No Nose ? What a weird topic for a story. The narrator even goes through the trouble of putting himself into the piece and telling the audience that it’s all nonsense. I agree with him, but enjoyed this tale nonetheless.
What I got from this piece was something I also got from Kafka’s Metamorphosis: the theme of identity. Identity plays a huge part in both pieces and also relates back to the main character. In “The Nose,” Kovalev thinks of himself pretty well. After he loses his nose, the first thing he thinks about is how he will look to other people. Not about any health problems. Not if he will ever smell again. Not about if he will ever see his nose. Only his reputation! I was stunned like I was when Gregor only worried about his job after he found out he was a giant insect.
(This was my image of the nose, even though I’m sure it looked much nicer in the story)
Then, even after seeing his nose, he is too afraid to approach it because it is a higher class than him. Really? He’s so worried about his reputation that he hesitated to go get it back? Stupidity at its finest.
The nose even has a sense of identity. It actually becomes its own being and does well for itself in such a short amount of time: it not only fools its master but even becomes somewhat of a celebrity among the town. From nose, to rich person, to doctor, to celebrity, and then back to nose — now that’s talent.
I didn’t understand how or why the nose came back onto his face, let alone left it in the beginning. If I were that nose, I would have escaped again and would have become even more famous than before.
And another point. Why would Kovalev go back to the same barber that threw his nose in a river? Come on — use your head. I thought it was really funny how the barber’s wife started yelling at him about his drunkenness and careless when he finds the nose. How do those relate. And how and why did it appear in a loaf of bread? So many open ends to this book — I’m beginning to understand why the narrator himself said it was all nonsense.
I also made the same connection between Gregor and Kovalev. I do not understand how they can be so nonchalant about such a huge transformation. I mean really you just lost your nose, and you’re focusing on whether or not you will retain your place in society?
I’d be more concerned with the health aspects of losing such a fundamental part of my body.
I agree that the whole idea is pretty outrageous and ridiculous. I think that the stupidity of the characters adds to this ridiculous concept and its purpose is to show the obsession with social status that the characters possess.
I also drew a connection to Metamorphosis in my mood diary and also discussed how both protagonist’s had worries other than the direct problems they were experiencing. And to expand that, the family members of both protagonists weren’t at all confused either. For example, you mentioned about the barber shop’s wife and how she was angry at him, rather than questioning how a nose can possibly end up there which can be compared to Gregor’s family being disgusted but not questioning his transformation. I think it’s interesting that so many of us are picking up on that.
I made the same correlation too about how Gogol and Kafka both didn’t make a fuss about a character losing their identity. ALthough i agree it was peculiar that Kovalev first thought of how he would look and Gregor first thought of his job this makes me think more on Gregor. I thin turning into a cockroach is 1000% worse than losing a nose and yet he didn’t worry about his appearance..weird.
I also noticed that both Kafka and Gogol had the characters react apathetically to their transformations. While it seems silly at first, I think in “The Nose,” this has mostly to do with how society reacts to such odd social standards. For example, it’s sometimes seen as awkward to approach someone you don’t know, but why? As the characters’ actions seem odd to an outside observer, our social standards might also seem odd to someone who hasn’t lived in them long enough to consider them as norm.