Summary
The next section begins with Chichikov continuing his journey back to town. He returns to his hotel room. He goes over the lists he has received, looking at what qualities have been ascribed to the dead serfs. He wonders about what their lives might have been like and imagines some of them. He then realizes he has lost track of time and rushes outside. He travels to a nearby office to get the deeds of purchase formalized for these lists. He runs into Manilov who joins him on his way to the office. They arrive and head inside.
They meet various government officials who direct them all over the office to get the deed recognized. Chichikov goes to a few different desks and then bribes one official. This official then shows him where the judge who can help him works. He goes into the judge's office and meets Sobakevich. They discuss business matters. The deeds of purchase are registered, but Chichikov is told he has to extend his stay in town. He is questioned about what he intends to do with these serfs. He lies and says he plans to resettle them.
More people wander into the room and they toast the deal. They also bring in a great deal of food to celebrate the occasion. Everyone is happy and eventually Chichikov departs back to his room. Everyone in town begins to talk about Chichikov's acquisitions. They speculate that he might be very wealthy. He is invited to a number of social gatherings. At the same time, women in the town begin to take an increasing interest in him. They begin writing him letters. He reads these letters and wonders who has been writing to him.
A local ball is thrown and Chichikov prepares to attend it, hoping to look his best. When he arrives, he is greeted and embraced by numerous people. He attempts to figure out who wrote him the letters but struggles to do so. Eventually he is introduced to the governor's daughter and realizes she is the beautiful woman he saw on the road a few days prior. They talk for a long time and he learns that she has recently graduated finishing school. The other women become jealous of her and say unkind things about her.
The governor's daughter is bored while Chichikov talks to her about the philosopher Diogenes. Suddenly, Nozdriov bursts into the party and shouts at Chichikov, telling everyone about his dead souls scheme, saying he is a cheat and liar. People are unsettled by this revelation and begin to talk at the party. Chichikov becomes increasingly worried throughout the night that Nozdriov has ruined his plans. The narrator notes that a visitor of great consequence is about to arrive in the town.
The visitor gets out of her carriage and sets off into town. It turns out the visitor is Korobochka and she comes to town to converse with her friend Anna. She tells Anna about the documents Chichikov coerced her into signing and expresses concern about his schemes. They continue to speculate and come to the conclusion that he must be attempting to kidnap the governor's daughter, using the dead souls scheme as a cover.
The two women also talk about the things they dislike about the governor's daughter, taking note of her cold face and pale skin. The town prosecutor joins them. Eventually this speculation becomes a rumor when everyone in the town starts discussing it. The men in the town become concerned about Chichikov's business scheming and the women become focused on his potential abduction of the governor's daughter. People in the town seek out information about him and, finding none, determine that he is a suspicious character.
Analysis
The purpose of writing is a major theme in these chapters. Gogol begins the seventh chapter describing an artist who never "lowers" themself by writing about unappealing, everyday subject matter. He says these artists only focus on lofty images that are completely divorced from reality. He imagines them being very happy and self-satisfied. What he seems to be saying at the moment is that this sort of artist makes work that is so completely divorced from reality that it isn't making anything of consequence. In this way, he justifies the focus of his own novel, as it centers on the struggles of everyday people while not shying away from the things that make them unappealing or unsympathetic.
The topic of serfdom appears prominently in this section. Once again, Gogol shows how the serfs are treated as mere property. While looking at the various lists the landowners have compiled, Chichikov notices they have systematically categorized the serfs in different ways. He sees that one list is plainer, focusing on the names, while another has included minor details about their work and personality. In both cases, the landowners have taken a very reductive view of their serfs, categorizing them without real regard for their humanity. Even Chichikov's imagination of one of their lives is condescending, as he feels annoyed for having wasted time on it when it makes him late. In not actually taking real notice of the serfs' humanity, the landowners and Chichikov all contribute to their dehumanization, as they are reduced to their names, monetary value, and labor contribution.
Bureaucracy is another key theme in this part of the book. When Chichikov travels to the government office, he is directed to various different offices. He grows increasingly frustrated as no one is able to give him a straight answer about where he is supposed to be to get his request filled. He is only able to be directed to a judge's office after slipping a clerk a bribe. In this way, Gogol seems to indicate that the Russian society depicted in the novel is hampered by inefficient bureaucracy that is designed to be confusing and unhelpful. This impression is cemented when Chichikov is later celebrated for his business deal by members of the office. Their failure to notice his scheming behavior reveals that all of the layers of government bureaucracy are pointless, as they cannot actually impede a true swindler.
Gossip also appears as a major theme in this section of the book. After Chichikov submits his deeds for approval at the government office, people in town quickly begin to speculate about whether or not he is a wealthy man. In turn, this causes people to assume that he is secretly a very wealthy man. This perception draws more people to him and interests women in courting him as a potential husband. Gogol makes clear to the reader that this perception is completely ungrounded in reality and is solely the result of people talking. In this way, he shows how small-town gossip takes root in accumulated conversation and not in anything substantial. In reality, Chichikov is neither a wealthy nor reputable man.
This perception is supported when Korobochka arrives in town and the tides of Chichikov's public perception rapidly change. Korobochka describes her encounter with Chichikov and takes note of the way he coerced her into signing various documents to support his dead souls scheme. Her friends say that this likely means he is a disreputable man who is not to be trusted. Subsequently they suspect that he intends to kidnap the governor's daughter. The people of the town then decide to bar Chichikov from public spaces. This rapid shift in the perception of Chichikov shows, in the opposite direction, how baseless this gossip is. His single conversation with the governor's daughter becomes the foundation of the perception of him as a scoundrel who intends to steal her away from her family. By showing how easily people are swayed in thinking of Chichikov positively or negatively, Gogol reveals the insubstantial nature of this public perception. In reality, Chichikov is not a gentleman, but he is also not a monster. Instead, he is simply a self-interested individual trying to scheme his way forward in the world.
