Question

AMERICAN LIT ( THE OVERCOAT) PLEASE HELP

Answer 1

The description "....is customary amongst well-bred officials." is important for the passage because It magnifies the isolation and humiliation that characterize Akakiy’s situation.

Nikolai Gogol, the writer of " The Overcoat", in this description shows the way in which the main character, Akakiy,   is treated by his co-workers. The writer ,ironically, refers to Akakiy's co-workers as well-bred officials. In Russia , a bureaucratic society, each state official was expected to be educated and learned - well-bred-, however these manners were not the manners they used when addressing Akakiy. He was humiliated by his co-workers because they laughed at him all the time.