# The Inspector General — Reading Questions & Answers

> Reading questions for The Inspector General by Nikolai Gogol.

- [Who is Khlestakov in The Inspector General?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inspector_general_se/questions/who-is-khlestakov.md): Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov is a young government clerk traveling with servant Osip, stuck at an inn because he lost at cards. Hearing officials panic about an incognito inspector, he lets them believe he holds that ra
- [How does The Inspector General end?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inspector_general_se/questions/how-does-the-inspector-general-end.md): Khlestakov and Osip slip away once the joke tires; he leaves a letter describing the town’s corruption in comic detail. Officials celebrate until a policeman announces the real government inspector has arrived and wants 
- [Why do the officials bribe Khlestakov?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inspector_general_se/questions/why-do-officials-bribe-khlestakov.md): Each magistrate believes Khlestakov will report sins to Petersburg: embezzlement, kickbacks, brutal hospital management, opened letters. They bribe him to buy silence and favor, not because he proves identity. Fear of th
- [Who is the mayor in The Inspector General?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inspector_general_se/questions/who-is-the-mayor.md): Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmuhanovsky — the town mayor — is a petty tyrant who bullies subordinates and trembles before superiors. He first hears of the inspector, orchestrates the mistaken welcome of Khlestakov, and tri
- [Who is Osip in The Inspector General?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inspector_general_se/questions/who-is-osip.md): Osip is Khlestakov’s servant — practical, hungry, aware his master is a fraud yet complicit in the scam. He negotiates with the innkeeper, eats while Khlestakov performs, and helps pack when flight comes. Osip represents
- [What is The Inspector General about?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inspector_general_se/questions/what-is-the-inspector-general-about.md): Gogol’s play satirizes corrupt provincial government under autocracy: officials who steal and flog yet panic over an incognito inspector. A penniless clerk exploits that panic, revealing how fear and bribery replace law.

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