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A review by mimi_13
The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol
4.0
What a delightful short story!! Absolutely incredible, I loved it.
It was written in the 19th century, and we are following the story of Akakij Akakijevich, a middle aged man working at an office, who is very much obsessed with his job. It is all he cares and dreams about, and therefore (funnily enough) he isn't a very respected man. He is constantly made fun of for the way he looks and acts, and even people of upper positions treat him like trash (his name is a hidden metaphor for this).
One day his overcoat gets ruined, and he saves up money to buy a new one, which takes many months of frugality and discomfort. When he does receive his coat, suddenly his coworkers see him as much more human and much more worthy of respect. I believe, this is a kind of representation of the idea of humans being defined by their materialistic means - that what determines your position in life is what you have, and not who you are. Suddenly, as he gets a new and fancier overcoat he is treated much better, and he gets access to the upper echelon of society. Also, to this point, the story is named after the overcoat and not after Akakij, which can also have a deeper meaning regarding this materialism.
As he starts his way home, his overcoat is stolen. He is stuck in a blizzard, and the guards don't help him. This is where the true critique of the bureaucracy begins. Akakij looks for help with his Landlady, and later Watchman to help find his stolen overcoat, but absolutely no help comes. At his job, one coworker offers that he should visit the "Important person" (an unnamed bureaucratic worker). Several officials deny him help, simply because of Akakij's position within the hierarchy of society. Even the Important person doesn't help him, which gets Akakij to fall ill, and die within a few days.
Now the ending is very interesting. We get a type of supernatural twist to the story, when Akakij turns into a ghost and haunts the people of St. Petersburg and takes their coats. The very last sentence of the books suddenly shows us a different ghost, who also does the same. This is to drive home the idea, that there are many people who face similar issues to Akakij's and they aren't helped. Akakij haunts the city to try to warn people of the mistreatment of the citizens by the bureaucracy. And when he gets his revenge of the Important person, he stops - because important people need to be the starters of change.
The story itself is incredibly funny and very self aware. I found myself smiling at it quite often. And I love how Gogol kinda makes fun of the basic tropes of Russian literature (poor MC, St. Petersburg, many names, very cold etc.)
The one thing I maybe missed was that I thought it was gonna be a much more slow and "romantic" show story, and this was quite fast paced. But its still beautiful.
Can't wait to read more from him!!
It was written in the 19th century, and we are following the story of Akakij Akakijevich, a middle aged man working at an office, who is very much obsessed with his job. It is all he cares and dreams about, and therefore (funnily enough) he isn't a very respected man. He is constantly made fun of for the way he looks and acts, and even people of upper positions treat him like trash (his name is a hidden metaphor for this).
One day his overcoat gets ruined, and he saves up money to buy a new one, which takes many months of frugality and discomfort. When he does receive his coat, suddenly his coworkers see him as much more human and much more worthy of respect. I believe, this is a kind of representation of the idea of humans being defined by their materialistic means - that what determines your position in life is what you have, and not who you are. Suddenly, as he gets a new and fancier overcoat he is treated much better, and he gets access to the upper echelon of society. Also, to this point, the story is named after the overcoat and not after Akakij, which can also have a deeper meaning regarding this materialism.
As he starts his way home, his overcoat is stolen. He is stuck in a blizzard, and the guards don't help him. This is where the true critique of the bureaucracy begins. Akakij looks for help with his Landlady, and later Watchman to help find his stolen overcoat, but absolutely no help comes. At his job, one coworker offers that he should visit the "Important person" (an unnamed bureaucratic worker). Several officials deny him help, simply because of Akakij's position within the hierarchy of society. Even the Important person doesn't help him, which gets Akakij to fall ill, and die within a few days.
Now the ending is very interesting. We get a type of supernatural twist to the story, when Akakij turns into a ghost and haunts the people of St. Petersburg and takes their coats. The very last sentence of the books suddenly shows us a different ghost, who also does the same. This is to drive home the idea, that there are many people who face similar issues to Akakij's and they aren't helped. Akakij haunts the city to try to warn people of the mistreatment of the citizens by the bureaucracy. And when he gets his revenge of the Important person, he stops - because important people need to be the starters of change.
The story itself is incredibly funny and very self aware. I found myself smiling at it quite often. And I love how Gogol kinda makes fun of the basic tropes of Russian literature (poor MC, St. Petersburg, many names, very cold etc.)
The one thing I maybe missed was that I thought it was gonna be a much more slow and "romantic" show story, and this was quite fast paced. But its still beautiful.
Can't wait to read more from him!!