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Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

The Old Overcoat

Akakievitch’s old cloak is a potent symbol of his poverty. Its very appearance reflects his status as a man of low rank and no wealth. When he wears the old coat, his fellow office workers ridicule and exclude him, granting Akakievitch no respect. These same office workers’ reactions to his new coat reflect just how much they judged him for his old coat, and more than that, his poverty. After the new coat is stolen, Akakievitch must wear the old one again, and this reversal immediately returns him back to his former status as a poor man who is deemed unworthy of the care of not only his co-workers, but society itself.

The New Overcoat

Akakievitch’s new overcoat is a symbol of social mobility and being accepted by one’s superiors. As soon as he puts on his new coat, everyone’s opinion of him immediately changes. He receives the open admiration of his peers. The coat is a sort of key which unlocks higher levels of society for Akakievitch. He goes to a party hosted in his honor, which is something he never would have done before. He even begins to have a higher opinion of himself, and his confidence grows. However, when the coat is lost, so is that new confidence and risen place in society. He cannot speak up for himself with the district police chief or the prominent personage without the confidence boost and social clout of the new coat.

The Dead Man on the Bridge

The ghost of Akakievitch that haunts Kalinkin Bridge at the end of the story is a symbol of the guilt and remorse people feel, or should feel, after being needlessly cruel, and a reminder that all humans should be treated fairly in life. The prominent personage feels guilty at not having helped Akakievitch, and the incident on the bridge is a reprisal for his actions. Akakievitch’s ghost wants to take the prominent personage’s cloak as retribution for the way he was ignored and denied in life. Thus, the dead man is a symbol of not only the guilt the prominent personage feels, but also a reminder that people deserve fair treatment in life and not just after death.

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