In Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls, the character flaws and business dealings of two landowners illustrate the novel's message about human values. The first two characters with which the reader becomes acquainted, Manilov and Korobochka, display...

However much of its text might be preoccupied with ‘realist’ visuals, Nikolai Gogol’s ‘poem of Russia,’ Dead Souls is still rife with extra-narrative commentary and digressions, in keeping with Gogol’s established style and his stated intentions...

In his short tale “The Overcoat,” Nikolai Gogol has unfolded tragedies as well as satirical jokes by imagining a wide range of roles an overcoat can fulfill within an oppressive, bureaucratic, and heavily materialistic society. Without loss of...

Though rather simple in plot and structure, Gogol’s short stories carry deep moral messages, which are urgent beyond time and place. One of these is a theme of a little man, who is a poor person, is not respected by those with higher ranks, and is...

The issue of class and its representations is consistently present in society, and pervades everyday life to a significant degree, especially when considering the social dynamics of the past century; as such, it is also very prominent in...

In his “Review of Twice Told Tales,” Edgar Allan Poe argues the superiority of the short story form. In doing so, Poe compares the short story to the poem and novel, speaking about the features of the short story which make it better than other...

At first glance, the two short stories, “The Overcoat” by Nikolai Gogol and “Two Friends” by Maupassant seem like two anecdotal overviews of the general society at the time. But in fact, these two short stories are very critical and provide a...

Following the resurgence of the Russian writer with Alexander Pushkin, a new generation of Russian authors emerged. Among the writers of the ‘Golden Age of Russian Literature’ are Nikolai Gogol and Fyodor Dostoyevsky who dominated the field....

Imperfection, like mortality itself, is an integrated aspect of being human. Most people, however, try to mask theirs through self-importance and ambition. Self-importance and ambition help to promote self-confidence and the illusion of perfection...

An astutely stated and compelling assertion that “perhaps it’s impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be” brings light to one of the myriad disputes concerning what constitutes the core of any human being and whether...

Following the resurgence of the Russian writer with Alexander Pushkin, a new generation of Russian authors emerged. Among the writers of the ‘Golden Age of Russian Literature’ are Nikolai Gogol and Fyodor Dostoyevsky who dominated the field....

Though rather simple in plot and structure, Gogol’s short stories carry deep moral messages, which are urgent beyond time and place. One of these is a theme of a little man, who is a poor person, is not respected by those with higher ranks, and is...

Lu Xun and Kafka’s utilization of the physical body allows for the presentation of personal criticisms towards aspects of modernity and the social, political and economic changes of the movement. Modernity, due to its nature of bringing about...