The Overcoat Lesson Plan

How would you describe Shponka’s character in “Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt”?

Shponka is the picture of innocence. He is a good student in the beginning and terrified of making mistakes. He is an honest soldier who does not participate in the drunken revelry of his peers. He cannot imagine being married. Gogol makes specific mention of Shponka’s fear of sharing a bed with a woman. He says, “To live with a wife! It was incomprehensible. He would not be alone in his room, but there would always be the two of them!” (90) Shponka’s goodness prevents him from seeing when he is being manipulated.

What are the similarities between Katherine from “The Terrible...