Who is the main character of Dead Souls. Dead souls analysis

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We often say that happiness cannot be found in money, but at the same time we always note that a person with money is in a more advantageous position and can afford more than a poor person. A bunch of works of art on the topic of a wedding with an unloved but rich person or the injustice that has arisen associated with bribery leads to another famous phrase: money rules the world. This is probably why a person with small capital often strives to improve his financial situation. These methods and methods are not always legal; they often contradict the principles of morality. N. Gogol talks about one of these actions in the poem “ Dead Souls».

Who is Chichikov and why does he come to town N

The main character of the story is a retired official Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. He is “not handsome, but not bad-looking either, neither too fat nor too thin; I can’t say that I’m old, but I can’t say that I’m too young.” He considers himself a person of pleasant appearance, he especially liked his face “which he loved sincerely and in which, it seems, he found the chin most attractive, for he very often boasted of it to one of his friends.”

This man travels through the villages of Russia, but his goal is by no means as noble as one might think at first glance. Pavel Ivanovich buys “dead souls”, that is, documents for the ownership of people who have died but have not yet been included in the lists of the dead. The census of peasants was carried out every few years, so these same “dead souls” hovered and were considered alive in documents. They represented a lot of trouble and waste, since it was necessary to make payments for them before the next census (revision tales).

Chichikov's proposal to sell these people to the landowners sounds more than tempting. Many people find the item they are buying very strange, it sounds suspicious, but they want to get rid of it faster.” dead souls“takes its toll - one by one the landowners agree to the sale (the only exception was Nozdryov). But why does Chichikov need “dead souls”? He himself talks about it this way: “Yes, if I bought all these people who died out before they submitted new revision tales, buy them, let’s say, a thousand, yes, let’s say, the guardianship council will give two hundred rubles per head: that’s two hundred thousand for the capital " In other words, Pavel Ivanovich plans to resell his “dead souls”, passing them off as living people. Of course, it is impossible to sell serfs without land, but he finds a way out here too - buying land in a remote place, “for pennies.” Naturally, such a plan was not dictated good conditions life and financial situation, but, whatever one may say, this is a dishonorable act.

Last name meaning

It is difficult to judge unambiguously about the etymology of Pavel Ivanovich’s surname. It is not as prosaic as the surnames of other characters in the poem, but the very fact that the surnames of other characters are their characteristics (they draw attention to moral or physical flaws) suggests that there must be a similar situation with Chichikov.

And so, it is likely that this surname came from the word “chichik”. In Western Ukrainian dialects, this is the name given to a small songbird. N. Gogol was associated with Ukraine, so we can assume that he had in mind precisely this meaning of the word - Chichikov, like a bird, sings beautiful songs to everyone. There are no other meanings recorded in dictionaries. The author himself does not explain anywhere why the choice fell on this particular word and what he wanted to say by awarding Pavel Ivanovich such a surname. Therefore, this information should be perceived at the level of a hypothesis, and it should be argued that this absolutely correct explanation is impossible due to the small amount of information on this matter.

Personality and character

Arriving in the city of N, Pavel Ivanovich meets the local landowners and the governor. He produces on them good impression. This beginning of a trusting relationship contributed to Chichikov’s further purchases - they spoke of him as a man of high morals and excellent upbringing - such a person cannot be a swindler and a deceiver. But, as it turned out, this was just a tactical move that allowed him to cleverly deceive the landowners.

The first thing that surprises you about Chichikov is his attitude to hygiene. For many of his new acquaintances, this became a sign of a man from high society. Pavel Ivanovich “waked up very early in the morning, washed himself, wiped himself from head to toe with a wet sponge, which was done only on Sundays.” He “rubbed both cheeks with soap for an extremely long time,” when he washed himself, “plucked out two hairs that had come out of his nose.” As a result, those around him decided that “the visitor showed such attentiveness to the toilet that has not even been seen everywhere.”

Chichikov is a suck-up. “In conversations with these rulers, he very skillfully knew how to flatter everyone.” At the same time, he tried not to say anything specific about himself, using general phrases; those present thought that he was doing this out of modesty.

In addition, the phrases “he is an insignificant worm of this world and does not deserve to be cared for much, that he has experienced a lot in his life, endured in the service for the truth, had many enemies who attempted even on his life, and that now, wanting to calm down, looking to finally choose a place to live” evoked a certain feeling of pity for Chichikov among those around him.

Soon, all his new acquaintances began to speak flatteringly about him and tried to please “such a pleasant, educated guest.”

Manilov, characterizing Chichikov, asserted that “he is ready to vouch, as for himself, that he would sacrifice all his estate in order to have a hundredth share of Pavel Ivanovich’s qualities.”

“The governor explained about him that he is a well-intentioned person; the prosecutor - that he is a sensible person; the gendarme colonel said that he learned man; the chairman of the chamber - that he is a knowledgeable and respectable person; the police chief - that he is a respectable and kind person; the police chief’s wife - that he is the most kind and courteous person.”

As we see, Pavel Ivanovich managed to gain the trust of the landowners and the governor the best way.

He managed to keep a fine line and not go too far with flattery and praise towards the landowners - his lies and sycophancy were sweet, but not so much that the lies were noticeable. Pavel Ivanovich not only knows how to present himself in society, but also has the talent to convince people. Not all landowners agreed to say goodbye to their “ dead souls" Many, like Korobochka, had great doubts about the legality of such a sale. Pavel Ivanovich manages to achieve his goal and convince him that such a sale is nothing unusual.

It should be noted that Chichikov has developed intellectual abilities. This is manifested not only when thinking about a plan to get rich from “dead souls”, but also in the manner of conducting a conversation - he knows how to maintain a conversation at the proper level, without having sufficient knowledge in a particular issue, it is unrealistic to look smart in the eyes of others and no flattery or sycophancy unable to save the situation.

In addition, he is very friendly with arithmetic and knows how to quickly carry out mathematical operations in his mind: “Seventy-eight, seventy-eight, thirty kopecks per head, that will be...” here our hero thought for one second, no more, and suddenly said: it will be twenty-four rubles ninety-six kopecks.”

Pavel Ivanovich knows how to adapt to new conditions: “he felt that the words “virtue” and “rare properties of the soul” could be successfully replaced with the words “economy” and “order”,” although he cannot always quickly figure out what to say: “Already Plyushkin stood for several minutes without saying a word, and Chichikov still could not start a conversation, entertained both by the appearance of the owner himself and by everything that was in his room.”

Having acquired serfs, Pavel Ivanovich feels awkward and anxious, but these are not pangs of conscience - he wants to get the job done quickly and is afraid that something might go wrong “still the thought came to me: that souls are not entirely real and that in similar cases Such a burden always needs to be lifted off one’s shoulders as quickly as possible.”

However, his deception was revealed - Chichikov in an instant turns from an object of worship and a desired guest into an object of ridicule and rumors; he is not allowed into the governor’s house. “It’s just that you alone are not ordered to be allowed in, but all others are allowed,” the doorman tells him.

The others are also not happy to see him - they mumble something incomprehensible. This confuses Chichikov - he cannot understand what happened. Rumors about his scam reach Chichikov himself. As a result, he leaves home. IN last chapter, we learn that Pavel Ivanovich is of humble origin, his parents tried to provide him better life, therefore, sending him into an independent life, they gave him such advice that, as his parents thought, would allow him to occupy a good place in life: “Pavlusha, study... please your teachers and bosses most of all. Don’t hang out with your comrades, they won’t teach you any good; and if it comes to that, then hang out with those who are richer, so that on occasion they can be useful to you. Don’t treat or treat anyone, but behave better so that you will be treated, and most of all, take care and save a penny... You will do everything and lose everything in the world with a penny.”

Thus, Pavel Ivanovich, guided by the advice of his parents, lived in such a way as not to spend money anywhere and save money, but to earn in an honest way significant capital turned out to be unrealistic, even with strict savings and acquaintance with the rich. The plan to buy “dead souls” was supposed to provide Chichikov with fortune and money, but in practice this turned out not to be the case. The stigma of a swindler and a dishonest person firmly stuck to him. Whether the hero himself learned a lesson from their current situation is a rhetorical question; it is likely that the second volume should have revealed the secret, but, unfortunately, Nikolai Vasilyevich destroyed him, so the reader can only guess what happened next and whether Chichikov should be blamed for such an act or it is necessary to mitigate his guilt by referring to the principles to which society is subject.

Chichikov in the story by N.V. Gogol’s “Dead Souls”: analysis of the hero, image and characteristics

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Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov - main character Gogol's poem "Dead Souls", adventurer. Until the eleventh chapter, this hero and his motives remain a mystery for the characters of the work and the readers themselves. Who he is, why and for what purpose he buys the souls of dead peasants is unknown. Only later is Chichikov’s past revealed and it becomes clear that the basis of his attitude towards people is the desire to accumulate money, which his father instilled in him as a child:

"... most of all, take care and save a penny, this thing is more reliable than anything else..."

Chichikov is smart and quick-witted, attentive, resourceful, cunning, sneaky, does not trust anyone, the goal of his life is profit, acquiring funds through various methods. He grew up lonely and joyless, without friends, listening to his father's instructions. Upbringing and environment became main reason the relationship of the adult Chichikov to the people around him.

It is thanks to his adventurous campaigns that readers can see different tempers five landowners, each of whom has typical features Russian landowner.

Manilov- the first landowner whom Chichikov met. He is polite, courteous, but everything positive traits in some distorted and ugly forms. Sentimental and good-natured to the point of cloying. He lives in fantasies, reflections and dreams; he never thinks about the real state of affairs and the real needs of his peasants.

Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka- a landowner-widow who comes across to the hero of “dead souls” second in a row. He sells all sorts of different natural products and treats all people as potential buyers. She’s stupid and doesn’t understand for a long time what Chichikov wants from her. Korobochka’s horizons are very narrow and she doesn’t go beyond her estate. The estate itself and the entire farm have a patriarchal appearance.

Nozdryov- a braggart, a gossip and a liar. He loves to ruin his neighbor's life. He is lively, has endless reserves of energy, but does not use them very well, he is gambling, and easily loses a lot of money at cards. He loudly declares at the ball that Chichikov is buying up “dead souls”, which is why a lot of rumors started flying about the hero.

Mikhail Semenovich Sobakevich- a cunning trader, a serf owner far from enlightenment. He has an iron grip, a persistent will, is alien to the dreaminess of Manilov and the violent character of Nozdryov, cynical and stubborn. He looks like an animal:

"He looked like average size bear."

Sobakevich the only one who perfectly discerned the true essence of the proposal to buy Chichikov’s “dead souls”.

Stepan Plyushkin- the last landowner whom Chichikov visited. The estate and village of Plyushkin seem to have once been a rich, but now completely bankrupt landowner's farm. And the reason for this is Plyushkin’s incredible stinginess. The destruction of the landowner's estate depicts emptiness inner world character. Gogol no longer depicts such a character satirically: Plyushkin evokes not laughter in readers, but disappointment.

Positive characters in the poem Dead Souls by N.V. Gogol

For those who haven’t read, but have heard something, I’ll immediately explain that Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol called “Dead Souls” a poem himself. And as they say, all questions to the author. This is instead of an epigraph. Further - according to the text.

The classic analysis of the poem "Dead Souls" does not assume the presence of positive heroes. All heroes are negative. The only "positive" thing is laughter. I do not agree with this position of comrades and gentlemen professors. What is it? Made based on, again, classic illustrations for the text? Are you laughing?

If you look closely at the classic illustrations of any Soviet edition"Dead Souls", then, indeed, each character in them is ugly in its own way. But! There is no need to replace true lines, portraits and descriptions with pictures of tendentious artists.

In fact positive hero can be considered the landowner Sobakevich. Remember how Gogol gives it to us! Chichikov comes to Sobakevich after several visits to other landowners. And everywhere his attention is focused on the quality of what he sees. This is a patriarchal way of life. There is no stinginess of Plyushkin here. Nozdryov's follies. Empty dreams of Manilov.

Sobakevich lives “as our fathers did.” He doesn’t go to the city too much, not because he’s wild. And for the reason that the owner is strong. He must and monitors what is being done in the fields, in the forge, in the workshops, in the cellar. He was not used to relying entirely on clerks. And does he even have a salesman?

Sobakevich is a good manager. Otherwise, why are his peasants all seemingly strong and stately, and not frail and sick? This means that he sees the urgent needs of peasant families and satisfies them even too much, but at the same time he himself is stout and rich. He was able to solve the most difficult management problem: to appropriate the results of other people's labor, but at the same time not to ruin his serfs.

Sobakevich is a patriot. Pay attention to the portraits of the Sobakevichs on the wall. There are people on them military uniform who served the Fatherland. And did Sobakevich himself evade military service? On these ones strong men, like Sobakevich and his peasants, and Russia held on.

Sobakevich is an enlightened landowner. Remember, he tells Chichikov the story of one of his peasants, whom he even sent to Moscow to trade? And he brought him 500 rubles to pay for the quitrent. At that time this was crazy money. A good serf could be purchased for 100 rubles. A good estate cost about ten thousand rubles.

Sobakevich speaks negatively about almost everyone whom Chichikov lists during lunch. The only exception is the prosecutor. And he, according to Sobakevich, is a decent pig. Isn't that right? How can a negative hero scold others? negative heroes the word "swindler"?

In the end, remember how the bargaining goes between Chichikov and Sobakevich. Yes, Sobakevich is not an angel. But he is a landowner. He must be able to bargain. He does it. But after some time, when he had already “saved face,” he lowers the price to a level acceptable for Chichikov. That is, Sobakevich is not devoid of nobility of soul.

Pavel Ivanovich CHICHIKOV lives according to his father’s behest: to save and increase every penny, using all ways and means.

A thought has matured in his head: to buy “dead souls” and turn into a fantastically rich man who will be loved, respected and celebrated for it.

A man with an ordinary appearance and a good education begins to implement his plan. He seeks his own approach to each landowner: he praises Manilov for his children and the structure of his life, Korobochka for his thriftiness, Sobakevich for his commercial spirit... He is an excellent psychologist, and the implementation of his plan was almost successful. But then there were still “bright minds of our time” who exposed the whole deception. There is no point in deceiving the state: you will lose honor and you will not gain honor. I think that Chichikov’s evolution “took” the wrong path, and the priest’s behests were not the same...

Manilov is a pleasant person in all respects. Sweet, delicate, courteous. His eyes are the color of the sky, he smiles all the time, but Gogol notices. They have too much sugar in them. There is no Loika in his speech. There are neat piles of ash on the table. Absolutely mismanagement Has no idea how many serfs he has. Any questions should be addressed to the clerk. An apple orchard could appear on his land, but instead we see some stunted birch trees and a complete absence of greenery.

The landowner MANILOV is worthless, stupid in his dreams, impractical. In his room there is expensive furniture, an elegant candlestick, and next to it, in contrast, are chairs covered with rough matting and some kind of figurine of a disabled person. He himself seems crippled.

Manilov has an extraordinary ease of thought. He will “project” a house with a long underground passage, or a stone bridge. Why he needs this - our hero himself does not know, especially since the bridge will be over the pond. His children, named after the great Greeks, are ill-mannered, undeveloped, and do not know how to behave correctly even at the dinner table. And who brings them the rational and eternal? Manilov himself, reading the book for many years on page fourteen.

Conclusion: Manilov is outwardly pleasant, but internally - empty man, neither this nor that...

PLYUSHKIN is a “hole in humanity.” Gogol describes in detail the destroyed houses of his peasants, mountains of rotten bread, and his own home, which seemed like an invalid. Only the garden shines with eternal beauty, but this is a miracle of nature, and not the result of Plyushkin’s activities.

The figure of the landowner is strange. He doesn’t look like a woman or a man, but, most likely, like just a beggar creature to whom he wants to give alms. He has a lot of good, but greed, his desire to beg and accumulate led to an absolute moral decline.

His peasants are killing him like flies, he doesn’t trust people, he is hostile to the world.

Things were replaced for him real people. Gogol writes: “And a person could condescend to the same insignificance, pettiness, and nastiness!”

The compositional basis of Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” is Chichikov’s travels through the cities and provinces of Russia. According to the author’s plan, the reader is invited to “travel all over Rus' with the hero and bring out many different characters.” In the first volume of Dead Souls, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol introduces the reader to a number of characters who represent “ dark kingdom", familiar from the plays of A. N. Ostrovsky. The types created by the writer are relevant to this day, and many proper names have become common nouns over time, although in Lately V colloquial speech are used less and less. Below is a description of the characters in the poem. In Dead Souls, the main characters are landowners and the main adventurer, whose adventures form the basis of the plot.

Chichikov, the main character of Dead Souls, travels around Russia, buying documents for dead peasants who, according to the auditor’s book, are still listed as alive. In the first chapters of the work, the author tries in every possible way to emphasize that Chichikov was a completely ordinary, unremarkable person. Knowing how to find an approach to every person, Chichikov was able to achieve favor, respect and recognition in any society he encountered without any problems. Pavel Ivanovich is ready to do anything to achieve his goal: he lies, impersonates another person, flatters, takes advantage of other people. But at the same time, he seems to readers to be an absolutely charming person! Gogol masterfully showed the multifaceted human personality, which combines depravity and the pursuit of virtue.

Another hero of Gogol’s “Dead Souls” is Manilov. Chichikov comes to him first. Manilov gives the impression of a carefree person who does not care about worldly problems. Manilov found a wife to match himself - the same dreamy young lady. Servants took care of the house, and teachers came to their two children, Themistoclus and Alcidus. It was difficult to determine Manilov’s character: Gogol himself says that in the first minute one might think “what an amazing person!”, a little later one might be disappointed in the hero, and after another minute one would become convinced that they couldn’t say anything about Manilov at all. There are no desires in it, no life itself. The landowner spends his time in abstract thoughts, completely ignoring everyday problems. Manilov easily gave the dead souls to Chichikov without asking about the legal details.

If we continue the list of characters in the story, then the next one will be Korobochka Nastasya Petrovna, an old lonely widow who lives in a small village. Chichikov came to her by accident: the coachman Selifan lost his way and turned onto the wrong road. The hero was forced to stop for the night. External attributes were an indicator of the landowner’s internal state: everything in her house was done efficiently and firmly, but nevertheless there were a lot of flies everywhere. Korobochka was a real entrepreneur, because in every person she was used to seeing only potential buyer. Nastasya Petrovna was remembered by the reader for the fact that she did not agree to the deal. Chichikov persuaded the landowner and promised to give her several blue papers for petitions, but until he agreed next time to definitely order flour, honey and lard from Korobochka, Pavel Ivanovich did not receive several dozen dead souls.

Next on the list was Nozdryov- a carouser, a liar and a merry fellow, a playmaker. The meaning of his life was entertainment; even two children could not keep the landowner at home for more than a few days. Nozdryov often found himself in various stories, but thanks to his innate talent for finding a way out of any situation, he always got away with it. Nozdryov communicated easily with people, even with those with whom he managed to quarrel; after a while he communicated as if with old friends. However, many tried not to have anything in common with Nozdryov: the landowner hundreds of times came up with various fables about others, telling them at balls and dinner parties. It seemed that Nozdryov was not at all bothered by the fact that he often lost his property at cards - he certainly wanted to win back. The image of Nozdryov is very important for characterizing other heroes of the poem, in particular Chichikov. After all, Nozdryov was the only person with whom Chichikov did not make a deal and indeed did not want to meet with him anymore. Pavel Ivanovich barely managed to escape from Nozdryov, but Chichikov could not even imagine under what circumstances he would see this man again.

Sobakevich was the fourth seller of dead souls. to his appearance and his behavior resembled a bear, even the interior of his house and household utensils were huge, inappropriate and bulky. From the very beginning, the author focuses on Sobakevich’s thriftiness and prudence. It was he who first suggested that Chichikov buy documents for the peasants. Chichikov was surprised by this turn of events, but did not argue. The landowner was also remembered for raising prices on the peasants, despite the fact that the latter were long dead. He talked about their professional skills or personal qualities, trying to sell documents at a higher price than Chichikov offered.

Surprisingly, this particular hero has much more chances for spiritual revival, because Sobakevich sees how small people have become, how insignificant they are in their aspirations.

This list of characteristics of the heroes of “Dead Souls” shows the most important characters for understanding the plot, but do not forget about coachman Selifane, and about servant of Pavel Ivanovich, and about good-natured landowner Plyushkin. Being a master of words, Gogol created very vivid portraits of heroes and their types, which is why all the descriptions of the heroes of Dead Souls are so easily remembered and immediately recognizable.

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