In "The Nose", Gogol satirizes society's obsession with rank, status, and appearance by emphasizing how Kovalyov is consistently in check with other people who have more power than him. Gogol shows Kovalyov's lacking self assurance within his position of his career by writing, "He was wearing a gold-embroidered uniform with a big stand-up collar and doeskin breeches; there was a sword at his side/ From his plumed hat one could infer that he held the rank of a state councilor" the text continues, "'How am I to approach him?' thought Kovalyov. 'From everything, from his uniform, from his hat, one can see that he is a state councilor. I'll be damned if I know how to do it.'" Society is so focused on how, why, and what others with more power are doing. People of a higher status or rank are frequently idealized, glamorized, and idolized. Simultaneously, Kovalyov's self-conceitedness within himself and how he thinks he is better than others presents itself as well. He thinks the woman he is to marry is a witch that has cursed him with the hex of his nose disappearing. This is simply not true, yet Kovalyov writes a letter to her mother: "Dear Madam Alexandra * Grigoryevna, I fail to understand your strange behavior. Be assured that, …show more content…
Our status in the world can be measured by what we own materialistically. Whether we are up on the latest trends, or have the name brands. We are our own worst critics that care way too much about others' opinions. According to Status Check: What Does It Mean to Be Popular? By Dave Nussbaum, '“It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re liked by a lot of people, it just means that everyone knows who you are,' suggests one boy. Another girl reflects, 'In this day and age, you have a lot of friends, you have Jordans, or the popular kind of shoes.”' Some People care more about how they look rather than how they act, or are