Father's punishment for Chichikov. Did Chichikov fulfill his father's behest? (based on Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”). About relationships with people
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The father brought Pavlusha to the city to visit his distant relative, where the boy was destined to study at the city school. The last conversation before leaving is Chichikov’s father’s instruction to his son about how to behave, how to build his relationships with others, what to value and what to avoid. Fate decreed that this was Pavlushi’s last conversation with his parent, they never saw each other again, and a few years later his father died.
Parental covenant
Pavlushi’s father punished his son “not to hang around”, not to play around, but to study only, which indicates how far the adult parent is from the world of childhood. In his severity and constant dissatisfaction with the child, he forgot that games, fun and pampering are an integral part of children's lives. This is exactly what little Chichikov became - a “sedate”, “adult” child. His thoughts were busy with how to earn a penny, he did not hang out with his peers, did not know sincere friendship. The words of his father sunk deep into the boy’s soul that comrades can betray at a difficult moment, but only money will help out: “A comrade or friend will deceive you and in trouble will be the first to betray you, but a penny will not betray you, no matter what trouble you are in.”
Life turned out exactly as his father bequeathed: money became Pavel Ivanovich’s best friend.
About relationships with people
“Most of all please teachers and bosses” - this was my father’s testament. Undoubtedly, this is not the best instruction for starting life, but in this Chichikov Sr. saw the path to achieving success and recognition. He did not believe in the intelligence and talent of his own child, although at school Pavlusha turned out to be quite successful, albeit not the best student. He had a penchant for arithmetic, and in the future Chichikov turned out to be adept at calculating and calculating all the necessary actions.
Pavlush took the advice of his father literally, so from the time of school he learned to hang out with those “who are richer, so that on occasion they could be ... useful.” The parent advises Pavlusha not to treat anyone, not to spend money on his friends, but to behave in such a way that others will treat him. The boy learned this science quickly, and managed to sell treats to his classmates right in class.
Father's words about money
But the most important instruction of the parent in the poem was his philosophy regarding money: “Save the penny most of all... you will do everything and lose everything in the world with a penny.” The future showed that this path was the most correct in the society in which Chichikov was to live, only the presence of money calmed him down, capital and its increase - that was what became the meaning of Pavel Ivanovich’s life. Perhaps the protagonist’s father came to this conclusion because he himself was left in old age without funds, embittered and unable to change anything in his life. It was this circumstance that prevented him from telling his son goodbye about his fatherly feelings, about his faith in him...
Entering an independent life, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, then still a boy, received “smart instruction” from his father: to study, and not to hang around; please the bosses most of all; hang out with friends who are richer; do not treat anyone, but behave in such a way that you will be treated; and the main thing is to take care and save a penny: “You will do everything and ruin everything in the world with a penny.”Chichikov’s father probably did not really follow these principles, and therefore left behind an inheritance to his son a dilapidated house, old personal belongings and one family of serfs. His son Pavlusha always remembered his father’s words, followed his advice and, no matter how difficult it was for him, succeeded in life.
How did Chichikov fulfill his father’s behests?
Pavlusha studied with great diligence. But since he had no aptitude for science, he achieved more success by pleasing the teacher. Not so much out of respect, but out of a desire to distinguish oneself, to attract attention, to earn praise. And he achieved his goal: he was in excellent standing with the school administration. The ability to please the authorities, guess the desire of the boss, flatter, and be the right person was useful to Chichikov when he served in the treasury chamber, and at customs, and in the rank of attorney. But since childhood he was not sincere. All his behavior can be called pretense, hypocrisy.
Chichikov, both in his youth and later, “didn’t hang around”, but worked hard and persistently. I denied myself rest, good food, and entertainment. And all for the sake of a career, in order to lead a life in the future “in all comforts, with all kinds of prosperity.” He served zealously in any field, gained the trust of his superiors and earned a promotion. And then, through fraud and deception, he multiplied his fortune.
He had no comrades. Not only did he not treat his classmates at the school, but he even “hid the treat he received and then sold it to them.” Or he would tease a hungry, richer friend with a gingerbread or a bun and then “take the money according to his appetite.” He also had no friends in his adult life. There was one whom Chichikov recruited to carry out a risky business with smugglers. But it all ended in a quarrel and denunciation.
Most of all, Chichikov followed the advice to save a penny. And in this he showed almost extraordinary resourcefulness. At school I sold buns to my comrades, balancing the price with the degree of hunger; He made a bullfinch from wax and sold it very profitably. He sold the mouse he had trained just as profitably. These were childish ways. In the service, Chichikov showed miracles of ingenuity, covered with external courtesy and the appearance of nobility, in order to receive bribes. He did not disdain the opportunity to rob the state treasury while working on the commission for the construction of a state-owned house. He managed to secretly contact the smugglers and get “four hundred thousand in capital from this business.” He justified himself with the words: “Who yawns in office? “Everyone is buying.” The height of his resourcefulness, ingenuity and intelligence was the idea of buying dead souls in order to put them in the guardianship council as living ones - and using the difference in price to create a new capital of about two hundred thousand, as Chichikov had calculated in advance.
More than once, circumstances threw Chichikov back, again into dirt and poverty. But Pavel Ivanovich, who managed to hide some of the money, found the strength to rise up and take new steps to move up.
“Who is he? So, a scoundrel? - Gogol asks a question. And he himself answers: “It is most fair to call him: owner, acquirer. Acquisition is the fault of everything; because of him, deeds were carried out that the world calls not very pure.”
You read “Dead Souls” and you are amazed at how correctly N.V. Gogol reflected the morals of a businessman-entrepreneur. Gogol saw them in their infancy in the middle of the 19th century. They took root in the 20th century. And now they are bearing worthy fruits. His father's instructions to young Chichikov become the “code of honor” of a modern entrepreneur.
At the beginning of his life’s journey, Pavlusha Chichikov, along with half a copper, received from his father as an “inheritance” advice, “smart instructions”: “study... and don’t hang around”, “please teachers and bosses”, “hang out with those who richer”, “don’t treat... anyone, but behave better so that they treat you”, “and most of all, take care and save a penny: this thing is more reliable than anything else in the world... You can do anything and spend anything in the world with a penny " The father did not say anything to Pavlusha about honesty, humanity, mercy, kindness, a sense of honor and self-worth, and the boy himself did not ask, but he soon realized that his father’s covenant did not need any additions, which only interfere in life, disturbing the conscience.
Pavlusha had no aptitude for science, but he was distinguished by “diligence and neatness.” Pleasing the teacher even in small things, guessing his desires, Chichikov quickly became a favorite, earned praise and “at graduation he received full honors in all sciences, a certificate and a book with golden letters for exemplary diligence and trustworthy behavior.” Studying and pleasing his superiors became a priority for Chichikov on the way to his main, most cherished goal - the accumulation of wealth, so he was always in good standing with his superiors. Dexterity, ingenuity, sophisticated opportunism, the ability to use the advantages and disadvantages of people for his own purposes, and flattery were useful to Chichikov not only in school, but also when he served in the treasury chamber, at customs, and in the rank of attorney. Having learned early to be a hypocrite, guessing the desires and inclinations of his superiors, the hero of the poem easily made his career.
In order to accumulate capital and lead a life “in all comforts, with all sorts of prosperity,” Chichikov “didn’t hang around” even in his early youth: “even as a child, he already knew how to deny himself everything.” He was never a spendthrift; on the contrary, he often denied himself rest, entertainment, good food, small but pleasant joys - and all in order to get a promotion, to please his superiors, who then mercilessly deceived.
Chichikov never had friends, and he didn’t need them. He never treated anyone without selfish need, but, on the contrary, tried to arrange himself so that “he would be treated.” And after graduating from college, while fulfilling his official duties, Chichikov accepted bribes and offerings without a twinge of conscience.
Chichikov took the advice to save and save a penny as the main rule of his life. Even as a little boy, he “didn’t spend a penny of the half-ruble given by his father; on the contrary, in the same year he already added to it, showing almost extraordinary resourcefulness.” Not content with just harmless ways of accumulating money (he sold a trained mouse, a bullfinch molded from wax), Chichikov resorted to meanness, fraud, and committed unworthy acts: he could sell the children at school their own treats, hidden for the time being; embezzled money allocated for the construction of a state-owned house; Working at customs, he contacted smugglers and received a large sum for helping them. Chichikov was confident that he was right: “Who yawns in office? “Everyone is buying.” And this unquenchable thirst for acquisition led him over other people’s heads, hearts, and souls. Chichikov often looked back at past experiences, but not to see if he had offended anyone or hurt anyone, but to make sure that he had not missed anything important on the way to achieving his selfish goals. Material from the site
Best of all, the inner world of the businessman-acquirer Chichikov was revealed during the execution of the plan of the great scam he had conceived: when buying “dead souls”, and then selling them as living ones. In this case, Chichikov hoped to collect enough capital to finally live for his own pleasure. And here the experience of his entire previous life and his father’s behests came in handy. In all its ugliness, the adaptation, cunning, hypocrisy, sycophancy, and meanness of the main character were revealed to us. “Who is he? So he’s a scoundrel?” - Gogol asks himself and immediately answers: “It is most fair to call him: owner, acquirer. Acquisition is the fault of everything; because of him, deeds were carried out that the world calls not very pure.”
In the image of Chichikov, Gogol portrayed a new type of person, businessman, entrepreneur, who arose in Russia, when the ancient patriarchal foundations began to collapse. This man was the harbinger of a new class - the bourgeoisie and a new threat to the inert autocratic world - the threat of unscrupulous predation, uncompromising and unprincipled acquisition.
Chichikov stayed in the world for a long time, he is still comfortable today, because there are always people who are easy to fool and deceive. Putting on various masks, sometimes smiling, sometimes threatening, the Chichikovs achieve their goals, and in this they are, of course, helped by the “smart instruction” received in childhood from the father of the main character of N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”.
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On this page there is material on the following topics:
- Advice from the fathers to Molachlin Grinev Chichikov
- how Chichikov fulfills his father’s behest at school
- Chichikov's father, take care of your penny
- Chichikov's father's testament
- how Chichikov accumulated capital while studying
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Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol
Chichikov's childhood
(Excerpt from the poem “Dead Souls”)
<…> One day, with the first spring sun and overflowing streams, the father, taking his son, rode out with him on a cart, which was pulled by a piebald horse, known among horse dealers as a magpie; it was ruled by a coachman, a little hunchbacked man, the founder of the only serf family that belonged to Chichikov’s father, who occupied almost all positions in the house. They dragged themselves on forty for more than a day and a half; We spent the night on the road, crossed the river, ate cold pie and fried lamb, and only on the third day in the morning did we reach the city. The city streets flashed before the boy with unexpected splendor, making him gape for several minutes. Then the magpie splashed along with the cart into a hole, which began a narrow alley, all sloping down and filled with mud; She worked there for a long time with all her might and kneaded with her feet, incited by both the hunchback and the master himself, and finally dragged them into a small courtyard that stood on a slope with two blossoming apple trees in front of an old house and a garden behind it, low, small, consisting only of rowan and elderberry and hiding in the depths of her wooden booth, covered with shingles, with a narrow frosted window. Here lived a relative of theirs, a flabby old woman who still went to the market every morning and then dried her stockings by the samovar, who patted the boy on the cheek and admired his plumpness. Here he had to stay and go to classes at the city school every day. The father, having spent the night, set out on the road the next day. At parting, no tears were shed from the parents' eyes; half a copper was given for expenses and delicacies and, what is much more important, a smart instruction: “Look, Pavlusha, study, don’t be stupid and don’t hang around, but most of all please your teachers and bosses. If you please your boss, then, even though you don’t have time in science and God hasn’t given you talent, you will put everything into action and get ahead of everyone else. Don’t hang out with your comrades, they won’t teach you any good; and if it comes to that, then hang out with those who are richer, so that on occasion they can be useful to you. Do not treat or treat anyone, but rather behave in such a way that you will be treated; and most of all, take care and save a penny: this thing is more reliable than anything in the world. A comrade or friend will deceive you and in trouble will be the first to betray you, but a penny will not betray you, no matter what trouble you are in. You will do everything and ruin everything in the world with a penny.” Having given such instructions, the father parted with his son and trudged home again on his forty, and from then on he never saw him again, but the words and instructions sank deep into his soul.
Pavlusha started going to classes the next day. He did not appear to have any special abilities for any science; He distinguished himself more by his diligence and neatness; but on the other hand, he turned out to have a great mind on the other side, on the practical side. He suddenly realized and understood the matter and behaved towards his comrades in exactly the same way: they treated him, and he not only never, but sometimes even hid the received treat and then sold it to them. Even as a child, he already knew how to deny himself everything. Of the half-ruble given by his father, he did not spend a penny; on the contrary, in the same year he already made additions to it, showing almost extraordinary resourcefulness: he molded a bullfinch from wax, painted it and sold it very profitably. Then, for some time, he embarked on other speculations, namely this: having bought food at the market, he sat in the classroom next to those who were richer, and as soon as he noticed that a friend was starting to feel sick - a sign of approaching hunger - he stuck out his shirt to him. under the benches, as if by chance, a corner of a gingerbread or a bun and, having provoked him, he took the money, depending on his appetite. For two months he fussed around in his apartment without rest around a mouse, which he had put in a small wooden cage, and finally achieved the point that the mouse stood on its hind legs, lay down and stood up according to orders, and then sold it also very profitably. When he had enough money to reach five rubles, he sewed up the bag and began saving it in another. In relation to his superiors, he behaved even smarter. No one knew how to sit on a bench so quietly. It should be noted that the teacher was a great lover of silence and good behavior and could not stand smart and sharp boys; it seemed to him that they must certainly laugh at him. It was enough for the one who was reprimanded for his wit, it was enough for him to just move or somehow inadvertently wink his eyebrow to suddenly fall under anger. He persecuted him and punished him mercilessly. “I, brother, will drive arrogance and disobedience out of you! - he said. “I know you through and through, just as you don’t know yourself.” Here you are standing on my knees! I’ll make you go hungry!” And the poor boy, without knowing why, rubbed his knees and went hungry for days. “Abilities and gifts? “It’s all nonsense,” he used to say, “I only look at behavior.” I will give full marks in all sciences to someone who doesn’t know the basics but behaves commendably; and in whom I see a bad spirit and mockery, I am zero to him, although he put Solon in his belt! So said the teacher, who did not love Krylov to death because he said: “For me, it’s better to drink, but understand the matter,” and always told with pleasure in his face and eyes, how in that school where he taught before, such there was silence that you could hear a fly flying; that not a single student coughed or blew his nose in class all year round, and that until the bell rang it was impossible to know whether anyone was there or not. Chichikov suddenly understood the spirit of the boss and what behavior should consist of. He did not move an eye or an eyebrow during the entire class, no matter how much they pinched him from behind; as soon as the bell rang, he rushed headlong and gave the teacher his hat first (the teacher wore a hat); Having handed over his hat, he was the first to leave the class and tried to catch him three times on the road, constantly taking off his hat. The business was a complete success. During his entire stay at the school, he was in excellent standing and upon graduation received full honors in all sciences, a certificate and a book with golden letters for exemplary diligence and trustworthy behavior.
Entering an independent life, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, then still a boy, received “smart instruction” from his father:
Study, not hang around;
Most of all please the bosses;
Hang out with friends who are richer;
Do not treat anyone, but behave in such a way that you will be treated;
And the main thing is to protect and save a penny: “You will do everything and everything.”
You’ll lose a penny in the world.”
Chichikov’s father probably did not really follow these principles, and therefore left behind an inheritance to his son a dilapidated house, old personal belongings and one family of serfs. His son Pavlusha always remembered his father’s words, followed his advice and, no matter how difficult it was for him, succeeded in life. How did Chichikov fulfill his father’s behests?
Pavlusha studied with great diligence. But since he had no aptitude for science, he achieved more success by pleasing the teacher. Not so much out of respect, but out of a desire to distinguish oneself, to attract attention, to earn praise. And he achieved his goal: he was in excellent standing with the school administration. The ability to please the authorities, guess the desire of the boss, flatter, and be the right person came in handy for Chichikov when he served in the treasury chamber, at customs, and in the rank of attorney. But since childhood he was not sincere. All his behavior can be called pretense, hypocrisy. This was especially evident in the story with the police officer, in whose trust Chichikov entered and even allegedly intended to marry his daughter.
Chichikov, both in his youth and later, “didn’t hang around”, but worked hard and persistently. I denied myself rest, good food, and entertainment. And all for the sake of a career, in order to lead a life in the future “in all comforts, with all kinds of prosperity.” He served zealously in any field, gained the trust of his superiors and other officials, and thereby deserved promotion. And then, through fraud and deception, he multiplied his initially insignificant fortune.
He had no comrades. Not only did he not treat his classmates at the school, but he even “hid the treat he received and then sold it to them.” Or he would tease a hungry, richer friend with a gingerbread or a bun and then “take the money according to his appetite.” He also had no friends in his adult life. There was one whom Chichikov recruited to carry out a risky business with smugglers. But it all ended in a quarrel and denunciation. But most of all, Chichikov followed the advice to save a penny. And not only the shore, but also multiplied. And in this he showed almost extraordinary resourcefulness. At school I sold buns to my comrades, balancing the price with the degree of hunger; He made a bullfinch from wax and sold it very profitably. He sold the mouse he had trained just as profitably. These were childish ways. In the service, Chichikov showed miracles of ingenuity, covered with external courtesy and the appearance of nobility, in order to receive bribes.
He did not disdain the opportunity to rob the state treasury while working on the commission for the construction of a state-owned house. He managed to secretly contact the smugglers and get “four hundred thousand in capital from this business.” He justified himself with the words: “Who yawns in office? “Everyone is buying.” But the height of his resourcefulness, ingenuity and intelligence was the idea of buying dead souls in order to put them in the guardianship council as living ones and, using the difference in price, create a new capital of about two hundred thousand, as Chichikov had calculated in advance.
More than once, circumstances threw Chichikov back, again into dirt and poverty. But Pavel Ivanovich, who managed to hide some of the money, found the strength to rise up and take new steps to move up. And in this he showed unenviable tenacity, perseverance and ingenuity. “Who is he? So, a scoundrel? - Gogol asks a question. And he himself answers: “It is most fair to call him: owner, acquirer. Acquisition is the fault of everything; because of him, deeds were carried out that the world calls not very pure.”
You read “Dead Souls” and you are amazed at how correctly N.V. Gogol reflected the morals of a businessman-entrepreneur. Gogol saw them in their infancy in the middle of the 19th century. They took root in the 20th century. And now, in the heyday of “wild capitalism” in our country, they are producing worthy results. His father’s instructions to young Chichikov become the “code of honor” of a modern entrepreneur.