Confusion. That’s what I felt while reading Nikolai Gogol’s The Nose. The story didn’t exactly follow a logical pattern. One moment there was a man who discovered a nose, a nose that he could hold in his hand. The next a man was frantically chasing his own nose, which for some inexplicable reason was human sized. I understood this obviously stood for something deeper and more meaningful then actually misplacing one’s nose.
We discussed in class how the short story reflected the emphasis of social standings. But as I was reading I was also considering how important physical appearance is to some. The story made me recollect a movie I once saw called Penelope. A girl is cursed with a pig nose from birth and could only break the curse by marrying a blue blood, one of high social status and/or wealth. The themes between the two are very similar. The Major also kept reffering to the difficulties he would have with women were he to not discover the whereabouts of his nose. Women who he continued to reference because of their high social status, as though this made losing his nose all the more tragic.
Similar to Kafka’s Metamorphosis, there was no previous explanation of how his nose was able to “run away” just as there was no logical explanation for Gregor’s transformation. Both protagonists were struck with these unfortunate events with no fair warning. However, the Major was able to take action and attempted to solve his dilemma. Which is exactly what losing his nose meant to him, it acted as a dilemma. I wondered about the physical implications losing his nose had on his breathing. I imagined breathing only through my mouth and become exhausted and irritated just thinking about all the effort and consciousness involved in doing so.
I found the entire short story comical. How could you not? There’s a walking talking nose dressed in human garments galavanting about.
I agree with your initial feeling of confusion. I feel everyone was confused in the beginning due to the seemingly random events. I have actually grown to enjoy this approach by an author through both The Nose and Metamorphosis, because when you figure out the point, everything comes together and makes sense. In fact the comical events seem trivial because I can apply the deeper meaning to my own life.
Additionally, I am wondering if the producer/director of Penelope was inspired by the story of The Nose. They seem extremely similar. Especially due to the fact that the focus of that movie is also on a nose.
Lastly, after reading your comment I was able to see more comparisons between Metamorphosis and The Nose which I did not realized before.
I liked the comparison you made to Kafka’s Metamorphosis. I actually didn’t see the contrast between Gregor and Kovaloff; how one did something about his his situation and the other did not, until you mentioned it. I remember being angry at Gregor for not doing anything about his situation, albeit his limited options, and for not thinking of himself. While Kovaloff was near the complete opposite to the point of being conceited I preferred his reaction to Gregor’s.
The lack of logic in the story-without considering the hidden meaning- confused me and I wouldn’t ever go looking for books such as these but the use of surrealism and extensive abstractness is impressive I’ll admit.