The main idea of ​​the story is the dark alleys of Bunin. Analysis of the story “Dark Alleys” by I.A. Bunin

The story “Dark Alleys” opens perhaps Bunin’s most famous cycle of stories, which got its name from this first, “title” work. It is known what importance the writer attached to the initial sound, the first “note” of the narrative, the timbre of which was supposed to determine the entire sound palette of the work. A kind of “beginning” that creates a special lyrical atmosphere of the story were lines from N. Ogarev’s poem “An Ordinary Tale”:

It was a wonderful spring
They sat on the shore
She was in her prime,
His mustache was barely black.
The scarlet rose hips were blooming all around,
There was an alley of dark linden trees...

But, as always with Bunin, “sound” is inseparable from “image”. As he wrote in the notes “The Origin of My Stories,” when he began working on the story, he imagined “some kind of big road, a troika harnessed to a tarantass, and autumn bad weather.” We must add to this the literary impulse, which also played a role: Bunin called L.N.’s “Resurrection” as such. Tolstoy, the heroes of this novel - young Nekhlyudov and Katyusha Maslova. All this came together in the writer’s imagination, and a story was born about lost happiness, the irrevocability of time, lost illusions and the power of the past over man.

The meeting of the heroes, once united in their youth by a passionate feeling of love, takes place many years later in the most ordinary, perhaps even nondescript setting: in a muddy road, at an inn located on a large road. Bunin does not skimp on “prosaic” details: “a mud-covered tarantass,” “simple horses,” “tails tied up from the slush.” But the portrait of the arriving man is given in detail, clearly designed to arouse sympathy: “a slender old military man,” with black eyebrows, a white mustache, and a shaved chin. His appearance speaks of nobility, and his stern but tired look contrasts with the liveliness of his movements (the author notices how he “threw” his leg out of the tarantass and “ran up” onto the porch). Bunin clearly wants to emphasize the combination of cheerfulness and maturity, youthfulness and sedateness in the hero, which is very important for the overall plan of the story, which is implicated in the desire to collide the past and the present, to strike a spark of memories that will illuminate the past with a bright light and will incinerate and turn into ash what exists Today.

The writer deliberately drags out the exposition: of the three and a half pages devoted to the story, almost a page is occupied by the “introduction”. Besides the description bad day, the hero’s appearance (and at the same time a detailed description of the coachman’s appearance), which is supplemented with new details as the hero gets rid of his outerwear, it also contains a detailed description of the room where the visitor found himself. Moreover, the refrain of this description is an indication of cleanliness and neatness: a clean tablecloth on the table, cleanly washed benches, a recently whitewashed stove, a new image in the corner... The author emphasizes this, since it is known that the owners of Russian inns and hotels were not known for their neatness and a constant feature of these places were cockroaches and dim windows covered with flies. Consequently, he wants to draw our attention to the almost unique way in which this establishment is maintained by its owners, or rather, as we will soon learn, by its mistress.

But the hero remains indifferent to the surrounding environment, although later he will note the cleanliness and neatness. From his behavior and gestures it is clear that he is irritated, tired (Bunin uses the epithet tired for the second time, now in relation to the entire appearance of the arriving officer), perhaps not very healthy (“pale, thin hand”), and is hostile to everything that is happening (“ “hostilely” called the owners), absent-minded (“inattentively” answers the questions of the hostess who appeared). And only this woman’s unexpected address to him: “Nikolai Alekseevich,” makes him seem to wake up. After all, before that, he asked her questions purely mechanically, without thinking, although he managed to glance at her figure, note her rounded shoulders, light legs in worn Tatar shoes.

The author himself, as if in addition to the “unseeing” gaze of the hero, gives a much more sharply expressive, unexpected, juicy portrait of the woman who entered: not very young, but still beautiful, similar to a gypsy, plump, but not overweight, a woman. Bunin deliberately resorts to naturalistic, almost anti-aesthetic details: large breasts, a triangular belly, like a goose’s. But the anti-aestheticism of the image is “removed”: the breasts are hidden under a red blouse (the diminutive suffix is ​​intended to convey a feeling of lightness), and the stomach is hidden by a black skirt. In general, the combination of black and red in clothes, the fluff above the lip (a sign of passion), and the zoomorphic comparison are aimed at emphasizing the carnal, earthly nature in the heroine.

However, it is she who will reveal - as we will see a little later - the spiritual principle as opposed to the mundane existence that, without realizing it, the hero drags out, without thinking or looking into his past. That's why she's the first! - recognizes him. No wonder she “looked inquisitively at him all the time, squinting slightly,” and he will look at her only after she addresses him by name and patronymic. She - and not he - will name the exact number when it comes to the years they have not seen each other: not thirty-five, but thirty. She will tell you how old he is now. This means that she meticulously calculated everything, which means that every year she left a notch in her memory! And this is at a time when he should never forget what connected them, for in the past he had - no less than - a dishonest act, however, completely ordinary at that time - having fun with a serf girl when visiting friends' estates, sudden departure...

In the terse dialogue between Nadezhda (that’s the name of the owner of the inn) and Nikolai Alekseevich, the details of this story are restored. And the most important thing is the different attitude of the heroes towards the past. If for Nikolai Alekseevich everything that happened is “a vulgar, ordinary story” (however, he is ready to put everything in his life under this standard, as if removing from a person the burden of responsibility for his actions), then for Nadezhda her love became a great test, and a great event, the only one of significance in her life. “Just as I didn’t have anything more valuable than you in the world at that time, so I didn’t have anything later,” she will say.

For Nikolai Alekseevich, the love of a serf was only one of the episodes of his life (Nadezhda directly states this to him: “It’s as if nothing happened for you”). She “wanted to kill herself” several times, and despite her extraordinary beauty, she never got married, never being able to forget her first love. That’s why she refutes Nikolai Alekseevich’s statement that “everything passes over the years” (he, as if trying to convince himself of this, repeats the formula that “everything passes” several times: after all, he really wants to brush aside the past, to imagine everything is not enough significant event), with the words: “Everything passes, but not everything is forgotten.” And she will say them with unshakable confidence. However, Bunin almost never comments on her words, limiting himself to monosyllabic “answered”, “approached”, “paused”. Only once does he slip an indication of the “unkind smile” with which Nadezhda utters the phrase addressed to her seducer: “I was deigned to read all the poems about all sorts of “dark alleys”.”

The writer is also stingy with “historical details.” Only from the words of the heroine of the work: “The gentlemen soon after you gave me my freedom,” and from the mention of the hero’s appearance, which had “a resemblance to Alexander II, which was so common among the military during his reign,” we can get the idea that The story apparently takes place in the 60s or 70s of the 19th century.

But Bunin is unusually generous in commenting on the condition of Nikolai Alekseevich, for whom a meeting with Nadezhda becomes a meeting with both his past and his conscience. The writer here reveals himself as a “secret psychologist” in all his splendor, making it clear through gestures, intonation of voice, and the behavior of the hero what is happening in his soul. If at first the only thing that interests a visitor at the inn is that “from behind the stove damper there was a sweet smell of cabbage soup” (Bunin even adds this detail: the smell of “boiled cabbage, beef and bay leaf” was felt, from which we can conclude that the guest is clearly hungry), then upon meeting Nadezhda, upon recognizing her, upon further conversation with her, fatigue and absent-mindedness instantly disappear from him, he begins to look fussy, worried, talking a lot and confusedly (“mumbled”, “added quickly” , “hurriedly said”), which is a sharp contrast with the calm majesty of Nadezhda. Bunin points three times to Nikolai Alekseevich’s reaction of embarrassment: “he quickly straightened up, opened his eyes and blushed,” “he stopped and, blushing through his gray hair, began to speak,” “blushed to the point of tears”; emphasizes his dissatisfaction with himself with sudden changes in position: “he walked decisively around the room,” “frowning, he walked again,” “stopping, he grinned painfully.”

All this testifies to what a difficult, painful process is taking place in him. But at first, nothing comes to mind except the divine beauty of the young girl (“How beautiful you were!... What a figure, what eyes!... How everyone looked at you”) and the romantic atmosphere of their rapprochement, and he is inclined brush aside what he had heard, hoping to turn the conversation, if not into a joke, then into the direction of “whoever remembers the old will...” However, after he heard that Nadezhda could never forgive him, because one cannot forgive the one who took away the most dear - the soul, who killed it, he seems to see the light. He is especially shocked, apparently, by the fact that to explain her feeling she resorts to the proverb (obviously, especially loved by Bunin, already used by him once in the story “The Village”) “they don’t carry the dead from the graveyard.” This means that she feels dead, that she never came back to life after those happy spring days, and that for her, who knew great power love - not without reason to his question-exclamation: “You couldn’t love me all your life!” - she firmly answers: “So, she could. No matter how much time passed, I lived alone,” - there is no return to life ordinary people. Her love turned out to be not just stronger than death, but stronger than the life that came after what happened and which she, as a Christian, had to continue, no matter what.

And what kind of life this is, we learn from several remarks exchanged between Nikolai Alekseevich, who is leaving the short-term shelter, and the coachman Klim, who says that the owner of the inn is “smart”, that she is “getting rich” because she “gives money on interest”, that she is “cool”, but “fair”, which means she enjoys both respect and honor. But we understand how petty and insignificant for her, who has fallen in love once and for all, all this mercantile frivolity, how incompatible it is with what is going on in her soul. For Nadezhda, her love is from God. No wonder she says: “What does God give to whom... Everyone’s youth passes, but love is another matter.” That is why her unpreparedness for forgiveness, while Nikolai Alekseevich really wants and hopes that God will forgive him, and even more so Nadezhda will forgive him, because, by all standards, he committed not such a great sin, is not condemned by the author. Although such a maximalist position runs counter to Christian doctrine. But, according to Bunin, a crime against love, against memory is much more serious than the sin of “grudge.” And it is precisely the memory of love, of the past, in his opinion, that justifies a lot.

And the fact that a true understanding of what happened gradually awakens in the hero’s mind speaks in his favor. After all, at first the words he said: “I think that in you I too have lost the most precious thing I had in life,” and his act - he kissed Nadezhda’s hand goodbye - do not cause him anything but shame, and even more - the shame of this shame, are perceived by him as false, ostentatious. But then he begins to understand that what came out accidentally, in a hurry, perhaps even for the sake of a catchphrase, is the most genuine “diagnosis” of the past. His internal dialogue, reflecting hesitation and doubt: “Isn’t it true that she gave me the best moments of my life?” - ends with an unshakable: “Yes, of course, the best moments. And not the best, but truly magical.” But right there - and here Bunin acts as a realist who does not believe in romantic transformations and repentance - another, sobering voice told him that all these thoughts were “nonsense”, that he could not do otherwise, that nothing could be corrected then , not now.

So Bunin, in the very first story of the cycle, gives an idea of ​​the unattainable height to which the most ordinary person is capable of rising if his life is illuminated, albeit tragic, by love. And short moments of this love can “outweigh” all the material benefits of future well-being, all the joys of love interests that do not rise above the level of ordinary affairs, and in general the entire subsequent life with its ups and downs.

Bunin draws the subtlest modulations of the characters’ states, relying on the sound “echo”, the consonance of phrases that are born, often without meaning, in response to spoken words. Thus, the words of coachman Klim that if you don’t give Nadezhda the money on time, then “blame yourself,” echo like echolalia when Nikolai Alekseevich pronounces them out loud: “Yes, yes, blame yourself.” And then in his soul they will continue to sound like “crucifying” his words. “Yes, blame yourself,” he thinks, realizing what kind of guilt lies with him. And the brilliant formula created by the author and put into the heroine’s mouth: “Everything passes, but not everything is forgotten,” was born in response to Nikolai Alekseevich’s phrase: “Everything passes. Everything is forgotten,” which was previously supposedly confirmed in a quotation from the book of Job: “as you will remember the flowing water.” And more than once throughout the story words will appear that refer us to the past, to memory: “Over the years, everything passes”; “everyone’s youth passes”; “I called you Nikolenka, and you remember me”; “Do you remember how everyone looked at you”, “How can you forget this”, “Well, why remember.” These echoing phrases seem to be weaving a carpet on which Bunin’s formula about the omnipotence of memory will be forever imprinted.

It is impossible not to notice the obvious similarity of this story with Turgenev’s “Asya”. As we remember, even there the hero at the end tries to convince himself that “fate was good in not uniting him with Asya.” He consoles himself with the thought that “he probably would not be happy with such a wife.” It would seem that the situations are similar: in both cases the idea of ​​misalliance, i.e. the possibility of marrying a woman of a lower class is initially rejected. But what is the result of this, it would seem, from the point of view of the attitudes of the right decision accepted in society? The hero of “Asia” found himself condemned to forever remain a “familyless loner”, dragging out “boring” years of complete loneliness. It's all in the past.

For Nikolai Alekseevich from “Dark Alleys” life turned out differently: he achieved a position in society, is surrounded by family, he has a wife and children. True, as he admits to Nadezhda, he was never happy: his wife, whom he loved “without memory,” cheated and left him, his son, on whom great hopes were pinned, turned out to be “a scoundrel, a spendthrift, an insolent person without a heart, without honor, without a conscience.” ....” Of course, it can be assumed that Nikolai Alekseevich somewhat exaggerates his feeling of bitterness, his experiences, in order to somehow make amends for Nadezhda, so that it would not be so painful for her to realize the difference in their states, their different assessment of the past. Moreover, at the end of the story, when he tries to “learn a lesson” from the unexpected meeting, to sum up his life, he, reflecting, comes to the conclusion that it would still be impossible to imagine Nadezhda as the mistress of his St. Petersburg house, the mother of his children. Consequently, we understand that his wife, apparently, returned to him, and besides the scoundrel son, there are other children. But why, in this case, is he so initially irritated, bilious, gloomy, why does he have a stern and at the same time tired look? Why is this look “questioning”? Maybe this is a subconscious desire to still give oneself an account of how he lives? And why does he shake his head in bewilderment, as if driving away doubts... Yes, all because the meeting with Nadezhda brightly illuminated his past life. And it became clear to him that there had never been anything in his life better than those “truly magical” minutes when “the scarlet rose hips were in bloom, there was an alley of dark linden trees,” when he passionately loved passionate Nadezhda, and she recklessly gave herself to him with all recklessness youth.

And the hero of Turgenev’s “Asia” cannot remember anything more vividly than that “burning, tender, deep feeling” that was given to him by a childish and serious girl beyond his years...

Both of them have only “flowers of memories” left from the past - a dried geranium flower thrown from Asya’s window, a scarlet rose hip from Ogarev’s poem that accompanied the love story of Nikolai Alekseevich and Nadezhda. Only for the latter it is a flower that has caused unhealed wounds with its thorns.

So, following Turgenev, Bunin depicts the greatness of the female soul, capable of loving and remembering, in contrast to the male one, burdened with doubts, entangled in petty addictions, subordinate to social conventions. Thus, already the first story of the cycle reinforces the leading motifs of Bunin’s late work - memory, the omnipotence of the past, the significance of a single moment in comparison with the dull succession of everyday life.

The story “Dark Alleys” gave the name to the entire collection of the same name by I. A. Bunin. It was written in 1938. All the short stories in the cycle are connected by one theme - love. The author reveals the tragic and even catastrophic nature of love. Love is a gift. It is beyond the control of man. It would seem a banal story about a meeting of elderly people in their youth who passionately loved each other. The simple plot of the story is that a rich young handsome landowner seduces and then abandons his maid. But it is Bunin who manages to tell about simple things in an exciting and impressive way with the help of this simple artistic move. A short work is an instant flash of memory of bygone youth and love.

There are only three compositional parts of the story:

• parking at the inn of a gray-haired military man,
• a sudden meeting with a former lover,
• reflections of a military man on the road a few minutes after the meeting.

Pictures of dull everyday life and everyday life appear at the beginning of the story. But in the owner of the inn, Nikolai Alekseevich recognizes the beautiful maid Nadezhda, whom he betrayed thirty years ago: “he quickly straightened up, opened his eyes and blushed”. A whole life has passed since then, and everyone has their own. And it turns out that both main characters are lonely. Nikolai Alekseevich has social weight and well-being, but is unhappy: his wife “cheated on me, abandoned me even more insultingly than I did you”, and the son grew up to be a scoundrel "without heart, without honor, without conscience". Nadezhda turned from a former serf into an owner "private room" at the postal station “Uma ward. And everyone, they say, is getting rich, cool...", but never got married.

And yet, if the hero is tired of life, then his former lover is still beautiful and light, full of vitality. He once gave up love and spent the rest of his life without it, and therefore without happiness. Nadezhda loves him all her life, to whom she gave it “your beauty, your fever” who once “Called Nikolenka”. Love still lives in her heart, but she does not forgive Nikolai Alekseevich. Although he does not stoop to accusations and tears.

Illustration by G. D. Novozhilov

On a stormy autumn day, a dirty carriage drives up to a long hut, in one half of which there is a postal station, and in the other - an inn. In the back of the tarantass sits “a slender old military man in a large cap and a Nikolaev gray overcoat with a beaver stand-up collar.” A gray mustache with sideburns, a shaved chin and a tired, questioning gaze give him a resemblance to Alexander II.

The old man enters the dry, warm and tidy room of the inn, smelling sweetly of cabbage soup. He is greeted by the hostess, a dark-haired, “still beautiful woman beyond her age.” The visitor asks for a samovar and praises the hostess for her cleanliness. In response, the woman calls him by name - Nikolai Alekseevich - and he recognizes in her Nadezhda, his former love, whom he has not seen for thirty-five years.

Excited Nikolai Alekseevich asks her how she lived all these years. Nadezhda says that the gentlemen gave her freedom. She was not married, because she really loved him, Nikolai Alekseevich. He, embarrassed, mutters that the story was ordinary, and everything has long passed - “everything passes over the years.”

For others, maybe, but not for her. She lived with him all her life, knowing that it was as if nothing had happened to him. After he heartlessly abandoned her, she more than once wanted to commit suicide.

With an unkind smile, Nadezhda recalls how Nikolai Alekseevich read her poems “about all sorts of ‘dark alleys’.” Nikolai Alekseevich remembers how beautiful Nadezhda was. He was also good, it was not for nothing that she gave him “her beauty, her fever.”

Excited and upset, Nikolai Alekseevich asks Nadezhda to leave and adds: “If only God would forgive me. And you, apparently, have forgiven.” But she did not forgive and could never forgive - she cannot forgive him.

Having overcome his excitement and tears, Nikolai Alekseevich orders the horses to be brought. He, too, had never been happy in his life. He married for great love, and his wife abandoned him even more insultingly than he abandoned Nadezhda. I hoped for my son, but he grew up to be a scoundrel, an insolent man without honor and conscience.

In parting, Nadezhda kisses Nikolai Alekseevich’s hand, and he kisses her hand. On the road, he remembers this with shame and is ashamed of this shame. The coachman says that she looked after them from the window, and adds that Nadezhda is a smart woman, she gives money on interest, but is fair.

Now Nikolai Alekseevich understands that the time of his affair with Nadezhda was the best in his life - “The scarlet rose hips were blooming all around, there were dark linden alleys...”. He tries to imagine that Nadezhda is not the owner of the inn, but his wife, the mistress of his St. Petersburg house, the mother of his children, and, closing his eyes, shakes his head.

Topic: I.A. Bunin "Dark Alleys"

TDC: Reveal the ideological content of the story using TRKMChP

Develop speech culture, memory, thinking, creativity

Improve the skills of analyzing a work, the ability to compose OK,

characteristics, compare and draw conclusions.

To cultivate students’ moral qualities and philosophical understanding

the place of man in the world and the meaning in life., interest in the work of I.A. Bunina.

“All love is great happiness,

even if it is not divided"

I.A.Bunin

1. Org. moment

2. Updating knowledge.

Guys, today we will talk to you about love, the most beautiful feeling on earth.

Today we will try to understand the originality of Bunin’s artistic embodiment of love, to understand the philosophy of love.

The epigraph of our lesson is “All love is great happiness, even if it is not divided.”

What is love for you?

What is this word associated with?

Let's create a cluster and draw conclusions

(cluster creation)

Love is an eternal topic that has worried people, worries and will always worry. Love is an eternal theme of art, literature, painting, music...

Tell me which works about love have you already become acquainted with?

Describe love in these works.

Remember the words of General Anosov: “Love is selfless, selfless, not waiting for reward. The one about whom it is said is “strong as death.” The kind of love for which to accomplish any feat, to give one’s life, to undergo torture is not work at all, but one joy... love should be a tragedy, the greatest secret in the world.”

What do two ladles need to understand that he is the only one in the world, that she is the most beautiful on earth? (A moment, time, years, a whole life...)

And now our task is to consider this using the example of the work “Dark Alleys”.

First, let’s get acquainted with the history of the creation of the story and cycle “Dark Alleys” (operator, student)

Problematic question: Why is the story called “Dark Alleys?”

First option of your answer?

Let's listen to him. (preparatory student)

So, first, the title is from Ogarev’s poem, which was read by N.A. Nadezhede

And to offer other options, we need to research the text

Analysis

Let's start with summary story. What is the plot of the work?

Tell us about the heroes of the work

Which of the characters do you like, and why? How does the author feel about the characters? What allows you to draw such conclusions?

The portrait of the main character is dynamic. How does the second portrait complement the first? (The words “slim” sound like a refrain, clothes emphasize social status, but external beauty is not combined with a tired appearance and a pale, thin hand, which speaks of an unfulfilled life.)

How is the heroine presented? Is the polyunion “too” used?

(This is a portrait - a comparison with the hero, external beauty is emphasized.)

How does an inn characterize a woman? (Good hostess.)

Why did Nadezhda immediately recognize Nikolai Alekseevich

Tasks for pair groups independent work“double diary” technique.

1 gr. Compare the portrait characteristics of the heroes and draw conclusions)

2g. What is the role of landscape sketches in a poem and story - compare and draw conclusions.

3.gr - Write out statements about N.A.’s past love. and Nadezhda)

One of the psychological techniques for revealing character is dialogue.

How is the dialogue between former lovers structured?

Let's read the dialogue.

What conclusions do we draw?

Assignment: make a syncwine with the word love for N.A., love for Nadezhda.

Compare Love of Nadezhda and Zheltkov.

What role does the meeting with Nadezhda play in Nikolai Alekseevich’s life? What did he understand?

What is the moral choice of works? Did Nadezhda do the right thing by keeping the memory of her first love, living only by memories?

Notice the space in which the heroine lives?

What does the coachman say when N.A. drove away from Nadezhda's house.

4. Reflection,

Cross-discussion “Defending your opinion.”

I want to justify my hero and his actions.

Group 1 – Hope, who did the right thing

Group 2 - You cannot live with memories and hold grudges for life.

Conclusions. The story is named as follows: 1. Based on the title of Ogarev’s poem

2.dark labyrinths of love, memories that do not allow a person to live life to the fullest; this love has no future.

Conclusion: disclosure of the content of the epigraph. Confirm with the words

Everything is beautiful in love - does it bring us

She is suffering or a balm.

Suffering for true love

Call it bliss, O lover.

Saadi

Song "You exist in the world"

5. What conclusion did you guys draw for yourself?

Immediately after the 1917 revolution, Bunin created a number of journalistic articles in which he spoke out against the Bolsheviks. In 1918, he moved from Moscow to Odessa, and at the beginning of 1920 he left Russia forever.

The Bunins settled in Paris, where life began “on other shores” - in a state of mental decline, with the bitterness of breaking with their homeland. The writer’s works were published in the newspapers “Vozrozhdenie” and “Rus”. Bunin headed the Union of Russian Writers and Journalists.

In exile, the writer creates stories mainly about Russian life, filled with deep psychology and subtle lyricism, and develops the genre of philosophical and psychological short stories (“Dark Alleys”). He combined his stories into the collections “Mitya’s Love” (1925), “Sunstroke” (1927), and “Shadow of a Bird” (1931).

Bunin's prose continues the traditions of I.S. Turgeneva, I.A. Goncharova and L.N. Tolstoy. Economical and effective use of artistic means, visual imagery and psychological penetration - these are the features of Bunin's style. Some of his stories, due to the perfection of their form, belong to the best works of world short fiction. K.G. Paustovsky wrote that in Bunin’s language one can hear everything: “... from copper-ringing solemnity to the transparency of flowing spring water, from measured precision to intonations of amazing softness, from a light melody to slow rolls of thunder.”

Bunin expressed his understanding of the world and his place in it in a characteristic note dating back to that time: “And days after days go by - and the secret pain of their steady loss does not leave - steady and meaningless, for they go on in inaction, all only in anticipation of action and what - and then again... And days and nights go by, and this pain, and all the vague feelings and thoughts and the vague consciousness of myself and everything around me is my life, which I do not understand.” And further: “We live what we live only to the extent that we comprehend the price of what we live. Usually this price is very small: it rises only in moments of delight - the delight of happiness or misfortune, the vivid consciousness of gain or loss; also - in moments of poetic transformation of the past in memory.” This “poetic transformation of the past in memory” is the work of Bunin of the emigrant period, in which the writer seeks salvation from the boundless feeling of loneliness.

Painfully experiencing what happened to Russia and his isolation from it, he tries to find an explanation and reassurance in turning to events in world history that could be correlated with Russian ones: the death of powerful ancient civilizations and kingdoms (“City of the King of Kings”). And now, far from Russia, painfully thinking about it, “fiercely,” as he said, tormented, Bunin turns to memory, especially highlighting it among spiritual values: “We live with everything we live, only to the extent that we comprehend the price of what we live. Usually this price is very small: it rises only in moments of delight, happiness or misfortune, a vivid consciousness of gain or loss; still - in moments of poetic transformation of the past in memory.”

In his memory the image of Russia arose in its bygone times, the recent past and the present.. This combination of different plans was saving for him. It allowed Bunin, without still accepting Russian modernity, to find that dear, bright, eternal thing that gave him hope: the birch forest in the Oryol region, the songs that the mowers sing (“Mowers”, 1921), Chekhov (“Penguins”, 1929 ). Memory allowed him to connect modern Russia, where “the end has come, the limit of God’s forgiveness,” with timeless, eternal values. In addition to eternal nature, love remained such an eternal value for Bunin, which he sang in the story “Sunstroke” (1925), the story “Mitya’s Love” (1925), the book of stories “Dark Alleys” (1943), love is always tragic, “beautiful "and doomed. All these themes - life, death, nature, love - by the end of the 20s. formed the basis of his stories about Russia, as he remembered it and what was dear to him.

In 1927, Bunin began writing the novel “The Life of Arsenyev”, which became another artistic autobiography from the life of the Russian nobility along with such classic works as “Family Chronicle” and “Childhood of Bagrov the Grandson” by S. Aksakov, “Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth” by L. Tolstoy. The events of childhood, adolescence, life in the village, studying at the gymnasium (80-90s of the 19th century) are seen in it with double vision: through the eyes of the high school student Alexei Arsenyev and through the eyes of Bunin, who created the novel in the 20-30s. XX century Speaking about Russia, “which perished before our eyes in such a magically short time,” Bunin, with the entire artistic structure of his novel, overcomes the thought of the end and death. Such overcoming is in Bunin’s landscapes, in that love for Russia and its culture, which is felt in every episode and situation of the novel: Bunin even called the hero’s father Alexander Sergeevich. The horror of the end and death is overcome by the author's lyrical confession, from which it becomes clear how the formation of one of the most important writers of the 20th century took place. And, of course, the victory over the “end” was the fifth and final chapter of “The Life of Arsenyev,” which is called “Lika” and in which Bunin recalls how back in 1889, when he worked at the Orlovsky Vestnik, he was “struck by to great misfortune, long love.” And this love was not destroyed by time...

The power of love, overcoming the darkness and chaos of life, became the main content of the book “Dark Alleys,” written during the Second World War. All the 38 short stories that make it up are about love, most often unrequited and tragic. Bunin’s understanding of love is reflected here: “All love is great happiness, even if it is not shared.” The book “Dark Alleys” also includes the story “Clean Monday,” which Bunin considered the best of all that he had written. “I thank God,” he said, “for giving me the opportunity to write “Clean Monday.”

Behind the simple plot of the story one senses the presence of some hidden significance. It turned out to be an allegorically, symbolically expressed thought about the historical path of Russia. That is why the heroine of the story is so mysterious, embodying not the idea of ​​love-passion, but a longing for a moral ideal; the combination of Eastern and Western principles in her is so significant as a reflection of this combination in the life of Russia. Her unexpected, at first glance, departure to the monastery symbolizes the “third path” that Bunin chose for Russia. He gives preference to the path of humility, curbing the elements and sees in this an opportunity to go beyond the limits of Western and Eastern doom, the path of great suffering in which Russia will atone for its sin and go on its own path.

A series of stories called “Dark Alleys” is dedicated to the eternal theme of any type of art - love.“Dark Alleys” is spoken of as a kind of encyclopedia of love, which contains the most diverse and incredible stories about this great and often contradictory feeling.

And the stories that are included in Bunin’s collection are stunning with their varied plots and extraordinary style; they are the main assistants of Bunin, who wants to portray love at the peak of feelings, tragic love, but therefore perfect.

Feature of the cycle “Dark Alleys”

The very phrase that served as the title for the collection was taken by the writer from the poem “An Ordinary Tale” by N. Ogarev, which is dedicated to first love, which never had the expected continuation.

In the collection itself there is a story with the same name, but this does not mean that this story is the main one, no, this expression is the personification of the mood of all the stories and tales, a common elusive meaning, a transparent, almost invisible thread connecting the stories with each other.

A special feature of the series of stories “Dark Alleys” can be called moments when the love of two heroes for some reason cannot continue. Often the executioner of the passionate feelings of Bunin’s heroes is death, sometimes unforeseen circumstances or misfortunes, but most importantly, love is never allowed to come true.

This is the key concept of Bunin's idea of ​​earthly love between two. He wants to show love at the peak of its blossoming, he wants to emphasize its true richness and highest value, the fact that it does not need to turn into life circumstances, like a wedding, marriage, life together...

Female images of “Dark Alleys”

Particular attention should be paid to the unusual female portraits that “Dark Alleys” are so rich in. Ivan Alekseevich paints images of women with such grace and originality that the female portrait of each story becomes unforgettable and truly intriguing.

Bunin's skill lies in several precise expressions and metaphors that instantly paint in the reader's mind the picture described by the author with many colors, shades and nuances.

Stories “Rusya”, “Antigone”, “Galya Ganskaya” are an exemplary example of different but vivid images of Russian women. The girls, whose stories were created by the talented Bunin, partly resemble the love stories that they experience.

We can say that the writer’s key attention is directed precisely to these two elements of the cycle of stories: women and love. And the love stories are just as intense, unique, sometimes fatal and willful, sometimes so original and incredible that it’s hard to believe in them.

Male images in “Dark Alleys”“weak-willed and insincere, and this also determines the fatal course of all love stories.

The peculiarity of love in “Dark Alleys”

The stories of “Dark Alleys” reveal not only the theme of love, they reveal the depths of the human personality and soul, and the very concept of “love” appears as the basis of this difficult and not always happy life.

And love does not have to be mutual in order to bring unforgettable impressions; love does not have to turn into something eternal and tirelessly ongoing in order to please and make a person happy.

Bunin insightfully and subtly shows only the “moments” of love, for the sake of which everything else is worth experiencing, for which it is worth living.

The story "Clean Monday"

The story “Clean Monday” is a mysterious and not fully understood love story. Bunin describes a pair of young lovers who seem to be perfect for each other on the outside, but the catch is that their inner worlds have nothing in common.

The image of the young man is simple and logical, and the image of his beloved is unattainable and complex, striking her chosen one with its inconsistency. One day she says that she would like to go to a monastery, and this causes complete bewilderment and misunderstanding for the hero.

And the end of this love is as complex and incomprehensible as the heroine herself. After intimacy with the young man, she silently leaves him, then asks him not to ask anything, and soon he finds out that she has gone to a monastery.

She made the decision on Clean Monday, when intimacy between lovers occurred, and the symbol of this holiday is a symbol of her purity and torment, which she wants to get rid of.

The story "Dark Alleys" gave the name to the entire collection of the same name by I. A. Bunin. It was written in 1938. All the short stories in the cycle are connected by one theme - love. The author reveals the tragic and even catastrophic nature of love. Love is a gift. It is beyond the control of man. It would seem a banal story about a meeting of elderly people in their youth who passionately loved each other. The simple plot of the story is that a rich young handsome landowner seduces and then abandons his maid. But it is Bunin who manages to tell about simple things in an exciting and impressive way with the help of this simple artistic move. A short work is an instant flash of memory of bygone youth and love.

There are only three compositional parts of the story:

Parking at the inn of a gray-haired military man,

A sudden meeting with a former lover,

Reflections of a military man on the road a few minutes after the meeting.

Pictures of dull everyday life and everyday life appear at the beginning of the story. But in the owner of the inn, Nikolai Alekseevich recognizes the beautiful maid Nadezhda, whom he betrayed thirty years ago: “he quickly straightened up, opened his eyes and blushed.” A whole life has passed since then, and everyone has their own. And it turns out that both main characters are lonely. Nikolai Alekseevich has social weight and structure, but is unhappy: his wife “cheated on me, abandoned me even more insultingly than I abandoned you,” and his son grew up as a scoundrel “without a heart, without honor, without a conscience.” Nadezhda from a former serf turned into the owner of a “private room” at the Uma Palata postal station. And everyone, they say, is getting rich, cool...”, but she never got married.

And yet, if the hero is tired of life, then his former lover is still beautiful and light, full of vitality. He once gave up love and spent the rest of his life without it, and therefore without happiness. Nadezhda has loved him all her life, to whom she gave “her beauty, her fever,” whom she once called “Nikolenka.” Love still lives in her heart, but she does not forgive Nikolai Alekseevich. Although he does not stoop to accusations and tears.

Analysis of the story “Easy Breathing”

The theme of love occupies one of the leading places in the writer’s work. In mature prose, there are noticeable tendencies to comprehend the eternal categories of existence - death, love, happiness, nature. He often describes “moments of love” that have a fatal nature and a tragic overtones. He pays great attention to female characters, mysterious and incomprehensible.

The beginning of the novel “Easy Breathing” creates a feeling of sadness and sadness. The author prepares the reader in advance for the fact that the tragedy of human life will unfold in the following pages.

The main character of the novel Olga Meshcherskaya, a high school student, stands out very much among her classmates with her cheerful disposition and obvious love of life, she is not at all afraid of other people’s opinions, and openly challenges society.

During the last winter, many changes occurred in the girl’s life. At this time, Olga Meshcherskaya was in the full bloom of her beauty. There were rumors about her that she could not live without fans, but at the same time she treated them very cruelly. In her last winter, Olya completely surrendered to the joys of life, she attended balls and went to the skating rink every evening.

Olya always strived to look good, she wore expensive shoes, expensive combs, perhaps she would have dressed in the latest fashion if all the high school students did not wear uniforms. The headmistress of the gymnasium made a remark to Olga about her appearance, that such jewelry and shoes should be worn by an adult woman, and not by a simple student. To which Meshcherskaya openly stated that she has the right to dress like a woman, because she is one, and none other than the brother of the headmistress herself, Alexei Mikhailovich Malyutin, is to blame for this. Olga's answer can be fully regarded as a challenge to the society of that time. A young girl, without a shadow of modesty, puts on things that are inappropriate for her age, behaves like a mature woman and at the same time openly argues for her behavior with rather intimate things.

Olga's transformation into a woman took place in the summer at the dacha. When my parents were not at home, Alexey Mikhailovich Malyutin, a friend of their family, came to visit them at their dacha. Despite the fact that he did not find Olya’s father, Malyutin still stayed as a guest, explaining that he wanted it to dry out properly after the rain. In relation to Olya, Alexey Mikhailovich behaved like a gentleman, although the difference in their ages was huge, he was 56, she was 15. Malyutin confessed his love to Olya and said all kinds of compliments. During the tea party, Olga felt bad and lay down on the ottoman, Alexey Mikhailovich began to kiss her hands, talk about how he was in love, and then kissed her on the lips. Well, then what happened happened. We can say that on Olga’s part it was nothing more than an interest in the secret, a desire to become an adult.

After this there was a tragedy. Malyutin shot Olga at the station and explained this by saying that he was in a state of passion, because she showed him her diary, which described everything that happened, and then Olgino’s attitude to the situation. She wrote that she was disgusted with her boyfriend.

Malyutin acted so cruelly because his pride was hurt. He was no longer a young officer, and also single; he naturally was pleased to console himself with the fact that the young girl expressed her sympathy for him. But when he found out that she felt nothing but disgust for him, it was like a bolt from the blue. He himself usually pushed women away, but here they pushed him away. Society was on Malyutin’s side; he justified himself by saying that Olga allegedly seduced him, promised to become his wife, and then left him. Since Olya had a reputation as a heartbreaker, no one doubted his words.

The story ends with the fact that Olga Meshcherskaya’s classy lady, a dreamy lady living in her imaginary ideal world, comes to Olya’s grave every holiday and silently watches her for several hours. For lady Olya, the ideal of femininity and beauty.

Here “light breathing” means an easy attitude to life, sensuality and impulsiveness, which were inherent in Olya Meshcherskaya.