Gogol's "The Soul of Death" Synopsis - A Masterpiece Considered the Greatest in Russian Literature
The Dead Soul is Gogol's masterpiece, a full-length novel published in 1842.
I read "The Complete Works of Gogol 5: The Soul of Death, Part I" translated by Nakamura Toru, Kawade Shobo Shinsha.
There are two parts to "The Soul of the Dead," Part I and Part II, but since Gogol had a mental crisis in Part II, and since his life was unfinished, "The Soul of the Dead" generally refers only to Part I.
Let's take a quick look at the synopsis.
In imperial Russia under the serf system, landlords had serfs, and serfs were subject to a per capita tax. For this purpose, a survey of serfs' households was conducted every seven to ten years.
Therefore, serfs who are no longer with the landowner due to illness or escape, for example, are considered to be alive in the family register until the next survey, and of course, serfs are allowed to buy and sell.
The cunning hero of the film, Tchichkov, takes over such "serfs who exist only in the family register" from various landowners, pretends to be a landowner with a large number of serfs in his name, and borrows a large sum of money from the bank using the registered serfs (who do not exist, of course) as collateral. The scheme was to borrow large sums of money from the bank using the registered serfs (who, of course, did not exist) as collateral.
The landowner, on the other hand, would no longer have to pay taxes, the registration fee would be theirs, and they would even receive some money to take over the property.
Thus, the ulterior motive of the hero, Tchichkov, set out to purchase goods all over Russia, targeting regions where plagues, disasters, and famines had occurred and as many serfs as possible had died or fled.
The author's goal was to clearly depict the types of landowners the protagonist met on his itinerant journey, and how he negotiated with them to acquire their land. The reader is also led along by the author, and is shown various types of Russian landowners and their lifestyles.
Kawade Shobo Shinsha, Nakamura Toru's translation of "The Complete Works of Gogol 5: The Soul of Death, Part I," p. 395
Some line breaks have been made.
A dead soul was a serf who existed only in the family register.
However, what Gogol really wanted to depict in this work was the ecology of the landowners that the protagonist Chichkov encounters.
Manilov, a sweet-natured sentimentalist who lives in an unrealistic dream; Korobochka, a whiny, superstitious, miserly, and stubborn landlady; Nosudryov, a brash ruffian who gambles with carts, horses, dogs, carriages, and anything else he can think of; Prushkin, a miser who never sees a nail or rag on the street, and is as clean as a whistle after passing by it; and Shagdarov, a bear, dull and coarse, a man who is as greedy and arrogant as a bear. Or the stingy Prushkin, who never misses a nail or a rag on the street and cleans up after himself as if he had just licked it; or Sobakevich, who is as slow and rough as a bear, gluttonous, and even a tongue-twister. ......
The reader can see the scenes in which these landowners expose their individual personalities to the fullest in their negotiations with Tichkov on the transfer of serfs, but what is vividly brought out in vivid relief is the hideous ecology of the landowners in darkest Russia, who do not want to be drugged by the light of reason, sense, or any other intelligence. What is vividly brought out in vivid relief in these scenes is the hideous ecology of the horribly inhuman landowners who are literally crawling around in darkest Russia, who do not want to be medicated with the light of intelligence, such as reason or sense, and who are "dead souls" who have lost all humanity under the serf system.
The author's subject, as I have already mentioned, is the image of these people who have lost their human "soul" and have fallen as far as they can fall, leaving only their instincts exposed, and Pushkin, who gave this theme to him, would never have thought that the author would go so far as to expose the dark side of his homeland, Russia. I am sure that Pushkin, who gave this theme to him, never imagined that the author would go so far as to expose the dark side of his native Russia.
Kawade Shobo Shinsha, Nakamura Toru's translation of "The Complete Works of Gogol 5: The Soul of Death, Part I" p396
The dead souls were not only non-existent serfs, but also corrupt people who were the dark side of Russia.
And as mentioned at the end of the above commentary, this is actually the work in which Pushkin gave up the theme to Gogol. Here is how it happened.
Gogol first gained personal access to Pushkin in 1831, and the then 22-year-old has been a student of the senior artist ever since.
His devotion to Gogol can be clearly seen in "A Few Words About Pushkin," a favorable essay written in 1832 and also included in this collection.
How can you have such a gift for penetrating the human heart and suddenly bringing a whole character to life with just a few characteristics, and yet not work on a major painting? (Gogol, "Confessions of an Author").
And shortly after Belinsky's article, "Mr. Gogol's Russian Novels," appeared in the September issue of Telescope in 1835, he gave Gogol the subject matter of his work, which until then he had been keeping for his own work without giving it to anyone. That was the theme of "The Soul of the Dead.
Kawade Shobo Shinsha, Nakamura Toru's translation of "The Complete Works of Gogol 5: The Soul of Death, Part I," p. 389
Some line breaks have been made.
Gogol had studied directly under Pushkin. Here was the great Pushkin-Gogol relationship that created the Pushkin-Gogol stream of Russian literature.
Gogol developed the themes handed down to him by such a respected teacher, Pushkin.
The translator, Nakamura Toru, praised the work as follows
Today, anyone who is even remotely familiar with Russian literature immediately associates Gogol with "The Dead Souls," which is so important in Gogol's oeuvre that it has a prominent place in his entire oeuvre. This work occupies such an important position in Gogol's oeuvre that the major characteristic of his technique-an extraordinary plasticity and vividness of form-is really at its extreme in "The Dead Souls.
The extraordinary imagination of the author in this work (recalling that it was written during his stay abroad, as mentioned above) is perhaps the most outstanding of all Russian literary works. (omitted).
It is no wonder that he is called the father of realism in modern Russia and that the 40s of the 19th century, when he was active, is called the "Gogol era" in the history of literature. It is quite natural that he is called the father of realist literature in modern Russia, and that the 40s of the 19th century, when he was active, is called the "Gogol era" in literary history.
Kawade Shobo Shinsha, Nakamura Toru's translation of "The Complete Works of Gogol 5: The Soul of Death, Part I" p396-397
The Dead Souls" was such a huge presence in Russian literature.
It is believed that Dostoevsky was also very fond of this work.
A realistic portrayal of Russian reality.
The common theme of later Russian writers was clearly demonstrated by this work.
The above is a summary of Gogol's "The Dead Souls" - a work that has been called the greatest work in the history of Russian literature.
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