Viy by Nikolai Gogol the Term Paper

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The monsters which pour forth from the girl's body after it comes to life are so horrifying that the student grows grey after the terrible night. For several nights Thomas attempts this, and each day is more terrible than the last. The Cossacks who asked him to perform the exorcism will not allow him to stop, and during the final night, the witch summons up the viy of the title, a horrible creature with eyelids so long it has to ask for assistance to peel them up, so he can see the student. Eventually, at the end of the story, the student dies from fright and the church remains forever desecrated by the demons.

The end of the story is somewhat unsatisfying. Over the course of the tale, the reader comes to identify with the student, who seems like a nice, well-intentioned person. He is not an arrogant victim like some of the stereotypical characters from horror films who go deliberately seeking evil and the unknown, and he has a realistic view of his own spirituality and power against that of the witch.

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When he first casts out a demon from the witch, he is merely trying to protect himself. However, because he is poor and powerless, the rich Cossack can compel him to do whatever 'dirty' work needs to be done, even spiritual dirty work. In Russia, the class system and the power of the aristocracy is evident even in the horror stories produced by 19th century authors like Gogol.

The moral of the story is seemingly told by another of the students -- that if Thomas had not been afraid of the witch, she would have no power over him. This could be said of anyone in authority -- only through fear does someone hold sway over you. However, it is very difficult not to be afraid of someone when they have the forces of evil, as well as the Cossacks behind them.

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