Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

"Overcoat"

The story that happened to Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin begins with a story about his birth and his bizarre name and moves on to the story of his service as a titular adviser.

Many young officials, laughing, bother him, shower him with papers, push him on the arm, and only when he is completely unbearable, he says: “Leave me alone, why are you offending me?” - in a voice bowing to pity. Akakiy Akakievich, whose service consists of copying papers, performs it with love and, even having come from the presence and hastily sipped his food, takes out a jar of ink and copies the papers brought to the house, and if there are none, then he deliberately makes a copy for himself. some document with an intricate address. Entertainment and the pleasure of friendship do not exist for him, “having written to his heart’s content, he went to bed,” smilingly anticipating tomorrow’s rewriting.

However, this regularity of life is disrupted by an unforeseen incident. One morning, after repeated suggestions made by the St. Petersburg frost, Akaki Akakievich, having examined his overcoat (so lost in appearance that the department had long called it a hood), notices that it is completely see-through on the shoulders and back. He decides to take her to the tailor Petrovich, whose habits and biography are briefly, but not without detail, outlined. Petrovich examines the hood and declares that nothing can be fixed, but he will have to make a new overcoat. Shocked by the price Petrovich named, Akaki Akakievich decides that he did not choose good time, and comes when, according to calculations, Petrovich is hungover, and therefore more accommodating. But Petrovich stands his ground. Seeing that it is impossible to do without a new overcoat, Akakiy Akakievich is looking for how to get those eighty rubles, for which, in his opinion, Petrovich will get down to business. He decides to reduce “ordinary expenses”: not drink tea in the evenings, not light candles, walk on tiptoes so as not to wear out the soles prematurely, give the laundry to the laundress less often, and to avoid getting worn out, stay at home in just a robe.

His life changes completely: the dream of an overcoat accompanies him like a pleasant friend of life. Every month he visits Petrovich to talk about the overcoat. The expected reward for the holiday, contrary to expectation, turns out to be twenty rubles more, and one day Akaki Akakievich and Petrovich go to the shops. And the cloth, and the calico for the lining, and the cat on the collar, and Petrovich’s work - everything turns out to be beyond praise, and, due to the onset of frost, Akaki Akakievich one day goes to the department in a new overcoat. This event does not go unnoticed, everyone praises the overcoat and demands that Akaki Akakievich set the evening on this occasion, and only the intervention of a certain official (as if on purpose the birthday boy), who invited everyone to tea, saves the embarrassed Akaki Akakievich.

After the day, which was like a big solemn holiday for him, Akaki Akakievich returns home, has a cheerful dinner and, having sat around doing nothing, goes to the official in the distant part of the city. Again everyone praises his overcoat, but soon turns to whist, dinner, champagne. Forced to do the same, Akaki Akakievich feels unusual joy, but, remembering the late hour, he slowly goes home. Excited at first, he even rushes after some lady (“whose every part of her body was filled with extraordinary movement”), but the deserted streets that soon stretch out inspire him with involuntary fear. In the middle of a huge deserted square, some people with mustaches stop him and take off his overcoat.

The misadventures of Akaki Akakievich begin. He finds no help from a private bailiff. In the presence where he comes a day later in his old hood, they feel sorry for him and even think of making a contribution, but, having collected a mere trifle, they give advice to go to a significant person, who may contribute to a more successful search for the overcoat. The following describes the techniques and customs significant person, who had become significant only recently, and therefore was preoccupied with how to give himself greater significance: “Severity, severity and — severity,” he usually said. Wanting to impress his friend, whom he had not seen for many years, he cruelly scolds Akaki Akakievich, who, in his opinion, addressed him inappropriately. Without feeling his feet, he reaches the house and collapses with a strong fever. A few days of unconsciousness and delirium - and Akaki Akakievich dies, which the department learns about only on the fourth day after the funeral. It soon becomes known that at night a dead man appears near the Kalinkin Bridge, tearing off everyone's greatcoat, without regard to rank or rank. Someone recognizes him as Akaki Akakievich. The efforts made by the police to catch the dead man are in vain.

At that time, one significant person, who is not alien to compassion, having learned that Bashmachkin died suddenly, remains terribly shocked by this and, in order to have some fun, goes to a friend’s party, from where he goes not home, but to a familiar lady, Karolina Ivanovna, and, amid terrible bad weather, he suddenly feels that someone grabbed him by the collar. In horror, he recognizes Akaki Akakievich, who triumphantly pulls off his greatcoat. Pale and frightened, the significant person returns home and henceforth no longer scolds his subordinates with severity. The appearance of the dead official has since completely ceased, and the ghost that the Kolomna guard met a little later was already much taller and wore an enormous mustache.

The story of Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin begins with his birth, and then goes into a retelling of his official zeal for the position of titular adviser.

In the service of a conscientious and harmless official, young colleagues are bored with jokes and pranks, to which Akaki Akakievich only begs him not to disturb him. The quiet guy does his job diligently and often takes it home. Having a quick snack, he starts copying papers, and if not similar work, then rewrites it for himself. He was so diligent and loved his job. He did not accept any entertainment and, having worked hard, gave himself up to sleep.

But the incident disrupted his usual way of life. One frosty morning, Akaki Akakievich, having examined his overcoat, which no longer warms at all and which in the department was called a hood because of its wear and tear, he comes to the decision to have it repaired by a tailor. Petrovich issues a verdict: the overcoat cannot be repaired. Akakiy Akakievich, having learned about the cost of the new overcoat, tries to talk to the tailor at a better time to reduce the price, but he is adamant. Having come to terms with the fact that a new overcoat is needed, Akaki Akakievich begins a frugal life, reducing all expenses to a minimum, in the hope of saving eighty rubles.

Now the official has a goal in life: to save for a new overcoat. He often visits Petrovich just to talk about the overcoat. Receives a holiday reward and goes shopping with Petrovich necessary materials for sewing new clothes. Akakiy Akakievich goes to work in a new overcoat, where everyone notices the new thing and praises it, offering to celebrate the event.

After work, having lunch at good mood, goes to an official on the outskirts of the city. The praise of the overcoat is repeated, then playing cards and having fun. IN late hour Akaki Akakievich goes home. On the way, I even ran after some lady, but fell behind on a deserted street. Some people stop him and take off his brand new overcoat.

The bailiff could not help. At the service, where he showed up in an old hood, everyone sympathizes and offers to chip in for another overcoat. But there is not enough money. On their advice, Akaki Akakievich visits an important official. Wanting to create special importance in front of an old friend whom he has not seen for a long time, he severely scolds Bashmachkin for inappropriate treatment. He barely makes it home in fear and dies a few days later from a fever. The department learns of his death only a few days after the funeral. And at night, near the Kalinkin Bridge, they see a dead man tearing off the greatcoats of passers-by. Some recognize him as Akaki Akakievich, but the police cannot catch him.

And that important official, having received a shock from the news of Bashmachkin’s death, goes to have fun with a lady he knows, Karolina Ivanovna. Suddenly someone grabs him by the collar of his overcoat and pulls him off. He sees Akaki Akakievich. After this incident, the important official no longer scolds anyone harshly. And since then the dead official has stopped appearing. True, the Kolomna security guard still saw someone after this incident, but he was huge and had a large mustache.

Essays

Brief retelling

“The Overcoat” Gogol N.V. (Very briefly)

Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin for a long time served as an official in one of the St. Petersburg departments. Copying documents, which he had been doing all his life, became for him not a job, but an art and the meaning of life. He even had favorite letters. His needs were so small that he lived quietly on a meager salary - four hundred rubles a year, until in the winter cold he noticed that his only overcoat was worn out to holes.
Akaki Akakievich began to deny himself everything in order to save money to repair his overcoat. But a tailor I knew said that he couldn’t fix such tatters. And poor Bashmachkin had to pay as much as 80 rubles for sewing a new overcoat. When Akaki Akakievich collected the necessary money, a tailor he knew sewed him a wonderful new thing, in which Akaki Akakievich immediately went to the department. All his colleagues congratulated him, they even organized an evening on this occasion in the house of one of the officials, and “this whole day was definitely the biggest solemn holiday for Akaki Akakievich.” The hero was not used to parties, and when the guests forgot what the occasion was for, he quietly went home.
An accident happened to him on the street: robbers attacked him in a dark alley and took his overcoat. In desperation, Akakiy Akakievich tried to contact the police, went to bureaucratic offices with a request to find the loss, but it was all in vain. Finally, leaving the general, to whom he was advised to turn and who shouted at him, he caught a cold in the cold wind and died.
However, the story did not end there. Rumors spread around St. Petersburg about a dead man who was looking for his overcoat, robbing people of fur coats and fur coats. The ghost also lay in wait for the general, who was tormented by his conscience for having treated the poor official so rudely. The dead man took the general's fur coat and stopped appearing.

1. Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin- a minor official who is engaged in rewriting documents. Quiet, very inconspicuous, over 50 years old. He has no family or friends. Very passionate about his work.

Other heroes

1. Petrovich- former serf Gregory, now a tailor. Bashmachkin turns to him for help. Likes to drink, has a wife. Respects old customs.
2. Significant person- a person who has recently gained weight in society. Behaves arrogantly in order to look even more significant.

Meeting the quiet, modest Akaki Akakievich

The titular adviser had no luck when choosing a name on the day he was born; all the names were strange. No matter how hard the mother tried to find something suitable for her son in the Saints, it didn’t work out. Then they decided to name him in honor of his father - Akakiy. Even then it became clear that he would be a titular adviser.

Bashmachkin rented an apartment in a poor area of ​​St. Petersburg because he could not afford more with his salary. He led a modest life, he had no friends, no family. Work occupied the main place in his life. And on it, Akakiy Akakievich could not distinguish himself in any way. His colleagues laughed at him, and he, being a very modest and quiet man, could not answer them, only quietly asked when they would stop offending him. But Bashmachkin loved his work very much.

Even at home, he was busy with work - he carefully copied something, lovingly treated every letter. As he fell asleep, he continued to think about his papers. But when he was given a more difficult task - to correct the shortcomings in the documents himself, poor Akaki Akakievich did not succeed. He asked not to be given such work. From then on, he did only rewriting.

The need for a new overcoat

Bashmachkin always wore old clothes, with patches, and shabby. He had the same overcoat. And he wouldn’t even think about buying a new one if it weren’t for the severe cold. He had to go to Petrovich, a former serf and now a tailor. And Grigory said terrible news for Akaki - the old overcoat cannot be repaired, you need to buy a new one. And he asked for a very large sum for Akaki Akakievich. Poor Bashmachkin thought all the way what to do.

He knew that the tailor was a drinker and decided to come to him when he was in a suitable state. Akaki Akakievich buys him alcohol and persuades him to make him a new overcoat for 80 rubles. The adviser had half the amount: thanks to his savings, he managed to save from his salary. And in order to save for the rest, I decided to live even more modestly.

Celebration in honor of the overcoat

Akakiy Akakievich had to save a lot in order to save the required amount. But he was encouraged by the thought of a new overcoat and he often went to the tailor and consulted on tailoring. Finally, she was ready, and Bashmachkin, happy, went to work. Such simple thing how the new overcoat became the most significant event in his life. His colleagues appreciated his new look and said that he now looked much more respectable. Embarrassed by the praise, Akaki Akakievich was very pleased with the purchase.

He was offered to put his name in honor of this event. This put the adviser in a difficult position - he had no money. But he was rescued by a significant person who was organizing a holiday in honor of his name day, to which Akaki Akakievich was invited. At the festival, at first everyone continued to discuss the overcoat, but after that everyone went about their business. For the first time in his life, Bashmachkin allowed himself to relax and rest. But he still left before everyone else, inspired by his new position and overcoat.

Loss of an overcoat and mysterious events associated with it

But on the way home, two people attacked the adviser and took away his new clothes. Akaki Akakievich was shocked and the next day he went to the police to write a statement. But they didn’t listen to him and the poor adviser left with nothing. They laughed at him at work, but he was found kind person, who felt sorry for him. He advised me to contact a significant person.

Bashmachkin went to the boss, but he yelled at the poor man and did not help him. So, the adviser had to wear an old overcoat. Because of severe frosts, Akaki Akakievich fell ill and died. They found out about his death a few days later, when they came to him from work to find out why he was gone. Nobody grieved for him.

But things started to happen strange cases. They said that late in the evening a ghost appears and takes away the overcoat of all passers-by. Everyone was sure that it was Akaki Akakievich. One day, a significant person went on vacation and a ghost attacked him and demanded that he give up his overcoat. Since then, the significant person began to behave much kinder and more humble with his subordinates.

Test on the story The Overcoat

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is a special, colorful figure in Russian literature. His name is associated with a lot of mystical, strange and even scary things. Consider one of the most mystical stories of the 19th century - “Viy”! In fact, Gogol has several even stranger and instructive works, one of which is “The Overcoat”. The history of Gogol’s creation of “The Overcoat” is rooted in the problems of society in the 19th century.

Plot

The petty official Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin leads a very quiet, modest and inconspicuous life. He works in the office, rewrites any papers, and only in this activity does he find some kind of outlet. Colleagues laugh at him and openly mock him, his bosses don’t notice him, he has no family or friends.

One day Bashmachkin realizes that his old overcoat has completely fallen into disrepair and urgently needs a replacement. To save up for a new coat, Akaki Akakievich takes unprecedented measures; he saves on food, candles, and even walks on tiptoes so as not to tear his shoes. After several months of hardship, he finally buys a new overcoat. At work, everyone - some maliciously, some kindly - admires the old man's acquisition and invites him to one of his colleagues for the evening.

Akaki Akakievich is happy, he spent a wonderful evening visiting, but when the hero returned home late at night, he was robbed, his very new overcoat was taken away. In despair, Bashmachkin runs to the authorities, but in vain, he goes to see a “high” person, but he only shouts at the petty official. Akaki Akakievich returns to his closet, where he soon dies, and the residents of St. Petersburg learn about a mysterious ghost who tears off the greatcoats from rich citizens and shouts “Mine!”

The history of the creation of Gogol’s “The Overcoat” reflects an entire era with special problems, shows the unusual and distant history of our country and at the same time touches upon eternal questions humanity, still relevant today.

Theme "little man"

In the 19th century, a direction of realism emerged in Russian literature, covering all the little details and features real life. The heroes of the works were ordinary people with your daily problems and passions.

If we talk about the history of the creation of Gogol’s “Overcoat” briefly, then the theme of “ little man"in a big and alien world. A petty official floats with the flow of life, never gets indignant, experiences neither strong ups nor strong downs. The writer wanted to show that a real hero life is not a shining knight or a smart and sensitive romantic character. And here's one insignificant person, crushed by circumstances.

The image of Bashmachkin became the starting point for further development not only Russian, but also world literature. European authors of the 19th and 20th centuries tried to find ways for the “little man” to escape psychological and social shackles. This is where the characters of Turgenev, E. Zola, Kafka or Camus were born.

The history of the creation of "The Overcoat" by N. V. Gogol

According to researchers of the great Russian writer, the original idea for the story was born from an anecdote about a petty official who wanted to buy himself a gun and had been saving for his dream for a long time. Finally, having bought the treasured gun, he lost it while sailing in the Gulf of Finland. The official returned home and soon died from his worries.

The history of the creation of Gogol’s “The Overcoat” begins in 1839, when the author was just making rough sketches. Little documentary evidence has survived, but fragments suggest that it was originally a comic story without much of a moral and deep meaning. Over the next 3 years, Gogol took up the story several more times, but brought it to the end only in 1841. During this time, the work almost lost all its humor and became more pathetic and deep.

Criticism

The history of the creation of Gogol’s “Overcoat” cannot be understood without taking into account the assessment of contemporaries, ordinary readers and literary critics. After the publication of a collection of the writer’s essays containing this story, at first they did not pay due attention to it. At the end of the 30s of the 19th century, the theme of a distressed official was very popular in Russian literature, and “The Overcoat” was initially classified as one of the same pitifully sentimental works.

But already in the second half of the 19th century, it became clear that Gogol’s “The Overcoat” and the story of the creation of the story became the beginning of a whole movement in art. The theme of the crushing of man and the quiet rebellion of this insignificant creature have become relevant in Russian authoritarian society. The writers saw and believed that even such an unhappy and “small” person is a person, a person who thinks, analyzes and knows how to defend his rights in his own way.

B. M. Eikhenbaum, “How the “Overcoat” is Made”

A great contribution to understanding the history of the creation of Gogol’s story “The Overcoat” was made by B. M. Eikhenbaum, one of the most famous and honored Russian critics of the 19th century. In his work “How the Overcoat is Made,” he revealed to the reader and other authors the true meaning and purpose of this work. The researcher noted the original, fairy-tale style of narration, which allows the author to express his attitude towards the hero throughout the story. In the first chapters, he mocks Bashmachkin’s pettiness and pitifulness, but in the last chapters he already feels pity and sympathy for his character.

The history of the creation of Gogol’s “Overcoat” cannot be studied without interruption from social situation those years. The author is indignant and indignant at the terrible and humiliating “Table of Ranks” system, which puts a person in certain limits, from which not everyone can get out.

Religious interpretation

Gogol was often accused of playing too freely with the Orthodox religious symbols. Someone saw his pagan images of Viy, the witch and the devil as a manifestation of lack of spirituality, a departure from Christian traditions. Others, on the contrary, said that in such ways the author is trying to show the reader the way of salvation from evil spirits, namely Orthodox humility.

Therefore, some researchers saw the history of the creation of Gogol’s story “The Overcoat” precisely in a certain religious context. internal conflict author. And Bashmachkin no longer performs as collective image a minor official, but as a person subjected to temptation. The hero invented an idol for himself - an overcoat, lived and suffered because of it. The religious interpretation is also supported by the fact that Gogol was very fanatical about God, various rituals and carefully observed everything.

Place in literature

The movement of realism in literature and other forms of art created a real sensation in the world. artists and sculptors tried to depict life as it is, without embellishment or gloss. And in the image of Bashmachkin we also see ridicule of something that is fading into history. romantic hero. He had high goals and majestic images, but here a person has the meaning of life - a new overcoat. This idea forced the reader to think deeper, to look for answers to questions in real life, and not in dreams and novels.

The history of the creation of N.V. Gogol’s story “The Overcoat” is the history of the formation of Russian national thought. The author correctly saw and guessed the trend of the times. People no longer wanted to be slaves directly and figuratively, a rebellion was brewing, but still quiet and timid.

30 years later, the theme of the already matured and more courageous “little man” would be raised by Turgenev in his novels, Dostoevsky in his work “Poor People” and partly in his famous “Pentateuch”. Moreover, the image of Bashmachkin migrated to other forms of art, to theater and cinema, and here it received a new meaning.

The official Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin serves in one department. When he was born, it took a long time to choose a name for him, but the names came across very strange, so they decided to name him in honor of his father. In the department for many years now, he has been an eternal titular adviser - he rewrites various papers. No one respects him at work; everyone laughs and mocks him. Bashmachkin is an irresponsible person, he cannot stand up for himself, but he serves “with love”; he even has his favorite letters. He can do nothing except mechanically rewrite documents. Akaki Akakievich is always poorly dressed, and what he eats does not matter to him. All his thoughts are occupied only with straight lines. In addition, he does not allow himself any entertainment, which, in his opinion, is excess. He would be quite satisfied with his life if he did not have to freeze, since his old overcoat was completely worn out, which had long been the subject of ridicule of his colleagues. Bashmachkin takes it to the tailor Petrovich to have it altered, but he refuses, since the fabric is already rotten through and through, and advises him to sew a new one. Then Akaki Akakievich begins to save money for a new overcoat, establishing for himself a regime of strict economy, for example, he refuses to drink tea in the evenings, does not light a candle, tries to let the laundress wash his clothes as little as possible, and so on. Six months later, Bashmachkin and Petrovich buy cloth, a cat for the collar, the tailor sews an overcoat in two weeks, and a “celebratory day” comes in the life of the little official. At the service, everyone comes running to look at the new overcoat. Another official decides to organize an evening, inviting everyone to his place. Bashmachkin feels uncomfortable when visiting and leaves earlier than the others. On the way home he is beaten and his overcoat is taken away. Trying to find justice, the hero goes to see a private bailiff, but to no avail. The department recommends contacting a “significant person.” Bashmachkin has difficulty getting an appointment with the general, but he sends him away, considering that the official expressed his request familiarly. Akaki Akakievich leaves, on the way home he catches a cold, gets sick with a fever and dies. His absence was discovered at the service only on the fourth day.

After some time, rumors spread around the city that a ghost had appeared near the Kalinkin Bridge - a dead man in the form of an official who was looking for a stolen overcoat and, therefore, tore off the overcoats of everyone, without considering rank and title. One day, the general, going on a visit, felt that someone grabbed him by the collar. Turning around, he recognizes the ghost as Akakiy Akakievich, who takes away his overcoat and takes it for himself. Since then, the general has changed a lot, he began to treat his subordinates less arrogantly. And the appearance of the dead man in the city stopped, apparently, the general’s overcoat suited him.