Role of the Supernatural Epilogue to Gogol's Shinel - Book Report/Review Example

Role of the supernatural epilogue to Gogols Shinel (the Overcoat) Nikolai Gogol’s short story ‘Shinel’ or ‘The Overcoat’ is one of the most famous and influential short stories and it was published in 1842. Nikolai Gogol belonged to that time, when the arena of Russian literature was dominated by the Naturalism movement and ‘The Overcoat’ is considered by critics as a masterpiece of this time. Many critics are also of opinion that ‘The Overcoat’ can be classified as one of those few pioneering short stories that have introduced the modern form of short story writing. As a critical reader looks into the works of great Russian artists of short story writing, such as Turgenev and Dostoyevsky, he automatically understands to what extent ‘The Overcoat’ has wrapped them up with its structural as well as aesthetic influence. The storyline of The Overcoat is very simple and it revolves around the daily struggle of the protagonist Akakii Akakievich for his survival. Application of the supernatural epilogue in the short story gives it a unique feature and it gradually takes the reader from mundane existence to a world of supernatural existence. As we finish reading the short story, we feel that Gogol’s implementation of supernatural material in the story serves certain purpose. It not only gives the story a novel dimension but at the same time, he also uses the supernatural element as an instrument to reveal true character of the society and its inhabitants. To understand the importance of the supernatural epilogue in ‘The Overcoat,’ it is important to focus over flow of incidents in the story. The reader, as stats reading the story, finds that Gogol has provided excellent description of the protagonist and his daily life. In the course of reading the story the reader feels that he can almost visualize the whole thing and this quality of Gogol has recognized him among modern critics as ‘a pioneer of a new “naturalist” aesthetics’. The protagonist of the story, Akakii Akakievich, is a typical member of the middle class society of Gogol’s time and earns his livelihood by working in a government office. The author has given detailed description of the protagonist’s apparent features only with the purpose to let the reader know that he does not posses any such external features that would differentiate him from the rest. He is just a common man, who has “…short of stature, somewhat pockmarked, rather red-haired, rather blind, judging from appearances, with a small bald spot on his forehead, with wrinkles on his cheeks, with a complexion of the sort called sanguine. …” (Negri, 24) In the very beginning of this short story, Gogol tells his reader that the protagonist works in some department of a government office and at the same time he also let the reader know about his impression of government departments, “There is nothing more irritable than all kinds of departments, regiments, courts of justice and, in a word, every branch of public service.” (Gogol, 1) Gradually he introduces the reader with the family of Akakii Akakievich and in a comical way he also lets him know about how he was named after his father. As the story proceeds, the reader gradually comes to know that the life of Akakii Akakievich in the city of St. Petersburg is extremely colorless and like several other common people of contemporary Russia, the protagonist was living just for the sake of living. The lifestyle and non persuasive appearance of the protagonist made him so humble that he never received minimum respect from his colleagues and the author has provided a vivid picture of such neglect to the reader through small but powerfully expressive sentences, “No respect was shown him in the department. The janitor not only did not rise from his seat when he passed, but never even glanced at him, as if only a fly had flown through the reception-room. His superiors treated him in a coolly despotic manner.” (Gogol, 3) He was simply regarded as a subject of fun making but it is astonishing to see the passive approach of the protagonist to all the mockeries and insults. He has completely adopted himself in such ways and despite all these humiliation he ‘never made a single mistake in a letter.’ (Gogol, 4) The sense of monotony of his existence becomes more grime as the author mentions, “Outside this copying, it appeared that nothing existed for him” (Gogol, 5) and in this context he resembles Mrs. Thurlow, the protagonist in H.E.Bates’s short story ‘The Ox.’ The overcoat of Akakii Akakievich is introduced to the story much later and since its introduction action sequence of the story moves at a faster rate. Winter was coming and the condition of the overcoat was so bad that it needed to mend immediately. Perhaps, this is the first time a reader senses certain humane features in Akakii Akakievich. His sense of survival against cruel wind of Russian winter takes him to Petrovich, the tailor, who contributes to a great extent in setting climax of the story. After a proper scrutiny of the overcoat the tailor suggests that there is no point in mending it and Akakii Akakievich is required go for a replacement immediately. Humane features of the protagonist are emphasized once again as the he listens about removal of his old overcoat and his expression resembles desperate appeal of a helpless person, as if he is almost on the verge of leaving a old acquaintance behind, “Why is it impossible, Petrovich?” he said, almost in the pleading voice of a child: “all that ails it is, that it is worn on the shoulders. You must have some pieces.” …” (Gogol, 13) Later on we see that that the tailor swears to make him a new overcoat and almost at the same time, astonishingly, the protagonist receives a salary hike. Somewhere in his heart Akakii Akakievich feels that his overcoat has brought him a new fortune and at the same time he becomes subject of appreciation and admiration in his department due to his new coat. His love for the new overcoat is masterfully depicted by the author, “That whole day was truly a most triumphant festival day for Akakii Akakievich. He returned home in the most happy frame of mind, threw off his coat, and hung it carefully on the wall, admiring afresh the cloth and the lining; and then he brought out his old, worn-out coat, for comparison. He looked at it, and laughed…” (Gogol, 12) But on that very evening his overcoat is snatched from him and he fights to the end of his capacity to recover his new overcoat. Finally he dies and the author provided such a presentation of the situation that it compels the reader to believe that his soul left him with the overcoat only. It is after physical death of the protagonist, the story takes most important and interesting turn. ‘A rumor suddenly spread throughout Petersburg that a dead man had taken to appearing on the Kalinkin Bridge, and far beyond, at night, in the form of an official seeking a stolen coat,… One of the department employés saw the dead man with his own eyes, and immediately recognized in him Akakii Akakievich.’’ (Negri, 45) At the same time, Gogol also shifts reader’s focus to the ‘certain prominent personage.’ The reader comes to know since the time Akakii Akakievich left his office he felt ‘remorse’. Later on, he comes to know about this death and he felt guilty inside. Inclusion of the supernatural epilogue reveals to the reader, actual character of the high ranking official. Though the person has a family of his own but basic frailties of his character are still dominating him. Through the supernatural epilogue the author has made an attempt to portray the basic picture of the society. At the beginning of the epilogue, Gogol tell the reader that a person from same department, where Akakii Akakievich used to work, saw the apparition and immediately he identified it as the dead Akakii Akakievich. Actually there was no ghost but people were haunted by their guilt consciousness. The person, who identified the ‘ghost’ as Akakii Akakievich, must have inflicted certain humiliation upon him and after death of the protagonist his colleague was suffering inside due to guilt consciousness. It was the main reason that he was hallucinating and a lot of people also did it in the same way. It is same with the ‘prominent personage’. When Akakii Akakievich went to him and asked for his help, he, instead of helping him, was busy to make him realize about the importance of his position. Many people, like the high raking official, did the same thing to Akakii Akakievich as he approached them in order to seek their help for recovery of his coat. After his death all those people realized their wrongful act but there was no chance to redeem them. The protagonist never reappeared but it was their consciousness that took the form of Akakii Akakievich, a social victim and pointed them about their wrong. In this context we can remember the apparitions in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Hamlet. Macbeth often observed the ghost of King Duncan, whom he did slay in his sleep and Hamlet used to see the ghost of his dead father. Psychology says that it was Macbeth’s guilt consciousness that took the form of King Duncan and compelled him to admit his guilt before everyone. Hamlet’s sense of vengeance about the murder of his father took the form of an apparition and charged him to kill his uncle, the murderer of his father. Compared with Macbeth and Hamlet, the ghost of Akakii Akakievich does not have any such relevance but from psychological perspective, apparitions in the dramas and the short story are equal, that they are psychological refection of the living beings. Here lies the importance of the supernatural epilogue. If we think about the story without the epilogue, it remains just a tragic story of a middle aged, stoic person. His longing for the coat and his death, without fulfillment of his wishes definitely touches out heart but that touch never becomes eternal. On the other hand inclusion of this epilogue not only gives the story a supernatural, a mystic dimension but at the same time it provides Gogol the scope to represent the actual character and nature of the inhabitants of society. Gogol not only portrays the horrid and harsh face of the society in a very comical manner but at the same time through ‘The Overcoat’, within a small scope, he does excellent psychological study of individuals. References 1. Gogol, Nikolay Vasilyevich, The Overcoat, ReadHowYouWant.com, 2006 2. Negri, Paul, Great Russian Short Stories, Courier Dover Publications, 2003   Read More