“Who is he? So, a scoundrel?” (the image of Chichikov in the work “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol)

In the poem “Dead Souls” N.V. Gogol depicts the “dark kingdom” of landowners mired in gluttony, drunkenness, petty hoarding, pathological greed and hoarding.

Among them, a new hero appears - the product of the capitalist development of Russia in the 40s of the 19th century, the general disorder in the country, and the plight of the serf people.

The character traits of a new type of person can be seen in Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, who showed the spirit of a bourgeois businessman, an entrepreneur - cunning and resourcefulness, which are refracted in him in a very unique, one-sided way: In adventurism, fraud, scam. “That he is not a hero, full of perfection and virtue, is clear,” writes N.V. Gogol. - Who is he? So, a scoundrel? Why a scoundrel, why be so strict towards others?.. It is most fair to call him: master, acquirer. Acquisition is the fault of everything; Because of him, deeds were carried out, to which the world gives the name of not very pure deeds...”

Why does N.V. Gogol call Chichikov a “scoundrel”? Having demonstrated the devilish strength of mind, sophistication, dexterity and trickery, Pavel Ivanovich decides to “crank out” a certain business - to buy dead souls from slow-witted landowners as if they were alive and put them in the board of trustees, receiving a tidy sum of money. The swindler’s meanness lies in the fact that, forgetting about human conscience, he robs, first of all, orphans, for whose support the proceeds from collateral transactions were used, thereby hoping to profit from the grief and tears of destitute children, already half-starved and poorly dressed.

But Chichikov doesn’t think about it. Most of all, he cares “about his descendants” and dreams of a quiet family life, a “sissy”, children who should live in abundance and contentment in their own village, generating a fair income. And for this you need capital - the main goal of the life of Gogol’s hero - the “knight of a penny”.

For the sake of his innermost dream, Pavel Ivanovich, even in his early youth, shows great energy, trickery and foresight, the ability to rob people, to infiltrate their trust with flattery; through invention and tenacity to achieve one's goal - to accumulate money. He doesn't shun anything. While still in school, he began to engage in speculation: “... having bought food at the market, he sat in the classroom next to those who were richer, and as soon as he noticed that a friend was starting to feel sick - a sign of approaching hunger - he stuck them out to him under the benches as if casually a corner of a gingerbread or a bun and, having provoked him, took the money, depending on his appetite.” “Having shown almost extraordinary resourcefulness,” he profitably sold the bullfinch, a mouse that he had taught to carry out various orders. For the rest of his life he remembered his father’s order to save money: “... most of all, take care and save a penny: this thing is more reliable than anything in the world ... you can beat everything in the world with a penny.”

A man of a new formation, Chichikov understands that you cannot make capital by hoarding: it must be put into circulation. Acting in this way, Pavel Ivanovich slowly groped for ways to use his money in the service: he joined the commission for the “construction” of some state-owned capital structure, and then the customs office, denying himself everything (Chichikov knew how to wait for his “finest hour”). He served with zeal (... it was a devil, not a man: he looked for “smuggled goods in wheels, drawbars, horse ears...”), at the same time cunningly and carefully waited for the moment when bribes could be taken not little by little, but immediately big jackpot. And this time has come: “... in one year he could receive what he would not have won in twenty years of the most zealous service.” Having earned 400 thousand rubles from “Spanish sheep,” Chichikov soon lost them, having suffered “in service for the truth,” but did not give up. With 10 thousand, Pavel Ivanovich again embarks on speculation with dead souls.

Indomitable energy and inventiveness in the hero of the poem turns into the loss of moral concepts, everything human in himself. Acquiring his well-being, transgressing the norms of Christian morality - love, kindness, mercy and truth -, creating for himself a special scale of values, he takes the path of degradation, moral poverty and loses his personality. In his relationship with people, Chichikov has many faces. His elusiveness is emphasized by the writer in his appearance: “... not handsome, but not of bad appearance, neither too fat, nor too thin; I can’t say that I’m old, but I can’t say that I’m too young.” In conversations with those in power, he very skillfully knew how to flatter everyone. He hinted to the governor “that entering his province is like entering paradise.” “He said something very flattering to the police chief about the city guards.”

“City fathers”, bureaucrats, bribe takers and slackers, people with a bad conscience, speak of Pavel Ivanovich as a decent, well-intentioned, efficient, knowledgeable, respectable, kind and “pleasant” person. They welcome him to the city with open arms, because in Chichikov, as in a werewolf, “everything turned out to be necessary for this world: pleasantness in turns and actions, and agility in business affairs.”

With the local nobles, Pavel Ivanovich shows hypocrisy, insight and perspicacity, managing to please everyone and approach each in a special way, subtly calculating his moves and adapting the manner of address and tone of speech to the character of the landowner. Manilov competes in sugary courtesy and tearful complacency; Korobochka’s is rude and primitive; Nozdryov seems arrogant, lively and broken; he speaks with Sobakevich in a businesslike and categorical tone, showing himself to be a hardened and tight-fisted businessman; Plyushkin “sympathizes” with his frugality and stinginess.

N.V. Gogol constantly emphasizes the external neatness of his hero, his desire for cleanliness, expensive and fine Dutch linen, a fashionable suit of “brown and reddish colors with a sparkle,” which sharply contrast with the internal uncleanliness of Pavel Ivanovich: his actions with a former teacher and a stern police officer , his boss, whom he cleverly deceived by playing the role of the groom. Chichikov's aesthetic is offended by the sight of dirty office desks, but he is not embarrassed by bribe-taking officials who sell their honor and conscience for a pittance. The smell spread by Petrushka is unpleasant to him, but he is glad that at Plyushkin’s “peasants are dying like flies,” and dreams that there will be more epidemics and peasant graves. Behind the external pleasantness and decency lies the moral uncleanliness of the “acquirer” and predator.

In contrast to the “dead souls” of landowners and officials, the image of Chichikov was given by N.V. Gogol in development. The hero of the poem has his ups and downs, a struggle between God and the devil takes place in his soul, character traits appear that would seem alien to him. Pavel Ivanovich dreams sentimentally about the governor's daughter, a young girl, at the ball he looks at her, “as if stunned by a blow”; deftly “shuffles his feet” in front of the ladies; speaks critically of Sobakevich. But no transformation, no revolution occurs in the soul of Gogol’s character. Calculation crowds out all feelings in this “decent man,” and a conversation with one’s own conscience justifies the crime: “I didn’t make anyone unhappy: I didn’t rob a widow, I didn’t let anyone go around the world, I used from the abundance, I took where everyone would take. .."

A. Bely calls P. I. Chichikov “the buyer of a living human conscience,” “a real devil” and “a provocateur of life,” and D. I. Pisarev compares the hero of “Dead Souls” with Molchalin: “Chichikov and Molchalin succeed, live in their own way.” pleasure, they save pennies for a rainy day, at the same time they manage their affairs so skillfully and so carefully that rainy days never appear... Chichikov and Molchalin like to remain in the shadows and in the unknown, because their small enterprises require darkness and silence...” Noting the typicality of Chichikov, V. G. Belinsky characterizes him as “a hero of our time,” who is also found abroad, “only in a different dress.” “The whole difference is in civilization, not in essence.”

In addition, he is dexterous, evasive, acts with knowledge of the matter, covering his selfish thoughts with a guise of good manners and adapting to the situation. With Manilov, he pretended to be a “sensitive” person who had experienced a lot of “persecution” for “observing the truth,” “giving his hand to both a helpless widow and a miserable orphan.” He hinted to the governor that “you enter his province as if you were entering paradise, the roads are velvet everywhere...”. He even endeared himself to Plyushkin by refusing the treat under the pretext that he “had already drunk and eaten.” Everywhere he carries himself with “dignity,” and among money-hungry officials he is also known as a “millionaire.”

Acquisitions develop into entrepreneurship for Chichikov. He stops at nothing to achieve selfish goals, basing his actions on skillfully veiled meanness. His last, most vile scam is the purchase of dead peasant souls in order to acquire capital. The scam failed. Chichikov is exposed, but exposed by accident; he leaves the city without suffering any punishment. From this it is clear that Chichikov is “his own” person in the noble-bureaucratic environment, and his “failure” is accidental. Elsewhere, other Chichikovs will achieve their goal. The socio-economic life of Russia and Western Europe developed in this direction in the 30-40s of the 19th century. Obviously, Gogol, foreseeing such a tendency, ultimately abandoned the intention to correct the “scoundrel-acquirer.” In any case, the author’s attempts to make Chichikov “ashamed” of his vices when meeting “virtuous” heroes in the second volume (Kostanzhoglo, Murazov, etc.) did not produce convincing artistic results. In the minds of the reader, Chichikov remains a typical representative of bourgeois predation, regardless of where and in what sphere it manifests itself. The global significance of Chichikov’s image was keenly noticed by Belinsky and Chernyshevsky, who wrote that the Chichikovs could be found in France and England, wherever bourgeois business was gaining strength.

A spring britzka drove up to the hotel in the provincial town of NN, in which sat a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; One cannot say that he is old, but not that he is too young. This was the main character of Gogol’s “Dead Souls” - Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. (See The image of Chichikov - briefly, Chichikov in “Dead Souls”, Description of Chichikov.)

The gentleman was accommodated in the usual hotel for all provincial cities - in a room with cockroaches peeking out like prunes from all corners. Chichikov's suitcase and other belongings were brought in by his serfs: coachman Selifan and footman Petrushka.

Chichikov went to the common room of the hotel, where a floor guard was running around with a tray on which sat the same abyss of tea cups as birds on the seashore. After eating lunch, the visitor got into conversation with the policeman and asked extremely precisely about all the city officials and landowners, especially interested in how many peasant souls each had. Then Chichikov went to explore the city, and ended the day with dinner and a sound sleep at full blast, as they say in other parts of the vast Russian state.

The visitor spent the next day making visits. He visited the governor and vice-governor, the prosecutor, the chairman of the chamber, the police chief and other city rulers. A very dexterous man in his manners, Chichikov skillfully knew how to flatter everyone. He hinted to the governor that entering his province was like entering paradise, the roads were velvet everywhere. He said something very flattering to the police chief about the city guards. Everyone liked the newcomer. The governor extended an invitation to him to come to his house party, and so did other officials—some for lunch, some for a Boston party, some for a cup of tea.

Having thoroughly washed and dressed at the hotel, Chichikov went to the governor's party. In the hall where she passed, the glare from candles, lamps and ladies' dresses hurt her eyes. Black tailcoats flashed and rushed separately and in heaps here and there, like flies scampering on white shining refined sugar. The visiting guest did not let himself down here either. He knew how to carry on any conversation. Whether it was about a horse factory, he talked about a horse factory; were they talking about good dogs, and here he made very practical comments; whether they interpreted the investigation carried out by the treasury chamber, he showed that he was not unaware of the judicial tricks; whether there was a discussion about a billiard game - and in a billiard game he did not miss; they talked about virtue, and he talked about virtue very well, even with tears in his eyes; about making hot wine, and he knew the use of hot wine; about customs overseers and officials, and he judged them as if he himself were both an official and an overseer. Chichikov dressed all his judgments with a restrained sedateness, which greatly elevated him in the eyes of his interlocutor. (See Chichikov's description and Gogol's lyrical digression on fat and thin men.)

Chichikov - the main character of Gogol's "Dead Souls"

At the party, Chichikov met landowners Manilov and Sobakevich, who both invited him to visit. Chichikov confirmed that he would not only eagerly follow their invitation, but would even consider it a sacred duty. He also met the landowner

Poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" is one of the greatest works in world literature. V. G. Belinsky wrote: “Dead Souls” by Gogol is a creation so deep in content and great in creative concept and artistic perfection of form that it alone would fill the lack of books in ten years...”

Gogol worked on his poem for 17 years: from the initial concept (1835) to the final fragments and touches (1852). During this time, his plan changed. As a result, in his work the writer gives the opportunity to see the whole of contemporary Russia and brings out many different characters and types of people.

The representative of the new class of entrepreneurs in the poem is Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. Gogol speaks of people like him: “terrible and vile force.” She is vile because she cares only about her own benefit and profit, using all means. “Acquirers,” according to Gogol, are not capable of reviving the Fatherland.

Scary because it is very strong. And strong, because the first businessmen in Russia were enterprising, purposeful, and very intelligent people. Therefore, it seems to me that, despite all the negative aspects, Chichikov can be considered an extraordinary person.

Let's start with the fact that he came up with the idea of ​​cashing in on the dead audit souls. I believe that in order to draw up and think through such a plan, you need intelligence, practical insight, and a good knowledge of life. It is important to note that Chichikov showed a practical mindset from childhood. “...showing almost extraordinary resourcefulness,” he “made a bullfinch out of wax, painted it and sold it very profitably.” Then he started selling food to his rich comrades, trained (!) and sold the mouse at a profit. Moreover, Pavlusha did not spend the money he earned, but patiently saved it, denying himself everything. This, in my opinion, also requires determination and great willpower.

Why did little Chichikov deny himself everything and not enjoy life like other children? The hero’s parents were poor nobles who had only one family as serfs: “At the beginning, life looked at him somehow sourly and unpleasantly...” Pavlusha grew up in an atmosphere of severity, despondency, and some kind of melancholy. He had no friends, he didn’t play children’s games, he couldn’t even play pranks: “... the edge of his ear was twisted very painfully by the nails of his long... fingers...”. From childhood, our hero learned only one truth: “A comrade or friend will deceive you and in trouble will be the first to betray you, but a penny will not betray you, no matter what trouble you are in.” You will do everything and ruin everything in the world with a penny.” Chichikov devoted his entire subsequent life to “saving and saving a penny.”

I cannot call Pavel Ivanovich a completely immoral person: “It is impossible ... to say that he knew neither pity nor compassion; he felt both, he would even like to help, but only if it did not involve a significant amount..."

What was Chichikov’s goal in life? He did not save money for the sake of money, but dreamed of becoming rich and living for his own pleasure. For this reason, for years he was diligent, neat, tidy, invariably kind, very diligent: “From early morning until late evening, without getting tired with either mental or physical strength, he wrote, completely bogged down in office papers, did not go home, slept in in office rooms on tables, sometimes dined with the guards, and with all this he knew how to maintain neatness, dress decently, give a pleasant expression to his face and even something noble in his movements.”
Later, Chichikov achieves a “grain job”, then “saves a penny” in other institutions, not disdaining, however, the most unscrupulous methods. But all the hero’s plans fail. Nevertheless, despite the failures, Pavel Ivanovich does not give up or lose heart, but stubbornly continues to move towards his goal.

I believe that the scam with dead souls required courage, risk, energy, and good knowledge of human psychology from Chichikov. Indeed, the hero is an excellent psychologist. In a conversation with officials, he “skilfully knew how to flatter everyone”: “I somehow casually hinted to the governor that entering his province was like entering paradise, the roads were velvet everywhere... He said something very flattering to the police chief about the city guards... and in conversations with the vice “The governor and the chairman of the chamber even said, in error, twice: “Your Excellency,” which they liked very much.”
Chichikov also speaks with the landowners in their language, seeing through everyone and easily getting his way. With Manilov he is sickly sweet and refined, with Korobochka he is polite but firm, with Nozdryov he is familiar and impudent, with Sobakevich Chichikov needed all his patience and acting skills... But, in any case, our hero buys dead souls from almost everyone.

The first volume of the poem ends with Chichikov's flight from the city. But I think, and this is confirmed by the second volume, that Pavel Ivanovich will not abandon his idea. He will continue to “save pennies.”

Having read the poem “Dead Souls,” I believe that Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov can be called a bright and extraordinary personality. This is a very capable person with rich opportunities. It’s a pity that he used them unworthily, just like many modern entrepreneurs. But still, somewhere deep down, in my opinion, one cannot help but admire Chichikov, a brilliant businessman at his core.

What is Chichikovshchina? in N. V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”

N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” belongs to those timeless works of art that are large-scale artistic generalizations aimed at solving the fundamental problems of human life. In the death of the souls of the characters (landowners, officials, Chichikov), Gogol sees the tragic death of humanity, the sad movement of history in a vicious circle. The origins of a person’s spiritual emptiness lie, according to the writer, not only in social conditions, but also in the peculiarities of the mental make-up of the individual (landowners-serfs and businessman-acquirer Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov equally belong to the “dead souls”).
Pushkin perfectly captured Gogol’s realistic typification techniques. “He always told me,” recalls the author of “Dead Souls,” “that not a single writer had this gift - to expose the vulgarity of life so clearly, to be able to outline the vulgarity of a vulgar person with such force, so that all the little things that escape the eye, would have flashed large in everyone’s eyes.” That is why the characters in Gogol’s poem are, in the words of V. G. Belinsky, “familiar strangers.”
The image of the businessman-acquirer Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is typical. The trouble, however, is not that Pavel Ivanovich is a businessman (now, for example, the word “entrepreneur” is increasingly entering our lives), but in his spiritual inferiority, disguised vulgarity. Chichikov's deadness is emphasized by the complete absence of changes in his spiritual life, his immersion in vanity. Pavel Ivanovich's chaise does not leave some vicious circle for a long time. The fate of the hero, as Gogol shows, always returns “to normal” (each new scam ends in exposure, which, in turn, does not prevent the “unsinkable” Chichikov from starting everything from scratch again and again). The biography of Pavel Ivanovich is the subject of deep psychological research. Gogol writes about his hero: “If the author had not looked deeper into his soul, had not stirred at the bottom of it that which escapes and hides from the light, he would not have discovered the innermost thoughts that a person does not entrust to anyone else... and everyone would be happy and would accept him for an interesting person."
Chichikov’s life is subordinated to one goal - enrichment for the sake of achieving comfort, “all contentments”, “all prosperity”: carriages, an excellent home, delicious dinners... This primitive dream feeds the tireless energy of the “scoundrel”, who perfectly remembers his father’s order “to take care of everything above all else” and save a penny.” Sympathy for people is completely eradicated from the hero’s heart (he abandons a drunken teacher to the mercy of fate, betrays his superior, rejoices at the high mortality rate among peasants, etc.), giving way to a virtuoso ability to please the right people. At the city school, Chichikov becomes one of his favorite students with his “diligence and neatness,” and fully comprehends the “spirit of the boss,” who valued obedience in his subordinates. While serving in the treasury chamber, Pavel Ivanovich seeks the favor of the “unapproachable” police officer. “Finally, he got wind of his home, family life... He moved into his house, became a necessary and necessary person, bought both flour and sugar, treated his daughter like a bride, called the police officer Papa
and kissed his hand...” In a word, Chichikov has everything “that is needed for this world: pleasantness in turns and actions, and agility in business affairs. With such funds, he obtained in a short time what is called a grain place, and took advantage of it in an excellent way.” Having arrived in the provincial town of NN, Pavel Ivanovich skillfully flatters local officials. “He somehow hinted in passing to the governor that entering his province is like entering paradise, the roads are velvet everywhere... He said something very flattering to the police chief about the city guards...” Chichikov demonstrates his amazing ability to adapt to a new interlocutor in conversations with landowners. It is enough to compare conversations with Manilov and Sobakevich about city officials.
Pavel Ivanovich’s unprincipled adjustment to his next interlocutor reflects the hero’s utmost prudence: he tries to extract specific benefits from communicating with this or that person (buying dead souls, achieving promotion, etc.). Of course, knowledge of real life and certain acting abilities play a role. Drawing a portrait of Pavel Ivanovich in the first chapter, Gogol specifically emphasizes the “uncertainty”, “amorphousness” of Chichikov: “In the chaise sat a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; I can’t say that I’m old, but I can’t say that I’m too young.” This appearance allows the hero to quickly change psychological masks (in a conversation with Manilov, Chichikov resembles an enthusiastic young man, in a conversation with Plyushkin - a wise and well-intentioned gentleman). It should be emphasized once again that all of Pavel Ivanovich’s “talents” serve only one purpose - enrichment (skillful speculation in the city school, a new way of receiving bribes in the “grain places”
echka”, construction of a state-owned house and theft of the treasury, collusion with smugglers while serving at customs, scam with dead souls).
Sincere human feelings are alien to Chichikov. Only one thing gives him joy - a profitable deal. Let us remember that he even sings after he managed to profitably acquire dead souls from Plyushkin. Chichikov's vulgarity is manifested in his thoughts about the beautiful blonde he met after visiting Nozdryov. The hero’s mind comes not with beauty, but with the possible wealth of the stranger: “After all, if, let’s say, this girl was given a dowry of two hundred thousand, she could make a very, very tasty morsel.”
The image of the vulgar Chichikov is universal, not tied to any specific historical time. Chichikovism is by no means limited to bourgeois acquisitiveness. It represents the power of vain vulgarity, inner emptiness, pettiness, falsehood. And, unfortunately, it manifests itself in any era...
At the end of the poem, Gogol outlined some prospects for the spiritual rebirth of the hero (this is discussed in detail in the second volume of Dead Souls), and reflected on the possibility of overcoming the vulgar “deadness”, “untouchedness” of the world. Overcoming evil lies, according to the writer, not in the social reorganization of society, but in revealing the inexhaustible spiritual potential of the Russian people.
An image appears of an endless road and a trio of birds rushing forward. In this indomitable movement one can feel Gogol’s confidence in the great destiny of Russia, in the spiritual resurrection of humanity.