Just like Metamorphosis, I knew that “The Nose” would not be a typical read. Unfortunately, the first image that came to my mind was a little cartoon of a nose running away. At first I was angry that my thoughts were so juvenile and silly, but after reading on in the story they did not seem so far fetched. I did not feel that it was strange to take the story, sort of as a joke. How does one take a bunch of policemen and townspeople beating a life-size nose to its normal size seriously? These thoughts left a humorous tone lingering in my mind throughout the reading.
“ClipArtOf.” Cartoon. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Okulich-Kazarin, Dmitry. Nose. N.d. Moscow, Russian Federation.
After reading “The Nose” I read an analysis that classified Ivan’s wish to get rid of the nose as a “castration desire,” often a wish of transsexuals. Modern day transsexuals who chose to undergo gender transformation, specifically to become an anatomical female, experienced this desire in many cases. After reading the libretto and analysis, I could not help but entertain the thought of Ivan having this underlying desire.
Volcano, Del LaGrace. Mo B Dick, Half & Half. 1998. Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, New York City.
I was upset for Ivan when his wife was yelling at him to get rid of the nose. He did not ask for the burden of finding and riding of a nose. Ivan’s wife reminds me of the Russian woman in the movie “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.” She gives me the impression of being angry, unladylike, and gruesome. When characterizing the people in the short story, I see the wife as a distraction and of little importance, Ivan as a scrawny, poor barber, and Kovalyov as a pompous man. These characterizations are all parallel to the standing of these people in society considering “The Nose” is actually a satire of the Russian class structure.
Russian Woman in “Dodgeball” Digital image. Http://ridelifebmx.com/category/broken-toilet/. N.p., n.d. Web.
I love how you started your mood diary because I actually imagined something very similar except I imagined a miniature nose running around. I agree that taking the story seriously is quite difficult because it’s hard to interpret the author’s hidden message. Seeing the picture of a nose exiting the carriage helped me better understand and imagine what Kovaloff was experiencing in the scene in the story.
The interpretation of Ivan and transsexuals is another hidden message that I didn’t get out of the reading and seemed very random. I liked your description of the characters because it plays well with the intentional theme of Russian social structure. However, I imagined Kovaloff as more of a dependent and insecure type of guy.