Bizarre and Questionable
The Nose is even more bizarre and questionable than Metamorphosis.
My rant begins with the nose in freshly baked bread. How does the baker not notice this disturbing obstruction when kneading the dough? How does Kovaloff’s nose magically teleport away? Where is the wound? These events obviously defy logic, but of course this is a surreal work.
I was extremely involved in Ivan’s story after his discovery of the nose. His misfortunes remind me of the cliché that whenever one tries to do something important or shifty, there will always be obstacles. He goes to extended lengths and still fails to dispose of the nose in the end. My enjoyment was discontinued when Gogol suddenly cuts off the rest of Ivan’s story, just as he is confronted by the police.
When Kovaloff is introduced, I could not help but think of Voldemort. The facial feature without the nose just strikes out in a very powerful way. I can certainly understand why Kovaloff covers his face up. He must have felt conscious of his appearance and how people may treat him. Like Ivan, Kovaloff faces similar struggles as he consistently fails to find ways to repossess his nose. His struggles are also complemented with humorous troubles. The witnesses of the nose-less Kovaloff have very mild reactions. They do not shriek in terror and rather speaks to Kovaloff in a very tame way. The advertiser also has a funny moment when he offers snuff to Kovaloff, whose very loss inhibited him from doing so.
In addition to the strange events, the nose is very dreamlike. At first, it is inanimate and normal-sized, and then it morphs into this high status, human-sized nose and walks on the streets of the Grand Bazar. There is little description of how the nose looks from head to toe except that it has a life of its own. Then it is reverted back to normal when the police finds it and returns it to Nikaloff. Later, rumors are spread about the nose running through town. The story becomes increasingly peculiar and abstract.
I have no idea what the nose represents. I can’t find a coherent connection. The story may very well be a dream or represent Nikaloff’s loss of his “manhood” or status. All of which can be valid, but the absurdity of the story is what really sticks out in my head. Nevertheless, The Nose was a very interesting reading; I can’t wait to see the opera adaption.
I did not even think about surrealism until I read the introduction of your post. Like you, I was pretty disappointed with how Gogol switched the story from focusing heavily on Ivan to focusing on Kovaloff. I like how you keep mentioning things that I have not thought about before. You said that the people reacted very calmly to Kovaloff’s missing nose. That is somewhat strange…wouldn’t they at least give him a look or something, seeing how highly they value their social statuses? I also like your last picture because it is the first I have seen where the nose has a human body. Like you, I am looking forward to experiencing the opera.
I had to same image of Voldemort when I read about Kovaloff’s missing nose! His personality is totally different, which made me really uncomfortable but that was the only image I had. But now that I think about it, Voldemort’s nose isn’t completely flat like how it was described in The Nose but it’s close enough, huh?
Also, your thought about Nikaloff’s loss of his manhood as symbolized by his nose is insightful. This reminds me of a statement someone said in class yesterday during the group meaning about how the nose, in russian, literally did mean manhood. It’s amusing.
However, I did feel that the story was hard to decipher for the same reasons as you: the absurdity of it sticks to my mind.
I was disappointed as well when Gogol just stopped Ivan’s story. It was unexpected and I really want to know what happens to Ivan! I agree that that when the nose became human sized and walked around the streets was very dreamlike. I tried to imagine human features on the nose, plus how would it talk without a mouth?
I as well cannot wait to see the opera of The Nose. I would like to see how the actor that plays Kovaloff will not have a nose.
I had the same thought about the baker and the bread dough! It’s ridiculous that the baker wouldn’t have felt the nose in the dough while she was kneading it, and how DID Kovalov’s nose get there anyway? But then again, as you rightly pointed out, this is a surrealist work and not even Gogol knew the answers to most of the problems he posed. I like that you pointed out the shifting form of the nose and its vague descriptions–I found those descriptions confusing, but your view of it as “dreamlike” certainly would explain a lot! The opera is probably going to be really enlightening; it’s one thing to read a work, and quite another to see the work brought to life on stage.
I said the same thing about the poor baker. And then his wife yells at him for being a drunk ? WHat oes one thing have to do with another ? First thing that came to mind when I thought of Kovaloff without a nose was Voldemort (I think most of us did). Reputation was a big theme in this story so it was only right Ivan covered his face the whole time. He wouldn’t want anyone thinking less of him. ha ha.
I can totally sympathized with you on the point that whenever one tries to do something important or shifty, there will always be some obstacles. Say if we rush to finish something, we’d better be prepared. And yes, the way people are giving feedback to Kovaloff is absurd, just like Gregor finding out he is a bug but still worry about his job,