The Nose was just another in what seems to be a series of unorthodox (yet oddly interesting) stories. At face value it seems, as Gogol himself says, ridiculous and pointless. Yet there is a little something more behind this seemingly senseless story, in this case relating to the exaggerated importance of social status in Russia at the time. When something seems crazy and weird on the outside, it’s time to delve into the deeper meanings beneath and stop judging a book (or opera) by its cover.

Needless to say, my first connection was on a much more ordinary scale. The scene where Ivan (the barber) discovers Kovalev’s nose in his bread reminded me of when my mom used to try to trick me into eating vegetables by hiding them in other foods I liked. The shock Ivan felt when he went to eat something delicious, only to find an unpleasant surprise within, was something I related to. This reminder led me to a feeling of disgust as I read that part.

At the end of the short story version of the Nose, Gogol adds an ironic sort of statement about how confusing and meaningless his story is at its core. He asks rhetorical questions that the text infuriatingly never answers, made even more infuriating by the fact that he was the one that could have provided  these answers, being the author and all. Gogol says that the story does no benefit or harm to the state, bringing its entire purpose into question. This reminded me of Mark Twain’s intro to Huckleberry Finn, in which he says that anybody who tries to read meaning into the story will be prosecuted and/or shot; the irony in both these disclaimers is that the stories do have a larger meaning that makes a deeper comment on society- those commentaries are the reason the works were even written. I wonder if it’s an author thing where they’re trying to be funny, or if they’re actually trying to convince the judgmental members of their particular societies that there is no point, conscious or otherwise, behind the text. Either way, though it’s frustrating to have to think of these questions analytically rather than directly being told “This is the point of it all,” there is a sense of freedom that comes from the process of interpretation. Because the Nose is so bizarre, I felt as if I could see it from any correspondingly bizarre angle I wanted to. I could relate the discovery of the nose in a piece of bread to a tricky parenting skill, and that would be as acceptable as another in-depth revelation someone took from the same scene.

I was a little more satisfied with the reaction of Kovalev to the fact that he had no nose – unlike Gregor, he freaked out and was very proactive in trying to change his situation. It was a bit more interesting of a read because of the fact that there was action going on, a quest to get his devious nose back. Kovalev was more of a human in his thoughts, actions, and reactions.

I caught onto the social commentary right away, especially when Nevsky Avenue was mentioned. I previously read another piece by Gogol (Nevsky Prospekt) about this particular street; it is a place where people’s clothes, badges, choice of which time to walk on the street, and even their mustaches reflect something about the social status of the person to whom these things belong. In that story, Gogol likens the street to the devil, calling it an evil place. Therefore, as I read The Nose I was actively looking for some sort of similar anti-societal message between the lines, and that contributed a lot to my interpretations of various events. For example, it is funny that as the nose travels, it is not noticed as a nonhuman by anybody but Kovalev, simply because all the people in the city pay attention to is someone’s dress and badges of honor that denote ranking.

As to not get too serious, the fact that Ivan thought he cut off Kovalov’s nose by accident reminded me of Sweeney Todd. I’ve never even seen it, I only know the concept because of its popularity, but regardless, that image was something straight out of a creepy Tim Burton movie.