The Nose by Gogol Essay

The Nose features a twisted ending which is hard to conclude on what exactly happened after that. The ending is not the only mystery in the story. The whole story is built on surrealism, and the ideas brought forward have a deeper meaning. The author concludes by saying "And yet if you stop to think for a moment, there's a grain of truth in it. Whatever you may say, these things do happen -rarely, I admit, but they do happen (Gogol, 22)." With such a phrase, the reader is forced to take a look at the turn of events in the story and even doubt everything. It is hard to identify what the author claims as a grain of truth and thus the ending can be termed as inconclusive.

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From the start to the end, it can be deduced that the whole point of the story about the nose is to emphasize the importance of a man's status in the society. In this case, Collegiate Assessor Kovalyov is the one being put in the limelight. His position in government had made him develop illusions of superiority and hence the title of "Major." This man had dedicated his life towards building an illustrious career and a matching status in the society. His reputation was of more importance than anything else and hence his thoughts always revolved around what would preserve his social image. Kovalyov loses his nose in the most absurd manners which supersede human understanding. The fact that the nose was found inside a roll of bread is even more disturbing for Ivan, the barber who found it. The mystery begins as Ivan doubts himself as to whether he was responsible for cutting off the nose because he was a drunkard and seeks to dispose of it.

The theme of societal status is evident as the Major says, "You will agree that it's not done for someone in my position to walk around minus a nose. It's alright for a woman selling peeled oranges on the Voskresenky Bridge to go around without one (Gogol, 7)." The words define the state of the arrogance of Kovalyov and explain why he did not want to appear in public or his work premise without a nose. To him, however, people with a lesser status such as the orange vendors could do without a nose. This satire and twisted mystery give the perception of egoistic persons who only look out for themselves. Kovalyov is quick to mention the fact that he had been a collegiate assessor for two years and he was favored for a promotion anytime soon.

The major's reputation is a good one as he even receives an offer to marry Miss Alexandra's daughter. Kovalyov's belief that Alexandra had sought to use black magic to convince him to propose to her daughter is bemusing. He was determined to link pieces of his life story together to come up with a logical explanation for the disappearance of his nose. He had refused to get married claiming to be too young to find a wife. Instead, he preferred using his social status and government rank to find himself beautiful ladies and invite them to his place. Without his nose, he was confident that such would not be possible anymore.

Kovalyov's desire to solve the mystery sees him visit the police station where he misses the inspector. While in public, his face was always covered using a handkerchief hence showing his desperation to keep his image. He was not his usual self because even at the coffee house, he avoided smiling at anyone yet on all other days, he loved to be viewed as a man of the people. The most significant surprise in the story is when Kovalyov encounters his nose walking around in uniform. The major was perturbed and unsure of how to approach the situation and ends up following the nose around. The nose heads to the church to pray, and this is where Kovalyov gets a chance for a conversation. The nose seems well aware of himself as an entirely different entity from the major. The nose proves that he was a government officer from a different department and hence shows that it was of a high status too. Kovalyov is unable to convince his nose because there seems to be a battle of class. The nose says, "My dear fellow, you are mistaken. I am a person in my own right. Furthermore, I don't see that we can have anything in common. Judging from your uniform buttons, I should say you're from another government department (Gogol, 7)." This is a surprise and leads to Kovalyov panicking that his nose may as well leave town. The result is that he seeks to advertise in the newspaper about the nose wandering around with the aim of someone bringing it to him for a reward.

Rumors about Kovalyov's situation had spread around town. It was a supernatural occurrence that the major's nose had been spotted taking a stroll and hence large crowds were attracted. I believe that such stories like that of the major's nose passing by Nevsky Avenue daily at 3 pm were all false. The fabrication of the lies was to create self-benefits by the concerned parties. For instance, a cake vendor found a lucrative business by hiring out the benches of his premise for people to stand on. All in all, such rumors were told to suit the benefit of the mongers. It is as if Russia's capital needed a mysterious story to unite the people and to create a reason for crowds to gather to whisper among themselves. The rumors, even though exaggerated had s basis for their occurrence. After all, Kovalyov had reported the case to the police and also went to the printing press about it. At that moment, the information became public property.

The ending of The Nose defines a magnification of the story on a larger scale. The confusion and mystery are fuelled further by the author stating the inconsistencies within the text. For instance, Gogol probes the question, "how did the nose manage to turn up in a loaf of bread, and how did Ivan Yakovlevich ...? (22)" This statement illustrates the lack of a proper conclusion and also shows that the story was absurd from start to finish. Not even the author could justify the storyline due to the deeper interpretation required. All in all, The Nose serves as a definition of high social status and its importance to Kovalyov is undoubted. He states that it would have been better to lose an arm or a leg because losing a nose is a bigger disability. As he says, "A man without a nose, though, is God knows what, neither fish nor fowl. Just something to be thrown out of the window (13)." This is an indication of how the public perception was essential to him. Once he got his nose back miraculously, he confidently walked around the streets without being bothered by the rumors. Instead, he embraced the nose because its value became visible at the moment he did not have it.

Work Cited

Gogol, Nikolai. "The Nose." Originally published in Taras Bulba and Other Tales, by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol. J.M. Dent & Sons, 1918, pp. 155-88.