Gogol’s Vestmental Term “Shinel (The Overcoat)” as “Daguerreotype” of Mediocrity

Saiana Ozer,S Cindori,O Larouk,E.Yu Malushko,L.N Rebrina,N.L Shamne

doi:10.1051/shsconf/20185001125

Abstract

In the first half of the 19th century, the theme of ‘a small’ man, an ordinary and inconspicuous person, appeared in the literature. Different writers described the daily unremarkable life of mediocre people in detail. Such writers as Anton Chekhov, Alexander Kuprin, Maxim Gorky, Leonid Andreyev, Fyodor Sologub, Arkady Averchenko, Konstantin Trenyov, Ivan Shmelyov, Semyon Yushkevich, etc. dwelled later on the same topic. Under the guise of criticism of philistine life, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Mikhail Bulgakov, Vladimir Voinovich continued the tradition of “the small man’s menology” during the era of socialist realism. Despite numerous literary attempts to describe small men’s expectations, “The Shinel (Overcoat)” by Nikolai Gogol undoubtedly is the cornerstone of those works. Fyodor Dostoyevsky stated, “We all come out from Gogol’s ‘Overcoat’.” Literary critics are fascinated by this story because of its scale, multi-layered conception, hidden spirituality and a prophetic encoded message. Characteristics of the protagonist change from positive to completely opposite, depending on the ideological mood of the reader. The only thing that can scare any sensible person is the rebellion of a small wrathful man who becomes merciless. The offended person easily turns from a harmless creature into a scoundrel, destroying everything to achieve his ephemeral goal.

Highlights

What could be summed up in Akaky Akakievich’s curriculum vitae from the “Overcoat”, imaging that it is the story of the person from beginning to end, from birth to his death
If you ask a philistine who studied at the Soviet school, what the “The Overcoat” is about, he will answer without hesitation about the ‘small man’
Why is he small – because he has a little dream? Are there any criteria to measure the dream? Is it possible to determine the individual ranking according to his dream? The surname of our protagonist Akakia Akakievich is Bashmatchkin, which is derived from the word ‘bashmak’

Summary

Introduction

What could be summed up in Akaky Akakievich’s curriculum vitae from the “Overcoat”, imaging that it is the story of the person from beginning to end, from birth to his death. If you ask a philistine who studied at the Soviet school, what the “The Overcoat” is about, he will answer without hesitation about the ‘small man’. Why is he small – because he has a little dream? The monastery and army, public service and family built that character When they succeeded in their work, there arose wonderful, majestic images of Russian ascetics, Russian warriors, Russian unmercenaries who turned the duties into alive devotion and the law into the system of heroic deeds, when freedom and discipline became a living unity” [1]. A mediocre person, usually an employee, is by nature encoded to perform a certain task and duty in the name of something definite and comprehensible

Literature Review

Discussion

Conclusion