The Overcoat · The Nose

These two Petersburg stories each follow a minor official whom the capital overwhelms. Akaky Akakievich, a copying clerk mocked by his colleagues, goes without for months to pay for the new overcoat that finally earns him some regard. Collegiate assessor Kovalyov wakes up with no nose, and soon meets the runaway organ in uniform and outranking him. Both tales explore the vanity of rank and the strangeness that shows through the paperwork. Gogol mixes farce with pity, making Petersburg a city where the absurd has the force of regulation.