Dead Souls
(Gogol, Nikolai)
Dead Souls is without a doubt one of the most fascinating books ever written. Gogol?s use of humour and irony and his complicated sentences are almost more important and more enjoyable than the story itself.
The action is based around the hero?s desire to buy a piece of land, for which he must present documents proving the number of serfs or ?souls? who belong to him. Owning none, he comes up with a clever plan to buy the rights to dead serfs from landowners who are forced to continue paying taxes on their ?dead souls? until the next census and therefore are glad to be rid of them. This storyline, however, plays a secondary role to the way that Chichikov presents himself to the various landowners, their reaction to his proposal, and the depiction of Russian society.
The second, unfinished part of the novel moves the action from the country estates to the town, where Chichikov attempts to ingratiate himself into society. Here we see the stark contrasts between the country folk and the townspeople, and witnesses yet another side to Chichikov?s personality as he deals with this group of people.
Gogol has created a unique protagonist who seems to have no true personality of his own; rather he adapts himself skillfully to fit in with his surroundings, so that his identity is never fully revealed. The author plays with the reader, taking us away at a tangent and engrossing us in minor details, saying much without really saying anything at all, and challenging the reader to see through his ploys.
The pun in Russian plays on ?soul? being the common term for a physical entity, a serf, as well as the spiritual side to one?s personality. The reader should ask themselves while reading, who exactly are Gogol?s dead souls?
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