Dead Souls Essay Questions

What is the meaning of the novel's title?

The novel's title, Dead Souls, is a reference to the literal names of dead peasants that Chichikov purchases from various landowners. At the same time, it alludes to the deadened humanity in the hearts of these various individuals, as they are all consumed by selfish desires. In this way, the book's title has a double significance, as the actual dead souls are not the serfs, but the people who own them and whose self-interest is ruining their country.

What description best characterizes Chichikov?

Chichikov is described as having no core sense of identity. He constantly adapts in social situations to conform to the expectations of the people around him. He flatters people by figuring out the things they want to hear and then saying them. He can speak on a number of subjects and does so in order to ingratiate himself at parties and social events. He is only interested in his business ventures, having been taught from a young age that moving up the class ladder is the most important thing for him to do. As such, he is entirely self-focused and only uses his charm as a means of getting what he wants.

How does Gogol portray landowners in the novel?

The landowners in the novel are portrayed as careless and cruel. While some are better at managing their estates than others, they all show a casual lack of concern for the welfare of their workers. This is underscored in the way that they all talk about their serfs like commodities, taking note of little beyond their capacity to do work and their various possible vices. Pliushkin is nasty in the way that he verbally abuses his serfs and constantly accuses them of stealing. Sobakevich is harsh in how he tries to extract as much time, effort, and money from his serfs as possible, in the name of maximized efficiency. In these ways, Gogol reveals them to be unique as characters while all still remaining basically selfish and unsympathetic.

In what register in the novel written in?

The novel is written in a unique style. The novel appears to be written from a third-person perspective, as the narrator never appears as a character in the book. At the same time, the narrator often remarks on the story that he is telling, making a comment about Chichikov being an unlikely hero for a story or sharing an observation about Russia's future. The book moves between these modes, as the narrator will zoom in on a particular character or moment and then remind the reader that this is a story. It's a voice that constantly draws attention to itself and how it is constructing this particular narrative.

What works of literature is Dead Souls modeled after?

Dead Souls is modeled after Dante's Divine Comedy and Homer's Odyssey. The novel follows the same episodic structure as these epic poems and uses its hero's journey as the backbone of its plot. Like the Divine Comedy, it uses different characters to represent various kinds of human flaws. Similar to the Odyssey, it employs long digressions on various subjects to elucidate its main ideas. Gogol's admiration for and careful study of both these works is very apparent in these similarities.