Diary_of_a_Mad_Man

A person’s perception of himself is ideally an image they wished others would hold of them, but their outlook may be flawed. This is true in regards to the protagonist, AksentyIvanovich in The Diary of a Madman. He has a high self-confidence, but others do not see himin such an elevated manner.  He loathes the class that he belongs to, but that does not denote from the fact that he thinks that he has a respectable position. Ivanovich considers people in his social class inferior, which he believes gives him the right to belittle them. However, people in all classes are repulsed by him. He craves to be part of the upper class culture, but they do not think he is suitable for such a standing. The “King of Spain”, known as Aksenty Ivanovich, displays the exaggeration of his title in society, while others ridicule his name. They have this idea that people are jealous or threatened by their capability. These people often choose to ignore the similarities between them and people with comparablecharacteristics; They identify themselves as superior than others, so they frequently have a conscious belief that people are out to get them which causes them to be disrespected. People perceive themselves as better than those of a similar class, and more like those of a higher social standing. Ivanovich, despite the factthat he is a civil servant, demands better or equal respect as that given to a general or head of department because he believes his position is not that of a lower class. “A court chamberlain doesn’t have a third eye in the middle of his forehead, and his nose isn’t made of gold either. It’s just like mine or anyone else’s (Gogol 87)”,  in this quotation from the short story,Ivanovich utters these words to compare himself to someone of a higher authority signifyingthat they are both human beings. In response to his distance,people in his rank respond with the same malice. His negative views toward people of his own class create awful encounters with them. Other characters consider the protagonist as a grimy commoner, and they do not associate with him. They comment on his outward appearance and social inaptness. He often receives negative remarks from people in the middle and upper class. In fact, the courtcounsellor scolded the protagonist calling him a worthless fool who will never make it to the top. “Well, look at yourself, just think, what are you' You’re a zero, nothing more. You don’t have a cent to your name. Just take a look in the mirror at your face, how can you think about that!” (Gogol 179). These rude words would make anyone feel worthless, but the protagonist was undamaged. When The head of the department scolds him by stating, You start paragraph with small letters and leave out the date and references number altogether” (Gogol 174). When the head of the department finds out Aksentyhas a crush on the director’s daughter he tells him “What are you' Just nothing an absolute nobody” (Gogol 179). The people around him do not pay attention to him, because he is just one of the rest of the people in his rank.   The women in this short story perceive Ivanovich as a crazy person, especially when hegoes to a young lady’s house to take the letters away from her dog. After asking to see the dog,the lady considered him delirious. All of the women regarded him as a lunatic, even thoughIvanovich thought that they saw him as a gentleman. Social stature consumed his mind, he knew he was not a nobleman, yet always had a presumptuous attitude.  He wanted to believe he was better than the people he came across,because of the job as a civil servant he felt holding. However he felt he was not getting the treatment that usually came along with this grand title. In a scene where Ivanovich is waiting for the Director in his office while sharpening quills,  he was told he could go home by one of the footman. That occurrence bothers the madman and he thinks to himself, “I cant stand that brood of flunkeys: they’re always sprawled out in the hall and it’s as much as you can do to get one little nod of acknowledgement from them...” he went on, “Don’t you know, ignorant peasant, that I am a civil servant and of noble birth'” (Gogol 178).This passage shows how ego- centric he was, and is a perfect example of the contradiction of his delusional thoughts.  ​He cannot even look at people in his own position, but he looks up to people in the upper class. Due to his admiration, he wants to achieve a higher status. Constantly, he reiterates how much he wants to join them. Obsessed with the lives of the wealthy, he wants to know every single detail about them. “I would like to find out what he thinks about most; what’s going on in that head. I would like to have a closer look at the life of these gentlemen, all these equivoques and court doings, what they’re like, what they do in their set – that’s what I’d like to find out! Several times I’ve thought of starting a conversation with His Excellency, only, the devil take it, my tongue just doesn’t obey: you only say it’s cold or hot out, and you absolutely won’t get out anything more.” (Gogol 180). However, he is too shy and awkward to begin a conversation with the upper class citizens. His demeanor is the exact opposite of how he treats people in his same class. Sadly, the upper class community does not welcome him. ​Throughout the story we see Aksenty yearning for the attention of the Director. The Director does not pay much attention to him, but he is certain that the director is fond of him.He wants to be someone in a higher rank, especially to win the heart of the director’s daughter.“I’d like to be a general, not just to win her, and all the rest of it, but to see them crawling around after me…” (Gogol 187). Aksenty also happens to be infatuated with the directors daughter and begins to follow her around; he is sure that if he held a title he will win her heart.However, the director’s daughter Sophie, laughs at him every time she sees him.  She is uninterested in Aksenty’s feelings towards her. His egotistical nature begins to unfold, and ends up believing he is royalty. At the beginning of the story, Aksenty perceives himself as a gentleman, towards the end he callshimself “the King of Spain”. He thinks he gets “preferential treatment in the office” (Gogol 179). He says to himself “Does he think I’m the son of a commoner, or tailor, or a non-commissioned officer' I’m a gentleman!” (Gogol 179). When he finds out that Spain has no king he makes himself king. “That king is me” (Gogol 189).  He also says “I cannot understand how I could even think or imagine for one moment I was only a titular counsellor” (Gogol 189) saying that his whole life has been a lie. Aksenty Ivanov, also known as the “madman” has a peculiar and complex mind. He lived in a time period in which social stature and wealth mattered the most, and class divisions were most clear. Unfortunately, Aksenty was a forty year old man with no money or credibility to his name, and his deep desire to grasp acknowledgment and respect ultimately drove him into insanity. The protagonist continues to distinguish himself as a person to be respected; simply believing that others do not give him enough credit. He questions his place as a titularcounsellor thinking that this position is lower than his capability, and that he has enough potential to be a count or general. Ivanovich refuses to accept as true how others see him due to his perception of himself. Instead, he chooses to live in his own reality.