly developed civilizations, whose representatives began to care only about the complete satisfaction of their needs. Today, more than ever, we need to wake up from that spiritual hibernation into which we plunged, becoming organized consumers and users, to realize the level of that moral degradation that paralyzed society, and try to Resurrect the whole world!
The keys to the Revival of Russia are in the immortal soul of each of us, in its still not completely lost ability to believe, hope, sympathize, love! Today we need to learn this again, learn from the basics... Learn in the bosom of the Church, from the holy fathers of Orthodoxy, from our Russian classics.
Creative heritage of N.V. Gogol, a Russian Christian writer, should be truly in demand, read, thought out. Today, his story "The Overcoat" should become our reference book and teach us to sympathize and love our neighbor. Only brotherly love for each other will help us to survive and grow stronger as a nation...
1. The theme of compassion and love in the story "The Overcoat"
1.1. Biography of the last story by N.V. Gogol.
"Overcoat" saw the light in 1842. The first thought of this "wonderful story" arose in the thirties. She was served by one story, similar to an anecdote, heard by Gogol at one of the St. Petersburg parties.
It was about one official who dreamed all his life of having a hunting rifle and saved up for it from his meager income. Having finally bought what he wanted and went on his first hunt in the Gulf of Finland, he lost his treasure: the gun was pulled into the water by thick reeds ... Returning home, he fell ill and did not get up: he was tormented by a fever. Only when the comrades, having collected money, bought him a new gun, he was brought back to life. “Everyone laughed at the anecdote, which was based on a true incident, except for Gogol, who listened to him thoughtfully and lowered his head,” writes one of Gogol’s biographers P.V. Annenkov.
Gogol returned to this story a few years later, while abroad, in Italy, having survived the Vienna crisis of 1840, BEING on the verge of life and death. It was then that he turned to God with fervent prayer, asking him to extend his life for at least two years in order to complete his work.
In The Overcoat of 1842 we see a new Gogol, previously unknown to us. The author of "Mirgorod" and "Inspector", where he acted as a merciless accuser human vices, in his new story deeply sympathizes with the main character. In this work of the great Russian writer, sorrow lives, sadness about the moral imperfection of man.
F. M. Dostoevsky felt in her the cry of the grieving soul of his brilliant teacher: “He (Gogol) made a terrible tragedy out of a joke about a man’s overcoat missing.”
“The laughter of Gogol in the 1930s bowed to pity,” writes researcher I.P. Zolotussky, - this last story of Gogol lies halfway from the first volume " dead souls"to the second and is a junction postal station on the road of Russian literature."
1.2. The image of Bashmachkin and the motif of vulgarity in the story "The Overcoat".
What does Gogol mourn and to whom does Gogol sympathize in his story?
Official Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin serves in one of the departments of St. Petersburg. The author, drawing his portrait, emphasizes his unremarkable appearance: "... short in stature, somewhat pockmarked, somewhat reddish, somewhat even blind in appearance ...". And this man of the most modest appearance occupies the most modest position: he rewrites business papers. But how he rewrites! “It's not enough to say, he serves zealously - no, he serves with love. So in this rewriting he sees some kind of diverse and pleasant world, ”writes Gogol. We see that for Akaky Akakievich this activity was a source of pleasure, joy, consolation, even, one might say, inspiration; it “is almost a “religious” service for him and delivers almost spiritual consolation,” says I. A. Vinogradov in the article “I am your brother ...”.
Noteworthy are the details of the hero’s portrait at the moment of the “creative act”: “... some letters he had favorites, to which, if he got there, he was not himself: he laughed, and winked, and helped with his lips, so that in his face, it seemed, one could read any letter that his pen drew”
All life, all its meaning, all the forces of the hero’s soul are concentrated on his work as a copyist - copyist: “Akaky Akakievich, if he looked at anything, he saw his clean, even handwriting lines drawn on everything.”
“This almost religious concentration of Bashmachkin on his insignificant business was seen by Gogol not just as a comic character trait, but was comprehended much more seriously - as a perversion of the ability inherent in every person to self-deepening, to creativity,” writes I. A. Vinogradov.
Gogol in Petersburg Tales is interested in the problem of talent, its flourishing or death in the human soul. In The Overcoat, considering the selfless love of the hero for his official occupation, Gogol tells us about the death in Akaki Akakievich of the talent of the "artist" not in the proper sense of the word, but in the sense of a person's ability to "art", selfless service in his field of activity.
The theme of duty is key to the idea of "The Overcoat". “Duty is sacred,” Gogol remarked in a separate sketch. “A man is happy when he does his duty.” From his youth, Nikolai Vasilievich himself was inflamed with zeal for service for the good of the Fatherland. With these good thoughts, he left the Nezhinsky Lyceum and headed for the northern capital.
After long ordeals in search of a job, the young man was admitted to the Department of Appanages, where, starting in September 1829, he mastered clerical science. The impressions of an attentive young man from his official occupations and communication with colleagues will serve him as invaluable material, on the basis of which the most important conclusion about the role and significance of the activity of a civil servant will later be made.
In the article “Petersburg Stage in 1835-36”, written in 1836, speaking of heroes who deserve to be exposed on the Russian stage, Gogol mentions an office official who, instead of fulfilling the sacred duty imposed on him by his position, thinks only about how beautifully the paper was written.
Thus, in "The Overcoat", as in other works of Gogol, where we are talking“about the impoverishment and perversion of the soul, about the insignificance and emptiness of its movements in the presence of other forces that can lift a person,” sounds like a strong chord motive of vulgarity. “Wherever it comes to vulgarity,” writes Protopresbyter Vasily Zenkovsky, “one hears the author’s hidden sadness, if not real “tears through laughter,” then a mournful feeling of the tragedy of everything that a person’s life actually boils down to, of which it is composed” .
And therefore, it is not at all surprising that the overcoat, for which Bashmachkin saved up for a long time, denying himself the necessary and even sometimes starving, and which, after acquiring it, became for him a “pleasant friend of life”, a “wife”, became the only goal and that “high” meaning that illuminated such a miserable, limited, vulgar life of the hero. Thus was born the most important passion in Bashmachkin's life - a passion for a thing, which determined the title of the story.
And when, as a result of a well-known tragic incident, the overcoat disappears, this event becomes a completely understandable cause of his death, for the words of the Savior are true at all times: “Where your treasures are, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6, 21).
In 1847, during the life of Belinsky, who saw in the image of Bashmachkin a type of socially oppressed “little” person, the critic Apollon Grigoriev wrote in his work “Gogol and his last book”: “... in the image of Akaky Akakievich, the poet outlined the last facet of the shallowing of God's creation to the extent that a thing, and the most insignificant thing, becomes for a person a source of boundless joy and destroying grief to the point that an overcoat becomes a tragic fatum in the life of a being created in the image and likeness of the Eternal ... ".
So in the middle of the 19th century, a religious level of understanding of the story was announced, but the voice of the critic was almost not heard. In our time, M.M. Dunaev in his book "Orthodoxy and Russian Literature" writes that vulgarity for Gogol there is a "religious concept", and Gogol judges many of his characters by comparing their actions with the revelations of Holy Scripture.
Gogol's heroes violate the gospel commandments of love, mercy, indulgence towards one's neighbor. Violating the commandments, they commit apostasy, as a result of which their souls die, and life turns out to be empty and meaningless. The soul of a person becomes defenseless before the forces of evil and can be subjected to various deplorable conditions: from animal fear to mortal despondency, in contrast to the high and firm soul, which, in the words of St. Seraphim of Sarov the Wonderworker, “ does not despair of any misfortune».
1.3. Evangelical truths in the work of N.V. Gogol.
But does Gogol pronounce a harsh and merciless sentence on his hero?
What is the basis of such compassion? “The key to everything,” writes M. M. Dunaev, “in that famous place, which was talked about too much, but the too simple truth contained in it, it seems, was never found.” Gogol, talking about the atmosphere of the completely inhuman attitude of officials, colleagues towards Akaky Akakievich, mentions one young man who, following the example of others, allowed him to be laughed at, suddenly stopped, as if pierced, and since then everything has changed in front of him and seemed in a different form. Some unnatural force pushed him away from the comrades he met, mistaking them for respectable secular people, and for a long time later, in the midst of the most merry moments, he imagined a short official with a bald head on his forehead, with his piercing words: “Leave me, why are you offending me?” - and in these penetrating words other words rang: I am your brother".
I am your brother... “The concept of brotherhood”, as M. M. Dunaev writes, does not make sense without the concept of paternity. We are talking about spiritual kinship: “Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin is a brother to each of us, since we have the same Heavenly Father with him. Gogol sympathizes not with the victim of social oppression, but with the creation of God, which failed to manifest in its love the image and likeness of the Father, in him, in the creation, the prisoner.
I am your brother... In these famous key words, there is not only a plea for condescension to a weak, defenseless person, compassion for his plight, but also a direct call for help to a dying talent. Evidence of this is the attitude of the author himself to his hero not as a hopeless "idiot" and "freak", but as "perhaps a full-fledged and even brilliantly gifted person."
I am your brother... Here Gogol relies on the Gospel truths: “If we love each other, then God abides in us. Let us love Him, because He first loved us. Whoever says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And we have such a commandment from him, that he who loves God love his brother also” (1 John 4:11-12, 19-21).
Love for one's neighbor, commanded by Christ the Savior, is the highest virtue of a Christian. “... About a person, as about your brother ... who is one with you in faith, who names the same God and Father, regret and condole,” St. Tikhon of Zadonsky instructed. Very interesting and important are the saint’s statements about the state of the human heart, which cannot be idle: “If love lives in the heart, then the fruits are amiable ... and noble, pleasing to people. If it is occupied with enmity, then it brings quarrels, slander ... slander, condemnation, contempt, ridicule and so on .... ”[13, 494].
It was this atmosphere of hostility towards man that prevailed in the Department that struck the young man. With the terrible word “shuddered” (for the soul was horrified at the sight of iniquity), Gogol passes a merciless sentence on every humiliation of man, created in the image and likeness of God.
1.4. N.V. Gogol about the meaning of compassion and love for one's neighbor.
A person, “your brother”, can find himself in a very difficult situation, get into trouble, be on the verge of starvation. The titular adviser Bashmachkin, being at a fair age (“Akaky Akakievich climbed over fifty”) all alone, experienced terrible moments of despair in the misfortune that happened to him. But no one helped the suffering, no one extended a helping hand, from no one he heard even a simple kind word, capable, according to St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, “to console the grieving.” And Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow, in a letter to his spiritual daughter, argued that “you need to love your neighbor not with your tongue, but with your deed” [14, 25]. He writes: "Whatever ice is in the hearts of people, love, like the sun, will melt everything."
Gogol, according to the recollections of his comrades at the Nizhyn Gymnasium, was very attentive to poverty, was very worried when meeting with her, always gave alms, passing by the beggars, denying himself the purchase of his favorite delicacies.
Upon arrival in St. Petersburg at the end of 1829, he himself experienced a strong need due to the high cost of the capital and the winter cold. In letters to his mother, he lamented the high prices for an apartment, for clothes; in one of the letters, an overcoat was mentioned, which needed to be redone, to replace the collar. “These impressions were the everyday, everyday material that was used by Gogol in depicting the difficult financial situation of his hero,” writes I. A. Vinogradov in the article “I am your brother”.
Later, already famous writer and continuing to experience financial difficulties, in 1844 he allocated the money proceeds from the sale of "Works" to poor students of St. Petersburg and Moscow universities. The personal property left after Gogol's death consisted of several tens of silver rubles, books and old things, and meanwhile the fund he created "to help poor young people involved in science and art" amounted to more than two and a half thousand rubles.
In spiritual maturity, Gogol, studying the works of the holy fathers of the Church, comes to the understanding that external help alone is not enough for a person. “Love ... tells us to love our neighbor and brother much more than we love, it tells us to provide not only one material help, but also spiritual, not only to take care of his body, but also his soul ...”, writes Gogol in The Rule of Living in the World.
Commenting on these statements, I.A. Vinogradov writes: “The problem of providing spiritual assistance to a contemporary is the problem of reviving his dead soul Gogol directly associated with serving the Fatherland - in a specific official position of each ... "In the final analysis, the performance of official duties - in their original, not replaced by dead paper correspondence - would, according to Gogol, solve the problem of the overcoat, the problem of material wealth ".
The representative of revolutionary-democratic criticism, N.G. Chernyshevsky, in the article “Is it not the beginning of a change?”, justifying Akaky Akakievich, wrote: “... all his misfortune is attributed to insensitivity, rudeness of people on whom his fate depends.”
But the position of Gogol, a man of deep faith, church-going, "going both in life and in creativity by the most difficult, most difficult path - through purification, restoration of the image of God in himself", does not at all coincide with the opinion of a radical critic. The unfavorable social environment - supposedly the only culprit in the growth of "modern idiots" - Gogol explained not by the influence of ... malicious persons, but he saw in this a manifestation of the general sinfulness of human nature inherent in every person - the unfavorable state of the soul of each of the members of this environment. “Gogol contrasted Utopian hopes for social reforms and revolutions with a sober understanding of the necessary spiritual education of each member of society,” I.A. Vinogradov draws the most important conclusions, revealing the true meaning of the story “The Overcoat” to every reading and thinking contemporary. “The old autocracy is no longer there, but autocracy still reigns in Rus', there is still no respect for man, for human dignity, for human rights,” says philosopher N.A. Berdyaev in the article "Spirits of the Russian Revolution".
How many revolutions and social reforms Russia has experienced, how much it has seen great human grief and suffering, it is still going through a difficult time.
And today, more than ever, the problems raised by Gogol in his last story are relevant, because the “unfavorable state of the environment” does not disappear because of the state of the soul of each of us and our attitude towards our own. official duties. Today, in the era of a deep moral crisis in Russia, the words of N.V. Gogol: “A person needs to remember that he is a high citizen of a high heavenly citizenship. Until he somehow lives the life of heavenly citizenship, until then earthly citizenship will not come into order.
A person enlightened by Divine truth and realizing the meaning of his earthly life cherishes the treasures of his soul, among which are love for God and his neighbor and sacrificial service to the Fatherland.
Later, in Selected passages from correspondence with friends, Gogol would ask the vital question: “But how to love brothers, how to love people? “The soul wants to love only the beautiful, but poor people are so imperfect and there is so little beauty in them!” . Love is a fire, a flame that has engulfed the human heart, and it is born from the first spark - compassion. Compassion for Russia, her torments, her troubles, her way of the cross. And Russia is, first of all, people who share with her her extraordinary fate. “The trouble of Bashmachkin is one of the private troubles of the people,” writes M.M. Dunaev and cites an excerpt from an article by N.V. Gogol “You need to love Russia”: “Thank God first of all for the fact that you are Russian. This path is now open for the Russian, and this path is the whole of Russia. If only he loves Russian Russia, he will love everything that is in Russia. God Himself is now leading us to this love. Without the illnesses and sufferings that have accumulated in such a multitude inside her and of which we ourselves are to blame, none of us would have felt compassion for her. And compassion is already the beginning of love.
Thus, the great meaning of The Overcoat is revealed to us in Selected Places from the Census with Friends, a masterpiece of Gogol's spiritual prose. Here, in the most important final work of a mature master, the main directions of the writer's work find their completion, the beginning of which was laid in all of his artistic prose. Here the final conclusions are made, here the soul of the artist calms down in the truths revealed to her by God himself.
The problem of alienation in the story "The Overcoat" and the current state of society in Russia.
The story "The Overcoat" is interesting for us today for another problem - the problem of alienation. The essence of the concept is stated in the book of the priest Andrei Gorbunov “For everyone and for everything”: “Alienation is not a natural state of people, it contradicts the God-created nature of man. Alienation is an internal non-recognition of a person in another ... i.e. internal murder of another. That is why the Holy Scripture says: "Everyone who hates his brother is a manslayer."
Non-recognition in the hero of the story "The Overcoat" of personality, the lack of an elementary human attitude towards him on the part of colleagues and the "official", the inability to help a person in need - all this is a consequence of alienation, which "was a consequence of the fall of people ...".
The loss of love leads to death: "... and Petersburg was left without Akaky Akakievich, as if he had never been in it." The author's commentary on this event is significant and makes the reader think deeply: "A creature disappeared and disappeared, protected by no one, dear to no one, not needed by anyone." And in the subtext is the statement: "every human being must be protected, someone is dear and interested."
The story of NV Gogol "The Overcoat" is a truly prophetic work of the Russian classical literature and the problem of alienation today is our most pressing problem. With the highest level of various technologies, with the dominant cult of pleasure as the meaning of life and the desire of modern man to fully satisfy all needs in the modern world, there is a catastrophic level of moral decline and rupture of ties between people - kindred, friendly, fraternal.
As a result of this state of society in modern Russia officially there are more than half a million orphans, a huge number of old and sick people who often die without any care, as well as young people who die from alcohol and drugs.
A terrible sin - the sin of indifference and mercilessness, like leprosy, struck our souls. Refusing compassion and love for each other, we risk losing our “independence” and disappearing as a people.
And how salutary today is the return to one's spiritual roots, to the priceless literary classical heritage, in which the work of N.V. Gogol occupies a worthy place, true patriot, who loved Russia boundlessly and bequeathed this love to us: “It seems to me that everything we worry about and argue about is just vanity, and we only need to care about love ... Oh, God help us, and you, and me, to grow this love in our hearts ".
The true Revival of Russia will begin with the rebirth of the soul of every person, in whom love for God and his neighbor must kindle, then our Lord Jesus Christ will not leave us and no one will be able to separate us from the love of God.
Gogol learned love from the saints, who cared not only for their Heavenly Fatherland. “Whoever bears the Holy Spirit in himself,” testifies St. Silouan of Athos, “he grieves for all the people day and night, and his heart pities every creature of God ...” . The great wonderworker and ascetic, hegumen of the Russian Land, St. Sergius of Radonezh bequeathed to all his children: "Looking at the unity of the Holy Trinity, to overcome the hated division of this world ...".
A worthy disciple of his great teachers, Gogol, by the feat of his life and work, managed to turn Russian literature from "aesthetics to religion", thereby sanctifying it with the eternal Gospel truths. The story "The Overcoat" marked a new direction in the development of verbal art, called him on the path of educating in society such basic Christian virtues as compassion and love for one's neighbor. This was highly appreciated by F.M. Dostoevsky when he said: “We all came out of Gogol’s “Overcoat”.
Literature
Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments.
1. Annenkov P.V. N.V. Gogol in Rome in the summer of 1841. Russian literature of the 19th century. First half. M., - 1981
2. Berdyaev N.A. Spirits of the Russian Revolution. Literary study. Book two. - 1990
3. Vinogradov I.A. "I am your brother." About the story of N.V. Gogol's "Overcoat". In: Gospel Text in Russian Literature of the 19th-20th Centuries. Petrozavodsk. - 2001
4. Voropaev V.A. A little-known part of the creative heritage of N.V. Gogol. In: Gospel Text in Russian Literature of the 19th-20th Centuries. Petrozavodsk. - 2001
5. Gogol N.V. Collected works in 2 volumes. Volume 1. Moscow-Kyiv-Paris - 2002
6. Gogol N.V. You have to love Russia. Saint Petersburg. - 2007
7. Gogol N.V. From letters. "What can benefit the soul." M. - 2007
8. Daniltseva Z.M. The story of N.V. Gogol's "Overcoat". literature at school. -2004 №4
9. Dunaev M.M. Orthodoxy and Literature. Volume 2. M. -1996
10. Zolotussky I.P. Gogol M. - 1984
11. Priest Andrey Gorbunov "For everyone and for everything" M. - 2006
12. Orthodox encyclopedia, t 11 M. - 2006
13. Creations of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, Volume 1. M. - 2004
14 Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow, Letters to a Spiritual Daughter, M. 2006
Schelkunova Svetlana Alexandrovna , teacher of literature at school No. 22 (Sergiev Posad)
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For a complete list of organizations banned on the territory of the Russian Federation, see the links.
The image of the "little man" in H. V. Gogol's story "The Overcoat". In his works, N. V. Gogol often refers to the theme of the “little man”. As you know, anyone who is confident in himself, represents something, as a rule, is in plain sight. He also represents riddles for others, be a notorious scoundrel or, conversely, noble man because by his actions he openly declares himself. Another thing is the so-called "little people", who themselves admit their insignificance, and therefore try once again not to catch the eye of others. They live quietly with their little worries and aspirations, but it’s all the more interesting to find out what is in the soul of such a person, how he lives, and why he crawled into his shell and doesn’t let anyone in. Probably, Gogol also asked the same questions when creating his work. He tries to figure out what makes the protagonist lead such a joyless existence, tries to consider some noble impulses and dreams in his soul.
Bashmachkin Akaki Akakievich from the "Overcoat" held the lowest official position in one of the departments. This man was so inconspicuous that even his colleagues did not remember "when and at what time he entered the department and who appointed him." Over time, he even turned into a kind of relic of this institution: “No matter how the directors and all sorts of bosses changed, everyone saw him in the same place, in the same position, in the same position, the same official for writing, so that later they were convinced that he was visible, and was born into the world already completely ready, in a uniform and with a bald head on his head. This man was completely harmless and did not even try to defend his rights in front of anyone. Feeling in many ways a victim, and acting in this way, Akaky Akakievich himself was to some extent to blame for the especially despotic attitude of the bosses towards him, and for the ridicule of young officials addressed to him.
His defenselessness and dependability surprisingly awakened in those around him, and even in the most educated and refined, terrible inhumanity and "ferocious rudeness." The only thing that the poor official lacked with especially painful jokes addressed to him was the phrase: “Leave me, why are you offending me?” However, he spoke it in such a penetrating voice that even one of the officials later remembered the poor fellow for a long time and was imbued with sympathy and pity for him. The young man was suddenly ashamed of his mockery of Akaky Akakievich, suddenly realizing that even such miserable creatures have a soul that can get sick, like everyone else. Bashmachkin's appearance also set the people around him, if not against him, then to an attitude with a certain degree of disgust and contempt: "... short, somewhat pockmarked, somewhat reddish, somewhat even blind-sighted, with a slight bald spot on his forehead, with wrinkles on both sides of his cheeks and a complexion that is called hemorrhoidal ...". The official did not follow his own dress either: “... his uniform was not green, but some kind of reddish floury color,” in addition, something constantly stuck to it, now a thread, then a piece of hay. It seemed that this person simply attracted minor troubles to himself. So, for example, he always ended up under the windows at the very moment when something was thrown out of them. Of course, this gave him a somewhat sloppy look.
The official had absolutely no friends or lover. In the evenings, he came to his lonely apartment, ate his cabbage soup and beef with onions, and then copied the work he had taken home. If there was nothing to rewrite, then he went to bed. This person did not have any entertainment at all, and there could not be any, since any entertainment events require certain funds. The salary of an official did not exceed four hundred rubles a year. Nevertheless, despite his unenviable position, this man was happy in his own way. He loved his work, once turning ordinary rewriting into a diverse and pleasant world: “... some of the letters he had favorites, to which if he got, he was not himself: he laughed, and winked, and helped with his lips, so that in his face, it seemed, one could read any letter that his pen brought out.” Perhaps, with such zeal, main character he was capable of more, but self-doubt greatly prevented Bashmachkin from developing. So one of the chiefs decided to entrust Akaky Akakievich with a more difficult task, but which a high school student could handle. The official, sweating from effort and excitement, refused. Since then, he has not been entrusted with anything other than rewriting. Perhaps this man would have lived to a ripe old age, content with little, if his overcoat had not fallen into such disrepair that there was nowhere to put patches on it. Bashmachkin approached the tailor several times, but he never agreed to repair the old dress. Finally, the official decided to order a new overcoat.
He already had half of the amount, but the other half had to be taken somewhere. Akaky Akakievich decided to cut back on his meager expenses. He refused evening tea, not lighting candles in the evenings, walking down the street as carefully as possible in order to prolong the life of the soles on his boots, less frequently handing over things for washing, and therefore completely discarding them in the evenings and walking only in an old dressing gown. Of course, such sacrifices made the purchase of an overcoat something special. Winter clothes took on a completely different meaning for Bashmachkin: “From now on, it was as if his very existence had become somehow fuller, as if he had married, as if some other person was present with him, as if he was not alone, but some pleasant friend of life agreed with him to walk along the life path. Every week the official came to the tailor to talk about his future overcoat. This man had a goal that could completely change Akaky Akakievich. The expression on his face became firmer and more lively, fire even sometimes showed in his eyes, and some bold and courageous thoughts came into his head. All this showed that no matter how a person is clogged with need and circumstances, with a strong desire, he can influence his own life. Due to his loneliness, the official chose not a living person, but a thing as the target of worship, however, this made him wake up from sleep and perform some actions, although his actions were no longer directed outside, but inside, further aggravating his unenviable position. It took several months to raise the required amount. After that, Bashmachkin, together with the tailor, chose the fabric and the cat on the collar.
Two weeks later, the overcoat was ready and fit just right. The official immediately put it on in the department: "He felt every moment of the minute that he had a new overcoat on his shoulders, and several times he even grinned from inner pleasure." The new thing seemed to transform Akaky Akakievich, and all his colleagues noticed this. They poured into the Swiss and began to praise the new thing, completely embarrassing its happy owner.
At the same time, Bashmachkin was pleased. He himself suddenly felt a little different and even agreed to the invitation, and then allowed himself to drink a few glasses of champagne at a party. Returning from the guests, he even began to think about women, which had not been observed before. He first looked at the picture beautiful girl, then “I even ran up suddenly, it is not known why, for some lady who, like lightning, passed by ...”. Akaky Akakievich was in the best mood, one might say, at the pinnacle of happiness, when two robbers took his overcoat from him.
The official was completely at a loss, as he had lost more than his overcoat during the night. He lost his girlfriend, his offspring, suffered and expected during long months. The desire to return the overcoat was so strong that Bashmachkin showed his character for the first time in his life, breaking through to an appointment with a private, significant person.
Faced with indifference and a lecture by a significant person about violence against superiors and superiors, Akaky Akakievich could not bear it. Somehow getting home, he fell ill and died. Of course, Akaki Akakievich himself is largely to blame for everything that happens. He allowed an ordinary thing to take over all his feelings and desires so much that its loss led to the death of the hero. On the other hand, the author treats his hero with a certain amount of sympathy, since the environment in which Bashmachkin had to survive and the people around him, who treat the problems of the “little man” with a fair amount of contempt, played a significant role in the tragedy.
Perhaps that is why the ghost of the protagonist appeared in the story, tearing off the overcoats from the officials and once giving a lesson to that very significant person.
We often meet the image of the “little man” in Russian and foreign fiction. We, Russian readers, brought up on samples of Russian literature, are painfully familiar with the image of the “little man”. The first meeting with him happens in Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol's story "The Overcoat".
What is a "little man"? The answer is simple: this is a person of low social status and low origin, unremarkable and inconspicuous, not distinguished by outstanding abilities, weak-willed, humble and harmless.
This is how we meet the protagonist of the story "The Overcoat", the poor titular adviser Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin. It is interesting to note that Nikolai Vasilyevich very skillfully approached the choice of the name of his literary hero: the word "Akaky" in Greek means "does no evil."
The author compares his hero with a fly to show how small this person is. Akaky Akakievich has both positive and negative qualities. On the one hand, Bashmachkin is a person without interests and hobbies, without family and friends, which indicates his certain isolation and self-restraint from the outside world. On the other hand, he is devoted to his work, performs it reverently and carefully, he is hardworking, patient and modest, does not pay attention to insults from colleagues, does not start quarrels. For such a person as Akaki Akakievich, the most insignificant thing can become the property of his whole life.
The property of Bashmachkin's life was a new overcoat, sewn for a festive award. With the advent of new clothes, the character of Bashmachkin and the attitude of his colleagues towards him change. Their approval and admiration elevate Akaky Akakievich above himself, he becomes bolder, happier, more confident. But soon his happy mood changes, as the most expensive thing was stolen from him - an overcoat. This was a real tragedy for the poor titular councilor, who eventually falls ill and dies. But even after death, he cannot find peace, so he appears as a ghost on the Kalinkin bridge and scares passers-by.
Thinking through the character of Akaky Akakievich, Gogol wanted to show readers that against the background romantic heroes, bright, strong, controversial personalities, there are realistic personalities: weak-willed, timid and even somewhat miserable, but, of course, deserving human attention and empathy.
Composition The theme of a little man in Gogol's story Overcoat
In the "Petersburg" story "The Overcoat", written in 1842, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol raises the theme of the "little man". This theme is constantly present in Russian fiction. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was the first author to touch upon this issue, and other authors continue this tradition.
Gogol considers the problem of a society in which a small person should exist. The author sharply criticizes the society of titular advisers who cannot accept Akaky Akakievich. The character's phrase: "Don't touch me, why are you offending me?" is a rhetorical question to the reader. The author draws attention to the fact that "little people" also have the right to a decent life and respect from people.
The day when Bashmachkin puts on his overcoat is the culmination of the work. At this point, he ceases to feel like a "little man." His behavior and daily routine completely change. By this, N. Gogol shows that Akaky Akakievich is the same person as others. He is no different, he experiences the same feelings, aspirations and resentments. He is no better or worse than others.
The conflict between the little man and the world does not arise immediately, but only at the moment when Akaky Akakievich is left without his overcoat. The overcoat has long become more than clothing. It was a big part of the hero himself. Having lost her, he begins to fight with society. And having not won a victory during his lifetime, he continues it, like a ghost.
The mystical side of the story is important to end the conflict. Having received what you want, that is, an overcoat. This is a kind of justice, which is possible only in a fantasy world and is a utopia. On the other hand, in the finale, Gogol says that the immortal soul continues to desire revenge, and is only able to do it on its own.
Composition The image of a little man in Gogol's story Overcoat
"The Little Man" is one of the archetypes of Russian literature. The gallery of "little people" opens with a portrait of Samson Vyrin in the story of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (the cycle "Belkin's Tale"), continues with the image of Yevgeny from his own poem "The Bronze Horseman" and is firmly fixed in the tradition of realism inherited by Pushkin and his contemporaries.
As part of the direction of realism, it is traditionally customary to consider the story of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol "The Overcoat", and the portrait of the main character of this work - Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin - is included in the gallery of "little people" opened by Pushkin. This point of view is absolutely fair and is easily confirmed by the text.
What is characteristic of the "little man"? Low position in society, closeness (hiddenness) from the world, stinginess of feelings (but at the same time - the presence of an object of love and care), suffering during life (usually a single act that affects further fate hero), and, most likely, death (often from life's suffering).
All this can be traced in the "Overcoat". Bashmachkin is a petty official, a copyist of papers, living in poverty and asceticism. He has no friends - he only has colleagues who become interested in him only with the acquisition of an overcoat (but not earlier and not by himself). Bashmachkin also has what he loves and cherishes. Unlike his daughter - in the case of Vyrin - and Parasha, his girlfriend - in the case of Yevgeny, Akaky Akakievich has letters in his documents and an overcoat, the dream of which he lives.
As in other cases, the suffering of the "little man" is somehow connected with the object of his affection. So, Vyrin loses his daughter, Evgeny hurries to Parasha and is afraid that the flood would harm her. Two people steal his favorite overcoat from Bashmachkin in a dark alley - literally the next day after the purchase. Suffering and experience (after a certain period of time) is followed by the death of the protagonist.
It is worth noting that very often the status of a "little man" is emphasized by his position in the hierarchy of power; in order to “reveal” this position of his, the author places the hero in a situation where he is opposed to someone who surpasses him in his power. Consider, again, Vyrin and Evgeny - the first is on the threshold of his daughter's house, but the entrance there is closed to him, as to a poor, obscure and uninvited guest; the second turns out to be directly opposed to Emperor Peter (and, although he threatens him with his fist, he understands all his impotence and insignificance).
Bashmachkin is faced with a hierarchy of positions when his attempts to get the attention of an official who could help his trouble fail.
It is also interesting to note that in one fundamental point Gogol departs from the previous tradition. The finale of the story of his hero is a certain triumph and superiority - the spirit of Bashmachkin tears off warm overcoats from officials and terrifies those who encounter him. It is clear that this cannot be called the triumph of the "little man" in the full sense of the word; but, of course, this is felt, if not a denial of Pushkin's point of view, then at least a polemic with him and the prevailing understanding of the "little man".
We all have the same homeland and each one is different. In principle, each person puts his own meaning into the concept of the Motherland. For someone, the Motherland is his family, his city and the street where he spent his childhood
Saltykov - Shchedrin in the epic "The History of a City" wrote about the life of the inhabitants of the city of Glupovo.
Many critics of Russian classical literature turned to this poem. The most significant mark in the development of Russian criticism was left by V.G. Belinsky.
True friendship is the most valuable gift in our lives. A person is very lucky if he has real friends. True friendship gives us unforgettable, sweet and pleasant experiences. Friendship is the most valuable asset in life
