Gogol’s “The Nose” is about a nose in only the most literal sense. While I was reading, I didn’t immediately get the overarching symbolism that the nose represented throughout the novella. The nose isn’t a nose, or at least it doesn’t have to be. It is any arbitrary thing that determines what is ‘high class’ in society.
The entire work is clearly an aspersion on social class. In Russia at the time it was published, in the mid 19th century, achieving success or even comfort in life outside of the upper class was hugely challenging. Gogol’s point was that this success is undeserved. It is not someone’s actions that determine if they are a member of the upper class but their wealth and clothes and demeanor.
To me this disdain for the class system was most obvious during Kovaliov’s conversation with the nose. Kovaliov, whose entire self-worth is based upon his class status, is astounded that the nose had a higher-ranking position than his own.
Let’s look at this for a second. A man sees his own nose walking around and wearing clothes, but what worries him is that the nose has the better job… Clearly Gogol didn’t have any measurable love for social climbers.
But this scene evokes a deeper theme; a deeper reflection on the way class is ingrained into the roots of our society. “The Nose” should make us question what determines if someone is worthy of being in the ‘upper class:’ because if a nose can achieve this higher class ranking then the reasons must be shallow. In fact, at the end of the story when Kovaliov is informed that his nose was found the policeman made a point of saying that if he hadn’t been wearing glasses he would have also mistaken the nose for a gentleman. This comment is sort of a slap to the face for anyone who values the superficial determinants of class- if you put on a nice suit and an arrogant attitude anyone can pass for an official.
The fact that it is Kovaliov’s nose symbolizing this theme is insubstantial. The nose may be poetically meaningful, something to do with the Russian word nos (I don’t know I don’t speak Russian), but any object could have sufficed to portray Gogol’s disdain of the class structure. The scene between Kovaliov and his nose exemplifies this. Any object that is dressed and primped and practiced can deserve the rewards exclusively given to the upper class.
