The role of lyrical digressions in the poem "dead souls". "Lyrical digressions" in the poem N

Lyrical digressions in the poem "Dead Souls" play a huge role. They are so organically included in the structure of this work that we can no longer imagine a poem without the magnificent monologues of the author. What is the role of lyrical digressions in the poem Agree, we constantly feel, thanks to their presence, the presence of Gogol, who shares with us his experiences and thoughts about this or that event. In this article we will talk about lyrical digressions in the poem "Dead Souls", talk about their role in the work.

The role of digressions

Nikolai Vasilievich becomes not just a guide leading the reader through the pages of the work. He is more of a close friend. Lyrical digressions in the poem "Dead Souls" encourage us to share with the author the emotions that overwhelm him. Often the reader expects that Gogol, with his inherent inimitable humor, will help him overcome sadness or indignation caused by the events in the poem. And sometimes we want to know the opinion of Nikolai Vasilyevich about what is happening. Lyrical digressions in the poem "Dead Souls", in addition, have great artistic power. We enjoy every image, every word, admiring their beauty and accuracy.

Opinions on lyrical digressions expressed by famous contemporaries of Gogol

Many of the author's contemporaries appreciated the work "Dead Souls". Lyrical digressions in the poem also did not go unnoticed. Some spoke about them famous people. For example, I. Herzen noted that a lyrical place illuminates, enlivens the narrative in order to be replaced again by a picture that reminds us even more clearly of what kind of hell we are in. The lyrical beginning of this work was also highly appreciated by V. G. Belinsky. He pointed to a humane, comprehensive and deep subjectivity, which reveals in the artist a person with a "sympathetic soul and a warm heart."

Thoughts shared by Gogol

The writer, with the help of lyrical digressions, expresses his own attitude not only to the events and people described by him. They contain, in addition, the affirmation of the high destiny of man, the significance of great public interests and ideas. The source of the author's lyricism is thoughts about serving his country, about its sorrows, destinies and hidden gigantic forces. This manifests itself regardless of whether Gogol expresses his anger or bitterness about the insignificance of the characters depicted by him, whether he talks about the role of the writer in modern society or about the lively Russian mind.

First retreats

With big artistic tact Gogol included non-plot elements in the work "Dead Souls". Lyrical digressions in the poem are at first only the statements of Nikolai Vasilyevich about the heroes of the work. However, as the plot develops, the themes become more varied.

Gogol, having talked about Korobochka and Manilov, briefly interrupts his narration, as if he wants to step aside for a while, so that the reader can better understand the picture of life he has drawn. For example, the digression that interrupts the story of Korobochka Nastasya Petrovna in the work contains a comparison of her with a "sister" belonging to an aristocratic society. Despite a slightly different appearance, she does not differ in any way from the local mistress.

lovely blonde

Chichikov on the road after visiting Nozdryov meets a beautiful blonde on his way. A remarkable lyrical digression ends the description of this meeting. Gogol writes that everywhere a person will meet at least once on the way a phenomenon that is unlike anything that he has ever seen before, and will awaken in him a new feeling that is not like the usual. However, this is completely alien to Chichikov: the cold prudence of this hero is compared with the manifestation of feelings inherent in man.

Digressions in chapters 5 and 6

The lyrical digression at the end of the fifth chapter has a completely different character. The author here is not talking about his hero, not about his attitude to this or that character, but about the talent of the Russian people, about a powerful man living in Russia. as if unrelated to the previous development of the action. However, it is very important for revealing the main idea of ​​the poem: true Russia is not boxes, nostrils and dogs, but the element of the people.

Closely connected with lyrical statements devoted to the national character and the Russian word, and an inspired confession about youth, about Gogol's perception of life, which opens the sixth chapter.

The angry words of Nikolai Vasilyevich, having a generalizing deep meaning, interrupts the story of Plyushkin, who embodied base feelings and aspirations with the greatest force. Gogol is indignant at what "muck, pettiness and insignificance" a person could reach.

The author's reasoning in the 7th chapter

Nikolai Vasilyevich begins the seventh chapter with discussions about life and creative destiny writer in a society contemporary to him. He talks about two different destinies that await him. A writer can become a creator of "exalted images" or a satirist, a realist. This lyrical digression reflects Gogol's views on art, as well as the author's attitude towards the people and the ruling elites in society.

"Happy Traveler..."

Another digression, beginning with the words "Happy traveler ...", is milestone plot development. It separates one part of the story from another. The statements of Nikolai Vasilyevich illuminate the meaning and essence of both the previous and subsequent paintings of the poem. This lyrical digression is directly related to the folk scenes depicted in the seventh chapter. It plays a very important role in the composition of the poem.

Statements about estates and ranks

In the chapters devoted to the image of the city, we find Gogol's statements about estates and ranks. He says that they are so "annoyed" that everything that is in the printed book seems "personal" to them. Apparently, this is the "arrangement in the air."

Reflections on the delusions of man

We see the lyrical digressions of the poem "Dead Souls" throughout the story. Gogol ends the description of the general confusion with reflections on the false ways of man, his delusions. Humanity has made many mistakes in its history. The current generation arrogantly laughs at this, although it itself begins to whole line new delusions. His descendants in the future will laugh at the current generation.

Last Retreats

Gogol's civic pathos reaches its special strength in the digression "Rus! Rus!...". It shows, as well as the lyrical monologue placed at the beginning of the 7th chapter, a distinct line between the links of the narrative - the story of the origin of the protagonist (Chichikov) and city scenes. Here the theme of Russia has already been developed widely. It is "uncomfortable, scattered, poor." However, this is where heroes are born. The author, after this, shares with us the thoughts that were inspired by the racing troika and the distant road. Nikolai Vasilievich paints pictures of his native Russian nature one after another. They appear before the gaze of a traveler rushing along the autumn road on fast horses. Despite the fact that the image of the troika bird has been left behind, in this lyrical digression we feel it again.

The story about Chichikov ends with the author's statement, which is a sharp objection as to who main character and the work as a whole, depicting "contemptible and bad", can shock.

What do the lyrical digressions reflect and what remains unanswered?

The author's sense of patriotism is reflected in the lyrical digressions in N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls". The image of Russia, which completes the work, is fanned deep love. He embodied the ideal that lit the way for the artist when depicting a vulgar petty life.

Speaking about the role and place of lyrical digressions in the poem "Dead Souls", I would like to note one curious moment. Despite the numerous arguments of the author, the most important question for Gogol remains unanswered. And this question is, where is Russia rushing to. You will not find the answer to it by reading the lyrical digressions in Gogol's Dead Souls. Only the Almighty could know what awaited this country, "inspired by God," at the end of the journey.

The book "Dead Souls" by Gogol can rightly be called a poem. This right is given by special poetry, musicality, expressiveness of the language of the work, saturated with such figurative comparisons and metaphors, which can only be found in poetic speech. And most importantly - the constant presence of the author makes this work lyrical-epic.

Lyrical digressions permeate the entire artistic canvas of "Dead Souls". It is lyrical digressions that determine the ideological and compositional and genre originality Gogol's poems, its poetic beginning, associated with the image of the author. As the plot develops, new lyrical digressions appear, each of which clarifies the thought of the previous one, develops new ideas, and more and more clarifies the author's intention.

It is noteworthy that "dead souls" are saturated with lyrical digressions unevenly. Until the fifth chapter, only minor lyrical insertions come across, and only at the end of this chapter does the author place the first major lyrical digression about "a myriad of churches" and how "the Russian people express themselves strongly." This author's reasoning leads to the following idea: here not only the apt Russian word but also God's word, spiritualizing it. It seems that both the motive of the church, which is found for the first time in the poem in this chapter, and the noted parallel vernacular and God's word, indicate that it is in the lyrical digressions of the poem that some spiritual instruction of the writer is concentrated.

On the other hand, the widest range of the author's moods is expressed in lyrical digressions. Admiration for the accuracy of the Russian word and the glibness of the Russian mind at the end of Chapter 5 is replaced by a sad and elegiac reflection on the passing youth and maturity, on the “loss of living movement” (the beginning of the sixth chapter). At the end of this digression, Gogol directly addresses the reader: “Take with you on the road, emerging from your soft youthful years into severe, hardening courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you will not lift them up later! Terrible, terrible is the coming old age ahead, and gives nothing back and back!

A complex range of feelings is expressed in a lyrical digression at the beginning of the next seventh chapter. Comparing the fates of the two writers, the author bitterly speaks of the moral and aesthetic deafness of the “modern court”, which does not recognize that “glasses looking around the suns and conveying the movements of unnoticed insects are equally wonderful”, that “high enthusiastic laughter is worthy to stand next to the high lyrical movement ".

Here the author proclaims a new ethical system, later supported by natural school, – ethics of love-hate: love for bright side national life, to living souls, presupposes hatred for the negative aspects of being, for dead souls. The author perfectly understands what he is dooming himself to, embarking on the path of “denouncing the crowd, its passions and delusions”, persecution and persecution by false patriots, rejection of compatriots, but courageously chooses this path.

Such an ethical system makes the artist perceive literature as a tool for correcting human vices, primarily with the purifying power of laughter, "high, enthusiastic laughter"; the modern court does not understand that this laughter "is worthy to stand next to a lofty lyrical movement and that there is a whole abyss between it and the antics of a farce buffoon."

At the end of this digression, the author’s mood changes dramatically: he becomes an exalted prophet, his gaze opens up a “terrible blizzard of inspiration”, which “rises from the head clothed in holy horror and in the brilliance”, and then his readers “smell in embarrassed awe the majestic thunder of other speeches ".

The author, rooting for Russia, who sees in his literary work the way to improve morals, instruct fellow citizens, eradicate vice, shows us images of living souls, a people that bears a living principle in itself. In a lyrical digression at the beginning of the seventh chapter, the peasants bought by Chichikov from Sobakevich, Korobochka, Plyushkin come to life before our eyes. The author, as if intercepting internal monologue his hero, speaks of them as if they were alive, shows the truly living soul of the dead or fugitive peasants.

What appears here is not a generalized image of Russian peasants, but specific people with real features, written out in detail. This is the carpenter Stepan Cork - "a hero who would be fit for the guard", who, perhaps, went all over Russia "with an ax in his belt and boots on his shoulders." This is Abakum Fyrov, who walks on the grain pier with barge haulers and merchants, having worked out under "one endless, like Russia, song." The image of Abakum indicates the love of the Russian people for a free, wild life, festivities and fun, despite the forced serf life, hard work.

In the plot of the poem, we see other examples of the people, enslaved, downtrodden and socially humiliated. Enough to remember vivid images Uncle Mitya and Uncle Minya with their fuss and confusion, the girls Pelageya, who cannot tell where is right and where is left, Plyushkin's Proshka and Mavra.

But in lyrical digressions we find the author's dream of the ideal of man, as he can and should be. In the final 11 chapter, the lyrical-philosophical meditation on Russia and the vocation of the writer, whose “head was overshadowed by a formidable cloud heavy with coming rains”, replaces the panegyric of the road, the hymn to the movement - the source of “wonderful ideas, poetic dreams”, “wonderful impressions”.

So the two most important themes of the author's reflections - the theme of Russia and the theme of the road - merge in a lyrical digression, which completes the first volume of the poem. "Rus-troika", "all inspired by God", appears in it as a vision of the author, who seeks to understand the meaning of its movement; "Rus, where are you going? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer."

The image of Russia created in this final lyrical digression, and the author's rhetorical question addressed to her, echoes Pushkin's image of Russia - the "proud horse" - created in the poem "The Bronze Horseman", and with the rhetorical question that sounds there: "And in this horse what a fire! Where are you galloping, proud horse, / And where will you lower your hooves?

Both Pushkin and Gogol passionately desired to understand the meaning and purpose of the historical movement in Russia. And in " The Bronze Horseman", and in " Dead souls"The artistic result of the reflections of each of the writers was the image of an uncontrollably rushing country, striving for the future, disobeying its" riders ": the formidable Peter, who "raised Russia on its hind legs", stopping its spontaneous movement, and the "non-smokers", whose immobility sharply contrasts with "terrifying movement" of the country.

In the high lyrical pathos of the author, whose thoughts are directed to the future, in his reflections on Russia, its path and fate, the most important idea of ​​the entire poem was expressed. The author reminds us of what is hidden behind the “mud of trifles that have entangled our lives” depicted in Volume 1, behind the “cold, fragmented everyday characters that our earthly, sometimes bitter and boring road is teeming with.”

It is not without reason that in the conclusion of Volume 1 he speaks of the “wonderful, beautiful far away” from which he looks at Russia. This is an epic distance that attracts him with its “secret power”, the distance of the “mighty space” of Russia and the distance of historical time: “What does this immense expanse prophesy? Is it not here, in you, that an infinite thought is born, when you yourself are without end? Is there not a hero to be here when there is a place where to turn around and walk for him?

The heroes depicted in the story of Chichikov's "adventures" are devoid of such qualities, they are not heroes, but ordinary people with their weaknesses and vices. In the poetic image of Russia, created by the author in lyrical digressions, there is no place for them;

Only the author himself, endowed with the knowledge of true Russia, the "terrible power" and "unnatural power" he received from the Russian land, becomes the only true hero of volume 1 of the poem. He appears in lyrical digressions as a prophet, bringing the light of knowledge to people: “Who, if not the author, should tell the holy truth?”

But, as it is said, there are no prophets in their own country. The author's voice, sounded from the pages of the lyrical digressions of the poem "Dead Souls", was heard by few of his contemporaries, and even less understood. Gogol later tried to convey his ideas in the artistic and journalistic book "Selected passages from correspondence with friends", and in the "Author's confession", and - most importantly - in subsequent volumes of the poem. But all his attempts to reach the minds and hearts of his contemporaries were in vain. Who knows, maybe only now the time has come to discover the real Gogol's word, and it is up to us to do this.

The poem "Dead Souls" differs in genre from other works of Russian literature. Lyrical digressions make it even more striking. They prove that N.V. Gogol created a poem, but not in verse, but in prose.

The role of retreats

N.V. Gogol is constantly present in the text of the poem. The reader feels it all the time, sometimes he seems to forget about the plot of the text, takes him aside. Why does the great classic do this:

• Helps to more easily survive the indignation caused by the actions of the characters.
• Adds humor to the text.
• Creates separate independent works.
• Changes the impression general description the routine life of landowners who have lost their souls.

The writer wants the reader to know his relationship to events and people. That is why he shares his thoughts, shows anger or regret.

Philosophical reasoning

Some digressions offer to speculate on the peculiarities of the human personality and being.

• About thick and thin. The writer divides men into two kinds depending on completeness. He finds the distinctive properties of their character. Thin dodgy, unreliable. Easily adapt to situations and change their behavior. Fat people are businessmen who more often gain weight in society.
• Two types of characters. Large portraits and difficult for portrait painters. Some are open and understandable, others hide not only their appearance, but everything inside.
• Passion and man. Human feelings vary in strength. It can be visited by the most beautiful passions, or by low and petty ones. Someone dreams of insignificant trinkets, but somewhere a feeling is born great love. Passion changes a person, it can turn him into a worm, lead to the loss of his soul.
• About scoundrels and virtues. How do scoundrels appear? The classic believes that the fault is in the acquisition. The stronger the desire of a person to acquire, the faster he loses virtues.
• About a human. Age changes personality. It's hard to imagine being old. The young man hardens and loses humanity on the path of life. Even the grave is more merciful: it is written about the burial of a person. Old age loses its sensuality, it is cold and lifeless.

Love for Russia

Such retreats clearly show the peculiarity of Russian man and nature. The author's boundless love for the motherland is higher than other feelings. No barriers will stop Russia. She will endure and come out on a wide clear road, she will get out of all the contradictions of life.

• Russia - Troika. The road along which the country is carrying arouses delight in Gogol's soul. Russia is free, she loves speed, movement. The author believes that the country will find a way to a happy future for the people.
• Roads. Retreat roads are a force that conquers a person. He cannot sit still, he strives forward. Roads help him to see something new, to look at himself from the outside. The road at night, bright day and clear morning is different. But she's always good.
• Rus. Gogol is transferred to the beautiful far away and tries to examine the Russian expanses. He admires the beauty, the ability to hide the longing, sadness and tears of the inhabitants. The expanse of the country conquers and frightens. Why is it given to Russia?
• Russian communication. Gogol compares the treatment of Russians with other peoples. The landlords of the province change the style of conversation depending on the state of the interlocutor: the number of souls. The “Prometheus” of the office becomes a “partridge” at the door of the authorities. A person changes even outwardly, he becomes lower in servility, louder and bolder with the lower class.
• Russian speech. The word spoken by the Russian people is accurate and weighty. It can be compared to things cut down with an axe. The word, created by the Russian mind, comes from the very heart. It is "bashful, smart", reflects the character and identity of the people.

Individual stories

Some of the lyrical digressions have their own plot. They can be read as an independent work, taken out of the context of the poem. They will not lose their meaning.

• The Tale of Captain Kopeikin. The brightest part of the book. The censorship sought to remove the story from Dead Souls. The story of a participant in the war, seeking help from the authorities, is a difficult one. Having achieved nothing, he is served as a robber.
• Kif Mokievich and Mokiy Kifovich. Two characters living by their own laws connect all the characters that have passed before the reader. A strong Mokii wastes what is given to him from God. Bogatyrs are brought out, turn into weak-minded people. They, endowed with special qualities, do not understand who they could become, what benefit they can bring to the people.
• Peasants of the village Vshivaya arrogance. Talented people are enslaved, but remain hardworking and bright. A story about how, during a popular uprising in a village with a speaking (as Gogol loves) name

MUNICIPAL BUDGET GENERAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION OF MUNICIPALITY KRASNODAR CITY

SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL SCHOOL № 66 NAMED AFTER YEVGENIY DOROSH

METHODOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IN LITERATURE

Topic:

“Lyrical digressions in the poem by N.V. Gogol

Stepanyan A.S.,

teacher of Russian language and literature

MBOU secondary school No. 66

I. Introduction.

1. The significance of N.V. Gogol for Russian literature and for Russia.

II. Main part

"Dead Souls" - the pinnacle of Gogol's work.

The idea and history of the creation of the work.

Composition of Gogol's poem

Lyrical digressions and their role in "Dead Souls"

III. Conclusion.

1. The value of Gogol's work for modern reader.

"... For a long time there has not been a writer in the world who would be as important for his people as Gogol for Russia." This is how the leader of Russian democracy N.G. Chernyshevsky wrote about Gogol when Gogol was no longer alive. And not only Chernyshevsky, many great Russian critics and writers pointed to great value Gogol both in literature and “for Russia” in general.

Why is Gogol so important? Gogol turned literature into a formidable weapon. Gogol's satire was such a weapon. truthful satirical works the writer was mercilessly ridiculed and exposed the rulers tsarist Russia. With his works, Gogol awakened the consciousness of the people.

Gogol's works are filled with ardent love for common people, to "little people". The writer believed in the mighty forces of the people, in the great future of his Motherland. He was proud of its glorious history.

In Russian literature, Gogol finally established critical realism.

The poem "Dead Souls" is the pinnacle of Gogol's work. All the main features of his talent found their highest expression in it: deep realism, folk, lyrical animation and endless humor, turning into a formidable, punishing laugh.

When we read Dead Souls, we laugh at first. We laugh at the comic animation with which Gogol narrates about Mr. middle class, entering the city of K, we laugh at the reasoning of two peasants about the wheel of a passing britzka, over a dandy in very narrow and short canine trousers. And we continue to laugh further, reading the poem, as Pushkin and all reading Russia laughed, for the first time getting acquainted with the wonderful work of Gogol. However, laughter soon gives way to reflection, and it becomes quite clear that there is nothing comic and funny in the poem, as in all Gogol's works, that in it there is no intention in a single word to make the reader laugh: everything in it is "serious, calm, true and deep”, as V. G. Belinsky wrote.

First of all, I would like to talk about the history of the creation of the work.

Gogol began writing Dead Souls in 1835. A.S. Pushkin gave him a plot for comic story about how a fraudulent official is trying to get rich by buying dead serfs from landowners. When Gogol in the summer of 1835 read his travel notes, sketches and sketches from nature to A.S. Pushkin, he was amazed at Gogol's observational skills and the accuracy of sketches of people and characters. “How,” he exclaimed, “with this ability to guess a person and a few features to suddenly expose him as if he were alive, with this ability not to start big essay!" And Gogol, working on the comedy "Inspector General", begins to write his poem.

In 1836, The Inspector General was printed and shown in the theatre. He was a resounding success with the democratic public. A.S. Pushkin, V.G. Belinsky, Herzen and other leading writers enthusiastically welcomed the comedy as historical event in public life Russia. But the idea of ​​comedy was well understood by the defenders of the autocracy, whom the satirist ridiculed angrily. They declared Gogol a dangerous writer. The tsar forbade the production of The Inspector General in theaters, and a furious persecution of Gogol began. With bitterness, Gogol wrote: “The police are against me, the merchants are against me, the writers are against me ... Now I see what it means to be comic writer. The slightest ghost of truth - and not one person, but entire estates will rise up against you ... ”Aet in 1836, the hunted writer was forced to leave Russia. Gogol lived most of all in Italy. In Rome, Gogol completed work on Dead Souls. The writer devoted 6 years to the first volume. In the autumn of 1841, Gogol brought the first volume ready for printing to Moscow, but censorship difficulties arose. “The blow is by no means unexpected for me: the entire manuscript is banned,” Gogol told Pletnev.

The chairman of the Moscow censorship committee rebelled against the title of the poem: "No, I will never allow this: the soul is immortal!" It was explained to a nearby official that they were talking about dead souls of the revisionists. The chairman sternly replied that "this, and even more so, cannot be allowed. It means against serfdom."

Gogol sent the manuscript of the poem to Petersburg. The writer's friends, including Belinsky, helped the author overcome censorship resistance. Gogol had to make significant changes. In May 1842 Dead Souls was published.

Under serfdom, the landlords owned the peasants. They could sell peasants, change them, give them as collateral, i.e. put in the bank, getting money for them. But for their peasants, the landlords were obliged to pay taxes or taxes to the state treasury. To this end, the government periodically audited and compiled lists of serfs (these lists were called "revision tales"), according to which the landowners paid taxes until the next revision. The landlords also had to pay taxes for those peasants who died between revisions. The landowners, therefore, were interested in getting rid of the "dead souls" and not paying taxes on them.

The plot of Gogol's poem is connected with these circumstances of the era of serfdom. Its hero, a retired official Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, decided to take advantage of the existing order in order to make capital and get rich. He travels around the estates of landowners and buys "dead souls" from them. The landlords give them to him almost for nothing. Chichikov then hopes to either put the "dead souls" in the bank, receiving money for them as if they were alive, or pass for a rich man and marry a really rich landowner.

Although Chichikov is actively involved in all the events that take place, the plot of the work goes beyond the history of his life, his personal fate. Dead Souls is a book about Russia, not about Chichikov. This is how the author understood his great intention. Here is how Gogol shared his idea with Zhukovsky: “If I make this creation the way it needs to be done, then what a huge, what original plot! What a varied bunch! All Russia will appear in it!”

"Dead Souls" is a major prose work, which in its content and construction is close to the novel. But in some ways it differs from the novel. The epic narrative, that is, the description of events, the action and actions of the heroes of the work, pictures of life - which is also characteristic of the novel - is combined in Dead Souls with numerous authorial, or lyrical digressions, reflections. Such lyrical digressions are characteristic of the genre of the poem. In "Dead Souls" they play the same important ideological role like an epic story. The author expresses his thoughts and feelings about what is happening in lyrical digressions, expresses his attitude to the depicted life phenomena. Gogol turns to lyrical digressions in those cases when the description of external events and actions of the characters is insufficient to fully reveal the author's intention. The epic narrative in "Dead Souls" is mainly associated with the exposure of the ruling classes, satirically depicting their contemporaries, the philistine world of landowners and officials. Lyrical digressions in their solemnly pathetic tone, as if contradicting the general satirical nature of the narrative, are in fact of tremendous importance. Pictures of what is happening in the feudal world leave us with gloomy moods and feelings.

Herzen in the article "On the Development of Revolutionary Forces in Russia", describing Gogol's poem as a "cry" of horror and shame emitted by a person who has humiliated himself from vulgar life, when he suddenly notices his emasculated face in the mirror, he adds: “But in order for such a cry to be heard from someone’s chest, it is necessary that there are both healthy parts and a great desire for rehabilitation”

Gogol had a passionate desire for the "rehabilitation" of Russia. He understood that everything is bleak and gloomy in the life of the motherland. It is not Russia and its people that are doomed to destruction, but the fortress system. In lyrical digressions, the writer expressed faith in his people, in the future of his country. That is why the author defines the work as a poem that goes back to its classic images. AT Ancient Greece poems were called folk epic works, which depicted the life and struggle of the whole people. Such literary genre gave Gogol the opportunity to “look around the whole hugely rushing life”, the homeland “in all its bulk”.

Lyrical digressions give " Dead souls”and a special poetic excitement, which is usually characteristic of poetic works. All this gave Gogol reason to call his work a poem.

The themes of lyrical digressions in the poem are very diverse:

Gogol's reflections on the fate of the representatives he draws dead world human vulgarity;

reflections on the fate of the satirist writer;

reflections on the fate of the Russian people, the conditions of serfdom;

reflections on the bold and lively Russian word;

a short story about Kif Mokievich and Mokija Kifovich;

final lyrical reflection on Russia - a trinity bird.

Lyrical digressions differ from each other in content. In some, the author, as if something in the course of the poem accidentally prompts the reader to think, begins to talk about life in Russia in general, and the reader, meanwhile, draws parallels between the cities of NN and the whole Russian Empire. Sometimes it is not even clear whose reasoning these are: the voice of the author is intertwined with the voice of Chichikov, the author himself seems to go into the shadows. Such lyrical digressions include, for example, arguments about "thick" and "thin" that appear in the scene of the governor's ball.

The men here, as elsewhere, were of two kinds: some thin, who kept hovering around the ladies; some of them were of such a kind that it was difficult to distinguish them from Petersburg ones, they also had sideburns combed very deliberately and tastefully, or simply plausible, very smoothly shaven ovals of faces, they sat down to the ladies just as casually, they also spoke French and made the ladies laugh just as in St. Petersburg. Another kind of men were fat or the same as Chichikov, that is, not so fat, but not thin either. These, on the contrary, squinted and backed away from the ladies and looked only around to see if the governor's servant had set up a green table for whist somewhere. Their faces were full and round, some even had warts, some were pockmarked, they didn’t wear hair on their heads either in tufts or curls, or in the manner of “damn me”, as the French say, their hair were either low-cut or slick, and the features were more rounded and strong. These were honorary officials in the city. Alas! fat people know how to handle their affairs better in this world than thin ones.

Gogol speaks here of officials with undisguised mockery:

Slim officials hover around the ladies, wobbling hither and thither, dropping the goods acquired by their fathers on courier.

Fat officials are also drawn in a funny way: their faces are full, round, some even had warts. They make capital for themselves and, in order to hide the loot, they buy villages.

Gogol devotes several lyrical digressions to women, although he admits that he is very afraid to talk about ladies. With regret, he notes that the abyss separating the Box from the lady is not so great. high society.

Maybe you will even begin to think: come on, does Korobochka really stand so low on the endless ladder of human perfection? How great is the abyss separating her from her sister, inaccessibly fenced by the walls of an aristocratic house with fragrant cast-iron stairs, shining copper, mahogany and carpets, yawning over an unfinished book in anticipation of a witty secular visit, where she will have a field to show off her mind and express her outspoken thoughts, thoughts that, according to the laws of fashion, occupy the city for a whole week, thoughts not about what is happening in her house and on her estates, confused and upset due to ignorance of economic affairs, but about what political upheaval is being prepared in France, what direction she has taken fashionable catholicism

The author accuses the lady of high society of not having sincerity, she is talking about fashionable nonsense, and not about what is happening in her estate. The writer becomes sad from this and he hurries: “... by! By!" - further down the road, his life path and the path of the plot.

The image of the road becomes the compositional core of the poem. With the righteous right life in Russian culture, a straight road is always associated. The symbolic meaning in the poem is that Chichikov constantly “goes astray”, turns, chooses detours to achieve his goal. In the course of the work, the road becomes a symbol of the fluidity of time, life path and the path of spiritual quest of man. She, the road, is dedicated to several author's digressions, imbued with special lyricism.

Before, long ago, in the summers of my youth, in the summers of my irretrievably flashed childhood, it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time: it doesn’t matter whether it was a village, a poor county town, or a village, a suburb - I discovered a lot of curious things in it childish curiosity. Every building, everything that bore only the imprint of some noticeable feature, everything stopped me and amazed me ...

Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and look indifferently at its vulgar appearance; my chilled gaze is uncomfortable, it’s not funny to me, and what in previous years would have awakened a lively movement in the face, laughter and incessant speeches, now slips by, and my motionless lips keep an indifferent silence. O my youth! oh my freshness!

In this lyrical digression, the author, based on road impressions, judges the degree of fading of a person, the departure of his youth. It seems that life flows as quickly as milestones flicker outside the window of a mail coach. In childhood, the author looks at everything with a curious eye, everything seems to him joyful and tempting. However, as he grows older, he becomes more and more indifferent to the wonders of life. The writer regrets his irretrievably past youth and freshness. With this lyrical digression, he makes readers think and feel the difference between the road of life and the main road: along the first one you can never return to where you come from.

Describing the commotion caused in the city by rumors about dead souls that Chichikov is buying up for no reason, Gogol devotes several lines to reflections on the delusions of mankind. And in this lyrical digression, the image of the road grows into a symbol of the path of the entire human race:

Many errors have taken place in the world, which it would seem that even a child would not do now. What crooked, deaf, narrow, impassable, drifting roads mankind chose, striving to reach eternal truth, while the whole straight path was open before it, similar to the path leading to the magnificent temple, assigned to the gift in the halls! It is wider and more luxurious than all other paths, illuminated by the sun and illuminated by lights all night, but people flowed past it in the dead darkness. And how many times already induced by the meaning descending from heaven, they knew how to stagger back and stray to the side, knew how in broad daylight to fall back into impenetrable backwoods, knew how to throw a blind fog into each other’s eyes again and, dragging after the marsh lights, knew how to still get to the abyss, so that later they ask each other with horror: where is the exit, where is the road? Now the current generation sees everything clearly, marvels at the delusions, laughs at the foolishness of its ancestors, it is not in vain that this chronicle is scribbled with heavenly fire, that every letter screams in it, that a piercing finger is directed from everywhere at him, at him, at the current generation; but the current generation laughs and arrogantly, proudly begins a series of new delusions, which will also be laughed at by descendants later.

But the author devotes the most penetrating lyrical digression, fanned with real poetry, to the road - his companion and muse. real life Gogol can only live on the road, only there he can feel "strange, and alluring, and carrying, and wonderful." Only while on the road, a person can see life in all its diversity, feel harmony and unity with heaven. In addition, in this lyrical digression, the author admits that without the road, his poem would not have existed.

Not only in this place, Gogol reflects on the hard work of the writer, as a traveler. With a happy traveler, a family man who, after a long journey, is waiting for a family, he compares a writer who describes outstanding characters. And the writer, who, like him, exposes the reader to a terrible picture of life, he compares with a familyless traveler, who has only "a bitter, boring road" ahead.

Despite the bitterness of this author's digression, it defends the power of the moral influence of laughter, Gogol's main weapon. How much more majestic seem to the writer who are ready, despising fame and honors, to make a man like Chichikov the main character of the poem. Thus, they give the "scoundrels" hope for correction, they also look for grains of human greatness in them. And Gogol ends his lyrical digression with words that perfectly characterize Gogol's satire as a whole: the satirist writer looks at life "through laughter visible to the world and invisible, unknown to him tears."

In every word of Gogol, one feels both laughter and some kind of sadness at the same time. Gogol sees all the shortcomings of Russian reality, he ridicules them, but all this deeply touches him and hurts him, as a person, for real. loving Russia. The writer perceived all the wounds of the fatherland as his own. But there were even those who reproached Gogol for the lack of patriotism, and it was to them that the author devoted a lyrical digression about Kifei Mokievich and Mokiya Kifovich. In it, the author says that these same patriots do not think about that. What would not do bad, but only talk about it. Gogol, on the other hand, feels the obligation to tell the whole truth.

This is how two inhabitants of a peaceful corner spent their lives, who unexpectedly, as if from a window, looked out at the end of our poem, looked out in order to modestly answer the accusation from some ardent patriots, who until the time calmly engaged in some kind of philosophy or increments at the expense of sums gently their beloved fatherland, thinking not about not doing bad things, but about not saying that they are doing bad things. But no, not patriotism and not the first feeling are the reasons for the accusations, something else is hidden under them. Why hide a word? Who, if not the author, should tell the holy truth?

In addition to reflections on creativity, the purpose of the writer, Gogol devotes one lyrical digression to the main "tool" of his work - the Russian word. He admires "the aptly spoken Russian word" and, it seems, sees in it the main dignity of the Russian people. The speech of no other people can compete with the Russian word.

Just as a myriad of churches, monasteries with domes, domes, and crosses are scattered over holy, pious Russia, so a myriad of tribes, generations, peoples throng, motley, and rush about on the face of the earth. And every nation that bears within itself a guarantee of strength, full of the creative abilities of the soul, its bright features and other gifts of God, each in a peculiar way distinguished itself by its own word, which, expressing any object, reflects in its expression a part of its own character. The word of the Briton will echo with the knowledge of the heart and the wise knowledge of life; The short-lived word of a Frenchman will flash and scatter like a light dandy; the German will intricately invent his own, not accessible to everyone, cleverly thin word; but there is no word that would be so bold, so smartly burst out from under the very heart, so seething and quivering like a well-spoken Russian word.

In his lyrical digressions, Gogol is able to very subtly notice all the features of the Russian character. The main thing in them is that the writer perceives very objectively, sees the Russian people. The author also notes a certain daydreaming of the peasant, who is capable of philosophizing over the most trivial subjects; the Russian peasant is inherent in superstition, which often only prevents him from working; and at the same time, how wonderfully Gogol describes artisans, gifted, excellent workers, heroes.

Sobakevich's register was striking in its unusual fullness and thoroughness; not a single one of the peasant's qualities was omitted; about one it was said: “a good carpenter”, it was attributed to the other: “it understands the matter and does not take drunkenness.” It was also indicated in detail who was the father and who was the mother, and what kind of behavior both were; only one Fedotov wrote: “the father is unknown, but was born from the yard girl Kapitolina, but of good character and not a thief.” All these details gave a special air of freshness: it seemed as if the peasants had been alive only yesterday.

Gogol believes in the high destiny of Russia, since the Russian people have a living and smart mind. “... the lively and lively Russian mind that does not reach into the pocket for a word, does not hatch it like a hen chickens, but sticks it right away, like a passport on an eternal sock ...”

The closer to its completion the first volume of the poem "Dead Souls" moves, the longer and more penetrating the lyrical digressions become. In them, as in a huge mosaic, the image of Russia is gathering more and more fully. It is to her that the last lyrical digressions are dedicated, each of which looks like a small poem in prose. The author refers to Russia from the "beautiful far away". It follows from Gogol's biography that by "beautiful far away" he means Italy, the country that he considered his spiritual homeland and where he wrote most of the poem. However, according to the text, it seems that it is located somewhere very high: the author seems to be looking at Russia from the sky, seeing its boundless fields, open spaces, voids. Russia lies before him like an open book. Gogol admires the Russian land, the beauty of which lies in the simplicity and extraordinary harmony of nature and the spirit of the people themselves. This beauty fascinates the author, as it fascinates every truly Russian person. And Gogol literally cries out: “Rus! But what an incomprehensible, secret force attracts you! Why is your melancholy song, rushing along your entire length and width, from sea to sea, heard and heard incessantly in the souls! What's in it, in this song? What calls, and sobs, and grabs by the heart? Rus! What do you want from me? Why do you look like that, and why does everything that is in you turn eyes full of expectation on me? ... "

And it seems that this song of Russia, perceived by Gogol the artist, is embodied in his immortal poem. Russia itself forces him to write, turning eyes full of expectation on him.

Gogol admires the vast expanses of Russia: “What does this immense expanse prophesy! Is it not here, in you, that boundless thoughts are born when you yourself are without end! Is there not a hero to be here when there is a place where to turn around and walk for him? And indeed, what lies in these expanses of Russia!

Russia is a land beloved by God, but she is also given the most severe trials. But Russia is reckless about its destiny, how many times has Russia stood on the edge of the abyss!

Finally, the poem is completed by an extraordinary in strength and lyricism author's speech about Russia, about its historical path and future fate. This lyrical digression combines all the themes that worried the author throughout the entire poem: the themes of movement, the road, the Russian soul and Russian ingenuity, the role of Russia in the fate of mankind. He compares Russia with a troika bird.

Hey, threesome! bird troika, who invented you? to know that you could only be born to a lively people, in that land that does not like to joke, but spread out half the world as evenly as possible, and go and count miles until it fills your eyes. And not a cunning, it seems, road projectile, not captured by an iron screw, but hastily, alive with one ax and a chisel, an efficient Yaroslavl peasant equipped and assembled you. The coachman is not in German boots: a beard and mittens, and the devil knows what he sits on; but he got up, and swung, and dragged on a song - the horses whirlwind, the spokes in the wheels mixed up in one smooth circle, only the road trembled, and the pedestrian who stopped screamed in fright - and there she rushed, rushed, rushed! .. And you can already see in the distance, as something dusts and drills the air.

The lyrical and epic plots of the poem are miraculously combined. It seems that Chichikov's britzka has imperceptibly turned into a "brisk, unbeatable troika" and is galloping through the air. There is something frightening and beautiful in this vision at the same time: she rushes “all inspired by God”, but, at the same time, does not give an answer where she rushes.

The poem ends on an optimistic note. The image of the road reappears at the end, but this road is no longer the life of one person, but the fate of the entire Russian state.

Isn't it true that you too, Russia, that a brisk, unbeatable troika are rushing about? The road smokes under you, the bridges rumble, everything lags behind and is left behind. The contemplator, amazed by God's miracle, stopped: is it not lightning thrown from the sky? what does this terrifying movement mean? and what kind of unknown power lies in these horses unknown to the light? Oh, horses, horses, what horses! Are whirlwinds sitting in your manes? Does a sensitive ear burn in every vein of yours? They heard a familiar song from above, together and at once strained their copper breasts and, almost without touching the ground with their hooves, turned into only elongated lines flying through the air, and all inspired by God rushes! .. Russia, where are you rushing to? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer. A bell is filled with a wonderful ringing;

the air torn to pieces rumbles and becomes the wind; everything that is on the earth flies past, and, looking askance, step aside and give it way to other peoples and states.

And although the question: “Rus, where are you rushing?” - the author does not find an answer, he is confident in Russia, because, "looking sideways, other peoples and states step aside and give her way."

There are few lyrical digressions in Gogol's poem; they make up a smaller part of it. However, it is precisely due to these beautiful, inspired lines that the poem becomes a poem, it begins to sound lyrical beginning. The lyrical digressions reflect the author's dreams and thoughts about life, generational change, ideal Russia where heroes are born and spiritually rich people live. Gogol believed that someday this "wonderful, unfamiliar distance" beloved by him would become such. One can only be surprised at the foresight of the author, who managed to see what will happen in his distant past. Only a fiery patriot like Gogol was able to see and show the whole world what awaits Russia. And we, reading his works, admiring his humor, purity and depth of thoughts and language, learn from the writer to love the motherland, to be useful to her.

So, we see that the author's digressions help Gogol to create complete picture reality of Russia, turning the book into a real "encyclopedia of Russian life" of the mid-19th century. It is the digressions, where the writer not only draws scenes of life of various strata of the Russian population, but also expresses his thoughts, thoughts and hopes, that make it possible to realize the author's intention. "All Russia has appeared" in this work is complete.

References

N.V. Gogol. Collected works. T 5 "Dead Souls" - M. " Fiction", 1978;

Gogol in the memoirs of his contemporaries. - M., 1962;

Gukovsky G.A. Gogol's realism. - M.; L., 1959;

Mashinsky S.P. Artistic world of Gogol. - M., 1971;

A.S. Zapadov At the bottom of the line. - M., 1975;

Zolotussky I.P. Gogol. - M., 1979;

Zolnikova V.I. Independent work of students on literary works. - M., 1978.

“Dead Souls” is a lyrical-epic work - a poem in prose that combines two principles: epic and lyrical. The first principle is embodied in the author's intention to draw "all Russia", and the second - in the author's lyrical digressions related to his intention, which form an integral part of the work.
The epic narrative in "Dead Souls" is continually interrupted by lyrical monologues of the author, evaluating the behavior of the character or reflecting on life, art, Russia and its people, as well as touching on topics such as youth and old age, the appointment of the writer, which help to learn more about spiritual world writer, about his ideals.
Of greatest importance are lyrical digressions about Russia and the Russian people. Throughout the poem, the author's idea of ​​a positive image of the Russian people is affirmed, which merges with the glorification and glorification of the motherland, which expresses the author's civil-patriotic position.
So, in the fifth chapter, the writer glorifies the “live and lively Russian mind”, his extraordinary ability for verbal expressiveness, that “if he rewards an oblique word, then it will go to his family and offspring, he will drag him with him both to the service and to retirement , and to St. Petersburg, and to the ends of the world. Chichikov's reasoning was prompted by his conversation with the peasants, who called Plyushkin "patched" and knew him only because he fed his peasants poorly.
Gogol felt the living soul of the Russian people, their boldness, courage, diligence and love for a free life. In this regard, the author's reasoning, put into the mouth of Chichikov, about the serfs in the seventh chapter, is of deep significance. What appears here is not a generalized image of Russian peasants, but specific people with real features, written out in detail. This is the carpenter Stepan Cork - “a hero who would be fit for the guard”, who, according to Chichikov’s assumption, went all over Russia with an ax in his belt and boots on his shoulders. This is the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov, who studied with a German and decided to get rich at once, making boots from rotten leather, which fell apart after two weeks. On this, he abandoned his work, took to drink, blaming everything on the Germans, who do not give life to the Russian people.
Further, Chichikov reflects on the fate of many peasants bought from Plyushkin, Sobakevich, Manilov and Korobochka. But here's the idea of ​​"revelry folk life” did not coincide so much with the image of Chichikov that the author himself takes the floor and continues the story on his own behalf, the story of how Abakum Fyrov walks on the grain pier with barge haulers and merchants, having worked out “under one, like Russia, song”. The image of Abakum Fyrov indicates the love of the Russian people for a free, wild life, festivities and fun, despite the difficult life of the serfs, the oppression of landlords and officials.
In lyrical digressions appears tragic fate enslaved people, downtrodden and socially humiliated, which was reflected in the images of Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minya, the girl Pelageya, who could not distinguish where the right was, where the left was, Plyushkin's Proshka and Mavra. Behind these images and pictures of folk life lies a deep and broad soul Russian people.
Love for the Russian people, for the motherland, the patriotic and lofty feelings of the writer were expressed in the image of the troika created by Gogol, rushing forward, personifying the mighty and inexhaustible forces of Russia. Here the author thinks about the future of the country: “Rus, where are you going?” He looks to the future and does not see it, but how true patriot believes that in the future there will be no Manilovs, Sobakeviches, nozdrevye Plyushkins, that Russia will rise to greatness and glory.
The image of the road in lyrical digressions is symbolic. This is the road from the past to the future, the road along which is developing each person and Russia as a whole.
The work ends with a hymn to the Russian people: “Eh! troika! Threesome bird, who invented you? You could have been born among a lively people...” Here, lyrical digressions perform a generalizing function: they serve to expand the artistic space and to create a holistic image of Russia. They reveal the positive ideal of the author - Russia of the people, which is opposed to landowner-bureaucratic Russia.
But, in addition to lyrical digressions praising Russia and its people, the poem also contains reflections of the lyrical hero on philosophical topics, for example, about youth and old age, the vocation and appointment of a true writer, about his fate, which are somehow connected with the image of the road in the work . So, in the sixth chapter, Gogol exclaims: “Take it with you on the road, leaving your soft youthful years in a severe hardening courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, do not raise them later! ..” Thus, the author wanted to say that all the best things in life are connected precisely with youth and one should not forget about it, as the landowners described in the novel did, staz " dead souls". They do not live, but exist. Gogol, on the other hand, calls to preserve a living soul, freshness and fullness of feelings, and to remain so for as long as possible.
Sometimes, reflecting on the transience of life, on changing ideals, the author himself appears as a traveler: “Before, long ago, in the summers of my youth ... it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time ... Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and I look indifferently at her vulgar appearance; my chilled gaze is unpleasant, it’s not funny to me ... and my motionless lips keep an indifferent silence. O my youth! O my freshness!”
To recreate the completeness of the author's image, it is necessary to say about lyrical digressions in which Gogol talks about two types of writers. One of them “never changed the lofty structure of his lyre, did not descend from his top to his poor, insignificant fellows, and the other dared to call out everything that is every minute before the eyes and that indifferent eyes do not see.” The destiny of a real writer who dared to truthfully recreate reality hidden from the eyes of the people is such that, unlike the romantic writer, absorbed in his unearthly and sublime images, he is not destined to achieve fame and experience joyful feelings when you are recognized and sung. Gogol comes to the conclusion that the unrecognized writer-realist, the writer-satirist will remain without participation, that "his field is harsh, and he bitterly feels his loneliness."
The author also talks about “connoisseurs of literature”, who have their own idea of ​​the purpose of the writer (“It is better to present us the beautiful and fascinating”), which confirms his conclusion about the fate of the two types of writers.
All this recreates the lyrical image of the author, who for a long time will still go hand in hand with “a strange hero, look around at the whole enormously rushing life, look at it through laughter visible to the world and invisible, unknown to him tears!”
So, lyrical digressions take significant place in Gogol's poem Dead Souls. They are remarkable from the point of view of poetics. They guess the beginnings of a new literary style, which will later acquire bright life in Turgenev's prose and especially in Chekhov's work.