Who is the narrator?

 

The first-person narrator of “The Nose” is unnamed. They enter the narrative as a separate character only on occasion, generally breaking into the story to add context and background information on characters such as Ivan and Kovalyov. The narrator refers directly to the reader, which creates a sensation of personalization and intimacy. It is almost as if we, the readers, are hearing the tale of the nose from a gossipy secondhand account, just as the people of St. Petersburg heard the rumors about Kovalyov’s nose through the grapevine.

The narrator is most prominently featured in the last passage of the text, where they give their own opinion on the story, stating that they are quite confused by it and they don’t understand what the point of it is. They even question what kind of author would write such a piece. However, as they continue to reflect, they admit there may be some truth to the absurd tale. The narrator’s bafflement and frustration would lead us to believe that they are an entirely fictional character, an entity separate from Gogol himself—especially since the narrator snubs Gogol by calling the author’s credibility into question. However, as the narrator’s comments become more knowing and self-aware, our perception of the narrator’s identity shifts. The reader begins to consider that the narrator might not be so confused after all, and they might have been in on the joke the whole time. Perhaps they were only pretending to be frustrated, so they could gently lead us to the conclusion that this story has some merit. When read from this lens, it becomes possible that the narrator is Gogol himself, stepping into the shoes of a character so as to manipulate his readers into arriving at the destination he has prepared for them.

What is a collegiate assessor and a state councilor?

Collegiate assessor and state councilor are both ranks in Imperial Russia’s Table of Ranks. Peter the Great established the Table of Ranks in 1722 to increase the bureaucrat class’s loyalty to the crown by affording them earned nobility. Government workers could achieve nobility without aristocratic heritage by earning a certain rank on the Table. Many of the ranks afforded personal nobility, while higher ranks were rewarded with hereditary nobility, meaning a high-ranking official’s children would inherit his societal position. State councilors, which is the rank achieved by the nose, were placed at rank five, and collegiate assessors, the rank held by Kovalyov, were placed at rank eight. State councilors often served as vice governors, a position Kovalyov covets, which adds to his bitterness over his nose’s success in climbing the ranks. While Peter the Great’s initial goal in establishing the ranking system was to build loyalty to the crown and increase merit-based opportunities for the lower and middle classes, future emperors eroded the system by excluding more and more people from joining the civil service and reducing opportunities for advancement within the Table of Ranks.

Why does Kovalyov believe that Mrs. Podtochina is responsible for his missing nose?

Mrs. Podtochina is the wife of a field officer who is one of Kovalyov’s important friends. Due to Kovalyov’s high rank, Mrs. Podtochina hopes Kovalyov will propose to her daughter. However, while Kovalyov is happy to socialize with the two women and flirt with Mrs. Podtochina’s daughter, he has no intention of marrying the girl. Kovalyov is a philanderer, and he enjoys chasing numerous women. He feels that he is in no rush to settle down with a wife, but is open to doing so for a very wealthy woman. Thus, Kovalyov continuously dodges Mrs. Podtochina’s requests for a proposal. After his nose goes missing, Kovalyov believes that Mrs. Podtochina has used witchcraft to steal his nose to get revenge for his refusal to marry her daughter. Interestingly, Kovalyov holds on to this assumption even after the police officer returns his nose and notes that Ivan Yakovlevich was seen disposing of it. Kovalyov is so obsessed with rank that he does not even consider that someone of a lower status like Ivan could have the power to steal his nose.

Who is Ivan Yakovlevich?

Ivan Yakovlevich is the first character introduced in “The Nose.” He is a barber who finds the nose of his client, Kovalyov, in his bread on the morning of March 25. Ivan is described as a calm, nonreactive man who remains stoic even when Kovalyov insults the smell of his hands. However, when he finds the nose in his bread, he becomes frightened. Ivan is an alcoholic, so he cannot often remember how he spends his nights or how he might have come to possess Kovalyov’s nose. He may very well have attacked Kovalyov, but he has no memory of these events. Additionally, Ivan is a member of the working class, while Kovalyov is a high-ranking government official. A low-status man stealing the nose of a high-status man could have disastrous consequences. Ivan disposes of the nose and is questioned by police in the first part of the story, then later appears in the story’s third part to shave Kovalyov after the nose has returned to his face and all is well. Ivan Yakovlevich is not to be confused with Kovalyov’s footman Ivan. The footman Ivan is Kovalyov’s house servant, who waits on Kovalyov and handles the announcing and escorting of visitors. Ivan features mainly during the story’s second part, although both Ivan the footman and Ivan Yakovlevich are referenced in the third part.

What is “The Nose” satirizing?

“The Nose” satirizes Russia’s Table of Ranks and the false sense of superiority that surrounded those civic workers who had been granted high ranks. Gogol is especially satirizing the rank of collegiate assessors, whose status was high enough to attain basic privileges associated with the ranking system, such as personal nobility, but not high enough to be guaranteed the most respectable positions or special privileges. Gogol mocks collegiate assessor Kovalyov, who has an inflated sense of his own importance, by creating an absurd scenario in which Kovalyov’s nose escapes his face and becomes a state councilor, symbolizing Kovalyov’s brazen desperation to climb the social ladder.

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