The gentleman from san francisco as shown by society. Philosophical problems based on the story The gentleman from San Francisco (Bunin I. A.). Additional material for the teacher
Bunin is a great master of words, who accurately and correctly depicts in his beautiful works the world of love, landscape sketches, the world of village life, but still he always returns to the problems of humanity, which cannot but excite him. His life is a journey, being in which, he observed how people manifest themselves under the capitalist system, and under colonial conditions of life. His trips to the East and Europe, analysis of the conditions for the existence of obleys in these states gave him the richest material for writing stories.
Ivan Alekseevich shows in his works that there is absolutely no morality in the capitalist world, because the power of money kills it. Each member of such a society has only one goal in life - to increase their savings by any means.
But Bunin creates his stories special, lyrical, reflecting all the bright and sensual movements of the human soul. Therefore, among the rest of Bunin's works, which have lyricism and poetic narration, the plot of the story "The Gentleman from San Francisco" stands out, which has a simple and simple plot and a complete absence of any lyricism or movements of the human soul.
A terrible world of soulless people opens up before readers, who simply create the illusion of life, but still they do not live, but exist. This is how they earn cash, even travel and can fall in love, like the daughter of the protagonist, but they do it dryly, and their soul does not come to life, does not respond to these feelings. The protagonist of the story has neither a name nor any roots. Thus, Bunin shows that this image is collective, he is a bright representative of the society in which he and his family exist.
The writer shows a hero who does not have his inner world at all, there are no experiences and any movements of the soul. This is such an everyday person, about whom the author does not say anything, since everything can be understood from those everyday details, of which there are many in the story.
Bunin begins his work with a description of the deck where bourgeois society is having fun. He shows that this fun goes on all the time, but none of them even tries to think about those people and their overwork that are on the lower deck. They are not interested, and even if they knew, they were completely indifferent.
The author specifically in his story uses a literary device - contrast. The reader sees how the cheerful and unrestrained life of bourgeois society is contrasted with the life of people who work day and night in a dark and dirty hold.
The writer also shows that even love does not exist in this world. They do not know these real feelings that excite the soul. Therefore, a couple was hired on the ship for money, which showed love, showed feelings, but they were also not real. And the author constantly emphasizes this to show that human feelings are absent in this indifferent world.
The rich gentleman from Bunin's story is a bright representative of his society, he is empty and worthless. In his life there is no other goal than enrichment. Therefore, throughout the whole story, he has no thoughts about anything, much less experiences. He is shown by Ivan Alekseevich as a thing, as some kind of inanimate object. Bunin raises and touches upon the eternal problems of the human world with the plot of his story: about spirituality, about the movements of the human soul, and about its purpose in this world, but about God.
The purpose of the lesson: to reveal the philosophical content of Bunin's story.
Methodological techniques: analytical reading.
During the classes.
I. The word of the teacher.
The first one was already World War, there was a crisis of civilization. Bunin turned to the problems that are relevant, but not directly related to Russia, to the current Russian reality. In the spring of 1910 I.A. Bunin visited France, Algeria, Capri. In December 1910 - in the spring of 1911. I have been to Egypt and Ceylon. In the spring of 1912 he again left for Capri, and in the summer of the following year he visited Trebizond, Constantinople, Bucharest and other European cities. From December 1913 he spent half a year in Capri. The impressions of these travels were reflected in the stories and short stories that compiled the collections Sukhodol (1912), John the Rydalets (1913), The Cup of Life (1915), and The Gentleman from San Francisco (1916).
The story "The Gentleman from San Francisco" (originally titled "Death on Capri") continued the tradition of L.N. Tolstoy, who portrayed illness and death as the most important events that reveal the true value of a person (Polikushka, 1863; Death of Ivan Ilyich, 1886; Master and Worker, 1895). Along with the philosophical line in Bunin's story, social problems were developed, associated with a critical attitude to the lack of spirituality of bourgeois society, to the rise of technical progress to the detriment of internal improvement.
Bunin does not accept bourgeois civilization as a whole. The pathos of the story is in the feeling of the inevitability of the death of this world.
Plot built on the description of an accident that unexpectedly interrupted the well-established life and plans of the hero, whose name "no one remembered". He is one of those who, until the age of fifty-eight, "worked tirelessly" to become like rich people, "whom he once took as a model."
II. Storytelling conversation.
What images in the story are symbolic?
(Firstly, the symbol of society is perceived as an ocean steamer with the significant name "Atlantis", on which an unnamed millionaire sails to Europe. Atlantis is a sunken legendary, mythical continent, a symbol of a lost civilization that could not resist the onslaught of the elements. There are also associations with the deceased in 1912 year "Titanic" The "ocean that walked behind the walls" of the steamer is a symbol of the elements, nature, opposed to civilization.
The image of the captain is also symbolic, “a red-haired man of monstrous size and heaviness, similar ... to a huge idol and very rarely appeared in front of people from his mysterious chambers.” Symbolic image of the title character ( reference: the title character is the one whose name is placed in the title of the work, he may not be the main character). The gentleman from San Francisco is the personification of a man of bourgeois civilization.)
To more clearly imagine the nature of the relationship between "Atlantis" and the ocean, you can apply a "cinematic" technique: the "camera" first slides along the floors of the ship, demonstrating rich decoration, details that emphasize the luxury, solidity, reliability of "Atlantis", and then gradually "sails away", showing the enormity of the ship as a whole; moving further, the “camera” moves away from the steamer until it becomes like a nutshell in a huge raging ocean that fills the entire space. (Let's recall the final scene of the film Solaris, where, it would seem, the found father's house turns out to be only an imaginary one, given to the hero by the power of the Ocean. If possible, you can show these shots in class).
What is the main setting of the story?
(The main action of the story takes place on the huge ship famous "Atlantis". The limited plot space allows you to focus on the mechanism of the functioning of bourgeois civilization. It appears as a society divided into upper "floors" and "basements". Upstairs, life goes on like in a "hotel with everyone comforts ", measured, calm and idle. "Passengers" living "safely", "many", but much more - "a great many" - those who work for them "in cooks', scullery" and in the "underwater womb" - at the "gigantic furnaces".)
What technique does Bunin use to portray the division of society?
(The division has the nature of the antithesis: rest, carelessness, dances and work, unbearable tension are opposed ”; "radiance ... of the chamber" and "gloomy and sultry bowels of the underworld"; "gentlemen" in tailcoats and tuxedos, ladies in "rich", "charming" "toilets" and "naked people covered in caustic, dirty sweat and waist-deep, purple from the flames." Gradually, a picture of heaven and hell is being built.)
How do "tops" and "bottoms" relate to each other?
(They are strangely related to each other. "Good money" helps to get to the top, and those who, like "the gentleman from San Francisco", were "quite generous" to people from the "underworld", they "fed and watered .. .from morning to evening they served him, preventing his slightest desire, guarded his cleanliness and peace, dragged his things ... ".)
Why main character nameless?
(The hero is simply called “master” because that is precisely what he is. At least he considers himself a master and revels in his position. He can afford to “just for fun” go “to old light for two whole years”, can enjoy all the benefits guaranteed by his status, believes “in the care of all those who fed and watered him, served him from morning till night, warned his slightest desire”, can contemptuously throw ragged men through his teeth: “Go away! Via! ("Away!").)
(Describing the appearance of the gentleman, Bunin uses epithets that emphasize his wealth and his unnaturalness: “silver mustache”, “golden fillings” of teeth, “strong bald head”, is compared with “old ivory”. There is nothing spiritual in the gentleman, his goal is to become rich and reap the benefits of this wealth - came true, but he did not become happier because of this. The description of the gentleman from San Francisco is constantly accompanied by the author's irony.)
When does the hero begin to change, lose his self-confidence?
(“The master” changes only in the face of death, it is no longer the gentleman from San Francisco that begins to appear in him - he was no longer there - but someone else. " Death makes him a man: "his features began to thin, brighten .. .". "Dead", "deceased", "dead" - this is how the author of the hero now calls. The attitude of those around him changes dramatically: the corpse must be removed from the hotel so as not to spoil the mood of other guests, they cannot provide a coffin - only a box from - under a soda ("soda water" is also one of the signs of civilization), the servant, trembling before the living, mockingly laughs at the dead. At the end of the story, the "body of a dead old man from San Francisco" is mentioned, which returns "home, to the grave, to the shores of the New World ", in a black hold. The power of the "master" turned out to be illusory.)
How is society shown in the story?
(Steamboat - the last word technology - is a model of human society. Its holds and decks are the layers of this society. On the upper floors of the ship, which looks like “a huge hotel with all amenities”, the life of the rich, who have achieved complete “well-being”, flows measuredly. This life is indicated by the longest indefinitely personal sentence, occupying almost a page: “get up early, ... drink coffee, chocolate, cocoa, ... sit in the baths, stimulating appetite and well-being, make daily toilets and go to the first breakfast .. .". These proposals emphasize the impersonality, lack of individuality of those who consider themselves masters of life. Everything they do is unnatural: entertainment is needed only to stimulate appetite artificially. "Travelers" do not hear the evil howl of a siren, foreshadowing death - it is drowned out by "the sounds of a beautiful string orchestra."
The passengers of the ship represent the nameless “cream” of society: “There was a certain great rich man among this brilliant crowd, ... there was a famous Spanish writer, there was a world-class beauty, there was an elegant couple in love ...” The couple portrayed love, was “hired by Lloyd to play love for good money." It is an artificial paradise filled with light, warmth and music.
And there is hell. The “underwater womb of the steamer” is like the underworld. There, "gigantic fireboxes cackled deafly, devouring with their red-hot mouths piles of coal, with a roar thrown into them by people covered in caustic, dirty sweat and waist-deep naked people, purple from the flame." Note the disturbing coloring and menacing sound of this description.)
How is the conflict between man and nature resolved?
(Society is just like a well-oiled machine. Nature, which seems to be an object of entertainment along with “antiquity monuments, a tarantella, serenades of wandering singers and ... the love of young Neapolitan women,” recalls the illusory nature of life in a “hotel.” It is “huge”, but around it - the "water desert" of the ocean and the "cloudy sky". Man's eternal fear of the elements is muffled by the sounds of the "string orchestra". He is reminded of the "permanently calling" from hell, groaning "in mortal anguish" and "furious malice" siren, but they hear it "few". All the rest believe in the inviolability of their existence, guarded by the "pagan idol" - the commander of the ship. The specificity of the description is combined with symbolism, which makes it possible to emphasize the philosophical nature of the conflict. The social gap between rich and poor is nothing compared to the abyss that separates man from nature and life from non-existence.)
What is the role of episodic heroes of the story - Lorenzo and the Abruzzo highlanders?
(These characters appear at the end of the story and are in no way connected with its action. Lorenzo is “a tall old boatman, a carefree reveler and a handsome man,” probably the same age as a gentleman from San Francisco. Only a few lines are dedicated to him, but a sonorous name is given, in contrast from the title character. He is famous throughout Italy, served as a model for many painters more than once. "With a regal habit" he looks around, feeling truly "royal", enjoying life, "drawing with his tatters, a clay pipe and a red woolen beret lowered on one ear.” The picturesque poor old man Lorenzo will live forever on the canvases of artists, and the rich old man from San Francisco was deleted from life and forgotten before he could die.
The Abruzzi highlanders, like Lorenzo, personify the naturalness and joy of being. They live in harmony, in harmony with the world, with nature: “They walked - and a whole country, joyful, beautiful, sunny, stretched under them: and the stony humps of the island, which almost all lay at their feet, and that fabulous blue, in which he swam, and the radiant morning vapors over the sea to the east, under the dazzling sun ... ". The goat-skin bagpipe and the highlanders' wooden forearm are contrasted with the "beautiful string orchestra" of the steamer. The highlanders give their lively, artless music of praise to the sun, morning, “the immaculate intercessor of all those who suffer in this evil and beautiful world and born of her womb in the cave of Bethlehem…” These are the true values of life, as opposed to the brilliant, expensive, but artificial, imaginary values of "masters".)
What image is a generalizing image of the insignificance and perishability of earthly wealth and glory?
(This is also a nameless image, which recognizes the once powerful Roman emperor Tiberius, who lived the last years of his life in Capri. Many "come to look at the remains of the stone house where he lived." "Humanity will forever remember him," but this is the glory of Herostratus : "a man who is unspeakably vile in satisfying his lust and for some reason had power over millions of people, who inflicted cruelty on them beyond measure. " In the word "for some reason" - exposure of fictitious power, pride; time puts everything in its place: gives immortality to the true and casts the false into oblivion.)
III. Teacher's word.
In the story, the theme of the end of the existing world order, the inevitability of the death of a soulless and soulless civilization gradually grows. It is embedded in the epigraph, which was removed by Bunin only in the last edition of 1951: “Woe to you, Babylon, strong city!” This biblical phrase, reminiscent of the feast of Belshazzar before the fall of the Chaldean kingdom, sounds like a harbinger of future great catastrophes. The mention in the text of Vesuvius, the eruption of which killed Pompeii, reinforces the formidable prediction. A keen sense of the crisis of civilization, doomed to non-existence, is associated with philosophical reflections on life, man, death and immortality.
IV. Analysis of the composition and conflict of the story.
Material for the teacher.
Composition The story is circular. The hero's journey begins in San Francisco and ends with the return "home, to the grave, to the shores of the New World." The "middle" of the story - a visit to the "Old World" - in addition to the specific, has a generalized meaning. The "New Man", returning to history, evaluates his place in the world in a new way. The arrival of the heroes in Naples, Capri opens up the possibility for inclusion in the text of the author's descriptions of the "wonderful", "joyful, beautiful, sunny" country, the beauty of which is "powerless to express the human word", and philosophical digressions due to Italian impressions.
Climax is the scene of "unexpectedly and rudely falling" on the "master" of death in the "smallest, worst, dampest and coldest" room of the "lower corridor".
This event, only by coincidence, was perceived as a “terrible incident” (“if there hadn’t been a German in the reading room” who escaped from there “with a cry”, the owner would have been able to “calm ... with hasty assurances that this is so, a trifle ...”). The unexpected disappearance into non-existence in the context of the story is perceived as the highest moment of the collision of the illusory and the true, when nature "rudely" proves its omnipotence. But people continue their "carefree", insane existence, quickly returning to peace and tranquility. They cannot be awakened to life not only by the example of one of their contemporaries, but even by the memory of what happened “two thousand years ago” during the time of Tiberius, who lived “on one of the steepest slopes” of Capri, who was the Roman emperor during the life of Jesus Christ.
Conflict The story goes far beyond the scope of a particular case, in connection with which its denouement is connected with reflections on the fate of not one hero, but all past and future passengers of Atlantis. Doomed to the "hard" path of overcoming "darkness, the ocean, blizzards", closed in the "hellish" social machine, humanity is suppressed by the conditions of its earthly life. Only the naive and simple, like children, can enjoy the joy of communion "with the eternal and blissful abode." In the story, the image of “two Abruzzo highlanders” appears, baring their heads in front of a plaster statue of the “immaculate intercessor of all those who suffer”, recalling “her blessed son”, who brought the “beautiful” beginning of good to the “evil” world. The devil remained the owner of the earthly world, watching "from the stony gates of the two worlds" the deeds of the "New Man with an old heart." What will choose where will he go humanity, whether it will be able to defeat the evil inclination in itself, is the question to which the story gives a “suppressing ... soul” answer. But the denouement becomes problematic, since in the finale the idea of a Man is affirmed, whose "pride" turns him into the third force of the world. The symbol of this is the ship's path through time and the elements: "The blizzard fought in its gear and wide-mouthed pipes, whitened with snow, but it was steadfast, firm, majestic and terrible."
Artistic originality The story is connected with the interweaving of the epic and lyrical principles. On the one hand, in full accordance with the realistic principles of depicting the hero in his relationship with the environment, on the basis of social and everyday specifics, a type is created, the reminiscent background for which, first of all, are images " dead souls”(N.V. Gogol. “Dead Souls”, 1842), At the same time, just like Gogol’s, thanks to the author’s assessment, expressed in lyrical digressions, the problems deepen, the conflict acquires a philosophical character.
Supplementary material for the teacher.
The melody of death latently begins to sound from the very first pages of the work, gradually becoming the leading motive. At first, death is extremely aestheticized, picturesque: in Monte Carlo, one of the activities of wealthy loafers is “shooting pigeons, which soar very beautifully and cages over an emerald lawn, against the backdrop of a sea the color of forget-me-nots, and immediately knock white lumps on the ground.” (In general, Bunin is characterized by the aestheticization of things that are usually unsightly, which should rather frighten than attract the observer - well, who, except him, could write about “slightly powdered, delicate pink pimples near the lips and between the shoulder blades” in the daughter of a gentleman from San Francisco, compare the whites of the eyes of blacks with "peeled hard-boiled eggs" or call young man in a narrow tailcoat with long tails “a handsome man who looks like a huge leech!”) Then a hint of death appears in the verbal portrait of the crown prince of one of the Asian states, sweet and pleasant in general human, whose mustache, however, "through, like a dead man", and the skin on the face was "as if stretched". And the siren on the ship chokes in "mortal anguish", promising evil, and the museums are cold and "deadly clean", and the ocean walks "mournful mountains from silver foam" and buzzes like a "funeral mass".
But even more clearly the breath of death is felt in the appearance of the main character, in whose portrait yellow-black-silver tones prevail: a yellowish face, gold fillings in the teeth, an ivory skull. Creamy silk underwear, black socks, trousers, and a tuxedo complete his look. Yes, and he sits in the golden-pearl radiance of the hall of the dining room. And it seems that from him these colors spread to nature and the whole the world. Unless an alarming red color is added. It is clear that the ocean rolls its black waves, that a crimson flame escapes from the furnaces of the ship, it is natural that the Italians have black hair, that the rubber capes of the cabbies give off black, that the crowd of lackeys is “black”, and the musicians may have red jackets. But why is the beautiful island of Capri also approaching with “its blackness”, “drilled with red lights”, why even “reconciled waves” shimmer like “black oil”, and “golden boas” flow over them from the lit lanterns on the pier?
So Bunin creates in the reader an idea of the omnipotence of a gentleman from San Francisco, capable of drowning out even the beauty of nature! (...) After all, even sunny Naples is not illuminated by the sun while an American is there, and the island of Capri seems to be some kind of ghost, “as if it had never existed in the world”, when a rich man approaches him ...
Remember, in the works of which writers there is a “talking color scheme. What role does yellow play in Dostoevsky's image of Petersburg? What other colors are significant?
Bunin needs all this in order to prepare the reader for the climax of the story - the death of the hero, about which he does not think, the thought of which does not penetrate his consciousness at all. And what a surprise can there be in this programmed world, where the solemn dressing for dinner is done in such a way as if a person is preparing for the “crown” (that is, the happy peak of his life!), Where there is a cheerful smartness, albeit not young, but well-shaven and a very elegant man who so easily overtakes an old woman who is late for dinner! Bunin saved only one detail, which is "knocked out" from a series of well-rehearsed deeds and movements: when a gentleman from San Francisco is dressing for dinner, his neck cufflink does not obey his fingers. She does not want to fasten in any way ... But he still defeats her. Painfully biting "flabby skin in the recess under the Adam's apple", wins "with eyes shining from tension", "all gray from the tight collar that squeezed his throat." And suddenly, at that moment, he utters words that in no way fit in with the atmosphere of general contentment, with the enthusiasm that he was prepared to receive. “- Oh. This is terrible! - he muttered ... and repeated with conviction: - This is terrible ... ”What exactly seemed terrible to him in this world designed for pleasure, the gentleman from San Francisco, who was not used to thinking about unpleasant things, did not try to understand. However, it is striking that an American who previously spoke mainly English or Italian (his Russian remarks are very short and are perceived as “passing through”) repeats this word twice in Russian ... By the way, it is worth noting in general his jerky, as barking speech: he does not speak more than two or three words in a row.
"Terrible" was the first touch of Death, which was never realized by a person in whose soul "for a long time ... there were no mystical feelings left." After all, as Bunin writes, the intense rhythm of his life did not leave "time for feelings and reflections." However, some feelings, or rather sensations, he still had, however, the simplest, if not base ones ... The writer repeatedly points out that the gentleman from San Francisco revived only at the mention of the tarantella performer. (his question, asked “in an expressionless voice”, about her partner: is he not her husband - just gives out hidden excitement), only imagining how she, “swarthy, with feigned eyes, like a mulatto, in a flowery outfit ( ...) dances”, only anticipating “the love of young Neapolitans, albeit not entirely disinterested”, only admiring the “live pictures” in brothels or looking so frankly at the famous blonde beauty that his daughter felt embarrassed. He feels despair only when he begins to suspect that life is slipping out of his control: he came to Italy to enjoy, and here it is foggy rains and terrifying pitching ... But it is given to him with pleasure to dream about a spoonful of soup and a sip of wine.
And for this, as well as for the whole life lived, in which there was self-confident businesslikeness, and cruel exploitation of other people, and the endless accumulation of wealth, and the conviction that everything around is called to “serve” him, “prevent his slightest desires”, “ carry his things”, for the lack of any living principle, Bunin executes him and executes him cruelly, one might say, mercilessly.
The death of a gentleman from San Francisco shocks with its ugliness, repulsive physiology. Now the writer makes full use of the aesthetic category of "ugly" in order to permanently imprint a disgusting picture in our memory. Bunin does not spare repulsive details in order to recreate a man whom no amount of wealth can save from the humiliation that followed after his death. Later, the dead person is also granted genuine communion with nature, which he was deprived of, which, being alive, he never felt the need for: “the stars looked at him from the sky, the cricket sang with sad carelessness on the wall.”
What works can you name where the death of the hero is described in detail? What is the significance of these “finals” for understanding the ideological intent? How is the author's position expressed in them?
The writer “rewarded” his hero with such an ugly, unenlightened death in order to once again emphasize the horror of that unrighteous life, which could only end in such a way. Indeed, after the death of a gentleman from San Francisco, the world felt relieved. A miracle happened. The very next day, the morning blue sky “became richer”, “peace and tranquility again settled on the island”, ordinary people poured into the streets, and the city market was decorated with his presence by the handsome Lorenzo, who serves as a model for many painters and, as it were, symbolizes beautiful Italy .. .
A look at bourgeois civilization in I. Bunin's story "The Gentleman from San Francisco"
"The Gentleman from San Francisco" was written in 1915, during the First World War, which the writer treated extremely negatively. This story reflected the tragedy of life and the despair of the author, who was unable to change anything. Bunin does not accept the world in which he lives, and in the story he makes you feel a sharp negative characterization of the civilization of his day.
In the story, the author uses interesting methods of generalization and condemnation of social evil, embodied in the image of the main character, it highlights those personality traits that are typical for people, especially the wealthy. In the story "The Gentleman from San Francisco", the writer tries to answer his questions: what is the happiness of a person, his destiny on earth? Bunin also poses such a problem as the interaction of man and environment. In the story “The Gentleman from San Francisco” (originally titled “Death on Capri”), along with a philosophical line, social issues were developed related to the writer’s critical attitude to the lack of spirituality of bourgeois society, to the rise of technical progress to the detriment of internal improvement. The main action of the story takes place on a huge steamship, the famous Atlantis. The name itself takes on a symbolic meaning. Atlantis is a semi-legendary island to the west of Gibraltar, which, as a result of an earthquake, sank to the bottom of the ocean. Especially great importance the image of Atlantis acquires at the end of the story, although at the very beginning it is not difficult for the reader to guess what awaits the protagonist, who remains nameless at the end of his journey, as it turned out, his life path. The limited plot space makes it possible to focus on the mechanism of the functioning of bourgeois civilization. According to Bunin, all people are equal before the great world of nature. Man's main mistake is that he lives false values. The story resonates with the thought of the insignificance of the power of man in the face of the same mortal outcome for all. It turned out that everything accumulated by the master has no meaning in the face of that eternal law, to which everyone is subject without exception. The meaning of life is neither in filling nor in acquiring monetary wealth , but in something else, not amenable to monetary evaluation. In the center of the work is the image of a millionaire who does not have a name or no one remembers him. Together with his family, the gentleman goes on a journey, the route of which is carefully thought out, like everything in his life. In a scrupulous description of the route and planned entertainment in the story, not only the author’s smile is conceived, but also the voice of “universal fate”, ready to punish the soulless structure of the world, and people living in such a way are threatened with the fate of buried Atlantis. The death of the master is perceived by others as a nuisance that overshadowed a pleasant pastime. The fate of the hero's family no longer interests anyone. The owner of the hotel only cares about making a profit, and therefore this incident must certainly be smoothed out and try to forget as soon as possible. The San Francisco gentleman's wife was shocked by what had happened, but rather by the suddenness of it than by the fact itself. Both women - both the master's wife and daughter spent the night after his death in tears, but it cannot be said that having lost their master, his family lost the meaning of life. Being a part of that high society, the ins and outs of which Bunin exposes in his story, one can say that the family from San Francisco regretted to a greater extent only that the uninterrupted source of material wealth for them was closed. Such is the moral decline of civilization and society as a whole. The wealth of the American tourist, like a magic key, opened many doors, but not all. It could not prolong his life, it did not protect him even after death. How much servility and admiration this man saw during his lifetime, the same amount of humiliation experienced his mortal body after death. Bunin shows how illusory the power of money in this world. And pitiful is the man who stakes on them. Having created idols for himself, he strives to achieve the same well-being. It seems that the goal has been achieved, he is at the top, for which he has worked tirelessly for many years. And what did he do, what did he leave to posterity? Nobody even remembered his name. The problem of the relationship between man and civilization is revealed by the writer not only through the plot, but also with the help of allegories, associations, symbols. The hold of a ship can be compared to the underworld. The ship's commander is compared to a "pagan idol". The raging ocean portends an impending danger. The coffin in the hold at the end of the story is a kind of verdict on the insanely merry society, a reminder that even rich people standing “on top of the world” are by no means omnipotent, do not always determine their fate and are worthless in front of higher powers. "The Gentleman from San Francisco" tells the story of the complex and dramatic interaction of the social and natural-cosmic in human life, about claims to dominance in this world, about the unknowability of the Universe and civilization, which inevitably moves towards its own finale, which should never be forgotten. And the ship of our civilization, guided by the proud consciousness of its human chosenness, is moving towards a presumptuously set dream, and in the ears the warning whistle of a siren is becoming more and more distinct: “Woe to you, Babylon, strong city.”
Ivan Alekseevich Bunin is a wonderful writer who creates in his works subtle psychological characteristics who knows how to sculpt a character or environment in detail.
His prose has several distinguishing features. With a simple plot, the wealth of thoughts, images and symbols that are inherent in the artist is striking.
In his narration, Bunin is unfussy, thorough and concise. And if Chekhov is called the master of the detail, then Bunin can be called the master of the symbol. Bunin mastered this art of turning an inconspicuous detail into a flashy characteristic. It seems that the whole world around him fits into his small works. This is due to the figurative and clear style of the writer, the typifications that he creates in his work.
The story “The Gentleman from San Francisco” is no exception, in which the writer tries to answer questions that interest him: what is the happiness of a person, his purpose on earth? Bunin also poses such a problem as the interaction of man and the environment.
The story "The Gentleman from San Francisco" (originally titled "Death on Capri") continued the tradition of L.N. Tolstoy, who portrayed illness and death as the most important events that reveal the price of a person (“The Death of Ivan Ilyich”). Along with the philosophical line, the story developed social issues related to the writer's critical attitude to the lack of spirituality of bourgeois society, to the rise of technical progress to the detriment of internal improvement.
According to the writer's wife V.N. Muromtseva-Bunina, one of the biographical sources could be a dispute in which Bunin objected to his fellow traveler, arguing that if you cut the steamer vertically, we will see how some are resting, while others are working, black from coal. However, the writer's thinking is much broader: social inequality for him is only a consequence of much deeper and much less transparent causes. At the same time, the depth of Bunin's prose is largely achieved by the content side.
The main action of the story takes place on a huge steamship, the famous Atlantis. The name itself takes on a symbolic meaning. Atlantis is a semi-legendary island to the west of Gibraltar, which, as a result of an earthquake, sank to the bottom of the ocean. The image of Atlantis becomes especially important at the end of the story, although even at the very beginning it is not difficult for the reader to guess what awaits the protagonist, who remains nameless at the end of his path, as it turned out, his life path.
The limited plot space makes it possible to focus on the mechanism of the functioning of bourgeois civilization. It should be noted that this problem was comprehended throughout the entire work, the purpose of this "damned question" was especially understood by the writer.
According to Bunin, all people are equal before the great world of nature. The main mistake of a person is that he lives with false values. The story resonates with the thought of the insignificance of the power of man in the face of the same mortal outcome for all. It turned out that everything accumulated by the master has no meaning in the face of that eternal law, to which everyone is subject without exception. The meaning of life is neither in fulfillment, nor in the acquisition of monetary wealth, but in something else that cannot be valued in money.
In the center of the work is the image of a millionaire who does not have a name or no one remembers him: “Until the age of 58, his life was devoted to accumulation. After becoming a millionaire, he wants to have all the pleasures that money can buy.”
Together with his family, the gentleman goes on a journey, the route of which is carefully thought out, like everything in his life. He thought of holding the carnival in Nice, in Monte Carlo, where at that time the most selective society flocks, “where some are passionately attached to automobile and sailing races, others to roulette, still others to what is commonly called flirting, and fourth to pigeons, which are very beautifully soar from above the emerald lawn, against the background of the sea, the color of forget-me-nots, and at that moment they knock lumps on the ground ... ".
In this scrupulous description of the route and the planned entertainments, not only the author’s smile is conceived, but also the voice of “universal fate”, ready to punish the soulless structure of the world, and people living in such a way are threatened with the fate of buried Atlantis.
The death of the master is perceived by others as a nuisance that overshadowed a pleasant pastime. The fate of the hero's family no longer interests anyone. The owner of the hotel only cares about making a profit, and therefore this incident must certainly be smoothed out and try to forget as soon as possible. Such is the moral decline of civilization and society as a whole.
Yes, the wealth of the American tourist, like a magic key, opened many doors, but not all. It could not prolong his life, it did not protect him even after death. How much servility and admiration this man saw during his lifetime, the same amount of humiliation experienced his mortal body after death. Bunin shows how illusory the power of money in this world. And pitiful is the man who stakes on them. Having created idols for himself, he strives to achieve the same well-being. It seems that the goal has been achieved, he is at the top, for which he has worked tirelessly for many years. And what did he do, what did he leave to posterity? Nobody even remembered his name.
The problem of the relationship between man and civilization is revealed by the writer not only through the plot, but also with the help of allegories, associations, symbols. The hold of a ship can be compared to the underworld. The ship's commander is compared to a "pagan idol". The raging ocean portends an impending danger.
The return of the master in the hold of the ship underscores the true state of affairs. The method of opposition in the description of life “material” and eternal, the love line in the story about the daughter of the master - all this reveals the problem of civilization and the place of man in it, which has not been resolved.
The Devil remained the owner of the earthly world, watching from the “stony gates of the two worlds” the deeds of a new man with an old heart. The problem of man and civilization in the story of I.A. Bunin "The Gentleman from San Francisco" acquires a socio-philosophical sound.