The Overcoat"-Figurative language/Imagery
Imagery is defined as sensory details that provide vividness and immediacy in a literary work byarousing in readers a complex of emotional associations. Figurative language is a non-literal wayto express a suitable relationship between essentially unlike things. Tone is an author's attitudetoward his or her subject matter and audience. In "The Overcoat", Nikolai Gogol uses figurativelanguage, imagery and tone to convey to readers the corruption of government and society at that Gogol uses figurative language and imagery to emphasize the corruption of government inRussia then. He shows this by using extremely detailed descriptions. An example of hisdescriptions is when he is first illustrating Akaky's overcoat and says, "His frock coat, which wassupposed to be green, had turned a sort of mealy reddish. It's collar was very low and verynarrow, so that his neck, which was really quite ordinary, looked incredibly long --like the springnecks of the head-shaking plaster kittens..." (634). The image of how bad poverty strickenRussian life was in Gogol's time is often repeated throughout the story. Another example of
This extreme cold is also an image of thepeople of Russia through the narrator's eyes. The first, and probablymost obvious, is satiric of the government and high society members. Another sarcastic note that was found in the story is when the narrator is talking about theimportant personage thinking he is better than everyone else, and treating them like they are notworthy to talk to him. They want nothingto do with Akaky until he gets an attractive, expensive new overcoat. He conveys what it really was like to live in poverty at that particular time in Russianhistory. The second tone found in "The Overcoat" is fearfulness. Gogol also describes the coldness of winter. By adding this small detail to aparagraph he discloses a sense of fear of speaking his opinion of the subject too loudly. Everywhere Akaky went for help he was turned down or ignored. Itwas foreshadowing what would become of Akaky. Obviously the government officials or so-called important people did nothing to stop theinjustice of this act. the wickedness of man toward manand all the cruelty and vulgarity which are concealed under refined manners" (633). This is seen when thenarrator talks about Akaky's coworkers and the obvious shallowness of them.
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Acceptance Essays
