The Overcoat

In Nikolai Gogol’s short story, The Overcoat, evil within 19th century Russian society is criticized. Evil in this short story takes on many forms. The main character, Akaky Akakievich, is a rather unfortunate man who is continuously failed by the systems put in place to keep society running smoothly. The way that bureaucracy functions in society is oppressive and evil. Though Akaky is a hard working citizen, and he is never rewarded for his efforts. After Akaky struggles to purchase his new coat, bureaucracy fails him again as it is stolen and he is left helpless. Within the story, Gogol criticizes bureaucracy in several forms, from Akaky’s job and coworkers, to buying his coat, and the police. Although these bureaucratic systems have been created with the idea that they are fair and honest, they are corrupt and evil and are intended to keep the less fortunate from succeeding in life. From Akaky’s…

denying, and also murderous actions. The goal of the paper is to provide ample evidence in showing how negative bureaucratic oppression was on a person. The literature that will be used with the content of the essay will stem from Nikoli Gogal’s work, “The OverCoat”. I will the literature to compare and show how Akaky was specifically effected by the theme I am writing about. By the end of the essay, a…

The two film adaptation of Nikolay Gogol’s The Overcoat, the 1959 Russian film by Aleksey Batalov and the 2011 Canadian film, The Girl in the White Coat by Darrell Wasyk, end in different ways. One film depicts a scene of supernatural revenge while the other ends with a quiet death. As films set in realistic environments, the supernatural element found in Gogol’s work presents a challenge for the directors. However, when compared to the original work, both films have a similar meaning even when…

I still have hope that he will. I waited longer, and smoked another cigar to pass some time. I start to have doubts that Jimmy wouldn’t come, right when I was about to leave, I see the outline of a tall man in a long overcoat walking towards me. “Is that you Bob?”, the figure questions. “Is that really you Jimmy? Jimmy Wells?”, I screamed. We both started for each other, and when we met, we hugged. I didn’t want to stop, and I could tell he didn’t want to either. A little while later, we…

condition and behavior. It is all about one doing evil and paying a price for it. The purpose of these stories are to mainly either to simple tell a story, or convey a life lesson. Throughout this essay, I will explain the main topic and concept of the Metamorphosis and the Overcoat, compare and contrast their similarities/differences, and point out the themes of existentialism. First of all, no offence, people are becoming more and more corrupted. Their desires and sins increase extremely,…

In the short story “The Overcoat” the protagonist, Akaky, was portrayed as normal man who had a very simple job as a copier. Due to his stutter, he was singled out and picked on. In addition to his speech impediment he had an odd personality, which led to even more bullying. When he interacted with others, he would easily become flustered too. People would constantly talk badly about Akaya, to the point that he would scream, “Leave me alone, why do you do this to me!” It is saddening to see…

This story is really about making decisions, and a decision is a choice made from available alternatives. Stanley’s decision was based on wearing the warmest clothes he had, which was an old army overcoat and headgear. His selection presented a non-programmed decision, which is a decision made in response to a situation that is unique, is poorly defined, and largely unstructured, and has important consequences. Stanley’s decision displayed non programmed characteristics, because it was made in…

tough situation. In this short story he used the darkness to set the scene in the beginning by saying “Outside it was getting dark. The streetlight came on outside the window” (Hemingway ). The word ‘dark’ is a clear description of the mood and foreshadowing something evil is coming. Darkness can also be a symbol of death and that is another one of the meanings behind Hemingway’s representation of light and dark imagery. Darkness and night can also be known as a time when bad people come out and…

suspicious behavior, the officer decided to follow the two men and saw them meeting up with Katz. McFadden approached the men and identified himself as an officer. He asked the men for their names. But, they did not give any source of information. Soon after, Terry mumbled something to the other men. This was when officer McFadden grabbed Terry to begin a pat-down (Frisk). The officer testified that the pat-down was conducted only on the outer garments. Also that he conducted the pat-down of the…

things can range from material things, such as money, cars, and big houses to more sentimental things like love, children, or some kind of emotion ranging from anger to happiness. Freud would call these types of things a symbol. Although these would have a completely different meaning in his theory instead of being the simple meaning that they can stand for. Take for instance Freud’s’ dream the Three Fates. In this dream, he dreams of three women in a kitchen, in there is an overcoat. He goes…