Mood Diary: The Nose

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While reading The Nose, I was surprised at how many connections I was making to Metamorphosis. I kept remembering the reactions of both Gregor and his family when they discovered he turned into a giant bug and how nonchalant they were about it. Although they were horrified, they weren’t too confused as to how this could even be possible. Likewise, when Kovaloff wakes up one morning without a nose, his biggest concern is how he’ll be able to find a woman to marry with his deformed face, just like Gregor’s concern was how to get to work with his transformed body.

Another work that The Nose reminded me of is a novel I read last year, Notes From  Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It is also set in Russia and has largely to do with the theme of class. The Underground man is an inactive member of society and is often forgotten about, choosing to live his life alone without any companions. He truly believes he is invisible because of his class. So I thought it was interesting that two stories with the same theme and setting were also written from such different perspectives.

The setting played a huge part in the short story and personally brought back childhood memories of visiting my grandparents in Ukraine. I remember the markets and the “babushkas” and the cobblestone streets that are typical of Europe. When I picture Kovaloff running around the city I picture his surroundings to be much like what I envision when I think back on my time in Ukraine, with busy streets and beautiful, grand churches that take up entire streets. These images are the ones that came to me and stayed throughout the entire read.

Mood Diary for The Nose

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So lost and confused.

In the libretto of The Nose, there was a scene where the police and other civilians beat up the Nose, and then it suddenly turned back to an actual nose (Act 3, Scene 7), I was wondering: How did that happen?! Magic?? Why did the nose change form at that moment? What is the significance?

Then there is another magical moment when Kovaloff/Kovalev woke up again to find his nose in its rightful place after the doctor said that there was no hope of attaching the nose back onto his face. MAGIC. Or was it a life lesson that Kovaloff should stop being so presumptuous because of his high status? Well, he did not seem to learn his lesson because in the end when he got a shave from the barber again Kovaloff commented on the smell of his hands.

It was nice to see Kovaloff at the mercy of the advertisement agency and the doctor when he was desperate to find his nose. This part of the short story was when I had an idea that Gogol was criticizing how human behavior changes when people’s situations alter. Before Kovaloff lost his nose, he was very proud of his position and treated others below him with disrespect. After he realized he no longer had a nose, he was willing to entreat others for help as if he was beggar on the street. When the Clerk of the advertisement agency mocked the noseless Kovaloff by offering him snuff, and when the doctor said that there was no hope of reattaching his nose, I was like: 

Serves you right!

Then that led me to another stream of thought: the nose was like his ticket to high rank. Without his nose, even the lowly made fun of him. Without his nose, he was not able to see his ladies from many houses. His nose is his status.

Another connection I would like to make: The Nose reminds me very much of the movie “Beastly”. The movie is an interpretation of Beauty and the Beast, and it is about a rich, arrogant boy who was turned physically unappealing by a witch. When that transformation took place to the boy, his father chose to abandon the boy because he was running for mayor (or something like that) and he did not want the boy’s change to affect his campaign. This situation parallels with when Kovaloff tried to speak with the Nose, only to find that the Nose is better off without him. So when I was thinking about this: Kovaloff = Boy and Nose = Boy’s father

The Nose Mood Diary

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“The Nose”, By Nikolai Gogol is a story that brings various interesting thoughts and images to my mind. Surprisingly, the first thing that came to my mind when I reflect on the story is my encounter with a policeman. Not only did the policeman not do justice in my eyes, he abused his power and displayed his authority over me. I was driving 41 MPH on a 35, about a month after I got my license. I saw the police lights and I deservingly got pulled over. When he came to my car he was very obnoxious. I guess he felt powerful over a newly driving 17 year old. He came back with not one, but two tickets. The first one I deserved for speeding (I guess. Is 41 in a 35 really that bad???), but the second one was totally made up. It was for not putting on a blinker (which I made sure to do when I pulled over), and when I asked him why he gave me it to me, he replied “because there is nothing you can do about it, go fight it in court.” I was shocked by that response, but in fact I was able to do absolutely nothing about. I had to pay both tickets and was stuck with points on my license. He definitely let his ego and social status get to him, and I had to suffer for it. mean_cop

The next thing I though about was the approach Gogol took to prove his point. I would understand if the man felt so embarrassed and refused to go outside, but the fact that the nose took on so many different characters confused me a bit. Additionally, why would he be afraid to speak to a high official looking like this:8daf1d8f92887b51e11407d09c5ca7d1

I find it quite comical. I guess Kovaloff was too consumed with the symbols of status. It seems like even if there were a baby dressed up in that same uniform he would be scared to approach it, strictly because of its attire.

Another funny thing that came to mind and is worth mentioning is the fact that while I was reading some parts, the functions of my olfactory system seemed to be inactive. I then realized this is a normal occurrence with many of my senses. Like when your mouth waters when your look at these:

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Or kind of like when you are watching someone hold their breath underwater, and you start to feel your breath begin to shorten, for example in this video.

I found this work by Gogol to be very intriguing. It was a great read with a great story line that kept me engaged. Gogol found a way to portray his point in a humorous, yet intellectual way. I found this story to be very different than Metamorphosis because of the comedy, compared to the dreariness and sadness of  the Samsa family. I was not able to read the nose without cracking a smile compared to my straight face throughout the whole Metamorphosis novel. The one thing they did have in common was the confusion in the beginning of the book. They both start out with a seemingly disoriented point that ends up coming together to prove a very relevant issue.

The Nose Diary,

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Gogol’s “The Nose” may be the weirdest and most intriguing piece of literature I have ever read. Not only does the plot revolve around a man losing his nose, but also the story manages to incorporate the underlying issues surrounding social standing during that time.

nose

When I first began reading “The Nose”, I thought it would be a story about the barber and how he would get rid of the nose. I assumed the barber was a drunken nose thief, or even a crazy psychopath murderer (after all he somehow had someone’s nose, who knows if he secretly cut off other body parts or limbs). To my relief (and a bit disappointment), the story quickly shifts to the owner of the detached nose, Major Kovalyov. My first impression of Kovalyov was that he was strange for being so obsessed with appearances and social standing. As the story goes on, my initial impression of Kovalyov doesn’t change and in fact grows stronger. He’s weird and maybe even a bit crazy. He walks around with a hanker chief covering his missing nose, becomes sad and a bit angry when he can’t flirt with some young ladies or when he finds out his nose has become a higher rank official than him. His next logical solution is to make an ad about his missing nose, but he becomes upset when the printing people refuse to put an ad up for him. The story just becomes more random and eccentric, until Kovalyov finally wakes up with his nose attached to his face again. He goes back to how he was in the past, a man full of himself and his social rank.  The whole situation is outrageous and strange.

I didn’t really enjoy the plot because it wasn’t coherent to me. Things that happened didn’t make sense and weren’t logical or relevant. However I found the message behind the plot to be interesting and powerful. Major Kovalyov’s obsession with rank and social status can be seen throughout the story. He was intimidated of people with higher rank and always strived to better his own rank. He looked down on people that he felt wasn’t of the same social standing.

I also didn’t like the ending because it felt empty and not fair. In my opinion, Kovalyov shouldn’t have gotten his nose back. He was a jerk. He took back his marriage proposal after getting his nose back (the poor girl he rejected was the true victim of the story). He was also extremely selfish and haughty. He deserved to be punished.

Mood Diary: “The Nose”

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When I read “The Nose” by Nikolai Gogol, the first thing that came to my mind was Billy from “The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.” To me the best visual representation of Kovaloff without his nose was Billy. In the episode, “Wild Parts”, Billy loses his nose and proceeds to cry and whine about his missing nose. This is very similar to Kovaloff because both characters are unhappy with their loss and attempt to retrieve what they had lost in a sloppy fashion.

 

I understood the plot of “The Nose”, but I didn’t understand the purpose of the story. I was positive that there is more to the story than just about a man who lost and found his nose. It was an irritating feeling.

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Thankfully, we went over the story in class and I now know it was about social class. “The Nose” references social class by animating Kovaloff’s nose and bestowing it a higher rank than Kovaloff. His nose is given the ability of speech and movement. I had an extremely difficult time visualizing what a nose would sound like and look like in a uniform. I had a vague feeling that it would move and make sounds somewhat similar to this youtube video.

Kovaloff’s nose in the story is able to produce human sounds and words, but in my mind noses cannot talk. Hence the muffled noises in the video was what I was able to imagine. In the libretto version I see the actor of the nose in a large nose costume.

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When Kovaloff sees his nose, he is easily distracted by a beautiful lady. I don’t understand why he would divert his attention away from his precious nose. His actions don’t make sense because he prioritizes his nose, but the sight of a woman distracts him. The worse part is that the distraction is not justified because he cannot approach her without a nose. Kovaloff cares far too much about his social status to ruin his image and approach her. He should have concentrated all of his attention on regaining his nose, but instead he is pointlessly distracted.

The story at first was strange and I disliked it because I could not understand the meaning behind it. But after I was told it represented social class. I was able to connect the dots between the characters and their actions. I’m sure I would have enjoyed the story more if I had an idea of its purpose while I was reading it.

 

 

Citations

“Wild Parts.” The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Cartoon Network. Atlanta. 3 Jun. 2005. Television.

Oasis1822. “Talking nose.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 24 Mar. 2008. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.

ZYRTEC. 19 Mar.  2010. Photograph. Geppetto Studios, Inc. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.

Link to annoyed face:

http://media.photobucket.com/user/4chanRus/media/Awesome%20Face/1213137359305.jpg.html?filters[term]=annoyed%20face&filters[primary]=images&filters[secondary]=videos&sort=1&o=13

My “Nose” Smells a Mood Diary

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I admit that Gogol’s “The Nose” is an intriguing tale that definitely captivated my attention throughout the course of the story. After all, it’s about a man who is missing his nose. But after reading the short story, I honestly didn’t know what to think. Was I supposed to read the story in its literal sense? Or was there some profound meaning behind it that I had missed?

Some of my confusion can also be attributed to the fact that Gogol writes about a nose walking around the streets of St. Petersburg…in uniform. I wasn’t sure if the “nose” mentioned was a euphemism or was just the result of a mistranslation and that the “nose” was actually a secret word in Russian. But only when Major Kovaloff starts speaking with the so-called “nose” and tells it that it is in fact, his very own nose, did I finally realize that there was a nose on the loose…..

So there was actually a thing shaped like a giant nose walking around with legs and wearing “a hat with a plume in it and a gold-embroidered uniform?” What…?

However, upon further reading and contemplation, it’s (kind of) clear that “The Nose” is a satirical story. Everything is exaggerated and the events that take place are utterly farfetched: a barber finds a nose in his loaf of bread and a man wakes up without one on his face. Then, the story follows Kovaloff, his attempts to find his nose and his reactions to its absence. It’s interesting to see how highly he regards himself but fails to demonstrate his rank. Without his nose, Kovaloff lacks confidence and authority since even an advertisement official is able to poke fun at him. Furthermore, Kovaloff contemplates accepting a hand in marriage that he had previously rejected because he thought that he probably won’t be able to get a better offer due to his bizarre appearance. In other words, Kovaloff loses his manly swagger…just because his nose slipped under him (pun!).

In a very interesting way, Gogol shows just how delicate one’s ego and pride can be.

 

this is disturbing…

 

The Nose Mood Diary

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A jumble of my thoughts on Gogol’s The Nose:

  • When I read through Gogol’s The Nose, I couldn’t help but constantly grimace at the fact that Kovalyov had a smooth patch of skin where his nose was. Didn’t it hurt?
  • I smirked when the nose had a higher rank than Kovalyov, since I thought it was rather comical that a body part would have higher status than the actual person.
  • When I learned that the nose was human size, my mind immediately went to this:

  • The fact that the question of why the nose fell off and why it couldn’t be re-attached just makes me more curious. The reason for leaving a solid explanation out was most likely so the audience could make their own assumptions, but I like having closure and would actually want to have a concrete interpretation from the author.
  • Despite how strange yet humorous this story was, I couldn’t really bring myself to like it. The story was too unrealistic for me (I like fiction and fantasy, but I’m not really into this kind of fiction). However, I will have to give Kovalyov credit for having a normal reaction to the loss of his nose compared to Gregor who had a one-track mind even after being turned into a bug.
  • When I read both the libretto and short story, I never thought how the nose and the entire story could represent social status. It’s intriguing how reading between the lines can make a whole different meaning come to life.

Mood Diary of The Nose by Gogol

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The Nose was a very interesting piece by Gogol, written in the 1800s.  At the end of all of this, I was not only intrigued but extremely confused.  The text itself was easy to read, but the concepts were hard to understand, likely because we can’t imagine finding a nose in our bread in the morning.

This was one of the parts that I found really absurd.  Why wasn’t the barber scared or horrified that he found a nose?  If I found any body part in my breakfast, I would probably throw up and then scream.  There also wasn’t much description to the nose.  Was it a large nose?  How were the nostrils?  We don’t know.  Why wasn’t his wife scared too?  She just went to yelling at him!  I found that funny, but still absurd.  Wouldn’t she be scared?  Wouldn’t she faint?  I don’t know!  Also, how did he know that nose belonged to the Collegiate Assessor?

(Source: http://laseoulguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Confused.jpg)

I was also confused about how the nose looked.  Is this nose large?  If he’s not, how can he make headlines?  I don’t think I imagined him with legs and arms.  I saw him as simply a nose.  I imagined him bouncing around everywhere he went.  Example below.

Source: http://www.clker.com/cliparts/S/C/0/s/f/x/nose-hi.png

I didn’t think it had eyes, hands, legs, or anything at all.  He was just a nose.  I noticed I’ve been using “he” to describe the nose the whole time.  Is the nose really a “he” or an “it”?  This really confused me too.

However, I was still really interested in this story.  I didn’t realize the nose was a symbol of status until our get-together in the Skylight Room.  It makes a lot more sense now.  I found it hilarious, yet ridiculous that Kovalev couldn’t confront his own nose because the nose was of a higher status than he was.  It just illustrates the obsessiveness of status in that society.  Of all body parts, it was a nose.  This is interesting because the nose is the center of your face.  You need it, yet you cannot approach your OWN nose.

Going to the part where the part where the nose was supposed to be, do you think he looked like Voldemort?  Even though the surface was as flat as a pancake, how did he breathe?  He probably looked like Voldemort.

Source: http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11/118136/2216490-voldemort01.jpg

Overall, I enjoyed the story.  It was a bit weird for me, but I thought it was a very interesting and articulate way to describe status in society.

Janice Fong

Mood Diary 2: The Nose

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Though Gogol’s The Nose is quite tragic about a man who loses his nose, I find this very comical. I cannot help but compare his work to Kafka’s Metamorphosis. When Ivan Jakovlevitch discovers a nose in his bread, not only does he freak out, so does his wife. They are much more believable in showing expressions of shock and disgust than Gregor does after his metamorphosis. However, this is somewhat dramatic because it is just a nose. I have dissected parts of cows, frogs, sharks, and rodents before so I do not find a nose that repulsive. When Jakovlevitch makes the decision to throw the nose in the river, I had to stifle my laughter. The image of a nose falling into water just seems funny.

Ooh, nose. Scary.

Similarly, Kovaloff’s reaction to his missing nose is believable. Since he regards himself highly, he covers his face with a handkerchief. He seems to feel that a part of his status has been stripped away due to not having a nose therefore, urging himself to hide behind a piece of cloth. However, his runaway nose is not what I expected. I imagined a little nose running away with legs, sort of like a cartoon. Instead, we are presented with an actual person who is presented lavishly, donning a social status higher than that of Kovaloff’s. I can sense his jealousy towards his own nose! I am somewhat disappointed that there is not a tiny nose running about but this is understandable because it is an opera. It would be quite hard to have just a nose moving around. The nose then dismisses Kovaloff in a snobby manner. How ironic, right? Later, Kovaloff turns to advertising a large reward for his missing…nose. It is reasonable how the official refuses Kovaloff’s post but hilarious how he offers snuff as what comes off as a gift of pity; Kovaloff does not even have a nose!

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 Eventually, Kovaloff gives up his womanizing ways and settles to marry Madame Alexandra Podtotchina’s daughter after his futile attempts to set his nose back into place. I feel like he cares more about how the women in his society view him rather than losing the sense of smell. He is ashamed that he does not assume the same amount of power that he had held before. Luckily for him, he wakes up with his nose once again. Right away, he calls off the engagement and reverts back to his old philanderer ways. This aggravates me because he appears to have learned nothing from his whole experience without a nose. Usually, after a drastic event, characters would show growth and appreciation from whatever it is that they have gone through. Kovaloff clearly does not which makes a part of me wish that he stayed nose-less until he has learned his lesson that people are not completely defined by social status.

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What a rotten egg Kovaloff is…