Meaning of a silent scene in Gogol's Comedy " the inspector General»
In N. V. Gogol's Comedy "the inspector", the denouement of the plot is preceded by a silent scene, when the contents of Khlestakov's letter are announced, and the fact that the officials of the district city have been engaged in self-deception becomes clear. A well-known writer removes the description of fear from the narrative, and the collection of characters is no longer perceived as a single whole. Terrible in its simplicity, the news that a real auditor has come to them, and that a mistake has been made, covers the participants of the final scene with fear. It is no longer a collection of people United by common goals, but a simple collection of incomprehensible pieces of furniture.
The symbolic exhaustion of the characters in their desire to please the auditor is shown in this silent scene. All their actions were designed to please, but they were directed at the wrong person. The pose of each frozen character in a silent scene depicts the degree of shock of each hero by the force of the blow inflicted on him. Here the author uses a description of many shades, ranging from the petrified mayor to the rest of the guests, who simply remain standing in pillars. It should be noted that the character of each actor and how he behaves during the action of the work is reflected in his pose. The same Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky just freeze, holding out their hands to each other, their mouths open and their eyes bulging. On the theater stage, the image of spiritual poverty, narrowness and outright stupidity of the characters that Gogol portrays has died down. The frozen image of complete squalor, lack of attractiveness and complete meaninglessness colorfully depicts the police-bureaucratic regime of the Russian Empire in the era of the reign of Nicholas the First.
Gogol quite did not even mean the real auditor as some serviceable employee who would necessarily cope with the injustice of society and resolutely opposed the popular theft of the state budget and bribery. Most likely, he would have turned out to be the same bribe taker and embezzler as the characters in Gogol's work. But the very realization of the mistake made covers the heroes with a pitiful fate. They do not even dare to think that a real auditor is not a model of behavior for "honest officials" of a County town, awarding him in advance, most likely even with qualities that are not characteristic of him.
The scene is saturated with rich symbolism. All those who have taken the time to read the Comedy, it reminds of the mandatory retribution that will surely overtake everyone who violates the requirements of not only the law, but also their own conscience. And punishes anyone who does not realize that he holds a high "position" of a person.
