Discuss four styles present in Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol.

The first part of the book is told from the point of the view of the narrator. It seems to be an omniscient third person view, but the narrator also puts his own opinions in the book. He also hides things from the reader. Normally this omniscient view gives the reader the opportunity to know everything, but because the narrator is so enamored with Tchitchikov, he decides to hide his ill characteristics and only tell the reader about how much of a hero Tchitchikov is.

The story is for the most part told through the narrator's descriptions of the characters and their actions. While there is dialog, it seems to take a backseat to the narrator's voice. The reader, however, does get a glimpse of each character's thoughts because of the omniscient view. As Tchitchikov is conducting his deals to buy souls from different landowners, the reader can tell Tchitchikov is somewhat phony. He presents a calm, pleasant, and kind outward disposition but is also thinking discourteous or rude things about the person to whom he is talking.

In the second part of the book, there is also an omniscient third person point of view, but it is unbiased because the narrator has vanished. This is where the reader leans more about the Tchitchikov who has stolen from others and plotted to steal, lie and cheat to get ahead in life.

Gogol's language is somewhat straightforward. But the reader must question if this is because of the translation. Because the book was originally written in Russian, for English readers, it has been translated in different time periods as well as by different translators. This can have an effect on the language of the book. Depending on the translation, different words and descriptions are used, which can elicit a different response from the original work.

Even with these obstacles, the reader can tell that the writing style is satirical and that Gogol has tried to show Russian life through huge generalities and specific examples of people in one social group. Gogol does an excellent job of describing each of the landowners. The reader feels as though they have met these larger-than-life personalities.

In this translation, the writing style can be hard to follow. The narrator chooses to give so much detail that it is sometimes hard for the reader to understand. At times, the description seems unnecessary. Take for instance, the very long description of Andrey. Tchitchikov only stays with him for a short while, so the description of his life story seems trivial and unnecessary.