A brief retelling of Gogol's "Overcoat" chapter by chapter

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Modern schoolchildren do not always understand the language and style of famous writers of the past, so some works are difficult to read to the end. But it is necessary to get acquainted with the classics, besides, such stories are included in the school curriculum. What to do? A brief retelling of The Overcoat will help you find out the plot of the famous work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol.

Meet the main character

He is Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin. Why the hero has such a name and patronymic, we will now tell you.

The baby was born on the night of March 23rd. Then the kids were called exclusively by the names of the saints: Dula, Varakhasiya, Trifilia, Sossia, Mokkiya - one of these names was to be awarded to the mother of her son. But she did not like any of them, so the woman decided to name the boy after his father, that is, also Akakiy. Their last name was Bashmachkins.

The boy grew up and turned into an adult, whom everyone now called Akaky Akakievich. He joined the department, wherethen he worked for many years, but over the years he could not earn the respect of not only his colleagues, but even the attendants: the doormen did not even greet him, as if they had not seen him.

Employees openly teased Akaki, he had to endure their mockery. They could throw torn pieces of paper on his head and say that it was snow. To such an attitude towards himself, he only timidly asked that people not do this.

A brief retelling of "The Overcoat" continues with a description of the appearance and character of an inconspicuous hero. He was short and bald.

Work

Akaky Akakievich served as a state councilor for many years. His duties included rewriting papers. He really liked this kind of work. The scribe diligently printed each letter, it was clear that some were his favorites.

Perhaps the only one who treated the State Councilor well was his boss. He tried to give Akaki more difficult tasks in order to promote him in office. But Bashmachkin, trying to fulfill them, sweated over them and asked him to return his old job.

It wasn't difficult, but it was paid accordingly - not much. Therefore, the official dressed rather badly. A brief retelling of the "Overcoat" will tell you about this.

Dream

The clerk's suit was not rich, and the overcoat was a sad sight at all. Akaky Akakievich had more than once carried it to the one-eyed tailor Petrovich for repairs. The last time he said that to put patches onthe overcoat is no longer possible, as it will soon crumble. The tailor concluded that it was necessary to buy a new one, and it costs 150 rubles. At that time, it was a lot of money, so Bashmachkin was very upset. Indeed, in St. Petersburg, where he lived, there were severe winters, and without warm outerwear, the clerk would simply freeze. The official did not have such money, but he needed an overcoat. A brief retelling of the story will tell how Bashmachkin got out of the situation.

He thought that if Petrovich sewed a robe, it would cost 80 rubles. However, the official had only 40. And then he put them aside with great difficulty, saving on everything. But the clerk was lucky: the boss increased his salary. Now, instead of forty, he received as much as 60 rubles. In order to have enough for a new thing, the State Councilor had to further reduce his expenses, so now he lived from hand to mouth. However, after 2-3 months, the required amount was accumulated.

Joy of Bashmachkin

A brief retelling of the "Overcoat" has reached that positive moment when the hour has come for the fulfillment of the state councilor's dream. Together with Petrovich, they went to buy cloth and everything needed to create a new thing. For his work, the tailor, as promised, took 12 rubles. But the result is a warm fashionable thing. Petrovich was very pleased with his work. He overtook Akaki by roundabouts in order to, walking towards him, once again admire how well the thing turned out.

The fashionable solid overcoat also made a great impression on colleagues. A brief retelling of the story continues with the fact that when Bashmachkin came to work, everyone began to considernew thing and congratulate him. Then someone said that this event should be celebrated. The official didn't know what to do. But a colleague came to his rescue, who announced that he was inviting everyone to his place on this occasion. Plus, he had a birthday to celebrate.

If only Akaky Akakievich knew how it would end for him, he would hardly have gone. A brief retelling of the story "The Overcoat" will tell the reader about subsequent events.

Dream crash

Our hero has arrived at the specified address. It was fun here. At first everyone was talking, discussing Bashmachkin's new clothes, then they went to the table. People were drinking and joking. The official was good in the company. But the clock had already struck midnight, so he decided to go home.

Wine played its role: Akaki was good and fun, he even wanted to hit on the woman he met, but she quickly left. However, two suspicious individuals soon appeared next to him. One of these passers-by pushed the state councilor and took off his overcoat.

Bashmachkin tried to catch up with the robbers, to find protection from the guard, but it was all in vain. He advised the poor fellow to go to the warden tomorrow and tell him everything. The unfortunate man did just that. But neither the warden nor the higher officials helped him. Moreover, the “significant person”, from whom the clerk tried to seek protection, yelled at him and kicked him out.

Death

From such injustice, Bashmachkin wandered home in his old shabby clothes, swallowing the frosty air. Therefore, he caught a cold, fell seriously ill, and soondied. This almost ends the brief retelling. "Overcoat" Gogol wrote in 1842, but even now this story is relevant.

Since then, the spirit of Akaky Akakievich sometimes appeared as a passer-by and demanded an overcoat from them. And from that "significant person" the ghost stole this item of outerwear and has since ceased to appear to people, having calmed down. This ends the story and its brief retelling.

"Overcoat" by chapters

The story is not divided into chapters, but you can conditionally divide it into 5 parts and reveal very briefly the main content of each.

So, from the first we learn about the birth and naming of Akaki, about his modest clothes and work. The second tells how Bashmachkin came to Petrovich to fix his overcoat. The third chapter tells that the tailor advised Akaky Akakievich to get a new coat. The fourth chapter tells how a cheerful evening ended sadly for our hero, and he tried to seek protection from high officials, but no one helped him. In the fifth part of the story, we learn about the death of the clerk and that his ghost often appeared walking around St. Petersburg and demanded outerwear.

This concludes the summary. Gogol conceived the "Overcoat" as a "clerical anecdote" about a poor official, and he succeeded. Only now it’s a pity for the main character - a small, inconspicuous one who did no harm to anyone, but he himself endured insults, and his short happiness turned into a real tragedy.