Who's the Villain?

In most stories there’s a villain and a hero, or perhaps in this case just a protagonist. Clearly in this story, Akaky is the latter. It is not as clear to me who plays the villain. My original thoughts were that the very important person was the villain, or perhaps Akaky’s coworkers who bullied him, or perhaps the inhumanity of a majority of the characters in general. After rethinking it, I’ve concluded that perhaps the true villain in this story is the city, St. Petersburg. The city includes the buildings, the people, the climate and just the entire setting in general.

The clear division between rich and poor that exists defines the nature of the people who live there and the importance they place on class and status. The weather works to perpetuate this divide between wealth and poverty. The cold climate enhances the effects of poverty on the lower class. From the beginning of the story when Akaky’s appearance is described, we are told that there was "nothing we could do about it: it [was] all the fault of the St. Petersburg climate." From the start we can see the foreboding nature of St. Petersburg and the toll it takes on its inhabitants. We later learn that the climate is even more threatening due to his low income. The winter itself caused this entire chain of events to unfold. We know that the "there is in St. Petersburg a great enemy of all those who receive a salary of four hundred roubles a year" which is “none other than [the] northern frost” and the poor are "left utterly defenseless."

Even when Akaky has something to defend himself against the climate, the division in the city takes him far from his home to attend the clerk’s party. This provides the circumstances for his coat to be stolen and later for his walk in the cold. His home and neighborhood is described as dreary, dark and dangerous and the "immense square…that looked to him like a dreadful desert" that he must cross seems to foreshadow his fate. Even in death, he is ultimately left without aid, alone and wandering in the dark searching for a "glimmer of light" at the other end of this desert. The entire city in general seems out to get him even though he is nobody special. Oddly enough, his position as nobody special is a result of the hierarchy and nature of the city.