The birth of new souls. Analysis of the poem “Dead Souls”: the history of creation and the intention of the poem

Time ceased to exist for Olga. She spent 180 days in hell. But the worst was to begin in three days. She would be released... The woman even thought about extending her sentence - there were plenty of possibilities. However, her cellmate Tom tried to persuade her not to fool around. Olya didn’t want to think about how to live further. The happy past was left behind, and in the future nothing but pain and hopelessness could appear. However, Tamara acted on her own new girlfriend, in some amazing way, changing her attitude and priorities in life. If Olya entered this cell as a hunted beast, then she had to emerge as a creature filled to the very edges of her soul with indifference. She no longer cared whether to live or die. All emotions were burned out.

Just a year ago everything was fine. Olga and Stas seemed very beautiful couple. Young, healthy, purposeful... All life, with its limitless possibilities, was in their hands. The guys recently graduated from university, but their parents’ savings allowed them to open small business. This is how the exclusive souvenir shop came into being. At first, business went neither shaky nor slow, but soon the first buyers appeared, and the couple was surprised to notice that religious items were more popular. As soon as you put on the shelves masks brought by friends from India, or rosary beads made of natural stone, the goods instantly flew away. fabulous sums. They appeared very quickly regular customers and regular orders. The young couple decided to combine business with pleasure and fly to Goa for two weeks to relax and take a closer look at the range of products that could be resold in their homeland. It is here, on the shores of the Arabian Sea, family life gave a crack. Olya plunged into the traditions and religion of this amazing country, and Stas local flavor was completely alien. The woman was indignant:

You should know as much as possible about the culture of the country if you want to professionally give consultations and advice to buyers! Darling, understand that it is extremely important for us to understand all the intricacies of religion if we want to sell such a specific product!

Stas was angry and stubbornly did not want to get acquainted with Buddhism:

How can I enter their church if I am wearing an Orthodox cross?

Olya just laughed:

What nonsense?! You have never been a believer! I didn’t even want to get married, and this, by the way, is a very beautiful ritual...

Be that as it may, Olga was seriously interested in India, and Stas was counting the days until he flew home. After returning to Russia, the young people began to swear often. Olya began to carry out everything free time at a Buddhist temple, meeting new people and handing out business cards for her store, and her husband unexpectedly went to Orthodox Church. The young wife did not immediately notice that her beloved had become surprisingly quiet and thoughtful, until one day he decisively declared:

Enough for us to play these pagan games already. We will sell, as before, cheap refrigerator magnets and mugs with funny inscriptions, and throw away all this demonic paraphernalia!

Olya only laughed at her husband’s “righteousness,” but Stas was more serious than ever. Very soon the couple realized that their relationship had reached a dead end. Olya did last try keep your spouse:

Do you even realize that you put faith above our family?! Choose: either me or your God! Keep in mind, I'm tired of your going to church! You look crazy standing in the middle of old women with candles! Orthodoxy is a relic of the past! Faith for mentally degraded people. Look better at the Buddhists - that's where the truly enlightened mind is.

Stas tried to reason with his wife for some time, but Olya was adamant and filed for divorce. She wanted a holiday, fun, intense passions... The next few months passed as if in a fog. A string of new meetings, light drugs, meeting famous gurus... The woman thought that without Stas she felt better, and she shed some ballast that was hindering her spiritual perfection. But, soon a friend called and a message that ex-husband the bride appeared, knocked Olga out of her usual rut. No, there were no more feelings, but annoyance appeared. How did he manage to forget her so quickly?! And who did you exchange it for? According to the all-knowing girlfriend, Stas’s new passion was a real runt, and besides, she sang in church choir! Well, just for the chickens to laugh at! Her Stas, accustomed to the most expensive restaurants and fashionable boutiques, suddenly became interested in some gray mouse in long skirt"goodbye youth" Soon, annoyance gave way to curiosity, and Olya decided to see this couple of saints with her own eyes. Fortunately, the friend just lived in the house where the young people settled, so it was not difficult to track them down. A day later, the woman, inhaling the sweetish smoke of a hookah, summed up the results of her surveillance. So, Stas is really in love. New darling not as old-fashioned as Olga’s friend described, but, in fact, dressed very modestly. Questioning the grandmothers sitting at the entrance brought unexpected results. It turns out that the young people were going to get married soon and, moreover, get married! How is this known? So, it’s clear where it comes from! Klavdia Ivanovna told her, and the bride’s mother herself confided in her!

Like this. She, Olga, did not receive such an honor, but with this one, you see, he was going to get married! The anger grew with incredible strength, even meditation didn’t help me relax. And then one day, not the most wonderful day, Olya committed a terrible act. Being in some strange state after meditation and having lost control of her mind, she started the car and drove away. I wanted the feeling of flying. The woman pressed on the gas and did not notice anything around...

She hit a girl at a pedestrian crossing. The victim was taken to the hospital. The trip ended tragically: the girl suffered a ruptured spleen, and Olga was sentenced to six months. She wasn't even scared. She didn't... care. She could only think about her fate. What frightened the woman was that she had no idea how to live further. She already looked at her passion for Buddhism with a sober look. All this turned out to be such nonsense... She simply joined the ranks of people who believed in some stupid fairy tales and lost their sense of reality. But the reality is that she is completely alone. Parents don’t count – Olga never developed a warm relationship with them. Dejection and unwillingness to live haunted the woman every second.

And then she met Toma. That's where the energy was in full swing! She was imprisoned for theft, but the prison term in no way affected the plans of this young and beautiful woman. Sitting behind bars, she thought about what next scheme she would try to implement:

I've been eyeing nuns for a long time! Religion is the most profitable way earnings.

Having heard about religion, Olga began to feel sick, but, not noticing her friend’s reaction, Tamara continued:

Can you imagine, I even visited several monasteries. They call it a pilgrimage. You come and work for free for a bed and food. These Orthodox Christians are strange, honestly! Their nuns are like labor they use it, and the pilgrims walk around and smile so blissfully that it becomes disgusting! So here it is. I found out everything. I remembered how these women of prayer dressed, what words they used in conversation, and how they behave. In general, I’ll go out and become a “nun”! Options to raise good money huge amount! You can pretend that you are looking for donors to build a temple. And, if you think everything through carefully, then it’s realistic to pull off the option with Jerusalem - believers call it the Holy Land. I will say that I will fly there soon, and people will ask me to give notes with the names of those for whom they need to pray. At the same time, the Orthodox will certainly donate huge amounts of money.

Tamara stretched dreamily on the bed, and Olga held her breath. Orthodoxy only evoked in her negative emotions. It was the believers who humiliated her, making her a complete laughing stock! We found her replacement! Deprived of confidence in their superiority. How great it would be to abuse them!

Tom, will you take me into the business?

The friend whistled:

Why do you need it? You have a folder with your mother. They will find a good job for you in no time. Yes, and you have your own store...

The store burned down and was closed. And, I have my own scores to settle with the Orthodox. So consider it personal.

And so the last painful three days passed. Freedom! Olya did not feel particularly happy, although, of course, she was glad to be freed. Her parents met her on the street. They looked at their daughter with eyes full of tears, and tried to help in some way:

Daughter, Stas left the apartment for you, so you can go there right now. And if you want, stay with us!

Olga thought for a minute, and then decided:

I’ll probably sell the apartment over time; I don’t want to live there. In the meantime, I’ll rent it out, and with this money I’ll rent a house on the other side of the city, where nothing will remind me of my past life.

Mom looked at her worriedly and timidly asked:

Sunny, what about your passion for all these Indian things? You will still be... - elderly woman I couldn't find it the right words, but Olya helped her.

No, mom. No more gurus, meditations and crowds of guests with expanded consciousness. Now I will not follow the lead of this deception called “religion”!

Dad cleared his throat:

Daughter, but in Christianity, for example, there is no this pagan confusion. Everything is very simple and correct there. You know, while you were in prison, my mother and I couldn’t find a place for ourselves. One day we went to Orthodox church, prayed as best they could. Imagine, it actually became easier for us! Then we talked to the priest about your situation...

Olya jumped up, and her face twisted with anger:

And what?! Did this help me in any way? Or maybe because of your prayers, I was served lobster for lunch instead of gruel in prison? Dad, I knew the most famous gurus, communicated with the “enlightened ones,” and mastered certain meditation techniques. And what? This didn't make me happy! Just as I wasn’t interested in living, I still don’t care whether I wake up tomorrow or not. Oh, you came up with...Orthodoxy! I installed the spark plug and no problem. Why! Why then didn’t this God of yours pull me out of the cell, since you prayed so hard for me?

Dad was silent, and mom said sadly:

Olenka, God didn’t put you there. It’s all your own fault, and you know it... It’s just that we didn’t give you any spiritual education. You didn’t know what faith is. Forgive us, daughter! We were unable to protect you from searching for Truth on the side.

Olga felt sorry for her parents. They've aged so much lately… Well, she didn’t want to upset them and solemnly promised not to label Christianity just because she was disappointed in Buddhism. But this was only in words. And, in her heart, the woman clearly knew what she would do, and the next morning she rang the doorbell of her friend, who was released only a couple of weeks before Olya.

Tamara let the guest in, rubbing her eyes with her fist:

What a surprise. Well, come in now that you've arrived.

The friends discussed all the details of the upcoming work. Toma said that she herself knew about the image of the nun, but insisted that Olya go to the nearest monastery and look at this “contingent” with her own eyes. Olya was impatient to get down to business, and that same evening she set off on a “pilgrimage.” On the way, sitting in a commuter bus, she imagined amazing pictures: she would get into the very guts of this life of believers, and laugh at them from the bottom of her heart. Everything is deception and falsehood, and she will prove it! To whom? The woman did not want to think about the answer to this question.

Near the entrance to the monastery, Olya stopped and watched as others entered there. It turns out that everything is as simple as that: cross yourself three times and go ahead! There were no difficulties inside either. Turning to the first nun she saw, Olya learned that she could live and work in the monastery at any time. Then the nun called the dean - this is how the woman met Mother Susanna, who cordially offered to stay the night. Olya refused. She wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible. She felt incredible discomfort and... fear. However, she attributed it to a weakened nervous system.

Having convinced Toma that she was absolutely ready and would not make any mistakes, Olya put on a black robe sewn by Toma’s friend and went out into the street. Her goal was to sit at the station for several hours and meet as many people as possible. It was necessary to tell them in passing that she would soon go to the Holy Land and casually offer to pass on notes to everyone who wanted to. Tamara clearly instructed her friend with whom it is best to start a conversation and who is easier to deceive.

As soon as Olya entered the station building, this whole idea ceased to seem like an adventure. She decided to immediately find a toilet, change clothes and take the “props” to Tamara. Even though she never found her God, it is not right to deceive people who, like her, are seeking the truth. Not fair.

Here is the sign for the ladies' room. It’s literally a few meters away, and suddenly...

Mother, forgive me!

In front of Olga is a young girl who does not stand out from the crowd.

Tell me, which monastery are you from?

Olya, out of confusion, named the monastery where she had visited yesterday, and not the one that was provided for by her and Tamara’s “legend”. The stranger began to fuss, began looking for a pen in her purse and hastily explained:

I haven’t been to your place, but I will definitely come someday, God willing. Sorry for the delay! I just want to pass on a note. Pray, mother, for our son. Doctors have diagnosed him with oncology and he faces difficult treatment...

His name is Antoshka! Our father is Simeon, and I was baptized Rufina. Pray for us...

Olya was speechless. I couldn’t squeeze out a word. Meanwhile, Rufina opened her wallet and took out a hundred dollar bill. The “nun” refused the money as best she could, but the benefactor insisted:

Yes, this is not for prayer! It's just a donation for the needs of the temple, and you can't help but take it!

Olya confusedly put the money and a piece of paper with names in a small travel bag, and her new friend hurried on about her business. But suddenly she turned around and, catching herself, shouted:

Mother, what is your name?

Olya said her real name, and her ears heard:

And I will pray for you, Mother Olga!

She didn't go to any toilet. My legs could hardly stand, my head was noisy. Her hands were shaking and she was sweating every now and then. “I’m probably dying,” Olya thought and forced herself to walk towards Tom’s house. It took me on the road more than an hour, because the woman could not bring herself to get on the bus. It seemed to her that the passengers would immediately see who she was and what she had done. There is no sin worse than the one she committed! Thief. She stole the most valuable thing this young girl had - the hope of prayer. And even though she, Olga, knew that all these were fairy tales for simpletons, but... What if there is at least one chance in a hundred that God exists and the Orthodox were not mistaken in their choice of faith?! What then? Then it turns out that this prayer could somehow help the sick child, but she was afraid to admit that she was not a nun and could not really pray! Oh, this money... Lord, this gray-green piece of paper will never allow her to sleep peacefully!

She didn’t explain anything to Tamara. She handed over the vestments and said dryly: “It didn’t work out, this is not a job for me.” The friend chuckled contemptuously and closed the door behind the guest. Olya didn’t know where to go, so she went to her parents. Mom made a bed for her in the living room, but she couldn’t sleep. Thoughts revolved only around this naive Rufina and her sick son. How petty all this is: a divorce from an unloved man, unjustified hopes placed on millions of gods whose names cannot even be remembered. All this is such nonsense compared to the real misfortune of Rufina’s young family!

Olya quietly got out of bed and went to the shelf by the window - where her parents had built a small iconostasis in her absence. The woman took off all the books that were there and muttered through her teeth:

OK. Okay... If you exist, then help Antoshka. May he get well. I don't need anything else. I will pray only for this trusting girl. If there is a chance that You hear me and can help the baby, then I will do it. After all, Rufina hopes for my prayer...

The night flew by in an instant. First, Olya read all the prayers in the prayer book from the section “About the Sick.” Then, not finding anything more suitable, she took the Gospel. I decided that I need to read everything - since these books are on the shelf, it means they are needed for proper prayer. Surprisingly, Olya’s knowledge of Orthodoxy was very primitive. She only remembered what Tamara told her, and some scraps of information from television and newspapers. There is, they say, God. His name is Christ. To live well, you need to pray around the clock, regularly deny yourself tasty food, observe fasting, wear creepy old-fashioned skirts and dirty scarves. Yes, even with a luscious smile on his face, bowing, and then shushing the unfortunate girls who dared to enter the temple in jeans. But here in the Gospel everything was different. I felt in all the lines real life. Moreover, Olya unexpectedly learned that, according to the teachings of Christians, man is immortal. But immortality here is understood completely differently than, say, in Buddhism.

Olya opened her eyes. It smelled of coffee and pancakes. Mom has already prepared breakfast. The woman picked up the books laid out on the bed and carefully put them back in place. She was in a hurry. And, perhaps, for the first time in her life she did not care about her own self. She was in a hurry for the sake of others.

Mother Susanna, oddly enough, recognized the guest. Olya was very worried and didn’t know where to start. Then I finally decided:

You know, I read the Gospel last night and found out that I am immortal!

The nun nodded and looked at Olga with such love that she, unable to bear it, splashed out her hatred of herself along with a stream of tears:

You smile at me and allow me to stay, but you have no idea what I have done! I spied on you like Satan, and wanted to abuse Orthodoxy and monasticism in particular!

With every word, my heart became lighter, and my mother’s gaze turned from surprised to compassionate. She hugged the sobbing pilgrim by the shoulders and took her to an empty cell:

Be patient, be patient, my dear. There will be a service soon and you will be able to confess. God will forgive you if you repent of what you have done.

Mother, I repent. But, I'm not sure that I can be a Christian. I just need to pray for that child properly and don’t need anything else!

Then Olya came to her senses and took out the money handed over by Rufina. For a long time she held Mother Susanna’s hand and repeated the same thing: “I just want to pray... nothing more.”

Then there was confession and the priest’s blessing to stay in the monastery “to pray.” For some reason, it seemed to Olya that she could only do this properly here, where nothing would distract her from such an important matter.

Days passed. The woman read the entire New Testament, but there were more and more questions. The priests of the monastery tried to answer as best they could. They advised me to read patristic literature. This is how she lived: she prayed, read, thought and prayed again, occasionally interrupting for meals and sleep. Then I started going to church services. I took communion. She asked for obedience and now prayed, doing the work she could. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months...

...Once upon a time, a long time ago, the Creator created a small beautiful Soul!
YOUR Soul!

And he breathed the breath of Life into her, smiled and put part of his big heart into her, admired his creation and decided to give her a piece of his Power as well!

And this Soul flew smiling into the world, enjoying sun rays and playing with other solar souls….

They saw how planets and Universes were created, how they grew and changed, how sunlight includes life forms on these planets.

Then the creation of planet Earth began... People appeared... Big, beautiful, fair-haired, they communicated through images and thoughts, transmitting the energy of these images with their eyes...

They created forms on the planet, columns and buildings, crystals and nature, controlled the elements and flows of energy... Then there was no night and there was no darkness, there was light and joy...

...From that moment only the almost forgotten phrase “GOD created us in his own image and likeness” remained. YES, exactly, in your own image and likeness! He created you as the most beloved child of God and admired his creation for a long time. And then how loving parent, believing in his child, let him walk with his feet on the Earth, explore his land himself, build houses and ships, love and create children in his own image and likeness).

And people began to live, create, create, grow, build... This was all a long time ago, then people lived in harmony with themselves, with nature, with God, they felt a connection with him through their Spirit and their Soul.

And since God gave everyone free will, people began to experiment, what they could create and began numerous experiments that in some ways helped them grow, but in some ways increased their pride, led to envy, jealousy, greed, the desire to share and rule. And darkness came, a dark night of souls and souls fell asleep, forgetting their true essence, losing contact with their inner light of the Soul...

The desire to control and dominate gave rise to religions, priests, secret meetings, magicians, rulers... And human life began to flow along a completely different spiral of development, and it was directed not upward, but downward, towards fall, towards oblivion of oneself in one’s truth...

And people forgot who they are, they forgot that a small flame burns in everyone’s chest - the Spark of God, which was created by God initially in its purity and power of manifestation.

And they spent many years, yes, many centuries, in hibernation.

And they spoke into their sleeping ears “..you are a servant of God, born in sin and conceived in sin, and you will atone for your sins forever and ever...”.

Has everyone heard these commandments? Who invented them? Could GOD create a slave for himself? Does God need slaves? Or does he need Creators who can continue his game called “life” and co-create it in all the beauty and versatility of its manifestations?

This is something I haven't read in books. This is what I learned when I learned to communicate with my Soul. When I opened the “Time Machine” and was able to travel with my Soul to all times and eras that existed on the planet.

This “Time Machine” and the opening of channels, the memory of the Soul is now available to many).
And that's all more people connect with your Soul and gain your Power! That Power that was originally given to us by God. That Power of creation that helps us become true Creators of our Life. And forget about the state of the victim and slave of circumstances.

Yes, to some it seems unusual, to others like a fairy tale. But I know for sure that the Power that God gave to my (and your) Soul is so enormous that I can help any person on the planet become stronger, find their integrity, their connection with the Soul, throw away all restrictions, feelings of guilt, resentment, fears , struggle and see what love God pours out on us from above, we just have to raise our heads! And when love opens in us, our very same Power, which is given to everyone and which can be returned to ourselves, will vibrate.

Yes, this one is risky. Because remembering this state, you will never return to the state of a slave, subordinate to religions, society, governments, financial concerns, etc... You will raise your head and throw away your chains that have shackled you for many centuries. And you will begin to create your own Life!

Do you want this? Not everyone wants...And this is everyone's choice. Who do you want to be in your life - a Victim or a Creator?

The choice is yours, any choice you make will be good, there are no rules, just hear what your Soul is whispering to you......

Right now a group is being created that will begin an exciting 2-month training journey along the waves of the memory of your Soul.

And today we have the first open lesson- come!

In the title itself famous poem Nikolai Gogol " Dead souls» already concluded main idea and the idea of ​​this work. Judging superficially, the title reveals the content of the scam and Chichikov’s very personality - he was already buying souls dead peasants. But in order to embrace everything philosophical meaning Gogol's ideas, you need to look deeper than the literal interpretation of the title and even what is happening in the poem.

The meaning of the name "Dead Souls"

The title “Dead Souls” contains a much more important and deep meaning, than it is displayed by the author in the first volume of the work. Already for a long time they say that Gogol originally planned to write this poem by analogy with Dante’s famous and immortal “Divine Comedy”, and as you know, it consisted of three parts - “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”. It was to them that the three volumes of Gogol’s poem should have corresponded.

In the first volume of his most famous poem, the author intended to show the hell of Russian reality, the terrifying and truly terrifying truth about life of that time, and in the second and third volumes - the rise of spiritual culture and life in Russia. To some extent, the title of the work is a symbol of life county town N., and the city itself is a symbol of the whole of Russia, and thus the author indicates that its home country is in a terrible state, and the saddest and most terrible thing is that this is due to the fact that the souls of people are gradually growing cold, hardening and dying.

The history of the creation of Dead Souls

Nikolai Gogol began writing the poem “Dead Souls” in 1835 and continued to work on it until the end of his life. At the very beginning, the writer most likely singled out for himself the funny side of the novel and created the plot of Dead Souls, both for long piece. There is an opinion that Gogol borrowed the main idea of ​​the poem from A.S. Pushkin, since it was this poet who first heard the real story about “dead souls” in the city of Bendery. Gogol worked on the novel not only in his homeland, but also in Switzerland, Italy and France. First volume " Dead souls"was completed in 1842, and in May was already published under the title "The Adventures of Chichikov or Dead Souls."

Subsequently, while working on the novel, Gogol’s original plan expanded significantly, and it was then that the analogy with three parts appeared “ Divine Comedy" Gogol intended that his heroes go through a kind of circles of hell and purgatory, so that at the end of the poem they would rise spiritually and be reborn. The author never managed to realize his idea; only the first part of the poem was written in full. It is known that Gogol began work on the second volume of the poem in 1840, and by 1845 he already had several options for continuing the poem ready. Unfortunately, it was this year that the author independently destroyed the second volume of the work; he irrevocably burned the second part of “Dead Souls”, being dissatisfied with what he had written. The exact reason for this act of the writer is still unknown. There are draft manuscripts of four chapters of the second volume, which were discovered after Gogol's papers were opened.

Thus, it becomes clear that the central category and at the same time the main idea of ​​Gogol’s poem is the soul, the presence of which makes a person complete and real. This is precisely the main theme of the work, and Gogol tries to point out the value of the soul through the example of soulless and callous heroes who represent a special social stratum of Russia. In his immortal and brilliant work Gogol simultaneously raises the topic of Russia’s crisis and shows what this is directly related to. The author talks about the fact that the soul is the nature of man, without which there is no meaning in life, without which life becomes dead, and that it is thanks to it that salvation can be found.

The main work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is not only in the scale and depth of artistic generalizations. For this author, working on it became a long process writerly and human self-knowledge. An analysis of "Dead Souls" will be presented in this article.

Gogol noticed after the publication of the first volume that the main subject of his work was not the ugly landowners or the province, but a “secret” that was suddenly to be revealed to readers in the following volumes.

"Pale Beginning" of a Grand Design

The search for a genre, changing the concept, working on the text of the first two volumes, as well as thinking about the third - these are fragments of a grandiose “construction”, carried out only partially by Nikolai Vasilyevich. When analyzing “Dead Souls,” it should be understood that the first volume is only a part in which the outlines of the whole are outlined. This is the “pale beginning” of the work, as defined by the writer himself. No wonder Nikolai Vasilyevich compared it to a porch hastily attached to the “palace” by the provincial architect.

How did the idea for the work come about?

Features of the composition and plot, the originality of the genre are associated with the deepening and development of the original concept of “Dead Souls”. Pushkin stood at the origins of the work. As Nikolai Vasilyevich said, the poet advised him to take up big essay and even suggested a plot from which he himself wanted to create “something like a poem.” However, it was not so much the plot itself, but the “thought” contained in it that was Pushkin’s “hint” to Gogol. Were well known to the future author of the poem real stories, which are based on scams with the so-called " dead souls". IN teenage years Gogol in Mirgorod one of these cases occurred.

"Dead souls" in Russia during the time of Gogol

“Dead souls” - who died, but continued to be counted as alive until the next “revision fairy tale”. Only after this were they officially considered dead. It was after this that the landowners stopped paying a special tax for them. The peasants who existed on paper could be mortgaged, gifted or sold, which scammers sometimes took advantage of, seducing landowners not only with the opportunity to get rid of serfs who were not generating income, but also to receive money for them.

The buyer of “dead souls” became the owner of a very real fortune. The adventure of the main character of the work, Chichikov, is a consequence of the “most inspired thought” that dawned on him - the guardianship council will give 200 rubles for each serf.

An adventurous picaresque novel

The basis for the so-called picaresque adventure novel was provided by an “anecdote” with “dead souls.” This type of novel has always been very popular because it is entertaining. Gogol's older contemporaries created works in this genre (V. T. Narezhny, F. V. Bulgarin, etc.). Their novels, despite their rather low artistic level, were a great success.

Modification of the genre of the picaresque novel in the process of work

The genre model of the work we are interested in is precisely an adventurous picaresque novel, as the analysis of “Dead Souls” shows. It, however, changed greatly during the writer’s work on this creation. This is evidenced, for example, by the author’s designation “poem”, which appeared after the general plan and main idea corrected by Gogol (Dead Souls).

Analysis of the work reveals the following interesting features. “All of Rus' will appear in it” is Gogol’s thesis, which not only emphasized the scale of the concept of “Dead Souls” in comparison with the initial desire “albeit from one side” to show Russia, but also meant a radical revision of the genre model chosen earlier. The framework of the traditional adventure and picaresque novel became cramped for Nikolai Vasilyevich, since he could not accommodate the richness of the new plan. Chichikov’s “odyssey” has become just one way of seeing Russia.

An adventurous picaresque novel, having lost leading value in "Dead Souls", remained at the same time a genre shell for the epic and morally descriptive tendencies of the poem.

Features of Chichikov's image

One of the techniques used in this genre is the mystery of the hero's origin. Main character in the first chapters he was either a man from the common people or a foundling, and at the end of the work, having overcome life's obstacles, he suddenly turned out to be the son of rich parents and received an inheritance. Nikolai Vasilyevich decisively refused such a template.

When analyzing the poem "Dead Souls", it should certainly be noted that Chichikov is a man of the "middle". The author himself says about him that he is “not bad-looking,” but not handsome, not too thin, but not too fat, not very old and not very young. The life story of this adventurer is hidden from the reader until the final, eleventh chapter. You will be convinced of this by carefully reading “Dead Souls”. Analysis by chapter reveals the fact that the author tells the backstory only in the eleventh. Having decided to do this, Gogol begins by emphasizing the “vulgarity,” the mediocrity of his hero. He writes that his origins are “modest” and “obscure.” Nikolai Vasilyevich again rejects extremes in defining his character (not a scoundrel, but not a hero either), but dwells on Chichikov’s main quality - he is an “acquirer”, “owner”.

Chichikov - an "average" person

Thus, there is nothing unusual in this hero - he is a so-called “average” person, in whom Gogol strengthened a trait that is characteristic of many people. Nikolai Vasilyevich sees in his passion for profit, which has replaced everything else, in the pursuit of the ghost of an easy and beautiful life, a manifestation of “human poverty,” poverty and spiritual interests - all that is so carefully hidden by many people. An analysis of “Dead Souls” shows that Gogol needed a biography of the hero not so much in order to reveal the “secret” of his life at the end of the work, but rather to remind readers that this is not an exceptional person, but a completely ordinary one. Anyone can discover some “part of Chichikov” in themselves.

"Positive" heroes of the work

In adventure and picaresque novels, the traditional plot “spring” is the persecution of the main character by malicious, greedy and vicious people. Compared to them, the rogue who fought for his own rights seemed almost a “model of perfection.” As a rule, he was helped by compassionate and virtuous people who naively expressed the author’s ideals.

However, no one is pursuing Chichikov in the first volume of the work. Also, there are no characters in the novel who could, to any extent, follow the writer’s point of view. Carrying out an analysis of the work “Dead Souls”, we can notice that only in the second volume do “positive” heroes appear: the landowner Kostanzhoglo, the tax farmer Murazov, the governor who is irreconcilable with the abuses of various officials. But even these characters, unusual for Nikolai Vasilyevich, are very far from novel templates.

What interests Nikolai Vasilyevich first of all?

The plots of many works written in the genre of picaresque adventure novel were far-fetched and artificial. The emphasis was on adventures, the “adventures” of rogue heroes. And Nikolai Vasilyevich is interested not in the adventures of the main character in themselves, not in their “material” result (Chichikov eventually got his fortune through fraudulent means), but in their moral and social content, which allowed the author to make trickery a “mirror” reflecting modern Russia in the work "Dead Souls". Analysis shows that this is a country of landowners who sell “air” (that is, dead peasants), as well as officials who assist the swindler instead of hindering him. The plot of this work has enormous semantic potential - various layers of other meanings - symbolic and philosophical - are superimposed on its real basis. It is very interesting to analyze the landowners (“Dead Souls”). Each of the five characters is very symbolic - Nikolai Vasilyevich uses the grotesque in their depiction.

Slowing down the plot

Gogol deliberately slows down the movement of the plot, accompanying each event detailed descriptions the material world in which the heroes live, as well as their appearance, reasoning about their Not only dynamics, but also significance is lost by the adventurous and picaresque plot. Each event of the work causes an “avalanche” of the author’s assessments and judgments, details, facts. The action of the novel is contrary to requirements of this genre almost completely stops last chapters. You can verify this by independently analyzing Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls.” For the development of the action, only two events out of all the others are significant, which occur from the seventh to the eleventh chapters. This is the departure from the city of Chichikov and the execution of a deed of sale.

Demanding on readers

Nikolai Vasilyevich is very demanding of readers - he wants them to penetrate into the very essence of phenomena, and not skim over their surface, ponder hidden meaning works "Dead Souls". It should be analyzed very carefully. It is necessary to see behind the “objective” or informative meaning of the author’s words the not explicit, but the most important meaning is the symbolically generalized one. Just as necessary, as for Pushkin in “Eugene Onegin,” is the co-creation of readers for the author of “Dead Souls.” It is important to note that the artistic effect Gogol's prose is created not by what is told or depicted, but by how it is done. You will be convinced of this once you analyze the work “Dead Souls”. The word is a subtle instrument that Gogol mastered perfectly.

Nikolai Vasilyevich emphasized that a writer, when addressing people, must take into account the fear and uncertainty that lives in those who commit bad deeds. Both approval and reproach should be carried by the word of the “lyric poet”. Discussions about the dual nature of the phenomena of life are the favorite topic of the author of the work that interests us.

That's how it is brief analysis("Dead Souls"). A lot can be said about Gogol’s work. We have highlighted only the main points. It is also interesting to dwell on the images of landowners and the author. You can do this yourself, based on our analysis.

How a person is born is no secret to us. How does it happen? the birth of new souls?

The riddle is very interesting. I would like to know the process itself - where it happens, who participates in it, what the birth of a new soul looks like.

It is curious whether souls are constantly being born, or whether once born, they are now only reincarnated.

It is also important: are the same souls born or does each new soul have special talents and unique abilities.

We set out to explore these questions in an additional lesson of the 13th stream of the Institute of Reincarnation.

How souls are born

Observations of memories, how souls are born, made it possible to identify several repeating scenarios.

Let me clarify right away for skeptics: the research was carried out in different times, with new people, but their descriptions largely coincided. These are the common ones storylines the birth of new souls and are collected in “scripts”.

In the first scenario, similar memory images were some small particles that were separated from a large creature.

Svetlana S: I remembered some large living creature, reminiscent of a hydra, from which soul balls bud. Heavenly Mother's name is Avatorii.

Each ball had its own color. Some were more intensely colored, while others had a less intense color. The color of the soul depends on the energies that the Heavenly Father initially lays down. And he takes energy from the worlds where these souls will have to incarnate.

The scattering balls rushed into spherical spaces where souls of their color gathered. My the soul was purple, and I joined the group of purple balls.

In total there were about ninety newborn souls. I saw how big hands they collected us into a kind of beads, then twisted us along an axis. In the process of movement, souls accumulated energies and began to glow from this.

Then a stream began, connecting to the cosmic mind. The mentors monitored the readiness of souls for the first incarnation by the intensity of the glow.

They began to divide us into more small groups. Teachers visited the small group one by one, transferring important energies for knowledge, recharging and accumulation. Working with energies, the ability to anchor them in the place where it is necessary to stabilize space, turns out to be special the talent of my soul.

Svetlana Ch.: I saw my soul as a drop that separated from something big. As soon as I flew away, about ten to fifteen more droplets joined me, clinging to me from all sides. I remember the feeling of persistence, desire to get ahead- qualities that I observe in myself to this day.

Someone moves our group of droplets into a vessel, and the process of infusion of energies begins. I feel myself expanding from the energies of love and mercy filling me.

Olga T.: I saw a large clot of energy shimmering different colors. There was movement and swaying inside.

Balls of different colors stand out from it. I felt like one of the balls - light, playful. My soul shimmered purple-blue-green, and at the base there was a pearly-golden color.

The mentors accepted me and passed on the basics soul purpose– generate love, spread the energy of love.

Experiencing the white light

In the second version of stories about how souls are born, there were often images of white light and honeycombs, from which the formed energies of souls flew out.

My memory showed just such a process. A large space filled with white light, full of honeycomb pentagons.

In each cell boiling occurs at different intensities. When the seething reaches its peak, a soul ball bursts out of the honeycomb with a sharp explosion.

This ball is taken under the care of the Mentor and transferred, keeping it in his field. This process was revealed very clearly and in detail in Elena’s memoirs.

Elena B.: I see a bright space filled with a white glow. In this sparkling glow, you can feel some waves moving.

This is a living space, and everything in it breathes and moves. Space itself is like a sphere. There are observers outside the sphere.

There are small balls inside. They also sparkle, as if light is about to burst out in each of them. Some processes are taking place on the surface of the balls, flashes flash. Each ball is placed in a honeycomb.

The entire sphere is filled with pentagons that interlock with each other. But the space above the cells is open. There is a lot of traffic in the cells. In some it becomes stronger and stronger.

Here light comes out of one cell. This light is born soul. One cell opens, then a second, a third. And here is mine!

It has a soft purple glow. At first, the color breaks through with one ray, then it grows and now the whole ball-soul shines evenly purple glow.

From within, through the purple, it breaks through white light. Through it there is contact with the external living sphere. A ray of thread, like a connecting cable, joined the large field.

Contact has been established. The maternal sphere begins to respond by transferring knowledge and energy to the newborn soul. Bookmarking in progress soul files.

From within, observers send a stream great love. The flow is so strong that the sphere has to hold it back, otherwise the soul balls will not be able to withstand it.

But this whole process is so gentle that the energies of love simply envelop every soul, fill and structure. Love becomes reflection of divine light, coming from inside each ball. Under its influence the soul opens up.

The colors of the soul balls are different. Some people are like a rainbow – the play of several colors. For some, one color predominates, for example, yellow. At the same time, there are few red balls. Glow is associated with purpose.

So my purple associated with vibrations of higher energies. The main task is the ability to grasp the spiritual principle and bring it into the material world.

After the souls have collected the initial starting information and absorbed the necessary energy, the maternal sphere begins to thin out and disappear.

The swarm of young souls is left without care, but they are immediately embraced by the energies of the Mentors. Balls in groups are attracted to the Mentor with whom they match in color.

My group has as many as five Mentors. Each of them undergoes alternating attunement and obtaining information. The soul feels that it is expanding, becoming weightier, more structured.

One of the Mentors talks about the World of Souls. Explains the hierarchy and interaction of souls. Another introduces different worlds and spaces. Shows the geography of incarnations, tells where you can go and what kind of experience.

The last Mentor prepares for the first incarnation. It will be a warm place, not earthly, where souls learn to communicate.

Vortex energy

The last story of the birth of a soul can be said to be unique. In my observations, this is so far the only example of just such a scenario. All the more interesting is the experience that has opened up, where the source of the birth of the soul is the energy of the vortex.

Svetlana I. Two swirling energies in a dense vortex flow merged into one, the result was something like a blank. It was completely raw, heavy material that had to be developed further.

The mentor introduces some kind of impulse into him, sparkling star and the energy is revived. The workpiece glows, lightness appears, the glow becomes bright.

The soul receives life.

The mentor invites the soul to follow him, and I begin to move cautiously, carefully, looking around. I see a world like open space, dark, mysterious, in which life is felt.

I feel the closeness of the Mentor, I trust him as a parent. We arrived in a round illuminated hall. This is where we are met energy beings who welcome and rejoice at the addition of a newborn soul to their team.

I feel the warmth and joy of this space, I calm down. I understand that it studies outer space and regulates and corrects processes if necessary.

Everything is under control here, higher energies monitor the emergence of new galaxies, new worlds. I have to learn this work.

What conclusions arise after studying the birth of new souls?

Firstly, the process itself takes place according to different scenarios, although there are not many of them and there are repeating plots.

Secondly, in all examples, the birth of a new soul is controlled by the Guides, who pick up the newborns and move them into a space where growth and learning take place.

Thirdly, many remember the color of their soul at birth, which is associated with special talents, unique abilities and its purpose.

P.S. Are you interested in learning about the birth of your soul and your unique abilities?

Certified consultant of the Institute of Reincarnation. I help people find themselves through creativity.