The Nose features a twisted ending which is hard to conclude on what exactly happened. The narrator here tries to convince us that social rank plays an important part in determining a person’s life. The events of the story indicate that appearance was important for a man with a high rank. The value of fellow government official’s opinions is very high as Kovalyov says, “If the major doesn’t split his sides when he sees me, then everything is in the right place. (Gogol, 21).” At this point, he refers to a fellow collegiate assessor he was paying a visit to after the reappearance of his nose. In this text, therefore, it is necessary to analyze the theme of social rank in “The Nose.”
From the start to the end, it can be deduced that the …show more content…
Kovalyov’s belief that Alexandra had sought to use black magic to convince him to propose to her daughter is bemusing. He was determined to link pieces of his life story together to come up with a logical explanation for the disappearance of his nose. He had refused to get married claiming to be too young to find a wife. Instead, he preferred using his social status and government rank to find himself beautiful ladies and invite them to his place. Without his nose, he was confident that such would not be possible …show more content…
The confusion and mystery are fuelled further by the author stating the inconsistencies within the text. For instance, Gogol probes the question, “how did the nose manage to turn up in a loaf of bread, and how did Ivan Yakovlevich …? (22)” This statement illustrates the lack of a proper conclusion and also shows that the story was absurd from start to finish. Not even the author could justify the storyline due to the deeper interpretation required. All in all, The Nose serves as a definition of high social status and its importance to Kovalyov is undoubted. He states that it would have been better to lose an arm or a leg because losing a nose is a bigger disability. As he says, “A man without a nose, though, is God knows what, neither fish nor fowl. Just something to be thrown out of the window (13).” This is an indication of how the public perception was essential to him. Once he got his nose back miraculously, he confidently walked around the streets without being bothered by the rumors. Instead, he embraced the nose because its value became visible at the moment he did not have