It is a hundred years since Dead Souls was written. During that time it has made a permanent place for itself in the world's literature beside such books as Gulliver's Travels and Don Quixote.  To the Russian, whatever his political allegiance may be, Dead Souls is more than a satire that flays the weakness of the Slavic character; it is the enduring symbol of a people that neither tyranny nor revolution can change. Gogol's masterpiece mirrors the nature of the Russian people with far more authority than Tsarist or Soviet spokesmen or writers could succeed in doing.