From the very beginning, "Dead Souls" was conceived by Gogol not only as a literary, but also the most important public cause, and the cause is all-Russian, nationwide. "I started writing Dead Souls ( ... )," Gogol told Pushkin on October 7, 1835. "I want to show at least one side of all of Russia in this novel." Much later, in a letter to Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky in 1848, Gogol explained the idea of his creation: "For a long time I have been preoccupied with the idea of a great work, which would present everything that is both good and bad in the Russian person, and would show us more clearly the property of our Russian nature."

The realization of such a grandiose plan also required appropriate artistic means. In Gogol's aesthetics, folk songs and proverbs are the most important sources of identity from which Russian poets should draw inspiration. It is impossible to understand "Dead Souls" without taking into account the folklore tradition and, first of all, the proverbial element that permeates the entire fabric of the poem.

"The more I thought about my composition," Gogol wrote in The Author's Confession,"the more I saw that it was not by chance that I should take the characters that I found, but choose only those on which our true Russian, fundamental characteristics were more clearly and deeply imprinted." And since Russian proverbs and sayings most fully expressed the most important features of the national character, human qualities approved by the people or rejected by them, in "Dead Souls" the "proverbial" method of generalization became one of the most important principles of artistic typification. The more generalized one

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figurative pictures and character characteristics in which Gogol expresses the essence of a particular phenomenon, situation or human type take on the form, especially since they approach traditional folk poetic formulas.

The character of Manilov - a landowner "without enthusiasm", an empty dreamer-is "explained" through the proverb: "God alone could tell what kind of character Manilov was. There is a kind of people known by the name: people are so-so, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan, according to the proverb." The bearish nature of Sobakevich, who had a "strong and wonderfully well-made image", in whose household everything was "persistent, without staggering, in some strong and clumsy order", finds its final definition in the proverbial formula: "God has rewarded you! That's exactly what they say, badly cut, but firmly sewn..."

The characters of the episodic characters of the poem are sometimes completely exhausted by proverbs or proverbial expressions: "Maxim Telyatnikov, shoemaker: what pricks with an awl, then boots, what boots, then thank you, and at least in the mouth of a drunk". Assessor Drobyazhkin was " lascivious as a cat...(Cf.: "Lascivious as a cat, and cowardly as a hare" - Collection 4291 of ancient Russian proverbs. 1770). Mizhuev was one of those people who, it seems, will never agree to "dance to someone else's tune", but will always end up "dancing as best as possible to someone else's tune, in short, they will start with a smooth surface, and end with a reptile".

Gogol liked to express his cherished thoughts in proverbs. The idea of the" Inspector "was formulated by him in the epigraph-proverb:" It's not necessary to blame the mirror if the face is crooked." In the surviving chapters of the second volume of Dead Souls, the proverb "Love us black, and everyone will love us white" is important for understanding the author's idea. "It is well known," said Gogol, " that if you manage to close a speech with a well-chosen proverb, you will suddenly explain it to the people, however much it may be in itself beyond their understanding."

Introducing proverbs to the artistic situation of "Dead Souls". Gogol creatively uses the meaning contained in them. In the tenth chapter, the postmaster, after making the assumption that Chichikov is "none other than Captain Kopeikin," publicly confessed that the saying "A Russian man is strong in hindsight"is absolutely true. Other characters in the poem are also endowed with" native Russian virtue " - a back," spohvatny", penitential mind in abundance, but above all Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov himself (Cf.: "The Russian mind is a back mind. The Russian mind is a spohvatny mind" - Knyazev V. Collection of selected proverbs, proverbs, sayings and jokes., 1924, p. 83).

Gogol had a special attitude to this proverb. It is usually used in the sense of "caught myself, but too late" and the fortress

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in hindsight, it is regarded as a vice or flaw. In the Explanatory Dictionary of Vladimir Dahl, we find: "The hare is strong in the back (with the back mind)"; "Died, but with the back"; "With the back mind he is clever". In his "Proverbs of the Russian people" we read: "Everyone is smart: who is first, who is afterward"; "You can't fix things with an afterthought"; "If only I had that mind ahead of time that comes afterward". But Gogol also knew another interpretation of this saying. Thus, the famous collector of Russian folklore of the first half of the XIX century, Ivan Mikhailovich Snegirev, saw in it the expression of the Russian mindset: "That a Russian even after a mistake can catch on and come to his senses, this is what his own proverb says:" The Russian is strong in hindsight "" (Snegirev I. Russians in their proverbs. Reasoning and research about Russian proverbs and sayings. Book 2. Moscow, 1832. p. 27); " This is how Russian proverbs express the people's peculiar mindset, way of judging, and feature of their views (...) Their fundamental basis is the centuries-old, hereditary experience, this back mind, which is strong in Russian... "(Snegirev I. Russkie narodnye proverbitsy i pritchi. Moscow, 1995 / Reprint reproduction of the 1848 edition. p. XV. Note that the deep meaning of this folk wisdom was felt not only in the era of Gogol. Our contemporary, the writer Leonid Leonov, noted: "No, the proverb about our fortress is not about slow-wittedness, but once again it indicates how difficult it is to fully take into account all the contradictions and insidious circumstances that arise in the vast expanse of territories that are not covered by the eye").

In Gogol's reflections on the fate of his native people, their present and historical future, "the back mind or mind of final conclusions, which is mainly endowed with a Russian person over others," is the fundamental "property of Russian nature" that distinguishes Russians from other peoples. With this characteristic of the national mind, which is akin to the mind of folk proverbs, "who were able to draw such great conclusions from their poor, insignificant time (...) and they only tell us what huge conclusions can be drawn by the current Russian person from the current broad time, in which the results of all centuries are plotted." Gogol connects the high purpose of Russia.

The poetics of "Dead Souls" is especially characterized by the language of artistic associations, hidden analogies and likenesses, to which the author constantly resorts. In anecdotal situations, "insert" episodes, proverbs and sayings, Gogol scatters "hints" to the reader. But all this does not seem to be enough for him. Finally, he summarizes the content of the first volume in a small, concise parable, reducing all the variety of heroes of the poem to two characters: "Two inhabitants lived in one remote corner of Russia. One was the father of the family, named Kifa Mokievich, a man of gentle disposition,

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who spent his life in a negligent way. He did not concern himself with his family; his existence was more speculative and occupied with what he called the next philosophical question: "A beast, for instance," he said, pacing up and down the room, " will be born naked. Why exactly naked? Why not like a bird, why doesn't it hatch from an egg? How, really, you will not understand nature at all, the more you delve into it!" So thought the inhabitant of Kifa Mokievich."

It is no accident that Kifa Mokievich is busy with the philosophical question of the birth of the beast from the egg. This Gogol image very well "fits" into the well-known proverbial expression about "the eaten egg" and is created, in essence, as an expansion of this expression, as a realization of the metaphor contained in it. While the" theoretical philosopher " Kifa Mokievich is engaged in solving a problem that is not worth a single egg, his son, the hero Mokiy Kifovich, shows himself accordingly in the field of practical activity.

"He was what is called a hero in Russia," says the parable of Moki Kifovich, " and at the time when his father was engaged in the birth of the beast, his twenty-year-old broad-shouldered nature was eager to turn around. He never knew how to handle anything lightly: everything or someone's hand would crack, or a blister would pop up on someone's nose. Everything in the house and in the neighborhood, from the yard girl to the yard dog, ran away at the sight of him; even his own bed in the bedroom was broken to pieces. Such was Moky Kifovich..."

The image of Moki Kifovich also goes back to the folklore tradition. In one of the rough versions of the parable, where this character is also named Ivan Mokievich, Gogol directly points to the folk-poetic source of the image: "Mokievich's Obraschik - Lazarevich..." (meaning "The Story of Yeruslan Lazarevich". - V. V. ). The image of Moky Kifovich is based on the features of this fairy-tale hero, who has become a symbol of the Russian national hero: "And as soon as Uruslan is ten years old, he will be thrown out into the street: and kovo will raise his hand, the hand will be torn out of that, and Kovo will raise his leg, the leg will be broken."

Traditional epic image, widely known from folk sources. Gogol fills it with the necessary "modern" meaning. Endowed with an extraordinary gift-unprecedented physical strength-Mokiy Kifovich wastes it in vain, causing one concern to others and to himself. It is clear that the parable is not about denying the properties and characteristics of its characters, but rather about their improper manifestation. The bad thing is not that Kifa Mokievich is a thinker, and Mokiy Kifovich is a hero, but how exactly they use the properties and qualities of their nature given to them by nature. "Is there no boundless thought to be born in you, when you yourself are without end? -

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the author exclaims in a pathetic reflection on Russia. "Can't a hero be here when there is a place to turn around and walk around?"

Concluding the first volume of the poem. It is not for nothing that Gogol refers to the allegorical form of the parable. "Red is speech with a parable," says a Russian proverb. In the context of the entire first volume, Gogol's parable takes on a special, key meaning for the perception of the poem. Here the influence of the Holy Scriptures on Gogol's thinking was reflected. Let us recall that Jesus Christ opened his mouth in parables, that is, in short stories, the plots of which were taken from everyday life and clothed in a moral form. Growing into a symbol of generalizing meaning, the heroes of Gogol's parable concentrate in themselves the most important, generic features and properties of other characters in "Dead Souls".

Philosophically and speculatively - in the spirit of Kifa Mokievich-the existence of Manilov: "At home, he said very little and mostly reflected and thought (...) You can't say that he was engaged in farming, he never even went to the fields, the economy somehow went by itself." What is Manilov thinking about as he spends his life in fruitless dreams? About the underground passage, the bridge over the pond with benches for peasants, about how it would be nice "under the shade of some elm tree to philosophize about something, to go deeper!.."

The clumsy Sobakevich, like Moki Kifovich, who can't handle anything lightly, already "from the first time" stepped on Chichikov's foot, saying:: "I'm sorry." About the boot of this "wonderfully formed landowner" it is said that it was "of such a gigantic size that it is unlikely that you can find a corresponding foot anywhere, especially at the present time, when heroes are beginning to be bred in Russia."

The image of Sobakevich, who inherited from his ancient ancestors remarkable physical strength and truly heroic health ("I live in my fifth decade, I've never been ill"), was created with a parodic use of traditional elements of fairy-tale poetics. This modern Russian hero, who performs his feats at the dinner table, eats a whole "half of a side of mutton" at once, cheesecakes "each was much larger than a plate", "a turkey as tall as a calf". "When I have pork, put the whole pig on the table, mutton-just drag the whole ram, goose-just the whole goose!"

Sobakevich, a healthy and strong man himself, and a practical landowner, "seemed to be taking a lot of trouble about solidity." But the practicality of this prudent owner turns out to be a real waste: "Full-weight and thick logs were used for stables, sheds and kitchens, determined to stand for centuries. (...) Even the well was built in such a strong oak, which is used only for mills and ships."

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Grotesquely expressive images of Kifa Mokievich and Moki Kifovich help to look at the characters of the poem from all sides, and not from just one side, where they are petty and insignificant. "Everything can be distorted and everything can be given a bad meaning, but a person is capable of it," Gogol wrote in the article " On the Theater, on a one-sided view of the Theater and on one-sidedness in general." - But one must look at the thing in its foundation and at what it should be, and not judge it by the caricature that has been made of it ( ... ). There are many objects that suffer because they have distorted their meaning, and since there are many hunters in the world in general act rashly, according to the proverb: "Getting angry at lice and putting a fur coat in the oven," then a lot of things that would have served everyone well are destroyed."

Gogol's characters do not have deliberately disgusting, ugly qualities that need to be completely eradicated in order to correct a person. Sobakevich's heroic qualities and practicality, Plyushkin's economic thrift, Manilov's contemplation and cordiality, Nozdryov's gallant prowess and energy - qualities in themselves are not bad at all and do not deserve to be condemned. But all this, as Gogol liked to put it, is overflowing, brought to excess, manifests itself in a perverted, hypertrophied form.

Let us now turn to Chichikov. It combines all the" enthusiasm " of Gogol's heroes. The writer looks deeply into his soul, sometimes entrusting his innermost thoughts. Even as a child, Pavlusha discovered "a great mind on the practical side." Showing "straight Russian ingenuity" and an amazing "briskness in business matters," Pavel Ivanovich spent his whole life in business. In the most concentrated, aphoristic form, this feature of the main character of the poem is expressed in his "proverbial" monologue:"...hooked - dragged, broke - do not ask. Crying can't help your grief, you need to do your job." Chichikov's scam with dead souls is also called "business" in the poem. All his outstanding practical mind, will to overcome obstacles, knowledge of people, perseverance in achieving goals, this tireless and cunning Russian Odyssey spends in a business that is not worth a damn. This is exactly what Chichikov says about his "business", exasperated by Korobochka's incomprehensibility: "There is something to be angry about! It's not worth a damn, and I'll be angry about it!" As you can see, the author makes his characters "talk" about themselves in proverbs. Proverbs in "Dead Souls" are functionally significant, carry much more meaning than it may seem at first glance.

The acquisition of the "Kherson landowner" is regarded by officials as a "good deed". According to Chichikov himself, he "finally became a firm foot on a solid foundation" and "could not have done a more good deed."

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I would like to undertake it." What is Pavel Ivanovich trying to base his well-being on? On dead souls! On what is not, what is worthless, what can not be! On the void. The futility of Chichikov's enterprises and schemes is that they are all devoid of spiritual foundation. Chichikov's path is fruitless. This barrenness is expressed through the wisdom of the popular saying about a matter that is not worth the eaten egg. This proverb first appears long before the finale of the first volume, and Gogol sums up the Chichikov case with it. And this traditional folk conclusion, which crowns the hero's adventures, contains both a sentence for him and the possibility, according to the author, of his future revival. No wonder in the second volume Murazov repeats to himself: "Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is a very special person for me. After all, if only with such will and perseverance, but for a good deed!"

Gogol's artistic thinking is characterized by architectural associations. His comparison of "Dead Souls" with "a palace that is intended to be built on a colossal scale"is well known. Then the mention of two inhabitants of a remote corner of Russia who "unexpectedly, as if from a window, looked out at the end of our poem"also becomes clear. Continuing the metaphor of the writer, we can say that the parable is a window that allows you to look into the depth of the artistic world of his book.

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