The Overcoat II by T. Coraghessan Boyle
"The Overcoat II" by T. Coraghessan Boyle is a modern reinterpretation of Nikolai Gogol's classic short story, focusing on the life of Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin, a meek clerk in the Soviet bureaucracy. The narrative explores themes of social isolation, personal dignity, and the harsh realities of life under a repressive regime. Akaky is depicted as a man whose existence revolves around his work and the endless struggle for basic necessities, highlighting the absurdity and indifference of the bureaucratic system. His dissatisfaction primarily stems from his inadequate overcoat, prompting him to invest his meager savings into a luxurious new coat, which briefly elevates his status and self-esteem.
However, this newfound happiness is short-lived, as Akaky's coat is stolen, leading to a series of unfortunate events that culminate in his tragic demise due to neglect and illness. The story poignantly critiques the prevailing values of society, where personal worth is often overshadowed by material possessions and superficial judgments. Akaky's experiences reflect the broader human condition, emphasizing themes of empathy, loss, and the fleeting nature of happiness amidst societal indifference. Ultimately, the narrative serves as a reminder of how easily individuals can become casualties of a system that prioritizes conformity over compassion.
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The Overcoat II by T. Coraghessan Boyle
First published: 1982
Type of plot: Parody
Time of work: The 1980's
Locale: Moscow
Principal Characters:
Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin , a clerk in the Soviet bureaucracyPetrovich , a tailorStudniuk , a resident of Akaky's apartmentRodion Ivanovich Mishkin , Akaky's chess partnerZharyenoye , an inspector with the Security Police
The Story
Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin, an anonymous clerk in the Soviet bureaucracy, lives for his work, has no outside interests, has no time for anything but waiting in endless queues for items that may not even be available when his turn finally comes. Even though he shares a four-room apartment with fourteen others, the only dissatisfaction he finds with his life is the cheap, tattered overcoat that does nothing to protect him from Moscow's below-zero weather. Akaky bought the coat only because a Central Department Store clerk ridiculed the quality of Soviet-made products and tried to sell him a black-market overcoat in an alley.
Akaky takes his problem to Petrovich, a tailor, who assures him that the coat is beyond repair and offers to make him an overcoat "like they wear in Paris" for 550 rubles, nearly three months' salary. Akaky's younger coworkers, who wear black-market blue jeans and leather flight jackets with fur collars, make fun of his appearance and drape his pathetic coat over the life-sized statue of Lenin in their office. Akaky loses his temper for the first time during his twenty-five years there and tries to stir them with an oration about comradeship, only to be greeted by a "rude noise."
Akaky is upset because he sees himself as "a good man, true to the ideals of the Revolution, a generous man, inoffensive, meek: why did they have to make him their whipping boy?" Old Studniuk, one of those living in his apartment, tells him that he is foolish for continuing to believe in the Party, that he must wheel and deal on the black market to get everything he can because there "ain't no comrade commissioner going to come round and give it to you." Studniuk explains that Akaky's fellow clerks despise him because, in his sad overcoat, he acts as if he considers himself a saint.
Because Akaky has, for twenty-two years, sent half of his meager salary to his invalid mother in the Urals, he has to exhaust his savings and sell his television set to pay Petrovich, but the beautiful camel's hair overcoat with a fox collar is worth it. Akaky is overwhelmed by its beauty and warmth, thinking that it makes him look like a member of the Politburo or the manager of the National Hotel.
His coworkers are equally impressed but suspicious. Rodion Ivanovich Mishkin, Akaky's lunchtime chess partner, says, "so you've finally come around." Akaky ignores the implications of such remarks, especially when Mishkin invites him home for the first time. On the way to Mishkin's home, Akaky experiences another first, being approached by an attractive young prostitute, but he runs away, "hurtling headlong up the street as if a legion of gypsy violinists and greedy yankee moneylenders were nipping at his heels."
After having one of the best times of his life with Mishkin, Akaky walks into snowy Red Square "thinking how lucky he was," only to have two men beat him and steal his beloved coat. After a day of waiting in lines, Akaky is brought before Inspector Zharyenoye of the Security Police. The police have recovered his coat, but his joy is short-lived when Zharyenoye removes the collar lining to reveal that the coat was made in Hong Kong. Akaky is fined one hundred rubles for receiving stolen goods, and the coat is confiscated.
Akaky finds that everything in which he has believed has been betrayed. He goes home, develops pneumonia, and dies. Everyone who has known him soon forgets him. After some initial guilt, Inspector Zharyenoye wears the coat proudly because "people invariably mistook him for the First Secretary himself."
Bibliography
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