This story by Nikolai Gogol, described by Vladimir Nabokov as the greatest Russian short story ever written, uses pathos and dry humor to get its messages across. The protagonist represents Russia’s working class, eking out a living in a tedious, low-level job. Things improve dramatically when a windfall allows him to buy a new overcoat. Sadly, after a mugger steals the coat, shortcomings in the justice system and failing health contribute to his death. Perhaps metaphorically, his ghost rises up and terrorizes the city in retribution. Themes: alienation, (lack of) connection and compassion, bureaucracy, materialism, social class, the supernatural, revenge. More…
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The Nose
Nikolai Gogol was a pioneer in absurdist fiction, writing this story almost eighty years before Franz Kafka’s iconic Metamorphosis. Gogol’s absurdism served an important purpose: social criticism. The Nose is a comical account of “Major” Platon Kovaloff, a vain, pompous and narcissistic municipal official who goes looking for his wandering proboscis. Kovaloff is so obsessed with improving and capitalizing on his social position that he feels emasculated without it. The story satirizes three aspects of Russian society: 1) the corrupt government bureaucracy; 2) its fixation on superficial signs of importance; and 3) how different social classes view and treat women. More…
Diary of a Madman
This humorous story from Nikolai Gogol charts the descent of a government clerk into insanity. He dismisses his supervisor’s concerns about strange behavior as jealousy, becomes infatuated with his Department Head’s daughter, stalks the poor girl after overhearing a conversation between two dogs, reads their (the dogs’) letters, and finally suffers delusions of grandeur, believing himself to be the King of Spain. In the process, the story satirizes Russia’s bureaucratic wastefulness and obsession with titles and social status. The major theme is, of course, madness. Other themes: purposeless work, alienation, envy, wounded pride, class and (in the asylum) cruelty, suffering. More…