The first part of the novel was intended to represent a modern-day "Inferno" of the "Divine Comedy". Gogol reveals to his readers an encompassing picture of the ailing social system in Russia after the unsuccessful French invasion. As in many of Gogol's short stories, the social criticism of "Dead Souls" is communicated primarily through absurd and hilarious satire. Unlike the short stories, however, "Dead Souls" was meant to offer solutions rather than simply point out problems. This grander scheme was largely unrealized at Gogol's death; the work was never completed, and it is primarily the earlier, darker part of the novel that is remembered.