N.V. Gogol. The author published it in 1842. He originally planned a three-volume work. In 1842 the first volume was published. However, the second, almost finished, was destroyed by the writer himself (several chapters from it were preserved in the drafts). The third was not even started, there is only isolated information about it. Therefore, we will consider Chichikov’s attitude towards Nozdryov only on the basis of the first volume of the work. Let's start by getting to know these heroes.
Who are Chichikov and Nozdryov?
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is a former official, and now a schemer. This retired collegiate adviser was engaged in buying up “dead souls” (that is, written evidence of deceased peasants) in order to mortgage them as if they were alive, obtain a bank loan and gain influence in society. He takes care of himself and dresses smartly. Chichikov even after the dusty and long journey manages to look as if he had just visited a barber and tailor.
Nozdryov is a 35-year-old dashing "talker, reveler, reckless driver." This is the third landowner in the work with whom Chichikov decided to start bargaining over dead souls. Let's try to answer the question of how Chichikov treated Nozdryov. To do this, you should trace the entire history of their relationship.
Acquaintance of Chichikov with Nozdrev
In the first chapter of the work, they meet during lunch with the prosecutor. Then the heroes accidentally encounter each other in a tavern (chapter four). Chichikov travels from Korobochka to Sobakevich. In turn, Nozdryov, together with Mezhuev, his son-in-law, returns from the fair, where he lost and drank everything, including the crew. The landowner immediately lures Gogol's swindler to his estate. It is clear what Chichikov wanted from the landowner Nozdryov, why he agreed to go with him - he was interested in " dead Souls".
Having delivered the guests, the landowner immediately begins to show the farm. Nozdryov starts with the stables, then talks about the wolf cub who lives with him and eats only raw meat. Then the landowner moves on to the pond. Here, according to his stories, there are fish that only two fishermen together can pull out. This is followed by a show of the kennel, where Nozdryov looks like a “father of the family” among the dogs. After this, the guests go to the field, where, of course, they catch the hare with their hands. It is clear that Chichikov’s attitude towards the landowner Nozdryov after all this boasting is unlikely to be positive. After all, this hero is very insightful.
Drinking and its consequences
The landowner is not very concerned about dinner. Only at 5 o'clock do guests sit down at the table. He explains that food is not the main thing in his life. But Nozdryov has a lot of drinks, and he doesn’t have enough of the ones he has and he invents his own incredible “compositions” (champagne and bourgoignon together, rowan, which tastes like fusel, “with the taste of cream”). At the same time, the landowner spares himself. Chichikov, noticing this, quietly pours out his glasses too.
Nevertheless, the owner, who “spared” himself, appears to him the next morning in only a robe and with a pipe in his teeth. He assures, as a hussar hero should, that “the squadron spent the night” in his mouth. It doesn’t matter at all whether you have a hangover or not. The only important thing is that a decent reveler must certainly suffer from it. What was Nozdryov’s attitude towards Chichikov? It is best revealed by the quarrel that occurred during the bargaining.
Chichikov's quarrel with Nozdrev
The motive of this false hangover is important to the author in another respect. During the bargaining that took place the night before, Nozdryov had a big quarrel with Chichikov. The fact is that he refused to play cards for “dead souls”, and also to buy a stallion of real “Arab blood”, and receive souls “in addition”. Nozdrev's attitude to Chichikov's proposal, therefore, requires justification. However, the landowner’s evening cockiness cannot be attributed to alcohol, just as the morning peacefulness cannot be explained by forgetting what was done in a drunken stupor. Nozdryov in his actions is guided by only one spiritual quality: an unrestrainedness bordering on unconsciousness.
Game of checkers for souls
The landowner does not plan, does not conceive anything, he simply does not know the measure of anything. Chichikov, having agreed (very recklessly) to play checkers to his heart's content (since checkers are not marked), almost becomes a victim of Nozdryov's revelry. The souls at stake are valued at 100 rubles. The landowner moves 3 checkers at once with his sleeve and thus moves one of them into kings. Chichikov has no choice but to mix the figures.
The game of souls emphasizes the essence of both heroes, and does not simply reveal how Chichikov treated the landowner Nozdryov. The latter asks for 100 rubles for the souls, and Chichikov wants to reduce the price to 50. Nozdryov’s attitude to Chichikov’s proposal is as follows: he asks to include some kind of puppy in the same amount. This landowner, being an incorrigible gambler, does not play for the sake of winning at all - he is interested in the process itself. Nozdryov is annoyed and angry at the loss. The ending of the game is predictable and familiar - it is a conflict turning into a fight.
Chichikov's escape
Chichikov, at the same time, thinks primarily not about physical pain, but about the fact that the courtyard people will witness this unpleasant scene. But the reputation should be maintained by all possible means. The hero resolves the conflict that threatens his image in the usual way - he flees. Subsequently, when the whole city becomes aware of the purchase of “dead souls,” he does the same. Chichikov’s attitude towards Nozdrev, their cheating deal is a parody of entrepreneurial activity. She complements the characteristics of both characters, demonstrating the vulgarity and baseness of the masters" mediocre".
It seems that reprisal against Chichikov is inevitable. The landowner shouts in excitement: “Beat him!” The guest is saved only by the appearance of the police captain, a formidable man with a huge mustache.
Scene at the governor's ball and Nozdryov's visit
Chichikov hopes that he will never see Nozdryov again. However, these heroes will meet twice more. One of the meetings takes place at the governor’s ball (chapter eight). In this scene, the buyer of “dead souls” was almost killed. Nozdryov, unexpectedly encountering him, shouts at the top of his voice that this is a “Kherson landowner” who “trades in dead souls.” This gives rise to many incredible rumors. When, completely confused in various versions, officials of the city of NN call on Nozdryov, he, not at all embarrassed by the contradictory nature of all these opinions, confirms them all (ninth chapter). Chichikov allegedly bought dead souls worth several thousand, he is a counterfeiter and a spy, he tried to take away the governor’s daughter, and priest Sidor was supposed to marry the newlyweds for 75 rubles. Nozdryov even confirms that Chichikov is Napoleon.
In the tenth chapter, the landowner himself informs Chichikov about these rumors, to whom he pays a visit without an invitation. Nozdryov, having once again forgotten about his resentment, offers him help in “taking away” the governor’s daughter, and for only 3,000 rubles.
Nozdryov's inner world
This landowner, like other heroes of Gogol’s poem, seems to transfer the outlines of his own soul onto the outlines of everyday life. Everything in his house is arranged in a stupid way. Wooden trestles stand in the middle of the dining room, there are no papers or books in the office, supposedly Turkish daggers hang on the wall (Chichikov sees the name of the master on one of them - Savely Sibiryakov). Nozdryov calls his favorite organ an organ.
Gogol compares the depraved and upset soul of the landowner with this spoiled organ-organ, which played not without pleasantness, but in the middle something went wrong, since the mazurka ended with the song “Malbrug went on a hike,” which, in turn, ended with some familiar waltz. The landowner had long ago stopped turning it, but in this barrel organ there was one lively pipe that did not want to calm down, and whistled alone for a long time. Of course, in the crippled souls of Gogol’s heroes, these “God’s pipes” are very noticeable, sometimes whistling on their own and confusing well-thought-out, impeccably and logically planned scams.
How Chichikov reveals himself in his relationship with Nozdrev
Chichikov's attitude towards Nozdryov reveals inner world Gogol's swindler. Running away from the landowner who is making another “story,” the hunter for “dead souls” cannot understand why he went to the estate, why he trusted him, “like a child, like a fool.” However, it was not by chance that he was seduced by this landowner: by nature, he is also an adventurer who, in order to achieve selfish goals, without a twinge of conscience, can step over all moral laws. Concluding our discussion of the topic “Chichikov’s attitude towards Nozdryov,” we note that the former is no less capable of lying, deceiving, and even shedding tears at the same time than the latter.
The poem “Dead Souls” embodies the image of Russia of the past and future. Satirical grotesque reality with a hint of patriotism allows you to create a plot whose relevance does not lose over the years.
Nozdryov is an empty and absurd person, prone to deception and often lies, while considering his nature to be broad. Thanks to this type of character, the hero quite often becomes a participant in ridiculous situations, and his behavior indicates that he is shameless and combines arrogance with weak-willedness.
Characteristics of the hero
("Nozdryov", artist Alexander Agin, 1846-47)
Nozdryov becomes the third person who is offered to sell dead souls; he is a dashing landowner of 35 years old. A reckless person, a carouser, a talker - all this is about Nozdryov, he is ready to bully everyone indiscriminately, constantly lies, and is also prone to excitement. This person can play dirty tricks, even on his close friends, and at the same time no personal goals are pursued.
All the features of this strategy of behavior are explained by the character’s personality: he combines agility, agility, one might say that his uncontrollability is adjacent to unconsciousness. Nozdryov is not worth plans and strategies, so all his actions are improvisation, and Nozdryov has no sense of proportion at all.
The author portrayed Nozdryov as a broken guy, and this is precisely what his behavior indicates. Life goes on for Nozdryov today, but he doesn’t think about the next days. This is clearly seen in the example of his game: he often exchanged everything he won for unimportant things, and could immediately lose what he had acquired. It was his energy that made him this way and drove his behavior. You can learn little about Nozdryov in the work; he was a card sharper, and first appeared to the reader in paragraph NN. In general, the hero can be called ridiculous, he is simply ridiculous, is not attentive to statements and does not care about their consequences.
Nozdryov is a bad master; we do not learn about the life of his peasants, since the main interests of the hero are dogs and smoking pipes. It can be played to its full potential, and if it wins, it spends everything on entertainment and revelry. Ego energy pushes to exploits and leads to illogical purchases; the contrast to this behavior is the consistency during agreements with Chichikov, who was able to see the trickery. The image of Nozdryov is formed and constant, he has emotional speech and speaks loudly. The author did not tell the character's backstory and left him unchanged for the entire duration of the poem.
The image of the hero in the work
Nozdryov intercepts Chichikov at the tavern and quarrels with him on the estate: Chichikov does not agree to play for dead souls and buy a stallion with souls as a bonus. By morning, Nozdryov has already forgotten about the differences and proposes a game of souls, this time in checkers, but he gets caught cheating. The heated N. can be calmed down only thanks to the appearance of the police captain, since Nozdryov gave the order to beat Chichikov.
The role of Nozdryov is important for the plot, since he almost killed Chichikov when he shouted loudly “he sells dead souls.” This gave rise to a lot of incredible rumors, and after calling the authorities, Nozdryov confirmed all the rumors. The hero himself goes to Chichikov, talks about the rumors, and makes a proposal regarding the transportation of the governor’s daughter.
The character's confusion is also reflected in his home environment; there are no books or papers in his office, and there are trestles in the middle part of the dining room. The author showed his boundless lies as the other side of the young man's prowess. This is not to say that the hero is completely empty; his enormous energy is simply not directed in the right direction.
What should the image of Nozdryov show?
Nozdryov always takes part in wild fun, drunken revelry and playing cards. He brings entertainment to society and creates scandals. The author called him historical person, since boasting, inventions and empty chatter are his favorite thing and an integral part of his personality. Chichikov considers Nozdryov a crappy person, because he is arrogant, cheeky and does nasty things to his neighbors. The character shows that a person with a noble appearance and a “star in his chest” can do nasty things like a “simple college registrar.”
- Well, listen, let's play checkers, if you win, it's all yours. After all, I have a lot of people who need to be deleted from the revision. Hey, Porfiry, bring the checkerboard here.
- Labor is in vain, I won’t play.
- But it’s not to the bank; there can be no happiness or falsehood here: everything comes from art; I’ll even preface you by saying that I don’t know how to play at all, unless you give me something in advance.
“This time,” Chichikov thought to himself, “I’ll play checkers with him!” I played checkers well, but it’s hard for him to get up to par here.”
“If you please, so be it, I’ll play checkers.”
- Souls cost a hundred rubles!
- Why? It’s enough if they go at fifty.
- No, what kind of jackpot is fifty? It would be better if I included in this amount some kind of mediocre puppy or a gold signet for your watch.
- Well, if you please! - said Chichikov.
- How much will you give me in advance? - said Nozdryov.
- Why on earth? Of course, nothing.
- At least let it be my two moves.
- I don’t want to, I don’t play well myself.
- I haven’t picked up checkers for a long time! - Chichikov said, also moving his saber.
- We know you, how bad you play! - said Nozdryov, speaking with his saber.
- I haven’t picked up checkers for a long time! - Chichikov said, moving his saber.
- We know you, how bad you play! - said Nozdryov, moving the saber, and at the same time he moved the other saber with the cuff of his sleeve.
- I haven’t picked it up for a long time!.. Eh, eh! What is this, brother? put her back! - said Chichikov.
- Whom?
“Yes, a saber,” said Chichikov and at the same time he saw another one right in front of his nose, which, as it seemed, was making its way into the kings; where it came from, only God knew. “No,” said Chichikov, getting up from the table, “there is no way to play with you!” They don’t move like that, suddenly three checkers at a time!
- Why three? This is by mistake. One moved accidentally, I’ll move it if you please.
- Where did the other one come from?
- Which other one?
- And this one that sneaks into the ladies?
- Here you go, as if you don’t remember!
- No, brother, I counted all the moves and remember everything; You just installed it now. She belongs over there!
- How, where is the place? - said Nozdryov, blushing. - Yes, brother, as I see it, you are a writer!
- No, brother, it seems that you are the writer, but it’s just unsuccessful.
-Who do you think I am? - said Nozdryov. - Am I going to cheat?
“I don’t regard you as anyone, but from now on I’ll never play.”
“No, you can’t refuse,” Nozdryov said, getting excited, “the game has begun!”
- I have the right to refuse, because you don’t play as decently as possible to an honest man.
- No, you’re lying, you can’t say that!
- No, brother, you yourself are lying!
“I didn’t cheat, but you can’t refuse, you have to finish the game!”
“You can’t force me to do this,” Chichikov said calmly and, going up to the board, mixed the checkers.
Nozdryov flushed and approached Chichikov so close that he took two steps back.
- I'll make you play! It's okay that you mixed the checkers, I remember all the moves. We will put them back the way they were.
“No, brother, it’s over, I won’t play with you.”
- So you don’t want to play?
“You see for yourself that there is no way to play with you.”
- No, tell me straight, don’t you want to play? - Nozdryov said, approaching even closer.
- Don't want! - said Chichikov and, however, brought both hands closer to his face just in case, for things were really getting hot.
This precaution was very appropriate, because Nozdryov waved his hand... and it could very well have happened that one of our hero’s pleasant and full cheeks would have been covered with indelible dishonor; but, happily deflecting the blow, he grabbed Nozdryov by both of his perky hands and held him tightly.
- Porfiry, Pavlushka! - Nozdryov shouted in rage, trying to break free.
Hearing these words, Chichikov, in order not to make the courtyard people witnesses the seductive scene and at the same time feeling that holding Nozdryov was useless, released his hands. At this very time Porfiry entered and with him Pavlushka, a burly guy with whom it was completely unprofitable to deal.
- So you don’t want to finish the games? - said Nozdryov. - Answer me directly!
“There’s no way to end the game,” Chichikov said and looked out the window. He saw his chaise, which stood completely ready, and Selifan seemed to be waiting for a signal to roll under the porch, but there was no way to get out of the room: two hefty serf fools were standing at the door.
- So you don’t want to finish the games? - Nozdryov repeated with his face burning as if on fire.
- If only you played like a decent honest person. But now I can't.
- A! You can't do that, you scoundrel! When you saw that it wasn’t yours, you couldn’t! Beat him! - he shouted frantically, turning to Porfiry and Pavlushka, and he grabbed the cherry chibouk in his hand. Chichikov became pale as a sheet. He wanted to say something, but he felt that his lips were moving without a sound.
N.V. Gogol. Dead Souls
In the fall of 1835, Gogol began work on “ Dead souls", the plot of which, like the plot of The Inspector General, was suggested to him by Pushkin. “In this novel I want to show, although from one side, all of Rus',” he writes to Pushkin. Explaining the idea " Dead souls", Gogol wrote that the images of the poem are “in no way portraits of insignificant people; on the contrary, they contain the features of those who consider themselves better than others.” Explaining the choice of the hero, the author says: “Because it’s time to finally give rest to the poor virtuous man , because the word “virtuous person” idly revolves on the lips; because they turned a virtuous man into a horse, and there is no writer who would not ride him, urging him on with a whip and with anything else.” This tirade, most important for Gogol, ends accordingly: “No, it’s time to finally hide the scoundrel too. So, let’s harness the scoundrel!” These words spoken about Chichikov can be applied with the same confidence to the landowner Nozdryov.
This is a “jack of all trades” man. He is carried away by drunken revelry, riotous fun, card game. In the presence of Nozdryov, not a single society could do without scandalous stories, so the author ironically calls Nozdryov a “historical person.” Chatting, boasting, lying are his most typical traits. According to Chichikov, Nozdryov is a “trashy person.” He behaves cheekily, insolently and has a “passion to spoil his neighbor.”
Village idleness and life without worries led to the degradation of man, and he turned into a dangerous, arrogant hooligan. A gambler, gossip, drunkard and rowdy, Nozdryov is extremely typical of Russian noble society. Drunken revelry and hunting are Nozdryov’s favorite and natural pastimes. On his ruined estate, only the kennel is in excellent condition. Among the dogs, “Nozdryov was... just like a father among the family.” The hero’s tongue is clogged with all sorts of distorted words, ridiculous expressions, swear words, alogisms. The portrait of Nozdryov is complemented by his surname, consisting of a large number of consonants, creating the impression of an explosion. In addition, the combination of letters evokes an association with the hero’s favorite word “nonsense.”
Chichikov is the complete opposite of Nozdryov. He is solid and positive, at least in his ideas about himself and his future. This is a man of new times, a businessman and acquirer, and has everything necessary qualities: “...and pleasantness in turns and actions, and glibness in business affairs,” and at the same time he is an adventurer, a scoundrel and a hypocrite, whose true face is reliably covered with a mask of secular politeness and good manners. Our hero pacifies his blood, which “played strongly,” and gets rid of human feelings almost completely. The idea of success, enterprise, and practicality overshadow many human motives in him.
Chichikov knows how to adapt to any microcosm, even appearance The hero is such that he will fit into any situation: “not handsome, but not bad-looking either,” “neither too fat, nor too thin,” “middle-aged man” - everything about him is vague, nothing stands out. Chichikov's appetites for life are not excessive like Nozdryov's; he tries to be moderate in everything. But money for Chichikov is not a means, but an end in itself. All thoughts and feelings of this person are subordinated to one thing - the desire to become rich at any cost. In implementation cherished dream he demonstrates such qualities as perseverance, resourcefulness, and thirst for activity. All these qualities could be called positive if the goals were different.
Nozdryov is active completely without a goal and constantly craves entertainment.
Despite the complete opposite of characters, it is Nozdryov who guesses about Chichikov’s essence, because he himself is a scoundrel. “You are a big swindler, let me tell you this out of friendship! If I were your boss, I would hang you from the first tree,” Nozdryov joyfully yells. Chichikov, unlike Nozdryov, is a “cute scoundrel”; despite everything, he evokes sympathy with his optimism, his ability not to fall into despair and to look for a way out of any situation.
History of creation:
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol worked on the poem “Dead Souls” abroad. The first volume was published in 1841. The writer planned to write a poem in three parts. His task in this work was to show Rossi from the negative side, as he himself said - “from one side.”
This poem shows a separate landowner Chichikov, Russian society, Russian people, economy (economy of landowners).
The title “Dead Souls”, I think, has a double meaning. On the one hand, N.V. Gogol included in the title the souls of the dead peasants, about whom so much is said in the poem. On the other hand, these are the “Dead Souls” of landowners. The writer showed here all the callousness, the emptiness of the soul, the idleness of life, all the ignorance of the landowners.
The story about Captain Kopeikin shows the attitude of officials towards to the common people, the fact that the state does not respect people who gave their health, and in many cases, their lives for it; that the state for which they fought in the War of 1812 does not fulfill its promises, does not care about these people.
There are many episodes in this poem. I think they can even be divided into groups. One group is the episodes of Chichikov’s visits to landowners. I think this group is the most important in the poem. I want to describe, perhaps even comment on, one episode from this group - this is the episode when Chichikov visits the landowner Nozdryov. The action took place in the fourth chapter.
After visiting Korobochka, Chichikov stopped at the tavern for lunch and to give the horses a rest. He asked the owner of the tavern about the landowners, and, as was his custom, Chichikov began asking the owner about her family and life. As he talked and ate, he heard the sound of the wheels of an approaching carriage. Nozdryov and his companion, son-in-law Mezhuev, got out of the chaise.
Then we went to the office. There they had a disagreement due to our hero’s reluctance to play cards. Before the quarrel, Chichikov offered to buy “dead souls” from Nozdryov. Nozdryov began to set his own conditions, but Chichikov did not accept any of them.
After the conversation, Chichikov was left alone with himself.
The next day they began to play checkers on the condition: if our hero wins, then his soul; if he loses, then “there is no trial.” The author characterizes Nozdryov as follows: “He was of average height, a very well-built fellow, with full pleasant cheeks, teeth white as snow and jet-black sideburns. It was fresh, like blood and salt; his health seemed to be dripping from his face.”
Nodryov joined our hero, told about the fair, that he was blown to smithereens there. Then Chichikov, Nozdryov and Mezhuev’s son-in-law went to Nozdryov’s. After dinner, Mezhuev’s son-in-law left. Chichikov and Nozdryov, as usual, began to “cheat.” Chichikov noticed this and became indignant, after which a quarrel ensued and they began waving their hands at each other. Nozdryov called his servants Pavlusha and Porfiry and began shouting to them: “Beat him, beat him!” Chichikov turned pale, his soul “sank to his feet.” And if it weren’t for the police captain, who entered the room to announce to Nozdryov that he was in custody for inflicting a personal insult with rods while drunk on the landowner Maximov; be our hero severely crippled. While the captain was announcing the notice to Nozdryov, Chichikov quickly took his hat, went downstairs, got into the chaise and ordered Selifan to drive the horses at full speed.
I think the theme of this episode was to show and characterize a person who played an important role in the life of our hero. In my opinion,
N.V. Gogol also wanted to show with this episode all the “recklessness” of the young landowners, including Nozdryov. Here the writer showed how young landowners like Nozdryov, and in principle like all landowners, do nothing more than “hang around” at balls and fairs, play cards, drink “ungodly,” think only about themselves and how to be mean to others.
Episode Role:
This episode played big role in the poem, Nozdryov, annoyed with Chichikov when he visited him, betrayed him at the governor’s ball. But Chichikov was saved by the fact that everyone knew Nozdryov as a liar, a hypocrite, a bully, so his words were perceived as “the ravings of a madman,” as a joke, as a lie, whatever, but not as the truth.
While reading this episode, my impressions varied from beginning to end. At the beginning of the episode, the actions were not very interesting for me: this is when Chichikov met Nozdryov, how they were driving to his house. Then I gradually began to be indignant at Nozdryov’s boorish behavior - this is when, after dinner, Chichikov offered to buy “dead souls” from him, and Nozdryov began to wonder why he needed this. All of Chichikov’s attempts to pull the wool over Nozdryov’s ears were thwarted by him. Nozdryov said that Chichikov was a big swindler and that if he were his boss, he would have hanged him from the first tree. While reading, I was outraged by Nozdryov’s behavior towards Chichikov; after all, Chichikov is his guest.
Then exciting actions took place, this is when the next day after Chichikov arrived at Nozdryov’s, they began to play checkers. I have already stated this point. I was worried about the situation that became tense during the game of checkers; things were heading towards a quarrel, a fight.
There were a lot of things that happened in this episode, but those were the actions that stayed with me.
First, let's look at how the author describes the tavern: “A darkened wooden, narrow, hospitable canopy on carved wooden posts, similar to ancient church candlesticks; the tavern was something like a Russian hut, several in large size, carved patterned cornices made of fresh wood around the windows and under the roof sharply and vividly dazzled its dark walls; jugs of flowers were painted on the shutters; narrow wooden staircase, wide canopy. The interior of the tavern: a frost-covered samovar, scraped walls, a three-coal cabinet with teapots and cups in the corner, gilded porcelain eggs in front of images hanging on blue and red ribbons, a recently fallen cat, a mirror showing four eyes instead of two, and some kind of face instead flatbread; finally, bunches of fragrant herbs and carnations were stuck near the images, dried to such an extent that those who wanted to smell them only sneezed, and nothing more.”
Let's move on to the description of Nozdryov's household: in the house there were wooden trestles in the middle of the dining room. In the stable there were two mares, one dappled gray, the other a brown stallion, empty stalls; a pond, a water mill, where there was not enough flutter; forge. Nozdryov’s office: “There were no visible traces of books or paper in it, only sabers and two guns hung.” This suggests that Nozdryov was not interested in anything, did not take care of his farm, everything was neglected.
The hero's inner world in this episode:
Let's pay attention to the inner world of our hero in this episode. Here Chichikov at some points did not know what to answer Nozdryov to his annoying questions. It was in moments like this when Nozdryov asked him: “Why do you need them (dead souls)?”
In this episode, Chichikov, I think, felt awkward because of Nozdryov’s boorish behavior: he is offended by him, since our hero’s pride was affected. After Chichikov quarreled with Nozdryov after dinner because he did not play cards with him, he remained in the most unfavorable mood. The author describes his thoughts and feelings this way: “He was internally annoyed with himself for visiting them and wasting his time. But he scolded himself even more for talking to Nozdryov about the matter, acting carelessly, like a child, like a fool: for the matter was not at all of the kind that should be entrusted to Nozdryov. Nozdryov is a rubbish person, Nozdryov can lie, add, spread rumors and the devil knows what kind of gossip, it’s not good, it’s not good. “I’m just a fool,” he said to himself.”
I think that in this episode Chichikov behaved tolerantly and restrained, despite Nozdryov’s boorish behavior. But this is understandable, because our hero wants to achieve his goal at any cost.
In my opinion, the author wanted to show with this episode that not everything in life is as simple as one would like. That if everything turned out fine with Korobochka, then with Nozdryov everything went very abnormally - in life there are both white and black stripes.
I also think that this episode teaches us that we need to know a person very well, study him carefully before trusting him. After all, what happened with Chichikov: he trusted Nozdryov about the “dead souls,” and Nozdryov betrayed him by telling everyone about this matter.
But I repeat, Chichikov was saved by the fact that everyone considered Nozdryov a liar, no one believed him. Such luck may not happen in life.
