Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol - one of the most famous life stories of the “little man” in the world.

The story that happened to Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin begins with a story about his birth and his bizarre name and moves on to the story of his service as a titular adviser.

Many young officials, laughing, bother him, shower him with papers, push him on the arm, and only when he is completely unbearable, he says: “Leave me alone, why are you offending me?” - in a voice bowing to pity. Akakiy Akakievich, whose service consists of copying papers, performs it with love and, even having come from the presence and hastily sipped his food, takes out a jar of ink and copies the papers brought to the house, and if there are none, then he deliberately makes a copy for himself. some document with an intricate address. Entertainment and the pleasure of friendship do not exist for him, “having written to his heart’s content, he went to bed,” smilingly anticipating tomorrow’s rewriting.

However, this regularity of life is disrupted by an unforeseen incident. One morning, after repeated suggestions made by the St. Petersburg frost, Akaki Akakievich, having examined his overcoat (so lost in appearance that the department had long called it a hood), notices that it is completely see-through on the shoulders and back. He decides to take her to the tailor Petrovich, whose habits and biography are briefly, but not without detail, outlined. Petrovich examines the hood and declares that nothing can be fixed, but he will have to make a new overcoat. Shocked by the price Petrovich named, Akakiy Akakievich decides that he chose the wrong time and comes when, according to calculations, Petrovich is hungover and therefore more accommodating. But Petrovich stands his ground. Seeing that you couldn’t do without a new overcoat,

Akaki Akakievich is looking for how to get those eighty rubles, for which, in his opinion, Petrovich will take up the matter. He decides to reduce “ordinary expenses”: not drink tea in the evenings, not light candles, walk on tiptoes so as not to wear out the soles prematurely, give the laundry to the laundress less often, and to avoid getting worn out, stay at home in just a robe.

His life changes completely: the dream of an overcoat accompanies him like a pleasant friend of life. Every month he visits Petrovich to talk about the overcoat. The expected reward for the holiday, contrary to expectation, turns out to be twenty rubles more, and one day Akaki Akakievich and Petrovich go to the shops. And the cloth, and the calico for the lining, and the cat for the collar, and Petrovich’s work - everything turns out to be beyond praise, and, in view of the frosts that have begun, Akaki Akakievich one day goes to the department in a new overcoat. This event does not go unnoticed, everyone praises the overcoat and demands that Akaki Akakievich set the evening on this occasion, and only the intervention of a certain official (as if on purpose the birthday boy), who invited everyone to tea, saves the embarrassed Akaki Akakievich.

After the day, which for him was like a big solemn holiday, Akaki Akakievich returns home, has a cheerful dinner and, having sat around doing nothing, goes to the official in the distant part of the city. Again everyone praises his overcoat, but soon turns to whist, dinner, champagne. Forced to do the same, Akaki Akakievich feels unusual joy, but, remembering the late hour, slowly goes home. Excited at first, he even rushes after some lady (“whose every part of her body was filled with extraordinary movement”), but the deserted streets that soon stretch out inspire him with involuntary fear. In the middle of a huge deserted square, some people with mustaches stop him and take off his overcoat.

The misadventures of Akaki Akakievich begin. He finds no help from a private bailiff. In the presence where he comes a day later in his old hood, they feel sorry for him and even think of making a contribution, but, having collected a mere trifle, they give advice to go to a significant person, who may contribute to a more successful search for the overcoat. The following describes the techniques and customs of a significant person who has become significant only recently, and therefore is preoccupied with how to give himself greater significance: “Severity, severity and - severity,” he usually said.

Wanting to impress his friend, whom he had not seen for many years, he cruelly scolds Akaki Akakievich, who, in his opinion, addressed him inappropriately. Without feeling his feet, he reaches home and collapses with a strong fever. A few days of unconsciousness and delirium - and Akaki Akakievich dies, which the department learns about only on the fourth day after the funeral. It soon becomes known that at night a dead man appears near the Kalinkin Bridge, tearing off everyone's greatcoat, without regard to rank or rank. Someone recognizes him as Akaki Akakievich. The efforts made by the police to catch the dead man are in vain.

At that time, one significant person, who is not alien to compassion, having learned that Bashmachkin died suddenly, remains terribly shocked by this and, in order to have some fun, goes to a friend’s party, from where he goes not home, but to a familiar lady, Karolina Ivanovna, and, amid terrible bad weather, he suddenly feels that someone grabbed him by the collar. In horror, he recognizes Akaki Akakievich, who triumphantly pulls off his greatcoat. Pale and frightened, the significant person returns home and henceforth no longer scolds his subordinates with severity. The appearance of the dead official has since completely ceased, and the ghost that the Kolomna guard met a little later was already much taller and wore an enormous mustache.

Material provided by the internet portal briefly.ru, compiled by E. V. Kharitonova

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is one of the most significant figures in Russian literature. It is he who is rightly called the founder of critical realism, the author who clearly described the image of the “little man” and made it central in Russian literature of that time. Subsequently, many writers used this image in their works. It is no coincidence that F. M. Dostoevsky uttered the phrase in one of his conversations: “We all came out of Gogol’s overcoat.”

History of creation

Literary critic Annenkov noted that N.V. Gogol often listened to jokes and various stories that were told in his circle. Sometimes it happened that these anecdotes and comical stories inspired the writer to create new works. This happened with “Overcoat”. According to Annenkov, Gogol once heard a joke about a poor official who was very fond of hunting. This official lived in deprivation, saving on everything just to buy himself a gun for his favorite hobby. And now, the long-awaited moment has arrived - the gun has been purchased. However, the first hunt was not successful: the gun got caught in the bushes and sank. The official was so shocked by the incident that he came down with a fever. This anecdote did not make Gogol laugh at all, but, on the contrary, gave rise to serious thoughts. According to many, it was then that the idea of ​​writing the story “The Overcoat” arose in his head.

During Gogol's lifetime, the story did not provoke significant critical discussions and debates. This is due to the fact that at that time writers quite often offered their readers comic works about the life of poor officials. However, the significance of Gogol’s work for Russian literature was appreciated over the years. It was Gogol who developed the theme of the “little man” protesting against the laws in force in the system and pushed other writers to further explore this theme.

Description of the work

The main character of Gogol's work is the junior civil servant Bashmachkin Akaki Akakievich, who was constantly unlucky. Even in choosing a name, the official’s parents were unsuccessful; in the end, the child was named after his father.

The life of the main character is modest and unremarkable. He lives in a small rented apartment. He occupies a minor position with a meager salary. TO mature age the official never acquired a wife, children, or friends.

Bashmachkin wears an old faded uniform and a holey overcoat. One day, severe frost forces Akaki Akakievich to take his old overcoat to a tailor for repairs. However, the tailor refuses to repair the old overcoat and says it is necessary to buy a new one.

The price of an overcoat is 80 rubles. This is a lot of money for a small employee. In order to collect the necessary amount, he denies himself even small human joys, of which there are not many in his life. After some time, the official manages to save the required amount, and the tailor finally sews the overcoat. The acquisition of an expensive item of clothing is a grandiose event in the miserable and boring life of an official.

One evening Akaki Akakievich was caught up on the street famous people and took away the overcoat. The upset official goes with a complaint to a “significant person” in the hope of finding and punishing those responsible for his misfortune. However, the “general” does not support the junior employee, but, on the contrary, reprimands him. Bashmachkin, rejected and humiliated, was unable to cope with his grief and died.

At the end of the work, the author adds a little mysticism. After the funeral of the titular councilor, a ghost began to be noticed in the city, which took overcoats from passers-by. A little later, this same ghost took the overcoat from that same “general” who scolded Akaki Akakievich. This served as a lesson for the important official.

Main characters

The central figure of the story, a pathetic civil servant who spends his entire life doing routine work and not interesting work. His work lacks opportunities for creativity and self-realization. Monotony and monotony literally consume the titular adviser. All he does is rewrite papers that no one needs. The hero has no loved ones. He spends his free evenings at home, sometimes copying papers “for himself.” The appearance of Akaki Akakievich creates an even stronger effect; the hero becomes truly sorry. There is something insignificant in his image. The impression is strengthened by Gogol's story about the constant troubles befalling the hero (either an unfortunate name, or baptism). Gogol perfectly created the image of a “little” official who lives in terrible hardships and fights the system every day for his right to exist.

Officials (collective image of bureaucracy)

Gogol, talking about Akaki Akakievich’s colleagues, focuses on such qualities as heartlessness and callousness. The unfortunate official's colleagues mock and make fun of him in every possible way, without feeling an ounce of sympathy. The whole drama of Bashmachkin’s relationship with his colleagues is contained in the phrase he said: “Leave me alone, why are you offending me?”

"Significant person" or "general"

Gogol does not mention either the first or last name of this person. Yes, it doesn’t matter. Rank and position on the social ladder are important. After the loss of his overcoat, Bashmachkin, for the first time in his life, decides to defend his rights and goes with a complaint to the “general”. Here the “little” official is faced with a tough, soulless bureaucratic machine, the image of which is contained in the character of a “significant person”.

Analysis of the work

In the person of his main character, Gogol seems to unite all the poor and humiliated people. Bashmachkin's life is an eternal struggle for survival, poverty and monotony. Society with its laws does not give the official the right to a normal human existence and humiliates his dignity. At the same time, Akaki Akakievich himself agrees with this situation and resignedly endures hardships and difficulties.

The loss of the overcoat is a turning point in the work. It forces the “little official” to declare his rights to society for the first time. Akaki Akakievich goes with a complaint to a “significant person”, who in Gogol’s story personifies all the soullessness and impersonality of the bureaucracy. Having encountered a wall of aggression and misunderstanding on the part of a “significant person,” the poor official cannot stand it and dies.

Gogol raises the problem of the extreme significance of the rank, which took place in the society of that time. The author shows that such attachment to rank is destructive for people with very different social status. The prestigious position of a “significant person” made him indifferent and cruel. And Bashmachkin’s junior rank led to the depersonalization of a person, his humiliation.

At the end of the story, it is no coincidence that Gogol introduces a fantastic ending, in which the ghost of an unfortunate official takes off the general’s greatcoat. This is some warning to important people that their inhumane actions may have consequences. The fantasy at the end of the work is explained by the fact that in the Russian reality of that time it is almost impossible to imagine a situation of retribution. Since the “little man” at that time had no rights, he could not demand attention and respect from society.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol

"Overcoat"

The story that happened to Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin begins with a story about his birth and his bizarre name and moves on to the story of his service as a titular adviser.

Many young officials, laughing, bother him, shower him with papers, push him on the arm, and only when he is completely unbearable, he says: “Leave me alone, why are you offending me?” - in a voice bowing to pity. Akakiy Akakievich, whose service consists of copying papers, performs it with love and, even having come from the presence and hastily sipped his food, takes out a jar of ink and copies the papers brought to the house, and if there are none, then he deliberately makes a copy for himself. some document with an intricate address. Entertainment and the pleasure of friendship do not exist for him, “having written to his heart’s content, he went to bed,” smilingly anticipating tomorrow’s rewriting.

However, this regularity of life is disrupted by an unforeseen incident. One morning, after repeated suggestions made by the St. Petersburg frost, Akaki Akakievich, having examined his overcoat (so lost in appearance that the department had long called it a hood), notices that it is completely see-through on the shoulders and back. He decides to take her to the tailor Petrovich, whose habits and biography are briefly, but not without detail, outlined. Petrovich examines the hood and declares that nothing can be fixed, but he will have to make a new overcoat. Shocked by the price Petrovich named, Akakiy Akakievich decides that he chose the wrong time and comes when, according to calculations, Petrovich is hungover and therefore more accommodating. But Petrovich stands his ground. Seeing that it is impossible to do without a new overcoat, Akakiy Akakievich is looking for how to get those eighty rubles, for which, in his opinion, Petrovich will get down to business. He decides to reduce “ordinary expenses”: not drink tea in the evenings, not light candles, walk on tiptoes so as not to wear out the soles prematurely, give the laundry to the laundress less often, and to avoid getting worn out, stay at home in just a robe.

His life changes completely: the dream of an overcoat accompanies him like a pleasant friend of life. Every month he visits Petrovich to talk about the overcoat. The expected reward for the holiday, contrary to expectation, turns out to be twenty rubles more, and one day Akaki Akakievich and Petrovich go to the shops. And the cloth, and the calico for the lining, and the cat for the collar, and Petrovich’s work - everything turns out to be beyond praise, and, in view of the frosts that have begun, Akaki Akakievich one day goes to the department in a new overcoat. This event does not go unnoticed, everyone praises the overcoat and demands that Akaki Akakievich set the evening for this occasion, and only the intervention of a certain official (as if on purpose the birthday boy), who invited everyone to tea, saves the embarrassed Akaki Akakievich.

After the day, which for him was like a big solemn holiday, Akaki Akakievich returns home, has a cheerful dinner and, having sat around doing nothing, goes to the official in the distant part of the city. Again everyone praises his overcoat, but soon turns to whist, dinner, champagne. Forced to do the same, Akakiy Akakievich feels unusual joy, but, remembering the late hour, he slowly goes home. Excited at first, he even rushes after some lady (“whose every part of her body was filled with extraordinary movement”), but the deserted streets that soon stretch out inspire him with involuntary fear. In the middle of a huge deserted square, some people with mustaches stop him and take off his overcoat.

The misadventures of Akaki Akakievich begin. He finds no help from a private bailiff. In the presence where he comes a day later in his old hood, they feel sorry for him and even think of making a contribution, but, having collected a mere trifle, they give advice to go to a significant person, who may contribute to a more successful search for the overcoat. The following describes the techniques and customs of a significant person who has become significant only recently, and therefore is preoccupied with how to give himself greater significance: “Severity, severity and — severity,” he usually said. Wanting to impress his friend, whom he had not seen for many years, he cruelly scolds Akaki Akakievich, who, in his opinion, addressed him inappropriately. Without feeling his feet, he reaches home and collapses with a strong fever. A few days of unconsciousness and delirium - and Akaki Akakievich dies, which the department learns about only on the fourth day after the funeral. It soon becomes known that at night a dead man appears near the Kalinkin Bridge, tearing off everyone's greatcoat, without regard to rank or rank. Someone recognizes him as Akaki Akakievich. The efforts made by the police to catch the dead man are in vain.

At that time, one significant person, who is not alien to compassion, having learned that Bashmachkin died suddenly, remains terribly shocked by this and, in order to have some fun, goes to a friend’s party, from where he goes not home, but to a familiar lady, Karolina Ivanovna, and, amid terrible bad weather, he suddenly feels that someone grabbed him by the collar. In horror, he recognizes Akaki Akakievich, who triumphantly pulls off his greatcoat. Pale and frightened, the significant person returns home and henceforth no longer scolds his subordinates with severity. The appearance of the dead official has since completely ceased, and the ghost that the Kolomna guard met a little later was already much taller and wore an enormous mustache.

The story of Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin begins with his birth, and then goes into a retelling of his official zeal in the position of titular adviser.

In the service of a conscientious and harmless official, young colleagues are bored with jokes and pranks, to which Akaki Akakievich only begs him not to disturb him. The quiet guy does his job diligently and often takes it home. Having had a quick snack, he starts copying papers, and if there is no such work, then he rewrites them for himself. He was so diligent and loved his job. He did not accept any entertainment and, having worked hard, gave himself up to sleep.

But the incident disrupted his usual way of life. One frosty morning, Akaki Akakievich, having examined his overcoat, which no longer warms at all and which in the department was called a hood because of its wear and tear, he comes to the decision to have it repaired by a tailor. Petrovich issues a verdict: the overcoat cannot be repaired. Akakiy Akakievich, having learned about the cost of the new overcoat, tries to talk to the tailor at a better time to reduce the price, but he is adamant. Having come to terms with the fact that a new overcoat is needed, Akaki Akakievich begins a frugal life, reducing all expenses to a minimum, in the hope of saving eighty rubles.

Now the official has a goal in life: to save for a new overcoat. He often visits Petrovich just to talk about the overcoat. Receives a holiday reward and goes shopping with Petrovich necessary materials for sewing new clothes. Akakiy Akakievich goes to work in a new overcoat, where everyone notices the new thing and praises it, offering to celebrate the event.

After work, having lunch at good mood, goes to an official on the outskirts of the city. The praise of the overcoat is repeated, then playing cards and having fun. At a late hour, Akaki Akakievich goes home. On the way, I even ran after some lady, but fell behind on a deserted street. Some people stop him and take off his brand new overcoat.

The bailiff could not help. At the service, where he showed up in an old hood, everyone sympathizes and offers to chip in for another overcoat. But there is not enough money. On their advice, Akaki Akakievich visits an important official. Wanting to create special importance in front of an old friend whom he has not seen for a long time, he severely scolds Bashmachkin for inappropriate treatment. He barely makes it home in fear and dies a few days later from a fever. The department learns of his death only a few days after the funeral. And at night, near the Kalinkin Bridge, they see a dead man tearing off the greatcoats of passers-by. Some recognize him as Akaki Akakievich, but the police cannot catch him.

And that important official, having received a shock from the news of Bashmachkin’s death, goes to have fun with a lady he knows, Karolina Ivanovna. Suddenly someone grabs him by the collar of his overcoat and pulls him off. He sees Akaki Akakievich. After this incident, the important official no longer scolds anyone harshly. And since then the dead official has stopped appearing. True, after this incident the Kolomna guard still saw someone, but he was huge and had a large mustache.

Essays

Little Man" in N.V. Gogol's story "The Overcoat" Pain for a person or mockery of him? (based on the story “The Overcoat” by N.V. Gogol) What is the meaning of the mystical ending of the story by N.V. Gogol "The Overcoat" The meaning of the image of an overcoat in the story of the same name by N. V. Gogol Ideological and artistic analysis of N. V. Gogol’s story “The Overcoat” The image of the “Little Man” in Gogol’s story “The Overcoat” The image of the "little man" (based on the story "The Overcoat") The image of the “Little Man” in N. V. Gogol’s story “The Overcoat” The image of Bashmachkin (based on the story “The Overcoat” by N.V. Gogol) The story "The Overcoat" The problem of the “little man” in the works of N. V. Gogol Akakiy Akakievich’s zealous attitude towards “prescribed curls” Review of N. V. Gogol’s story “The Overcoat” The role of hyperbole in the depiction of Bashmachkin in N. V. Gogol’s story “The Overcoat” The role of the image of the “little man” in N. V. Gogol’s story “The Overcoat” The plot, characters and problems of the story by N.V. Gogol's "Overcoat" The theme of the "little man" in the story "The Overcoat" The theme of the “little man” in the works of N. V. Gogol

The story that happened to Akaki Akaki-e-vich Bashmachkin begins with a story about his birth and his whimsical naming and moves on to a story about his service in office. of the titular adviser.

Many young officials, making fun of him, bother him, shower him with papers, push him on the arm - and only when he is completely unbearable, he says: “Leave me alone, why are you offending me?” - in a voice bowing to pity. Akakiy Akakievich, whose service consists of copying papers, performs it with love and, even coming from the presence and hastily eating his own, takes out a jar of ink and copy - he throws out the papers brought to the house, and if there are none, then he deliberately makes a copy for himself from some document with an intricate address. Entertainment, the pleasure of friendship, does not exist for him, “having written to his heart’s content, he went to bed,” with a smile anticipating tomorrow’s writing.

However, this regularity of life is disrupted by an unforeseen incident. One morning, after repeated suggestions made by the St. Petersburg frost, Akaki Akakievich, having examined his overcoat (so lost in appearance that in the department they had long called it a hood), notices that it is completely visible on the shoulders and back. He decides to take her to the tailor Petrovich, whose habits and biography are briefly, but not without detail, outlined by his wife. Petrovich inspects the hood and declares that nothing can be corrected, but that a new overcoat will have to be made. Shocked by the price Petrovich named, Akaki Akakievich decides that he chose the wrong time and comes when, according to calculations, Petrovich is hungover and therefore more accommodating. But Petrovich stands his ground. Seeing that he couldn’t get by without a new overcoat, Akakiy Akakievich tried to figure out how to get those eight to ten rubles for which, in his opinion, Petrovich would get down to business. He decides to reduce “ordinary costs”: not to drink tea in the evenings, not to light candles, to walk on tiptoe so as not to wear out the soles too early, to give the laundry to the laundress less often , and in order not to get busy, stay at home in just a robe.

His life is changing completely: the dream of an overcoat accompanies him like a pleasant friend of life. Every month he comes to Petrovich to talk about the overcoat. The expected reward for the holiday, contrary to expectation, turns out to be twenty rubles more, and one day Akaki Akakievich and Petrovich go to the shops. And the cloth, and the calico for the lining, and the cat on the collar, and Petrovich’s work - everything turns out to be above all praise, and, in view of the frosts that have begun, Akaki Akakievich one day goes to the department ta-mentor in a new overcoat. This event does not go unnoticed, everyone praises the overcoat and demands from Akaki Akaki-e-vich to organize an evening on this occasion, and only the intervention of a certain official (as if on purpose for the birthday boy), calling He gives everyone a tip and saves the embarrassed Akaki Akaki-e-vich.

After the day, which was like a big solemn holiday for him, Akaki Akakievich returns home, has a cheerful dinner and, having sat idle, goes to the official in the far part cities. Again everyone praises his overcoat, but soon they turn to whist, dinner, and champagne. Forced to do the same, Akaki Akakievich feels unusual joy, but, remembering the late hour, slowly goes home. Excited at first, he even rushes after some lady (“whose every part of her body was filled with an unusually powerful movement”), but soon the deserted streets stretched inspire him with involuntary fear. In the middle of a huge deserted square, some people with mustaches stop him and take off his overcoat.

The misadventures of Akaki Akaki-e-vich begin. He finds no help from a private bailiff. In the presence where he comes a day later in his old hood, they feel sorry for him and even think about making a donation, but, having collected a mere trifle, they give advice to go to a significant person, who can help to create a more successful search for an overcoat. Next, the methods and customs of a significant person are described, who has become significant only recently, and therefore is preoccupied with how to give himself greater significance: “Strictly guest, strictly guest and “strict guest,” he usually said. Wanting to impress his friend, whom he had not seen for many years, he cruelly scolds Akaki Akaki-e-vich, who, in his opinion, addressed him inappropriately. Without feeling his feet, he makes it home and collapses with a strong fever. A few days of unconsciousness and delirium - and Akaki Akakievich dies, which is only found out on the fourth day after the funeral in the department. It soon becomes known that at night, near the Kalinkin Bridge, a dead man appears, tearing off everyone’s greatcoat, without regard to rank or rank. Someone will recognize him as Akaki Akaki-e-vich. The efforts made by the police to catch the dead man are in vain.

At that time, one significant person, who is not alien to compassion, having learned that Bashmachkin had suddenly died, remains terribly shocked by this and, in order to have some fun, goes to see a friend a party, from where he goes not home, but to a familiar lady, Karolina Ivanovna, and, in the midst of terrible weather, suddenly feels that someone grabbed him by the collar. In horror, he recognizes Akaki Akaki-e-vich, who triumphantly pulls off his overcoat. Pale and frightened, the significant person returns home and henceforth no longer scolds his subordinates with severity. The appearance of the dead official has since completely stopped, and the ghost that the Kolomensky guard encountered a little later was already significantly taller and wore a huge mustache.

1. Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin- a minor official who is engaged in rewriting documents. Quiet, very inconspicuous, over 50 years old. He has no family or friends. Very passionate about his work.

Other heroes

1. Petrovich- former serf Gregory, now a tailor. Bashmachkin turns to him for help. Likes to drink, has a wife. Respects old customs.
2. Significant person- a person who has recently gained weight in society. Behaves arrogantly in order to look even more significant.

Meeting the quiet, modest Akaki Akakievich

The titular adviser had no luck when choosing a name on the day he was born; all the names were strange. No matter how hard the mother tried to find the right one for her son in the Saints, it didn’t work out. Then they decided to name him in honor of his father - Akakiy. Even then it became clear that he would be a titular adviser.

Bashmachkin rented an apartment in a poor area of ​​St. Petersburg because he could not afford more with his salary. He led a modest life, he had no friends, no family. Work occupied the main place in his life. And on it, Akakiy Akakievich could not distinguish himself in any way. His colleagues laughed at him, and he, being a very modest and quiet man, could not answer them, only quietly asked when they would stop offending him. But Bashmachkin loved his work very much.

Even at home, he was busy with work - he carefully copied something, lovingly treated every letter. As he fell asleep, he continued to think about his papers. But when he was given a more difficult task - to correct the shortcomings in the documents himself, poor Akaki Akakievich did not succeed. He asked not to be given such work. From then on, he did only rewriting.

The need for a new overcoat

Bashmachkin always wore old clothes, with patches, and shabby. He had the same overcoat. And he wouldn’t even think about buying a new one if it weren’t for the severe cold. He had to go to Petrovich, a former serf and now a tailor. And Grigory said terrible news for Akaki - the old overcoat cannot be repaired, you need to buy a new one. And he asked for a very large sum for Akaki Akakievich. Poor Bashmachkin thought all the way what to do.

He knew that the tailor was a drinker and decided to come to him when he was in a suitable state. Akaki Akakievich buys him alcohol and persuades him to make him a new overcoat for 80 rubles. The adviser had half the amount: thanks to his savings, he managed to save from his salary. And in order to save for the rest, I decided to live even more modestly.

Celebration in honor of the overcoat

Akaki Akakievich had to save a lot in order to save the required amount. But he was encouraged by the thought of a new overcoat and he often went to the tailor and got advice on tailoring. Finally, she was ready, and Bashmachkin, happy, went to work. Such simple thing how the new overcoat became the most significant event in his life. His colleagues appreciated his new look and said that he now looked much more respectable. Embarrassed by the praise, Akaki Akakievich was very pleased with the purchase.

He was offered to put his name in honor of this event. This put the adviser in a difficult position - he had no money. But he was rescued by a significant person who was organizing a holiday in honor of his name day, to which Akaki Akakievich was invited. At the festival, at first everyone continued to discuss the overcoat, but after that everyone went about their business. For the first time in his life, Bashmachkin allowed himself to relax and rest. But he still left before everyone else, inspired by his new position and overcoat.

Loss of an overcoat and mysterious events associated with it

But on the way home, two people attacked the adviser and took away his new clothes. Akaki Akakievich was shocked and the next day he went to the police to write a statement. But they didn’t listen to him and the poor adviser left with nothing. They laughed at him at work, but he was found a kind person, who felt sorry for him. He advised me to contact a significant person.

Bashmachkin went to the boss, but he yelled at the poor man and did not help him. So, the adviser had to wear an old overcoat. Due to severe frosts, Akaki Akakievich fell ill and died. They found out about his death a few days later, when they came to him from work to find out why he was gone. Nobody grieved for him.

But strange things began to happen. They said that late in the evening a ghost appears and takes away the overcoat of all passers-by. Everyone was sure that it was Akaki Akakievich. One day, a significant person went on vacation and was attacked by a ghost and demanded to give up his overcoat. Since then, the significant person began to behave much kinder and more humble with his subordinates.

Test on the story The Overcoat