My initial reaction to The Nose by Gogol was confusion. What was going on? Why are these absurd and impossible events happening? My confusion soon turned to apprehension however when it seemed that there would be no forthcoming explanation for any one of a string of improbable occurrences. So many questions, so few answers; even after finding out what Gogol was trying to say in his short story.
Why would the thought that the police would arrest him for the unlawful possession of a nose even enter Ivan’s head? I’d be more worried for the poor fellow who was missing a nose. Was it even likely that the police would immediately arrest him? Surely such an absurd event deserves an investigation at the least. But no, apparently the unlawful possession of body parts is common enough in Ivan’s world that his worries are not unfounded.
The reaction of the wife confused me. I did not see a relation to social status-the theme-in her dramatic reaction to the discovery of the nose. In addition, why did she immediately take to blaming him for the appearance of a nose? She was also extremely willing to report him to the authorities. Does she have good reason to suspect him of dismembering his customers? Or was she simply eager to berate her husband at every opportunity?
Their relationship kind of reminded me of Investigation Discovery’s show Deadly Women. Of course, Prasskovna didn’t raise a hand against her husband or schemed to have him killed so this may be a far leap but, with such a volatile personality I’d say the possibilities are in her favor.
When I read up to the part where Kavoloff awakes and discovers that his nose was gone a few things popped into my head; how difficult is it for him to breath and talk at the same time, the poor man can no longer smell his food and in effect can no longer taste, Voldemort dressed as a 19th century government official.
Initially, I didn’t understand Kavoloff’s hesitance towards approaching his nose but after I found out that this was a play on reverence towards social status it made sense. But this doesn’t explain why other people aren’t surprised at seeing a nose walking in the streets. It’s only after reports come out that people start looking for it. Do they not have eyes to see for themselves a walking, talking, human-sized nose in the streets? And why isn’t the official surprised at seeing a man without a nose? He was doubtful upon hearing Kavoloff’s predicament but after seeing it for himself and to have such a nonchalant response towards it? Amazing.
Overall, after doing some research and finding out the underlying themes in this short story; castration anxiety, social status, I must say it’s quite clever how he chose to talk about these topics in such a surreal manner but it’s not a story I’d find myself reading in my spare time due to the extreme abstractness.
I also shared in your sense of confusion while reading The Nose. I too asked questions about the events of the story as they happened and was also disappointed when few of them were answered. I like your comparison to Lord Voldemort, a reference that was common for an overwhelming number of people. It just goes to show what our generation grew up reading and what is a shared experience in our literary wisdom. You add that initially you were confused but learning that the story was a metaphor for social status made it clearer for you to understand, but unfortunately for me, it didn’t help too much. Although I started to see the ‘some’ references to ranks and social status, I was not able to connect a lot of the scenes to this theme; a dilemma you touched upon with the disconnect between the bread lady and her husband scene. This “extreme abstractness” that you classify as being the defining element of the story may have been why you and I, and I’m sure others, were unable to fully comprehend this story.