Farewell, Chichikov! Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls?

Those who at least occasionally read books know perfectly well what is known about many of the classic works of these or those masters of the word that have not survived to this day ... The brightest, of course, is the main work of the whole life of N.V. Gogol - the second volume of the novel known to us on the school about the landowner Chichikov. Friends, today we will try to understand why Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls.

At the end of his life, the writer lived in Moscow. His house was on Nikitsky Boulevard. This estate legally belonged to Count Alexei Tolstoy, who sheltered a lonely writer. Tradition says that it was there that Gogol destroyed his most important literary work. At first glance, the writer lived in prosperity - he did not have his own family, which means that no one and nothing could distract him from his work, he had a permanent roof over his head. But what happened? Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls? What was going on in his mind the moment he set fire to his manuscripts?

No cola, no yard ...

Few people know that Nikolai Vasilyevich invested in his work all! He lived only by him alone. For the sake of creativity, the writer has condemned himself to poverty. Then they said that all Gogol's property was limited to only one "suitcase with papers". His main work was about to come to an end. He put all his soul into him. This was the result of religious intrigues; It was all true about Russia and all the love for her ... The writer himself said that his work is great, and the feat is saving. But the novel was never to be born: Gogol burned "Dead Souls" because of a woman ...

Oh, dear Catherine!

In the life of Nikolai Vasilyevich, a real fracture occurred. It all began on January morning in 1852. It was then that someone named Ekaterina Khomyakova, the wife of one of Gogol's friends. The fact is that the writer himself sincerely considered her the most worthy woman. Some literary critics say that he was secretly in love with her and more than once veiled about her in his work. After her death, the writer told his confessor Matthew that he was seized with the fear of death for no reason at all ! Now Gogol was constantly thinking about his future demise, he had a breakdown, there were depressions ... Father Matthew strongly advised the writer to think about the spiritual state, leaving his literary works.

Diagnosis: psychoneurosis

"That's why Gogol burned the second volume of" Dead Souls, "this is the opinion modern psychiatrists say, that such a state can bring any person to suicide, not to mention the damage to their property or any work. Gogol burned the second volume of his novel?

Chichikov, good-bye!

February 24, 1852 year. Night. The writer called his manager - Semyon, ordering him to bring his briefcase with the manuscripts of the continuation of the novel. Under the pleas of Seeds to think better and not to destroy his literary works, Nikolai Vasilyevich with the words: "This is not your business", directed to the manager, threw hand-written notebooks into the fireplace and held a burning candle to them ...

Wicked is strong!

The next morning the writer was stunned by his own act. Justifying himself before Count Tolstoy, he said: "I was only going to destroy some things already prepared in advance, and destroyed everything ... How strong is the wicked one!" This is what he did with me and my labors! Only you know that there I am very He put it out and explained everything ... ". According to the writer, he wanted to give each of his friends in a notebook for memory, but his dream did not come true ...

From the author

That's it, friends, it happens in life. As they say, if a person is talented, then this is manifested in everything. Perhaps it is the writer's genius that explains why Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls. Be that as it may, modern literary scholars agree that the execution of the continuation of the novel about Chichikov is a real loss for the whole world literature!