Analysis of the poem "Dead Souls": Manor Nozdrev

века. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is one of the most significant literary works of the XIX century. In it the author reveals the most important problems of Russia at that time. However, do not forget that the work is not finished, because shortly before his death, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol burned the second volume of this poem.

Contrary to the widespread misconception, the main reason that the author decided not to continue the "Dead Souls" is not that he had problems with his mind. The reasons for this act are much deeper and they are, first of all, in the ideological basis of the poem.

The meaning of the work

Initially, Gogol conceived not 2, but as many as 3 volumes of the poem. It was to be composed according to the principle of "Divine Comedy" by Dante. In the original, the hero first passes the circles of hell, then falls into purgatory, and then he is waiting for paradise. These three places were supposed to become the ideological basis for the three volumes of dead souls.

However, in the process of work on the work, Gogol realized that his plan was not feasible, because he wrote a book about Russia, and the problems that had to be solved, in fact, require much more in-depth analysis. Therefore, the author decides that there is no sense in either the second or the third volume.

Building

In Dante's "Divine Comedy", the protagonist goes through all the circles of hell, and each circle is a more terrible place than the previous one. "Dead Souls" have a similar construction.

The protagonist, Chichikov, takes turns visiting different landowners, each of whom has more disgusting vices than the previous one. The purpose of the visit of the main hero is the purchase of dead souls, that is, of serfs who are already dead. This in theory could bring him profit, but in reality everything turned out differently.

Heroes of the poem

When visiting a new landowner, Chichikov always tries to be as polite and helpful as possible, since his main goal is to earn money. He does it in a dishonest way, however, most landlords do not refuse the protagonist.

Each landowner embodies in himself or other human vices, which manifest themselves both in his behavior and in the economy. Next, we will talk about the economy of one of the landowners - Nozdrev, and on his example it becomes clear how the estate characterizes the character in Gogol's poem.

The Manor of Nozdryov

First of all, it is worth noting that Nozdrev does not deal with the affairs of his own estate, since they are not interesting to him at all. All the worries he instructed the clerk, who regularly swears, and it does not matter, for business or not. Therefore the manor of Nozdryov is in a deplorable state.

The main pride of the landowner is the stable. It is there that he first leads Chichikov, showing him his estate. In total, the inspection of the estate took the heroes no more than two hours, since there was really nothing to show.

Sam Nozdrev is a very nonsensical and unpredictable character. At any moment he can yell at someone and swear. This characterization of the hero is perfectly complemented by the fact that the manor of Nozdryov, in addition to ordinary cattle, contains in his household a real wolf on a leash. Feed it only raw meat, justifying their actions like this:

"Here's a wolf cub! - he said. - I deliberately feed him raw meat. I want him to be a perfect beast! ".

Speaking about the features of the Nozdrev Manor ("Dead Souls"), the quotations of the main character should be taken into account first of all, because exactly as he says about his estate gives the most complete description of his personality.

Suffice it to recall, for example, the episode where the landowner tells Chichikov about the huge fish that are found in his pond. According to Nozdrev, even two people hardly drag out one fish, although in reality this is not so. This episode reveals the character as a braggart and a chatterbox.

Nonsense, ignorance and frenzy of Nozdryov is complemented by the fact that there are many loud, furious dogs in his estate, whom he loves very much. According to the author, the landowner was among the dogs as a father among the family.

Manor Nozdrev has no decent roads, and this once again emphasizes the fact that he absolutely does not care about his farm and manage the estate he does not know how. And he does not just know how, but does not want to do it.

No matter how poor the Nozdryov manor is, there are also dead souls in it, so Chichikov tries to buy them. However, it does not work for him, since the owner insists that you need to play cards first. Chichikov refuses, so the manor of Nozdrev ("Dead Souls") does not bring him what he desires, which greatly upsets the hero.

In custody

In Gogol's poem Dead Souls, much attention is paid not only to the landlords whom Chichikov visits, but also to the circumstances in which they live. Every detail in the character's household helps to reveal his personality better, which can be clearly seen in the example of Nozdrev. This character is a foolish ignoramus, so the Nozdrev Manor is in a bad state, and its main virtue is dogs and horses. However, do not forget about the hero himself. Speaking about the features of the Nozdryov estate in the poem "Dead Souls", the quotations of the hero should also be remembered, because they give the most complete characterization of the character.