The eternal problems of mankind in the story of I. A

There is a tradition - for every classic writer to define the so-called program works, that is, such things of his that are like the quintessence, a squeeze of his vision of the world, attitudes to the problems of eternity and modernity, and finally, the manner of writing. Mayakovsky usually refers to such works as "A Cloud in Trousers" and "Out loud", and Andrei Bely's novel "Petersburg". In the summer of 1915, I.A. Bunin wrote the short story "The Gentleman from San Francisco". It so happened that this story became a program for the writer. Since that time, many events have happened, many other works have been written, but so far this short story has attracted the attention of researchers and ordinary readers. This happened, probably, because the story raises questions that have always worried people, including the problem of the precariousness and fragility of human existence in the bourgeois world.

The hero of the story, already almost an old American, sails around the world with his family on a large comfortable ship. A businesslike, prosperous, rich man, all his life he only worked, made a fortune, not knowing peace and rest. Finally, having reached a prestigious position in society, he decided to rest, see the world, have fun and made a detailed travel plan in order to provide for any accident, but died quite suddenly. Bunin chooses a plot that reflects the typical life path of Europeans of that time, and not only of that time. A person devotes his whole life to acquisitiveness, and then fate maliciously and mockingly throws him overboard. The one who lives for profit, lives exclusively for himself, in the end turns out to be lonely and useless to anyone. Money is the only result of the life of such a person, but they could not save him from death.

"Mister" is not in vain left by Bunin nameless. This symbolizes, on the one hand, the typical nature of the hero, and on the other, his facelessness. He is precisely the “master” for those who are next to him, fulfills his desires and receives money for it, but the dead man has no more desires, which means that he can no longer take money from him. Wealth as if replaces the personality, becomes its only expression and embodiment. After death, the former master becomes just a corpse, which, in order not to disturb the vacationers and not interfere with the ongoing rest, is carried into the hold, as if to the underworld, and the very form of moving the deceased is humiliating - a box, and not even from expensive wine, but only from under the soda.

In general, the story, realistic in form and content, is filled with symbolic, sometimes terrible details. In addition to the hold, which symbolizes, as we have already said, a certain existential bottom, it is worth pointing out the name of the ship - "Atlantis", which leads to a terrible thought: everyone sailing there, everyone who devotes himself only to making money are doomed. For the writer's contemporaries, this idea was even more obvious, because in 1912 the Titanic sank. Whether this catastrophe served as an impetus for writing the story, we cannot say, but it is clear that the figurative parallel is undeniable. An expensive, respectable ship becomes a metonymic embodiment of the entire bourgeois world. Atlantis sunk? Was there such a thing at all? Maybe it's all just myths? Such associations usually arise in a person who has heard this mysterious word.

“I always looked with true fear at any well-being, the acquisition of which and the possession of which consumed a person, and the excess and the usual meanness of this well-being aroused hatred in me,” Bunin later wrote about the problem raised in the story.

The namelessness of the gentleman from San Francisco, in my opinion, has another goal. The writer wants to show us that the place of the master is always free and any gentleman from New York, Paris, Berlin, Moscow can take it quite calmly. You can also earn a fortune all your life and die suddenly, bringing people only anxiety. This system of values, which developed in America and Europe during the period of "wild capitalism", has firmly entered our consciousness, and even if in a slightly modified form, it still exists. But Bunin, by raising this issue, wants to make us think about whether it is worth living just for the sake of money. Life will sooner or later put everything in its place, and someone is doomed anyway. If a person dies first, then it seems that a society based on money-grubbing will survive. What does one life mean compared to the rest? But the fate of Atlantis is unknown, and if something suddenly happens, then everyone will go to the bottom, like a gentleman from San Francisco.

Bunin's story "The Gentleman from San Francisco" tells that everything depreciates before the fact of death. Human life is subject to decay, it is too short to waste it in vain, and the main idea of ​​this instructive story is to comprehend the essence of human existence. The meaning of the life of the hero of this story lies in his belief that everything can be bought with the available wealth, but fate decided otherwise. We offer an analysis of the work "The Gentleman from San Francisco" according to the plan, the material will be useful in preparing for the exam in literature in grade 11.

Brief analysis

Year of writing– 1915

History of creation- In a shop window, Bunin accidentally drew attention to the cover of Thomas Mann's book "Death in Venice", this was the impetus for writing the story.

Subject– The opposites that surround a person everywhere are the main theme of the work - this is life and death, wealth and poverty, power and insignificance. All this reflects the philosophy of the author himself.

Composition– The problematics of “The Gentleman from San Francisco” includes both philosophical and socio-political character. The author reflects on the frailty of life, on the attitude of a person to spiritual and material values, from the point of view of various strata of society. The plot of the story begins with the journey of the master, the climax is his unexpected death, and in the denouement of the story the author reflects on the future of mankind.

Genre- A story that is a meaningful parable.

Direction- Realism. In the story of Bunin, it acquires a deep philosophical meaning.

History of creation

The history of the creation of Bunin's story dates back to 1915, when he saw the cover of the book by Thomas Mann. After that, he visited his sister, remembered the cover, for some reason she caused him to associate with the death of one of the Americans on vacation, which happened during a vacation in Capri. Immediately, a sudden decision came to him to describe this incident, which he did in the shortest possible time - the story was written in just four days. With the exception of the deceased American, all other facts in the story are completely fictitious.

Subject

In The Gentleman from San Francisco, the analysis of the work allows us to highlight main idea of ​​the story, which consists in the author's philosophical reflections on the meaning of life, on the essence of being.

Critics enthusiastically reacted to the creation of the Russian writer, interpreting the essence of the philosophical story in their own way. Theme of the story- life and death, poverty and luxury, in the description of this hero, who lived his life in vain, reflects the worldview of the whole society, divided into classes. High society, possessing all material values, having the opportunity to buy everything that is only for sale, do not have the most important thing - spiritual values.

On the ship, a dancing couple, depicting sincere happiness, is also a fake. These are actors who have been bought to play love. There is nothing real, everything is artificial and feigned, everything is bought. And the people themselves are false and hypocritical, they are faceless, which is what the meaning of the name this story.

And the master has no name, his life is aimless and empty, he does not bring any benefit, he only enjoys the benefits created by representatives of another, lower class. He dreamed of buying everything that was possible, but did not have time, fate decreed in its own way, and took his life from him. When he dies, no one remembers him, he only causes inconvenience to others, including his family.

The bottom line is that he died - that's all, he does not need any wealth, luxury, power and honor. He doesn't care where he lies - in a luxurious inlaid coffin, or in a simple soda box. Life was in vain, he did not experience real, sincere human feelings, did not know love and happiness, in the worship of the golden calf.

Composition

The storytelling is divided into two parts: how a gentleman sails on a ship to the coast of Italy, and the journey of the same gentleman back, on the same ship, only already in a coffin.

In the first part, the hero enjoys all the possible benefits that money can buy, he has all the best: a hotel room, gourmet meals, and all the other delights of life. The gentleman has so much money that he planned a trip for two years, together with his family, wife and daughter, who also do not deny themselves anything.

But after the climax, when the hero is overtaken by sudden death, everything changes dramatically. The owner of the hotel does not even allow to put the corpse of the gentleman in his room, having allocated for this purpose the cheapest and most inconspicuous. There is not even a decent coffin in which the gentleman can be put, and he is put in an ordinary box, which is a container for some products. On the ship, where the gentleman was blissful on deck among high society, his place is only in the dark hold.

main characters

Genre

"The Gentleman from San Francisco" can be summed up as genre story a, but this story is filled with deep philosophical content, and differs from other Bunin's works. Usually, Bunin's stories contain a description of nature and natural phenomena, striking in their liveliness and realism.

In the same work there is a main character, around whom the conflict of this story is tied. Its content makes you think about the problems of society, about its degradation, which has turned into a spiritually mercantile creature, worshiping only one idol - money, and renounced everything spiritual.

The whole story is subject philosophical direction, and in plot plan is an instructive parable that gives a lesson to the reader. The injustice of a class society, where the lower part of the population vegetates in poverty, and the cream of high society senselessly burns life, all this, in the end, leads to a single finale, and in the face of death everyone is equal, both poor and rich, no one can buy it off money.

Bunin's story "The Gentleman from San Francisco" is rightfully considered one of the most outstanding works in his work.

Artwork test

Analysis Rating

Average rating: 4.6. Total ratings received: 799.

I. Bunin is one of the few figures of Russian culture appreciated abroad. In 1933 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for the rigorous skill with which he develops the traditions of Russian classical prose." One can relate differently to the personality and views of this writer, but his skill in the field of belles-lettres is undeniable, therefore his works are at least worthy of our attention. One of them, namely "The Gentleman from San Francisco", received such a high rating from the jury that awards the most prestigious prize in the world.

An important quality for a writer is observation, because from the most fleeting episodes and impressions you can create a whole work. Bunin accidentally saw the cover of Thomas Mann's book "Death in Venice" in the store, and a few months later, having arrived to visit his cousin, he remembered this name and connected it with an even older memory: the death of an American on the island of Capri, where the author himself was resting. And so one of the best Bunin stories turned out, and not just a story, but a whole philosophical parable.

This literary work was enthusiastically received by critics, and the outstanding talent of the writer was compared with the gift of L.N. Tolstoy and A.P. Chekhov. After that, Bunin stood with venerable connoisseurs of the word and the human soul in the same row. His work is so symbolic and eternal that it will never lose its philosophical focus and relevance. And in the age of the power of money and market relations, it is doubly useful to remember what life leads to, inspired only by hoarding.

What a story?

The main character, who has no name (he's just a gentleman from San Francisco), spent his whole life increasing his wealth, and at the age of 58 he decided to devote time to rest (and at the same time family). They go on the steamer "Atlantis" on their entertaining journey. All passengers are immersed in idleness, but the attendants work tirelessly to provide all these breakfasts, lunches, dinners, teas, card games, dances, liqueurs and cognacs. The stay of tourists in Naples is also monotonous, only museums and cathedrals are added to their program. However, the weather does not favor tourists: the Naples December turned out to be rainy. Therefore, the Lord and his family rush to the island of Capri, which pleases with warmth, where they check into the same hotel and are already preparing for routine “entertainment” activities: eating, sleeping, chatting, looking for a groom for their daughter. But suddenly the death of the protagonist breaks into this "idyll". He died suddenly while reading a newspaper.

And here the main idea of ​​the story is revealed to the reader that in the face of death everyone is equal: neither wealth nor power can save from it. This Gentleman, who just recently wasted money, contemptuously spoke to the servants and accepted their respectful bows, is lying in a cramped and cheap room, respect has disappeared somewhere, the family is being kicked out of the hotel, because his wife and daughter will leave “trifles” at the cash desk. And now his body is being taken back to America in a soda box, because even a coffin is not to be found in Capri. But he is already riding in the hold, hidden from high-ranking passengers. And no one is particularly grieving, because no one will be able to use the dead man's money.

The meaning of the name

At first, Bunin wanted to name his story "Death on Capri" by analogy with the title "Death in Venice" that inspired him (the writer read this book later and rated it as "unpleasant"). But already after writing the first line, he crossed out this title and called the work by the “name” of the hero.

From the first page, the attitude of the writer to the Lord is clear, for him he is faceless, colorless and soulless, therefore he did not even get a name. He is the master, the top of the social hierarchy. But all this power is fleeting and unsteady, the author recalls. A hero useless for society, who has not done a single good deed for 58 years and thinks only of himself, remains after death only an unknown gentleman, about whom they only know that he is a rich American.

Characteristics of heroes

There are few characters in the story: the gentleman from San Francisco as a symbol of eternal fussy hoarding, his wife, depicting gray respectability, and their daughter, symbolizing the desire for this respectability.

1. The gentleman “worked tirelessly” all his life, but these were the hands of the Chinese, who were hired by the thousands and died just as plentifully in hard service. Other people generally mean little to him, the main thing is profit, wealth, power, savings. It was they who gave him the opportunity to travel, live at the highest level and do not give a damn about others who were less fortunate in life. However, nothing saved the hero from death, you can’t take money to the next world. Yes, and respect, bought and sold, quickly turns into dust: after his death, nothing has changed, the celebration of life, money and idleness continued, even there is no one to worry about the last tribute to the dead. The body travels through the authorities, this is nothing, just another piece of luggage that is thrown into the hold, hiding from "decent society".
2. The hero's wife lived monotonously, in a philistine way, but with chic: without any problems and difficulties, no worries, just a lazily stretching string of idle days. Nothing impressed her, she was always completely calm, probably having forgotten how to think in the routine of idleness. She is only worried about the future of her daughter: she needs to find a respectable and profitable party for her, so that she can also comfortably go with the flow all her life.
3. The daughter did her best to portray innocence and at the same time frankness, attracting suitors. That was what interested her the most. Meeting with an ugly, strange and uninteresting man, but a prince, plunged the girl into excitement. Perhaps this was one of the last strong feelings in her life, and then the future of her mother awaited her. However, some emotions still remained in the girl: she alone had a premonition of trouble (“her heart was suddenly squeezed by melancholy, a feeling of terrible loneliness on this alien, dark island”) and wept for her father.

Main topics

Life and death, everyday life and exclusivity, wealth and poverty, beauty and ugliness - these are the main themes of the story. They immediately reflect the philosophical orientation of the author's intention. He encourages readers to think about themselves: are we chasing something frivolously small, are we mired in routine, missing out on true beauty? After all, a life in which there is no time to think about yourself, your place in the Universe, in which there is no time to look at the surrounding nature, people and notice something good in them, is lived in vain. And you can't fix a life you've lived in vain, and you can't buy a new one for any amount of money. Death will come anyway, you can’t hide from it and pay off, so you need to have time to do something really worthwhile, something to be remembered with a kind word, and not indifferently thrown into the hold. Therefore, it is worth thinking about everyday life, which makes thoughts banal, and feelings faded and weak, about wealth that is not worth the effort, about beauty, in the venality of which ugliness lies.

The wealth of the “masters of life” is contrasted with the poverty of people who live just as ordinary, but suffer poverty and humiliation. Servants who secretly mimic their masters, but grovel before their eyes. Gentlemen who treat servants like inferior beings, but who grovel before even richer and nobler people. A couple hired on a steamboat to play passionate love. Daughter of the Lord, depicting passion and trepidation to lure the prince. All this dirty, base pretense, although presented in a luxurious wrapper, is opposed by the eternal and pure beauty of nature.

Main problems

The main problem of this story is the search for the meaning of life. How to spend your short earthly vigil not in vain, how to leave behind something important and valuable for others? Everyone sees his destiny in his own way, but no one should forget that a person’s spiritual baggage is more important than material. Although it has been said at all times that all eternal values ​​have been lost in modern times, every time this is not true. Both Bunin and other writers remind us readers that life without harmony and inner beauty is not life, but a miserable existence.

The problem of transience of life is also raised by the author. After all, the Gentleman from San Francisco spent his spiritual strength, made money, made money, postponing some simple joys, real emotions for later, but this "later" did not begin. This happens with many people who are mired in everyday life, routine, problems, and affairs. Sometimes you just need to stop, pay attention to loved ones, nature, friends, feel the beauty in the environment. After all, tomorrow may never come.

The meaning of the story

It is not for nothing that the story is called a parable: it has a very instructive message and is intended to give a lesson to the reader. The main idea of ​​the story is the injustice of class society. Most of it is interrupted from bread to water, and the elite mindlessly burns life. The writer states the moral squalor of the existing order, because most of the "masters of life" achieved their wealth in a dishonest way. Such people bring only evil, as the Master from San Francisco pays and ensures the death of Chinese workers. The death of the protagonist emphasizes the thoughts of the author. Nobody is interested in this recently so influential person, because his money no longer gives him power, and he has not committed any respectable and outstanding deeds.

The idleness of these rich people, their effeminacy, perversion, insensitivity to something living and beautiful prove the accidental and injustice of their high position. This fact is hidden behind the description of the leisure time of tourists on the steamer, their entertainment (the main of which is lunch), costumes, relationships between themselves (the origin of the prince, whom the daughter of the protagonist met, makes her fall in love).

Composition and genre

"The Gentleman from San Francisco" can be seen as a story-parable. What is a story (a short work in prose containing a plot, conflict and having one main storyline) is known to most, but how can a parable be characterized? A parable is a small allegorical text that guides the reader on the right path. Therefore, the work in terms of plot and form is a story, and in philosophical, meaningful terms - a parable.

Compositionally, the story is divided into two large parts: the journey of the Lord from San Francisco from the New World and the stay of the body in the hold on the way back. The climax of the work is the death of the hero. Prior to this, describing the ship "Atlantis", tourist places, the author gives the story an anxious mood of expectation. In this part, a sharply negative attitude towards the Master is striking. But death deprived him of all privileges and equated his remains with luggage, so Bunin softens and even sympathizes with him. It also describes the island of Capri, its nature and local residents, these lines are filled with beauty and understanding of the beauty of nature.

Symbols

The work is replete with symbols confirming Bunin's thoughts. The first of them is the steamship Atlantis, on which an endless celebration of luxurious life reigns, but there is a storm, a storm, even the ship itself is trembling overboard. So at the beginning of the twentieth century, the whole society was seething, experiencing a social crisis, only the indifferent bourgeois continued to feast during the plague.

The island of Capri symbolizes real beauty (therefore, the description of its nature and inhabitants is fanned with warm colors): a “joyful, beautiful, sunny” country filled with “fabulous blue”, majestic mountains, the charm of which cannot be conveyed by human language. The existence of our American family and people like them is a pathetic parody of life.

Features of the work

Figurative language, vivid landscapes are inherent in Bunin's creative manner, the skill of the artist of the word was reflected in this story. At first, he creates an unsettling mood, the reader expecting that, despite the splendor of the rich environment around the Master, something irreparable will soon happen. Later, the tension is erased by natural sketches, painted with soft strokes, reflecting love and admiration for beauty.

The second feature is the philosophical and topical content. Bunin castigates the senselessness of the existence of the top of society, its spoiledness, disrespect for other people. It was because of this bourgeoisie, cut off from the life of the people, having fun at its expense, that two years later a bloody revolution broke out in the writer's homeland. Everyone felt that something needed to be changed, but no one did anything, which is why so much blood was shed, so many tragedies happened in those difficult times. And the topic of searching for the meaning of life does not lose its relevance, which is why the story is still of interest to the reader even after 100 years.

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The theme of the essence of the human personality and the meaning of life has excited and will excite the hearts and minds of more than one generation of people, and this is no coincidence. After all, society is determined by the level of consciousness, the consciousness of what you mean in this huge life that lasts for centuries on our Earth, what you brought and will leave behind your descendants. Or maybe, after some time, no one will remember you? And the thread that binds generations will be completely broken ...
Undoubtedly, this is the problem of problems, which many writers and poets thought about in their works. Turning to I. A. Bunin’s story “The Gentleman from San Francisco”, which vividly shows the role of a person in contemporary society, we see that this is the main idea here as well.
And the story is simple. An elderly gentleman from San Francisco had worked hard all his life to get rich and dreamed of living luxuriously at least in his old age. Therefore, together with his wife and daughter, he went on a trip to the Old World on the steamer Atlantis. The life of vacationers was full of entertainment worthy of high society, but at the same time everything was terribly monotonous: breakfasts, dinners, conversations, dances, breakfasts, dinners, etc. All the gentlemen were rich, and therefore respected, and their money was given they have the right not to think about some difficulties, problems of everyday life, about those who sailed with them, but a class below, who only existed in the mud that reigned there. And they had fun, danced and tenderly looked at the hired dancing couple, "playing in love." Together with all this dance of fun and happiness, they traveled from island to island, but suddenly this series of happy sunny days ended. The gentleman from San Francisco is dying. And now all that respect and servility with which they used to treat him and his family has disappeared somewhere. His unfortunate body is placed in the dirtiest room of the hotel, and no one pays attention to the tears of his daughter and wife, everyone feels only disgust and disgust. There was a man and he was gone. And everyone forgot. His body is taken away to his homeland so as not to scare away visitors from the hotel, and by chance it ends up on the very ship where he himself once traveled. But now he is already floating below, in a tarred soda box, among dirt and disease, in the hold, and above everyone is also having fun, a couple “playing in love” is dancing.
In this story, the author wanted to show how insignificant human life is in the eyes of others, if it is so quickly forgotten; how much money has entered not only into our lives, but also into our souls. And now people are often judged by their money. If you have money - you are a person, if not - no one. But they are just pieces of paper, which cannot be compared with the wealth of the human soul. And it is quite clear why the author's intention included the death of the master at the moment of the highest, it would seem, takeoff. After all, all this serenity, happiness, wealth of the upper world is a falsehood, a deceit, a game. And after death, the game of silks and diamonds continues.
The story is small in volume, but how much is said in its lines and between them. The author, in order to achieve his goal, to convey to the reader the full depth of this problem, used such an artistic means of expression as symbolism. In my opinion, the steamship Atlantis symbolizes our whole life and society here. It is, as it were, divided into two halves: the upper one is light, all radiant and shiny - these are the upper layers with their serene "happiness" and tranquility; the lower one - dirty, miserable - these are the bottoms, where a person loses everything that he had, where no one needs him, the path of a gentleman from San Francisco is a path from top to bottom, from the heights of imaginary success to the abyss of humiliation. It is no coincidence that the author does not mention his name. This is a generalized image of many people.
The author also talks about a man who lived in Cyprus for a long time, who was cruel and subjugated people. And they have not forgotten him, they come to look at the ruins of his house. But is this the man who deserves to be remembered? Are all those rich people with their money and happy masks worthy of memory, or the servants from the hotel, “overwhelmed by their debauchery”?
So who is worth it? Who is the real Man with a capital letter?
The author's answer to this question is addressed to religion. He spoke about two wandering Abruzzi highlanders who, without wealth and fame, walk along the roads, rejoicing in what God has given them: "a joyful, beautiful, sunny country, the stony humps of the island, the fabulous blue, the dazzling sun." They are grateful to God, the mother of God, for their lives. They are clean before him and therefore happy.
So what is a person? A real Man is a person who is sincere in his feelings, actions, who, although he may not be an adherent of religion, but acts according to the commandments of God, which are actually very wise and form the basis of our life. A Real Man appreciates and loves people, he does not exist senselessly, he goes to his intended goal. And not everyone lives up to this ideal. In our life, we all make mistakes sooner or later, but we must strive for the ideal, we must leave something behind, otherwise our life will be meaningless.