Skaz

Before lecture the other day I had no idea about the term "Skaz". The professor described it as "a particularly oral form of narrative that uses dialect but doesn't use quotation marks." Instead the narrators words are just integrated into the text. Gogol's story clearly uses skaz, but I was curious about why he decided to write the story this way.

Even in the first line of the story, the narrator is using his own voice. "In the department.....but perhaps it is just as well not to say in which department." It is a very casual form of writing, and allows the author to make comments about all of his characters. I think Gogol wanted to use this form because it adds humor to his story. If the story was just describing this rather lame character whos only love in life is copying and his overcoat, I think the story would be rather dull. But by having a narrator make comments about Akaky, it allows the story to have more humor. Even when he first describes Akaky, it is clear how the narrator feels about him. He describes him as "a Civil Servant who cannot by any stretch of the imagination be described as in any way remarkable."It allows for an outside person to give their opinion and help guide the opinion of the reader. Especially by not having quotations, and by having the words integrated into the text, it gives the narrator a personality and a clear point of view.