Satirical Humor in Gogol

Gogol's satirical humor in both The Nose and The Overcoat is very dark. He plays off of human's natural insecurities and emphasizes the lack of self confidence instilled by the judging thoughts of others. The loss of the mayors nose plays off of perhaps the biggest cause of insecurity, appearance. In today's world, appearance is everything and the loss of ones face is a huge blow to one's pride. Gogol presents all of those in a particularly funny fashion, from the beginning scene of the wife yelling at her husband for stealing a nose, to the nose parading around on it's own. In The Overcoat, Gogol expresses the mans image of homself I an external manner. The man doesn't care what he looks like on the outside just like he doesn't care about himself on the inside. The only thong he loves is work. Gogol's description of the man walking down the street without any regard to trash hitting him is very funny but also very dark. Overall, Gogol's dark satirical humor is hit or miss. Some people will find it hilarious while others might just find it disturbing. I myself am the former and find the man to be a genius.