Before reading The Nose by Gogol, I had no idea what to expect. In my mind, I imagined a sophisticated story unraveling because I knew we were going to see it in the Opera. As I started The Nose and read that the nose was not only found in a piece of food, but that it was walking and acting on its own, all I could picture was this:
It sounded silly at first, but once the story got more in-depth, I became more intrigued and wanted to understand more about what the nose represented. Reading about how Major Kovalyov struggled to adjust to the situation and trying to find a way to have his nose return to his face in order to be presentable, I saw this type of reaction in my mind:
The Major even went as far to try to have his dilemma posted in the local news, showing how desperate he was to return to his normal appearance. If I woke up one morning with a body part missing, I would have reacted in the same way. It all seems like a strange dream, which is implied at the end of the story. The Major knew he would stand out without a nose, which is a true nightmare for him. This image came to mind when I thought about how he felt in a large crowd going about everyday business:
He felt like the outcast and that everyone would stop and stare at him if he continued to live without a nose because that would be abnormal and strange. Even though most people would think that the most abnormal part of the story is that the nose takes a life of its own, I thought the most bizarre part was that a man was able to function without a nose. It all seemed so out of place and weird that I had to continue reading to find out what would happen to the Major and his nose.
I think it’s very interesting that you see the most bizarre part of this crazy story as the fact that Kovaloff was able to function without a nose. I feel that, although it’s still crazy, there are people out there who probably have severe disorders that function without their noses working properly. For me at least, the weirdest part of this story was the nose having a life of its own. Regardless, the whole idea of this story is definitely like a strange dream, just like you said. I enjoyed your pictures, especially the first one, because that’s exactly how I pictured the nose to look.
Like you, I also spent a large part of the story focusing on the trivial details such as “that a man was able to function without a nose.” It wasn’t until about half way through that I realized there must be something more to this that I’m missing. After I continued to read with that mind-set, I began to notice some of the real messages that Gogol was trying to convey through his writing. As we discussed this week, some of these messages included, social status, self-confidence and embarrassment.
I really enjoyed the pictures that you chose to show your feelings. I thought they did a great job of illustrating your points.
I also wonder about the dream-like stream of the story. I wonder if the author meant the events (although obviously metaphorical) to be literal or simply a dream. It’s funny how you mentioned that the main focus of the readers is the nose taking a life of its own rather then what it would mean for someones nose to be gone. I mentioned in my blog how I would been irritated at my conscious effort to breath through my mouth rather than my nose. I agree with your picture of the fish, the Major fears the isolation that would result from his physical defect above all.
How did the major breath without the nose? That is a point I didn’t think about neither. It sounds funny to me because it becomes so hard to breath when I hold my own nose that without it I think I would pass out from the lack of oxygen. I think there is a very important reason Gogol added the advertising section in his story because many of us would also go through that path and that is what makes this story hit so close to home. We all need something that we believe represents us, and without it we feel like we’re nothing. A lot of times those things are unnecessary, unneeded, or plainly superstition, but yet we give them so much power. I think Gogol wanted us, as readers, to reconsider what we think makes us, us, so that we could improve our lives in case that thing is holding us back.