Analysis of “Mr. from San Francisco” Bunin. An acute sense of the crisis of civilization Reception of the antithesis in the gentleman from San Francisco

I.A. Bunin reflected in this story the problems of his time, when concerns about acquiring capital and increasing it became paramount in society. The author, with harsh strokes, drew the characteristic features of capitalism, which he saw in reality. The foreign bourgeois world is portrayed by the writer without rosy colors and sentimentality, which corresponded to the onslaught of growing capitalism. The display of social problems has become a kind of background against which the struggle of eternal, true values ​​with imaginary, false ideals appears more clearly and intensifies.

The main character, to whom the author does not give a name, is shown at that period of his life when he has already achieved everything. The absence of a name here is symbolic: this technique allows us to generally draw a typical representative of bourgeois society. This is an ordinary capitalist who achieved great wealth through incredible efforts, when for a long time he had to deny himself many things: “He worked tirelessly - the Chinese, whom he hired thousands of to work for him, knew well what this meant!” The main thing for him was to get as much income as possible through cheap labor. Inability to show mercy or pity, complete disregard for human rights and justice in relation to those who created his capital, monstrous greed - all these are the personality traits of the “model capitalist”. These conclusions are also confirmed by the gentleman’s complete contempt for the poor, beggars, disadvantaged people whom he sees during the journey, leaving in the cities where the ship stopped. This is reflected with the help of the author’s remarks: the gentleman either does not notice the poor, or grins, looking arrogantly and contemptuously, or drives the beggars away, saying through clenched teeth: “Get out!”

Man reduced the meaning of life to profit, the accumulation of wealth, but did not have time to enjoy the fruits of his many years of “labor.”
And his life turned out to be meaningless: money and luxury did not bring joy. Death came quickly, suddenly, crossing out the values ​​that the master considered priority. He surrounded himself with expensive things and at the same time lost his humanity, becoming both internally and externally some kind of soulless idol with gold teeth and expensive rings. The creation of such an image emphasizes the author’s position in relation to the capitalist gentlemen, who are losing their human appearance due to the passion for profit.

Further, the author shows how death equates the rich man with those who had neither gold nor jewelry - with the workers in the hold. Using the technique of contrast, antithesis, Bunin narrates how, in the dirty hold of the comfortable steamship Atlantis, when the money turned out to be useless (the dead man was not provided with a separate luxurious cabin), the gentleman “travels” further, since it was in the hold that the coffin with his body was placed. The rich man wanted to satisfy his vanity by allowing himself idle holidays in luxurious cabins and luxurious feasts in Atlantis restaurants. But quite unexpectedly, he lost power, and no amount of money will help the dead man to demand obedience from the workers or respect from the service personnel towards his person. Life has put everything in its place, separating true values ​​from imaginary ones. He will not need the wealth that he was able to accumulate “in the next world.” He did not leave a good memory of himself (he did not help anyone, and did not build hospitals or roads), and his heirs quickly squandered the money.

At the end of the story, the image of the Devil naturally appears, watching the movement of the Atlantis ship. And this makes me think: what attracts the interest of the ruler of hell to the ship and its inhabitants? In this regard, it becomes necessary to return to those lines in the work where the author gives a detailed description of the ship, which “looked like a huge hotel with all the amenities.” Bunin repeatedly emphasized that the terrifying force of the movement of the ocean and the howl of a siren, screeching “with furious anger”, with “hellish gloom”, could cause unconscious anxiety and melancholy among the passengers of Atlantis, but everything was drowned out by the tirelessly sounding music. No one thought about those people who provided the idle public with all the comforts of a pleasant journey. Also, no one suspected that the “underwater womb” of a comfortable “hotel” could be compared with the dark and sultry depths of the underworld, with the ninth circle of hell. What was the author hinting at with these descriptions? Why does he paint such a contrast between the lives of rich gentlemen who go on a cruise, spending huge amounts of money on luxurious leisure, and the hellish working conditions, for example, of workers in the hold?

Some researchers of I.A. Bunin’s work saw in the features of the story “The Gentleman from San Francisco” the author’s negative attitude towards the bourgeois world and a prophecy of a possible catastrophe. Y. Maltsev in one of his works notes the influence of the First World War on the mood of the writer, who allegedly perceived the events of this era as “the last act of a world tragedy - that is, the completion of the degeneration of Europeans and the death of the mechanical, godless and unnatural civilization of modern times.. ." However, it is difficult to agree with this completely. Yes, there is an apocalyptic motive, the author’s position can be clearly seen in relation to the bourgeoisie, which is under the close attention of the Devil. But Bunin could hardly have predicted the death of capitalism: the power of money was too strong, capital had already grown too much in that era, spreading its vicious ideals throughout the world. And the defeat of this civilization is not expected even in the 21st century. So the writer, who clearly does not sympathize with the gentleman and his fellow capitalists, still did not resort to global prophecies, but showed his attitude towards eternal values ​​and towards false, far-fetched, transitory values.

For example, the author contrasts the image of a rich gentleman with the image of the boatman Lorenzo, who can sell the fish he catches for next to nothing, and then, carefreely walking along the shore in his rags, enjoy a sunny day and admire the landscape. Lorenzo's life values ​​are precisely those that are considered eternal: work that makes it possible to live, a kind attitude towards people, the joy of communicating with nature. In this he sees the meaning of life, and the intoxication of wealth is incomprehensible and unknown to him. This is a sincere person, he has no hypocrisy either in his behavior or in his assessment of achievements and the results of his work. The boatman's appearance is painted in light colors; he evokes nothing but a smile. Only a few lines are allocated to create a symbolic image, but the author managed to convey to the reader that he likes Lorenzo as the antipode to the main character, the capitalist.

Indeed, the writer had the right to a contrasting portrayal of the characters, and the reader sees that the author does not condemn Lorenzo for carelessness, for frivolity in relation to money. Several pages of the work ironically depict the endless breakfasts, lunches and dinners of wealthy passengers, their leisure time, that is, playing cards, dancing in Atlantis restaurants, for which huge amounts of money are spent. And this money is the same profit from the labor of people who were not paid fairly for their hard labor. So isn't it better to challenge the exploiters and not participate in the creation of capital for the masters? Apparently, such a philosophy could lead Lorenzo to a carefree lifestyle, and he allows himself to be free in this cruel bourgeois world. That is why man did not live “by bread alone.” But Lorenzo, of course, cannot have many followers: people must support their families and feed their children.

Bunin also showed wandering musicians wandering along the slopes of the mountains: “...and the whole country, joyful, beautiful, sunny, stretched beneath them...”. And when these people saw a plaster statue of the Mother of God in the grotto, they stopped, “bared their heads - and naive and humbly joyful praises poured out to them to the sun, the morning and to her, the immaculate intercessor...”. These deviations from the main theme (depiction of the life and death of a gentleman) give reason to draw a conclusion about the author’s position: Bunin sympathizes not with gentlemen with gold rings on their fingers, with gold teeth, but with these penniless tramps, but with “diamonds in their souls” .

The main theme of Bunin's work - love - is also covered in the story "The Gentleman from San Francisco", but the reverse, false side of the great feeling is shown here, when there really is no love. The writer symbolically showed the falsity of the feelings of the bourgeois elite, people who are confident that money can buy everything. A couple in love was portrayed by two artists for a good fee: they diversified the leisure time of the wealthy clientele in order to add romance to the trip. “Circus act” is a false bait instead of real love; illusory happiness with a “bag of money” instead of true joys... and so on. In this work, many human values ​​look like counterfeit bills.

Thus, through portrait characteristics, contrasting images, details, remarks and remarks, through the use of antithesis, epithets, comparisons, metaphors, the author reflected his position in the understanding of true and imaginary human values. The artistic merits of this work, the special, unique style, and the richness of the language were highly appreciated by I. A. Bunin’s contemporaries, critics, and readers of all eras.

Reviews

Zoya, good afternoon.

And a wonderful article and a wonderful work by Bunin, to the analysis of which it is dedicated.

A powerful work: both in the images that Bunin presented, and in the literary beautiful description with which his literary work is full, the text itself.

The man from San Francisco and the boatman Lorenzo - what a good parallel, giving a comparison of values. An interesting literary move is not to name the main character, making him a household name.

And the image of the Devil! How aptly Bunin expressed it!

Zoya, thank you very much for analyzing Bunin’s work.

Interesting article, correct and well written.

The topic raised by Bunin is eternal and important. For every time a person makes a choice how to live and live life: imaginary or real, enslaving to the passion of profit or living by eternal values ​​and virtues.

Good luck and good luck, Zoya. Have a nice Sunday.

With kind regards and best wishes,

Bunin’s story “Mr. from San Francisco” tells the story of how everything is devalued before the fact of death. Human life is subject to decay, it is too short to be wasted in vain, and the main idea of ​​this instructive story is to understand the essence of human existence. The meaning of life for the hero of this story lies in his confidence that he can buy everything with his existing wealth, but fate decided otherwise. We offer an analysis of the work “Mr. from San Francisco” according to plan; the material will be useful in preparing for the Unified State Exam in literature in 11th grade.

Brief Analysis

Year of writing– 1915

History of creation– In a store window, Bunin accidentally noticed 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 - life and death, wealth and poverty, power and insignificance. All this reflects the philosophy of the author himself.

Composition– The problems of “Mr. from San Francisco” contain both a philosophical and socio-political character. The author reflects on the frailty of existence, on man’s attitude to spiritual and material values, from the point of view of various strata of society. The plot of the story begins with the master's journey, the climax is his unexpected death, and in the denouement of the story the author reflects on the future of humanity.

Genre– A story that is a meaningful parable.

Direction– Realism. Bunin's story takes on 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 a book by Thomas Mann. After that, he was visiting his sister, he remembered the cover, for some reason it evoked an association in him with the death of one of the American vacationers, 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,” an analysis of the work allows us to highlight the main idea of ​​the story, which consists of the author’s philosophical reflections on the meaning of life, on the essence of being.

Critics were enthusiastic about the work 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 entire society, divided into classes. High society, possessing all material values, having the opportunity to buy everything that is on sale, does not have the most important thing - spiritual values.

On the ship, the dancing couple, depicting sincere happiness, is also fake. These are actors who were bought to play love. There is nothing real, everything is artificial and feigned, everything is purchased. And the people themselves are false and hypocritical, they are faceless, which is what 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 uses the benefits created by representatives of another, lower class. He dreamed of buying everything possible, but he didn’t have time; fate had its own way and took his life. When he dies, no one remembers him; he only causes inconvenience to those around him, including his family.

The point is that he died - and that’s it, he doesn’t need any wealth, luxury, power or honor. He doesn't care where he lies - in a luxurious inlaid coffin, or in a simple soda box. His 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 narrative of the story 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 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 dishes, 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, his wife and daughter, who also do not deny themselves anything.

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

Main characters

Genre

“Mr. from San Francisco” can be briefly described as genre story ah, but this story is filled with deep philosophical content, and differs from other Bunin works. Usually, Bunin's stories contain descriptions of nature and natural phenomena that are 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 soulless, mercantile being who worships only one idol - money, and has renounced everything spiritual.

The whole story is subordinated philosophical direction, and in plot-wise- This is an instructive parable that gives a lesson to the reader. The injustice of a class society, where the lower part of the population languishes in poverty, and the cream of high society waste their lives senselessly, all this, in the end, leads to a single ending, and in the face of death everyone is equal, both poor and rich, it cannot be bought off by any money.

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

Work test

Rating Analysis

Average rating: 4.6. Total ratings received: 769.

I.A.Bunin. "Mr. from San Francisco" (1915)

Published in 1915, the story “The Gentleman from San Francisco” was created during the First World War, when the motifs of the catastrophic nature of existence, the unnaturalness and doom of technocratic civilization noticeably intensified in Bunin’s work. The image of a giant ship with the symbolic name “Atlantis” was suggested by the death of the famous “Titanic”, in which many saw a symbol of future world catastrophes. Like many of his contemporaries, Bunin felt the tragic beginning of a new era, and therefore the themes of fate, death, and the motif of the abyss became increasingly important during this period in the writer’s works.

Symbolism of Atlantis. The ship "Atlantis", bearing the name of a once sunken island, becomes a symbol of civilization in the form in which it was created by modern humanity - a technocratic, mechanistic civilization that suppresses man as an individual, far from the natural laws of existence. Antithesis becomes one of the main techniques for creating a figurative story system: “Atlantis,” with its contrast of deck and hold, with its captain, like a “pagan god” or “idol,” is a disharmonious, artificial, false world, and therefore doomed. She is majestic and formidable, but the world of “Atlantis” rests on the illusory foundations of “money,” “fame,” “nobility of the family,” which completely replace the value of human individuality. This world artificially created by people is closed, fenced off from the elements of existence as a hostile, alien and mysterious element for him: “The blizzard beat in his gear and the wide-mountain pipes, white with snow, but he was steadfast, firm, majestic and terrible.” This grandeur is terrible, trying to overcome the elements of life itself, to establish its dominion over it, this illusory grandeur, so unsteady and fragile before the face of the abyss, is terrible. The doom is also palpable in how contrasting the “lower” and “middle” worlds of the ship are, the peculiar models of “hell” and “paradise” of a spiritless civilization: the light and color palette, aromas, movement, the “material” world, sound - everything is different in them , the only common thing is their isolation, isolation from the natural life of existence. The “upper” world of “Atlantis”, its “new deity” is a captain, similar to a “merciful pagan god”, a “huge idol”, a “pagan idol”. This repetition of comparisons is not accidental: the modern era is portrayed by Bunin as the dominance of a new “paganism” - obsession with empty and vain passions, fear of the omnipotent and mysterious Nature, the riot of carnal life outside its sanctification by the life of the spirit. The world of “Atlantis” is a world where voluptuousness, gluttony, passion for luxury, pride and vanity reign, a world where God is replaced by an “idol.”

Passengers of Atlantis. M Despite the artificiality and automatism, it intensifies when Bunin describes the passengers of Atlantis; it is no coincidence that a voluminous paragraph is devoted to their daily routine: this is a model of the deathly regimentation of their existence, in which there is no place for accidents, secrets, surprises, that is, precisely what makes human life truly exciting. The rhythmic-intonation pattern of the line conveys a feeling of boredom, repetition, creates an image of a clockwork with its dull regularity and absolute predictability, and the use of lexical and grammatical means with the meaning of generalization (“they were supposed to walk briskly”, “got up... drank... sat down... did... committed... walked") emphasizes the impersonality of this brilliant “crowd” (it is no coincidence that the writer defines the society of the rich and famous gathered on “Atlantis” in this way). In this fake glittering crowd there are not so many people as puppets, theatrical masks, wax museum sculptures: “Among this glittering crowd there was a certain great rich man, there was a famous Spanish writer, there was an all-world beauty, there was an elegant couple in love.” Oxymoronic combinations and semantically contradictory comparisons reveal a world of false moral values, ugly ideas about love, beauty, human life and personal individuality: “a handsome man who looks like a huge leech” (a surrogate for beauty), “hired lovers”, “disinterested love” of young Neapolitan women, which the gentleman hoped to enjoy in Italy (a substitute for love).

The people of “Atlantis” are deprived of the gift of surprise at life, nature, art, they have no desire to discover the secrets of beauty, it is no coincidence that they carry this “trail” of deadness with them wherever they appear: museums in their perception become “deadly pure”, churches are “cold”, with “enormous emptiness, silence and quiet lights of the seven-branched candlestick”, art for them is only “slippery gravestones underfoot and someone’s “Descent from the Cross”, certainly famous.”

The main character of the story. It is no coincidence that the main character of the story is deprived of a name (his wife and daughter are also not named) - precisely what first of all separates a person from the “crowd”, reveals his “self” (“no one remembered his name”). The key word of the title “Mr.” determines not so much the personal and unique nature of the protagonist, but his position in the world of technocratic Americanized civilization (it is no coincidence that the only proper noun in the title is San Francisco, thus Bunin defines the real, earthly analogue of the mythological Atlantis), his worldview: “He was firmly convinced that he had every right to rest, to pleasure... he was quite generous on the road and therefore fully believed in the care of all those who fed and watered him, from morning to evening served him.” The description of the gentleman’s entire previous life takes only one paragraph, and life itself is defined more precisely - “until that time he did not live, but only existed.” In the story there is no detailed speech characterization of the hero; his inner life is almost not depicted. The inner speech of the hero is extremely rarely conveyed. All this reveals that the master’s soul is dead, and his existence is just the fulfillment of a certain role.

The appearance of the hero is extremely “materialized”, the leitmotif detail, acquiring a symbolic character, is the shine of gold, the leading color scheme is yellow, gold, silver, that is, the colors of deadness, lack of life, the color of external brilliance. Using the technique of analogy and likening, Bunin, with the help of repeated details, creates external “doubles” portraits of two completely different people - a gentleman and an eastern prince: in a world dominated by facelessness, people mirror each other.

The motive of death in the story. The antithesis “life-death” is one of the plot-forming elements in the story. The “heightened sense of life” characteristic of Bunin was paradoxically combined with a “heightened sense of death.” Quite early, a special, mystical attitude towards death awakened in the writer: death in his understanding was something mysterious, incomprehensible, which the mind cannot cope with, but which a person cannot help but think about. Death in the story “Mr. from San Francisco” becomes a part of Eternity, the Universe, Being, but this is precisely why the people of “Atlantis” try not to think about it, they experience a sacred, mystical fear of it that paralyzes consciousness and feelings. The gentleman tried not to notice the “harbingers” of death, not to think about them: “In the gentleman’s soul a long time ago, there were no so-called mystical feelings left... he saw in a dream the owner of the hotel, the last in his life... without trying to understand, without thinking what exactly was terrible ...What did the gentleman from San Francisco feel and think on this so significant evening? He was just really hungry." Death struck the millionaire from San Francisco suddenly, “illogically,” rudely and repulsively, crushing him just at the time when he was about to enjoy life. Death is described by Bunin in an emphatically naturalistic manner, but it is precisely such a detailed description, paradoxically, that enhances the mysticism of what is happening: as if a person is fighting something invisible, cruel, mercilessly indifferent to his desires and hopes. Such death does not imply the continuation of life in another - spiritual - form, it is the death of the body, final, plunging into oblivion without hope of resurrection, this death has become the logical conclusion of an existence in which there has been no life for a long time. Paradoxically, fleeting signs of the soul lost by the hero during his lifetime appear after his death: “And slowly, slowly, in front of everyone, pallor flowed over the face of the deceased, and his features began to thin out and brighten.” It was as if that divine soul, given at birth to everyone and killed by the gentleman from San Francisco himself, was freed again. After death, strange and, in fact, terrible “shifters” happen to the now “former master”: power over people turns into inattention and moral deafness of the living towards the deceased (“there is and cannot be a doubt about the correctness of the desires of the gentleman from San Francisco”, “the owner bowed politely and elegantly” - “This is completely impossible, madam,... the owner besieged her with polite dignity... the owner with an impassive face, already without any courtesy”); instead of Luigi’s insincere, but still kindness, there is his buffoonery and antics, the giggling of the maids; instead of luxurious apartments, “where a high-ranking person stayed,” - “a room, the smallest, the worst, the dampest and coldest,” with a cheap iron bed and coarse woolen blankets; instead of a brilliant deck on the Atlantis there is a dark hold; Instead of enjoying the best - a box of soda water, a hungover cab driver and a horse dressed up in Sicilian style. Near death, petty, selfish human vanity suddenly flares up, in which there is both fear and annoyance - there is only no compassion, empathy, no sense of the mystery of what has happened. These “shifters” became possible precisely because the people of “Atlantis” are distant from the natural laws of existence, of which life and death are part, that the human personality is replaced by the social position of “master” or “servant”, that “money”, “fame”, “nobility of the family” completely replaces man. The “proud man’s” claims to dominance turned out to be illusory. Dominance is a transitory category; these are the same ruins of the palace of the all-powerful Emperor Tiberius. The image of ruins hanging over a cliff is a detail that emphasizes the fragility of the artificial world of “Atlantis”, its doom.

Symbolism of images of the ocean and Italy. Opposed to the world of “Atlantis” is the vast world of nature, of Being itself, of all things, the embodiment of which are Italy and the ocean in Bunin’s story. The ocean has many faces and is changeable: it walks with black mountains, chills with a white water desert, or amazes with the beauty of “waves as colorful as a peacock’s tail.” The ocean frightens the people of Atlantis precisely because of its unpredictability and freedom, the element of life itself, changeable and ever-moving: “the ocean that walked outside the walls was scary, but they didn’t think about it.” The image of the ocean goes back to the mythological image of water as the original element of existence, which gave birth to life and death. The artificiality of the world of “Atlantis” is also manifested in this alienation from the elements of the ocean-being, protected from it by the walls of an illusory majestic ship.

Italy becomes the embodiment of the diversity of the ever-moving and multifaceted world in Bunin's story. The sunny face of Italy was never revealed to the gentleman from San Francisco; he only managed to see its prosaic, rainy face: palm leaves shiny with tin, wet from the rain, a gray sky, constantly drizzling rain, shacks smelling of rotten fish. Even after the death of the gentleman from San Francisco, the Atlantis passengers, continuing their journey, do not meet either the careless boatman Lorenzo or the Abruzzese highlanders; their path is to the ruins of the palace of Emperor Tiberius. The joyful side of life is forever closed from the people of “Atlantis”, because they are not ready to see this side, to open up to it spiritually.

On the contrary, the people of Italy - the boatman Lorenzo and the Abruzzese mountaineers - feel themselves to be a natural part of the vast Universe; it is no coincidence that at the end of the story the artistic space sharply expands, including the earth, the ocean, and the sky: “the whole country, joyful, beautiful, sunny, stretched under them." A childish joyful rapture at the beauty of the world, naive and reverent surprise at the miracle of life is felt in the prayers of the Abruzzese highlanders addressed to the Mother of God. They, like Lorenzo, are integral to the natural world. Lorenzo is picturesquely handsome, free, royally indifferent to money - everything about him is contrary to the description of the main character. Bunin affirms the greatness and beauty of life itself, whose powerful and free flow frightens the people of “Atlantis” and draws in those who are capable of becoming an organic part of it, spontaneously, but childishly wise, to trust it.

The existential background of the story. The artistic world of the story includes limiting, absolute values: equal participants in the story about the life and death of an American millionaire include the Roman Emperor Tiberius and the “cricket” singing with “sad carefreeness” on the wall, hell and heaven, the Devil and the Mother of God. The connection of the heavenly and earthly worlds paradoxically appears, for example, in the description of the forty-third issue: “The dead man remained in the dark, blue stars looked at him from the sky, a cricket sang with sad carefreeness on the wall.” The eyes of the Devil are watching the ship as it departs into the night and blizzard, and the face of the Mother of God is turned to the heavenly heights, the kingdom of her Son: “The countless fiery eyes of the ship behind the snow were barely visible to the Devil, who was watching the ship... Above the road, in the grotto of the rocky wall of Monte Solaro, all illuminated by the sun, all in its warmth and shine, stood in snow-white plaster robes... the Mother of God, meek and merciful, with her eyes raised to heaven, to the eternal and blissful abodes of her thrice-blessed son.” All this creates an image of the world as a whole, a macrocosm, including light and darkness, life and death, good and evil, moment and eternity. Infinitely small against this background turns out to be the closed world of “Atlantis”, which considers itself great in this isolation. It is no coincidence that the structure of the story is characterized by a compositional ring: the description of “Atlantis” is given at the beginning and end of the work, while the same images vary: the lights of a ship, a beautiful string orchestra, the hellish fireboxes of the hold, a dancing couple playing in love. This is a fatal circle of isolation, fenced off from being, a circle created by a “proud man” and turning him, who realizes himself as a master, into a slave.

Man and his place in the world, love and happiness, the meaning of life, the eternal struggle between good and evil, beauty and the ability to live with it - these eternal problems are at the center of Bunin’s story.

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 have different attitudes towards the personality and views of this writer, but his mastery in the field of fine literature is undeniable, so his works are, at a minimum, worthy of our attention. One of them, “Mr. from San Francisco,” received such a high rating from the jury awarding 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 a store, and a few months later, when he came to visit his cousin, he remembered this title and connected it with an even older memory: the death of an American on the island of Capri, where the author himself was vacationing. This is how one of Bunin’s best stories turned out, and not just a story, but a whole philosophical parable.

This literary work was enthusiastically received by critics, and the writer’s extraordinary talent was compared with the gift of L.N. Tolstoy and A.P. Chekhov. After this, Bunin stood with the venerable experts on words and the human soul on the same level. 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 a life inspired only by accumulation leads to.

What a story?

The main character, who does not have a name (he is just a gentleman from San Francisco), has spent his entire life increasing his wealth, and at the age of 58 he decided to devote time to rest (and at the same time to his family). They set off on the ship Atlantis on their entertaining journey. All passengers are immersed in idleness, but the service staff works 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 is not kind to tourists: December in Naples turned out to be stormy. Therefore, the Master and his family rush to the island of Capri, pleasing 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 main character bursts into this “idyll”. He died suddenly while reading a newspaper.

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

Meaning of the name

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

From the first page, the writer’s attitude towards the Master is clear; for him, he is faceless, colorless and soulless, so he did not even receive a name. He is the master, the top of the social hierarchy. But all this power is fleeting and fragile, the author reminds. The hero, useless to society, who has not done a single good deed in 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 abundantly 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 not care about those around him who were less fortunate in life. However, nothing saved the hero from death; you can’t take the money to the next world. And respect, bought and sold, quickly turns into dust: after his death nothing changed, the celebration of life, money and idleness continued, even the last tribute to the dead had no one to worry about. The body travels through authorities, it is nothing, just another piece of luggage that is thrown into the hold, hidden from “decent society.”
2. The hero's wife lived a monotonous, philistine life, but with chic: without any special problems or 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 concerned about the future of her daughter: she needs to find her a respectable and profitable match, so that she too can comfortably float with the flow all her life.
3. The daughter did her best to portray innocence and at the same time frankness, attracting suitors. This is what interested her most. A 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 foresaw trouble (“her heart was suddenly squeezed by melancholy, a feeling of terrible loneliness on this strange, dark island”) and cried for her father.

Main themes

Life and death, routine 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 not chasing something frivolously small, are we getting bogged down in routine, missing out on true beauty? After all, a life in which there is no time to think about oneself, one’s 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 money. Death will come anyway, you can’t hide from it and you can’t pay off it, so you need to have time to do something really worthwhile, something so that you will 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 corruption of which lies ugliness.

The wealth of the “masters of life” is contrasted with the poverty of people who live equally ordinary lives, but suffer poverty and humiliation. Servants who secretly imitate their masters, but grovel before them to their faces. Masters who treat their servants as inferior creatures, but grovel before even richer and more noble persons. A couple hired on a steamship to play passionate love. The Master's daughter, feigning passion and trepidation to lure the prince. All this dirty, low pretense, although presented in a luxurious wrapper, is contrasted with the eternal and pure beauty of nature.

Main problems

The main problem of this story is the search for the meaning of life. How should you spend your short earthly vigil not in vain, how to leave behind something important and valuable for others? Everyone sees their purpose in their own way, but no one should forget that a person’s spiritual baggage is more important than material. Although at all times they have said that in modern times all eternal values ​​have been lost, 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 the transience of life is also raised by the author. After all, the gentleman from San Francisco spent his mental strength, made money and made money, postponing some simple joys, real emotions for later, but this “later” never began. This happens to 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, and feel the beauty in your surroundings. After all, tomorrow may not 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 survives on bread and water, while the elite waste their lives mindlessly. The writer states the moral squalor of the existing order, because most of the “masters of life” achieved their wealth by dishonest means. Such people bring only evil, just as the Master from San Francisco pays and ensures the death of Chinese workers. The death of the main character emphasizes the author's thoughts. No one is interested in this recently so influential man, 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 proves the accident and injustice of their high position. This fact is hidden behind the description of the leisure time of tourists on the ship, their entertainment (the main one is lunch), costumes, relationships with each other (the origin of the prince whom the main character’s daughter met makes her fall in love).

Composition and genre

"The Gentleman from San Francisco" can be seen as a parable story. Most people know what a story (a short piece of prose containing plot, conflict, and one main storyline) is, but how can we characterize a parable? 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 terms of philosophy and content it is a parable.

Compositionally, the story is divided into two large parts: the journey of the Master from San Francisco from the New World and the stay of the body in the hold on the way back. The culmination of the work is the death of the hero. Before this, describing the steamship Atlantis and 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 people; these lines are filled with beauty and understanding of the beauty of nature.

Symbols

The work is replete with symbols that confirm 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 outside, a storm, even the ship itself is shaking. So at the beginning of the twentieth century, the whole society was seething, experiencing a social crisis, only the indifferent bourgeois continued the feast during the plague.

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

Features of the work

Figurative language and bright landscapes are inherent in Bunin’s creative style; the artist’s mastery of words is reflected in this story. At first he creates an anxious mood, the reader expects that, despite the splendor of the rich environment around the Master, something irreparable will soon happen. Later, the tension is erased by natural sketches written in soft strokes, reflecting love and admiration for beauty.

The second feature is the philosophical and topical content. Bunin castigates the meaninglessness of the existence of the elite of society, its spoiling, disrespect for other people. It was because of this bourgeoisie, cut off from the life of the people and having fun at their 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 theme of searching for the meaning of life does not lose relevance, which is why the story still interests the reader 100 years later.

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