Mr. from san francisco death of a hero. "gentleman from san francisco" - analysis of the work
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Everyone knows the content of Bunin's story, in which it comes about a rich gentleman who suddenly died on the deck of a luxurious yacht. This piece is included in school curriculum... Today we will remember some details of the plot of the novel by the last Russian classic, and also we will answer the question "from what the gentleman from San Francisco died".
Characteristics of the main character
Little has been said about the hero's life. And the work itself is small. However, Bunin made it clear that the life of his character is faceless, monotonous, one might even say, spiritless. The biography of a wealthy American is described in the first paragraph. He was 58 years old. For many years he worked, saved up and multiplied his fortune. I have achieved a lot and now, in my declining years, I decided to take from life what I didn’t have enough time for. Namely, go on a journey.
What did the gentleman from San Francisco die of at the age of 58? After all, only now he began to truly live. Planned a trip to Monte Carlo, Venice, Paris, Seville and other wonderful cities. On the way back, I dreamed of visiting Japan. But not destiny. Many people's lives are spent in labor. Not everyone has the opportunity to relax, have fun, visit distant countries. But Bunin's work is not about a workaholic who has dedicated his life to his beloved work. This is the story of a man whose existence was aimed at achieving financial well-being and the imaginary respect of others.
Once a gentleman from San Francisco was a penniless young man. Once, apparently, he set himself the goal of becoming a millionaire. He succeeded. Thousands of Chinese people worked tirelessly at his enterprise. He became rich. However, he did not live, but existed. Is it possible to call life the constant overcoming of barriers?
Steamer
Deck, cabins, room for service personnel the writer compares it to Dante's circles of hell. The wealthy American, his wife and daughter, know nothing of what is happening below. They have a rest, spend time as it should be for people of their circle: they have breakfast, drink coffee in a restaurant, then have dinner, slowly stroll along the deck. A gentleman from San Francisco has long dreamed of a vacation. However, it turned out that he did not know how to rest at all. He spends time as if on an approved schedule. However, he himself did not notice this, being in anticipation of the venal love of the young Neapolitan women, carnival in Monte Carlo, bullfighting in Seville.
And somewhere far away, in the lower cabins, dozens of workers are working. A lot of people serve the hero Bunin and gentlemen like him. The "masters of life" are entitled to a luxurious vacation. They deserve it.
The gentleman from San Francisco is quite generous. He believes in the solicitude of all those who give him water, feed him, and serve him at breakfast. Although, perhaps, he never thought about the degree of sincerity of the staff. This is a person who does not see anything, as they say, beyond his nose.
What did the gentleman from San Francisco die of? The people around him warn his slightest desires, guard his purity and peace, carry his suitcases. He is in a state that can be called happiness. At least he had never experienced anything like it before.
In Palermo
Before answering the question of why the gentleman from San Francisco died, it is worth talking about his last days... They passed in picturesque Palermo. Helpful guides scurried about everywhere, broadcasting about local attractions.
A successful businessman knew how to pay. True, there are things in this world that cannot be acquired for money. As luck would have it, the weather turned bad. From midday the sun was turning gray, and a light rain began to fall. The city seemed dirty, cramped, museums monotonous. The American and his family decided to leave Palermo. Where did the gentleman from San Francisco die? A successful businessman died before completing his journey on the island of Capri.
Last hours
The island of Capri received the American's family more hospitably. At first it was damp and dark here, but soon nature came to life. And here the gentleman from San Francisco was surrounded by a caring crowd. He was served, pleased, offered - met in accordance with his social and financial situation... The arrivals were taken to an apartment, which was recently occupied by another equally tall person. Pheasants, asparagus, and roast beef were served for supper.
What was thinking in last minutes the main character story? About wine, tarantella, upcoming walk in Capri. Philosophical thoughts he was not visited. However, as in the previous 58 years.
Death
The gentleman from San Francisco was going to have a rather pleasant evening. Spent a lot of time on the toilet. When I was ready for the next stage of luxurious, but clearly planned leisure, I decided to go to the reading room. There he took a comfortable leather chair, opened a newspaper, looked through a note about the never-ending Balkan war. In this unremarkable moment, he died.
After death
What did the gentleman from San Francisco die of? Most likely from a heart attack. Bunin said nothing about the diagnosis of his hero. But it doesn't really matter what the cause of the death of a rich American is. What matters is how he lived his life and what happened after his death.
And after the death of the rich gentleman, absolutely nothing happened. Unless the other guests were in a bad mood. In order not to upset the impressionable gentlemen, the bellhop and the footman quickly carried the dead American to the cramped, worst room.
Why did the gentleman from San Francisco die? His death ruined such a beautiful evening irreparably. The guests returned to the dining room, had dinner, but their faces were dissatisfied, offended. The innkeeper approached one or the other, apologized for such an unpleasant situation, in which he, of course, was not to blame. Meanwhile, the hero of the story was lying in a cheap room, on a cheap bed, under a cheap blanket. Nobody smiled at him anymore, did not serve him. He was not interesting to anyone else.
In many of his works, I.A. Bunin strives for broad artistic generalizations. He analyzes the general human essence of love, discusses the riddle of life and death. Describing certain types people, the writer is also not limited to Russian types. Often the artist's thought takes on a global scale, since in addition to the national, people around the world have much in common. Particularly indicative in this regard is the wonderful story "The gentleman from San Francisco", written in 1915, at the height of the First World War.
In that short piece, which can be called a kind of "mini-novel", IA Bunin tells about the life of people to whom money is given, as it seems at first glance, all the joys and blessings of the world. What kind of life is this, the life of a society “on which all the benefits of civilization depend: the style of tuxedos, and the strength of thrones, and the declaration of war, and the welfare of hotels”? Gradually, step by step, the writer brings us to the idea that this life is full of artificial, unreal. There is no place for fantasy, manifestations of individuality, because everyone knows what needs to be done in order to correspond to the “higher” society. The passengers of "Atlantis" are the same, their life goes according to the established schedule, they dress in the same clothes, there are almost no descriptions of the portraits of the main character's fellow travelers in the story. It is also characteristic that Bunin does not mention the name of the gentleman from San Francisco, or the names of his wife and daughter. They are one of a thousand similar gentlemen from different countries the world, and their lives are all the same.
IA Bunin only needs a few strokes to see the entire life of an American millionaire. Once he chose a model for himself, which he wanted to be equal to, and after years hard work, he finally realized that he had achieved what he was striving for. He's rich. And the hero of the story decides that the moment has come when he can enjoy all the joys of life, especially since he has money for this. People of his circle go to rest in the Old World - he goes there too. The hero's plans are extensive: Italy, France, England, Athens, Palestine and even Japan. The gentleman from San Francisco made it his goal to enjoy life - and he enjoys it as best he can, more precisely, focusing on how others do it. He eats a lot, drinks a lot. Money helps the hero to create around himself a kind of decoration that protects from everything that he does not want to see. But it is behind this decoration that living life, the kind of life he has never seen and will never see.
The culmination of the story is unexpected death Main character. In her suddenness lies the deepest philosophical meaning... The gentleman from San Francisco is putting his life on hold, but none of us are destined to know how much time is allotted to us on this earth. Life cannot be bought with money. The hero of the story brings youth to the altar of profit for the sake of speculative happiness in the future, but he does not even notice how mediocre his life has passed. The gentleman from San Francisco, this poor rich man, is contrasted with the episodic figure of the boatman Lorenzo, a rich poor man, “a carefree reveler and a handsome man,” indifferent to money and happy, full of life. Life, feelings, beauty of nature - these are, in the opinion of I.A. Bunin, the main values. And woe to the one who made money his goal.
It is not by chance that I.A. Bunin introduces the theme of love into the story, because even love, the highest feeling, turns out to be artificial in this world of the rich. It is love for his daughter that a gentleman from San Francisco cannot buy. And she is in awe when meeting an oriental prince, but not because he is handsome and can excite the heart, but because “unusual blood” flows in him, because he is rich, noble and belongs to a noble family. And the highest level of vulgarization of love is a pair of lovers who are admired by the passengers of the Atlantis, who themselves are not capable of such strong feelings, but about which only the captain of the ship knows that she is “hired by Lloyd to play love for good
money and has been floating on one or the other ship for a long time ”.
The death of the lord from San Francisco changed nothing in the world. And the second part of the story exactly the opposite repeats the first. Ironically, the hero returns to his homeland in the hold of the same Atlantis. But he is no longer interesting either to the guests of the ship, who continue to live according to their own schedule, or to the owners, because now he will not leave money in their box office. Life continues in Italy, but the hero of the story will no longer see the beauty of the mountains and the sea. However, this is not surprising - he did not see them even when he was alive. Money dried up the sense of beauty in him, blinded him. That is why he, a millionaire, a gentleman from San Francisco, is now lying in a soda box in the hold of a ship, which the Devil is watching from the rocks of Gibraltar, and “in the grotto of the rocky wall of Monte Solaro, all illuminated by the sun,” stands the Mother of God , the intercessor of "all those who suffer in this evil and wonderful world."
/ / / Life and death of the Lord from San Francisco (based on the story of I.A.Bunin)
The question of life and death is very vividly revealed in Bunin's story "". Bunin wrote his work during the First World War. It was during this period that people and society as a whole were rethinking their life values.
The protagonist of the story was a gentleman who had no name. The author does not name it in any way. This man worked all his life and tried to amass his own money capital. Once upon a time, he took as a model the rich, who do not deny themselves anything, and strove to become the same as them.
Throughout his life, he largely restrained himself and already in the sixth decade turned into a rich moneybag. It was at this time that he decides to live for himself - to rest. Unwind, visit the countries of the Old World. This he considers the meaning of life - to enjoy a rich and luxurious vacation. And what is most interesting, he acts according to the stereotype, like all rich people. He does not have his own personal opinion.
The gentleman from San Francisco follows the beliefs and examples of others. He goes on a cruise, lives in a lovely room, dines at an expensive restaurant. This is his happiness - in money and wealth. But, in fact, in his life there is no love, no friendship, no relatives. He is completely indifferent to his wife, in principle, as she is to him. Their daughter is also unhappy in love. This is because she is trying to follow in her father's footsteps.
We see that present life master is absolutely pointless. Now the goal of such a life is luxury relaxation. Is it worthy for a person? Perhaps this would have continued in the future. But, death suddenly intervened in the fate of the contented and narcissistic master. It was she who was able to take him by surprise. It is from death that no money can buy you off. Now, this once elated person is in the real world.
In order not to disclose the case of death in an expensive hotel, his body was secretly cardboard boxes transported aboard the liner and sent home in the hold of the ship. This gentleman from San Francisco ended his existence even worse than ordinary people.
So what was its meaning, what is the purpose of such a person? Bunin, in his story, tries to convey to the reader one idea - in life you need to have human qualities and make money human values such as love, happiness, friendship.
Everyone knows the content of Bunin's story, which is about a rich gentleman who suddenly died on the deck of a luxurious yacht. This work is included in the school curriculum. Today we will remember some details of the plot of the novel by the last Russian classic, and also we will answer the question "from what the gentleman from San Francisco died".
Characteristics of the main character
Little has been said about the hero's life. And the work itself is small. However, Bunin made it clear that the life of his character is faceless, monotonous, one might even say, spiritless. The biography of a wealthy American is described in the first paragraph. He was 58 years old. For many years he worked, saved up and multiplied his fortune. I have achieved a lot and now, in my declining years, I decided to take from life what I didn’t have enough time for. Namely, go on a journey.
What did the gentleman from San Francisco die of at the age of 58? After all, only now he began to truly live. Planned a trip to Monte Carlo, Venice, Paris, Seville and other wonderful cities. On the way back, I dreamed of visiting Japan. But not destiny. Many people's lives are spent in labor. Not everyone has the opportunity to relax, have fun, visit distant countries. But Bunin's work is not about a workaholic who has dedicated his life to his beloved work. This is the story of a man whose existence was aimed at achieving financial well-being and the imaginary respect of others.
Once a gentleman from San Francisco was a penniless young man. Once, apparently, he set himself the goal of becoming a millionaire. He succeeded. Thousands of Chinese people worked tirelessly at his enterprise. He became rich. However, he did not live, but existed. Is it possible to call life the constant overcoming of barriers?
Steamer
The writer compares the deck, the cabins, the staff quarters with the circles of Dante's hell. The wealthy American, his wife and daughter, know nothing of what is happening below. They have a rest, spend time as it should be for people of their circle: they have breakfast, drink coffee in a restaurant, then have dinner, slowly stroll along the deck. A gentleman from San Francisco has long dreamed of a vacation. However, it turned out that he did not know how to rest at all. He spends time as if on an approved schedule. However, he himself did not notice this, being in anticipation of the venal love of the young Neapolitan women, carnival in Monte Carlo, bullfighting in Seville.
And somewhere far away, in the lower cabins, dozens of workers are working. A lot of people serve the hero Bunin and gentlemen like him. The "masters of life" are entitled to a luxurious vacation. They deserve it.
The gentleman from San Francisco is quite generous. He believes in the solicitude of all those who give him water, feed him, and serve him at breakfast. Although, perhaps, he never thought about the degree of sincerity of the staff. This is a person who does not see anything, as they say, beyond his nose.
What did the gentleman from San Francisco die of? The people around him warn his slightest desires, guard his purity and peace, carry his suitcases. He is in a state that can be called happiness. At least he had never experienced anything like it before.
In Palermo
Before answering the question of why the gentleman from San Francisco died, it is worth talking about his last days. They passed in picturesque Palermo. Helpful guides scurried about everywhere, broadcasting about local attractions.
A successful businessman knew how to pay. True, there are things in this world that cannot be acquired for money. As luck would have it, the weather turned bad. From midday the sun was turning gray, and a light rain began to fall. The city seemed dirty, cramped, museums monotonous. The American and his family decided to leave Palermo. Where did the gentleman from San Francisco die? A successful businessman died before completing his journey on the island of Capri.
Last hours
The island of Capri received the American's family more hospitably. At first it was damp and dark here, but soon nature came to life. And here the gentleman from San Francisco was surrounded by a caring crowd. He was served, catered to, offered - greeted in accordance with his social and financial situation. The arrivals were taken to an apartment, which was recently occupied by another equally tall person. Pheasants, asparagus, and roast beef were served for supper.
What was the main character of the story thinking in the last minutes? About wine, tarantella, upcoming walk in Capri. Philosophical thoughts did not visit him. However, as in the previous 58 years.
Death
The gentleman from San Francisco was going to have a rather pleasant evening. Spent a lot of time on the toilet. When I was ready for the next stage of luxurious, but clearly planned leisure, I decided to go to the reading room. There he took a comfortable leather chair, opened a newspaper, looked through a note about the never-ending Balkan war. In this unremarkable moment, he died.
After death
What did the gentleman from San Francisco die of? Most likely from a heart attack. Bunin said nothing about the diagnosis of his hero. But it doesn't really matter what the cause of the death of a rich American is. What matters is how he lived his life and what happened after his death.
And after the death of the rich gentleman, absolutely nothing happened. Unless the other guests were in a bad mood. In order not to upset the impressionable gentlemen, the bellhop and the footman quickly carried the dead American to the cramped, worst room.
Why did the gentleman from San Francisco die? His death ruined such a beautiful evening irreparably. The guests returned to the dining room, had dinner, but their faces were dissatisfied, offended. The innkeeper approached one or the other, apologized for such an unpleasant situation, in which he, of course, was not to blame. Meanwhile, the hero of the story was lying in a cheap room, on a cheap bed, under a cheap blanket. Nobody smiled at him anymore, did not serve him. He was not interesting to anyone else.
IA Bunin's story "The gentleman from San Francisco" is devoted to the description of the life and death of a person who possesses power and wealth, but, at the will of the author, does not even have a name. After all, the name contains a certain definition of the spiritual essence, the embryo of fate. Bunin denies this to his hero not only because he is typical and similar to other rich old people who come from America to Europe to finally enjoy life. The writer emphasizes that the existence of this person is completely devoid of a spiritual principle, striving for good, light and high. The first half of the story is devoted to the journey on the ship "Atlantis", where the hero enjoys all the benefits of civilization. Bunin describes with frank irony his "main" events - breakfasts, dinners and numerous dressing up for them. Everything that happens around, at first glance, does not concern the main character: the roar of the ocean, the howl of a siren, blazing furnaces somewhere below. He confidently takes from life everything that can be taken for money, forgetting about his own age. At the same time, to outsiders, he resembles a mechanical doll on hinges, which absorbs wine and food, but has long forgotten about simple human joys and sorrows. The hero of the story wasted his youth and strength, making money, and did not notice how mediocre life passed.
He is old, but thoughts of an imminent death do not visit him. In any case, Bunin describes his hero as a person who does not believe in omens. The fact that the man in his last dream turned out to be like the owner of a Capri hotel amused the gentleman from San Francisco rather than seemed like a kind of warning. The illusion of wealth and power is revealed in the face of death, which came suddenly, without giving him a second to realize his own departure.
Unlike Leo Tolstoy (the story "The Death of Ivan Ilyich"), Bunin is concerned not with the spiritual, but with the cosmic meaning of death. Philosophical understanding Bunin's death is multifaceted and the emotional spectrum is wide: from horror to a passionate desire to live. In his view, life and death are equal. At the same time, life is described with the help of sensory details, each of which is full-fledged and important for comprehending the beauty of being. And death serves as a transition to another being, to the posthumous radiance of the soul. But did the gentleman from San Francisco have a soul? Bunin describes his death and the posthumous ordeals of the corporeal shell emphatically rude, naturalistic, nowhere mentioning any mental suffering. Death can only be overcome by a spiritual person. But the hero of the story was not such a person, therefore his death is portrayed only as the death of the body: “He rushed forward, wanted to take a breath of air - and he wheezed wildly ... his head fell on his shoulder and wrapped, the chest of his shirt protruded into a box - and the whole body, wriggling, lifting up the carpet heels, crawled to the floor, desperately struggling with someone. " Signs of a soul lost during life appear after death, as a faint hint: "And slowly, slowly, before everyone's eyes, pallor began to flow down the face of the deceased, and his features began to thin out, brighten ..." Death wiped off the hero's lifetime mask and for a moment opened him true appearance - the way it could be if you lived your life differently. Thus, the hero's life was a state of his spiritual death, and only physical death carries the possibility of awakening the lost soul. The description of the deceased takes on a symbolic character: "The dead remained in the dark, blue stars looked at him from the sky, a cricket sang on the wall with sad carelessness ..." The second part of the story is the journey of the body, the mortal remains of the hero: “The body dead old man from San Francisco she was returning home to her grave on the shores of the New World. Having experienced a lot of humiliation, a lot of human inattention, after spending a week from one port shed to another, it finally got back to the same famous ship, on which so recently, with such honor, it was transported to the Old World. " It turns out that the hero of the story turns out to be at first living body devoid of spiritual life, and then just a dead body. There is no secret of death, the secret of transition to another form of existence. There is only a transformation of the worn out shell. Part of this shell - money, power, honor - turned out to be just a fiction, to which the living no longer cared. The world without a master from San Francisco has not changed: the ocean is raging in the same way, a siren is blaring, an elegant audience is dancing in the salon of Atlantis, a hired couple is depicting love. Only the captain knows what is in the heavy box at the very bottom of the hold, but he only cares about keeping the secret. Bunin does not show how his wife and daughter are going through the death of the hero. But the rest of the world is indifferent to this event: what went away with it did not make the lives of others brighter, brighter and more joyful. Therefore, according to Bunin, the death of a hero is a warning to everyone who lives only for their own glory and wealth, to everyone who does not remember their soul.