“The chaise drove out into the street with thunder. It was not without joy that he saw the striped barrier, which made it clear that the pavement, like any other torment, would soon end; and hitting his head several more times in the back, Chichikov rushed along the soft ground on his way...”
Are these lines familiar? Of course, the journey of Gogol’s hero through Russian estates begins with them.
The choice of the work is not accidental. The characters' characters are directly related to the interiors. The author believed that a person begins to be like things, like what he has accumulated.
Is it so? Let's take a look by traveling through the landowners' houses with Chichikov.
Manilov - “A man is neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan”
The entire interior of the hero is heterogeneous. Everything in the house (furniture, decorative items, decoration) has some kind of “but”.
“There was always something missing in the house: in the living room there was beautiful furniture, upholstered in smart silk fabric, which was certainly quite expensive, but there was not enough for two armchairs, and the armchairs were covered in matting.”
Luxury and elegance are combined with untidiness and neglect.
“In another room there was no furniture at all. In the evening, a very dandy candlestick made of dark bronze with three antique graces, with a dandy mother-of-pearl shield, was served on the table, and next to it was placed some simple copper invalid, lame, curled up to the side and covered in fat, although neither the owner nor mistress, no servant..."
Uncertainty in everyday life is characteristic of the hero in life. He does not have his own opinion; it is more convenient for him to remain inactive and just dream.
“... A pleasant room... The room was definitely not without pleasantness: the walls were painted with some kind of blue paint, like gray, four chairs, one armchair, a table on which lay a book with a bookmark, several papers written on, but most of all there was tobacco . It was in different forms: in caps and in a tobacco box, and, finally, it was simply poured in a heap on the table.” For the author, this is a pretense of sophistication, decoration that covers up Manilov’s mismanagement, inattention, laziness and reluctance to bring everything to the end.
“On both windows there were also piles of ash knocked out of the pipe, arranged, not without effort, in very beautiful rows. It was noticeable that this sometimes gave the owner a good time...”
Thus, all of Manilov’s things bear the imprint of his personality: they either lack something or have something extra (a beaded toothpick case). In fact, in Manilov, as in his interior, there is nothing negative, but nothing positive either. They are both empty.
Korobochka is a man entangled in the “amazing power of little things”
The interior is filled with antiquity: all things are old without exception. Many of them have long outlived their usefulness, but are still used by the housewife.
“Chichikov took two casual glances: the room was hung with old striped wallpaper...” Korobochka, unlike Manilov, does not indulge in empty dreams, she is calculating and busy only with accumulation, immersed in the world of economic interests.
“Various old little things were put behind the mirrors: ...behind every mirror there was either a letter, or an old deck of cards, or a stocking...”
Decorative items exist in the interior without any connection.
“In Korobochka’s living room there are also paintings:...paintings with some birds...”
“... not all of the paintings were birds: between them hung a portrait of Kutuzov and an old man painted in oils with red cuffs on his uniform, as they wore under Pavel Petrovich...”
Gogol emphasizes the pettiness, emptiness, and excessive frugality of the housewife with the details of the setting. The entire interior represents Korobochka’s excessive hoarding.
Hero's Estate
In many ways, the character of the hero is revealed in the description of his estate. Gogol sharply contrasts Sobakevich with other heroes of the poem, pointing out that he was an exemplary landowner. Everything in his estate is well done and in order, creating a favorable impression.
The buildings are not very beautiful, but they are made reliably and firmly from thick logs.
The houses of his peasants look very attractive, no worse than the owner's estate. Unlike Manilov and Plyushkin, he pays a lot of attention to taking care of the farm in the village. The interior of Sobakevich's house corresponds to his character - everything is rough, simple and without grace.
Once in the living room, Chichikov notes that the furniture is durable and comfortable, and the walls are decorated with paintings depicting generals, their appearance reminiscent of the owner of the house. Rice. 2. Sobakevich's manor house
Nozdryov is a man with a peculiar “breadth of nature”
The interior of the house does not impress with its beauty and comfort. The author pays attention to details, accessories and decorative items that show Nozdryov’s many-sided hobbies from hunting to playing the organ.
“Nozdryov led them to his office, in which, however, there were no visible traces of what happens in offices, that is, books or paper...”
“... only sabers and two guns hung - one worth three hundred, and the other eight hundred rubles... Then Turkish daggers were shown, on one of which was mistakenly carved: “Master Savely Sibiryakov” ...”
“... After that, a barrel organ appeared to the guests...” Like Nozdryov himself, his house is devoid of any order:
“... Then pipes appeared - wooden, clay, meerschaum, smoked and unsmoked, covered in suede and uncovered, a pipe with an amber mouthpiece, recently won, a pouch* embroidered by some countess...”
“... he went out into the dining room, there was already a tea set on the table with a bottle of rum.” The house is untidy, no one monitors the cleanliness, which, by the way, does not bother Nozdryov.
“There were traces of yesterday's lunch and dinner in the room; it seems that the floor brush was not touched at all. There were bread crumbs on the floor, and tobacco ash was even visible on the tablecloth...”
The character of the hero, his interests and lifestyle are fully reflected in his interior. Disorder, repairs that no one completes, an office that does not have a single item related to work, speak of the hero’s unpredictability, arrogance, recklessness and uncontrollable energy.
Sobakevich's living room
The interior of the landowner's house is described through the eyes of Chichikov. Pavel Ivanovich examines the decoration of the house with interest. It cannot cover the entire room at first glance: it is very large and does not fit into one image. Everything in the rooms bore a “strange resemblance to the owner himself.” The furniture in the living room was solid and particularly awkward. Each piece of furniture seemed to proudly say: “And I, too, are Sobakevich!” There was no point in arguing with this. The description of Sobakevich’s interior in the poem “Dead Souls” cannot be called complete. The classic describes only individual pieces of furniture, those that attracted the guest’s attention:
- The Bureau. A desk with shelves and drawers is the decoration of the living room. The shape of the table is a pot-bellied product with four legs. The legs were, in Chichikov’s opinion, absolutely ridiculous. This description reminds us of the order with which the landowner runs his household.
There is a cage with a thrush in the living room. The bird was no exception in the interior of the room. She also resembled Sobakevich in appearance. Dark plumage, white speckles and constant beak tapping. The blackbird was collecting grains of grain at the bottom of a wooden house. His knock interrupts the silence that reigns in the house after heavy meals. No one expects singing from the bird, only a dull, monotonous knock.
Sobakevich - “medium-sized bear”
The house resembles a wooden fortress: simple, strong, massive and not exactly elegant.
“... In a word, everything he looked at was stubborn, without swaying, in some kind of strong and clumsy order...”
“Sobakevich’s manor house looks like a house from a military settlement - simple and not at all ornate: ... in the middle one could see a wooden house with a mezzanine, a red roof and dark gray or, better yet, wild walls - a house like the ones we build for the military settlements and German colonists..."
For the owner, the main criterion in the interior is convenience.
“... It was noticeable that during its construction the architect was constantly struggling with the taste of the owner. The architect was a pedant and wanted symmetry, the owner wanted convenience and, apparently, as a result, boarded up all the corresponding windows on one side and screwed in their place one small one, probably needed for a dark closet ... "
The interior design of the home is as rough and clumsy as the owner himself. All the furniture looks somehow bearish.
“... Chichikov looked around the room again, and everything that was in it was solid, awkward to the highest degree and had some strange resemblance to the owner of the house himself; in the corner of the living room stood a pot-bellied walnut bureau on the most absurd four legs, a perfect bear. The table, armchairs, chairs - everything was of the heaviest and most restless quality - in a word, every object, every chair seemed to say: “And I, too, Sobakevich!” or: “And I also look very much like Sobakevich!”...
Sobakevich bears little resemblance to other landowners. He is a prudent owner, an enterprising trader and a tight fist. Through the strength and massiveness of the interior, Gogol shows the iron and unshakable character of the hero, a man full of strength, health and confidence.
Read also
The story of how one man fed two generals The Grandfather's Story (N.A. Nekrasov) The Song of the Falcon (Maxim Gorky) Poor people (F.M. Dostoevsky)
Author: · 04/26/2019
(339 words) The interior decoration of the room plays an important role in N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”. The environment in which the landowners live and the interior items help reveal the character of the characters in the work. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the author pays attention to every detail in the landowner’s house. Together with Chichikov we travel through the estates of the heroes, the fourth in a row is Sobakevich.
- Images and characteristics of landowners in the poem “Dead Souls” in the table: description of character, estate, peasants
All objects in Sobakevich’s house indicate the nature of the character. The author likens him to an animal - he looked like a “medium-sized bear.” All objects were “heavy”, reflecting his rudeness and straightforwardness. Thus, the walls in Sobakevich’s room were covered with paintings of generals with “thick thighs” who looked like the landowner himself. Everything in the room resembled Sobakevich, even the blackbird. And the chairs, table, armchairs were of the most “heavy and restless quality” (the walnut bureau, standing in the corner of the living room on “absurd” legs, was “a perfect bear”).
A special feature of the hero is a thrifty attitude towards his household. Unlike the estates of other landowners, everything on Sobakevich’s estate was distinguished by its durability. For example, the well on the estate was made of strong oak, which was usually used to build ships. Even in his room there was furniture that was rough, but strong, durable, and practical.
The hero's straightforwardness is also reflected in the interior items. Thus, in Sobakevich’s house, “symmetry” has always struggled with “convenience,” which is why some details of the furnishings are distinguished by their “clumsiness” and strangeness. The character ordered that the extra windows be boarded up, so there was always little light in the room. In his opinion, one should adhere to simplicity in everything and strive for the highest convenience. The fourth column, no matter how hard the architect fought, was demolished because the owner considered that it would be superfluous.
During lunch, the character of the hero also emerged. When it comes to food, Sobakevich prefers simplicity and abundance to excess. The character had a small table in the dining room, but it was always filled with large, heavy dishes. At lunch, Chichikov was treated to huge cheesecakes, radish jam, lamb stomach and other delicacies. Sobakevich, being healthy and strong, always eats a lot and satisfyingly.
Sobakevich is a clumsy, straightforward, rude character. N.V. Gogol likens it to an animal - a bear. To better reveal this image, you should pay special attention to the interior details of his huge, ridiculous house. All objects seem to shout: “And I, too, are Sobakevich!” The furniture is distinguished by its strength and heaviness, and the details of the furnishings show the hero’s desire for simplicity and convenience.
Author: Anastasia Smetanova
The bearish character affected the interior decoration of the landowner's house. Sobakevich's interior looks similar to the owner. Everything in the house is bear-like, clumsy, rough and large.
+
