Dead Souls/Fridge

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  • Fridge Horror: All of the people that Chichikov visits come across mostly as amusing eccentrics. However, he chooses to visit them for a specific reason - they have a lot of "dead souls". As for the reason they have so many to offer? - because of their vices and/or eccentricities, they aren't running their estates competently, and so tons of their serfs are dying - likely through starvation.
    • The fact that Plyushkin didn't care for his serfs starving is explicitly mentioned. And the fact that some kind of plague happened also helped.
    • Korobochka and Sobakevich are shown as rather competent squires, but, as it's still soon after an epidemic, many of their serfs are dead, too.