Sympathy is something that people have a hard time lending Akaky Akakyevich Bashmachkin, the tragic character in Nicolai Gogol’s The Overcoat. True, Akaky’s mundane personality seems to be a perfect fit for his mundane life, but there is obviously something greater, something not explained in the short story, that is afflicting his personality.
Akaky’s life seems to be centralized on one thing at all times. The problem with this story is that that one thing always seems to bring him joy, whether it is his dull job or his brand new overcoat. This is why people have a hard time feeling sorry for Akaky in the least bit. Clearly, his obsessive characteristics are unhealthy – no one should be that focused on one thing at all times. And it is almost as if Akaky doesn’t really care for his obsessions – he just uses them to pass the time. This is demonstrated in his actions after he buys his overcoat. Instead of going home after work and continue working like he normally did, he simply “enjoyed his dinner immensely and did no copying at all afterwards.”
But then again, I never lived nor was I raised in the same conditions as Akaky. I have never had to eat cabbage soup, live off of 400 roubles a year, nor was I predestined to live the same exact life as my father. I was given so many opportunities and was always encouraged to excel. Although I am forever grateful for this, Akaky seems even more so, because of his discrete, yet powerful faith in God. So its not just good fortune that can drive someone to religion. In Akaky’s case, it was receiving “whatever Providence happened to send at the time, flies and all” that gave him such strong convictions.
And this is what it all comes down to – just having the bare necessities to be alive and healthy is enough to be happy. Unfortunately for Akaky, his personality had been far too damaged for him to realize that there are more important things in life than an overcoat.
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