The essay corresponds to the theme of the final essay for the 2016-2017 academic year. Direction "Honor and dishonor".

The desire to look worthy in the eyes of other people, self-respect are the qualities of people who truly understand what honor means. Once upon a time, people who protected their reputation took swords and pistols in their hands, defending their honor, and were ready to sacrifice their lives. Shakespeare claimed that for him the loss of honor was “equivalent to the loss of life.”

Unfortunately, in society there are always individuals who are completely devoid of self-esteem and nobility, who want to achieve life’s benefits and benefits at any cost. Why do people make deals with their conscience, commit unworthy acts, turn into dishonest and dishonest?

In my opinion, education plays a very important role. In a family where wealth and power are considered the main values, a person who sincerely respects other people and is capable of doing good and compassion will rarely grow up. These people are much more concerned about their own well-being. Often they stop at nothing to achieve their goals, forgetting about conscience and human dignity. In the works of Russian writers we often encounter dishonest heroes, who sometimes turn into such on the advice of their elders.

I believe that the concepts of “honor” and “dignity” will never become outdated. You need to be an honest person in order to always feel free, to walk confidently through life, so as to never be left alone with your misfortune. Few people will want to lend a helping hand to a dishonest person.

“Take care of your honor from a young age,” says popular wisdom, and do not forget that “honor hangs by a thread, but if you lose it, you can’t tie it with a rope.”

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The problem of honor and dishonor is one of the most important in a person’s life. We are taught from childhood that acting dishonestly is bad. Walking past the playground, we hear every now and then: “This is not fair! We must replay!”
That's the definition honor we find in the dictionary of S.I. Ozhegova:
There you can see the definition of the word "honest":
In the dictionary V.I. Dahl gives the following sayings about dishonor:

Honor is a moral category. The concept of honor is inextricably linked with the concept of conscience, that is, to be an honest person is to live according to conscience, according to deep inner convictions that one thing is good and the other is bad.
A person faces the problem of what to do: honestly or dishonestly (lie or tell the truth; betray or remain faithful to the country, person, word, principles, etc.) literally every day. That is why all world literature turned to it in one way or another.
the problem of honor and dishonor is one of the most important. Erast, a flighty young man, a nobleman, carried away by Lisa, a peasant girl, thinks of leaving his usual society for her sake and abandoning his previous way of life. But in the end his dreams turn out to be self-deception. Lisa, deeply in love with Erast, sincerely believes the young man and gives him the most precious thing that she, a poor girl, has - her maiden honor. Karamzin bitterly reproaches Lisa for this act:

But if we can understand and justify Lisa (she is truly in love!), then it is impossible to justify Erast. Brought up in a noble environment in such a way that he cannot earn a living on his own, the hero, who is facing a debt trap because he lost his entire fortune at cards, decides to marry a rich widow. Liza, waiting for her lover from the war, accidentally finds out about everything, and Erast, taken by surprise, wants to pay off the girl with money. The act is deeply dishonest, showing Erast’s cowardice, his lack of will, and selfishness. Lisa turned out to be more decent than Erast, paying for her love and lost honor at a very high price - her own life.
All heroes are tested for honor. Take care of honor from a young age - this is the main instruction of his father to Pyotr Grinev, who is going to serve. And the hero honorably fulfills the parent’s order. He refuses to swear allegiance to Pugachev, while another hero, Alexey Shvabrin, does this without much hesitation. Shvabrin is a traitor, but if his action could be explained only by a completely understandable fear of death, then it could at least somehow be justified. But Shvabrin is a vile, low person. We know this from how he tried to denigrate Masha Mironova in the eyes of Grinev, how he meanly wounded Peter during a duel. Therefore, his betrayal is quite natural and cannot be justified.
Pugachev’s henchmen, who betrayed him, also show themselves to be dishonest people. While Pugachev himself, although presented by Pushkin as an ambiguous figure, turned out to be a man of honor (he gratefully remembers the sheepskin coat given by Grinev; at the request of the main character, he immediately stands up for Masha and frees her from Shvabrin’s captivity).
the problem of honor is also key. Both main characters, Evgeny Onegin and Tatyana Larina, pass the test of honor. For Onegin, this test consists of refusing or agreeing to a duel with Lensky. Although, according to the unwritten rules of secular society, refusing a duel was cowardly and dishonorable (if you committed an act - answer!), in the case of Lensky, greater dignity and honor for Onegin would have been to apologize and refuse the duel. But Evgeny showed cowardice, fearing the condemnation of the world: he did not explain to Vladimir. The result of the duel is known to everyone: the young poet died in the prime of his life. Thus, formally, Onegin was not guilty of anything: he accepted the challenge and fate turned out to be more favorable to him than to Lensky. But the hero's conscience was unclean. It was the consciousness that he acted dishonestly, dishonestly, in our opinion, that forced Evgeniy to leave society for seven long years.
Tatyana passed her honor exam with great dignity. She still loves Onegin, which she sincerely admits to him, but refuses a relationship with him because she wants to preserve the good name of her family. For her, a married woman, this connection is impossible.
A.S. himself Pushkin died tragically at the dawn of his strength, defending the honor of his wife, Natalya Nikolaevna, who was accused of having an affair with the young Frenchman Dantes. On his death M.Yu. Lermontov wrote wonderful words:
the concept of honor is replaced by the concept of benefit. It is not without reason that the writer characterizes him as a person of a cautious and cool character. Since childhood, Chichikov has well learned his father’s order to “take care and save a penny.” And so little Pavlusha sells food to his classmates, makes a wax bullfinch and sells it the same way. Having matured, he does not shun a shameless scam with the purchase of “dead souls”, finding an approach to each seller, deceiving someone, making up an incredible story for this (as he did with Manilov), and simply not explaining anything to someone (Korobochka). But other landowners (Nozdryov, Sobakevich, Plyushkin) are fully aware of the meaning of this event, but nevertheless their “honor” does not suffer in the least from Chichikov’s proposal. Each of these landowners happily sells “dead souls” to the main character, thereby improving their financial situation.
Officials in the poem are also shown as unscrupulous and dishonest people. And although the work does not contain large, detailed images, Gogol gives beautiful miniature portraits of government servants. So, Ivan Antonovich Kuvshinnoe Rylo is a typical official who, taking advantage of his official position, extorts bribes from visitors. It is he who introduces Chichikov to all the intricacies of the bureaucratic machine.
Unlike the poem

a detailed description of the life and morals of officials of the small town of N is presented. All of them are dishonest, since they do not hesitate to take bribes, and they do not really hide it. The officials feel like the rightful owners of the town, and the only thing the mayor is afraid of is denunciation. The habit of taking and giving bribes is so deeply rooted in the minds of officials that they also consider a bribe to be the best way to appease Khlestakov, whom they mistake for an auditor. Khlestakov, a young man, according to Gogol’s definition, “without a king in his head,” not brought up in strict concepts of honor and dignity, having lost at cards in St. Petersburg and sitting in a hotel in the town of N penniless in his pocket, happily accepts money from officials, at first even not understanding what was the matter and why suddenly he was so incredibly lucky. He doesn't care about the consequences of his words and actions. And he is happy to deceive, attributing to himself more and more merits (and on friendly terms with Pushkin, and he writes and publishes in magazines, and knows all the ministers), he is not embarrassed by the fact that he declared his love to Marya Antonovna, his daughter the mayor, and his wife Anna Andreevna, and then even promised to marry Marya Antonovna.
honor turned out to be an empty phrase for Andriy, the youngest son of Taras, an old Cossack colonel. Andriy easily betrays the Cossacks for the sake of his beloved, the Polish lady. Taras and Andriy’s brother, Ostap, are not like that. For them, Cossack honor is most important. The father, no matter how hard it was for him, mad with anger after seeing his son slashing at his own Cossacks in battle, kills his son with a shot.
speaks for itself. The hero of the story is a boy who was entrusted by teenagers during a game to guard an imaginary military warehouse, having taken his word of honor not to leave his post. And he didn’t leave, despite the fact that everyone had long since left and the park was getting dark and scary. Only the permission of a military man, who happened to be nearby, freed the child from this promise.
In life, it also often happens that the word given by a person turns out to be higher than any personal benefits, circumstances, etc. All this speaks of the high honor of such people. This is what happened with A.P. Chekhov, who refused the title of academician after the same title was deprived of M. Gorky, for whom Anton Pavlovich at one time warmly voted and whom he warmly congratulated on his election. But the Academy of Sciences decided to reverse its decision. Chekhov categorically disagreed with this. He said that his vote in favor of electing Gorky as an academician was sincere and the Academy’s decision was absolutely inconsistent with his personal opinion.
In the works of A.P. Chekhov's problem of honor, including professional honor, was raised more than once.

he talks about Doctor Osip Stepanovich Dymov, who remained faithful to his medical duty to the end. He decides to suck out diphtheria films from a sick boy, although this was very dangerous for the doctor, and therefore was not prescribed as a mandatory treatment measure. But Dymov goes for it, gets infected and dies.

Gogol wrote his poem at a time when a change in the traditional foundations of society was brewing in Russia and everything indicated that reforms were not far off. It was clear that such changes could not take place without the birth of a new type of person. And one of the purposes of writing the poem for Gogol was a portrait of this new man, who was already beginning to give his voice.

In this regard, it is immediately worth noting that Chichikov, the central character in “Dead Souls,” is not a separate person, but is a type, a composite image of the newly created “class” of businessmen. Apparently, this is why the author says about him: “not too fat, not too thin,” “not handsome, but not bad-looking either.” That is, in other words, there are no striking features in his appearance.

In addition, despite the fact that Chichikov is present on almost every page of the book, he is by no means the main character. He plays an important ideological and compositional role, he is the center of the poem, but it cannot be said that revealing his character was Gogol’s main goal. Since the plot of the work represents Chichikov’s journey, the original framework of the poem is the road (in the abstract, a line), around which various events develop. Consequently, Chichikov contributes to the education and development of the plot. This is undoubtedly an important function, but not the main one. Neither the reader nor Gogol himself is interested in the biography of this hero - it is not for nothing that it is placed only at the very end of the poem. Initially, it is his activity itself that arouses interest, that is, why is he buying up “dead souls”; this is a kind of external interest. And only after Gogol introduced the reader to the peculiarities of Chichikov’s thinking, an explanation appears in the work of where to look for the roots, the reasons for this strange and unexpected act - the purchase of “dead” souls.

And these reasons are in childhood. Features of the family, the impossibility of getting everything you want, as well as the father’s order before letting his son go “to the people” - to please the bosses and take care and save a penny. So Chichikov grew up - an enterprising businessman with considerable patience and ability to work (since he achieves everything himself, without anyone’s help). Gogol pays tribute to the “irresistible force of his character,” because understands that Chichikov, if you think about it, is accomplishing a grandiose task alone, which not everyone can do. He has practical worldly savvy about everything that smells of money. But the writer also pays considerable attention on the pages of his work to the fact that Chichikov in childhood was an ordinary child, kind, sensitive, playful, inquisitive, he actively showed interest in the world around him and sought to learn everything on his own (remember, for example, how he ran away from his nanny and explored places where he was forbidden to go).

Based on all this, it cannot be argued that he is driven only by the thirst for profit. He committed all these machinations with one goal - to realize his dream, which, in fact, is innocent, bright and not even original - this is a dream of his own home, a mistress, a bunch of little children and, most importantly, the memory of his descendants. This bright dream, I think, began to take shape since childhood, spent in Oblomovka. It was this reason that prompted Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov to engage in a scam with dead souls and to travel around Rus', as a result of the description of which the reader becomes acquainted with representatives of the so-called gallery of dying landowner souls.

It is worth noting that Chichikov in the poem can be viewed from one more angle, namely in comparison with various literary and historical figures. We are talking about how landowners and city officials see in him Napoleon, the Antichrist - and in general about the image that they developed after communicating with Chichikov. So, according to rumors, he broke into Korobochka “like Rinald Rinaldin” (a kind of romantic robber); officials compare him to Napoleon, who returned from Helena Island, and when the gossip reached its climax, they already saw the Antichrist in Chichikov. Pavel Ivanovich did not escape the fate of being “recognized” by Captain Kopeikin. Of course, on the one hand, this situation is comical - the postmaster, the author of this theory, did not pay attention to the fact that Chichikov has both arms and legs, unlike that captain. But, nevertheless, this comparison is of great importance: Captain Kopeikin and Napoleon are romantic heroes who were admired by many of the writer’s contemporaries. And Chichikov? Gogol wanted to say by this that the current ideals and objects of admiration were crushed, the great commanders and people's defenders were replaced by the Chichikovs.

It is known that Gogol conceived Dead Souls as a three-part work. Unfortunately, he never managed to accomplish this; we have only a small excerpt from volume II. Here, according to the author’s plan, Chichikov had to repent of all his sins and take the path of purification. In principle, that’s what he did, but he repented by crawling at the feet of the governor-general and kissing those very feet. Despite the fact that repentance took place in such a low and even humiliating manner, Chichikov’s tricks as a whole forced some of the poem’s heroes to conduct long discussions about honesty and dishonor, justice and untruth. It is Chichikov in “Dead Souls” who is one of the few business people capable of action. The hero's goal is petty and selfish, but movement towards it is better than complete inaction.

Over the years, critics have assessed differently the personality and essence of the character of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. Someone labels him a soulless businessman, citing as evidence that he uses everything to achieve his own selfish goal. And someone, on the contrary, emphasizes that Pavel Ivanovich started this fraud with dead souls only in order to realize his dream of his own cozy house, of the fabulous beauty Militrisa Kirbityevna, that is, he was driven by the ideals of home and family - those ideals that almost everyone dreams of. Of course, both critics have fair arguments; but, I think, the most accurate description of Chichikov’s personality can be given by combining these two opinions. The character of this hero is much more complex; he does not fit into the framework of either a positive or a negative character. This is a versatile personality, which is characterized by both selfish interests and bright feelings - that is, Gogol managed to portray a hero very close to real life.

Honor and dishonor.

Each of us has encountered people of honor. People who can selflessly help a person. Such people can come to the aid of even a stranger without demanding anything in return. But there is also a dark side of honor, one that gains strength day by day. Dishonor is a negative quality of a person, which is expressed in meanness, deceit, deceit and betrayal. Dishonest people value only their ego; they help others for their own benefit. Can such people be trusted? Can you rely on them in difficult times? Of course not.

Today we understand that dishonor is growing, gaining momentum, while destroying the moral values ​​of a person. Nowadays it is difficult to find a person who will help, understand and console.

“Take care of your honor from a young age,” this is exactly the epigraph of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin’s story “The Captain’s Daughter.” The concept of honor became central to the work. Honor is decency, the moral purity of heroes, such as Pyotr Grinev, his parents, the entire family of Captain Mironov; This is military honor, loyalty to the oath, this, by and large, is love for the Motherland. The story contrasts Pyotr Grinev and Alexey Shvabrin. Both are young, of the noble class, officers, but how different they are in character and moral principles. Grinev is a man of honor, whether it concerns his relationship with Masha Mironova, or his loyalty to the oath, perseverance to the end during the Pugachev rebellion. Without honor and conscience Alexey Shvabrin. He is rude to Masha, it costs him nothing to go over to the rebels, violating the officer’s honor. Captain Mironov, commandant of the Belogorsk fortress, evokes deep sympathy. He did not lose his dignity, remained faithful to the oath, and did not bend his knee to Pugachev. In the Grinev family, the concept of honor was the basis of the character of Father Petrusha. Despite the fact that Peter, like all children, loved to play pranks, the main thing was brought up in him - human dignity, decency, and this is honor. The hero shows it by returning the gambling debt and not being humiliated by betrayal, as Shvabrin did.

Let us turn to the work “Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, the young guardsman and the daring merchant Kalashnikov” by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. The writer touches on one of the most important problems facing man - the problem of honor. How to protect the honor of yourself and your loved ones, no matter what, how to remain human in any situation?

The action takes place in the distant sixteenth century, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, when the guardsmen could commit outrages, knowing that they would not be punished by the tsar. Kiribeevich is shown as such a guardsman, who, without thinking about the fate of the woman, Alena Dmitrievna, puts her in a terrible position. The neighbors see him trying to caress her, a married woman, which in those years was considered the greatest sin. Shame on an innocent woman. Her husband, the merchant Kalashnikov, is outraged and challenges the guardsman to open battle. Defending the honor of his wife and family, he went to the duel, realizing that he would not have mercy from the king in any case. And here a duel is played out between truth, honor and dishonor. Because of a man devoid of morality, the noble Kalashnikov dies, his children are left without a father, and a young innocent girl is left a widow. So Kiribeevich ruined the life not only of himself, but also of the woman he loved. And all because of this, that a person who does not have spiritual values ​​will never be able to comprehend true love, which leads to good deeds, in which honor remains pure and innocent. This work teaches a lot: that you always need to defend the honor of your family and loved ones, and not to offend anyone.

In conclusion, I would like to call people to conscience. To what has always been the concept of honor. Honor is one of the highest moral qualities of a person. It is formed from childhood. After all, the foundations of human dignity are a long and thorny path from selfishness to the establishment of moral principles. From person to person, from generation to generation, the basics of honor, etiquette and human dignity have been passed on, and only the person himself chooses which moral ideals to choose as a guide in this life. So let us not be dishonest people, let us not become like those who have already been swallowed up by their own ego, selfishness and selfishness. After all, the manifestation of honor is a feat not only for oneself, but also for the whole world!

Dubrovny Egor

It is better to be poor with honor than rich with dishonor.

Honor... What is it? Honor is the moral qualities of a person, his principles worthy of respect and pride, this is a high spiritual force that can keep a person from meanness, betrayal, lies and cowardice. Without honor a person has no real life. It is better to be poor with honor than rich with dishonor.

Classics of world fiction have created many works that tell about heroes who have different attitudes to the concept of honor and dignity. Thus, in the prose poem “The Counterfeit Coin” by Charles Baudelaire, the meanness of man and the choice of dishonor are shown. The main character gives a poor man a counterfeit coin, not thinking that this unfortunate man might be arrested. An arrest was the least that could be done; he could have been flogged, beaten, or even simply killed. This poor fellow's life is already not so good, but it will become even worse. The man who gave this coin committed a dishonorable act; he chose wealth instead of honor, although one coin would not have made him poor. The author wants to convey to us the idea that it is unforgivable to be evil, and even worse - to do evil out of stupidity. This is the most dishonest thing! Even the kindest deed can conceal great meanness in its depths.

In Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol's poem “Dead Souls,” the main character Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov serves as a vivid example of dishonor. Throughout the poem he deceives people for his own benefit. Pavel Ivanovich wanted to get rich by buying up “dead souls.” These were documents for the ownership of peasants who died but were considered alive. Chichikov buys up “dead souls” in order to deceive the entire society. Pavel Ivanovich did not think about people, he blatantly lied to them and did everything for himself. Looking at these two examples, we see that more often people choose wealth. But I believe that it is better to be poor with honor than to be rich with dishonor.

“Honor is like a precious stone: the slightest spot takes away its shine and takes away all its value,” Edmond Pierre Beauchaine once said. Yes, this is indeed true. And everyone, sooner or later, will have to decide how to live - with honor or without it.

Cheboltasov Igor

Where do dishonest people come from?

Dishonor is a negative quality of a person, which is expressed in meanness, deceit, deceit and betrayal. It entails shame, destruction of oneself as an individual. Even in the most difficult moment, a person must continue to follow an honest path, without doubting for a second. From birth, parents raise their children to be honest, so where do dishonest people come from?

It seems that different answers can be given to this question, but I believe that dishonor is, first of all, a lack of respect for oneself and others. Therefore, it is very important that we understand that the main values ​​in life are honor and conscience. But, unfortunately, not everyone understands this and chooses the wrong path. By committing any deception, we are approaching dishonor. And with each subsequent betrayal we become dishonest.

The theme of dishonor is touched upon in the story “The Captain's Daughter” by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. In this work, two heroes are contrasted: Pyotr Grinev and Alexey Shvabrin. You can judge a person by his actions in difficult times. For the heroes, the test was the capture of the Belogorsk fortress by Pugachev, where Shvabrin showed his dishonor. He saves his life by deception. We see him on the side of the rebels, while whispering something in Pugachev’s ear. Grinev is ready to share the fate of Captain Mironov and stand for his Motherland.

Let us turn to Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”. The main character Anatol Kuragin is an irresponsible and hypocritical person. He does not think about the consequences of his actions, does not think about the future and does not pay attention to the opinions of others. Kuragin's dishonor is his desire to marry Marya Bolkonskaya because of her wealth. It shows how the hero, for his own good and his own benefit, is ready for any dishonorable act. The author wants to convey to us that a dishonest person is ready to commit a vile act for his own benefit.

Summarizing what has been said, we can conclude that dishonor means the loss of one’s moral character. Having acted dishonestly once, a person cannot stop, becoming a traitor and a liar. We often meet dishonest people these days, but we would like there to be as many honest people as possible.

Evstropova Victoria

Subject roads and the image of Chichikov combine all the various scenes-pictures in the poem “Dead Souls”. Externally, the plot is structured as a description of Chichikov’s journey through the Russian province, the story about Pavel Ivanovich runs through the entire work, other characters are characterized not only by themselves, but also through their relationships with Chichikov. The image of the road is embodied and the hero’s life path is made possible thanks to it the plot of the journey, the composition looks very rational: the exposition of the plot of the journey is given in the first chapter (Chichikova meets officials and some landowners, receives invitations from them), followed by five chapters in which the landowners “sit”, and Chichikov travels from chapter to chapter, buying up dead souls.

However, the content of “Dead Souls” is not limited to the story about Chichikov and his life. The theme of the work is deeper and more significant: Gogol wanted to write a poem about the past, present and future of Russia, and Chichikov, according to the author, expresses precisely the present of Russian life . Along with him, the work contains landowners, officials representing the past of Russia; men, city people, servants, etc. flash in the episodes. All these heroes have their own problems and life goals, which, intricately intertwined, form a social novel.

Chichikov in the poem represents the growing class of Russian entrepreneurs. Chichikov inherited four old sweatshirts, two serfs, a house and land worth a thousand rubles. In other words, he had to arrange his life himself. Gogol tells in detail the biography of the hero. If the characters of the landowners, except Plyushkin, and all officials are shown static, that is, they do not have a history in the poem, then the image of Chichikov given in development and formation, in the process of realizing his plans.

In the image of each landowner, one or two features are highlighted that define the essence of the hero: Manilova - good-heartedness, at Korobochka's - stupidity Nozdreva- recklessness, etc. U Chichikova several defining features: interest in people, remarkable adaptability, resourceful mind, extreme selfishness, although there is also a main feature - unbending determination.

If landowners are characterized by the state of the estate, the decoration of the house, then Chichikov is very similar to his box with double bottom, That’s why it’s so difficult to decipher him: outwardly he is sociable, but in essence he is extremely closed; outwardly decent, quickly wins the favor of others, but in essence a person without honor and conscience, ready to do any baseness for the sake of a “penny”. Behind the external softness and grace hides a calculating and predatory nature. Adaptability does not indicate the weakness of his character, but, on the contrary, hardness and stability.

In the poem, Chichikov, unlike all other heroes, experiences something similar to love. This feeling was aroused in him by the young governor’s daughter. The author himself is ironically surprised by the unexpected sentimentality such a calculating person as Chichikov. At the ball, Chichikov sits down with a charming blonde. And what? His incomparable ability to charm others suddenly betrays him. A pleasant and interesting interlocutor turns into a boring person in a conversation with a girl, who with his reasoning only makes his neighbor sad. Thus, the feeling of love, which usually elevates a person, reveals vulgarity in Chichikov.

Gogol considered it necessary to openly express his attitude towards Chichikov. This is the subject of a large author’s digression in chapter 11, large, since the author tries to explain the complexity and ambiguity of the hero’s character. The first thing that comes to mind about Chichikov is the idea that he is a dishonest hero, capable of any baseness. But the author suddenly begins to defend his hero, it is Chichikov who the author chooses for spiritual resurrection in the following volumes of Dead Souls: after all, Chichikov’s egoism manifests itself not only in contempt for the world around him, but also in the desire to rule in it, that is, Chichikov has at least some serious interest in life, unlike landowners and officials. To summarize, we note that the image of Chichikov plays in the poem two important roles -compositional and ideological . The poem is structured as a chain of adventures of Pavel Ivanovich, but at the same time, “Dead Souls” cannot be called an adventure novel, because in his work Gogol depicted “all of Rus',” and not just the cunning adventures of the plow hero.

For the sake of a high spiritual goal, Gogol planned to show Chichikov’s rebirth in the second and third volumes of the poem, but failed.

Chichikov is the central character of Gogol's poem “Dead Souls”. The story about him runs through the entire work, and other characters are largely characterized by through relationships with him. Although Chichikov occupies a very important place in the poem, it cannot be considered simply a description of the fate and various adventures of this hero. The writer did not reduce his work to the story of one or even several characters. He saw his task as characterizing various phenomena of Russian life, and the image of Chichikov reflects only a certain side of reality.

The plot of the poem is inextricably linked with the essence of the main character . Who could come up with such a crazy idea - to acquire dead souls in order to then make transactions with them? Only to a person who greedily strives to “acquire”, who cannot imagine his existence outside of acquisition and who knows how to find any way to become the owner of wealth. Chichikov indulges in any scams and speculations if they promise him substantial profits. Speculation with dead souls most clearly reveals the commercial, entrepreneurial nature of Chichikov’s character. His admiration is not for those who have a high rank, but for those who own significant capital.

Gogol reveals the image of Chichikov in a different way than the images of the other heroes of the poem. After all, he could not characterize Chichikov through his attitude to serfdom and through a description of his life. Gogol shows this hero in action, in the process of implementing his plans. Chichikov is perhaps the only character whose biography we learn in great detail.

He knows how to find his own special approach to every person in whom Chichikov is interested. He masterfully plays on the weak strings of a person, achieving the location and sympathy of a wide variety of people. Chichikov “reincarnates” very easily, changes his behavior, but at the same time never forgets about his goals. In conversation with Manilov he looks almost exactly like Manilov himself. He is just as gallant and courteous, just as sensitive as his new friend. Chichikov knows very well how he can make a strong impression on Manilov, and therefore does not skimp on all kinds of confessions and emotional outpourings.

However, talking with In a box , Chichikov does not show any special gallantry or spiritual gentleness. He quickly unravels the essence of her character and therefore behaves cheekily and unceremoniously. When meeting with Nozdrev Chichikov flexibly adapts to his unbridled behavior. Nozdryov recognizes only “friendly” relations, and Chichikov behaves as if they were old, bosom friends. Nozdryov speaks to him on a first-name basis, and Chichikov answers him in kind. When Nozdryov boasts, Chichikov remains silent, giving the other the right to express doubts about this. However, he is vigilantly careful not to fall into Nozdryov’s network, who is clearly going to deceive him.

When meeting with Sobakevich Chichikov’s “directness” and “spontaneity” completely disappear. Sobakevich is not touched by discussions on lofty topics. And then Chichikov enters into a gambling bargaining with him, in which each strives to outdo the other. With the businessman Sobakevich, Chichikov shows himself to be an experienced businessman who knows all sorts of techniques for influencing his partner. TO Plyushkina Chichikov has a different approach: he plays the role of a generous well-wisher who wants to help a lonely and defenseless old man.

Chichikov's ability to transform is based on his extraordinary resourcefulness and energy. Behind the external softness and grace lies a calculating and predatory nature. Chichikov does not admit anything and does not believe in anything except money. While flaunting his goodwill towards people, he is only interested in taking advantage of their location. Chichikov completely lacks any moral principles; the meanness of his nature is limitless.

Comparing Chichikov with the owners of serf souls, Gogol clearly shows those new features that could only be formed outside the atmosphere of the lordly estate. This is extraordinary tenacity, adaptability and energy. Manilov's dreaminess and Korobochka's primitive innocence are alien to Chichikov. He doesn’t waste time on trifles, like Plyushkin, but he’s also not prone to careless revelry, like Nozdryov. His entrepreneurial spirit is not like the rude and straightforward businesslike behavior of Sobakevich. All this speaks of his obvious superiority. However, Gogol compares Chichikov’s activities not only with the life of landowners, but also with the life of the country. Like the inhabitants of the estates, Chichikov is not at all concerned about social problems. He is completely indifferent to what does not concern him, does not affect his interests. He does not feel like a “citizen of his land,” to whom its fate is near and dear.