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According to Bunin himself, the inspiration for writing "Mr...." was Thomas Mann's story "Death in Venice". At that time, Ivan Alekseevich did not read the work of his German colleague, but only knew that an American was dying in it on the island of Capri. So “The Gentleman from San Francisco” and “Death in Venice” are not connected in any way, except perhaps by a good idea.
In the story, a certain gentleman from San Francisco, along with his wife and young daughter, set off on a big journey from the New World to the Old World. The gentleman worked all his life and amassed a solid fortune. Now, like all people of his status, he can afford a well-deserved rest. The family sails on a luxurious ship called "Atlantis". The ship is more like a chic mobile hotel, where the eternal holiday lasts and everything works in order to bring pleasure to its obscenely wealthy passengers.
The first tourist point in the route of our travelers is Naples, which meets them unfavorably - the city has disgusting weather. Soon a gentleman from San Francisco leaves the city to go to the shores of sunny Capri. However, there, in a cozy reading room of a fashionable hotel, an unexpected death from an attack awaits him. The gentleman is hastily transferred to the cheapest room (so as not to spoil the reputation of the hotel) and in a dead box, in the hold of the Atlantis, they are sent home to San Francisco.
Main characters: characterization of images
We get acquainted with the gentleman from San Francisco from the first pages of the story, because he is the central character of the work. Surprisingly, the author does not honor his hero with a name. Throughout the story, he remains "master" or "mister." Why? The writer honestly admits this to his reader - this person is faceless "in his desire to buy the charms of real life with the existing wealth."
Before hanging labels, let's get to know this gentleman better. Suddenly he's not so bad? So, our hero worked hard all his life (“the Chinese, whom he ordered to work for him by the thousands, knew this well”). He is 58 years old and now he has the full material and moral right to arrange for himself (and his family part-time) a great vacation.
“Until this time, he did not live, but only existed, though not badly, but still placing all his hopes on the future”
Describing the appearance of his nameless master, Bunin, who was distinguished by his ability to notice individual features in everyone, for some reason does not find anything special in this person. He casually draws a portrait of him - "dry, short, awkwardly cut, but tightly sewn ... a yellowish face with trimmed silver mustaches ... large teeth ... a strong bald head." It seems that behind this rough “ammunition”, which is issued complete with a solid state, it is difficult to consider the thoughts and feelings of a person, and, perhaps, everything sensual simply turns sour in such storage conditions.
With a closer acquaintance with the master, we still learn little about him. We know that he wears elegant, expensive suits with suffocating collars, we know that at dinner at Atlantis he gorges himself, smokes red-hot cigars and gets drunk on liquors, and this brings pleasure, but in fact we don’t know anything else.
It is amazing, but during the entire long journey on the ship and stay in Naples, not a single enthusiastic exclamation sounded from the lips of the gentleman, he does not admire anything, is not surprised by anything, does not argue about anything. The trip brings him a lot of inconvenience, but he cannot help but go, because all people of his rank do this. So it is necessary - first Italy, then France, Spain, Greece, certainly Egypt and the British Isles, exotic Japan on the way back ...
Exhausted by seasickness, he sails to the island of Capri (an obligatory point on the way of any self-respecting tourist). In a chic room in the best hotel on the island, a gentleman from San Francisco constantly says “Oh, this is terrible!” Without even trying to understand what exactly is terrible. The pricks of cufflinks, the stuffiness of a starched collar, naughty gouty fingers ... I would rather go to the reading room and drink local wine, all respected tourists certainly drink it.
And having reached his “mecca” in the hotel reading room, the gentleman from San Francisco dies, but we do not feel sorry for him. No, no, we do not want a righteous reprisal, we simply do not care, as if a chair were broken. We wouldn't shed tears about a chair.
In pursuit of wealth, this deeply limited man did not know how to manage money, and therefore bought what society imposed on him - uncomfortable clothes, unnecessary travel, even the daily routine, according to which all travelers were required to rest. Early rise, first breakfast, walk on the deck or “enjoyment” of the sights of the city, second breakfast, voluntary-compulsory sleep (everyone should be tired at this time!), gatherings and a long-awaited dinner, plentiful, satisfying, drunk. This is what the imaginary “freedom” of a rich man from the New World looks like.
The wife of the gentleman from San Francisco, alas, also has no name. The author calls her "Mrs" and characterizes her as "a large, broad and calm woman." She, like a faceless shadow, follows her wealthy spouse, walks along the deck, has breakfast, dinner, “enjoys” the sights. The writer admits that she is not very impressionable, but, like all elderly American women, she is a passionate traveler ... At least she is supposed to be.
The only emotional outburst occurs after the death of a spouse. Mrs. is indignant that the manager of the hotel refuses to place the body of the deceased in expensive rooms and leaves him to “spend the night” in a shabby, damp little room. And not a word about the loss of a spouse, they have lost respect, status - that's what occupies an unfortunate woman.
This sweet miss does not cause negative emotions. She is not capricious, not swaggering, not talkative, on the contrary, she is very reserved and shy.
“Tall, thin, with magnificent hair, beautifully done up, with aromatic breath from violet cakes and with the most delicate pink pimples near the lips and between the shoulder blades”
At first glance, the author is favorable to this lovely person, but he does not even give a name to his daughter, because again there is nothing individual in her. Remember the episode when she trembles while talking aboard the Atlantis with the Crown Prince, who was traveling incognito. Everyone, of course, knew that this was an oriental prince and knew how fabulously rich he was. The young miss went crazy with excitement when he noticed her, perhaps she even fell in love with him. Meanwhile, the oriental prince was not at all good-looking - small, like a boy, thin face with tight swarthy skin, sparse mustaches, unattractive European attire (he travels incognito!). Falling in love with princes is supposed to be, even if he is a real freak.
As a contrast to our cold trinity, the author intersperses descriptions of characters from the people. This is the boatman Lorenzo (“carefree reveler and handsome man”), and two highlanders with bagpipes at the ready, and simple Italians meeting the boat from the shore. All of them are the inhabitants of a joyful, cheerful, beautiful country, they are its masters, its sweat and blood. They do not have untold fortunes, tight collars, and social duties, but in their poverty they are richer than all the San Francisco gentlemen put together, their cold wives and tender daughters.
A gentleman from San Francisco understands this on some subconscious, intuitive level ... and hates all these “men who stink of garlic”, because he cannot just run barefoot along the shore - he has lunch on schedule.
The story can be conditionally divided into two unequal parts - before and after the death of a gentleman from San Francisco. We are witnessing a vivid metamorphosis that has taken place literally in everything. How the money and the status of this man, this self-proclaimed ruler of life, instantly depreciated. The manager of the hotel, who just a few hours ago broke into a sweet smile in front of a wealthy guest, now allows himself undisguised familiarity in relation to Mrs., Miss and the deceased gentleman. Now this is not an honored guest who will leave a substantial amount in the cash register, but simply a corpse, which risks casting a shadow on the high-society hotel.
With expressive strokes, Bunin draws the chilling indifference of everyone around to the death of a person, starting from the guests, whose evening is now overshadowed, and ending with his wife and daughter, whose journey is hopelessly ruined. Fierce selfishness and coldness - everyone thinks only about himself.
The generalized allegory of this thoroughly false bourgeois society is the ship "Atlantis". It is also divided into classes by its decks. In luxurious halls, the rich have fun and get drunk with their companions and families, and in the holds, those who are not considered by representatives of the high society and for people work up to a sweat. But the world of money and lack of spirituality is doomed, which is why the author calls his ship-allegory in honor of the sunken mainland "Atlantis".
In the story “The Gentleman from San Francisco,” Ivan Bunin raises the following questions:
The last question is of particular interest. It is certainly not new - many writers have thought about what is the meaning of human existence. Bunin does not go into a complex philosophy, his conclusion is simple - a person must live in such a way as to leave a mark. Whether it will be works of art, reforms in the lives of millions, or a bright memory in the hearts of loved ones, it does not matter. The gentleman from San Francisco left nothing, no one will sincerely mourn him, even his wife and daughter.
Place in literature: Literature of the 20th century → Russian literature of the 20th century → The work of Ivan Bunin → The story “The Gentleman from San Francisco” (1915).
We also recommend that you read the work Pure Monday. Ivan Bunin considered this work to be his best work.
The story "The Gentleman from San Francisco" was written by Ivan Alekseevich Bunin, a great Russian poet and Nobel Prize winner.
The history of the creation of this literary masterpiece also originates in 1915. The author himself recalls that he was inspired to write the story by Thomas Mann's book The Death of Venice.
For the first time, Bunin saw this book in a bookstore on Kuznetsky Most, but for some reason did not buy it.
According to the plot, the book describes the sudden death of a resident of the United States of America who came to the island of Capri.
At first it was called "Death on Capri". But then the author decided to change the title to The Gentleman from San Francisco.
Interesting Facts:
Important! This was the first work, the writing of which the author paid special attention to.
According to his reviews, the story turned out to be incredible, because he thought through every detail to the smallest detail and very emotionally endured all the events he wrote.
The plot of the text is divided into 2 parts:
The story turned out to be very moral and philosophical. It reminds a person that everything he has conceived can collapse at any moment.
Note! This work very clearly conveys the character and mood of the main characters, which are described in great detail by the author in the text.
Character characteristics table:
| Character | Short description |
| Mister or mister from San Francisco | The author made the image of the main character very restrained, but temperamental. This character is stripped of a name due to his ambition to buy the unsellable. He appreciates false values, loves work. It is work that helps Mr. to become rich and independent in material terms. The hero is 58 years old. His appearance is described very restrainedly. According to the description, the main character is a short and bald man. The personal characteristic consists of the fact that the author shows that the character likes to be content with money, he spends it with pleasure in restaurants. It is very difficult to understand his character. During the entire period of travel on the ship, he does not show emotion. |
| Mrs (Mrs) wife | The wife of the protagonist also has no name. She acts as his faceless shadow. Throughout the story, she rarely expresses emotion. They can be observed in the text only after the death of her husband. |
| Mrs daughter | A shy, sweet, kind girl, nothing like her relatives |
In addition to the above heroes, there are many episodic characters in the story who indicate in detail the goals and aspirations in life.
Quotes from the story indicate the constant discontent of a person, even when he is in a premium environment.
Psychological portrait of the main character:
He exists in his rich world, beyond which he is very afraid to go.
Important! The main feature of the hero is narcissism.
Text analysis:
But at the end of the story, we can conclude that this is an instructive story, indicating that fate is unpredictable and it is worth preparing for the most unforeseen situations.
The first part is dominated by the features of indifference and waywardness of the protagonist, who does not take society into account. He is not loved, but respected for many achievements in life.
In the second part, the hero dies, and respect for his person disappears.
Death occurs in a hotel, so the hotel manager immediately finds arguments and grounds for hiding the tragic incident from the public.
After death, other characters show fear for their position in society, neglecting the feelings and emotions of the widow.
From the epigraphs of the characters, one can understand that the author wanted to highlight and highlight such problems:
Today the story is very popular. It is included in the school curriculum, so it is not forgotten.
On the basis of the work, schoolchildren write summaries, retellings, notes, put on theatrical performances.
Many people think that the book is not well received by teenagers, but it is not. The work teaches to cherish and be grateful for what you have.
Reading this story causes a desire to rethink one's actions, to become a more noble and kind person.
Today, based on this work, films are being made. This is a very instructive story that could help many people.
Thanks to technological progress, the work has appeared in the audiobook format, which allows you to listen to it, not read it.
Many literary critics advise reading the full edition, rather than the summary of the story, in order to feel its full meaning and understand the images of the main characters.
The idea of the work symbolizes the desire for respect and neglect of life values for the sake of making money and personal pleasure.
gentleman from san francisco- at the very beginning of the story, the lack of a name for the hero is motivated by the fact that "no one remembered him." G. “went to the Old World for two whole years, with his wife and daughter, solely for the sake of entertainment. He was firmly convinced that he had every right to rest, to enjoy, to travel in every way excellent. For such confidence, he had the argument that, firstly, he was rich, and secondly, he had just begun life, despite his fifty-eight years. Bunin sets out in detail the route of the upcoming trip: Southern Italy - Nice - Monte Carlo - Florence - Rome - Venice - Paris - Seville - Athens - Palestine - Egypt, "even Japan - of course, already on the way back." “Everything went fine at first,” but in this dispassionate statement of what is happening, “hammers of fate” are heard.
G.- one of the many passengers of the large ship "Atlantis", similar to "a huge hotel with all the amenities - with a night bar, with oriental baths, with its own newspaper." The ocean, which has long become a symbol of life in world literature in its variability, menacingness and unpredictability, "was terrible, but they did not think about it"; “A siren on the forecastle kept screaming with hellish gloominess and squealing with furious malice, but few of the diners heard the siren - it was drowned out by the sounds of a beautiful string orchestra.” “Siren” is a symbol of world chaos, “music” is a calm harmony. The constant juxtaposition of these leitmotifs determines the dissonant stylistic intonation of the story. Bunin gives a portrait of his hero: “Dry, short, awkwardly tailored, but tightly sewn<...>. There was something Mongolian in his yellowish face with trimmed silver mustaches, his large teeth glittered with gold fillings, and his strong bald head was old ivory. One more, as it turns out later, deceptive detail is important: “The tuxedo and starched linen were very young” G.
When the ship arrived in Naples, G., together with his family, decided to get off the ship and go to Capri, where, "everyone assured", it was warm. Bunin does not indicate whether the tragic outcome of G. was predetermined if he had remained on Atlantis. Already during the voyage on a small steamboat to the island of Capri, G. felt "as he should be - a very old man" and thought with irritation about the purpose of his trip - about Italy.
The day of arrival in Capri became "significant" in the fate of G. He looks forward to an exquisite evening in the company of a famous beauty, but when he dresses, he involuntarily mutters: "Oh, this is terrible!", "Not trying to understand, not thinking what exactly is terrible." He overcomes himself, waits in the reading room for his wife, reads newspapers - “suddenly the lines flashed in front of him with a glassy sheen, his neck tensed up, his eyes bulged, his pince-nez flew off his nose ... He rushed forward, wanted to take a breath of air - and groaned wildly; his lower jaw fell off, illuminating his entire mouth with gold fillings, his head fell on his shoulder and rolled around, his shirt chest bulged out like a box - and his whole body, wriggling, raising the carpet with his heels, crawled to the floor, desperately fighting with someone. G.'s agony is depicted physiologically and dispassionately. However, death does not fit into the lifestyle of a rich hotel. “If there hadn’t been a German in the reading room, they would have quickly and deftly managed to hush up this terrible incident in the hotel<...>they would have dashed off by the legs and by the head of the gentleman from San Francisco, to hell - and not a single soul from the guests would have known what he had done. G. "persistently fights death", but calms down "in the smallest, worst, coldest and dampest, at the end of the lower corridor" room. A quarter of an hour later, everything is in order in the hotel, but with a reminder of death, "the evening was irreparably spoiled."
On Christmas Day, the body of a “dead old man, having experienced many humiliations, many human inattentions” in “a long box of English soda water” sets off along the same path, first on a small steamboat, then on “the same famous ship” goes home. But the body is now hidden from the living in the womb of the ship - in the hold. There is a vision of the Devil, observing "a ship, many-tiered, many-pipe, created by the pride of a New Man with an old heart."
At the end of the story, Bunin re-describes the brilliant and easy life of the ship's passengers, including the dance of a pair of hired lovers: and no one knew their secret and fatigue from pretense, no one knew about G.'s body "at the bottom of the dark hold, in the neighborhood of gloomy and sultry bowels of the ship, heavily overcoming the darkness, the ocean, the blizzard ... ". This ending can be interpreted as a victory over death and at the same time as submission to the eternal circle of being: life - death. T. Mann put the story on a par with "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by L. Tolstoy.
The story was originally titled "Death on Capri". Bunin connected the idea of the story with Thomas Mann's story "Death in Venice", but even more so with memories of the sudden death of an American who arrived in Capri. However, as the writer admitted, “and San Francisco and everything else” he invented while living on the estate of his cousin in the Yelets district of the Oryol province.
Ivan Alekseevich Bunin is known throughout the world as an outstanding poet and writer, who in his works, continuing the traditions of Russian literature, raises important questions, showing the tragedy of human existence. In his short story "The Gentleman from San Francisco", the famous writer shows the decline of the bourgeois world.Bunin noticed that this work had already been translated into Russian. But, after standing for several minutes and carefully examining the book, the writer did not go into the bookstore and did not buy it. He will later regret it many times.
“I’ll pee a little, get dressed, take a loaded double-barreled shotgun, and walk through the garden to the threshing floor.” Bunin wrote: "I got excited and wrote even through enthusiastic tears only the place where the zaponyars go and praise the Madonna."
Bunin himself claimed in his essay "The Origin of My Stories" that all the events of his work are fictitious. Researchers of Bunin's work claim that the writer did hard work, as he tried to get rid of the pages of the story, where there were edifying or journalistic elements, and also got rid of epithets and foreign words. This is clearly seen from the manuscript, which has survived to this day.
A certain wealthy gentleman from San Francisco spent his whole life trying to achieve a certain position in society. And he could achieve this only when he became rich. All his life he earned money in different ways, and finally, at the age of 58, he was able to indulge himself and his family in nothing. Therefore, he decided to go on a long journey.
A gentleman from San Francisco, whose name no one knew, is sent with his family to the Old World for 2 years. His route was planned in advance by him:
✔ December and January is a visit to Italy;
✔ he will meet the carnival in Nice, and also in Monte Carlo;
✔ early March - visit to Florence;
✔ the passion of the Lord is a visit to Rome.
After staying in Italy, they cross over to the island of Capri, where they settle in an expensive hotel. The maids and servants were ready to serve them every minute, clean up after them and fulfill their every desire. Every time they get a good tip for it. On the same evening, the gentleman sees a poster in which there is an advertisement for a beautiful dancer. Having learned from the servant that her partner is the brother of the beauty, he decides to take care of her a little. Therefore, she dresses up in front of the mirror for a long time. But the tie was so tight on his throat that he could hardly breathe. Learning that his wife and daughter were not yet ready, he decided to wait for them downstairs, reading the newspaper or spending this time in pleasant conversation.
The composition of the story is divided into two parts. The first part shows all the charms of the bourgeois world, and the second part is the result of the life that is led by people who decide to go through and experience all the sins. Therefore, the second compositional part begins from the moment when the gentleman without a name goes downstairs and takes a newspaper to read. But at the same moment, he falls to the floor and, wheezing, begins to die.
The servants and the innkeeper tried to give him a little help, but most of all they were afraid for their reputation, so they hurried to console their living clients. And the half-dead gentleman was transferred to the poorest room. This room was dirty and dark. But the owner of the hotel refused to the demands of his daughter and wife to transfer the gentleman to his apartment, because then he would not be able to rent this room to anyone, and the rich tenants, having learned about such a neighborhood, would simply scatter.
This is how a wealthy man without a name from San Francisco died in a poor and miserable environment. And neither the doctor nor his relatives - no one could help him at that moment. Only his adult daughter was crying, as some kind of loneliness set in in her soul. Soon the wheezing of the protagonist subsided, and the owner immediately asked the relatives to take out the body before the morning, otherwise the reputation of their institution could suffer greatly. The wife started talking about the coffin, but no one on the island could make it so quickly. Therefore, it was decided to take out the body in a long box in which soda water was transported and remove partitions from it.
Both the coffin and the family of the master, who were no longer treated with the same respect as before, were transported on a small steamer to Italy, and already there they were loaded into the dark and damp hold of the steamer Atlantis, on which the journey of the gentleman without a name and his family began. . Having experienced many humiliations, the body of the old man returned to his homeland, and the fun continued on the upper decks, and no one cared at all that there, below, was a small coffin with the body of a gentleman from San Francisco. A person's life also ends quickly, leaving either memories or emptiness in people's hearts.
Elderly American;
he is 58 years old;
rich;
he has a wife;
the hero also has an adult daughter.
Gives Bunin gives a description of his appearance: "Dry, short, awkwardly cut, but tightly sewn, cleared to a gloss and moderately lively." But the writer then goes on to a more detailed description of the hero: “There was something Mongolian in his yellowish face with trimmed silver mustaches, his large teeth shone with gold fillings, his strong bald head was old ivory.”
The No Name Gentleman from San Francisco was a hardworking man and quite purposeful, as he once set himself the goal of becoming rich and worked hard all these years until he achieved his goal. It turns out that he did not even live, but existed, thinking only about work. But in his dreams, he always imagined how he would go on vacation and enjoy all the benefits, having prosperity.
And when he achieved everything, he went on a trip with his family. And here he began to drink and eat a lot, but also visits brothels. He stays only in the best hotels and distributes such tips that the servants are surrounded by attention and care. But he dies without realizing his dream. A rich gentleman without a name is sent back to his homeland, but already in a coffin and in a dark hold, where he is no longer given any honors.
The power of Bunin's story, of course, is contained not in the plot, but in the images that he painted. Frequent images are symbols that occur in the story:
★ The raging sea is like a wide field.
★ The image of the captain as an idol.
★ A dancing couple of lovers who are hired to act like love. They symbolize the falsity and rottenness of this bourgeois world.
★ A ship that carries a rich man without a name from San Francisco on an exciting journey, then carries his body back. So this ship is a symbol of human life. This ship symbolizes human sins, which most often accompany rich people.
But as soon as the life of such a person ends, these people become completely indifferent to someone else's misfortune.
The external figurativeness that Bunin uses in his work makes the plot denser and richer.
This work was highly appreciated by writers and critics. So, Maxim Gorky said that he read the new work of his favorite writer with great trepidation. He hastened to report this in a letter to Bunin in 1916.
Thomas Mann wrote in his diary that "in its moral power and strict plasticity, it can be placed next to some of Tolstoy's most significant works - with Polikushka, with The Death of Ivan Ilyich."
Criticism noted this story by the writer Bunin as his most outstanding work. It was said that this story helped the writer reach the highest point of his development.
Questions for the lesson
2. Find the characters in the story. Think about what specific and general meaning they have in the story.
3. For what purpose did Bunin give his ship the name "Atlantis"?
From December 1913, Bunin spent six months in Capri. Prior to that, he traveled to France and other European cities, visited Egypt, Algeria, Ceylon. The impressions of these travels were reflected in the stories and short stories that made up 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" 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. Along with the philosophical line in Bunin's story, social problems were developed, associated with a critical attitude towards lack of spirituality, to the rise of technical progress to the detriment of internal improvement.
The creative impetus for writing this work was given by the news of the death of a millionaire who arrived in Capri and stayed at a local hotel. Therefore, the story was originally called "Death on Capri." The change in the title emphasizes that the author focuses on the figure of a fifty-eight-year-old anonymous millionaire sailing from America on vacation to blessed Italy.
He devoted his whole life to the unbridled accumulation of wealth, never allowing himself to relax and rest. And only now, a person who neglects nature and despises people, having become “decrepit”, “dry”, unhealthy, decides to spend time among his own kind, surrounded by the sea and pine trees.
It seemed to him, the author remarks sarcastically and caustically, that he "had just begun to live." The rich man does not suspect that all that vain, meaningless time of his existence, which he took out of the brackets of life, should suddenly break off, end in nothing, so that life itself in its true sense is never given to him to know.
Question
What is the main setting of the story?
Answer
The main action of the story takes place on the huge steamship Atlantis. This is a kind of model of a bourgeois society, in which there are upper "floors" and "basements". Upstairs, life goes on, as in a "hotel with all amenities", measured, calm and idle. "Passengers" living "safely", "many", but much more - "a great many" - those who work for them.
Question
What technique does Bunin use to portray the division of society?
Answer
The division has the character of an antithesis: rest, carelessness, dancing and work, "unbearable tension" are opposed; "radiance ... of the chamber" and the gloomy and sultry bowels of the underworld"; "gentlemen" in tailcoats and tuxedos, ladies in "rich" "charming" "toilets" and people covered in caustic, dirty sweat and waist-deep naked people, purple from the flames. Gradually, a picture of heaven and hell is built.
Question
How do "tops" and "bottoms" relate to each other?
Answer
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 “rather generous” to people from the “underworld”, they “fed and watered ... from morning to evening served him, warning him of the slightest desire, guarded his purity and peace, dragged his things ... ".
Question
Drawing a peculiar model of bourgeois society, Bunin operates with a number of magnificent symbols. What images in the story are symbolic?
Answer
Firstly, an ocean steamer with a significant name is perceived as a symbol of society. "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 Titanic that died in 1912.
« Ocean, who walked behind the walls "of the steamer, is a symbol of the elements, nature, opposing civilization.
It is also symbolic image of the captain, "a red-haired man of monstrous size and weight, similar ... to a huge idol and very rarely appeared on people from his mysterious chambers."
symbolic main character image(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.
He uses the underwater “womb” of the ship to the “ninth circle”, speaks of the “hot mouths” of gigantic furnaces, makes the captain appear, “a red-haired worm of monstrous size”, similar to “a huge idol”, and then the Devil on the rocks of Gibraltar; the author reproduces the "shuttle", meaningless cruising of the ship, the formidable ocean and storms on it. The epigraph of the story, given in one of the editions, is also artistically capacious: “Woe to you, Babylon, strong city!”
The richest symbolism, the rhythm of repetitions, the system of hints, the ring composition, the thickening of paths, the most complex syntax with numerous periods - everything speaks of the possibility, of the approach, finally, of inevitable death. Even the familiar name Gibraltar acquires its sinister meaning in this context.
Question
Why is the main character without a name?
Answer
The hero is called simply "master" because that is his essence. At least he considers himself a master and revels in his position. He can afford to go “to the Old World for two whole years only for the sake of entertainment”, he can enjoy all the benefits guaranteed by his status, he believes “in the care of all those who fed and watered him, served him from morning to evening, warning his slightest desire, ”may contemptuously throw ragamuffins through his teeth: “Get out!”
Question
Answer
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 master, his goal - to become rich and reap the fruits of this wealth - was realized, but he did not become happier from this. The description of the gentleman from San Francisco is constantly accompanied by the author's irony.
In describing his hero, the author skillfully uses the ability to notice details(the episode with the cufflink is especially memorable) and reception of contrast, contrasting the external respectability and significance of the master with his internal emptiness and squalor. The writer emphasizes the deadness of the hero, the likeness of a thing (his bald head shone like “old ivory”), a mechanical doll, a robot. That is why he fiddles with the notorious cufflink for so long, awkwardly and slowly. That is why he does not utter a single monologue, and two or three of his brief thoughtless remarks rather resemble the creak and crackle of a wind-up toy.
Question
When does the hero begin to change, lose his self-confidence?
Answer
The “master” changes only in the face of death, the human begins to appear in him: “It was no longer the gentleman from San Francisco who was wheezing, he was no more, 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 soda box (“soda” is also one of the signs of civilization), the servant, who servility to the living, mockingly laughs over the dead. At the end of the story, "the body of a dead old man from San Francisco" is mentioned, which is returning home to the grave, on the shores of the New World, "in a black hold. The power of the "master" turned out to be illusory.
Question
How are the other characters in the story described?
Answer
Just as silent, nameless, mechanized are those who surround the master on the ship. In their characteristics, Bunin also conveys lack of spirituality: tourists are only busy eating, drinking cognacs and liquors, and swimming "in waves of spicy smoke." The author again resorts to contrast, comparing their carefree, measured, regulated, carefree and festive life with the hellishly hard work of watchmen and workers. And in order to reveal the falsity of an allegedly beautiful holiday, the writer depicts a hired young couple who imitate love and tenderness for the joyful contemplation of her idle public. In this pair there was a "sinfully modest girl" and "a young man with black, as if glued hair, pale from powder", "resembling a huge leech."
Question
Why are such episodic characters such as Lorenzo and the Abruzzo mountaineers introduced into the story?
Answer
These characters appear at the end of the story and outwardly have nothing to do with its action. Lorenzo is "a tall old boatman, a carefree reveler and a handsome man", probably the same age as the gentleman from San Francisco. Only a few lines are devoted to him, but a sonorous name is given, in contrast to the title character. He is famous throughout Italy, more than once served as a model for many painters.
"With a royal habit" he looks around, feeling truly "royal", enjoying life, "drawing with his tatters, a clay pipe and a red woolen beret lowered over one ear." A picturesque poor man, old Lorenzo will live forever on the canvases of artists, and a 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. The highlanders give praise to the sun, to the morning with their lively, artless music. These are the true values of life, in contrast to the brilliant, expensive, but artificial imaginary values of "masters".
Question
What image summarizes the insignificance and perishability of earthly wealth and glory?
Answer
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 remember him forever,” but this is the glory of Herostratus: “a man inexpressibly vile in satisfying his lust and for some reason having power over millions of people, having done cruelty to them beyond measure.” In the word "for some reason" - exposure of fictitious power, pride; time puts everything in its place: it gives immortality to the true and plunges the false into oblivion.
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.
Bunin's story does not evoke a feeling of hopelessness. In contrast to the world of the ugly, alien to beauty (Neapolitan museums and songs dedicated to Capri's nature and life itself), the writer conveys the world of beauty. The author's ideal is embodied in the images of the cheerful Abruzzo highlanders, in the beauty of Mount Solaro, it is reflected in the Madonna that adorned the grotto, in the sunniest, fabulously beautiful Italy, which has torn away the gentleman from San Francisco.
And here it is, this expected, inevitable death. On Capri, a gentleman from San Francisco dies suddenly. Our premonition and the epigraph of the story come true. The story of placing the gentleman in a soda box and then in a coffin shows all the futility and senselessness of those accumulations, lusts, self-delusions with which the main character existed up to this point.
There is a new reference point of time and events. The death of the master, as it were, cuts the narrative into two parts, and this determines the originality of the composition. The attitude towards the deceased and his wife changes dramatically. Before our eyes, the owner of the hotel and the bellboy Luigi become indifferent and callous. The pity and absolute uselessness of the one who considered himself the center of the universe is revealed.
Bunin raises questions about the meaning and essence of being, about life and death, about the value of human existence, about sin and guilt, about God's judgment for the criminality of acts. The hero of the story does not receive justification and forgiveness from the author, and the ocean roars angrily as the steamer with the coffin of the deceased moves back.
Final word of the teacher
Once upon a time, Pushkin, in a poem from the period of southern exile, romantically glorified the free sea and, changing its name, called it "ocean". He also painted two deaths at sea, turning his gaze to the rock, the "tomb of glory", and ended the poems with reflections on the good and the tyrant. In essence, Bunin also proposed a similar structure: the ocean is a ship “stored by a whim”, “a feast during the plague” - two deaths (of a millionaire and Tiberius), a rock with the ruins of a palace - a reflection on the good and the tyrant. But how everything is rethought by the writer of the "iron" twentieth century!
With epic thoroughness accessible to prose, Bunin draws the sea not as a free, beautiful and wayward, but as a formidable, ferocious and disastrous element. Pushkin's "feast during the plague" loses its tragic quality and acquires a parodic and grotesque character. The death of the hero of the story is not mourned by people. And the rock on the island, the emperor’s haven, this time becomes not a “tomb of glory”, but a parody monument, an object of tourism: people trudged across the ocean here, Bunin writes with bitter irony, climbed a steep rock, on which a vile and depraved monster lived, doomed people to countless deaths. Such a rethinking conveys the disastrous and catastrophic nature of the world, which, like the ship, is on the edge of the abyss.
Literature
Dmitry Bykov. Ivan Alekseevich Bunin. // Encyclopedia for children "Avanta +". Volume 9. Russian literature. Part two. XX century. M., 1999
Vera Muromtseva-Bunina. Bunin's life. Conversations with memory. M.: Vagrius, 2007
Galina Kuznetsova. Grasse diary. M.: Moscow worker, 1995
N.V. Egorova. Lesson developments in Russian literature. Grade 11. I semester. M.: VAKO, 2005
D.N. Murin, E.D. Kononova, E.V. Minenko. Russian literature of the XX century. Grade 11 program. Thematic lesson planning. St. Petersburg: SMIO Press, 2001
E.S. Rogover. Russian literature of the XX century. SP.: Parity, 2002
