Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, the hero of Gogol’s «Dead Souls» — who is he for you? A swindler, a swindler or someone who knows how to soberly assess the situation and not miss the opportunity? Take your time with the answer — besides, there are simply no “right” and “wrong” options here. Getting up from the school desk, you can look at this work in a new way.
Oh, how many fantasies this Gogol character gives birth to! Vladimir Nabokov sees in him the embodiment of vulgarity, but Abram Tertz, on the contrary, believes that “Chichikov, only Chichikov is able to move and take out the cart of history”, to take landowner Russia into a new one: into capitalism.
Interestingly, the hero himself does not have any outstanding features (although he often admires his reflection in the mirror). Perhaps for the author, he is a deliberately faceless character. In the first volume of «Dead Souls» he is not supposed to have a face, because in the next volumes a transformation is planned. Then, perhaps, a character will emerge from a faceless businessman, and then Russia — the birthplace of «dead» souls — will be reborn …
Unlike the author, Chichikov does not have a fine mental organization and the ability for deep reflection.
I believe that Chichikov was the shadow of the author himself. Gogol suffered from a bipolar mental disorder: in the manic stage he was excessively positive and active, and depression drove him into a black peak. He never made it out of one. The planned revival did not take place.
Unlike the author, tormented by peak experiences, Chichikov does not have a fine spiritual organization and the ability for deep reflection. He is driven by simple goals, sleeps and eats well, he has an amazing ability to adapt: he easily makes acquaintances, knows how to communicate with everyone about what is interesting to him, flatter, persuade, push through.
He has a lot in common with Gogol: love for fast driving, life on the road and many more details. But where they differ exactly is in the scale of the individual, who is given the scale of their goals: one wanted to get a little richer, the other wanted to write about the revival of Russia. Neither of them succeeded for various reasons.
Chichikov among us
Choose for yourself who exactly you will see in Chichikovo, and therefore in your environment. Fraud or Entrepreneurship? Vulgar and not very smart, but quick-witted businessmen who do not ask questions of morality when it comes to their, even insignificant, enrichment? They easily come up with a scam scheme, using ignorance or the urgent needs of others, turn their affairs, and the victims then cannot remember any special signs of a dodger.
Or — promising young people who soberly assess business circumstances, moving towards specific and simple goals, able to benefit from everything that appears in their path. Perhaps their rationality, ability not to give free rein to doubts, focus on enrichment is what will lead Russia to prosperity. At the same time, others will think about the soul, including their soul.
But the path to rebirth, to finding oneself is also open to the Chichikovs of our time, and for this you don’t need to write new volumes of Dead Souls, you just need to come to a psychotherapist.
Utopia? Who knows…