While reading The Nose by Gogol, I had several thoughts running through my head. Initially, I was extremely confused as to what was happening. I mean honestly, how do you not make a bigger deal of finding a nose in your loaf of bread? I also found it extremely weird how the wife automatically assumed that Ivan Yakovlevich cut off the nose of Major Kovalyov. I mean, there has to be some reason why she believes that. Has he done something similarly cruel before? Has he cut his customers before? Or is he just an outright violent person. This might be the logical reason, since according to the story the barber likes to drink quite a bit.
While reading, I also found it interesting that the nose was dressed up as a councilor. The first thing that occurred to me was, HOW DID THE NOSE GET LEGS, and HOW DID IT GROW TO THAT SIZE? It all seems so surreal, and I guess that that’s just Gogol doing his job right. But what really interested me was the symbolism behind the nose. Is it lost hopes and dreams? Or does it mean something else?
People get very offended at comments about noses. At least, most people do. One very offensive comment is “Your nose is big, are you Jewish”. Yes, because a nose characterizes a person right away. According to this misconception, if you are an atheist, or Buddhist, or Christian, or Muslim, or a member of any other religion, you CANNOT have a big nose.
But really, we start this sort of defensiveness at a very young age.
The “I’ve got your nose” game gets annoying very quickly. I mean seriously, WHAT do you mean you have my nose?! First off, it’s MY nose, not yours, so give it back. Secondly, WHY would you even WANT my nose to begin with? And lastly, My nose is CLEARLY still on my face, therefore your argument is invalid.
But this defensiveness over our noses is exactly why the story created by Gogol is so symbolic. By losing his nose, Kovalyov loses an integral part of himself- his identity. He loses his humanity, and therefore his niche. Everyone has a reason to keep going everyday, and if one loses the very object of desire, he loses his driving force altogether.
While losing one’s nose is completely unrealistic, losing an aspect of your life that makes you who you are is very much a part of reality, and it has happened to countless of people. It is difficult to imagine what it would be like without a nose, but it isn’t so difficult to imagine losing our lucky talisman for example. Without it, we believe that we are no longer immune to the world’s hardships, and everything becomes immensely more difficult to accomplish. While brushing your teeth you end up missing your mouth and smearing toothpaste all over your face; while putting on your shoes you trip and fall; you pour orange juice into your cereal, and you accidentally throw out the knife instead of the wrapper that you are holding in your other hand. People are convinced that they need certain things in life without which they cannot function, and as a result they cling to those objects like children clinging to their mothers’ skirts.
Why? Well no one nose really. (See what I did there?)
Actually though, it is due to a psychological attachment to an object or a ritual that provides people with comfort. What’s your comfort zone?
Is it food? A shower? Tea? Coffee? A blanket? A necklace or bracelet or ring or an earring? Or is it as simple as a song? A memory or a picture? Regardless of what it is- it is something that keeps you going. Something that with one look, or touch, or thought can motivate you to get up and keep moving despite how hard the situation may seem. And perhaps you have several things that work together to keep you going.
But whatever it may be, however big or small, or misshapen, or discolored your “nose” may be, it IS important. It IS yours. And it IS a part of who you are- and that is something to be proud of.
I love the insight that you provided in this post! Your joke made me laugh too! I never thought of Kovaloff’s nose as something else that is important in my life, and plays a similar role. Very interesting.
I agree that it stroke me a little odd that Ivan’s wife accused Ivan of committing a terrible act, and we as the audience will never know who actually did it and what happened to Ivan after he came into contact with the police.
Wow. Your connection between the loss of Kovalov’s nose symbolizing the loss of his identity and the “I’ve got your nose” game was brilliant. Also, your pun was fabulous–you spoke to my inner comedienne.
On a more serious note, you made a very good point about the stereotypes people tend to attribute to noses, and it’s actually something I had been thinking about while I was reading also. That said, I also really liked how you expanded the loss of a nose to the loss of things that are also part of us, and brought the story down to a realistic level that we can all connect with.
I like what you’re saying about noses and how important or prevalent or whatever they are to society. There are many assumptions made about noses and what’s nice to have, what’s not. Like your post goes to show, it’s actually very funny what society prioritizes and glorifies.
I also thought that Ivan’s wife was way too quick to accuse him of such a crime, but it could be because Ivan is supposedly a lowly drunk who lost his family name. I also really liked how you connected the story to losing an important aspect of one’s life, and it is true, we all have something we are attached to.