The Government Inspector

by Nikolai Gogol

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What role does The Mayor play in the Government Inspector?

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The Mayor symbolizes the corruption of small-town Russian life. It is he who has the most to lose by the inspector's imminent arrival. He's petrified that all of his corrupt dealings—all the bribes, the graft, the backhanders—will be ruthlessly exposed to the full glare of publicity. So the Mayor takes an active role in trying to clean up the town—in both senses of the word—at least temporarily.

But of course the so-called inspector is no such thing, so all of the Mayor's manic efforts to clean up the town and hide his numerous shady dealings are all to no avail. The suggestion here is that the rampant corruption at the rotten heart of Russian civic life cannot be expunged quite so easily. For that to happen, those responsible for this permanent blight on society such as the Mayor will need to own up to their transgressions and be held to account for them. And this will only happen when the real government inspector arrives.

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