Resumo de The Common Man And Supernaturalism In Gogols "the Overcoat"

Nikolai Gogol?s highly anthologized story The Overcoat is a satire on the pretentiousness of the Russian ruling-class society of the 1900's. Gogol?s writing style is a conventional one containing a prologue and an epilogue with a narrative tone that is loquacious.
However, the theme is a universal one that gives voice to the plight of the Common Man.

Gogol?s protagonist is an elusive and invisible man, a non-entity. Akaii Akakievich is a prototype of the caca character, someone without an identity, the underdog. Life is a bit daunting for this caca; he goes around looking like an unkempt idiot with objects that are always sticking to his uniform, pieces of hay or some other thing. He also has the odd ability of always arriving under a window when trash is being ejected, causing all sorts of things to land on his hat.

Kakievich has no personality, no distinctiveness that would cause him to stand out at all. Using mirrors symbolically, Gogol demonstrates that Akakievich does not even have a reflection, an outer manifestation of his inward situation.

Mockery is elevated to a ridiculous height when the officials at work start ridiculing Akakievich about his old worn-out coat. They reduce his worn-out coat from a coat to a kapota or rag, vanquishing Akakievich to a ragtag or a canaille. Gogol effectively uses the outward object of the kapota to symbolize the inward phenomenon of the personality of Akakievich, the caca.

When Akakievich finally attains a new coat, Gogol again uses this object as a symbol of the promise of a new life and a new identity. Akakievich gains respect from his colleagues, the Russian officials and he is able to shed the mantle of the shamefaced. However, later, Akakievich?s coat gets stolen and his very life is robbed.

Gogol uses the technique of the reversal of fortune as a conflict for his protagonist. His employment of two worlds, the living and the dead, create an effective and unusual way to bring resolution and justice to his character Akakievich in the denouement.

Akaii Akakievich comes back from the dead and exacts revenge; he appears to the official that stole his coat, recovers it and almost causes the Man to die. The epilogue contains instances of the surreal and the supernatural, for Akakievich?s apparition is seen over and over again, appearing as a normal man walking down the street. Gogol achieves a fitting denouement to this wonderful story.

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