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

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.