Dead Souls

After a week in town, Chichikov resolves to pay social calls to the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. The narrator informs us that the reader will learn about Chichikov’s goals “when the time is right” (295).

The narrator believes that we should learn about Chichikov’s servants, Selifan and Petrushka, despite their relatively minor importance to the story. Petrushka likes to read voraciously, and his master constantly remarks on his body odor, to no avail. Here, the narrator suddenly expresses anxiety about spending time on characters of lower rank, and that perhaps Chichikov’s own rank is not distinctive enough to justify this narrative. Instead of describing Selifan, we hear about the journey, including road conditions.

Upon arrival, Chichikov immediately counts the number of peasant cottages—presumably to confirm what he already knows about the estate’s size. Manilov greets Chichikov warmly; “his facial features were pleasant enough, but there seemed to be far too much sugar in their pleasantness. His manners and turns of phrase had something fawning about them, as if he were anxious to be liked and befriended” (384-85). Manilov has no definitive interests, spends time reading books he never finishes, does not work hard on his estate, and frequently gets distracted from estate improvement projects. His house is sparsely furnished owing to his distractibility. Manilov’s wife similarly neglects household management, and the two are happily married.

Manilov’s behavior with Chichikov emphasizes his pleasant, but fundamentally indecisive nature. Manilov refuses to enter any room before his guest, while Chichikov, for his part, refuses to walk ahead of his host. The two of them, then, comically enter rooms pressed against one another. Manilov’s wife expresses her joy at Chichikov’s arrival, and all parties engage in mutual gushing about the town and its officials. Manilov is content to live in the country, though he also waxes lyrical at the idea of living near a dear friend with whom he could converse. He praises Chichikov as just such an interlocutor, and their mutual admiration only stops when a servant announces dinner is ready. At dinner, Chichikov meets Manilov’s children. Manilov goes into raptures when his elder son names Russia’s capitals, and Chichikov agrees this might well mean the boy is headed for a diplomatic career.

Chichikov and Manilov retire to the latter’s study so that they can discuss business. After Manilov summons his estate manager, Chichikov asks for a complete accounting of the number of peasants who have died since the last census.

At last, Chichikov explains his unconventional project of buying serfs that exist only on paper: “I mean to acquire dead peasants still listed in the census return as living” (584). Chichikov explains that all the purchase paperwork will be written as though the serfs were still alive. Stunned, Manilov asks him if he is certain that the transaction is legal and not harmful. Chichikov assures him that the undertaking is entirely moral, which satisfies Manilov.

Though the narrator will not explain this for many more chapters, Chichikov is taking advantage of the peculiarities of the Russian tax code. Owners pay taxes on the serfs they own, which are counted in the annual census, which means they must pay taxes on any serfs that have died since the last census. Chichikov wants to buy these legally existing dead serfs on the cheap (much more cheaply than actual living serfs would cost), so that he can mortgage them as property. He would thus be able to take out loans without having to actually buy, house, and feed living peasants.

Manilov does not understand Chichikov’s end game in buying the dead serfs, so he refuses any payment for them—getting rid of them will save Manilov taxes anyway. Chichikov thanks Manilov profusely and the two men embrace fervently, and Manilov gives Selifan directions to Sobakevich’s. Then, he returns to his study for more contemplation, first of his wonderful friendship with Chichikov, then of the strange request for dead peasants.

As he travels to Sobakevich’s, Chichikov is in a pleasant and cheerful mood because of his recent acquisition. The drunken coachman, too, is in a good mood. But everyone’s reverie is soon interrupted by the arrival of a big storm, and Selifan’s realization they have lost their way. They travel so far off the path that the barouche flips over on its side, and Selifan agrees with his master that he deserves a beating for his negligence.

They drive toward the sound of dogs barking and arrive at a strange estate, where they are met by the estate’s owner, an older lady, named Natasya Petrovna Korobochka, “minor landowning gentry, who weep over bad harvests and losses […] but nevertheless hoard their pennies in bags made of mattress ticking hidden in various chests of drawers” (782-84). This lady does not know any of Chichikov’s new acquaintances, and he is even further from town than he had expected. He surveys his surroundings, noting a lot of livestock, gardens, and peasants who seem to have a good standard of living.

Assessing her social rank, which the narrator assures us is a finely honed Russian skill, Chichikov speaks to her more casually than he had to Manilov. When she expresses hope he will buy some of her agricultural surplus, he asks about her dead peasants, and she laments that she must still pay taxes on them for the year following their deaths. He offers to buy the peasants, but she expresses deep doubts: “After all, I’ve never ever sold dead men before” (922). She does not know how to value whether his offer is reasonable, and is reluctant to sell serfs that are not alive.

Finally, when Chichikov angrily lies that he is a government subcontractor, she agrees, partly due to this invoking officialdom, and partly because of her superstitious nature and fear of the devil.

Chichikov turns to his precious carrying case, which the narrator describes precisely, down to the number of compartments. It contains all of his writing materials, paperwork for transactions, and secret stores of cash. Korobochka the invites Chichikov to large meal, including a sumptuous egg pie she prides herself on, and many thin crepes called blini.

He orders his carriage prepared and leaves.