“We all left the Hololev's“ Overcoat ”” - what does this phrase mean and who said it? These words are often attributed to Dostoevsky, while the French writer and diplomat Eugene Melchior de Vogue uttered them. The characterization of Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin by the author was unambiguous at first glance: a small person who could only dream of a new overcoat. But why did the hero of Gogol become one of the most significant and important characters in Russian literature?
The story "The Overcoat" was written on the basis of a "clerical anecdote." A certain official was saving up a gun for a long time, the loss of which became a real tragedy for him. "The Overcoat" is a tale of a miserable, clogged official. It has typical Gogol's humor, but at the same time it is a profound work permeated by humanism.
Eternal Titular Advisor
The characteristic of Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin is given in the first paragraph of the story. He was an unremarkable man, a titular adviser. Here it is worth saying a few words about the rank of Bashmachkin.
In pre-revolutionary Russia there was a classification of ranks. Each rank corresponds to a specific value and status. The titular adviser had few opportunities to move up the career ladder. A small salary was due to him. So, Bashmachkin received 400 rubles a year, which was barely enough for meager food and accommodation in a modest St. Petersburg apartment. We can say that Bashmachkin was begging, like hundreds of small officials like him.
More important than the titular adviser was college. The trouble is that this rank was unattainable for Akaky Akakievich. A college adviser could be a man of noble origin. The Gogolev hero, apparently, was a commoner.
Description of Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin: a modest, unremarkable official who does not have outstanding abilities, ambition and any aspirations in life. Those like him were called "eternal titular advisers." Bashmachkin was doomed to occupy an insignificant position in the department. But this did not upset him.
Favorite affair of Bashmachkin
Akaki Akakievich did simple work from morning till night: he copied papers. He very much loved this occupation, and did not dream of anything else. Bashmachkin took work home. He had supper in a hurry, not feeling the taste of food, and sat down again for copying papers. One day, a compassionate boss entrusted him with a more significant task. It was necessary not only to rewrite the document, but also to change the name and several verbs. But Bashmachkin failed. He sweated and got nervous, then said: “No, let me rewrite something.”
The description of Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin will be supplemented by a description of the appearance. He was short, bald, with a hemorrhoidal complexion. This man worked in the department for a very long time. So long ago that it seemed to young officials that he was born into such a way - with a bald head and uniform.
"Why are you offending me?"
This phrase has become key in the image of Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin. The first characterization of a little man was given by Pushkin in the novel "Station Warden". What kind of literary character is this? This is the image of a socially unprotected person, unhappy, lonely, miserable.
In the department, Bashmachkin is not respected even by the watchman. The bosses casually throw papers on the table for him, without even bothering to say: “Rewrite, please.” Young officials are making fun of the Gogol titular adviser. True, one of them once, having heard from Bashmachkin the phrase: “Why are you offending me?”, Was deeply amazed. In these words he heard "I am your brother." The young official henceforth did not allow himself rude jokes about Bashmachkin. And he could not forget the image of a small unfortunate man for a long time.
In the story of Gogol, there are two images of Bashmachkin: external and internal. The first is a reserved, unsociable bureaucrat who painstakingly rewrites papers. The inner man in the image of Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin is completely different. He is cheerful, open. It is enough to recall the state of an official after acquiring an overcoat.
The goal of Bashmachkin
Of particular note is the garment, the name of which is placed in the title of the story. The overcoat here is not just a thing that, if it is sewn well and soundly, saves from severe frosts in St. Petersburg. This is an image symbolizing the social status of an official. Bashmachkin had a thin overcoat that did not save at all from the weather. Then he finally decided to order a new one. For a person who receives a salary of four hundred rubles a year, this is not easy.
The description of Bashmachkin Akakiy Akakievich presented above will complement the manner of expressing oneself. The official was extremely tongue-tied. I used to express my thoughts in prepositions and adverbs. Often he didn’t finish the sentence at all, he said something like: "this is absolutely that ... right."
Something like that he erupted in the house of Petrovich, a tailor who had darned his old overcoat more than once. He refused to once again put patches and advised to sew a new one. So Bashmachkin had a goal.
He began to save for a new greatcoat. Akaki Akakievich stopped drinking tea in the evenings, did not light candles, stepped more carefully so as not to spoil the outsole on his boots, the laundress gave his linen less and less. At home I went in a bathrobe so as not to demolish the suit and insure ourselves against possible expenses.
He had been dreaming of a new greatcoat for so long that he loved her with all his heart. Even before he had accumulated a tailor's work for cloth. Every day he went to Petrovich to discuss a new thing. The overcoat for Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin became not just a thing, but a beloved friend, almost a living creature.
Happy officer
So, Bashmachkin has been starving for several months: he is saving for a new overcoat. Finally, she is ready. Petrovich brings Akaki Akakievich a new thing in the morning. The official is sent to the department in a completely festive mood. Surprisingly, everyone there learns about the new overcoat of Akaki Akakievich, that the old, which, by the way, was called the hood, no longer exists. Bashmachkin is congratulated, attention is paid to him, which has never happened in the department for many years. Moreover, the chief invites Akaky Akakievich to his name day.
The tragedy of Bashmachkin
But the little official’s happiness was short-lived. In the new overcoat, he goes on a birthday to the head captain. Here he is again congratulated on the new thing, persuaded to drink. After two glasses of champagne, life is presented to Akaky Akakievich in rainbow colors. However, he remembers that it’s already late hour, it’s time to go home. Bashmachkin quietly leaves the house of the clerk. On the way home he meets robbers who take off his overcoat.
Official death
The next day, Bashmachkin went to the department in the entire famous hood. Many felt sorry for him, advised to turn to one significant person: perhaps he will help to find the robbers who stole a new greatcoat. Akaki Akakievich did just that. But the significant face was a very formidable face, at least he wanted to appear as such. The boss did not listen to Bashmachkin, on the contrary, pounced on him so that he almost lost his spirit right in his office.
Ghost
When the official died, no one noticed. The department learned about his death only four days after the funeral. The Bashmachkins met, of course, not only among officials of the 19th century. Similar people, driven, unhappy, unprotected, exist today.
Gogol concluded the story with a fantastic ending. His hero, as a reward for his inconspicuous life, still lived for several days after his death. Soon rumors about a ghost went around Petersburg. It was a dead official who was looking for the missing overcoat. He instilled fear in the townspeople, and only disappeared after he met the very general who had instilled fear in him shortly before his death. The ghost took off his greatcoat from a significant face, and then disappeared forever. The boss, a man, in fact, not evil, for a long time could not forgive the death of Bashmachkin.