Plot Summary. “The Overcoat” is the story of Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin, an impoverished clerk who has toiled for a number of years in an unspecified department within the huge government bureaucracy in St. Petersburg. The tale is told by an unnamed narrator with a tendency to digress and editorialize.
What type of character is Akaky Akakievich?
Akaky Akakievich is a short man with an “unmemorable” appearance. He is somewhat educated, and not at the lowest rank of bureaucracy, but he is still very poor. Akaky lives an extremely mundane life: both in and out of his department, he spends all of his time diligently copying documents.
What does Akaky Akakievich mean?
“In one way, the name Akaky Akakievich is similar to “John Johnson” and has similar comedic value; it also communicates Akaky’s role as an everyman. … In addition to the scatological pun, the literal meaning of the name, derived from the Greek, is “harmless”…”
How does the description of Akaky Akakievich naming develop his character?
How does the description of Akaky Akakievich’s naming develop his character? The description of Akaky Akakievich’s naming shows that his mother was “a very good woman” (p.395) who put great thought into finding the right name for him.
Who is the protagonist in the overcoat?
The protagonist Akaky Akakievich’s life portrays the life of ordinary people of the Czarist Russia period. Being an impoverished government clerk, Akaky Akakievich is teased by younger clerks because of his appearance, especially because of his threadbare overcoat. Therefore he decides to have the coat repaired.
What is akaky's job?
Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin: Bureaucrat in one of the departments of the Russian government in St. Petersburg, the nation’s capital city. Bashmachkin, about fifty, is a quiet, self-effacing man with red hair and a receding hairline. His job is to copy documents such as letters.
How does akaky feel in the presence of important officials?
But wait, he still not dead yet. Akaky isn’t scared of high-ranking officials anymore. In fact, he doesn’t seem to be scared of anyone. He doesn’t care if you are high-ranking, low-ranking, or in between.
Why did akaky Akakievich take the overcoat to the tailor?
Answer: One-day Akaky realizes that his coat is getting worn out and he takes it to Petrovich, the tailor. Akaky hopes that Petrovich can just patch his coat and so he can get on with his life, but Petrovich insists that he needs a brand-new coat.
How did akaky Akakievich save money for the overcoat?
Answer: Akaky decides it is necessary to have the coat repaired, so he takes it to his tailor, Petrovich, who declares the coat irreparable, telling Akaky he must buy a new overcoat. … Finally, with the addition of an unexpectedly large holiday salary bonus, Akaky has saved enough money to buy a new overcoat.
What is the theme of the overcoat?
The universal human need for compassion is a central theme in “The Overcoat. ” Akaky Akakievich and others in the story deny their connection to the rest of humanity, but ultimately fail.
Article first time published on
What does the overcoat symbolize?
The overcoat then becomes a symbol for the significance that care and material goods can bring in life. … Akaky also experiences this, as he senses that his mission to save up for the coat gives his life a new purpose.
What does akakiy mean?
Simon Karlinsky notes that in Russian Akaky Akakievich sounds “suspiciously as if it might be derived from okakat’ or obkakat’,” meaning “to cover with excrement” (137). Akaky’s name, is therefore repetitive (meaning “Akaky, son of Akaky”) as well as seeming to refer to excrement.
Who is the antagonist in overcoat?
The Social Hierarchy If most people didn’t think that Akaky was at the bottom of the ladder, someone might have helped him find his coat, but because of his low rank, people either don’t pay attention to him, are suspicious of him, or are deliberately mean to him.
How did Petrovich help akaky Akakievich?
Answer: Formerly a serf, Petrovich is a tailor and a heavy drinker. He is commissioned by Akaky Akakievich to create a new overcoat, and eventually consents to make it for the lowest possible price.
What genre is the overcoat?
The Overcoat, short story by Nikolay Gogol, published in Russian as “Shinel” in 1842. The Overcoat is perhaps the best-known and most influential short fiction in all of Russian literature. Gogol’s Dead Souls and “The Overcoat” are considered the foundation of 19th-century Russian realism.
What is the story the nose about?
Written between 1835 and 1836, “The Nose” tells the story of a St. Petersburg official whose nose leaves his face and develops a life of its own. … He later finds out that his nose has developed a life of its own, and has apparently surpassed him by attaining the rank of State Councillor.
Where does the overcoat take place?
The story’s setting, amongst office-workers in contemporary St. Petersburg, must have seemed startling to Russian readers of Gogol’s time, who were used to literature that described adventures amongst noblemen in pastoral and aristocratic settings.
Why did akaky purchase a new overcoat?
With the goal of purchasing a new overcoat in mind, he becomes livelier and more decisive. His existence becomes “richer, as though he had married and another human being was by his side.” Akaky receives a surprise when his department director awards him a bonus of sixty rubles.
Which famous Russian writers claimed that they came from under Gogol's overcoat?
“We all came out of Gogol’s ‘Overcoat,”’ the most famous apocryphal saying of Russian literature, is attributed to Dostoevsky.
Is the overcoat finished?
The film may never be completed, but its story is mythical in animation circles. For four decades, Russian director Yuri Norstein and his creative partner — and wife — Francheska Yarbusova have been working on The Overcoat, an intricate cut-out feature based on the Gogol story of the same name.
What do akaky Akakievich reactions to needing a new overcoat suggest about his character?
When Akaky Akakievich determines that he will have a new overcoat made, his fantasies about the new coat become so fulfilling that he feels “as if he were married, as if some other person were there with him” (p. 406).
What does the overcoat of gray refer to?
What does a grey overcoat refer to? Answer: The squirrel’s body is being refered to a grey overcoat.
Where did the narrator finally find his overcoat?
The narrator finally find his overcoat on the chair on which he was sitting.
Is Theme The lesson of the story?
The theme of a story is what the author is trying to convey — in other words, the central idea of the story. … The plot is simply what happens in the story and the order of the story’s events, and the moral is the lesson that the writer wants the main character (and by extension, you) to learn from the story.
Is the overcoat a ghost story?
Perhaps that is why, every Halloween, as ghost stories make their return, my mind often wanders to Nikolai Gogol’s “The Overcoat.” Published in 1842, it tells the story of a vengeful ghost, who in life had his overcoat stolen and now in death haunts the city of St.
What is a perpetual titular Councillor?
Working in a government department in St. Petersburg is an official known as a perpetual titular councillor. He is a short, red-haired man with a receding hairline and a ruddy complexion. Others in the department cannot remember when he began working there or who appointed him. It was as if he was born at his desk.
What is the Colour of its overcoat?
The squirrel has a question mark on its tail and a gray coat which the poet describes as, ”an overcoat of gray.” 5. An overcoat of gray. Hence, the color of its overcoat is grey.
Where does Kovalev first encounter his missing nose?
After some misadventures in the streets, the barber ends up throwing it away into the river. That same day, Collegiate Assessor Kovalev wakes up and realizes that his nose is gone. He is embarrassed about having to go outside like this and covers his face with a handkerchief.
What was akaky Akakievich employed as?
Explanation: Akaky worked as a government clerk and a copyist in a office unknown, as the author did not mention it. He loved his work so much that he would travel many places while copying every letter.
