The philosophical problematic of Bunin's works is a composition. Philosophical problems of Bunin's works

The writing: Bunin. I.A. - Miscellaneous - "Philosophical problems of one of the works of Russian literature of the twentieth century. (The meaning of life in the story of I. Bunin" The Lord from San Francisco ")"

"Philosophical problems of one of the works of Russian literature of the twentieth century. (The meaning of life in the story of I. Bunin" Mister from San Francisco ")"

Philosophical problems of one of the works of Russian literature of the XX century.

(The meaning of life in I. Bunin's story "The gentleman from San Francisco")

Though we are mortal, we must

will not submit to perishable things,

but, as far as possible, climb

to immortality and live according to

with what is best in us. Aristotle.

One thousand nine hundred and fifteen. The First World War is in full swing. Its fire was not inflated without the participation of a “select society”. “They say the Brians, the Milyukovs,” writes I. Bunin, “and we mean absolutely nothing. They prepare millions of people for slaughter, and we can only be indignant, no more. Ancient slavery? Now slavery is such, in comparison with which ancient slavery is a mere trifle. " It is this civilized slavery that Bunin showed in his story "The Man from San Francisco". The plot of the work is simple. The hero of the story, a wealthy American businessman, whose name is not even mentioned, having achieved high material well-being, decides to arrange a long trip for his family. But all plans are destroyed by one unforeseen circumstance - the death of the hero.

The main idea is not just a story about an American businessman. It is more ambitious. It would seem that the main character is dying - the plot potential has been exhausted. But the boundaries of the story turn out to be much wider than the boundaries of history. A panorama of the Gulf of Neopolitan appears before the reader, a sketch of a street market, images of the boatman Lorenz and the Abruzzian highlanders, and, finally, the image of "Atlantis" - the steamer returning the dead master to America.

"Atlantis" closes the compositional circle of the story. If at the beginning the gentleman himself is having fun on the ship - communicating with rich people, observing the bright sometimes "lovers", then at the end the same thing happens with other passengers, and "deep under them, at the bottom of the dark hold," is the gentleman's coffin, who once planned to have fun for two whole years. The coffin in the hold is a kind of sentence to a mindlessly having fun in society, a reminder that rich people are by no means omnipotent and do not always determine their fate. Wealth is not a guarantee of happiness. The latter is in completely different human dimensions.

The independence of a person from his social status or wealth is the main theme of the work.

In addition, the story reveals the theme of happiness. True, the idea of \u200b\u200bhim for the master and his family is peculiar. For the hero, happiness is sitting and looking at the frescoes next to the billionaire, for his daughter - to marry the prince. Love, like other feelings in a "select society", is artificial. The proof of this is a couple specially hired to play lovers.

The violation of the master's plans occurs already in Napal. The uncontrollable and therefore unpredictable capricious nature makes him go to Capri.

The author describes in great detail the routine of the master's existence. Three times in the story, the plot movement almost stops, canceled first by a methodical presentation of the cruise itinerary, then by a measured account of the "daily routine" on the Atlantis, and, finally, by a thorough description of the order of the Neopolitan hotel. The "graphs" and "points" of the master's existence are mechanically lined: "first", "second", "third"; “At eleven”, “at five”, “into the network of hours”. In general, the regulation of the way of life of the American and his companions sets a monotonous rhythm to the description of the entire social world, makes the reader see the artificiality, mechanicalness and monotony of the life of a "selective society".

The unpredictable element of true life becomes an expressive contrast to the punctual world of the master. Against the background of a clear routine of the hero's existence, his death seems "illogical." But even more "illogical" and unpredictable are the actions of the employees of the hotel and the "selective society". They are clearly not happy that their master's death has disturbed their fun. The owner of the hotel feels guilty for not being able to hide what happened. With the death of the hero, his power over people is lost. At the request of the wife of a gentleman from San Francisco to find the coffin, the hotel owner cynically offers a box of soda water, in which the body is delivered to the steamer.

It turns out that everything accumulated by him has no value before the eternal law to which everyone without exception is subject. Obviously, the meaning of life is not in acquiring wealth, but in something that does not lend itself to monetary evaluation - worldly wisdom, kindness, spirituality.

While working on the story, the writer makes the following entry in his diary: "I cried, writing the end." Bunin does not at all mourn his hero, but experiences pain from the deadening life of the rich, who decide the fate of ordinary people.

Composition "Philosophical Problems of Bunin's Works".

Ivan Bunin has established himself as a lyric writer who, in his works, raises questions of love with a sad outcome. But the lyric author pays a lot of attention to philosophical problems. The topics raised by Bunin are relevant at all times. He talks about the meaning of life, about death, about patriotism, about loneliness.

The plot of a philosophical work

Bunin believed that man is only a small part of a larger plan. He often expressed sad thoughts that human existence is so short. Along with this, the problem of loneliness is traced. The human soul is forced to suffer in this huge alien world. Best of all, Ivan Bunin's philosophy is demonstrated by the story "The gentleman from San Francisco." This is an instructive work that can completely change the worldview.

The main character did not bother to name. But the writer hints at his high position, using sarcasm. The master's goal is wealth. He wants to acquire as much material wealth as possible. In this he is equal to world leaders. Millionaires became his idols. It is in money that the main character sees the meaning of his existence. And when the goal is achieved, the man dies at the age of 58. All his life he dreamed of a carefree existence, and when this was achieved, then fate struck back. No one regrets the death of a man. Everyone takes his departure calmly. The wife and daughter are not upset at all. Now they will become the owners of the wealth that the man was saving up. The writer claims that happiness is not in material values. Respect, love, health, friendship cannot be bought for money.

Moral of the story

Fate cannot be predicted. At one moment you were in charge of life, and at another, you are no longer there. And no one even remembered that there was such a person and aspired to something there. Nobody throws away the importance of finance. Money helps to find a certain freedom. But there are more important things in life. You need to try to leave your mark in history so that at least someone remembers you. Nobody is forever. Someone will live more, someone less. Therefore, we need to act. Ivan Bunin in his work acts as a brilliant psychologist. He manages to accurately convey the spectrum of human emotions. Thanks to his philosophy, he gives answers to important questions, comes to a logical conclusion.

If you liked the essay on the topic "Philosophical Problems of the Works of Bunin," then you may also like the following essays

In Bunin's poetry, one of the key places was occupied by philosophical lyrics. Looking into the past, the writer strove to capture the "eternal" laws of the development of science, peoples, and humanity. This was the meaning of his appeal to distant civilizations of the past - Slavic and Eastern.

The basis of Bunin's philosophy of life is the recognition of earthly existence as only a part of the eternal cosmic history, in which the life of man and mankind is dissolved. His lyrics sharpen the feeling of the fatal confinement of human life in a narrow time frame, the feeling of a person's loneliness in the world.

Striving for the sublime comes into contact with the imperfection of human experience. Next to the coveted Atlantis, the “blue abyss”, the ocean, images of the “naked soul” and “night sadness” appear. The contradictory experiences of the lyrical hero were most clearly manifested in the deeply philosophical motives of the dream, the soul. The "bright dream", "winged", "heady", "enlightened happiness" are sung. However, such a sublime feeling carries a "heavenly secret", it becomes "a stranger to the earth."

In prose, one of the most famous philosophical works of Bunin is the story "The Lord from San Francisco". With hidden irony and sarcasm, Bunin describes the main character - a gentleman from San Francisco, without even honoring him with a name. The Lord himself is full of snobbery and self-righteousness. All his life he strove for wealth, setting the richest people in the world as an example for himself, trying to achieve the same prosperity as they did. Finally, it seems to him that the goal is close and, finally, it is time to rest, to live for his own pleasure: "Until this moment he did not live, but existed." And the master is already fifty-eight years old ...

The hero considers himself the "master" of the situation, but life itself refutes him. Money is a powerful force, but it is impossible to buy happiness, prosperity, respect, love, life with it. In addition, there is a force in the world that is not subject to anything. This is nature, element. All that the rich, like the gentleman from San Francisco, are capable of is to isolate themselves as much as possible from unwanted weather conditions. However, the elements are still stronger. After all, their lives depend on her favor.

The gentleman from San Francisco believed that everything around was created only to fulfill his desires, the hero firmly believed in the power of the “golden calf”: “He was quite generous on the way and therefore fully believed in the care of all those who were fed and watered him, from morning to evening, they served him, warning his slightest desire. " 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 was experienced by his mortal body after death.

Bunin shows how illusory the power of money in this world is, and a pitiful person who stakes on it. Having created idols for himself, he seeks to achieve the same prosperity. Here, it seems, the goal has been achieved, he is at the top, for which he worked for many years, tirelessly. And what did he do, what did he leave to posterity? Nobody even remembered his name.

In the midst of civilization, in the everyday hustle and bustle, it is easy for a person to lose himself, it is easy to replace real goals and ideals with imaginary ones. But this cannot be done. It is necessary in any conditions to protect your soul, to keep the treasures that are in it. This is what Bunin's philosophical works urge us to do. With this work, Bunin tried to show that a person can lose himself, but under any conditions he must retain something more in himself - and this is an immortal soul.

I.A. Bunin is a great name in the history of Russian literature. Against the background of the richness and diversity of literature of the early 20th century, he managed to take its special place. The writer touched upon various topics in his work. Most of all, Bunin was interested in the questions of human happiness, the spiritual purpose of man, the meaning of life and the immortality of the soul.

Despite the fact that Bunin became famous mainly as a great prose writer, he always considered himself, first of all, a poet.

In Bunin's poetry, one of the key places was occupied by philosophical lyrics. Looking into the past, the writer strove to capture the "eternal" laws of the development of science, peoples, and humanity. This was the meaning of his appeal to distant civilizations of the past - Slavic and Eastern.

The basis of Bunin's philosophy of life is the recognition of earthly existence as only a part of the eternal cosmic history, in which the life of man and mankind is dissolved. His lyrics sharpen the feeling of the fatal confinement of human life in a narrow time frame, the feeling of a person's loneliness in the world. In creativity, a motive of non-stop movement towards the secrets of the world arises:

It's time, it's time for me to throw dry land

Breathe freely and fuller

And baptize the naked soul again

In the font of the sky and the seas!

Striving for the sublime comes into contact with the imperfection of human experience. Next to the coveted Atlantis, the “blue abyss”, the ocean, images of the “naked soul” and “night sadness” appear. The contradictory experiences of the lyrical hero were most clearly manifested in the deeply philosophical motives of the dream, the soul. The "bright dream", "winged", "heady", "enlightened happiness" are sung. However, such a sublime feeling carries a "heavenly secret", it becomes "alien to the earth."

In prose, one of the most famous philosophical works of Bunin is the story "The Lord from San Francisco". With hidden irony and sarcasm, Bunin describes the main character - a gentleman from San Francisco, without even honoring him with a name. The Lord himself is full of snobbery and self-righteousness. All his life he strove for wealth, setting the richest people in the world as an example for himself, trying to achieve the same prosperity as they did. Finally, it seems to him that the goal is close and, finally, it is time to rest, to live for his own pleasure: "Until this moment he did not live, but existed." And the master is already fifty-eight years old ...

The hero considers himself the "master" of the situation, but life itself refutes him. Money is a powerful force, but it is impossible to buy happiness, prosperity, respect, love, life with it. In addition, there is a force in the world that is not subject to anything. This is nature, element. All that the rich, like the gentleman from San Francisco, are capable of is to isolate themselves as much as possible from unwanted weather conditions. However, the elements are still stronger. After all, their lives depend on her favor.

The gentleman from San Francisco believed that everything around was created only to fulfill his desires, the hero firmly believed in the power of the “golden calf”: “He was quite generous on the way and therefore fully believed in the care of all those who were fed and watered him, from morning to evening, they served him, warning his slightest desire. " 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 was experienced by his mortal body after death.

Bunin shows how illusory the power of money in this world is, and a pitiful person who stakes on it. Having created idols for himself, he seeks to achieve the same prosperity. Here, it seems, the goal has been achieved, he is at the top, for which he worked for many years, tirelessly. And what did he do, what did he leave to posterity? Nobody even remembered his name.

In the midst of civilization, in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is easy for a person to lose himself, it is easy to replace real goals and ideals with imaginary ones. But this cannot be done. It is necessary in any conditions to protect your soul, to keep the treasures that are in it. This is what Bunin's philosophical works urge us to do.

Throughout his creative career, Bunin created poetic works. Bunin's peculiar lyric poetry, unique in its artistic style, cannot be confused with the poems of other authors. The individual artistic style of the writer reflects his worldview.

Bunin in his poems responded to complex questions of life. His lyrics are multifaceted and deep in philosophical issues of comprehending the meaning of life. The poet expressed moods of confusion, disappointment and at the same time knew how to fill his poems with inner light, faith in life, in the greatness of beauty. His lyrical hero possesses a holistic worldview, radiates a joyful, cheerful attitude towards the world.

Bunin lived and worked at the turn of two centuries: XIX and XX. At this time, modernist currents developed rapidly in literature and art. Many poets in the designated period were looking for unusual and new forms to express their thoughts and feelings, were engaged in word creation. Quite often, experiments in form and content shocked readers. Bunin remained faithful to the traditions of Russian classical poetry, which were developed by Fet, Baratynsky, Tyutchev, Polonsky and many others. He wrote realistic lyric poetry and did not seek to experiment with the word. The wealth of the Russian language and material in the modern world of Bunin was quite enough for the poet.

The lyrics of I. A. Bunin reflect the theme of memory, the past, the mystery of time as a philosophical category:

Blue wallpaper faded

The image, the daguerreotypes were removed.

Only there was blue

Where they hung for many years.

Forgotten heart, forgotten

Much that once loved!

Only those who no longer exist

An unforgettable trace has been preserved.

These lines contain the idea of \u200b\u200bthe transience of time, of the every second change of the universe and the person in it. Only memory preserves our beloved people.

IA Bunin, in his delicate, masterfully polished philosophical poems, expressed the idea of \u200b\u200bthe cosmic nature of the soul of each individual person. Philosophical themes of the connection between man and nature, life and death, good and evil took the main place in I. Bunin's lyrics. The poet writes about the universal significance of the scientific discoveries of the brilliant explorer Giordano Bruno, who at the time of his execution proclaims:



I'm dying - because I want to.

Scatter, executioner, scatter my ashes, despicable!

Hello Universe, Sun! To the executioner! -

He will scatter my thought throughout the Universe!

Bunin the philosopher felt the continuity of being, the eternity of matter, believed in the power of creation. Human genius turns out to be equal to the boundless and eternal cosmos. Bunin could not come to terms with the need to leave life, the condemnation of each person to death. According to the recollections of friends and relatives, he did not believe that he would disappear forever:

The day will come - I will disappear.

And this room is empty

Everything will be the same: table, bench.

Yes, an image, ancient and simple.

In poetry Bunin tried to find the harmony of the world, the meaning of human existence. He affirmed the eternity and wisdom of nature, defined it as an inexhaustible source of beauty. Bunin's human life is always inscribed in the context of nature. He was confident in the rationality of all living things and argued that "there is no separate nature from us, that every slightest movement of air is a movement of our own life."

Landscape lyrics are gradually becoming philosophical. For the author, the main thing in a poem is thought. Many of the poet's poems are devoted to the theme of life and death:



My spring will pass and this day will pass

But it's fun to wander around and know that everything goes away

While the happiness of living forever will never die,

As long as the dawn brings the dawn over the earth

And a young life will be born in its turn.

In his lyrical work, Bunin comes to the idea of \u200b\u200ba person's responsibility to the past, present and future. Not a single person comes into this world without a purpose, living among people, everyone leaves their mark. This idea is confirmed in the poem "Pskov Bor", where the question is: "Are we worthy of our heritage?" Bunin believed that life is worth living only for creation, love and beauty. The poet, having traveled almost the whole world and having read thousands of books in search of answers to "eternal" questions of life, did not believe in supernatural miracles, but believed in the mind and will of a person who could change the world for the better.

The theme of love and death in the story of I. A. Bunin "Light Breathing"

The story "Light Breathing" was written by I. Bunin in 1916. It reflects the philosophical motives of life and death, beautiful and ugly, which were the focus of the writer. In this story, Bunin develops one of the leading problems in his work: love and death. In artistic skill, "Light Breath" is considered the pearl of Bunin's prose.

The narrative moves in the opposite direction, from the present to the past, the beginning of the story is its ending. From the very first lines, the author plunges the reader into the sad atmosphere of the cemetery, describes the grave of a beautiful girl whose life was absurdly and terribly interrupted in the prime of her life: “In the cemetery, over its earthen embankment, stands a new oak cross, strong, heavy, smooth.

April, days are gray; the monuments of the cemetery, a spacious county one, can still be seen far away through the bare trees, and the cold wind rings and rings at the foot of the cross.

A rather large, convex porcelain medallion is embedded in the cross itself, and in the medallion is a photographic portrait of a schoolgirl with joyful, amazingly lively eyes.

This is Olya Meshcherskaya. "

Bunin makes us feel grief at the sight of the grave of a fifteen-year-old girl, bright and beautiful, who died at the very beginning of spring. It was the spring of her life, and she is in her - like an unblown bud of a beautiful flower in the future. But a fabulous summer will never come for her. The young life, beauty has disappeared, now there is eternity over Olya: “ringing-ringing”, without stopping, “cold wind with a porcelain wreath” on her grave.

The author introduces us to the life of the heroine of the story, schoolgirl Olya Meshcherskaya, at her fourteen and fifteen years. In all her appearance there is an admiring surprise at the extraordinary changes that are taking place with her. She quickly became prettier, turning into a girl, her soul was filled with energy and happiness. The heroine is stunned, she still does not know what to do with herself, new and so beautiful, so she simply surrenders to the impulses of youth and carefree fun. Nature presented her with an unexpected gift, making her easy, cheerful, happy. The author writes that the heroine was distinguished "in the last two years from the entire gymnasium - grace, elegance, dexterity, a clear shine of eyes." Life is delightfully bubbling in her, and she gladly settles in her new beautiful guise, tries his possibilities.

One involuntarily recalls the story "Violets" written by Bunin's friend and talented Russian prose writer A. I. Kuprin. It talentedly depicts the explosive awakening of the youth of the seventh-grader cadet Dmitry Kazakov, who from surging feelings cannot prepare for the exam, with emotion he collects violets outside the walls of the educational building. The young man does not understand what is happening to him, but out of happiness he is ready to hug the whole world and fall in love with the first girl he met.

Bunin's Olya Meshcherskaya is a kind, sincere and direct person. With her happiness and positive energy, the girl charges everything around, attracts people to her. Girls from the lower grades of the gymnasium run in a crowd after her, for them she is the ideal.

The last winter of Olya's life seemed to be so wonderful on purpose: “The winter was snowy, sunny, frosty, the sun went down early behind the high spruce forest of the snowy gymnasium garden, invariably fine, radiant, promising frost and sun for tomorrow, a walk on Cathedral Street; skating rink in the city garden, pink evening, music and this crowd sliding on the skating rink in all directions, in which Olya Meshcherskaya seemed the most carefree, the happiest. But only seemed ... This psychological detail points to the awakening of natural forces inherent in the youth of every person, when the mind is still asleep and does not control feelings. Inexperienced, inexperienced Olya easily flies through life, like a butterfly on fire. And misfortune is already following in her footsteps. Bunin was able to fully convey the tragedy of this dizzying flight.

Freedom of judgment, absence of fear, manifestation of violent joy, demonstration of happiness are considered defiant behavior in society. Olya does not understand how annoying others are. Beauty, as a rule, causes envy, misunderstanding, does not know how to defend itself in a world where everything exclusive is persecuted.

In addition to the main character, four more characters appear in the story, one way or another connected with the young schoolgirl. This is the headmaster of the gymnasium, the class lady Oli, the acquaintance of Olya's father Alexei Mikhailovich Milyutin and a certain Cossack officer.

None of them treats the girl in a human way, does not even attempt to understand her inner world. The boss, on duty, reproaches Meshcherskaya for a woman's hairstyle and shoes. Already an elderly man, Milyutin took advantage of Oli's inexperience and seduced her. Apparently, a casual admirer, a Cossack officer, took Meshcherskaya's behavior for frivolity and licentiousness. He shoots a girl at the train station and kills her. A fifteen-year-old girl is far from a fatal seductress. She, a naive schoolgirl, shows him a leaf from a notebook-diary. As a child, she does not know a way out of a love situation and tries to isolate herself from the annoying admirer with her own childish and confused notes, presenting them as a kind of document. How could you not understand this? But, having committed a crime, an ugly, plebeian-looking officer blames the girl he killed for everything.

Bunin understood love primarily only as a sudden outbreak of passion. And passion is always destructive. Bunin's love walks alongside death. The story "Light Breathing" is no exception. This was the concept of love of the great writer. But Bunin claims: death is not omnipotent. The short but bright life of Olya Meshcherskaya left a mark on many souls. “The little woman in mourning,” the classy lady Olya, often comes to the grave, recalls her “pale face in the coffin” and the conversation she once unwittingly overheard. Olya told her friend that the main thing in a woman is “light breathing”: “But I have it, - you listen to how I breathe in - isn't it really?”

The theme of the meaning of life in the story of I. A. Bunin "Mister from San Francisco"

The theme of criticism of bourgeois reality is reflected in Bunin's work. One of the best works on this subject can rightfully be called the story "The gentleman from San Francisco", which was highly appreciated by V. Korolenko. The idea to write this story came to Bunin in the process of working on the story "Brothers", when he learned about the death of a millionaire who had come to rest on the island of Capri. At first, the writer called the story “Death on Capri”, but later renamed it. It is the gentleman from San Francisco with his millions that is in the center of the writer's attention.

Describing the insane luxury of life for the rich, Bunin takes into account every little thing. And the master himself does not even give a name, no one remembered this person, he has no face and soul, he is only a bag of money. The writer creates a collective image of a bourgeois businessman, whose whole life is the accumulation of money. Having reached the age of 58, he finally decided to get all the pleasures that can be bought: “... he thought to hold the carnival in Nice, in Monte Carlo, where at this time the most selective society flocks, where some indulge in car and sailing races with passion , others are roulette, the third is what is usually called flirting, the fourth is pigeon shooting. " All his life this gentleman saved money, never rested, became "decrepit", unhealthy and devastated. It seems to him that he has "just begun life."

In Bunin's prose, there is no moralizing or denunciation, but the author treats this hero with sarcasm and sarcasm. He describes his appearance, habits, but there is no psychological portrait, because the hero has no soul. Money took his soul away. The author notes that over the years the master has learned to suppress any, even weak, manifestations of the soul. Having decided to have fun, the rich man cannot imagine that his life can end at any moment. Money supplanted common sense from him. He is sure that as long as they are there, he has nothing to fear.

Bunin, using the technique of contrast, depicts the external solidity of a person and his internal emptiness and primitiveness. In describing the rich man, the writer uses comparisons with inanimate objects: a bald head, like an ivory, a doll, a robot, etc. The hero does not speak, but utters several lines in a hoarse voice. The society of wealthy gentlemen in which the hero revolves is just as mechanical and soulless. They live by their own laws, trying not to notice ordinary people who are treated with disdainful contempt. The raison d'être of their existence is reduced to eating, drinking, smoking, enjoying and talking about them. Following the travel program, the rich man visits museums, examines the monuments with equal indifference. The values \u200b\u200bof culture and art are empty words for him, but he paid for the excursions.

The steamer Atlantis, on which the millionaire is sailing, is depicted by the writer as a diagram of society. It has three tiers: on top - the captain, on the average - the rich, in the bottom - workers and service personnel. Bunin compares the lower tier to hell, where tired workers in the terrible heat day and night throw coal into hot furnaces. A terrible ocean is raging around the steamer, but people entrusted their lives to a dead machine. All of them consider themselves to be the masters of nature and are sure that if they paid, the ship and the captain are obliged to deliver them to their destination. Bunin shows the thoughtless self-confidence of people living in the illusion of wealth. The name of the ship is symbolic. The writer makes it clear that the world of the rich, in which there is no purpose and meaning, will one day disappear from the face of the earth, like Atlantis.

The writer emphasizes that everyone is equal in the face of death. The rich man, who decides to get all the pleasures at once, suddenly dies. His death is not a matter of sympathy, but a terrible commotion. The innkeeper apologizes and promises to settle everything quickly. Society is outraged by the fact that someone dared to ruin their rest, remind them of death. They feel disgust and disgust for a recent companion and his wife. The corpse in a rough box is quickly sent into the hold of the steamer.

Bunin draws attention to a sharp change in attitudes towards the dead rich man and his wife. The accommodating owner of the hotel becomes arrogant and callous, while the servants become inattentive and rude. A rich man, who considered himself important and significant, having turned into a dead body, is not needed by anyone. The writer ends the story with a symbolic picture. The steamer, in the hold of which the former millionaire lies in the coffin, floats through the gloom and blizzard in the ocean, and from the rocks of Gibraltar the Devil is watching him, "huge as a cliff." It was he who got the soul of the gentleman from San Francisco, he owns the souls of the rich.

The writer raises philosophical questions about the meaning of life, the riddle of death, and the punishment for the sin of pride and self-righteousness. He predicts a terrible end to a world ruled by money and no laws of conscience.

The theme of the extinction of "noble nests" in the story of I. A. Bunin "Antonov apples"

The theme of the village and the life of the nobles in their ancestral estates was one of the main themes in the work of Bunin the prose writer. As the creator of prose works, Bunin declared himself in 1886. At the age of 16, he wrote lyric-romantic stories, in which, in addition to describing youthful impulses of the soul, social problems were already outlined. The story "Antonov apples" and the story "Sukhodol" are devoted to the process of the disintegration of noble nests in Bunin's work.

Bunin knew well the life of the Russian countryside. He spent his childhood and adolescence on the Butyrki farm in an impoverished noble family. Almost nothing remained of the once glorious family of the Bunins. In the story "Antonov Apples", the writer bit by bit collects his dear memories of his former life.

The narrative alternates between beautiful landscapes and portrait sketches. Everything comes to life under Bunin's pen. Here, in festive clothes, "a young elder, pregnant, with a broad sleepy face and important, like a Kholmogory cow." Here is a "consumptive, cheerful tradesman" who sells all sorts of things with jokes and jokes. A flock of boys walking "in twos, threes, shallowly fingering with bare feet, and squinting at a shaggy shepherd dog tied to an apple tree." Then suddenly "a fairy-tale picture appears: as if in a corner of hell, a crimson flame, surrounded by darkness, burns near the hut, and someone's black silhouettes, as if carved from ebony, move around the fire."

Russian estates represented a patriarchal natural economy: everything was different. Life away from the capitals, long winters and impassable roads prompted the landowners to invent entertainment, seek or create "food for the soul." Thus, over the long years of existence, a unique Russian manor culture was created, which the author recalls with regret. Reading old books in thick leather bindings, playing the clavichord, singing in the living room in the evenings. In the interiors of the estate, the author sees how "aristocratic-beautiful heads in old hairstyles meekly and femininely lower their long eyelashes over sad and tender eyes." The writer lovingly describes every feature of the old estate life, the atmosphere at home. This includes old mahogany furniture with inlays, heavy curtains, mirrors in beautiful frames, blue glass in the windows. The author is fascinated by the poetry of this passing world.

The narration in the story "Antonov Apples" is conducted from the perspective of a lyrical hero who recalls the early autumn in the estate. One after another, we see pictures of village life. The narrator admires nature, the beauty of the earthly world, peasants pouring the picked apples, is carried away by memories to the distant past. The image of aromatic Antonov apples is the key one in the story. It is a symbol of simple village life.

Nature and people - everything delights the barchuk storyteller. During the day - a riot of beautiful nature, at night - a sky full of stars and constellations, which the hero never gets tired of admiring: "How cold, dewy and how good it is to live in the world!"

The prose written by the poet is unique in its artistry and depth. Bunin painted with words, like a brilliant artist with paints. By nature, the writer was endowed with an extraordinary acuity of senses: vision, hearing and smell exceeding human capabilities. That is why, reading Bunin's stories, we hear birds, wind and rain, we see the smallest details of the world around us, which we ourselves would not notice, we feel many smells. "The delicate scent of fallen leaves and the smell of Antonov apples." The author praises the wisdom of nature, its eternal renewal and beauty.

Bunin said more than once that he was not interested in peasants and nobles separately, but in "the soul of Russian people in general." The writer had a sincere interest in people regardless of their class. He argued that the contradictions between the peasant and the master had long since smoothed out. Now this is one Russian people. In the countryside, many peasants became richer than their former landowners. With nostalgia, the author recalls a special type of relationship in the estates, when the peasants and the master and the family represented one whole: they lived together, played weddings, were born and died. Sometimes they were even linked by family ties. With special reverence, the author writes about the "white as a harrier" old men and women who lived for a hundred years in the rich village of Vyselki. Bunin is painfully sorry for this crumbling idyll.

The manor culture in Russia developed over the centuries, but collapsed surprisingly quickly. Maybe they came up with something better, more progressive? No. Bunin wrote that "the kingdom of the small local people, impoverished to the point of begging, is coming." But even in this form, the estate still retains many of its former features, although the peasants are already singing "hopeless" songs.

The story is permeated with love for the land, for the homeland, for the glorious people of past generations, respect and reverence for the history of their country and its people.

Psychologism of Bunin's prose in the story "Clean Monday"

The story "Clean Monday" is part of Bunin's cycle of stories "Dark Alley". This cycle was the last in the life of the author and took eight years of creativity. The cycle was created during the Second World War. The world was crumbling, and the great Russian writer Bunin wrote about love, about the eternal, about the only power capable of preserving life in its high purpose.

The cross-cutting theme of the cycle is love in all its many-sidedness, the fusion of the souls of two unique, inimitable worlds, the souls of lovers.

The story "Clean Monday" contains an important idea that the human soul is a secret, and the woman's - especially. And that every person is looking for his own path in life, often doubting, making mistakes, and happiness - if he finds it.

Bunin begins his story by describing a gray winter day in Moscow. By the evening, life in the city revived, residents freed themselves from daytime worries: “... the cabs sledges rushed thicker and more vigorously, the overcrowded diving trams thundered more heavily, - in the gloom it was already clear how red stars hissed from the wires, - they hurried along the sidewalks more briskly blackening passers-by. " The landscape prepares the reader for the perception of the story of "strange love" of two people whose paths tragically diverged.

The story is striking in its sincerity in describing the hero's great love for his beloved. Before us is a kind of confession of a man, an attempt to remember old events and understand what happened then. Why did the woman, who said that she had no one besides her father and him, left him without explanation. The hero, on whose behalf the story is being told, evokes sympathy and sympathy. He is smart, handsome, cheerful, talkative, madly in love with the heroine, ready to do anything for her. The writer consistently recreates the history of their relationship.

The image of the heroine is shrouded in mystery. The hero adoringly remembers every feature of her face, hair, dresses, all her southern beauty. It is not for nothing that at the acting "skit" in the Art Theater, the famous Katchalov enthusiastically calls the heroine the Shamakhan queen. They were a lovely couple, both beautiful, wealthy, healthy. Outwardly, the heroine behaves quite normally. She accepts the courtship of her beloved, flowers, gifts, goes with him to theaters, concerts, restaurants, but her inner world is closed to the hero. She is laconic, but sometimes expresses opinions that her friend does not expect from her. He knows almost nothing about her life. With surprise, the hero learns that his beloved often visits temples, knows a lot about the services in them. At the same time, she says that she is not religious, and in churches she is admired by chants, rituals, solemn spirituality, some kind of secret meaning that is not in the bustling city life. The heroine notices how her friend is burning with love, but she herself cannot answer him in kind. In her opinion, she is also not suitable for a wife. In her words, there are often hints of monasteries where you can go, but the hero does not take it seriously.

In the story, Bunin immerses the reader in the atmosphere of pre-revolutionary Moscow. He lists the numerous temples and monasteries of the capital, together with the heroine he admires the texts of the ancient chronicles. It also contains memories and reflections on contemporary culture: the Art Theater, an evening of poetry by A. Bely, an opinion about Bryusov's novel "The Fiery Angel", a visit to Chekhov's grave. Many heterogeneous, sometimes incompatible phenomena form the canvas of the heroes' lives.

Gradually the tone of the story becomes more and more sad, and in the end - tragic. The heroine decided to part with the man who loves her, to leave Moscow. She is grateful to him for his true love for her, so she arranges a goodbye and later sends him a last letter asking not to look for her.

The hero cannot believe in the reality of what is happening. Unable to forget his beloved, for the next two years he “disappeared for a long time in the dirtiest taverns, drank himself intoxicated, sinking more and more in every possible way. Then he began to recover a little - indifferently, hopelessly ... ". But all the same, on one of the similar winter days, he drove along the streets where they were together, "and kept crying, crying ...". Obeying some kind of feeling, the hero enters the Martha-Mariinsky monastery and in the crowd of nuns sees one of them with deep black eyes, looking somewhere into the darkness. The hero thought she was looking at him.

Bunin explains nothing. Whether this was really the beloved of the hero remains a mystery. But one thing is clear: there was great love, which first illuminated and then turned a person's life.

"Eternal" themes in the cycle of I. A. Bunin "Dark Alleys" (happiness and tragedy of love, human connection with the natural world)

Bunin's cycle of stories "Dark Alleys" includes 38 stories. They differ in genre, in the creation of the characters of the heroes, reflect different layers of time. This cycle, the last in his life, the author wrote for eight years, during the First World War. Bunin wrote about eternal love and the power of feelings at a time when the world was collapsing from the bloodiest war in history known to him. Bunin considered the book "Dark Alleys" "the most perfect in skill" and ranked it among his highest achievements. This is a memory book. In the stories, the love of two people and at the same time the author's declaration of love for Russia, admiration for her mysterious deep soul.

The cross-cutting theme of the cycle is love in all its diversity. Love is understood by the author as the greatest priceless gift that no one can take away. A person is truly free only in love.

The stories "Clean Monday", "Muse", "Russia", "The Raven", "Galya Ganskaya", "Dark Alleys" are perfect in skill, written with tremendous artistic force and emotion.

Often, Bunin's love stories unfold somewhere in an estate, in a "noble nest", the fragrant atmosphere of which is perfectly conveyed by the author. The alleys of the beautiful garden in the story "Natalie" serve as a background for emerging love. Bunin describes in detail and with love the interior of the house, the landscapes of Russian nature, which he especially missed in emigration.

Love is the greatest incandescence of spiritual forces, therefore the story has a tense plot. Visiting student Vitaly Meshchersky suddenly finds himself involved in a strange relationship with two women. Cousin Sonya seduces him, but at the same time wants him to pay attention to her friend from the gymnasium Natalie. Meshchersky is struck by Natalie's sublime spiritual beauty, he truly falls in love with her. The student rushes between earthly and heavenly love. Put in a situation of choice, Meshchersky tries to combine carnal pleasures with Sonya with admiration for Natalie.

Bunin has always been alien to moralizing. He considered each of these feelings to be happiness. But there are three heroes, there is a conflict with the tragic ending. From Sonya's side, relations with Meshchersky were only a whim of a spoiled girl, so in the future Bunin excludes her from the narrative. Natalie finds Meshchersky at Sonya, a break occurs. Unable to make a choice in time, the hero broke both himself and Natalie's life. Their paths diverge for a long time, but the hero suffers and torments himself with memories. Without love, the life of the heroes turns into an empty ghostly vegetation, dream and beauty leave it.

Bunin was convinced that love is a tragic feeling, and retribution follows. He believed that in love, a person is alone, that this is a strong, but short-term feeling. But at the same time, the writer glorifies love. Life itself is unthinkable without it. His heroine says: “... Is there unhappy love? Doesn't the most mournful music in the world bring happiness? "

The purpose of the story "Clean Monday" is to convince the reader that a person's soul is a secret, and a woman's is especially. Everyone is looking for their own path in life, often doubting, making mistakes.

Bunin skillfully uses the description of nature in order to convey the feelings and thoughts of lyrical heroes. He begins his story with a landscape that prepares the reader for the love story of two people whose paths mysteriously parted tragically. The story is striking sincerity and truthfulness. Before us is a kind of confession of a man, an attempt to remember old events and understand what happened then. The hero, on whose behalf the story is being told, evokes sympathy and sympathy. He is smart, handsome, madly in love with the heroine, ready to do anything for her. He tries to answer the painful question: why did the woman, who said that she had no one except her father and him, left him without explanation?

The heroine Bunin is mysterious and magical. The hero adoringly remembers every line of her face, hair, dresses, her oriental beauty. It is not for nothing that the famous actor Katchalov enthusiastically calls the heroine the Shamakhan queen. Outwardly, the heroine behaves like an ordinary woman. She accepts the hero's courtship, bouquets of flowers, gifts, goes out into the world, but her inner world remains mysterious and full of secrets for the hero. She talks little about her life. Therefore, the fact that his beloved often attends church, knows a lot about services in churches becomes a revelation for the hero. In her words, there are often hints of monasteries where you can go, but the hero does not take it seriously. The hero's fervent feelings do not go unnoticed. The heroine sees that her friend is in love, but she herself cannot reciprocate. The author hints that there are more powerful and important things for her than respect for someone else's passion.

Little by little, the tone of the story becomes more and more sad, and at the end - tragic. The heroine decided to part with her loving man and leave her hometown. She is grateful to him for strong and genuine feelings, so she arranges a goodbye and later sends him a last letter asking him not to look for a meeting again. The departure of a friend shocks the hero, inflicts severe trauma on him, deeply wounds his heart. The hero cannot believe in the reality of what is happening. Over the next two years, he “disappeared for a long time in the dirtiest taverns, drank himself to death, dropping down more and more in every possible way. Then he began to recover a little - indifferently, hopelessly ... ". He drove along the same roads along the places that were memorable only for the two of them "and he kept crying, crying ...".

Once, drawn by a strange foreboding, the hero enters the Martha-Mariinsky monastery and in the crowd of nuns sees a girl with bottomless black eyes, who looks into the darkness. The hero thought she was looking at him. The reader is left at a loss: was it really the beloved of the hero or not. The author makes one thing clear: great love first illuminated, and then turned the whole life of a person. And this gain was a hundred times stronger than the loss of his beloved.

The writer in the cycle "Dark Alleys" makes the reader think about the complexity of relationships in human society, about the importance of beauty and happiness, about the transience of time and about the great responsibility for the fate of another person.

Artistic features of the story "Village" by I. A. Bunin

After the 1905 revolution, Bunin was one of the first to feel the changes in the life of Russia, namely the mood of the post-revolutionary village, and reflected them in his stories and stories, especially in the story "Village", which was published in 1910.

On the pages of the novella "Village" the author paints a horrifying picture of the poverty of the Russian people. Bunin wrote that this story was the beginning of a whole series of works that sharply depicted the Russian soul, its peculiar interweaving, its light and dark, but almost always tragic foundations.

The originality and strength of the Bunin story is the display of the dark sides of peasant life, the stupidity of the villagers, and the poverty of the muzhiks' everyday life. Bunin in his work relied on real facts of reality. He knew the life of the village well, he was able to give in his story a vivid and truthful picture of the life of the peasants.

Critics noted that in the story "Village" there is no cross-cutting plot action and clear conflict. The narrative alternates between scenes of everyday village life and episodes of clashes between men and the village rich. A wonderful artist, Bunin gives a number of portrait sketches of men, describes their housing. Many landscapes in the story are filled with the philosophical thought of the author, on whose behalf the story is being told.

Bunin shows the life of the Russian village through the eyes of the brothers Tikhon and Kuzma Krasov, the main characters of the story. The true appearance of the village appears as a result of lengthy conversations and disputes between Tikhon and Kuzma. The picture of the life of the village is bleak, there is no hope for revival among dead fields and a gloomy sky. The whole huge Russia rests on the muzhik. How does he live, what does he think about? The author in his story tells a bitter truth. The villagers are rude savages, little different from their livestock - stupid, greedy, cruel, dirty and downtrodden.

Bunin brilliantly tells the story of the Krasov family in several paragraphs: “The great-grandfather of the Krasovs, nicknamed the gypsy in the courtyard, was hunted down by captain Durnovo with greyhounds. The gypsy took his mistress from him, from his master. " Then, outwardly, just as simply and calmly, Bunin describes the fact that the Gypsy rushed to run. “And you shouldn't run away from greyhounds,” the author laconically notes.

In the center of the story is the biography of the two Krasov brothers. Tikhon is a powerful man. His only goal is to get rich. Tikhon Krasov "finished off" the ruined master Durnovka and bought his estate. The second brother, Kuzma Krasov, is a weak-willed dreamer, a self-taught intellectual. Against the background of the biography of the Krasovs, Bunin develops a broad canvas of the life of the Russian peasantry.

The brothers exchange views, talk about the causes of the plight in the countryside. It turns out that there is “black soil for one and a half arshins, but what! And five years don't go by without hunger. " "The city throughout Russia is famous for its grain trade - a hundred people in the whole city eat their fill." Bunin's men are robbed not only materially, but also spiritually. There are more than one hundred million illiterate people in the country, people live as in "cave times", amid savagery and ignorance.

Many Durnovites are mentally retarded people who do not understand what is happening around them. For example, the worker Koshel once visited the Caucasus, but he could not tell anything about him, except that there was “a mountain on a mountain”. Koshel's mind is poor, he pushes away everything new, incomprehensible, but he believes that he recently saw a witch.

The teacher in Durnovka is a soldier, who looks like an ordinary peasant, but he "carried such nonsense that he had only to shrug his hands." Teaching children with him consisted in the imposition of the strictest army discipline. The author shows us the peasant Gray, "the most beggar and idle in the whole village." He had a lot of land - three tithes, but he became completely impoverished.

What prevents Sery from organizing the economy? At the best of times, Sery managed to build a new brick hut, but in winter it was necessary to heat it, and Sery burned the roof, and then sold the hut. He does not want to work, the sydney is sitting in his unheated hut, there are holes in the roof, and his children are frightened by the burning torch, since they are used to living in the dark.

The mental limitation of peasants gives rise to manifestations of senseless cruelty. A man can “kill a neighbor because of a goat”, strangle a child to take away a few kopecks. Akim, a rabid, spiteful man, would gladly shoot the singing nightingales from a rifle.

"Unhappy people, first of all - unhappy ..." - Kuzma Krasov laments.

Bunin was sure that the peasants are only capable of rebellion, spontaneous and senseless. The story describes how peasants mutinied almost all over the district on one day. The landowners sought protection from the authorities, but "the whole revolt ended with the peasants shouting around the county, burning and destroying several estates, and even fell silent."

Bunin was accused of exaggerating colors, not knowing the village, and hating the people. The writer would never have created such a poignant work if he had not supported his people and the fate of his homeland with his soul. In the story "Village", he showed everything dark, wild that prevents the country and people from developing.

The tragedy of solving the love theme in the story of A. I. Kuprin "Garnet Bracelet"

The mystery of love is eternal. Many writers and poets have tried unsuccessfully to unravel it. Russian artists of the word dedicated the best pages of their works to the great feeling of love. Love awakens and incredibly enhances the best qualities in a person's soul, makes him capable of creativity. The happiness of love cannot be compared with anything: the human soul flies, it is free and full of delight. The lover is ready to embrace the whole world, to move mountains, forces that he did not even suspect are opening up in him.

Kuprin owns wonderful works of love. These are the stories "Shulamith", "Garnet Bracelet", "Helen", "Sentimental Romance", "Violets". The theme of love is present in almost every work of the writer, reflecting one of its forms.

Kuprin sings love as a miracle, in his works the attitude towards a woman as a goddess. This was inherent in Russian culture and literature of the 19th - early 20th centuries. Kuprin represents love as a kind of force that completely embraces and absorbs a person. But at the same time, she gives people great joy. The lover is ready for anything for the sake of love, does not want to lose it, whatever it may be, and thanks God for this priceless gift.

The writer shows what happens to people, in whose souls a pure and light feeling flares up, but they live in a society where vulgar, hypocritical, perverted concepts and spiritual slavery reign.

The love story of a petty official of the control chamber Zheltkov does not leave the reader indifferent. At first glance, he falls in love with the girl he sees in the box of the circus. He understands that this girl is from high society, but there are no class boundaries for love. Zheltkov's tremendous feeling is inexplicable and impossible in this society, but the young man is sure that from that moment his life belongs to his chosen one.

Kuprin tells about unearthly love that can completely change a person. Zheltkov finds the most enthusiastic words, thinking about his beloved. He believes that "there is nothing in the world like her, there is nothing better, there is no beast, no plant, no star, no man more beautiful" and more tender than her. The hero learns that the girl's name is Vera Nikolaevna. Soon, she marries Prince Shein, a wealthy and calm person. Unable to get close, Zheltkov sometimes sends Princess Vera passionate letters to which she does not pay attention. Over time, relations with her husband turn into equal friendships, but there is no passion in them.

Because of class prejudices, Zheltkov's love remains unrequited and hopeless. Now he sends Vera greeting cards on holidays, without ceasing to love her madly. Once on his birthday, Vera receives a gift from Zheltkov - a garnet bracelet that once belonged to his mother. This is the only valuable thing a young man owns. In a note, he asks not to be offended by his insolence and accept the gift.

Vera Nikolaevna tells her husband everything, but in her soul there are already thoughts that she may have her own secret. The woman is surprised by the persistence of this secret admirer, who has been constantly reminding himself of himself for seven years. She begins to guess that in her life there is no great love capable of sacrifices and accomplishments. But in society, people do without love, moreover, strong manifestations of feelings are considered indecent and despised. With his letters and gifts, Zheltkov disgraces a decent married woman. The surrounding people scoff at the young man's feelings as something unworthy.

Offended by the interference in their privacy, Vera's brother and husband find Zheltkov and demand that they stop reminding them of themselves. Zheltkov laughs: they want him to stop loving Vera, and love cannot be taken away. Kuprin's hero prefers to commit suicide, since love has become his whole life for him. He dies happy, fulfilling the will of his beloved woman to leave her alone. Zheltkov wants Vera to be happy, so that lies and slander do not touch her bright image.

Shocked Vera Nikolaevna first sees Zheltkov in a coffin with a calm smile on her face. She finally understands that "the love that every woman dreams of has passed her by." Beethoven's sonata, which Zheltkov asks to listen to in his letter, helps Vera to understand the soul of this man. He ends his dying letter to her with the words: "Hallowed be Thy name!"

Kuprin idealizes love, considers it stronger than death. Such a strong, true love, according to General Anosov, "happens once in a thousand years." In the story, the writer showed a simple, "small" but great man, what the miracle of love made him.

The problem of love and betrayal in the story of L. N. Andreev "Judas Iscariot"

The famous Russian writer of the Silver Age L. Andreev remained in the history of Russian literature as the author of innovative prose. His works were distinguished by deep psychologism. The author tried to penetrate into such depths of the human soul, where no one looked. Andreev wanted to show the real state of affairs, tore the veil of lies from the usual phenomena of the social and spiritual life of a person and society.

The life of the Russian people at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries gave little cause for optimism. Critics reproached Andreev with incredible pessimism, apparently for the objectivity of showing reality. The writer did not consider it necessary to artificially create blissful pictures, to give evil a decent look. In his work, he revealed the true essence of the unshakable laws of social life and ideology. Causing a flurry of criticism, Andreev ventured to show the man in all his contradictions and secret thoughts, revealed the falsity of any political slogans and ideas, wrote about doubts about the Orthodox faith in the form in which the church presents it.

In the story "Judas Iscariot" Andreev gives his version of the famous Gospel parable. He said that he wrote "something on psychology, ethics and the practice of betrayal." The story deals with the problem of the ideal in human life. Jesus is such an ideal, and his disciples should preach his teaching, bring the light of truth to the people. But the central hero of Andreev's work does not make Jesus, but Judas Iscariot, an energetic, active and full of strength.

To complete the perception of the image, the writer describes in detail the memorable appearance of Judas, whose skull was "as if cut from the back of the head by a double blow of the sword and re-composed, it was clearly divided into four parts and inspired distrust, even alarm ... Judas's face also doubled." The eleven disciples of Christ look expressionless against the background of this hero. One eye of Judas is alive, attentive, black, and the other is motionless, like a blind one. Andreev draws the readers' attention to the gestures of Judas, the manner of his behavior. The hero bows low, arching his back and pulling forward his bumpy, terrible head, and "in a fit of timidity" closes a living eye. His voice, "now courageous and strong, now loud, like an old woman's," now thin, "annoyingly liquid and unpleasant." Communicating with other people, he constantly grimaces.

The writer introduces us to some facts of the biography of Judas. The hero received his nickname, because he came from Kariot, lives alone, left his wife, he has no children, apparently, God does not want offspring from him. Judas wanders for many years, “everywhere he lies, grimaces, vigilantly looking out for something with his thief's eye; and suddenly leaves suddenly. "

In the Gospel, the story of Judas is a short account of betrayal. Andreev shows the psychology of his hero, tells in detail what happened before and after the betrayal and what caused it. The theme of betrayal did not arise in the writer's mind. During the first Russian revolution of 1905–1907, he watched with surprise and contempt how many traitors suddenly appeared, “as if they did not come from Adam, but from Judas”.

In the story, Andreev notes that eleven disciples of Christ constantly argue among themselves, "who paid more than love" in order to be close to Christ and to ensure themselves in the future entry into the kingdom of heaven. These disciples, who would later be called apostles, treat Judas with contempt and disgust, as they do other vagabonds and beggars. They are deep in matters of faith, engage in self-contemplation and shut themselves off from people. L. Andreev's Judas does not hover in the clouds, he lives in the real world, steals money for a hungry prostitute, saves Christ from an aggressive crowd. He plays the role of a mediator between people and Christ.

Judas is shown with all the merits and demerits, like any living person. He is smart, modest, always ready to help his companions. Andreev writes: "... Iscariot was simple, gentle and at the same time serious." Shown from all sides, the image of Judas comes to life. He also has negative traits that arose during his vagrancy and the search for a piece of bread. This is deceit, dexterity and deceit. Judas is tormented by the fact that Christ never praises him, although he allows him to conduct business affairs and even take money from the general fund. Iscariot declares to his disciples that not they, but he will be next to Christ in the kingdom of heaven.

Judas is intrigued by the mystery of Christ, he feels that under the guise of an ordinary person there is something great and wonderful. Deciding to deliver Christ into the hands of the authorities, Judas hopes that God will not allow injustice. Until the death of Christ, Judas follows him, every minute expecting that his tormentors will understand who they are dealing with. But a miracle does not happen, Christ endures the beatings of the guards and dies like an ordinary person.

Coming to the apostles, Judas notes with surprise that on that night, when their teacher died a martyr's death, the disciples ate and slept. They grieve, but their life has not changed. On the contrary, now they are no longer subordinate, but each one independently intends to carry the word of Christ to people. Judas calls them traitors. They did not defend their teacher, did not take him away from the guards, did not summon the people to defend. They "huddled together like a bunch of frightened lambs, not interfering with anything." Judas accuses the disciples of lying. They never loved the teacher, otherwise they would have rushed to the rescue and died for him. Love saves without knowing doubt.

John says that Jesus himself wanted this sacrifice and his sacrifice is wonderful. To which Judas angrily replies: “Is there a wonderful sacrifice, what you say, beloved disciple? Where there is a victim, there is an executioner and traitors there! Sacrifice is suffering for one and shame for all.<…> Blind people, what have you done to the earth? You wanted to destroy her, you will soon kiss the cross on which you crucified Jesus! " Judas, in order to finally test the disciples, says that he goes to Jesus in heaven to persuade him to return to earth to the people to whom he brought light. Iscariot calls on the apostles to follow him. Nobody agrees. Peter, who was torn, is also retreating.

The story ends with a description of Judas' suicide. He decided to hang himself on the branch of a tree growing over the abyss, so that if the rope breaks, he will fall on sharp stones and ascend to Christ. Throwing a rope over a tree, Judas whispers, turning to Christ: “So meet me kindly. I am very tired". In the morning, Judas's body was removed from the tree and thrown into the pit, cursing him as a traitor. And Judas Iscariot, the Traitor, remained forever in the memory of people.

This version of the gospel story caused a wave of criticism from the church. Andreev's goal was to awaken the consciousness of people, to make them think about the nature of betrayal, about their actions and thoughts.

The theme of the search for the meaning of life, the problem of pride and freedom in the story of M. Gorky "Chelkash"

The beginning of M. Gorky's career fell on a period of crisis in the social and spiritual life of Russia. As the writer himself admits, he was prompted to write by a terrible "poor life", the lack of hope among people. Gorky saw the reason for the situation created primarily in man. Therefore, he decided to offer society a new ideal of a Protestant person, a fighter against slavery and injustice.

The writer showed in a new way the psychology of rejected people. He does not spare his heroes, does not idealize them, and does not pin any hopes on them. Gorky shows their independence from society, contempt for the rich, love of freedom. Each story describes a dramatic situation in the life of an ordinary person in a cruel world. All heroes are people with broken destinies, but who do not want to humiliate themselves and lie. They strive to escape from the "stuffiness" of the surrounding gloomy reality, protest, but their anarchic rebellion is meaningless. A "well-fed" society is indifferent to the poor.

The hero of M. Gorky's story Grishka Chelkash feels great in the port, where, together with his partners, he trades in theft. He is "an inveterate drunkard and a clever, brave thief." Chelkash with its appearance stands out from the crowd of port rags. It looks like a bird of prey, a steppe hawk. Keenly peering at passers-by, he sightingly searches for a victim. Chelkash is looking for Mishka, with whom he is going “on business,” but finds out that his leg was crushed and he was taken to the hospital. Frustrated Chelkash meets a village boy Gavrila, who introduces himself as a fisherman. The thief skillfully conducts a conversation "heart to heart", rubbing into the confidence of a new acquaintance.

Gorky with great skill gives portraits of the heroes, shows their psychology, and the story itself is a small drama played out between two people. Gavrila frankly tells Chelkash her story. It turns out that he is in extreme need, he needs money, otherwise he cannot cope with the economy in the village. Girls don't marry a poor guy, but he doesn't know how to make money quickly in the village. Chelkash invites the guy to become his partner, but does not say what kind of work awaits a naive villager. First, the thief takes him to dinner. Gavril is amazed that Chelkash is given a loan. This inspires confidence in the seemingly "crook" in appearance. Gavrila gets drunk, and Chelkash "envied and regretted this young life, laughed at her and even grieved for her, imagining that she could once again fall into such hands as his ... It was a pity for the small one, and the small one was needed."

In the story, Gorky uses the technique of contrast, draws two psychological portraits. Even the description of the night sea and clouds is used by the author as a psychological landscape: "There was something fatal in this slow movement of air masses."

At night Chelkash invites Gavrila to go "to work" in a boat. The guy, rolling the oars, already guesses that they are not sailing for fishing. Frightened, Gavrila asks to let him go, but Chelkash laughingly takes away his passport so that he does not run away. Having stolen something "cubic and heavy", Chelkash returns to the boat, telling Gavrila that he earned half a thousand in one night. Further, the theme of temptation by money develops. Chelkash is happy that they have left the guards and, emotionally, tells Gavrila about his childhood in the village, about his wife, parents, about military service and how proud his father was. He chose his own destiny, he is a brave man and loves freedom.

On a Greek ship, the heroes give away goods and receive money. Seeing a mountain of bills, Gavrila grabs her share of the money with trembling hands. Now he already introduces himself as the first village rich man. Seeing Gavrila's excitement, Chelkash thinks that the village boy's greed is in his blood. Already on the bank, Gavrila cannot control himself and attacks Chelkash, demanding that he give him all the money. “Trembling with excitement, acute pity and hatred for this greedy slave,” Chelkash gives the money, for which Gavrila humbly thanks him. Chelkash thinks that he would never have become so low and greedy, lost his mind over money. Gavrila admits that he wanted to kill Chelkash, then the thief takes all the money from him, and when he turns to leave, a stone thrown by Gavrila flies into his head. The wounded Chelkash is bleeding, but with contempt he gives the money to Gavrila, who asks him for forgiveness. Chelkash leaves, leaving the money in the sand. Gavrila picks them up and walks in the opposite direction with firm steps. Waves and rain wash away the blood on the sand, nothing more reminds of the drama between two people.

Gorky glorified the spiritual greatness of man. Chelkash won a psychological duel with Gavrila. Gavrila will surely find a job in society, and no one needs people like Chelkash. This is the romantic pathos of the story.