Scene Analysis of Gogol’s Dead Souls

Scene Analysis of Gogol’s Dead Souls Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Scene Analysis of Gogol’s Dead Souls Nikolai Gogol’s work has greatly interested scholars because of his artistry and his ability to stay true to himself. In the novel, Dead Souls, Gogol dares to portray the variety of things that befall a man’s eye every moment but often goes unnoticed. When Chichikov finally convinced Korobochka to sell her dead serfs, Chichikov drew up the title deed from his chest. Gogol then goes ahead to provide a detailed description of the items that are included in the chest. The thorough description by the author targets the curiosity of the readers who are eager to know what is included in the chest. A variety of items are included in the chest with toiletries, calling cards, old ticket stubs, lids, partitioned receptacles, a small division as well as various other compartments (Gogol, 1997). The description raises the question of whether Gogol’s inclusion of Chichikov’s chest in the story is symbolic. Furthermore, the many occasions that Gogol describes Chichikov’s chest makes it more of a figure than just an essential item. The chest has various compartments, and other narrow divisions, which are filled with several different items. Similar to the chest, the novel has various stories within stories that each portrays different individual characters and psychological motivations which stem their immediacy and evocative power of a social world which is meticulously categorized. Gogol’s need to make an inventory of every item in Chichikov’s environment can be described as a response to the disturbing events that took place in the author’s environment during the time he wrote the novel. Gogol might have been looking for a means to portray the realities of the Russian society and try to provide meaning and order to the complexity of the Russian social society which had been greatly influenced by the Western cultures. The book was written in an era when the internal markets and the industries were developing (Woodward, 2015). Russia’s development during this period was characterized by the unification of the shift to a domestic market, which was at the time affected by the country’s issues. Gogol’s Dead Soul might have been sparked by the instability of the socioeconomic order that was triggered by western forces. The depiction of fragmented objects in the society as in Chichikov’s chest affected the purchasing behavior of people. For example, on viewing the chest, Korobocha was able to make an accurate guess of where Chichikov had purchased it, by stating that is was bought in Moscow. Korobocha’s ability to accurately attest to the exact place where the item was bought shows a certain degree of commodity fetishism (Lutz, 2001). Moreover, such an awareness also shows that the author was probably a member of the rising middle class since members of this group were most likely to identify valuable items accurately. Chichikov’s chest, together with his personality, also portrays him as a member of the rising middle class. It is as if Chichikov walked around with the chest purposefully as an indication that he belonged to a particular class in the society. The chest itself seemed to invoke a specific fee...