Collective panic among the officials of N over Chichikov

Collective panic among the officials of N over Chichikov is a crisis of uncertainty that turns gossip about dead serfs into fear of official exposure. As rumors multiply and a new Governor-General approaches, the officials cannot determine whether Chichikov is a fraud, a secret investigator, or someone who might bring their own irregularities to light. Their inquiry produces no reliable answer: instead, their competing suspicions and Nozdrev’s confident inventions make the unknown visitor seem more dangerous.

Rumor Becomes a Public Crisis

The alarm spreads from two women’s accounts of Chichikov’s purchase of dead souls and an alleged plan to abduct the Governor’s daughter. The women quickly carry these stories through the town, and within half an hour the matter has become a public sensation. The narrative divides the response into two camps: the men concentrate on the dead-soul transaction, while the women focus on the supposed abduction. The women’s account gives the rumor a detailed, apparently settled shape, although its versions contradict one another: some claim that Chichikov is already married and has arranged secret meetings with the daughter; others insist that he is unmarried but sought the mother’s favor before proposing to the daughter. Neither story is established as true.

The women also argue that the dead souls may be a diversion intended to conceal the abduction. Some men cross over to this interpretation, though their former allies deride them for doing so. The disagreement does not produce a clear account of events. Rather, the two rumors compete to explain one another, while the town’s officials struggle to decide which is the more serious danger.

Official Fears and Conflicting Explanations

The appointment of a new Governor-General gives the speculation an institutional edge. The provincial officials anticipate transfers, reprimands, and the formal dinners that accompany a new superior’s arrival. They worry that reports circulating in N could provoke an inquiry and bring lasting consequences. The Director of the Medical Department fears that the phrase dead folk might be interpreted as referring to patients who died of fever in local hospitals without adequate preventative measures. He raises the possibility that Chichikov has been sent by the Governor-General to investigate in secret. The President of the Council initially dismisses the idea, then grows alarmed at the thought that he authorized the transfer of the souls and acted as Plushkin’s representative.

Two documents arriving in the Governor’s hands deepen the crisis without proving anything about Chichikov. One reports that a forger of rouble notes, known under various names, is operating in the province. The other warns that a fugitive malefactor from a neighboring province should be arrested if a suspicious person without references or passports appears in N. The officials do not have evidence that either warning applies to Chichikov. Yet they know little about his past, and his vague remarks about having suffered in the service for the sake of truth and having enemies who sought his life now seem newly significant. Their uncertainty turns the documents into possible explanations—and possible threats.

An Inquiry That Yields Little

The officials question people from whom Chichikov bought souls, hoping to learn what he acquired and what purpose lay behind the purchases. Korobotchka recalls selling souls for fifteen roubles each, mentions feathers and a promise to buy other goods, and repeats a story about a contract for lard. Her confused account leads the officials to regard her as a foolish and talkative old woman, not as a dependable source of insight.

Manilov offers an affectionate defense of Chichikov and says he would answer for him as for himself. His praise conveys his own generous feelings but does not explain the transaction. Sobakevitch calls Chichikov an excellent fellow and insists that the souls he sold him were alive, while disclaiming responsibility for what might happen later. His answer preserves his own position without resolving the officials’ concern. Attempts to question the servants are scarcely more useful: Petrushka offers no meaningful account, and Selifan says only that his master served in government and in the Customs.

By the end of these inquiries, the officials still do not know who Chichikov is. They plan a final debate at the Chief of Police’s residence, framing the problem as a choice between detaining a disreputable man and fearing that he might himself expose their lack of respectability. The question has shifted from the legality of the purchases to the officials’ own vulnerability.

The Meeting and the Collapse of Certainty

The approaching Governor-General, the rumors, and the two documents leave visible traces on the officials gathered at the Chief of Police’s house: several have grown thinner, and their clothes hang loosely. A few remain composed, including the Postmaster, who relies on having seen successive Governor-Generals come and go while remaining in his post. But the meeting is marked by indecision. Speakers make claims and then contradict them; agreement briefly forms around the idea that Chichikov looks too respectable to be a forger or disguised brigand, only to break when the Postmaster announces that he knows Chichikov’s identity.

The Postmaster’s claim does not provide a sound conclusion. When the explanation behind his theory becomes apparent, he recognizes his mistake and calls himself a fool. His later attempt to excuse it invokes a supposed English mechanical device that would allow a wearer of a wooden leg to disappear at the touch of a spring. The episode shows how quickly the officials’ appetite for an explanation can turn an implausible supposition into apparent certainty—and how quickly that certainty collapses.

Nozdrev’s Testimony and the Unresolved Crisis

As a last resort, the officials summon Nozdrev, who had first spoken of the dead souls and is thought to know Chichikov. Nozdrev has spent four days in his room marking cards, but agrees to go to the Chief of Police’s house when he learns that a novice card player will be there. In answer to the officials’ questions, he asserts that Chichikov bought several thousand roubles’ worth of dead souls and says that he sold him some himself. He also calls Chichikov a spy, claiming that he was known as an informer at school, and affirms that he is a currency forger, attaching to the accusation a story about counterfeit notes and substituted seals.

Asked about the alleged abduction, Nozdrev says that he had agreed to help Chichikov and supplies elaborate details, including a church, a priest, a fee of seventy-five roubles, a carriage, and horses. He then recognizes that he has told a lie that could cause trouble, but continues adding particulars. When the officials ask whether Chichikov could be Napoleon, Nozdrev’s answer becomes incoherent. Most of the audience eventually leaves; even the Chief of Police gives up trying to extract useful information. Nozdrev’s certainty is therefore no solution to the mystery: it is further evidence of how rumor can acquire detail without acquiring truth.

The panic remains unresolved because the investigation cannot distinguish fact from invention. The officials’ fear is not only that Chichikov may be a criminal; they also imagine that he may be able to detain or expose them. Their collective response reveals a provincial administration in which uncertain transactions, anticipated scrutiny, and compromised official decisions make the unknown more frightening than any confirmed charge.