Gogol’s “The Nose” may be the weirdest and most intriguing piece of literature I have ever read. Not only does the plot revolve around a man losing his nose, but also the story manages to incorporate the underlying issues surrounding social standing during that time.
When I first began reading “The Nose”, I thought it would be a story about the barber and how he would get rid of the nose. I assumed the barber was a drunken nose thief, or even a crazy psychopath murderer (after all he somehow had someone’s nose, who knows if he secretly cut off other body parts or limbs). To my relief (and a bit disappointment), the story quickly shifts to the owner of the detached nose, Major Kovalyov. My first impression of Kovalyov was that he was strange for being so obsessed with appearances and social standing. As the story goes on, my initial impression of Kovalyov doesn’t change and in fact grows stronger. He’s weird and maybe even a bit crazy. He walks around with a hanker chief covering his missing nose, becomes sad and a bit angry when he can’t flirt with some young ladies or when he finds out his nose has become a higher rank official than him. His next logical solution is to make an ad about his missing nose, but he becomes upset when the printing people refuse to put an ad up for him. The story just becomes more random and eccentric, until Kovalyov finally wakes up with his nose attached to his face again. He goes back to how he was in the past, a man full of himself and his social rank. The whole situation is outrageous and strange.
I didn’t really enjoy the plot because it wasn’t coherent to me. Things that happened didn’t make sense and weren’t logical or relevant. However I found the message behind the plot to be interesting and powerful. Major Kovalyov’s obsession with rank and social status can be seen throughout the story. He was intimidated of people with higher rank and always strived to better his own rank. He looked down on people that he felt wasn’t of the same social standing.
I also didn’t like the ending because it felt empty and not fair. In my opinion, Kovalyov shouldn’t have gotten his nose back. He was a jerk. He took back his marriage proposal after getting his nose back (the poor girl he rejected was the true victim of the story). He was also extremely selfish and haughty. He deserved to be punished.
I agree with you in that the story was extremely random and strange and how Kovalyov shouldn’t have gotten his nose back. This just goes to show how some people can only care for their own wellbeing. Kovalyov being obsessed with his own status and looking down upon people who weren’t as “high” as him kind of reminded me of a scene in A Tale of Two Cities, where this Marquis runs over a lowly child and instead of showing regret, he simply curses the peasant. I feel like Kovalyov might have done the same thing if he came across someone with a lower rank than him.
We both feel the same in terms of the ending. Kovaloff should have not gotten his nose back. He did not deserve it at all! However, I feel like the plot was made illogical and incoherent on purpose. It creates this parallel with how the society is at that time. Like the plot, the people are not being logical with how much they value their social statuses. They focus and emphasize very strongly on how important they view power and wealth, which diminishes other aspects of society such as family. Even the official who refuses to help Kovaloff cares a lot about money. He eyeballs Kovaloff’s money and starts to count the total of the advertisement before Kovaloff has a chance to speak.
I completely agree with you on the intent of the story. Gogol’s decision to write, even symbolically about the mistreatment of the lower classes and women in particular during this time period in Russia is admirable to say the least. But, I feel his ending was genius. I believe what Gogol wanted to do was call attention to the social injustices he saw in his society. If he had punished the major, the story would have left the reader with a feeling of contentment and satisfaction. By restoring the major to a position of authority, Gogol irritates his reader and turns their head to the real world, where everyone in power acts like the “Major.”
I agree, I really disliked the ending. I felt like it was unfair, just like the ending for Metamorphosis. I don’t think Kovaloff deserved to have his nose back either and the fact is, he did not learn anything from his experience. He just resumed his past life as a pompous, flirtatious Major, which made me quite irritated.