Question

How does Gogol use techniques like irony, hyperbole, and absurdity to create humor?

Answer 1

Gogol is best known for his use of irony, hyperbole, and absurdity to create humor and a sense of existential weariness. In some of his works, like The Nose, Diary of a Madman, and even in his unfinished novel, Dead Souls, he famously takes advantage of a single element, like a nose that has lost its owner, the royal ravings of an office clerk, or the business behind recollecting dead souls, respectively, and extrapolates this element to make it englobe and define his fictional characters, this then puts the characters in very absurd situations that, even though they cause hilarity, leave the reader with a sense of dread and even horror, the irony being that, though existence be dreadful, it is, nonetheless, comical to a point of absurdity.