Nikolay Gogol and his book "Dead souls" /part 5/

His language is grossly outrageous. The striving of the Russian landlord to retain himself as the dominant force is shown by Sobakiewicz's image. This person is a cruel and calculating exploiter and selfish. He opposes the unpolished, colorless and indifferent Manilov with the strict definition of all his physical and spiritual traits. In him dominates the physical, which suppresses and displaces the spiritual. He has grown so close to the earth that any flight of his imagination is unthinkable. Even his name derives from the noun 's own', emphasizing once again his connection with the animal world. When Chichikov looks at him, he exclaims, "Bear! A real bear! "The animal in Sobakovich Gogol also emphasizes through his incredible gullibility.

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Without going too far into the detail of the portrait, Gogol notes the "speed", with which Nature has created that face, having no time to slow down and meditate. She has done her work rudely and unmistakably: "She banged the ax once, the nose came out, and she swung it a second time, and her lips came out, her big toe twisting her eyes, and without stroking him, she let go of the white world, saying, Live!" The whole portrait Sobakovich's characteristic is built on the unfolded comparison with a bear of medium magnitude. He and his head is bent as an animal, and he crushes with his paws anyone who has approached him. Every furniture in Sobakovich's home seems to repeat after his owner: "I am Sobakovich, and I am Sobakovich." Everything is solid, sturdy, rude and unhealthy, as is the landlord himself. Even the paintings on the walls and the antique heroes depicted on them with huge legs resemble Sobakovich's crude bearish power. Unlike Manilov Sobakovich, he does not like to give positive ratings for his acquaintances even when they have high rankings.

With his characteristic, crude and scarce speech, he calls them brigands, crooks, christmasters and pigs. In this case, he takes the mark himself, as does Manilov, but from the opposite point of view. The dialectic of this image is that it has a mind but does not use it for human purposes, so it is hardly the deadest soul among the landlords depicted in the poem. Gogol specifically emphasizes the lack of soul in it, something he does not do with other images. Other and different forms of human fall depict Gogol through the images of Nozdrayov and Plushkin, each of which in his own way demonstrates the disappearance of man and his replacement with somewhat miserable likeness. Nozdryu contrasts in many respects both with the inexperienced and good-natured Manilov, as well as with the stunned Crook. Gogol writes that people of this type are "chatters, guards, babies, personal people." They are not created to stay in one place - their calling is the scandal, the beating. Nozdrav is distinguished by "tireless agility and agility". He constantly does something - he plays cards, sells dogs and horses (not to win, of course, from love to movement), enters scandalous situations, etc.

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part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4