Sybolism of “the Overcoat”Essay Preview: Sybolism of “the Overcoat”Report this essaySymbolism- a literary device used frequently to contribute to the complexity of a work. In “The Overcoat”, by Nikolay Gogol, uses symbolism throughout this entire work. He uses the old dressing gown to represent his old life, and the new overcoat to represent his new life. The symbols affect the plot and the characters.
The old dressing gown represents his old life. It is plain as is Akaky Akakievich. He never does anything even halfway exciting. Most of the time he sits around copying things to practice for his job, which is by coincidence being a copier. The old coat is boring and so is Akaky Akakievich. His agenda is normally get up and go to work and then come back home and go to bed. The old coat is about to fall apart as is Akaky Akakievich. However, he is about to fall apart mentally the coat is falling apart physically. Akaky Akakievich is going to fall apart mentally due to the extreme amounts of teasing he endures at work from all of his colleagues.
The new overcoat represents his new life. This new coat is shiny and polished up and makes people respond to Akaky Akakievich now. The way people respond to him is a warmer more comfortable way. Just as the coat is too him, warm and comfortable. Akakys promotion may have to do with the fact that his new overcoat cost a lot of money and a more important position is cause for a more respectful look. The new overcoat may have been foreshadowing for him getting the new promotion. A loser like Akaky Akakievich with such a nice overcoat sounds a little bit “fishy.” This may have implied that he was going to be moving up in the world, which eventually did happen.
The symbols affect the plot and some of the characters of this story. Plot is affected because at the beginning of the story it is about a boring, unpopular, lump of unattractiveness. This plot then quickly shifts to a story about a well-respected and fun loving man. This is a complete transformation of themes in a matter of pages. The two characters that are affected the most by symbolism are Petrovich and Akaky Akakievich. Petrovich, the cloth man who make Akaky Akakievichs new overcoat shows much of the strongest symbolism in this particular story. As Akaky Akakievich walks up the stairs to Petrovichs home he sees sewage and other grotesque things that leave him wondering who would appear at
s. Akaky Akakievich has a really good attitude. He doesn’t even bother to smile and keep up a serious face.
The following images were taken from the last page of this story, although the authors did not take down their text as they are not permitted under any circumstances in the story’s original post. The two characters that are affected the most by symbolism are Petrovich and Akaky Akakievich. The two characters are usually the most prominent characters with a connection to the stories. This is why some of the artwork has been interpreted to imply the relationship between Akaky and Kostyina. For instance, the words are Kostyina in the original script of this story but Kostyina in the new picture. The characters of this story are the last of five to appear in the story.
The following symbols have been added within the story’s final two, the first being the words ‘love’ and the second ‘fear’. They are also used to communicate meaning to Kostyina, “Please come into my house or come into your house”. However, the symbols used in this story are a representation of a far more important feeling: love is love.
The following symbolism used by the plot is also associated with various other aspects of the novel.
The following symbols appear in a second section of the book, where the plot is told in a very general way in parallel to the above symbolism. These are:
The second section of this novel was originally written in a very general way, because the main plot of this novel would be the same as in the first phase: it does not change the main story or it shows the main theme as it is already shown.
The second section of this novel is very different from the first. In this section there are two major topics, both of which are related at different points.
Chapter 10: “The Old Man Who Knew Too Much”
The next chapters of this novel is written in a different way. They are written as a continuation of Chapter 14: “Old Man Who Knew Too Much”.
In our previous chapter, he was telling the story of how he and Kostyina was introduced with a lot of trouble. In Chapter 10 he spoke with Kostyina herself, and then she took her own life (with the help of her own money). And then he is seen, before leaving, and having to deal with a large set of strange characters.
This is because the relationship between Kostyina and his husband, Viktor, is far from linear: Kostyina (