Mythological motives in the story of I.A. bunina "gentleman from san francisco

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

Brief analysis

Year of writing– 1915

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

Topic- Opposites surrounding a person everywhere are the main theme of the work - this is life and death, wealth and poverty, power and insignificance. All this reflects the philosophy of the author himself.

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

Genre- A story that is a meaningful parable.

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

History of creation

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

Topic

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

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

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

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

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

Composition

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

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

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

main characters

Genre

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

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

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

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

Artwork test

Analysis Rating

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The story "The Gentleman from San Francisco", the meaning of the title of which is explained in this article, is one of the most famous works of Ivan Bunin. This is a kind of parable, which tells about the meaninglessness of wealth and fame in the face of the inevitability of death. The key idea of ​​the work is a person's understanding of the essence of his being, the realization of how fragile life is, how insignificant it is if it lacks beauty and authenticity.

The meaning of the name

The story "The Gentleman from San Francisco", the meaning of the title of which is revealed in this article, first saw the light in 1915.

The main feature of this work is that the author did not name the protagonist. Even in the title, he is simply referred to as the gentleman from San Francisco. This is the meaning of the title of the work.

This gentleman was a representative of a false, boring and monotonous so-called high society. The author despised such people, the social circle to which they attributed themselves, for their soullessness and belief in permissiveness at the expense of money, fake relationships, love of convenience. Because of all this, Bunin did not even begin to give a name to his hero, emphasizing this in the title. This is the meaning of the title "The Gentleman from San Francisco".

The plot of the story

Never naming the protagonist by name in the story, the author emphasizes his attitude towards him, noting that no one remembered his name either in Capri or in Naples, where he stayed. Together with his family (wife and daughter), he goes to the Old World. Bunin in "The Gentleman from San Francisco" writes that for two whole years the heroes intended only to have fun and move from place to place. The gentleman has worked hard for the past few years, now he can afford such a rest.

The family is sailing on a huge ship - "Atlantis". It looks more like a luxury hotel, which has everything you need for a comfortable trip.

Life on the ship in Bunin's story "The Gentleman from San Francisco" flows very measuredly. Passengers drink chocolate in the morning, then they go to take baths, do gymnastics, walk sedately along the decks filled with the same happy people. All this in order to work up an appetite. Only after exercise in the fresh air do they go to the first breakfast.

After a meal, they read the latest press in anticipation of a second breakfast. Then two hours are devoted to rest. To do this, comfortable reed chairs are installed on the decks, on which you can comfortably fall apart, covered with a blanket. Here travelers spend their time until lunch, admiring the cloudless sky.

In the afternoon a small snack - tea with cookies. Lunch in the evening. For vacationers on the "Atlantis" this is, one might say, the main goal of existence.

In the huge hall where the rich spend every evening, an orchestra plays. And outside the walls at this time the ocean is noisy. But these men in tuxedos and women in low-cut evening dresses do not even remember about him. Every evening after dinner, dancing begins in the hall.

Powerful men go to the bar, where they drink liqueurs and cocktails. Negroes in obligatory red camisoles serve them.

old Europe

The first big stop of the steamboat takes place in Naples. In this city, the family of a gentleman from San Francisco is housed in a fashionable hotel. But their daily routine from this practically does not change. Breakfast in the early morning, cultural program in the afternoon - visiting museums and temples. Then the second breakfast, afternoon tea, and then preparation for the evening dinner. A hearty lunch is a kind of cherry on the cake of every day.

Only the weather in Naples spoils the impression. The characters of "The Gentleman from San Francisco" arrive in December. At this time of the year, there is constant bad weather - strong wind, at times torrential rain, mud underfoot. Therefore, the family decides to move to the island of Capri. Everyone around them assures that on it they will be like in paradise. The family will be surrounded only by the sun, warmth and flowering lemons.

Americans in Capri

The heroes of "Mr. from San Francisco" move to the island. They sail on a small boat. On the way, they suffer from seasickness, as the ship chatters a lot on the waves.

But here they are on the beach. The funicular takes them to a miniature town located on top of a mountain. They check into a hotel where they are greeted by friendly staff. And they start getting ready for dinner.

The protagonist gets dressed before his relatives and goes alone to the cozy reading room of the hotel, where he gets acquainted with the latest press. He starts to read, but suddenly the lines start jumping in front of him. The gentleman, wriggling with his whole body, slides to the floor. A guest who happened to be nearby calls for help, everyone is worried. The owner of the hotel seeks to reassure the guests, but all in vain. The evening is already ruined.

Death

The gentlemen from San Francisco are put in the cheapest and smallest room. His wife and daughter stand by in horror. What they most feared happens - he dies.

The wife of the protagonist wants to move the body to her apartment. But the owner is against it. He appreciates these rooms too much and is afraid that guests will start to avoid staying at his place if they find out that there was a corpse here. After all, Capri is a small island, and everyone will immediately know about it. It is also problematic to get the coffin, it is only possible to find a long box in which bottles of soda water used to stand.

Return trip

The San Francisco gentleman's family sets out on their return journey. On the same "Atlantis", on which they sailed here, they go home.

But now the dead are being carried in a coffin, which is hidden from others in the hold. And on the decks at this time, the usual measured life continues. Everyone has breakfast, prepares for dinner every night and still admires the ocean outside the window.

Story analysis

The analysis of "The Gentleman from San Francisco" should begin with the idea of ​​the story. It is revealed when the family ends up in Capri. This is where Bunin's philosophical plan becomes clear.

After the death of the protagonist, a paradoxical thing happens. He is taken to the dirtiest and most disgusting room that has ever been in a hotel, and the body is sent to the ship in a bottle box so that as few guests as possible learn about the tragedy.

This is the main theme of The Gentleman from San Francisco. After death, wealth, fame and honor become completely unimportant. So the author clearly demonstrates the essence of human existence. Money and respect, which were so important in life, become absolutely useless after death.

Bunin also uses symbolic contrast when describing representatives of the bourgeoisie and poor people. In the analysis of "The Gentleman from San Francisco" it is worth noting that the author's images of ordinary people are lively, real and attractive. But he describes the rich with undisguised disdain.

The problem of "The Gentleman from San Francisco" is also that luxury and money do not in the least protect a person from real life. People who care only about their wallet, according to Bunin, are doomed to moral baseness.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin is an outstanding writer, the first Russian Nobel Prize winner. He spent a lot of time traveling: to Italy, to Ceylon, to Egypt and Palestine. Then Ivan Alekseevich experienced acute anxiety from the strict norms of "happiness" that were being established by the new masters of life. He was frightened by the speed with which life was mechanized, turned into simple functioning. What does a person need to live? What should be the most important thing for him? In the story “The Gentleman from San Francisco”, Ivan Alekseevich Bunin talks about life and death using the example of the Gentleman, a typical representative of the 20th century.

Every detail, every little thing makes you think about the question: “What is the meaning of the life of the Gentleman from San Francisco?” But then we all the same understand that it is not present.

Bunin does not just say neither the name of the master, nor the names of his wife and daughter. They are one of thousands of gentlemen like them from different countries of the world, who do not stand out from the gray mass of their own kind.

All the time the Master was working to earn as much money as possible. At first he worked himself, then he used cheap labor. Thoughtlessly working, he is trying to make capital. But all his activities are aimed only at material well-being. The hero wants to walk, have fun.

In fact, the life of the San Francisco Gentleman is not real, it is artificial. And everywhere he goes, he is surrounded only by illusions and deceit. In his society, everything is as it should be: people dress in the same clothes, follow the same daily routine: “putting on flannel pajamas, drinking coffee, chocolate, cocoa; then they sat in the baths, did gymnastics ... ”And they are afraid to be different, they are afraid that they might be thought badly or said about them. Such a routine has already become the norm for society, which they do not even think of changing. Yes, the main character is really trying to enjoy life: he eats a lot, drinks, rests. And it is his money that helps him in this. But behind all the idleness and idleness, he will never see the real world, filled with love and happiness.

Going on a trip, the gentleman and his family are sailing on the steamer "Atlantis". Its name, as it were, indicates to us a civilization doomed to destruction. Death is what awaits all people who live by false values. Everything around is a lie. Here we see a couple in love, dancing passionately, on which the eyes of all those present are fixed: “he danced only with her, and everything turned out so subtly, charmingly ...” But how many people know that these two were hired by the captain to entertain the audience? And they do not have real feelings, all this is just an illusion. Then we watch as the footman bows respectfully and smiles at the Master and his wife. But as soon as they leave, the servants immediately begin to tease and laugh at them. All friendly smiles and bows are a hoax. The ship itself symbolizes a typical society: servants and workers live on the lower decks, providing comfort to the upper strata of the population. And it is on the will of the masters that the life of the working class depends.

After the master's death, all lies come out. Even a coffin was refused to him, as he could no longer offer them much money. His family was thrown out of a good number, as if they had ceased to notice them, because the owner "was not at all interested in those trifles that those who came from San Francisco could now leave in his box office." The death of the protagonist did not make anyone in the hotel sympathize, the “dead old man” did not cause any emotions in those around him, only frightening them with a “reminder of death”. Each vacationer was worried only about himself, preferring not to notice anything around. People have closed themselves in their own cocoon and pretend that nothing bad is happening. But this can happen to them too.

Then Ivan Alekseevich shows us how two Abruzzo mountaineers descend along the cliffs of Monte Solaro. The whole country stretches before them, the sun warms hotly. Stopping in front of the statue of the Mother of God, they took off their hats and “naive and humbly joyful praises poured out to their sun, morning, her ...” Everything else is alien to them and not so significant. Another image that we see in the story of I.A. Bunin is the old boatman Lorenzo. His life is simple: he catches lobsters, selling them for next to nothing; walks carelessly; serves as a model for many painters. He needs more, “he can stand quietly even until evening, glancing around with regal habit ...” Such a life does not burden him in any way, does not contradict his essence. The highlanders and the old man Lorenzo are the personification of happiness, which does not require money, entertainment, but only love.

For the hero, all the lies are over, no one will deceive him anymore. However, society itself has not changed a bit. None of the passengers of the Atlantis will ever know that while they are having fun and relaxing, a tarred coffin with a dead Master lies in the hold. And no one will be able to break this cycle of illusions and falsehood.

I believe that people should not live only material values. High moral principles are the correct standard of behavior, thinking, worldview, to which every person must strive. It is they that make it possible to remain reasonable and not stoop to the level where a person lives exclusively by instincts.

Symbolism and existential meaning of the story

"Sir from San Francisco"

In the last lesson, we got acquainted with the work of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin and began to analyze one of his stories, “The Gentleman from San Francisco”. We talked about the composition of the story, discussed the system of images, talked about the poetics of Bunin's word. Today in the lesson we have to determine the role of details in the story, note the images-symbols, formulate the theme and idea of ​​the work and come to Bunin's understanding of human existence.

· Let's talk about the details in the story. What details did you see; which of them seemed symbolic to you.

Let's start with the notion of "detail".

Detail - a particularly significant highlighted element of an artistic image, an expressive detail in a work that carries a semantic and ideological and emotional load.

1. Already in the first phrase, there is some irony to Mr.: “no one remembered his name either in Naples or in Capri”, thereby the author emphasizes that Mr. is just a person.

2. The gentleman from S-F is himself a symbol - this is a collective image of all the bourgeois of that time.

3. The absence of a name is a symbol of facelessness, the inner lack of spirituality of the hero.

4. The image of the steamer "Atlantis" is a symbol of society with its hierarchy: the idle aristocracy of which is opposed to the people who control the movement of the ship, working in the sweat of their brow at the "gigantic" firebox, which the author calls the ninth circle of hell.

5. The images of ordinary residents of Capri are alive and real, and thus the writer emphasizes that the external well-being of the rich strata of society means nothing in the ocean of our life, that their wealth and luxury are not protection from the current of real, real life, that such people are doomed from the very beginning on moral baseness and dead life.

6. The very image of the ship is a shell of idle life, and the ocean is the rest of the world, raging, changing, but in no way touching our hero.

7. The name of the ship - "Atlantis" (What is associated with the word "Atlantis"? - a lost civilization), is a premonition of a disappearing civilization.

8. Does the description of the steamer cause you any other associations? The description is similar to "Titanic", which confirms the idea that a mechanized society is doomed to a sad outcome.

9. Nevertheless, there is a bright beginning in the story. The beauty of the sky and mountains, which, as it were, merges with the images of the peasants, nevertheless claims that there is true, real life in life, which is not subject to money.

10. Siren and music is also a symbol skillfully used by the writer, in this case, the siren is world chaos, and music is harmony and peace.

11. The image of the captain of the ship, whom the author compares with a pagan god at the beginning and at the end of the story, is symbolic. In appearance, this man really looks like an idol: red, of monstrous size and weight, in a marine uniform with wide gold stripes. He, as befits a god, lives in the captain's cabin - the highest point of the ship, where passengers are forbidden to enter, he is rarely shown in public, but passengers unconditionally believe in his power and knowledge. And the captain himself, being still a man, feels very insecure in the raging ocean and hopes for a telegraph machine, standing in the next cabin-radio room.

12. The writer ends the story with a symbolic picture. The steamboat, in the hold of which the former millionaire lies in a coffin, sails through the darkness and blizzard in the ocean, and from the rocks of Gibraltar the Devil, "huge as a cliff," watches him. It was he who got the soul of the gentleman from San Francisco, he owns the souls of the rich (pp. 368-369).

13. San Francisco gentleman's gold fillings

14. his daughter - with "delicate pink pimples near the lips and between the shoulder blades", dressed with innocent frankness

15. Negro servants "with squirrels like peeled hard-boiled eggs"

16. color details: Mr. smoked up to crimson redness of the face, stokers - crimson from the flames, red jackets of musicians and a black crowd of lackeys.

17. crown prince all wooden

18. the beauty has a tiny bent shabby dog

19. a pair of dancing "lovers" - a handsome man who looks like a huge leech

20. Luigi's respectfulness is taken to the point of idiocy

21. gong in a hotel in Capri sounds "loud as in a pagan temple"

22. The old woman in the corridor "stooped, but decollete", hurried forward "like a chicken."

23. Mr. lay on a cheap iron bed, a box of soda water became a coffin for him

24. From the very beginning of the journey, he is surrounded by a mass of details that portend or remind of death. First, he is going to go to Rome to listen to the Catholic prayer of repentance there (which is read before death), then the Atlantis steamboat, which is a dual symbol in the story: on the one hand, the steamboat symbolizes a new civilization, where power is determined by wealth and pride, therefore in the end, the ship, and even with that name, must sink. On the other hand, "Atlantis" is the personification of hell and heaven.

· What is the role of numerous details in the story?

· How does Bunin draw a portrait of his hero? How does the reader feel and why?

(“Dry, short, oddly tailored, but tightly sewn ... There was something Mongolian in his yellowish face with trimmed silver mustaches, his large teeth shone with gold fillings, his strong bald head was like an old bone ... " This portrait description is lifeless; it evokes a feeling disgust, since we have some kind of physiological description in front of us. The tragedy has not yet come, but it is already felt in these lines).

Ironic, Bunin ridicules all the vices of the bourgeois image life through the collective image of the master, numerous details - the emotional characteristics of the characters.

· You have probably noticed that time and space stand out in the work. Why do you think the story develops along the journey?

The road is a symbol of life's journey.

· How does the hero relate to time? How did the master plan his trip?

when describing the world around from the point of view of a gentleman from San Francisco, time is indicated accurately and clearly; In a word, time is specific. Days on the ship and in the Neapolitan hotel are planned by the hour.

· In which fragments of the text does the action develop rapidly, and in which plot time seems to stop?

The count of time goes unnoticed when the author tells about a real, fulfilling life: a panorama of the Gulf of Naples, a sketch of a street market, colorful images of the boatman Lorenzo, two Abruzzo highlanders and, most importantly, a description of a “joyful, beautiful, sunny” country. And time seems to stop when the story begins about the measured, planned life of a gentleman from San Francisco.

· When is the first time a writer calls a hero not a master?

(On the way to the island of Capri. When nature conquers him, he feels old man: “And the gentleman from San Francisco, feeling himself the way he should, - a very old man, - was already thinking with longing and malice about all these greedy, garlic-smelling little people called Italians ...” Right now, feelings are waking up in him: “longing and anger", "despair". And again there is a detail - "enjoyment of life"!)

· What do the New World and the Old World mean (why not America and Europe)?

The phrase "Old World" appears already in the first paragraph, when it tells about the purpose of the gentleman's trip from San Francisco: "solely for fun." And, emphasizing the ring composition of the story, it also appears in the ending - in combination with the "New World". The New World, which gave rise to the type of people who consume culture "only for the sake of entertainment", the "Old World" are living people (Lorenzo, highlanders, etc.). The New World and the Old World are two facets of humanity, where there is a difference between isolation from historical roots and a lively sense of history, between civilization and culture.

· Why do events take place in December (Christmas Eve)?

this is the ratio of birth and death, moreover, the birth of the Savior of the old world and the death of one of the representatives of the artificial new world, and the coexistence of two time lines - mechanical and genuine.

· Why did death overtake a Mr. from San Francisco in Capri, Italy?

All people, regardless of their financial situation, are equal in the face of death. The rich man, who decided to get all the pleasures at once, “Just starting to live” at 58 (!), suddenly dies.

· How does the old man's death evoke feelings in those around him? How do others behave towards the wife and daughter of the master?

His death causes not sympathy, but a terrible commotion. The innkeeper apologizes and promises to settle everything quickly. Society is outraged that someone dared to ruin their vacation, to remind them of death. To a recent companion and his wife, they experience disgust and disgust. The corpse in a rough box is quickly sent to the hold of the steamer. The rich man, who considered himself important and significant, turned into a dead body, is not needed by anyone.

The idea can be traced in the details, in the plot and composition, in the antithesis of false and genuine human existence. (False rich people are contrasted - A couple on a steamboat, the strongest image-symbol of the world of consumption, plays love, these are hired lovers - and real residents of Capri, mostly poor people).

The idea is that human life is fragile, everyone is equal in the face of death. Expresses through a description of the attitude of others to the living Mr. and to him after death. The master thought that money gave him an advantage. “He was sure that he had every right to rest, to pleasure, to travel in every way excellent ... firstly, he was rich, and secondly, he had just begun to live.”

· Did our hero live a full life before this trip? What did he devote his whole life to?

Mr. up to this moment did not live, but existed, i.e., his entire conscious life was devoted to "making equal to those whom Mr. took for himself as a model." All the mister's beliefs proved to be erroneous.

· Pay attention to the ending: it is the hired couple that is highlighted here - why?

After the death of the master, nothing has changed, all the rich also continue to live their mechanized lives, and the “couple in love” also continues to play love for money.

· Can we call the story a parable? What is a parable?

Parable - a short edifying story in an allegorical form, containing moral teaching.

· So, can we call the story a parable?

We can, because it tells about the insignificance of wealth and power in the face of death and the triumph of nature, love, sincerity (images of Lorenzo, the Abruzzo mountaineers).

· Can man resist nature? Can he plan everything like a gentleman from S-F?

A person is mortal (“suddenly mortal” - Woland), therefore a person cannot resist nature. All technological advances do not save a person from death. This is the eternal philosophy and tragedy of life: a person is born to die.

· What does the story tell us?

"Mr. from..." teaches us to enjoy life, and not to be internally soulless, not to succumb to a mechanized society.

Bunin's story has an existential meaning. (Existential - associated with being, the existence of a person.) In the center of the story are questions of life and death.

· What is capable of resisting non-existence?

Genuine human existence, which is shown by the writer in the form of Lorenzo and the Abruzzo highlanders (fragment from the words "Only the market traded on a small area ... 367-368").

· What conclusions can we draw from this episode? What 2 sides of the coin does the author show us?

Lorenzo is poor, the mountaineers of Abruzzo are poor, singing glory to the greatest poor in the history of mankind - the Mother of God and the Savior, who was born "in poor shepherd's home." "Atlantis", the civilization of the rich, which is trying to overcome the darkness, the ocean, the blizzard - an existential delusion of mankind, a diabolical delusion.

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 that way - "Death on Capri", but later renamed it. It is the gentleman from San Francisco with his millions who is in the center of the writer's attention.

Describing the insane luxury of the life of the rich, Bunin takes into account every little thing. And he doesn’t even give the master himself a name, no one remembers this man, 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 lived to the age of 58, he finally decided to get all the pleasures that can be bought: “... he thought of holding a carnival in Nice, in Monte Carlo, where at that time the most selective society flocks, where some enthusiastically indulge in car and sailing races , others to roulette, third to what is commonly called flirting, fourth to shooting pigeons. All his life this gentleman saved up money, never rested, became "decrepit", unhealthy and devastated. It seems to him that he "has just begun to live."

In Bunin's prose there is no moralizing or denunciation, but the author treats this hero of his with sarcasm and causticity. He describes his appearance, habits, but there is no psychological portrait, because the hero has no soul. Money took his soul. The author notes that for many 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 could end at any moment. Money replaced his common sense. He is sure that while they are there, he has nothing to fear.

Bunin, using the technique of contrast, depicts the external solidity of a person and his inner emptiness and primitiveness. In describing the rich man, the writer uses comparisons with inanimate objects: a bald head like 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 rotates, is just as mechanical and soulless. They live according to their own laws, trying not to notice ordinary people, who are treated with squeamish contempt. The meaning of their existence comes down to eating, drinking, smoking, enjoying and talking about them. Following the travel program, the rich man visits museums, inspects monuments with the same indifference. The values ​​of 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 scheme of society. It has three tiers: on top - the captain, on the middle - the rich, in the lower - workers and attendants. Bunin compares the lower tier with hell, where tired workers in terrible heat day and night throw coal into red-hot fireboxes. A terrible ocean is raging around the ship, but people have entrusted their lives to a dead machine. All of them consider themselves masters of nature and are sure that if they paid, then 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 causes not sympathy, but a terrible commotion. The innkeeper apologizes and promises to settle everything quickly. Society is outraged that someone dared to ruin their vacation, to remind them of death. To a recent companion and his wife, they experience disgust and disgust. The corpse in a rough box is quickly sent to the hold of the steamer.

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

The writer raises philosophical questions about the meaning of life, about the mystery of death, about the punishment for the sin of pride and complacency. He predicts a terrible end to a world where money rules and there are no laws of conscience.

Composition on the topic “The theme of the meaning of life in the story of I. A. Bunin “The Gentleman from San Francisco” updated: November 14, 2019 by: Scientific Articles.Ru