Gogol's The Overcoat: A Whisper of Change At first glance of Nikolay Gogol's novel The Overcoat, one would only see a short story about a poor man wishing to survive in a cruel world. However, in looking further into the story, deep symbolism can be found. Gogol lived in Russia during the rise of the communist party, and was a great dissident of communism. He believed the inevitable end of a communist government was total failure. He also criticized the other government of the world for failing to aid Russia in its quest for a better syste ....