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The Overcoat
influential even to contemporary writers. Those particularly
INTR
INTRODUCTION
ODUCTION influenced by Gogol include Fyodor Dostoevsky, Anton
Chekhov, and Vladimir Nabokov.
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF NIKOLAI GOGOL
Nikolai Gogol was born in a Ukrainian village in the Russian KEY FACTS
Empire to parents of the petty gentry. He began writing when
he attended university, and afterwards went to St. Petersburg, • Full Title: The Overcoat
hoping to achieve success in the literary world. His self- • When Published: 1842
published poetry was universally mocked, but his first book of • Literary Period: Realism, 19th Century Russian Literature
short stories, Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (1831), was
• Genre: Short Story, Satire
successful. He wrote prolifically and travelled extensively,
spending time in Germany and Switzerland, and living for • Setting: St. Petersburg, Russia
twelve years in Rome. During this time he completed some of • Climax: Akaky Akakievich’s new overcoat is stolen.
his most famous works, including Dead Souls (1842) and “The • Point of View: Third-person omniscient
Overcoat” (1842). In his last few years, Gogol experienced ill
health and depression. After burning some of his manuscripts, EXTRA CREDIT
including the second part of Dead Souls (which was meant to be
Gogol the incompetent. The University of St. Petersburg hired
a trilogy), Gogol spent nine days in bed, refusing all food, until
Gogol as a professor of medieval history in 1834. Having no
he died. Nikolai Gogol is now known as one of the foremost
real knowledge of medieval history, Gogol delivered
writers in the Russian language, one of the key figures in
incomprehensible lectures and pretended that he had a
Russian literary realism, and a predecessor of the styles of
toothache during the final examination, sitting in silence as
Surrealism and the grotesque.
another professor questioned his students. Gogol resigned
from the professorship in 1835.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The Russian Empire in the 19th century was administered by a Gogol after death. Gogol was originally buried at the Danilov
large, slow, and corrupt government, which was headed by the Monastery in Moscow, but in 1931, authorities had Gogol’s
emperor, or Tsar. Many of the civil servants in the Russian remains transferred from the monastery to the Novodevichy
bureaucracy were poorly paid and uneducated. These Cemetery. His body was found face down, which sparked
conditions created a system in which officials exploited their rumors that Gogol was buried alive.
government status by taking bribes, and in which many
bureaucrats were unqualified for their jobs. In this stagnant
environment, Nikolai Gogol identified Akaky Akakievich, the PL
PLO
OT SUMMARY
main character of “The Overcoat,” as the kind of insignificant
individual who both suffered under the Empire’s oppression “The Overcoat” follows the life and death of Akaky Akakievich
and was the epitome of bureaucratic small-mindedness. Bashmachkin, a low-ranking official who works as a copyist in a
nameless department in the Russian bureaucracy. The Narrator
suggests that Akaky Akakievich is destined for a mediocre and
RELATED LITERARY WORKS insignificant life from birth: his family name, Bashmatchkin,
Gogol wrote other satires of the Russian Empire, including comes from the word bashmak, meaning “shoe,” while the name
Dead Souls and “The Government Inspector,” and the absurd Akaky Akakievich (which has the same ridiculous redundancy
aspect of his work was especially apparent in his story “The as the name “John Johnson”) was given to him by his mother,
Nose.” Gogol’s own writing was influenced by the works of who felt that her child was destined for that name. Akaky
Alexander Pushkin, the famous Russian poet and author of Akakievich lives an extremely dull life, devoting himself entirely
Eugene Onegin. “The Overcoat” then powerfully affected the to his copy work. He neglects every other aspect of his life: he
Russian literature that followed it, so much so that Fyodor does not care about his appearance, does not notice the taste
Dostoevsky (author of The Br Brothers
others Kar
Karamazov
amazov and Crime and of his food, does not socialize with the other officials, and
Punishment
Punishment) said, “We all come out of Gogol’s ‘Overcoat’.” The barely perceives what is going on around him. The other clerks
elements of the grotesque, the surreal, and the absurd in in his department constantly make fun of him. Usually Akaky
Gogol’s work were especially ahead of their time, and are still does not mind, though sometimes he shouts at them to leave

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him alone. he should have appealed to him through the appropriate
Akaky Akakievich seems to be content with his life, but he also bureaucratic channels. Akaky replies that he does not trust
faces the challenge of surviving St. Petersburg’s bitter cold. secretaries, which further angers the Important Person. He
Akaky decides that he needs to get his overcoat repaired. His shouts at Akaky until he leaves the office in a daze.
current coat is old and tattered, and is the butt of many jokes at Feeling faint, Akaky walks through a snowstorm to reach his
work. Akaky visits Petrovich, a tailor and a drunkard, to get his apartment, and is quickly struck by a fever, which intensifies
coat patched up—but the tailor decides that the garment is so quickly. As Akaky approaches death, he has visions of Petrovich,
worn out that it is not worth repairing. He insists that Akaky the men who robbed him, and his old, tattered coat. When he
must commission a new overcoat for the price of one hundred dies, barely anyone notices, and St. Petersburg goes on as it
fifty rubles. Akaky, stunned, has no idea where he would get always has. After his department finds out that he has passed,
that kind of money. Nevertheless, he convinces Petrovich to sell they immediately replace Akaky with a new official. But rumors
him the coat for eighty rubles, and over the next few months he begin to spread that a ghost has been stalking the city, stealing
lives frugally, going hungry in order to save up enough money the coats from people that it passes. One night the Important
for his new coat. With an unexpected bonus from his Person, leaving a party, decides to visit his mistress’s house. On
department director, Akaky and Petrovich are able to purchase his way there, he feels a hand on his collar and turns around to
decent cloth and fur, and Petrovich, after working on the see the ghost of Akaky Akakievich. The ghost demands the
overcoat for two weeks, personally delivers the magnificent Important Person’s cloak. Terrified, the official immediately
new coat to Akaky’s house. throws his cloak at the ghost and drives home as quickly as
When he arrives at work wearing his overcoat, Akaky’s possible. From then on, he treats his subordinates with a bit
coworkers congratulate him and insist that they celebrate his more humility, and Akaky’s ghost is not seen again. In closing,
good fortune that night. Akaky is at first embarrassed by the the Narrator mentions one incident in which a watchman in
attention, but eventually he relents. That night, he walks to the Kolomna follows a ghost until it turns around. The watchman
apartment of a fellow official, who lives in a wealthy district of does not act, but notices that this ghost is too tall to be Akaky.
St. Petersburg. All of the partygoers compliment Akaky on his This ghost wears a large mustache, and walks off into the night,
new coat, and then return to their merriment. Akaky feels very toward the Obukhoff Bridge.
out of place in this setting until his coworkers push him to drink
some champagne. This lifts the clerk’s spirits, but he decides to
sneak out of the party at midnight, as it is late. On his way
CHARA
CHARACTERS
CTERS
home, Akaky is accosted by two thieves in a square—they beat
MAJOR CHARACTERS
him and steal his coat. The watchman in the square claims not
to have witnessed the event, and tells Akaky to report the Akaky Akakie
Akakievich
vich Bashmachkin – A low-level official clerk in
incident to the police in the morning. an unknown department in the Russian government. Akaky
Akakievich is a short man with an “unmemorable” appearance.
Akaky, cold and distressed, returns home, where his landlady
He is somewhat educated, and not at the lowest rank of
advises him to go directly to the District Police Superintendent.
bureaucracy, but he is still very poor. Akaky lives an extremely
Akaky goes to his house the next morning, and waits the entire
mundane life: both in and out of his department, he spends all
day before he is admitted into the District Superintendent’s
of his time diligently copying documents. While his fellow
office. But the official, upon hearing Akaky’s story, becomes
officials are out socializing, Akaky prefers to spend his evening
suspicious of Akaky himself. Akaky leaves, unable to convince
hours at home, finding contentment in his repetitive labor.
the Superintendent to help him. The next day, he goes to his
Gogol’s story revolves around Akaky’s struggle to contend with
department wearing his old, tattered cloak. Upon seeing him,
St. Petersburg’s bitter cold, which forces him to purchase a new
one of his coworkers advises him not to go to the police, who
overcoat—a mission that endows Akaky’s existence with
only work when it will improve their position in the hierarchy.
greater meaning.
Instead, he tells Akaky to appeal to an “Important Person” who
might exert some real influence. Petro
etrovich
vich – Formerly a serf, Petrovich is a tailor and a heavy
drinker. He is commissioned by Akaky Akakievich to create a
Akaky seeks the help of this Important Person, who is kind to
new overcoat, and eventually consents to make it for the
his friends, but who enjoys flaunting his important government
lowest possible price. The care and pride he takes in making
status and enforcing a rigid bureaucratic process. When Akaky
Akaky’s new overcoat is evident, and the originality of his work
arrives, the Important Person is shooting the breeze with an
provides a contrast to the repetitive nature of Akaky’s
old friend, and makes Akaky wait just to demonstrate his power.
government job.
When he finally allows the clerk to enter his office, Akaky
awkwardly explains that his cloak has been stolen. But his The Important PPerson
erson – An anonymous, high-ranking official in
familiarity offends the Important Person, who tells Akaky that the Russian government. Akaky Akakievich appeals to him

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when his overcoat is stolen. While the Important Person used friends, and he advises Akaky to talk to the police about the
to be kind at heart (when he was an “insignificant person” not so matter instead.
long ago), his important status in the bureaucracy has inflated
his ego. He enjoys enforcing a rigid hierarchical process, in
which information has to be passed from the lowest to highest THEMES
officials in his department before reaching him. The Important
In LitCharts literature guides, each theme gets its own color-
Person treats Akaky poorly in order to show off his importance
coded icon. These icons make it easy to track where the themes
to a friend, but then feels guilty about it later.
occur most prominently throughout the work. If you don't have
The District P Police
olice Superintendent – Akaky Akakievich tries to a color printer, you can still use the icons to track themes in
get the District Police Superintendent to investigate the case of black and white.
his stolen overcoat, but fails—indeed, the Superintendent
treats Akaky more like a guilty suspect than the victim of a
BUREAUCRACY AND SELFHOOD
crime. It is implied that the Superintendent and his subordinate
police officers only work on cases that will boost their Nikolai Gogol’s Russia was a country run by an
reputation in the eyes of their superiors. extremely unwieldy bureaucracy. Under the control
of Tsar Nicholas I, the government was large, slow,
The Narr
Narrator
ator – While the Narrator is not exactly a character in
and corrupt. Much of this was due to the fact that many of the
“The Overcoat,” the story’s unusual narrative style has a huge
civil servants in the Russian system were uneducated and very
influence on the reader’s experience. The Narrator draws
poor. In “The Overcoat,” Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin is one
attention to himself by withholding information, such as the
such civil servant. Though he can read and write and is not at
name of Akaky Akakievich’s department and the identity of the
the lowest rung of the bureaucratic hierarchy, he can still barely
Important Person. He injects his own opinions about characters
support himself. Over the course of the story, Gogol reveals the
and the bureaucratic system in general, and manipulates the
ways in which Akaky Akakievich’s individuality is oppressed and
short story genre in which he is operating. The reader gets the
denied by his bureaucratic society, to the point where he is
sense that the Narrator is inside the same system as Akaky
neglected at the time of his greatest need.
Akakievich, but also has a birds-eye view of that system’s
oppressive power. From the story’s outset, Gogol presents Russia’s bureaucratic
oppression as a major theme. The narrator is unwilling to name
The YYoung
oung Official – A young man new to Akaky Akakievich’s
the department in which Akaky Akakievich worked, fearing
office. He is moved to pity when the other officials make fun of
censorship or some other form of retribution. The clerk’s
Akaky, and Akaky’s defensive exclamations seem to the young
superiors are described as dictators, and Akaky is paid so little
official to mean “I am thy brother.” The young official
that he can barely survive the brutal cold in St. Petersburg. The
remembers this for a long time, and feels ashamed about the
difficulty of Akaky Akakievich’s life is compounded by the
state of man’s inhumanity to man. His realization marks the
incompetence of this bureaucracy, which we see at work when
story’s shift from a rather straightforward comedy to a more
he attempts to report the theft of his prized overcoat. A fellow
complex kind of tragicomedy.
clerk informs him that it would be useless to go to the police,
The Assistant Head Clerk – An official in Akaky Akakievich’s who only work to please their superiors, and would not return
office. The assistant head clerk is higher ranked and wealthier to the overcoat even if they found it. Akaky Akakievich then
than Akaky is, but he offers to throw a party partly to celebrate seeks the help of an “Important Person,” and there discovers
Akaky’s new overcoat. The assistant head clerk lives in a that Russia’s higher-ups care more about maintaining their
wealthy district far from Akaky’s home, and Akaky’s overcoat is appearance of importance than actually performing
stolen on his way home from the party. government work. By directly communicating with the
Important Person instead of going through the “proper
MINOR CHARACTERS channels,” Akaky violates the superior official’s sense of
The Landlady – Akaky Akakievich’s landlady. She tries to give hierarchy. Offended, the Important Person angrily throws
him advice when his overcoat is stolen, and takes care of Akaky out of his office: Akaky Akakievich’s individual needs are
purchasing Akaky’s coffin after his death. completely neglected in favor of the preservation of a strict
bureaucratic hierarchy and the egos of the officials within it.
The Thie
Thievves – Two bearded men who steal Akaky Akakievich’s
overcoat on his way home from a party. Interestingly, though Akaky Akakievich suffers under this
bureaucratic system, he genuinely enjoys his bureaucratic job.
The WWatchman
atchman – The watchman is supposed to be guarding Unlike the protagonist of Herman Melville’s story “Bartleby the
the square where the thieves steal Akaky Akakievich’s Scrivener”—a copier who refuses to bear the drudgery of his
overcoat. When Akaky confronts him about ignoring the crime, work, and ultimately chooses to die rather than live under the
the watchman claims that he thought the thieves were Akaky’s

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heel of an oppressive system—Akaky Akakievich is content to those no one cares for.
be a cog in the Russian government. He works, as Gogol writes, At the end of his tale, however, Gogol seeks a sort of
“with love.” Outside of his job, the clerk has no other concerns: redemption for the neglected everyman. Akaky Akakievich
all he does is eat, sleep, and copy. It appears that his selfhood takes the form of a ghost who haunts St. Petersburg, stealing
consists entirely of his position in the bureaucracy. In this way, the overcoats of the officials who would have ridiculed him
he is not so different from the other civil servants in Gogol’s during his lifetime. He ultimately gets his revenge on the
story, who are all keen to preserve their status within the Important Person who cast him away, so terrifying him that the
government. Just as the minor bureaucrats copy their higher- official adopts a more humble tone from then on. By forcing
ups to gain approval, so Akaky copies documents. He loves these officials to experience the brutal winter without an
copying so much that his work supplants his individuality. The overcoat, Akaky Akakievich’s ghost exposes them to the lives of
clerk’s lack of inner life and agency becomes clear when he is the powerless and the insignificant. And by confronting them
unable to make even a minor change to a document, preferring with his corpse, he compels them to recognize his life’s inherent
instead to copy it word for word. Akaky Akakievich embodies significance.
the stagnancy and incompetency of the bureaucracy, while
simultaneously bearing its repressive effects.
MATERIALISM, MATERIAL GOODS, AND
ART
THE INSIGNIFICANCE OF THE
Though his fellow bureaucrats treat Akaky
EVERYMAN
Akakievich as an uninteresting character through
One of the tragedies Gogol highlights in “The most of the story, his prized overcoat briefly raises his status in
Overcoat” is the insignificance of Akaky the workplace. Indeed, it’s comical how differently his
Akakievich’s life. The clerk’s unimportance is felt early on in the colleagues interact with him: the day he arrives with his new
story. Gogol’s phrase “In a certain department…there worked a coat, he is immediately surrounded, congratulated, and
certain civil servant” implies that his story could happen to any complimented, and is invited to a party that night. Akaky
civil servant in any department, and therefore that Akaky Akakievich, too, sees himself in a new light. He is more cheerful
Akakievich’s life is more or less interchangeable. His than usual, and he does not follow his usual routine of eating,
interchangeability is reinforced by his occupation as a copyist, a working, and sleeping; instead, he allows himself to rest after
job that has become the entirety of his life. Akaky’s work, and dinner, and then departs for the party. Out on the street, where
therefore his personhood, is based on the concept of previously he would notice nothing of interest, he looks in awe
reproducible and interchangeable material. Throughout the at people and objects that suddenly appear to him as beautiful.
story, both his superiors and his peers treat Akaky Akakievich As Gogol writes, “Akaky Akakievich surveyed this scene as
poorly, and his worthlessness is exacerbated by the fact that he though he had never witnessed anything like it in his life. For
never rises in the bureaucracy. All of his peers are younger than some years now he had not ventured out at all in the evenings.”
he is and lead more interesting lives, and they frequently make
On the one hand, Gogol reveals the absurdity of human
jokes at his expense. Only once in the story, when Akaky
interaction—so little (just an overcoat) separates others from
protests, does a fellow civil servant (the young official) realize
seeing Akaky Akakievich as boring and insignificant, or as
how cruelly they are treating the copyist. Immediately the
deserving of respect and admiration. In this light, Gogol’s focus
young official feels ashamed at how cruelly human beings can
on the overcoat as a material good emphasizes the
treat each other, even when they pretend to be the most
superficiality of Russian society, and mirrors the modern
honorable of men.
world’s scorn for people who are “materialist” and shallow.
Akaky’s life is so devoid of meaning and complexity that it may
On the other hand, Akaky Akakievich’s overcoat embodies the
even be difficult for the reader to feel sympathy for him.
actual importance of material goods in human life, especially to
Though Akaky Akakievich is apparently content with his lot,
the poor. On the most basic level, Akaky Akakievich’s coat
Gogol’s descriptions of his mundane and pathetic life challenge
allows him to survive the punishing winter in St. Petersburg.
the reader’s ability to empathize with the clerk. Gogol at once
This improvement not only raises his standard of living, but also
allows the reader to scoff at Akaky Akakievich’s absurd
expands his range of activity. Suddenly accepted by his peers
ignorance, and challenges the reader to find humanity in the
and able to venture outdoors at night, Akaky Akakievich begins
most laughable and insignificant of beings. When the
to find meaning beyond his mundane life as a homebody and
protagonist dies, Gogol writes, “And St. Petersburg carried on
copyist.
without its Akaky Akakievich just as though he had never even
existed.” By presenting the tragicomic fall of Akaky Akakievich, The power of material is perhaps best illustrated in the tailor
Gogol draws attention to the mundane life of a member of the Petrovich’s creation of the overcoat. In this passage, the care
silent majority, and he tests the reader’s ability to care about and attention Petrovich gives to the garment is clear. He works

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at the coat for two weeks and delivers it himself to Akaky anyone. Ultimately, the story suggests that the powerless are
Akakievich’s home. As Gogol writes, “He seemed to know full only remembered once they are dead, and even then only as
well that his was no mean achievement, and that he had “ghosts” who haunt the lives of those who neglected them.
suddenly shown by his work the gulf separating tailors who
only relined or patched up overcoats from those who make new
ones, right from the beginning.” Here, Gogol depicts the tailor SYMBOLS
as an artist, proud of his creativity. By bringing something new
into the world, Petrovich has found something meaningful in Symbols appear in teal text throughout the Summary and
life. Likewise Akaky Akakievich, now the owner of the overcoat, Analysis sections of this LitChart.
finds his own identity enhanced. As the possessor of an original
work, he is no longer defined by his position as a copyist. In the THE OVERCOAT
overcoat, we can read Gogol’s argument for the liberating
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s comment, “We all come out
power of art.
of Gogol’s ‘Overcoat’,” may indicate how broadly
the symbol of the overcoat can be interpreted. The coat
SOCIAL STATUS AND FATE represents a number of different ideas, and its meaning also
Early on in “The Overcoat,” Gogol gives his readers shifts as the story progresses. At the outset, Akaky Akakievich’s
the strong sense that Akaky Akakievich’s life is need for a new overcoat is driven by a basic human need: he
destined for mediocrity. His family name, has to survive the St. Petersburg cold. Here, the coat
Bashmachkin, derived from the Russian word bashmak, represents a baseline standard of living that is difficult for
meaning “shoe,” already indicates his low social standing. In Akaky to obtain as a low-level government bureaucrat—in
addition, the narrator notes that his “far-fetched” given name, order to save up enough money for the coat, he has to go
Akaky Akakievich, was actually fated, as he was named after his hungry for several months. Later, the care invested into the
father. When they christen baby Akaky, Gogol writes, the baby coat by Petrovich the tailor endows the coat with greater
“wept and made a grimace, as though he foresaw that he was to meaning, as the coat is not only a means of survival, but also a
be a titular counsellor.” From the outset, the protagonist is kind of work of art. The overcoat then becomes a symbol for
placed into a low social class from which he will not escape. the significance that care and material goods can bring in life.
Gogol’s description of his protagonist’s origins, while comic, Akaky also experiences this, as he senses that his mission to
also implies that Akaky Akakievich is resigned to his lot from a save up for the coat gives his life a new purpose. The coat
young age. allows Akaky, whose life has been extremely dull and repetitive
Akaky Akakievich’s low social standing determines how he is up until then, to experience the feeling of being a unique
treated throughout the story. It almost seems like the world is individual.
conspiring against him: for example, Gogol describes Akaky When Akaky Akakievich finally obtains the overcoat, it begins
Akakievich’s “strange knack” of walking beneath windows just to represent the social interactions that determine status and
as trash is being thrown out of them. Furthermore, his position success. Over the course of the story, it becomes more
in the world seems to determine how he behaves. Outside of apparent that the bureaucracy Akaky belongs to is based on
his low bureaucratic post, Gogol writes, “nothing else existed as appearances and superficial status symbols: officials only work
far as he was concerned.” He does not notice happenings on the when they believe it will raise their social stature, and higher-
street or the taste of his food. He merely does his duty and ups are more interested in maintaining their reputation than
goes to bed. The clerk’s vision of the possibilities in life is assisting the helpless. Akaky’s new coat immediately makes his
extremely, and fatally, limited. coworkers treat him with more respect, but when he loses the
Though Akaky Akakievich seems content with his mundane life, coat they once again forget about him.
his poverty makes it impossible for him to maintain his standard Because “The Overcoat” is such a famous and well-studied
of living. In Russia’s corrupt bureaucratic society, the story, the titular symbol has been interpreted in several other
unambitious Akaky Akakievich is tossed aside and forgotten. ways throughout history as well. A more Freudian,
And even if Akaky Akakievich were a more enterprising psychoanalytic perspective of the overcoat focuses on the coat
individual, Gogol casts doubt on the possibility that he might as symbolic of a spouse, or for sexual desire itself. Akaky only
find success. The fact that his overcoat is stolen so quickly expresses himself and his sexuality (chasing after women,
after he procured it seems an especially potent demonstration basically) once he buys the overcoat. The overcoat then
of the difficulty of social mobility. Thus in “The Overcoat,” Akaky becomes a stand-in for a lover for Akaky, as he treats it with
Akakievich’s social status is closely tied to his fate. His status tenderness and adoration, and when he receives it he feels “as
dooms him to a life of poverty and makes his struggle to survive if he were married.” Ultimately, the overcoat itself is such a
utterly futile—he is not “important” enough to be cared for by complex symbol, and so simply presented, that its very

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ordinariness is what makes Gogol’s story so extraordinary. As for his rank in the civil service…he belonged to the
species known as eternal titular counsellor, for far too long
now, as we all know, mocked and jeered by certain writers with
QUO
QUOTES
TES the very commendable habit of attacking those who are in no
position to retaliate. His surname was Bashmachkin, which all
Note: all page numbers for the quotes below refer to the too plainly was at some time derived from bashmak.
Penguin Classics edition of The Diary of a Madman, the
Government Inspector, and Selected Stories published in 2006.
Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Akaky
Akakievich Bashmachkin
The Overcoat Quotes
In one of our government departments…but perhaps I had Related Themes:
better not say exactly which one. For no one’s more touchy than
people in government departments, regiments, chancelleries Page Number: 140
or, in short, any kind of official body. Nowadays every private
Explanation and Analysis
citizen thinks the whole of society is insulted when he himself
is. The narrator has introduced Akaky Akakievich, the civil
servant around which the story revolves, and described him
as short, balding, and unattractive. The narrator notes that
Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Akaky Akaky is a not particularly high-ranking official, and occupies
Akakievich Bashmachkin a role people jokingly refer to as "eternal titular counsellor,"
in reference to the bland, monotonous nature of
Related Themes:
government bureaucracy and the way that people who have
this particular role never seem to "move up" or "get ahead."
Page Number: 140
While the narrator refers disapprovingly of the "certain
Explanation and Analysis writers" who use the joke to make fun of people "who are in
The narrator opens the story by referring to an anonymous no position to retaliate," this is ironic, as the narrator himself
government department, refusing to specify which one on makes use of the joke to describe Akaky. This irony
the grounds that it might cause offence. The narrator establishes the narrator's ambivalent treatment of Akaky,
laments the fact that nowadays people tend to think that which combines mockery and sympathy.
"the whole of society is insulted" when they are insulted as The fact that Akaky's surname, Bashmachkin, is derived
individuals––the reverse of "taking it personally." This from the word "bashmak," meaning shoe, further conveys
opening paragraph establishes the absurdist, comic tone of that Akaky is a comically ignoble character, who is
the story, while grounding it in serious criticism of Russian metaphorically "trodden on" by other people and by the
society. By listing the names of different bureaucratic structure of the society in which he lives.
institutions––"government departments, regiments,
chancelleries, or, in short, any kind of official body"––the
narrator illustrates the vast and complex expanse of these The child was christened and during the ceremony he
institutions within the Russian world. burst into tears and made such a face it was plain that he
This passage also demonstrates the way in which people's knew there and then that he was fated to be a titular
individual identities are collapsed into the bureaucratic counsellor. So, that’s how it all came about. The reason for all
systems in which they work. The narrator's comment about this narrative is to enable our reader to judge for himself that
citizens taking personal criticism as an insult to "the whole the whole train of events was absolutely predetermined and
of society" is somewhat counterintuitive; surely it is more that for Akaky to have any other name was quite impossible.
usual for this problem to work the other way around, where
general comments are taken personally. However, in a
Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Akaky
culture in which people lose their sense of self through
Akakievich Bashmachkin
mindless, tedious bureaucratic work, perhaps it makes
sense that this perverse paranoia emerges. Related Themes:

Page Number: 141

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Explanation and Analysis anonymous government department where he works, but

says it is as if "he had come into this world already equipped
The narrator has explained how Akaky Akakievich came to for his job." This passage employs a particular combination
have such an absurd and redundant name: although his of humor, absurdity, and dull realism to describe Akaky's life
godparents suggested many different names, Akaky's and the world in which he lives. The comment that Akaky
mother rejected them all, eventually deciding to simply give was born ready for his job, "complete with uniform and bald
Akaky the same name as his father (who was also a patch," is very humorous, while simultaneously illustrating
government official). The narrator jokes that, at his the dreary, wearying nature of Russian government
christening ceremony, Akaky made a face because "he knew bureaucracy.
then and there that he was fated to be a titular counsellor,"
and stresses the inevitability of both Akaky's repetitive, The description of Akaky's job also emphasizes the
unappealing name, and the corresponding monotony of his repetitive monotony of his life. Even as other things in his
life. This part of the story highlights the rigidity of Russian office change, Akaky remains "sitting in exactly the same
society. Akaky's fate is determined at birth, and he is position, doing exactly the same work"––an image that
destined to perform the same role and even take on the brings to mind a robot more than a person. Indeed, the fact
same identity as his father. that Akaky's job is limited to copying and never producing
anything himself further confirms the mechanical character
This passage can also be read as a comic reversal of the way of his life and role at the government department. In this
in which a conventional story––such as a fairy tale––might sense Akaky is a strange, unnerving character, as he does
begin with a description of the hero's auspicious, noble not seem to possess the varied moods, opinions, and vitality
origins. Where we might ordinarily describe someone as we tend to expect of people.
"destined for great things," the narrator implies the opposite
is true of Akaky: he is destined for boring, mundane, and
unfortunate things. By using the words "absolutely
predetermined" and "impossible," the narrator emphasizes And for a long time afterwards, even during his gayest
the illogical nature of the rigid hierarchical structure of moments, he would see that stooping figure with a bald
Russian society. There is no real reason why Akaky's fate patch in front, muttering pathetically: “Leave me alone, why do
was so inescapably predestined, but everyone still sees to you have to torment me?” And in these piercing words he could
accept it as unquestionable. hear the sound of others: “I am your brother.” The poor young
man would bury his face in his hands and many times later in
life shuddered at the thought of how brutal men could be and
how the most refined manners and breeding often concealed
No matter how many directors and principals came and the most savage coarseness, even, dear God, in someone
went, he was always to be seen in precisely the same place, universally recognized for his honesty and uprightness...
sitting in exactly the same position, doing exactly the same
work—just routine copying, pure and simple. Subsequently
everyone came to believe that he had come into this world Related Characters: The Narrator, Akaky Akakievich
already equipped for his job, complete with uniform and bald Bashmachkin (speaker), The Young Official
patch.
Related Themes:

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Akaky Page Number: 143

Akakievich Bashmachkin
Explanation and Analysis
Related Themes: The narrator has described the way in which Akaky is
constantly bullied by the other clerks at his office, most of
Page Number: 142 whom are younger than him. Akaky usually ignores them
Explanation and Analysis and never stands up for himself, only occasionally begging
them to leave him alone. Over time, only one clerk is moved
Having described Akaky's birth and how he came to have his to feel sympathy for Akaky, and many years later comes to
name, the narrator moves on to describe his career as a civil be haunted by his coworkers' merciless taunting, believing it
servant. The narrator has noted that no one remembers to show the cruelty of humanity. This passage reveals that,
how Akaky came to be given his particular role in the for all its comic levity, there is a dark, morally urgent

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exploration at the heart of the story. Despite being his dull work seems absurd and laughable, and it is certainly
completely harmless and inoffensive, Akaky is ruthlessly described by the narrator in comic terms. And yet, the story
taunted by his coworkers, who seem to target him precisely also seems to question why it is so absurd. Passion and
because of his weakness. enjoyment, after all, are often thought of as rather arbitrary
The fact that the Young Official is the only character who and subjective, so why should anyone laugh at someone
pities Akaky further emphasizes that people tend to have a engaged in such a passion, even if it is copying.Furthermore,
highly limited capacity for compassion. Meanwhile, the Akaky's dedication at work is clearly not motivated by the
reader is forced to reckon with his or her own ethical desire for more money or power, as he deliberately avoids
position, as Akaky is portrayed in such an unappealing, getting a promotion. With this in mind, shouldn't the love
comic light. By laughing at Akaky's strange manner and and contentment he finds in his work be seen as noble,
unfortunate life, is the reader participating in the same cruel admirable, and even enviable rather than something to be
behavior as the clerks who bully him? mocked?

One would be hard put to find a man anywhere who so St Petersburg harbours one terrible enemy of all those
lived for his work. To say he worked with zeal would be an earning four hundred roubles a year—or thereabouts. This
understatement: no, he worked with love. In that copying of his enemy is nothing else than our northern frost, although some
he glimpsed a whole varied and pleasant world of his own… people say it is very good for the health.
Apart from this copying nothing else existed as far as he was
concerned. Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker)

Related Themes:
Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Akaky
Akakievich Bashmachkin
Page Number: 146
Related Themes: Explanation and Analysis

Page Number: 143 Due to his immense satisfaction with his job, Akaky is happy
with his life. The only problem he faces is the extremely cold
Explanation and Analysis weather in St. Petersburg, which the narrator notes is the
The narrator has explained that, despite his commitment to "terrible enemy" of everyone earning four hundred roubles
this job, Akaky has never been promoted; during the one a year in the city. This issue, while introduced as somewhat
instance in which he was considered for a promotion, his minor, sets off the chain of events that will eventually lead
supervisor asked him to make a minor adjustment to a to Akaky's death.
document and Akaky, flummoxed, asked to be given The power of the "northern frost" to drastically alter and
something to copy instead. It is completely beyond Akaky's ultimately end Akaky's existence shows that, despite the
ability to do anything even slightly creative, though it's seeming importance of man-made institutions such as
never clear if that is a result of his own nature or because government bureaucracy, material circumstances are the
the "inevitability" of his boring life in the bureaucracy has true arbiter of life and death. While the narrator mentions
drained any creativity out of him. that some people claim the cold is "good for the health," the
In this passage, the narrator also describes Akaky's story disproves this idea, implicitly rejecting the notion that
exceptional dedication to the his work, saying that he there is something redemptive about suffering.
"worked with love" and that "nothing else existed" to him.
Framing Akaky's relationship to his boring, inconsequential
job in such romantic terms is humorous, while drawing out
significant questions about the nature of work, passion, and
happiness.
The narrator never reveals precisely why Akaky so devotes
himself to his boring and monotonous job, and this
increases the strange mystery of his character. His love for

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“I'm afraid it can't be done, sir,” replied Petrovich firmly.
“It's too far gone. You'd be better off if you cut it up for the Related Characters: Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin
winter and made some leggings with it, because socks aren't
any good in the really cold weather. The Germans invented Related Themes:
them as they thought they could make money out of them.”
(Petrovich liked to have a dig at Germans.) “As for the coat, Related Symbols:
you'll have to have a new one, sir.”
The word “new” made Akaky's eyes cloud over and everything Page Number: 153-154
in the room began to swim round. All he could see clearly was Explanation and Analysis
the pasted-over face of the general on Petrovich's snuff-box.
Having realized he has no choice but to try to gather
enough money for a new coat, Akaky decides he must
Related Characters: The Narrator, Petrovich (speaker), forego many of the items he usually spends money on,
Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin including tea, candles, and even food. While at first this
decision feels like "quite a burden," eventually Akaky finds
Related Themes: that it gives him a new sense of purpose, "as though he had
married and another human being was by his side." This
Related Symbols: newfound vitality suggests that Akaky's life, without his
even realizing it, previously lacked a sense of meaning; while
Page Number: 150 he derives pleasure and satisfaction from his civil service
Explanation and Analysis work, the endless monotony of copying does not provide
the same sense of direction and momentum as the goal of
Akaky has taken his old, tattered overcoat to Petrovich, the
buying a new coat.
alcoholic tailor. Noticing that Petrovich is sober instead of
drunk as usual, Akaky grows nervous; he stares at the image This passage provides compelling evidence for the
of a general on Petrovich's snuffbox, over which Petrovich interpretation that the overcoat takes on symbolic sexual
has stuck a square piece of paper. Akaky's strong reaction to significance within the story. Akaky is presented as being in
Petrovich's insistence that the coat cannot be mended a kind of romantic haze, adopting the behaviors (loss of
further emphasizes Akaky's weak, pathetic character. appetite, obsessive thoughts, increased vigor) that we
Rather than face Petrovich directly, Akaky chooses to stare usually associate with being in love. Akaky's fantasies about
at the face of the general, a symbol of authority. On the the coat, "with its thick cotton-wool padding and strong
other hand, Akaky's despair at the news about his coat is lining," can be read as an example of commodity fetishism, in
also somewhat understandable, considering he does not which Akaky imbues the object of the overcoat with value
have enough money for a new coat, yet needs one to survive disproportionate to its material properties. Like a newlywed
the cold. who dreams he will live "happily ever after," Akaky fixates on
the robust nature of the coat, which is "made to last a
lifetime."

Frankly, Akaky Akakievich found these privations quite a

burden to begin with, but after a while he got used to
them. He even trained himself to go without any food at all in It was...precisely which day it is difficult to say, but without
the evenings, for his nourishment was spiritual, his thoughts any doubt it was the most triumphant day in Akaky
always full of that overcoat which one day was to be his. From Akakievich's whole life when Petrovich at last delivered the
that time onwards his whole life seemed to have become richer, overcoat… Petrovich delivered the overcoat in person—just as
as though he had married and another human being was by his a good tailor should. Akaky Akakievich had never seen him
side. It was as if he was not alone at all but had some pleasant looking so solemn before. He seemed to know full well that his
companion who had agreed to tread life's path together with was no mean achievement, and that he had suddenly shown by
him; and this companion was none other than the overcoat with his own work the gulf separating tailors who only relined or
its thick cotton-wool padding and strong lining, made to last a patched up overcoats from those who make new ones, right
lifetime. He livened up and, like a man who has set himself a from the beginning.
goal, became more determined.
Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Akaky
Akakievich Bashmachkin

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Related Themes: Related Symbols:

Related Symbols: Page Number: 157

Explanation and Analysis

Page Number: 155
Akaky's coworkers have reacted in a comically favorable
Explanation and Analysis way to his new overcoat, congratulating him and insisting
Having spent months living frugally and saving money, that they must celebrate his new possession. A high-ranking
Akaky is surprised by the director of his department giving official has offered to host a party at his home, which is in a
him a bonus, and is eventually able to pay Petrovich to make fancy neighborhood; as Akaky approaches the official's
the new overcoat. They buy materials together, and when apartment, he describes the beautiful dress of the people he
the coat is finished, Petrovich delivers it to its new owner in sees around him. This passage emphasizes the vast
person. The narrator describes this moment as "the most difference the coat has made to Akaky's existence; whereas
triumphant day in Akaky Akakievich's whole life," a previously his life was dreary and dull, it is now populated by
superlative that is simultaneously comically absurd and elegant clothes, fast carriages, and street lamps that glow
strangely moving. While both Akaky and Petrovich are brighter than in other parts of the city.
flawed and not particularly likeable, the fact that through It is almost as if Akaky's new overcoat has magically
their combined efforts they create something exceptional transported him into a new world of beautiful objects. The
provides a note of optimism within the story. scene has an unreal quality, exaggerated in the same way as
On the other hand, this exaggerated sense of triumph in the Petrovich's solemnity and the over-the-top enthusiasm of
midst of an otherwise bleak, depressing narrative suggests Akaky's colleagues. Akaky himself is like a character in a
that this moment of good fortune may turn out to be too fairy tale who has arrived in a world with which he has no
good to be true. The fact that Akaky and Petrovich are familiarity.
portrayed as unfortunate characters tinges their
achievement with the anticipation of tragedy, and signals
that it is doomed to eventually go wrong. Although he was somewhat overwhelmed by this
reception, since he was a rather simple-minded and
ingenuous person, he could not help feeling glad at the praises
At first Akaky Akakievich had to pass through some badly showered on his overcoat. And then, it goes without saying,
lit, deserted streets, but the nearer he got to the civil they abandoned him, overcoat included, and turned their
servant's flat the more lively and crowded they became, and attention to the customary whist tables. All the noise and
the brighter the lamps shone. More and more people dashed by conversation and crowds of people—this was a completely new
and he began to meet beautifully dressed ladies, and men with world for Akaky Akakievich. He simply did not know what to do,
beaver collars. Here there were not so many cheap cabmen where to put his hands or feet or any other part of himself.
with their wooden basketwork sleighs studded with gilt nails.
Instead, there were dashing coachmen with elegant cabs, Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Akaky
wearing crimson velvet caps, their sleighs lacquered and Akakievich Bashmachkin
covered with bearskins. Carriages with draped boxes simply
flew down the streets with their wheels screeching over the Related Themes:
snow.
Akaky Akakievich surveyed this scene as though he had never Related Symbols:
witnessed anything like it in his life. For some years now he had
not ventured out at all in the evenings. Page Number: 159

Explanation and Analysis

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Akaky
Akakievich Bashmachkin Akaky has arrived at the party and feels awkward, as he is
unused to being in this kind of social situation. However, his
Related Themes: coworkers have acted in a friendly manner, continuing to
heap praises on his coat, and Akaky relaxes. Yet eventually

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the other guests turn their attention away from him, and same mocking cruelty as before. The fact that the other civil
Akaky's awkwardness returns. To some degree, this part of servants have spent money on a new portrait of the
the story may elicit further sympathy for Akaky, as it is not Director, and on a book whose author they are socially
uncommon for people to feel awkwardness at social connected to, shows the supreme importance of status and
gatherings. On the other hand, Akaky is unusually bad at power in the story; indeed, these are forces that trump
handling such situations, confirming the idea that he is like a basic moral qualities of kindness and empathy.
person who has been transported to a strange and distant
land. This impression is further emphasized by the
narrator's comment that "this was a completely new world
What exactly this Important Person did and what position
for Akaky Akakievich." he held remains a mystery to this day. All we need say is
that this Important Person had become important only a short
while before, and that until then he had been an unimportant
The story of the stolen overcoat touched many of the person. However, even now his position was not considered
clerks, although a few of them could not refrain from very important if compared with others which were still more
laughing at Akaky Akakievich even then. There and then they important. But you will always come across a certain class of
decided to make a collection, but all they raised was a miserable people who consider something unimportant which for other
little sum since, apart from any extra expense, they had nearly people is in fact important. However, he tried all manners and
exhausted all their funds subscribing to a new portrait of the means of buttressing his importance.
Director as well as to some book or other recommended by
one of the heads of department—who happened to be a friend
Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The
of the author. So they collected next to nothing.
Important Person

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Akaky Related Themes:

Akakievich Bashmachkin
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number: 163
Related Symbols:
Explanation and Analysis
Page Number: 162 One of Akaky's more sympathetic colleagues has advised
him that, instead of going to the police to report his stolen
Explanation and Analysis coat, Akaky should seek the help of a mysterious Important
On the way home from the party hosted in his honor, Akaky Person. Like all other identifying details in the story, the
was robbed by two thieves, who stole his overcoat. exact position of the Important Person and the reason why
Distraught, he has attempted to report the theft to the he is important are not revealed. However, unlike other
Superintendent, who is uncooperative and suspicious. At factors such as the department in which Akaky works, the
work, Akaky's colleagues have already heard that his coat narrator is not deliberately withholding the information, but
has been stolen, and treat him with rather limited sympathy. admits that he does not know himself. This suggests that
They pool money for a replacement coat, but this turns out there may be something dubious about the Important
to be a rather empty gesture, as they have all used up any Person's status, implying that he is perhaps only important
extra funds to buy a new portrait of the Director and a book because others have arbitrarily decided that this is the case,
written by a friend of a friend. These details prove that the rather than because of anything he has done to earn himself
kindness and generosity extended to Akaky by his such a qualification.
colleagues was flimsy and superficial, based on the coat he The narrator also explains that the Important Person is not
no longer has and not on him. that important in comparison to other, more important
While the coat acted as a means by which Akaky came to be people, and that it is only recently that he has come to be
accepted and embraced by his colleagues, they are so thought of as important. This further emphasizes the
focused on the social network created by wealth and power arbitrariness of the Important Person's status, and
that, without his coat, Akaky once again becomes comically critiques the complex hierarchical structure of
meaningless to them, and some even treat him with the Russian society. As the narrator notes, the Important

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person is fixated on his own importance ("he tried all Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The
manners and means of buttressing his importance"), yet his Important Person
position within the hierarchy seems to be, objectively
speaking, rather groundless. And, by extension, the entire Related Themes:
way that the bureaucratic system determines importance
seems arbitrary, meaningless, and a mystery even to those Page Number: 164
who become important, and yet everyone in the system
Explanation and Analysis
treats the important people as if they have some kind of
inherent value (even the important people themselves). The narrator has described the Important Person in vague
terms, emphasizing that he is not objectively even that
important, but obsessed with increasing his own status and
authority. In this passage, the narrator adds that the
In this Holy Russia of ours everything is infected by a Important Person is "quite a good man at heart," but that his
mania for imitation, and everyone apes and mimics his promotion has left him unable to communicate properly
superior. with people of lower ranks. This description introduces
further nuance into the story's critique of bureaucratic
Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker) hierarchy. The narrator suggests that not every arrogant
bureaucrat is cruel and power-hungry at heart; rather, good
Related Themes: people are corrupted by the systemic obsession with rank.
Indeed, the Important Person is described as being "mixed
Page Number: 163 up" and unable to cope with the consequences of his
Explanation and Analysis promotion, a description that emphasizes his vulnerability.
This perhaps implies that the Important Person is not
The narrator has explained that the Important Person might
particularly qualified for his job, as he is so easily flummoxed
not objectively be particularly important, but that he
by being elevated to a higher rank. The Important Person's
deliberately increases his own authority by requiring his
reaction to his promotion thus further confirms the
subordinates to imitate him. The narrator adds that this is a
dysfunctional nature of government bureaucracy. Rank is all
common practice "in this Holy Russia of ours."
important, and so everyone pursues greater rank and
Once again, the story reveals the way in which a certain defends their current rank rather than actually doing their
code of behavior is embedded within society for no logical jobs efficiently or interacting with other people
reason, yet goes unquestioned despite its absurdity. Indeed, authentically.
the "mania for imitation" seems to promote irrational,
inefficient, and corrupt behavior, as people fail to think for
themselves and instead simply copy what their superiors do.
“What do you mean by this, my dear sir?” he snapped
The narrator's use of the phrase "this Holy Russia" is ironic
again. “Are you unaware of the correct procedure? Where
and suggests that, instead of following the example set by
do you think you are? Don't you know how things are
religion, people obsessively obey those who are arbitrarily
conducted here? It's high time you knew that first of all your
ranked above them.
application must be handed in at the main office, then taken to
the chief clerk, then to the departmental director, then to my
secretary, who then submits it to me for consideration...”
However, he was quite a good man at heart, pleasant to his “But Your Excellency,” said Akaky Akakievich, trying to summon
colleagues and helpful. But his promotion to general's rank up the small handful of courage he possessed… “I took the
had completely turned his head; he became all mixed up, liberty of disturbing Your Excellency because, well, secretaries,
somehow went off the rails, and just could not cope any more. If you know, are a rather unreliable lot...”
he happened to be with someone of equal rank, then he was “What, what, what?” cried the Important Person. “Where did
quite a normal person, very decent in fact and even far from you learn such impudence? Where did you get those ideas
stupid in many respects. from? What rebellious attitude towards their heads of
But put him with people only one rank lower, and he was really department and superiors has infected young men these days?”
at sea.

Related Characters: The Narrator, Akaky Akakievich

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Bashmachkin, The Important Person (speaker) world possessions. This is perhaps the most obviously tragic
moment in the novel. Akaky's death by fever demonstrates
Related Themes: the power of the natural elements as the arbiter of life and
death––although of course it does not help that Akaky was
Page Number: 165-166 caught up in a cruel, illogical bureaucracy that hindered him
Explanation and Analysis from finding his coat.

The narrator has explained that, although fundamentally the The fact that St Petersburg goes on as usual shows that
Important Person is "normal" and "very decent," his Akaky is as inconsequential in death as he was in life.
obsession with his status leads him to treat people ranked Meanwhile, the statement that "the author of this story
below him in an unreasonable fashion. For example, he has confesses that he is not even interested" in what happened
deliberately made Akaky wait longer than necessary simply to Akaky's belongings highlights a coldness and cruelty on
as a way of showing off his power and importance. When the part of the narrator, too. Despite the fact that the story
Akaky tries to explain his situation and mentions that is about him, Akaky's life is too dull and pathetic to even be
secretaries can be "a rather unreliable lot," the Important worth rendering in its full detail.
Person explodes with anger, calling Akaky impudent and
"rebellious." The fact that the Important Person makes
these accusations is comical, as in reality Akaky is about as So vanished and disappeared for ever a human being
far from rebellious as it is possible for a person to be. whom no one ever thought of protecting, who was dear to
However, the Important Person's fixation with bureaucratic no one, in whom no one was the least interested, not even the
conventions––"the correct procedure"––has clearly clouded naturalist who cannot resist sticking a pin in a common fly and
his judgment to the point of absurdity. examining it under the microscope; a being who endured the
mockery of his colleagues without protesting, who went to his
grave without achieving anything in his life, but to whom,
Finally poor Akaky Akakievich gave up the ghost. Neither nonetheless (just before the end of his life) a shining visitor in
his room nor what he had in the way of belongings was the form of an overcoat suddenly appeared, brightening his
sealed off, in the first place, because he had no family, and in the wretched life for one fleeting moment; a being upon whose
second place, because his worldly possessions did not amount head disaster had cruelly fallen, just as it falls upon the kings
to very much at all… Whom all this went to, God only knows, and great ones of this earth...
and the author of this story confesses that he is not even
interested. Akaky Akakievich was carted away and buried. And Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Akaky
St Petersburg carried on without its Akaky Akakievich just as Akakievich Bashmachkin
though he had never even existed.
Related Themes:
Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Akaky
Related Symbols:
Akakievich Bashmachkin

Related Themes: Page Number: 168

Explanation and Analysis

Related Symbols:
Having described Akaky's unceremonious death from fever,
the narrator emphasizes Akaky's absolute unimportance to
Page Number: 168
the world. According to the narrator, no one loved Akaky,
Explanation and Analysis and he wasn't even as interesting as a fly studied by a
Having failed to find his overcoat again, Akaky has grown ill biologist; indeed, the only good thing that happened to
with a fever. The doctor, certain that Akaky will not survive, Akaky in his life was the overcoat, although of course this
has advised Akaky's landlady to order him a cheap coffin. episode too ends in "disaster." This passage is a key example
When Akaky does indeed die, St Petersburg carries on "just of the way Gogol combines tragedy and comedy in the story,
as though he had never existed." The narrator notes that he simultaneously compelling the reader to feel immensely sad
is unsure and uninterested in what happened to Akaky's few for Akaky while laughing at just how absurdly awful and
meaningless his life is. The use of a run-on sentence helps

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increase the impression that Akaky's life consists of one they pass by. Meanwhile, the Important Person has been
terrible fact after the next, creating comic momentum. feeling guilty about how he treated Akaky, and has
There is also a note of irony in the fact that the narrator attempted to reach out to him, only to find that he has died.
claims "no one was the least interested" in Akaky, as the One day, as the Important Person is leaving a party on the
narrator himself has written a story about him, a story that way to see his mistress, Akaky's ghost approaches him and
someone must now be reading. This ironic tone continues nearly frightens him to death.
within the narrator's description of the overcoat, which is This interaction has a cathartic function in the narrative; in
anthropomorphized as a "shining visitor." Once again, the the face of Akaky's ghostly presence, the Important
overcoat's ability to drastically transform and improve Person's ego is immediately deflated and he is terrified. The
Akaky's life is humorously exaggerated. The narrator's final "strength of character" he displayed "in the presence of his
comment that disaster fell on Akaky "just as it falls upon the subordinates" does not hold up against the threatening
kings and great ones of this earth" reminds us that, while sight of a ghost.
Akaky may have been an exceptionally sad and unlucky
character, misfortune happens to everyone. Indeed, this
may provide a clue as to the narrator's justification for why
The encounter had made a deep impression on him. From
this story is worth telling: the tragedy that befell Akaky is that time onwards he would seldom say: “How dare you!
somehow shared by all of humanity. And, if Akaky's death is Do you realize who is standing before you?” to his
somehow relatable to all humanity, there is an implication subordinates. And if he did have occasion to say this, it was
that perhaps his meaningless, absurd life is as well. never without first hearing what the accused had to say.

Related Characters: The Important Person, The Narrator

But the Important Person's terror passed all bounds when
(speaker)
the ghost's mouth became twisted, smelling horribly of the
grave as it breathed on him and pronounced the following Related Themes:
words: “Ah, at last I've found you! Now I've, er, hm, collared
you! It's your overcoat I'm after! You didn't care about mine, Page Number: 172
and you couldn't resist giving me a good ticking-off into the
bargain! Now hand over your overcoat!” The poor Important Explanation and Analysis
Person nearly died. However much strength of character he Having encountered Akaky's ghost, the Important Person is
displayed in the office (usually in the presence of his left shaken, so much so that his daughter comments on how
subordinates)… he was so frightened that he even began to fear pale he is. From that point forward, the Important Person
(and not without reason) that he was in for a heart attack. comes to treat his subordinates in a much more fair and
reasonable way. This twist in the narrative is somewhat
unexpected; after all the bizarre tragedy and absurdity the
Related Characters: Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin, The
story has contained thus far, it is surprising that the ending
Narrator (speaker), The Important Person
should contain someone learning a positive moral lesson.
Related Themes: On the other hand, it is also true that many things remain
unresolved––the fate of Akaky's ghost is unclear, and at the
Related Symbols: very end of the story a second ghost is introduced, whose
role within the overall narrative is somewhat perplexing.
Page Number: 172 Nonetheless, the Important Person's change of heart
emphasizes that even the most meaningless life might hold
Explanation and Analysis some meaning (even if that meaning comes only in other
After Akaky's death, people have begun reporting seeing his people's interpretation of it).
ghost on the Kalinkin bridge, stealing people's overcoats as

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SUMMARY AND ANAL

ANALYSIS
YSIS
The color-coded icons under each analysis entry make it easy to track where the themes occur most prominently throughout the
work. Each icon corresponds to one of the themes explained in the Themes section of this LitChart.

THE OVERCOAT
At the start of the story, the Narrator stops himself from The Narrator’s unwillingness to disclose the full details of his tale
naming the department in which Akaky Akakievich, the main establishes a background of secrecy and fear, but also of scorn and
character in his tale, worked. The Narrator decides that it is mockery for the over-sensitive, self-important members of the
better to avoid mentioning too many details, as he is worried Russian bureaucracy. We also start to get a sense of the Narrator’s
about offending a sensitive official or other bureaucrat. He voice, which starts off here with a tone of the comic and absurd. The
comments that these days, every Russian citizen believes the romantic novel emphasizes the ridiculousness of the police
whole state to be insulted when he himself is. He cites a recent inspector’s complaint, implying that he has a fantastic and
incident in which a police inspector complained that the delusional opinion of himself.
Russian government was riddled with problems, and that
people were maligning his name. As evidence the inspector
supplied an extremely long romantic novel in which a police
inspector often appears, sometimes in a drunken state.

The Narrator then goes on to introduce Akaky Akakievich as a Gogol starts off by painting a very unimpressive picture of Akaky
civil servant in a “certain department” in St. Petersburg. He is a Akakievich, and throughout the story he will test our ability to
short man with unmemorable, unattractive features. The empathize with this pathetic character. The fact that Akaky’s family
Narrator jokes that his official title is “eternal titular counsellor.” name is derived from the word “shoe” and that his mother thought it
His family name, Bashmachkin, comes from the word bashmak, was fate to name her son “Akaky Akakievich”—an absurd name that
meaning ‘shoe’. The Narrator assures the reader that Akaky literally means “mild or inoffensive,” and may also refer to the
Akakievich’s name may seem strange, but that it was impossible Russian word for excrement—forcefully introduces the idea that
for him to be given any other name. The Narrator explains the one’s social status is tied to one’s success in life. It’s suggested that
circumstances of Akaky Akakievich’s birth. He is born on March since the moment of his birth, Akaky has had no choice but to be an
22, and his mother, needing to come up with an appropriate insignificant, low-ranking government worker.
name for the baby, rejects many proposals and finally names
him after his father Akaky, sensing that this is fate. During the
christening, baby Akaky grimaces, as though foreseeing the dull
life ahead of him.

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The Narrator claims that no one remembers how Akaky Akaky’s constant presence in his department establishes how little
Akakievich was appointed to his specific department. social mobility he has, and his job as a copyist emphasizes the dull,
Nevertheless, Akaky is a constant presence there—however repetitive nature of his work and life. It also implies that Akaky
much the department changes directors, Akaky is always “in himself is easily replaceable—he is merely a cog in the Russian
precisely the same place, sitting in exactly the same position, bureaucracy. That Akaky works diligently at his copying and rarely
doing exactly the same work—just routine copying, plain and interacts with his peers suggests that Akaky has little
simple.” No one respects Akaky in the department, and he personality—that he is perhaps a kind of machine, or a non-entity.
barely has any civil interactions with his peers. While the But when Akaky finally “snaps” and protests against the mockery of
younger clerks constantly make fun of him, Akaky usually does the younger officials, the reader realizes that even though Akaky
not let it affect his work. He always copies his documents seems so pathetic and uninteresting, he is still a human being, a
diligently and carefully. But at certain moments when the “brother.” The young official, who is haunted by the memory of
younger officials go too far, Akaky shouts at them to leave him Akaky’s mistreatment, personifies this reaction, and the suddenly
alone. The Narrator says that once, a young official new to the poignant scene marks the story’s transition from a rather
office was so moved to pity that he would remember Akaky’s straightforward satirical tale to a more complex kind of
exclamations long after, hearing in his voice the words “I am tragicomedy.
your brother.” Each time he remembers Akaky, the young man
is filled with shame at the brutality and inhumanity of man.

Akaky loves his job as a copyist so much that he makes it his Akaky’s love for his boring job may strike the reader as bizarre, but
entire life. He takes joy in reading different documents and by vividly describing Akaky’s enjoyment of copying, Gogol
carefully copying each letter. But he is never promoted—once, a challenges our assumption that Akaky himself, like his work, is
director who wished to reward Akaky for his hard work mechanistic and emotionless. Instead, Gogol proposes that it is
ordered him to add a few small changes to a document, but possible to find joy in any type of labor one undertakes—even as he
Akaky grew nervous and requested to copy something instead. also goes back to briefly portraying Akaky as a kind of caricature.
After this incident, no one offered to promote Akaky again. The Narrator then immediately turns around and mocks Akaky for
Beyond copying, the Narrator says, “nothing else existed as far neglecting every other aspect of his life—his clothes, food, social life,
as he was concerned.” Akaky neglects his appearance and never and immediate surroundings. Akaky’s love for his work contributes
pays attention to what is happening around him. He never to his complete ignorance of his own social situation (not to
notices the taste of his food, and after he returns home and has mention his lack of any spiritual, intellectual, or romantic
dinner, he continues copying papers that he brought from personality), so he is unable to reflect on his lot in life, and therefore
work. At times when his fellow officials are socializing at the unable to take action to improve it.
theater, or a dinner parties, Akaky is at home, writing and
looking forward to the next day’s copying.

The Narrator says that Akaky is “perfectly happy with his lot,” Gogol criticizes the Russian government for paying its civil servants
but that St. Petersburg harbors a major obstacle to those who a low salary on which they can barely survive. Akaky’s old, worn
make the low salary of four hundred rubles per year—the overcoat becomes a symbol for the government’s inability to
northern cold. Akaky, after being punished by this cold, decides provide basic needs to its impoverished citizens—even those who
that it is time for him to get a new overcoat. Akaky’s current work constantly like Akaky. This also introduces the theme of the
coat has been the butt of many jokes in his department, as it is importance of material goods. At the most basic level, Akaky needs
ugly, thin, and tattered. The clerk decides to take the coat to the “commodity” of the overcoat just to be able to survive and
Petrovich, the tailor, to get it repaired. In an aside, the Narrator continue working.
describes Petrovich as a decent tailor, but a heavy drinker.
When Akaky arrives at Petrovich’s room, the tailor is angrily
trying to thread a needle.

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Akaky, noting that Petrovich appears to be sober, is worried In this scene, the snuffbox with the faceless general may be an
that he will not be able to bargain as effectively. He begins image of the Russian bureaucracy’s powerful influence on its
nervously, unable to complete his sentence. Petrovich takes his citizens, as well as its essentially inhuman nature. Following this
coat and examines it. After some time, he shakes his head and logic, it may also be that Petrovich has covered the general’s face
declares it impossible to mend. He insists that Akaky must have himself as a petty kind of rebellious act. The snuffbox is also Gogol’s
a new coat. The tailor’s statement troubles Akaky, because he subtle commentary on the artificiality of self-presentation: the
has no money for a new coat. Feeling dizzy, he focuses on the square covering the general’s face is a kind of mask. Throughout the
image of a general on Petrovich’s snuffbox. A square piece of story, Gogol criticizes various characters for only caring about their
paper has been pasted onto where the general’s face should be. appearances, shirking their real duties and even basic virtues to
Petrovich tells Akaky that a new coat will cost him a hundred instead focus only on appearing important and powerful.
fifty rubles. Akaky, after first traveling in the wrong direction,
returns home in a daze.

Akaky resolves to return to Petrovich on Sunday morning to try Gogol emphasizes how poor Akaky Akakievich is. It seems that the
to bargain for his coat. When he visits the tailor again, he hands clerk is always trying to catch up with himself—whenever he comes
Petrovich a ten-copeck piece and asks him once again to mend into some extra money, he must use it to pay off his debts. This
his coat. The tailor thanks him for the money, but insists that suggests the immense difficulty of trying to improve one’s social
Akaky needs a completely new coat. Akaky, discouraged, status and standard of living in Gogol’s society. It is especially
wonders where he will get the money to pay for the brand new troubling that Akaky is not even at the lowest rung of the Russian
garment. Even if the director gives him a generous Christmas government—the title of titular counsellor belonged to the ninth of
bonus of forty or fifty rubles, he already owes most of it to fourteen bureaucratic ranks—so we can only imagine how his
paying off debts he has accrued. He knows that Petrovich inferiors manage to survive the cold.
might agree to make an overcoat for as little as eighty rubles.
Akaky has saved up about forty rubles over the course of
several years, but he does not know where he will get the other
half.

Akaky resolves to deprive himself of many of his ordinary The overcoat enriches Akaky’s life before he even gets to wear it. His
expenses. He stops drinking tea at night, burns no candles, goal, to save up money in order to purchase the coat, gives him a
walks lightly so as not to wear out his shoes, and goes hungry at new sense of purpose, a reason to live beyond the drudgery of his
night. The Narrator notes that Akaky’s spirit begins to change. copying. Here, Gogol emphasizes the value of material goods not
With the goal of purchasing a new overcoat in mind, he only for basic human survival, but also for emotional and spiritual
becomes livelier and more decisive. His existence becomes wellbeing. His comparison of the coat to a wife also illustrates the
“richer, as though he had married and another human being sense of comfort and safety that the garment will bring, and
was by his side.” Akaky receives a surprise when his department introduces another level of interpretation to the symbol of the
director awards him a bonus of sixty rubles. After three more overcoat—the coat as a kind of stand-in for a spouse or for sexuality
months of saving up, Akaky has the eighty rubles he needs. He itself in Akaky’s life.
and Petrovich go shopping for supplies: they purchase good
quality cloth and fur at reasonable prices.

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Petrovich works on the overcoat for two weeks and charges Petrovich’s pride in creating the overcoat is evident as he hand-
twelve rubles for the job, the lowest price possible. The delivers it to Akaky’s home. The tailor distinguishes himself from
Narrator states that it was probably the most triumphant day other tailors who only repair clothing, and who don’t possess the
of Akaky’s life when Petrovich personally delivers the overcoat skill to make a completely new garment. Petrovich’s ability to create
to his home. The coat arrives just in time, for an extreme cold an original work contrasts with Akaky’s inability to do anything but
has taken over St. Petersburg. Petrovich proudly displays the copy documents. Here Gogol makes an argument for the value of
coat, which he made from scratch, to Akaky and helps the clerk art (which is another kind of “material good,” and arguably the most
put it on. It fits perfectly. The tailor declares that it is only “elevated” kind) to give new meaning to life, and he consequently
because he works on a small street and has known Akaky for so adds another layer of symbolism to the overcoat itself. But Gogol’s
long that he made the coat so cheaply. Akaky pays and thanks description of Petrovich’s solemnity may also make us laugh—it is
Petrovich and sets off for work. Petrovich follows him, meant to be both poignant and comical that a new overcoat has
watching the coat move off in the distance, and then he runs such a significant impact on these characters.
through a side street so that he can catch a glimpse of Akaky
and his overcoat from the front.

At his department, everyone congratulates Akaky on his new Gogol draws attention to how differently Akaky’s coworkers treat
overcoat. They insist that the event must be celebrated, and him when they hear about his new overcoat—indeed, the change in
that Akaky must host an evening party. Akaky is extremely their behavior is ridiculously exaggerated. This material possession
embarrassed until a higher-ranking civil servant, an assistant immediately raises Akaky’s status in the department, and highlights
head clerk, offers to host the party instead, and invites the idea that people only care about outward appearances. At the
everyone to tea that night. The other officials accept his same time, the coat opens up a whole new dimension of experience
invitation, and pressure Akaky to come as well. Akaky passes for Akaky: suddenly he has a social life, and goes out at night for the
the rest of the day in a very good mood. Upon returning home, first time in years. Gogol repeatedly draws out the absurdity of
he compares his new cloak to his old one, laughing at the social interactions—they are based on the most superficial self-
difference. After dinner he does not do any copying, but instead presentation, but they are also an important element of a fulfilling
rests until dark, and then heads to the evening party. The life.
Narrator does not remember where the party took place, but
asserts that the assistant head clerk lived in a wealthy part of
the city, far away from Akaky’s home. Akaky must pass through
a dimly lit neighborhood before arriving at the bright, lively
streets of the assistant head clerk’s district.

Akaky gazes with awe upon the high society populating the The picture of the beautiful woman introduces a level of sexuality to
streets around him. He has not been out at night in years. He Akaky’s life. In contrast to the beginning of the story, in which Akaky
looks into a shop window and sees a picture of a beautiful barely noticed his surroundings, we now see him paying attention to
woman displaying a naked foot, as behind her, a man looks at things beyond his work. The overcoat has not only raised his social
her through a doorway. Akaky laughs and walks on. The status, but has also introduced him to new ways of relating to the
Narrator speculates about why Akaky laughed in that moment: world. The coat has arguably contributed to him “growing
perhaps it was because he had encountered something up”—becoming more of a complete human adult, which includes a
unknown, or, like other officials, he was amused by French recognition of his sexuality.
customs, or else he was not thinking about anything in
particular.

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Akaky reaches the assistant head clerk’s apartment and hangs Even though the overcoat has raised his reputation among his
up his overcoat. He enters the main room and is greeted by a fellow civil servants, this passage shows that Akaky’s social standing
bustling scene full of officials, card tables, and conversation. is still very limited. The coat impresses his coworkers, but Akaky is
Akaky is unsure of how he should behave, but his fellow clerks still an outsider in their social scene, and he lacks the conversation
greet him happily and crowd into the anteroom to look at his skills (and, presumably, the inflated ego) to fit in. And though the
cloak once more. Akaky is overjoyed by their compliments, but other officials are friendly to Akaky and courage him to stay, Gogol
soon after this, the officials return to their card games, leaving implies that they do not truly care about the clerk. His overcoat gets
Akaky alone. Feeling awkward and overwhelmed, Akaky sits knocked to the floor, and no one notices when he leaves. As hard as
down in a stupor. He is tired and wants to leave, but his peers he has tried, Akaky remains insignificant.
push him to drink champagne. Akaky feels better after having a
drink, but as it is midnight, he decides to sneak out of the party.
To his dismay, he finds his overcoat is lying on the floor of the
anteroom. Akaky picks it up, brushes it off, and leaves the
apartment.

Akaky leaves the party feeling happy. In a flight of fancy, he runs Again, we see Akaky behaving uncharacteristically with his new
after a lady who passes him on the street, but then immediately overcoat. Whereas before he was only comfortable living according
stops and again walks quietly down the street, unsure of why to his strict routine, unable to make even simple changes to
he was running. The streets grow deserted and dark. The documents, now he acts spontaneously and even pursues a sexual
festive neighborhood he was in transitions into a poorer or romantic feeling on a whim. He is on the verge of realizing that he
district of low houses and dim lamps. He enters an empty has inner desires separate from his boring labor, even if he can’t
square, in the middle of which is a watchman’s box. Akaky properly comprehend what these ideas are. The tragic loss of his
suddenly feels afraid as he enters the square. He closes his overcoat, then, once again exposes Akaky as a helpless,
eyes, wishing to pass through as quickly as possible. When he impoverished man. The overcoat seemed to give Akaky a sense of
opens his eyes, he is suddenly standing in front of two bearded purpose and value in life, and even to make him into a more
men. One of the thieves grabs his overcoat. Akaky is about to complete human being, but now that has been snatched away from
shout for help, but then the other thief threatens to hit him. him. We cannot help feeling that this was fated to happen all along.
The men take his cloak and push him to the ground, and Akaky
loses consciousness.

When he recovers, Akaky runs to the watchman in the middle It is clear how little the watchman cares about Akaky, and how little
of the square. Sobbing, he shouts at the watchman for his duties as a police officer matter to him. The fact that the
completely ignoring his robbery. The watchman replies that he watchman turns a blind eye to Akaky’s crime is representative of the
saw two men stop him in the square, but supposed that they Russian bureaucracy’s negligence of the rampant corruption within
were friends. He recommends that Akaky report the robbery its own ranks. Gogol illustrates the superficiality of self-presentation
to the police in the morning. Akaky returns home covered in once again when Akaky’s landlady recommends that he see the
snow, a complete mess. He knocks on his door, and his landlady Superintendent, and her only reasons to trust him are the fact that
answers. She is shocked to see him in this state, and, upon he goes to church and seems like a nice man.
hearing his story, tells him to go directly to the District Police
Superintendent, as the local police officers will be sure to
ignore or cheat him. The landlady believes the Superintendent
to be a good man, since he goes to church every Sunday and
gives everybody a friendly smile. With that, Akaky goes to his
room.

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The next morning, Akaky goes to the Superintendent’s house, The corrupt and unwieldy nature of the bureaucracy is further
but is told that the Superintendent is asleep. Akaky returns at exposed in this scene, as the clerks do not respond to Akaky’s
ten, but the official is apparently still in bed. At eleven, he is demands until he pretends to be an important government official.
informed that Superintendent is not at home. He returns in the The Superintendent’s reaction to Akaky’s story is also telling.
evening, but the official’s clerks refuse to allow him into the Akaky’s low social status clearly influences the way he is treated: the
anteroom. Akaky stubbornly says that he must see the Superintendent does not treat him like the victim of a crime—rather,
Superintendent in person, and that he has come from a he treats the clerk as if he were the criminal. The unprofessional
government department in an official capacity. The clerks manner in which Akaky’s case is handled is due to his complete lack
finally allow him to see the Superintendent. Upon hearing of social or political power in this system. The members of the
Akaky’s story, the Superintendent begins to interrogate Akaky bureaucracy have been trained to value status above all else, and
instead of focusing on the crime committed. Why did Akaky they neglect basic human decency in their attempts to make
return home so late? Was he doing anything illicit that night? themselves seem more important.
Akaky, bewildered, leaves without securing the
Superintendent’s assistance.

That day, Akaky does not go to his department, but he shows up Akaky’s popularity in his department is short-lived indeed, as it
to work the following morning in his old overcoat. The news of seemingly depended entirely upon his overcoat—now he is back to
his stolen coat has spread around the department, and while being as insignificant as ever. The clerk’s advice to Akaky
many pity him, some still make fun of him. They throw together emphasizes that in order to achieve anything in Russia’s
a small sum of money for Akaky. One of the clerks, genuinely government, one has to have powerful connections that can
wishing to help, advises him not to go to the police: even if a influence things from above. The inefficiency of the bureaucracy
police officer found the cloak, it would remain in police custody encourages bribery and other forms of corruption.
unless Akaky could provide legal proof that he was the coat’s
owner. Instead, Akaky should appeal to “a certain Important
Person” who could truly influence the situation.

Akaky decides to seek the help of the Important Person. The Gogol’s use of the vague phrases “Important Person” and
Narrator states that the official title of this Important Person is “unimportant person” raises questions about the value of this
not known. We do know, however, that this individual only government official, and further satirizes just what is regarded as
recently became an Important Person, and up until then he had “important” in such an absurd hierarchy. How do we know that this
been “an unimportant person.” The Important Person increases man is truly important if we don’t even know what he does? And
his importance by enforcing strict etiquette amongst his what made him suddenly go from “unimportant” to “important?”
subordinates. Reports must travel through the appropriate Gogol implies that these high-ranking government positions are less
channels, passing through several bureaucratic stages before impressive than they seem, and that the promotions that officials
reaching him. The Narrator comments that all of Russia’s receive are to a large extent arbitrary. Perhaps because of the
bureaucracy functions in this way, with every man imitating his tenuous and arbitrary nature of his “importance,” the Important
immediate superior. The Important Person, the Narrator Person feels the need to reinforce his position by enforcing strict
continues, has grand and exaggerated mannerisms. His bureaucratic procedure. His subordinates, also wishing to seem
conversations are mainly comprised of three phrases: “How important, do the same. Nothing about their actual jobs is
dare you?” “Do you know who you’re talking to?” and “Do you mentioned: the bureaucrats Gogol depicts are only concerned with
realize who’s standing before you?” While he is fundamentally a looking like they are doing something important.
kind person, his rank confuses his behavior. When
communicating with people of a lower rank he usually falls
silent, unsure of how interacting with his inferiors will affect his
reputation.

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When Akaky visits the Important Person, the official is chatting Again, we see that this government official is more interested in
with an old friend, and uses Akaky’s arrival to demonstrate his seeming important and enforcing the bureaucratic hierarchy to
own importance. The Important Person tells his secretary that maintain his status than actually listening to Akaky’s story, or even
Akaky can wait, just to show his friend how long people have to regarding Akaky as a fellow human being. When Akaky tells the
wait in his anteroom. After some time, he summons Akaky and truth, saying that low-ranked bureaucrats are unreliable and
addresses him rudely. Akaky tongue-tied, attempts to explain ineffective, the Important Person takes that as a personal
that his overcoat has been stolen and that he is seeking the offence—as if he is a representative of the bureaucracy itself. Once
official’s help. Offended by the inferior clerk’s familiarity, the again, the fact that Akaky has no real power or status means that no
Important Person tells Akaky that he should have gone through one will care enough to help him. As Gogol describes it, the
the proper bureaucratic channels. Akaky tells him that he Important Person doesn’t mean to be cruel, he is just acting the way
believes secretaries to be “a rather unreliable lot.” The he thinks he ought to for someone of his position.
Important Person, outraged, laments the impertinence of the
younger generation of officials, even though Akaky is already in
his fifties. The Important Person yells at Akaky until he
stumbles out of the office, feeling faint.

Akaky, feeling numb, walks home in a snowstorm. The next day, The importance of basic material goods once again comes to the
he is overtaken by a fever. His sickness intensifies quickly, and fore as Akaky succumbs to illness. Akaky’s poverty will even affect
when a doctor sees him, he declares Akaky to be incurable. The him after death, as he will have to be buried in the cheapest possible
doctor tells the landlady to order a cheap coffin, as Akaky will coffin. Akaky’s cursing just before his death suggests his repressed
be unable to afford a more expensive one. The Narrator anger regarding his maltreatment and the injustice of his life, and
wonders whether or not Akaky heard the doctor proclaim his foreshadows his revenge on the Important Person in the form of a
death. We do not know, he says, because Akaky is at that ghost.
moment delirious. Akaky sees visions of Petrovich, the thieves,
and his old overcoat. In his delirium, he apologizes to the
Important Person, but then begins to curse. His voice descends
into nonsensical phrases revolving around his overcoat.

Akaky finally dies and is buried. No one takes an inventory of In both life and death, Akaky is barely noticed, and barely
his possessions, as he has no heirs and has almost nothing to acknowledged by anyone (even, seemingly, the Narrator) as a fellow
pass on. St. Petersburg carries on, the Narrator remarks, as if human being. It is both tragic and comic that the highlight of the
Akaky had never existed. He was not interesting as a person or clerk’s life is the purchase of a new overcoat—that is how mundane
as an object of study. He was completely mediocre, though and pathetic Akaky’s existence is. The fact that Akaky’s department
toward the end of his life, his new overcoat “suddenly does not notice that he has died until several days later further
appeared, brightening his wretched life for one fleeing emphasizes his insignificance, and their ability to replace him the
moment….” Several days after his death, Akaky’s department next day reminds us that in the bureaucracy’s eyes, a copyist’s life is
sends a porter to his house to investigate his whereabouts. completely replaceable.
After learning that he has died, his department replaces him
the next day with a new official with slightly different
handwriting.

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Soon after Akaky’s death, a rumor spreads through the city that The story now takes a fantastical twist, as Akaky’s ghost returns to
a ghost has been appearing on the Kalinkin Bridge seeking a the mortal world, seeking revenge on those who have wronged him.
stolen overcoat and stripping the cloak off of every man who By stealing their overcoats, he subjects them to the same pain that
passes. One official recognizes the dead man as Akaky he suffered—social humiliation and exposure to the cruel St.
Akakievich. Reports come in from officials of all ranks that their Petersburg cold. It is ironic that Akaky has much more power in
coats have been stolen and that they have been exposed to the death than in life, and he also seems to have a much more forceful
bitter cold of St. Petersburg. Police almost succeed in capturing will—it’s impossible to imagine the living Akaky confronting superior
the ghost: in one episode, a policeman caught Akaky in the act officials and stealing from them. As usual, there is an element of the
of stealing a cloak and ordered two of his comrades to hold comic and the absurd in Gogol’s description—Akaky’s ghost is
Akaky while he took some snuff. But as the policeman opened somehow both a physical corpse and a supernatural spirit, a
his snuffbox, the ghost sneezed and filled all three policemen’s presence both mundane and frightening.
eyes with powder. Then he vanished. After that, Akaky’s ghost
begins to appear even beyond the Kalinkin Bridge, terrorizing
everyone around him.

The Narrator turns our attention back to the Important Person. The Important Person shakes off his guilt regarding his dismissal of
He notes that after kicking Akaky out of his office, the Akaky with relative ease. Gogol highlights the fact that his high rank
Important Person felt guilty, and thought of the clerk has a powerful impact on the man’s behavior, as he only feels like he
frequently afterwards. A week later, he sends an official to can be “himself” when he is among officials of his rank. For the
Akaky’s house to see if he can help, and is troubled to learn that Important Person, every aspect of life is meant to uphold and
the man is dead. Hoping to distract himself, the Important reinforce his “importance”—he even has a mistress just because
Person goes to a party at a friend’s house that evening. that’s what is fashionable for high-ranking officials. The
Everyone there is the same rank as he, so he feels completely arbitrariness of what makes him “important” (especially when he
unconstrained and has a wonderful time. At the end of the was recently “unimportant”) only highlights the unfairness of
evening he decides not to go home, but to instead visit a female Akaky’s life, as the Important Person’s lavish and immoral lifestyle
friend of his. The Narrator mentions that the official is a good provides a stark contrast to Akaky’s life of discipline, poverty, and
husband and father, but despite the fact that he is satisfied by suffering.
his family life, he still wants to have a mistress. The Important
Person steps into his sledge and instructs the coachman to take
him to his mistress’s. He reflects happily on the events of the
evening, though his thoughts are interrupted occasionally by
the cold wind.

Suddenly, the Important Person feels a hand on his collar. He The Important Person, while he feels guilty about Akaky’s death,
turns around and sees a short man in an old uniform—Akaky only truly changes when he faces the clerk’s ghost. Gogol suggests
Akakievich. The ghost is very pale. Akaky opens his putrid- that those in power must see their “inferiors” as human beings with
smelling mouth and demands that the official give up his value and dignity—and not just after they’ve died. The young
overcoat. The Important Person, absolutely horrified, throws official’s revelation at the beginning of the story seems to come back
his cloak at Akaky and commands his coachman to drive him and strike the Important Person now, becoming a kind of “moral” for
home as quickly as possible. The next morning, the Important the story. People can be horribly cruel to one another, especially
Person’s daughter comments that he looks very pale. The through systems of dehumanization or oppression, and it’s crucial
official does not answer, and does not tell anyone what to recognize that we are all, at heart, “brothers.”
happened to him that night. The event affects him deeply,
however, and he begins to behave more modestly, treating his
subordinates with more respect. From that day on, Akaky’s
ghost is not seen again, though many claim that he still appears
in the outskirts of St. Petersburg.

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The Narrator mentions that in one instance, a watchman in The existence of another ghost suggests that there are individuals
Kolomna saw a ghost come from behind a house. He dared not other than Akaky who have been wronged by their superiors in
arrest it, but followed it until the ghost turned around, raising a Tsarist Russia. This ghost’s great strength (and apparent virile
large fist, and asked, “What do you want?” The watchman masculinity), illustrated by his large fist and mustache, may imply
turned away immediately. But, the Narrator says, this ghost that the power of the oppressed is growing. At the same time, this
was too tall to be Akaky. It wore a large mustache, and went off final scene also shows Gogol veering off into the absurd again,
toward the Obukhoff Bridge. leaving behind his protagonist and avoiding a neat conclusion to the
story of one insignificant clerk in St. Petersburg. Akaky fades away
and life goes on, in all its strangeness and absurdity.

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To cite any of the quotes from The Overcoat covered in the Quotes
HOW T
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O CITE section of this LitChart:
To cite this LitChart: MLA
MLA Gogol, Nikolai. The Overcoat. Penguin Classics. 2006.
Hong, Kevin. "The Overcoat." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 16 Mar CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
2016. Web. 21 Apr 2020.
Gogol, Nikolai. The Overcoat. New York: Penguin Classics. 2006.
CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
Hong, Kevin. "The Overcoat." LitCharts LLC, March 16, 2016.
Retrieved April 21, 2020. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-
overcoat.

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