The problem of man and civilization, man's place in the world is gradually becoming a global problem. Our life has become so complex that often people simply cannot decide, cannot understand why they live, what the purpose of their existence is. In I. A. Bunin’s story “The Gentleman from San Francisco,” we also talk about this problem. The writer tries to answer the questions that interest him: what is a person’s happiness, what is his purpose on earth?
Bunin also poses in his story such a problem as human interaction
And the environment.
In general, Bunin's prose has several distinctive features. With a simple plot, one is struck by the richness of thoughts, images and symbolism that are inherent in the artist’s works. In his narration, Bunin is unfussy, thorough and laconic. It seems that the entire world around him fits into his small works.
This happens thanks to the writer’s figurative and clear style, the typifications that he creates in his work.
With hidden irony and sarcasm, Bunin describes the main character - a gentleman from San Francisco, without even honoring him with a name. The Master himself is full of snobbery and self-satisfaction. All his life he strived for wealth, setting an example for himself as the richest people in the world, trying to achieve the same prosperity as them.
Finally, it seems to him that the set goal is close and, finally, it’s time to relax, to live for his own pleasure: “Until this moment, he did not live, but existed.” And the gentleman 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 cannot buy happiness, prosperity, respect, love, life. When planning to travel to the Old World, the gentleman from San Francisco carefully develops a route: “the people to whom he belonged had the custom of beginning the enjoyment of life with a trip to Europe, India, Egypt...” The plan developed by the gentleman from San Francisco was very extensive: Southern Italy, Nice, then Monte Carlo, Rome, Venice, Paris and even Japan.
It seems that the hero has everything under control, everything is taken into account and verified. But this confidence of the Master is refuted by the weather - the elements are beyond the control of a mere mortal.
Nature, its naturalness, is a force opposite to wealth, human self-confidence, and civilization. For money, you can try not to notice its inconveniences, but this does not always work. And moving to Capri becomes a terrible ordeal for all Atlantis passengers.
The fragile steamer barely coped with the elements that befell it.
The gentleman from San Francisco believed that everything around him 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 fed and watered they served him from morning to evening, preventing 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 life, the same amount of humiliation his mortal body experienced after death.
Bunin shows how illusory the power of money is in this world, and how pathetic is the person who bets on it. Having created idols for himself, he strives to achieve the same well-being. It seems that the goal has been achieved, he is at the top, for which he worked tirelessly for many years. What did he do that he left for his descendants?
Nobody even remembered his name.
Was there anything to remember? Thousands of such gentlemen travel annually along standard routes, claiming exclusivity, but they are only likenesses of each other, imagining themselves as masters of life. And their turn comes, and they leave without a trace, causing neither regret nor bitterness.
In the story “Mr. from San Francisco,” Bunin showed the illusory and disastrous nature of such a path for a person.
It is important to note one more antithesis in the story. Along with nature, the gentleman from San Francisco and others like him are contrasted with service personnel, who are at the lowest, in the opinion of the gentlemen, stage of development. The ship Atlantis, on the upper deck of which passengers were having fun, also contained another tier - fireboxes, into which tons of coal were thrown, salted from sweat. No attention was paid to these people, they were not served, they were not thought about.
Bunin shows that the lower strata seem to fall out of life, they are called upon only to please the masters. It is generally accepted that those in the furnaces do not live, but exist. But, in fact, the human “shells” are the people having fun on the upper deck.
Thus, in the characters, destinies, and thoughts of his heroes, Bunin reveals the problem of the relationship between man and the surrounding world - natural, social, everyday, historical.
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Symbolism and existential meaning of the story
"Mr. 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 “Mr. from San Francisco.” We talked about the composition of the story, discussed the system of images, and talked about the poetics of Bunin's word.Today in the lesson we will have to determine the role of details in the story, note the images and 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?
First, let’s remember the concept of “detail”.
Detail – a particularly significant highlighted element of an artistic image, an expressive detail in a work that carries a semantic, ideological and emotional load.
Already in the first phrase there is a certain irony towards Mr.: “no one remembered his name either in Naples or Capri,” thereby the author emphasizes that Mr. is just a person.
The gentleman from S-F is himself a symbol - he is a collective image of all the bourgeois of that time.
The absence of a name is a symbol of facelessness, the inner lack of spirituality of the hero.
The image of the steamship "Atlantis" is a symbol of society with its hierarchy:the idle aristocracy of which is contrasted with the people who control the movement of the ship, working hard at the “gigantic” firebox, which the author calls the ninth circle of hell.
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 lives, that their wealth and luxury are not protection from the flow of real, real life, that such people are initially doomed to moral baseness and dead life.
The very image of the ship is a shell of an idle life, and the ocean isthe rest of the world, raging, changing, but in no way touching our hero.
The name of the ship, “Atlantis” (What is associated with the word “Atlantis”? - lost civilization), contains a premonition of a disappearing civilization.
Does the description of the ship evoke any other associations for you? The description is similar to the Titanic, which reinforces the idea that a mechanized society is doomed to a sad outcome.
Still, there is a bright beginning in the story. The beauty of the sky and mountains, which seems to merge with the images of the peasants, nevertheless affirms that there is something true, real in life, which is not subject to money.
Siren and music are also a symbol skillfully used by the writer; in this case, the siren is world chaos, and music is harmony and peace.
The image of the ship captain, whom the author compares with a pagan god at the beginning and end of the story, is symbolic. In appearance, this man really looks like an idol: red-haired, monstrously large and heavy, in a naval uniform with wide gold stripes. He, as befits God, lives in the captain's cabin - the highest point of the ship, where passengers are prohibited from entering, he is rarely shown in public, but passengers unconditionally believe in his power and knowledge. And the captain himself, being after all a man, feels very insecure in the raging ocean and relies on the telegraph apparatus standing in the next cabin-radio room.
The writer ends the story with a symbolic picture. The steamer, in the hold of which a former millionaire lies in a coffin, sails through the darkness and blizzard in the ocean, and the Devil, “as huge as a cliff,” watches him from the rocks of Gibraltar. It was he who got the soul of the gentleman from San Francisco, it is he who owns the souls of the rich (pp. 368-369).
gold fillings of the gentleman from San Francisco
his daughter - with “the most delicate pink pimples near the lips and between the shoulder blades”, dressed with innocent frankness
Negro servants “with whites like flaky hard-boiled eggs”
color details: Mr. was smoking until his face was crimson red, the stokers were crimson from the flames, the red jackets of the musicians and the black crowd of lackeys.
the crown prince is all wood
The beauty has a tiny bent and shabby dog
a pair of dancing “lovers” – a handsome man who looks like a huge leech
20. Luigi's respect is brought to the point of idiocy
21. The gong in the hotel on Capri sounds “loudly, as if in a pagan temple”
22. The old woman in the corridor, “stooped, but low-cut,” hurried forward “like a chicken.”
23. Mr. was lying on a cheap iron bed, a soda box became his coffin
24. From the very beginning of his journey, he is surrounded by a lot of details that foreshadow or remind him 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 ship Atlantis, which is a dual symbol in the story: on the one hand, the ship symbolizes a new civilization, where power is determined by wealth and pride, therefore in the end, a ship, especially with such a name, must sink. On the other hand, “Atlantis” is the personification of hell and heaven.
What role do numerous details play in the story?
How does Bunin paint a portrait of his hero? What feeling does the reader have and why?
(“Dry, short, poorly cut, but tightly sewn... There was something Mongolian in his yellowish face with a trimmed silver mustache, his large teeth glittered with gold fillings, his strong bald head was like old bone...” This portrait description is lifeless; it evokes a feeling disgust, since we have before us some kind of physiological description. The tragedy has not yet arrived, but it is already felt in these lines).
Ironic, Bunin ridicules all the vices of the bourgeois imagelife through the collective image of the gentleman, numerous details - the emotional characteristics of the characters.
You may have noticed that the work emphasizes time and space. Why do you think the plot develops during the journey?
The road is a symbol of the path of life.
How does the hero relate to time? How did the gentleman plan his trip?
when describing the world around us from the point of view of the gentleman from San Francisco, time is indicated precisely and clearly; in a word, the time is specific. The 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 talks about a real, full life: a panorama of the Bay of Naples, a sketch of a street market, colorful images of the boatman Lorenzo, two Abruzzese 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 something other than master?
(On the way to the island of Capri. When nature defeats him, he feelsold man : “And the gentleman from San Francisco, feeling as he should have - a very old man - was already thinking with melancholy and anger about all these greedy, garlic-smelling little people called Italians...” It was now that feelings awakened in him: “melancholy and anger", "despair". And again the detail arises - “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 the purpose of the gentleman’s trip from San Francisco is described: “solely for fun.” And, emphasizing the circular composition of the story, it also appears at the end - in combination with the “New World”. The New World, which gave birth to the type of people who consume culture “solely for the sake of entertainment”, the “Old World” is 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 living sense of history, between civilization and culture.
Why do the events take place in December (Christmas Eve)?
this is the relationship between 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 the man from San Francisco die in Capri, Italy?
It is not for nothing that the author mentions the story of a man who once lived on the island of Capri, very similar to our master. The author, through this relationship, showed us that such “masters of life” come and go without a trace.
All people, regardless of their financial situation, are equal in the face of death. A rich man who decides to get all the pleasures at once“just starting to live” at 58 years old (!) , dies suddenly.
How does the death of an old man make others feel? How do others behave towards the master’s wife and daughter?
His death does not cause sympathy, but a terrible commotion. The hotel owner apologizes and promises to sort everything out quickly. Society is outraged that someone dared to ruin their vacation and remind them of death. They feel disgust and disgust towards their recent companion and his wife. The corpse in a rough box is quickly sent into the hold of the steamer. A rich man who considered himself important and significant, having turned into a dead body, is not needed by anyone.
So what is the idea of the story? How does the author express the main idea of the work? Where does the idea come from?
The idea can be traced in the details, in the plot and composition, in the antithesis of false and true human existence (fake rich people are contrasted - a couple on a steamboat, the strongest image-symbol of the world of consumption, love plays, these are hired lovers - and the real inhabitants 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 the attitude of others towards the living Mr. and towards him after death. The gentleman thought that money gave him an advantage.“He was sure that he had every right to rest, to pleasure, to travel excellent in all respects... firstly, he was rich, and secondly, he had just started life.”
Did our hero live a full life before this journey? What did he devote his whole life to?
Mr. until this moment did not live, but existed, i.e. his entire adult life was devoted to “comparing himself with those whom Mr. took as his model.” All the gentleman’s beliefs turned out to be wrong.
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 a moral lesson.
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, Abruzzese highlanders).
Can man resist nature? Can he plan everything like the gentleman from S-F?
Man is mortal (“suddenly mortal” - Woland), therefore man cannot resist nature. All technological advances do not save people from death. This is iteternal philosophy and the tragedy of life: a person is born to die.
What does the parable story teach us?
“Mr. from...” teaches us to enjoy life, and not to be internally unspiritual, not to succumb to a mechanized society.
Bunin's story has an existential meaning. (Existential - associated with being, the existence of a person.) The center of the story is questions of life and death.
What can resist non-existence?
Genuine human existence, which is shown by the writer in the image of Lorenzo and the Abruzzi highlanders(fragment from the words “Only the market traded in a small square...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 Abruzzese mountaineers are poor, singing the glory of the greatest poor in the history of mankind - Our Lady and Savior, who was born “inpoor shepherd's shelter." “Atlantis”, a civilization of the rich, which is trying to overcome the darkness, the ocean, the blizzard, is an existential delusion of humanity, a diabolical delusion.
Homework:
The idea to write this story came to Bunin while 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 who becomes the focus of the writer’s attention.
Describing the insane luxury of the lives of the rich, Bunin takes into account every little detail. And he doesn’t even give the gentleman a name, no one remembers this man, he has no face and soul, he’s just 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 could be bought: “... he thought of holding the carnival in Nice, in Monte Carlo, where at this time the most selective society flocks, where some enthusiastically indulge in automobile and sailing races , others for roulette, others for what is commonly called flirting, and others for shooting pigeons.” All his life this gentleman saved money, never rested, became “decrepit”, unhealthy and devastated. It seems to him that he has “just started life.”
In Bunin's prose there is no moralizing or denunciation, but the author treats this hero 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 over 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 crowded out his common sense. He is sure that as long as they exist, 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 ivory, a doll, a robot, etc. The hero does not speak, but speaks several lines in a hoarse voice. The society of wealthy gentlemen in which the hero moves is just as mechanical and soulless. They live by their own laws, trying not to notice ordinary people, whom they treat with disgusting contempt. The meaning of their existence comes down to eating, drinking, smoking, enjoying pleasure and talking about them. Following the travel program, the rich man visits museums and examines monuments with the same indifference. The values of culture and art are an empty phrase for him, but he paid for the excursions.
The steamship Atlantis, on which the millionaire is sailing, is depicted by the writer as a diagram of society. It has three tiers: at the top is the captain, in the middle are the rich, and at the bottom are the workers and service personnel. Bunin compares the lower tier to hell, where tired workers throw coal into hot furnaces day and night in terrible heat. A terrible ocean is raging around the ship, but people trusted their lives to a dead machine. They all consider themselves masters of nature and are confident that if they have 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 decided to get all the pleasures at once, suddenly dies. His death does not cause sympathy, but a terrible commotion. The hotel owner apologizes and promises to sort everything out quickly. Society is outraged that someone dared to ruin their vacation and remind them of death. They feel disgust and disgust towards their recent companion and his wife. The corpse in a rough box is quickly sent into the hold of the steamer.
Bunin draws attention to the sharp change in attitude towards the dead rich man and his wife. The obsequious hotel owner becomes arrogant and callous, and 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 a former millionaire lies in a coffin, sails through the darkness and blizzard in the ocean, and the Devil, “as huge as a cliff,” watches him from the rocks of Gibraltar. 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, the mystery of death, and 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.
Essay on the topic “The theme of the meaning of life in I. A. Bunin’s story “The Master from San Francisco” updated: November 14, 2019 by: Scientific Articles.Ru
Ivan Alekseevich Bunin is an outstanding writer, the first Russian Nobel Prize laureate. He spent a lot of time traveling: to Italy, Ceylon, Egypt and Palestine. Then Ivan Alekseevich experienced acute anxiety from the strict norms of “happiness” established by the new masters of life. He was frightened by the speed with which life was being mechanized, turning into simple functioning. How does a person need to live? What should be most important to him? In the story “The Mister from San Francisco,” Ivan Alekseevich Bunin discusses life and death using the example of the Mister, 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 still realize that he is not there.
It is not for nothing that Bunin does not mention 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 in any way from the gray mass of their own kind.
All the time the Master worked in order to earn as much money as possible. At first he worked himself, then used cheap labor. Working mindlessly, he tries to make capital. But all his activities are aimed only at material well-being. The hero wants to go out and have fun.
In fact, the life of the gentleman from San Francisco is unreal, artificial. And everywhere he goes, he is surrounded only by illusions and deception. 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, afraid that they might think or say bad things about them. This routine has already become the norm for society, which they do not even think about changing. Yes, the main character really tries to enjoy life: he eats, drinks, and rests a lot. And it is his money that helps him do 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 sail on the ship Atlantis. Its name seems to indicate to us a civilization doomed to destruction. Death is what awaits all people who live by false values. Everything around is a deception. Here we see a couple in love dancing passionately, on whom the eyes of all those present are fixed: “he danced only with her, and everything came out so subtly, charmingly...” But how many people know that these two were hired by the captain to entertain the audience? And they have no real feelings, it’s all just an illusion. We then watch the footman respectfully bow and smile at the Master and his wife. But as soon as they leave, the servants immediately begin to imitate them and laugh. All friendly smiles and bows are deception. The ship itself symbolizes a typical society: servants and workers live on the lower decks, providing the comfort of the upper classes. And it is on the will of the masters that the life of the working class depends.
After the master's death, all the lies come out. They refused to even provide him with a coffin, since he could no longer offer them much money. His family was kicked out of a good room, as if they had stopped noticing them, because the owner “was not at all interested in the trifles that those who came from San Francisco could now leave in his box office.” The death of the main character did not make anyone in the hotel sympathize; the “dead old man” did not evoke 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 him. People have locked 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 Abruzzese highlanders are descending along the cliffs of Monte Solaro. The whole country stretches out 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 the sun, to the morning, to her...” Everything else is alien to them and not so significant. Another image that we see in I.A. Bunin’s story is the old boatman Lorenzo. His life is simple: he catches lobsters, selling them for next to nothing; walks carefree; serves as a model for many painters. He needs more than that, “he can stand calmly even until the evening, looking around with a regal demeanor...” Such a life does not burden him in the least, does not contradict his essence. The highlanders and old Lorenzo are the personification of happiness, which does not require money or 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 Atlantis passengers will ever know that while they are having fun and relaxing, in the hold lies a tarred coffin with a dead Master. And no one will be able to break this cycle of illusions and falsehood.
I believe that people should not live only by material values. High moral principles are the correct standard of behavior, thinking, and worldview that every person should strive for. They are the ones who make it possible to remain reasonable and not sink to the level where a person lives solely by instincts.
The story of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin (1870-1953) “The Gentleman from San Francisco” (1915) is the pinnacle of the writer’s skill. The work has artistic capacity, which makes it possible to consider it in different contexts and from different points of view. Researchers V. A. Afanasyev, N. M. Kucherovsky, I. P. Vantenkov created monographs dedicated to the life and work of the great Russian writer. These works contain chapters devoted to the work “The Gentleman from San Francisco.” A. V. Zlochevskaya in her article analyzes the mystical and religious subtext in the story of I. A. Bunin. D. M. Ivanova’s dissertation examines images of nature in the writer’s prose, touching on this work as well. In this work, Bunin's story will be examined from the point of view of the poetics of mythology.
As the epigraph to the story, I. A. Bunin took the words from “Apocalypse”: “Woe, woe to you, the great city of Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour your judgment will come.” (According to an article by Irina Lezhava) The last king in Babylon was Belshazzar. A legend has been preserved in the books of ancient times, according to which the king decided to hold a big feast on the night when Babylon was surrounded by the Persian army. All the guests drank wine from sacred vessels brought from the temple located in Jerusalem. At the same time, they drank and, according to pagan custom, praised the Babylonian gods. According to legend, writing mysteriously appeared on the wall: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Uparsin.” However, none of the local philosophers and sages could unravel the meaning of the written words. Then the queen, Belshazzar's wife, remembered Daniel, the Jewish sage. He was the only one who was able to decipher the inscription. It meant: “Counted, Weighed, Divided.” Thus, the hours of Belshazzar's existence were counted, his fate was weighed, and only minutes remained until his kingdom was divided. On the same night, the prediction of the Jewish sage was fulfilled: Babylon was defeated and the king was killed.
The meaning of this epigraph is reflected in the death scene of the gentleman from San Francisco. He, possessing wealth, spending luxurious evenings, not expecting anything that could interfere with enjoying life, suddenly dies. Here we see a parallel with the life and equally unexpected death of King Belshazzar.
The story takes place on the ship Atlantis. The ship itself is a symbol of civilization. The steamship embodies society with its hierarchical structure: the deck is contrasted, as the world of the rich, noble, and the hold, as the world of poverty and poverty. The author himself calls the “gigantic” furnace, where people work hard, the ninth circle of hell. Thus, a multi-deck ship is a kind of model of hell and heaven. In this contrast between the lower and higher worlds of the ship, there is a sense of doom.
The name of the ship already suggests the inevitability of a disaster, since there is a myth about a once sunken island with that name. From the Great Soviet Encyclopedia we learn that the island of Atlantis is a state in the Atlantic Ocean with a perfect political system, a country of demigods, wealth and prosperity. The inhabitants of the island - the Atlanteans - were distinguished by their nobility, education, virtue and sublime way of thinking, were indifferent to wealth and lived in harmony with nature. However, after a while they changed: they became more selfish and greedy, attracted to material well-being, and used their knowledge and cultural achievements for evil purposes. As a result, the sky god Zeus became angry with the Atlanteans, and within 24 hours the island of Atlantis disappeared from the face of the Earth: it was swallowed up by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
By calling the ship “Atlantis,” Ivan Alekseevich Bunin predicts in advance the inevitability of the coming catastrophe and the death of modern society, since the world of “Atlantis” is a false world, built on money, the love of fame, pride, arrogance, gluttony, and the desire for luxury.
By connecting the myth of Atlantis, the name of the ship and the epigraph to the work, we can come to the conclusion: the ship with the symbolic name “Atlantis” is Babylon only in its modern form. His death is inevitable, because the life of the passengers on the ship is as aimless and illusory as the power and dominance of the gentleman from San Francisco are aimless and illusory in the face of death.
Bunin in his works sought to convey the harmony of man and nature. But the heroes of this story are not able to comprehend this. So, in order to show the discrepancy between the lives of people and nature, I. A. Bunin uses images of the primary elements of the sun and water. (According to Roshal V.M.) In traditional mythology, the sun is the oldest cosmic symbol that signifies life, its source, light. The image of the sun as a symbol is associated with such characteristics as supremacy, life-creation, activity, heroism, and omniscience. The luminous, solar nature, according to popular Christian beliefs, is carried by God the Father, Jesus Christ, angels and saints. As a source of heat, the sun gives vitality to man, and as a source of light it symbolizes truth. In ancient times, it seemed to people that the absence of the sun foreshadowed terrible troubles, a universal catastrophe, the coming end of the world, so they worshiped him as the main pagan deity.
For Ivan Alekseevich Bunin, the sunrise and the onset of a new day give the heroes of his works hope for happiness, great joy. However, the Atlantis passengers practically did not see the bright and radiant sun due to bad weather (“the morning sun deceived every day”). But they didn’t need this, since their main life took place inside the ship, where gold and jewelry shone, and the halls were illuminated by electricity. “On the day of departure - very memorable for the family from San Francisco! “Even in the morning there was no sun.” Researcher V.A. Afanasiev writes that, no matter where the American capitalist is, nature greets him unfavorably. And only on that morning, when the already dead gentleman is placed on a ship and taken away, a bright sun rises over Capri, as if nature is triumphant because the world has freed itself from a man who is incapable of understanding either the happiness of life or the beauty that surrounds him.
Comparing the traditional meaning of the image of the sun and its presentation in the story, we come to the conclusion that the passengers of the ship do not live, they only “exist” because they do not see the true light and do not know true happiness. The lives of these people are doomed: they are sailing towards their death.
As for the image of water, it is one of the fundamental elements of the universe, which gave birth to both life and death. In mythology, water is the basis of all things. According to Ivanova D.M., this elemental element can be used in works in two aspects: to symbolize rebirth, to be calm and pure (such as the rites of baptism and ablution), but at the same time, water can represent chaos that destroys everything around, leads to death and marks the end of all things. In “The Poetics of Myth” by E. M. Meletinsky, water is a kind of mediator between heaven and earth.
In the work, I. A. Bunin presents us with the Atlantic Ocean as the element of water. In the mythological dictionary, Ocean is the deity of the river of the same name that washes the earth. Known for his peacefulness and kindness (Ocean tried unsuccessfully to reconcile Prometheus with Zeus). In the far west it washes the border between the world of life and death. For I. A. Bunin, the ocean semantically means both a symbol of eternity and a symbol of deadly force. The ocean symbolizes the element of life. And the raging elements are the movement of life. Thus, the ocean is life.
The world created by the heroes of the story is artificial and closed, it is separated from the primary elements of existence, since they are hostile, alien and mysterious to people. The ocean has many faces and is unstable. In the story, he represents retribution. The elements act as a real threat: “The ocean that walked outside the walls was terrible, but they didn’t think about it, firmly believing in the power of the commander over it...”. It frightens Atlantis passengers with its unpredictability, mystery, and freedom. Ivan Alekseevich Bunin conveys to the reader the idea that a man of the twentieth century imagined himself to be the master of the world. The reason for this is the wealth and successful results of scientific and technological progress, one of which is the modernized ship built by human hands.
The final sketch of the Atlantis steamship takes on a symbolic meaning. I. A. Bunin depicts the figure of the Devil, inscribed in a completely realistic picture of a blizzard night near Gibraltar. He, huge as a cliff, watches the departing ship, personifying the dead world of civilization, mired in sin. The devil is a mythological character, the personification of the forces of evil. He opposes the “good beginning”, namely God. Kucherovsky N.M. believes that in I.A. Bunin’s story the devil is a figurative embodiment of the writer’s conviction in the existence of otherworldly, unknowable forces that control the destinies of humanity. The devil symbolizes the impending disaster and is a warning to all humanity. The world of Atlantis is under his control, so the death of modern civilization is inevitable. In contrast, the image of the Mother of God appears, who protects Italy - a symbol of a full and real life.
To summarize the research, it should be said that the study, analysis and interpretation of the mythological images used by I. A. Bunin in the story allows us to reveal the philosophical issues of the work. It tells about the existence of the social and natural-cosmic in life, about their intense interaction, about the short-sightedness of human claims to dominance in the Universe, about the incomprehensible depth and beauty of the whole world. This is a means of artistic expression that deepens the content and gives the story a special coloring. It reveals most fully the uniqueness of the writer’s method, the peculiarities of his worldview, the nature of his understanding and assessment of the depicted reality. Thus, the mythologism of I. A. Bunin is a form of representation of the specifics of his worldview, a way of expressing problems, philosophical comprehension of the laws of the existence of society and nature, an ideological and moral search caused by the decomposition of the foundations of existence at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.
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