Story " Dark alleys” opens, perhaps, the most famous Bunin cycle of stories, which got its name from this first, “title” work. It is known what importance the writer attached initial sound, the first “note” of the narrative, the timbre of which was to determine the entire sound palette of the work. Lines from N. Ogarev's poem " ordinary story”:

It was a wonderful spring
They were sitting on the beach
She was in her prime,
His mustache was barely black.
Around the wild rose scarlet bloomed,
There was an alley of dark lindens...

Ho, as always with Bunin, “sound” is inseparable from “image”. He, as he wrote in the notes “The Origin of My Stories”, at the beginning of work on the story presented himself with “some big road, a troika harnessed to a tarantass, and autumn bad weather. It is necessary to add to this a literary impulse, which also played a role: Bunin named “Resurrection” by L.N. Tolstoy, the heroes of this novel are the young Nekhlyudov and Katyusha Maslova. All this came together in the writer's imagination, and a story was born about lost happiness, about the irretrievability of time, about lost illusions and about the power of the past over a person.

The meeting of heroes united once in their youth by hot love feeling, takes place many years later in the most ordinary, perhaps even nondescript setting: in a mudslide, in an inn lying on a large roadway. Bunin does not skimp on “prosaic” details: “a tarantass thrown with mud”, “simple horses”, “tails tied up from slush”. On the other hand, the portrait of the arrived man is given a detailed one, obviously calculated to arouse sympathy: “a slender old military man”, with black eyebrows, a white mustache, and a shaved chin. His appearance speaks of nobility, and a strict but tired look contrasts with the liveliness of his movements (the author notices how he “thrown” his leg out of the tarantass, “ran up” to the porch). Bunin clearly wants to emphasize the connection in the hero of vivacity and maturity, youthfulness and sedateness, which is very important for general design a story driven by the desire to bring past and present together, to strike a spark of memories that will illuminate bright light the past will incinerate, turn into ashes what exists today.

The writer deliberately drags out the exposition: out of the three and a half pages given to the story, almost a page is occupied by the “introduction”. In addition to describing the rainy 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 outerwear, it also contains detailed description rooms 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, new look in the corner ... The author focuses on this, since it is known that the owners of Russian inns and hotels did not differ in accuracy and constant sign of these places there were cockroaches and dim windows infested with flies. Therefore, he wants to draw our attention to the almost uniqueness of how this institution is maintained by its owners, or rather, as we will soon find out, by its owner.

Ho the hero remains indifferent to environment, although later he will note cleanliness and tidiness. It can be seen from his behavior and gestures that he is annoyed, tired (Bunin uses the epithet tired for the second time, now in relation to the whole appearance of the officer who arrived), perhaps not very healthy (“pale thin hand”), hostile to everything that happens (“ hostilely” called the owners), absent-minded (“inattentively” answers the questions of the hostess who appeared). And only the unexpected address of this woman 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 take a look at her figure, note rounded shoulders, light legs in worn Tatar shoes.

The author himself, as if in addition to the “unseeing” look of the hero, gives a much more sharply expressive, unexpected, juicy portrait of the woman who entered: not very young, but still beautiful, like a gypsy, plump, but not heavy woman. Bunin deliberately resorts to naturalistic, almost anti-aesthetic details: big breasts, triangular, like a goose, belly. But the defiant 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 belly is hidden by a black skirt. In general, the combination of black and red in clothes, fluff above the lip (a sign of passion), zoomorphic comparison are aimed at emphasizing the carnal, earthly beginnings in the heroine.

However, it is she who will manifest - as we will see a little later - the beginning of the spiritual, as opposed to that mundane existence, which, without realizing it, the hero drags out, without thinking or peering into his past. Therefore, she is the first! - recognizes him. No wonder she “all the time looked inquisitively at him, squinting slightly,” and he peers at her only after she turns to him by name and patronymic. She - and not he - will name the exact number when it comes to the years that they did not see each other: not thirty-five, but thirty. She will tell you how old he is now. It means that everything was scrupulously calculated by her, which means that every year left a notch in her memory! And this is at a time when it was he who should never forget what connected them, because in the past he had - no less - a dishonorable act, however, quite common at that time - fun with a serf girl when visiting friends' estates, a sudden departure...

In a mean dialogue between Nadezhda (that is the name of the hostess of the inn) and Nikolai Alekseevich, the details of this story are restored. And most importantly - the different attitude of the characters to the past. If for Nikolai Alekseevich everything that happened is “a vulgar, ordinary story” (however, he is ready to bring everything in his life under this measure, as if removing the burden of responsibility for his actions from a person), then for Nadezhda her love became and a great trial, 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 then it wasn’t,” she says.

For Nikolai Alekseevich, the love of a serf was only one of the episodes of his life (Nadezhda directly declares this to him: “It was as if nothing had happened for you”). She, on the other hand, several times “wanted to lay hands on herself”, never married, despite her extraordinary beauty, and never managed to forget her first love. Therefore, 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 pronounce them with unshakable confidence. However, Bunin almost never comments on her words, limiting herself to the monosyllabic “answered”, “came up”, “suspended”. Only once does he slip an indication of an “evil smile”, with which Nadezhda utters a phrase addressed to her seducer: “I was deigned to read all the poems about all sorts of“ dark alleys ””.

The writer is just as stingy with “ historical details". Only from the words of the heroine of the work: “The gentlemen gave me freedom soon after you,” and from the mention of the hero’s appearance, which had “a resemblance to Alexander II, which was so common among the military at the time of his reign,” we can get an idea that The story takes place in the 60s or 70s. XIX years V.

On the other hand, Bunin is unusually generous in commenting on the state of Nikolai Alekseevich, for whom a meeting with Nadezhda becomes a meeting with both his past and his conscience. The writer is here a "secret psychologist" in all its brilliance, making it clear through gestures, intonation of voice, the behavior of the hero, what is happening in his soul. If at first the only thing that interests the visitor at the inn is that “because of the stove damper, there was a sweet smell of cabbage soup” (Bunin even adds such a detail: the smell of “boiled cabbage, beef and bay leaf” was felt, from which we can conclude that the guest is clearly hungry), then when meeting with Nadezhda, when recognizing her, when talking with her, fatigue and absent-mindedness instantly fly off him, he begins to look fussy, worried, talking a lot and stupidly (“muttered”, “added a patter” , “said hastily”), which is in sharp contrast to the calm majesty of Nadezhda. Bunin three times indicates the reaction of Nikolai Alekseevich's embarrassment: “quickly straightened up, opened his eyes and blushed”, “stopped and, blushing through his gray hair, began to speak”, “blushed to tears”; emphasizes his dissatisfaction with himself by abrupt changes in position: “resolutely walked around the room”, “frowning, he walked again”, “stopping, painfully grinned”.

All this testifies to what a difficult, painful process takes place in him. But at first, nothing pops up in his memory except the divine beauty of a young girl (“How good you were! ... What a camp, what eyes! ... How everyone looked at you”) and the romantic atmosphere of their rapprochement, and he is inclined brush aside what he heard, hoping to turn the conversation, if not in jest, then into the mainstream of “whoever remembers the old, to that ...” However, after he heard that Nadezhda could never forgive him, because you can’t forgive someone who took away the most dear - the soul, who killed her, he seemed to see clearly. He is especially shocked, apparently, by the fact that, to explain her feeling, she resorts to the saying (obviously, especially beloved by Bunin, already once used by him in the story “The Village”) “they don’t carry the dead from the graveyard.” This means that she feels dead, that she never came to life after those happy spring days and what for her, who knew great power love - not without reason to his question-exclamation: “After all, you couldn’t love me all the time!” - she replies firmly: “So she could. No matter how much time passed, everything lived by one, ”- there is no return to life ordinary people. Her love was not just stronger than death, A stronger than that 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 a few remarks exchanged between Nikolai Alekseevich, who is leaving the short shelter, and the coachman Klim, who says that the landlady of the inn has a “mind chamber”, that she is “getting richer”, because “she gives money at interest”, that she is “cool”, but “fair”, which means that she enjoys both respect and honor. Ho, we understand how small and insignificant for her, who fell in love once and for all, all this mercantile flickering, how inconsistent it is with what is happening in her soul. For Nadezhda, her love is from God. No wonder she says: “What God gives to whom ... Youth passes for everyone, 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 is contrary to Christian doctrine. Ho, according to Bunin, a crime against love, against memory - is much more serious than the sin of "vindictiveness". And just the memory of love, of the past, in his opinion, justifies a lot.

And what gradually awakens in the mind of the hero true understanding what happened, speaks in his favor. After all, at first the words he said: “I think that I also lost in you the most precious thing that I had in my life,” and the deed - kissed Nadezhda’s hand goodbye - cause him nothing but shame, and even more - the shame of this shame, they are perceived as false, ostentatious. But then he begins to understand that what escaped by chance, in a hurry, perhaps even for a red word, is the most genuine “diagnosis” of the past. His internal dialogue, reflecting hesitation and doubt: “Is it not true that she gave me the best minutes of my life?” - ends with an unshakable: “Yes, of course, the best minutes. 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 even then it was impossible to fix anything , 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 in the event that his life is illuminated, albeit tragic, but with love. And the short moments of this love are able to “outweigh” all the material benefits of future well-being, all the pleasures of love interests that do not rise above the level of ordinary intrigues, in general, all subsequent life with its ups and downs.

Bunin draws the subtlest modulations of the states of the characters, relying on the sound “echo”, the consonance of phrases that are born, often in addition to meaning, in response to the spoken words. So, the words of the coachman Klim that if you don’t give Nadezhda the money on time, then “blame it on yourself”, they respond, like echolalia, when Nikolai Alekseevich says them aloud: “Yes, yes, blame yourself.” And then in his soul they will continue to sound like words “crucifying” him. “Yes, blame yourself,” he thinks, realizing what kind of fault lies with him. And the ingenious formula created by the author, put into the mouth of the heroine: “Everything passes, but not everything is forgotten,” was born in response to the phrase of Nikolai Alekseevich: “Everything passes. Everything is forgotten”, - earlier, as if confirmed in a quote from the book of Job - “as you will remember the water that has flowed”. And more than once during the story there will be words that refer us to the past, to memory: “Everything passes with age”; “youth is passing away for everyone”; “I called you Nikolenka, and you remember me how”; “remember how everyone looked at you”, “how can you forget this”, “well, what to remember”. These echoing phrases seem to weave a carpet on which Bunin's formula about the omnipotence of memory will be imprinted forever.

It is impossible not to catch 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 disposed well, not connecting him with Asya." He consoles himself with the thought that "probably he would not be happy with such a wife." It would seem that the situations are similar: both here and there the idea of ​​misalliance, i.e. the possibility of marrying a woman of a lower class is initially rejected. Ho what is the result of this, it would seem, from the point of view of the attitudes of the correct decision adopted in society? The hero of "Asia" turned out to be condemned forever to remain a "familyless bobyl", dragging out "boring" years of utter loneliness. He's all in the past.

Nikolai Alekseevich from “Dark Alleys” had a different life: he reached a position in society, was surrounded by a family, he had a wife and children. True, as he confesses to Nadezhda, he was never happy: the wife whom he loved "without memory" cheated and left him, the son who was assigned big hopes, 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 feelings, 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, different assessments of the past. Moreover, at the end of the story, when he tries to “learn a lesson” from unexpected meeting, to sum up what he has lived, 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. Therefore, we understand that his wife, apparently, returned to him, and besides the scoundrel son, there are other children. But why, then, is he so initially irritated, bilious, gloomy, why does he have a strict and at the same time tired look? Why is this look “questioning”? Perhaps this is a subconscious desire to still be aware of how he lives? And why does he shake his head in bewilderment, as if driving away doubts from himself ... Yes, all because the meeting with Nadezhda brightly illuminated him past life. And it became clear to him that there had never been anything in his life better than those “truly magical” moments when “the scarlet rose hips bloomed, an alley of dark lindens stood”, 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 brighter than that "burning, tender, deep feeling" that a childish and serious girl gave him ...

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

So, following Turgenev, Bunin draws greatness female soul, able to love and remember, in contrast to the male, weighed down by doubts, entangled in petty predilections, subject to social conventions. So already the first story of the cycle consolidates the leading motifs of Bunin's late work - memory, the omnipotence of the past, the significance of a single moment compared to the dull succession of everyday life.

Bunin worked in the 19th and 20th centuries. His attitude to love was special: in the beginning, people loved each other very much, but in the end, either one of the heroes dies or they part. For Bunin, love is a passionate feeling, but similar to a flash.

To analyze Bunin's work "Dark Alleys", you need to touch on the plot.

General Nikolai Alekseevich - the main character, he comes to hometown and meets the woman he loved many years ago. Nadezhda is the mistress of the yard, he does not recognize her immediately. But Nadezhda did not forget him and loved Nikolai, even tried to lay hands on herself. Main characters seems to feel guilty for leaving her. Therefore, he tries to apologize, saying that any feelings pass.

It turns out that Nikolai's life was not so easy, he loved his wife, but she cheated on him, and his son grew up a scoundrel and insolent. He is forced to blame himself for what he did in the past, because Nadezhda could not forgive him.

Bunin's work shows that after 35 years, the love between the characters has not faded away. When the general leaves the city, he realizes that Hope is the best thing in his life. He reflects on the life that could have been if the connection between them had not been interrupted.

Bunin put tragedy into his work, because the lovers did not get along.

Hope was able to keep love, but this did not help create an alliance - she was left alone. I didn’t forgive Nikolai either, because the pain was very strong. And Nikolai himself turned out to be weak, did not leave his wife, was afraid of contempt and could not resist society. They could only be submissive to fate.

Bunin shows sad story the fate of two people. Love in the world could not withstand the foundations of the old society, therefore it became fragile and hopeless. But there is also positive trait- love brought a lot of good things to the lives of the heroes, it left its mark, which they will always remember.

Almost all of Bunin's work touches on the problem of love, and "Dark Alleys" show how important love is in a person's life. For Blok, love comes first, because it helps a person to improve, change life for the better, gain experience, and also teaches to be kind and sensual.

Analysis of the story Dark Alleys

In one of Ogarev's poems, Bunin was "hooked" by the phrase "... there was an alley of dark lindens ..." Further, the imagination painted autumn, rain, a road, and an old campaigner in a tarantass. This formed the basis of the story.

The idea was this. The hero of the story in his youth seduced a peasant girl. He had already forgotten about her. But life tends to bring surprises. By chance, after many years, passing through familiar places, he stopped in a passing hut. And in beautiful woman, the mistress of the hut, recognized the same girl.

The old military man felt ashamed, he blushes, turns pale, mumbles something like a delinquent schoolboy. Life punished him for his deed. He married for love, but never knew the warmth of the family hearth. His wife didn't love him, she cheated on him. And, in the end, she left him. The son grew up a scoundrel and a loafer. Everything in life comes back like a boomerang.

What about Hope? She still loves the former master. She didn't have a personal life. No family, no beloved husband. But at the same time she could not forgive the master. These are the women who both love and hate at the same time.

The military is immersed in memories. Mentally re-lives their relationship. They warm the soul like the sun a minute before sunset. But he does not for a second admit the thought that things could have turned out differently. The then society would have condemned their relationship. He wasn't ready for this. He didn't need them, these relationships. Then it was possible to put an end to the military career.

He lives as dictated public rules and foundations. He is a coward by nature. You have to fight for love.

Bunin does not allow love to flow along the family channel, to take shape in a happy marriage. Why does he deprive his heroes of human happiness? Perhaps he thinks that fleeting passion is better? Better this eternal unfinished love? She did not bring happiness to Nadezhda, but she still loves. What does she hope for? Personally, I do not understand this, I do not share the views of the author.

The old campaigner finally begins to see clearly and realizes what he has lost. This is what he says with such bitterness to Nadezhda. He realized that she was the dearest to him, the most bright person. But he never understood what cards he had up his sleeve. Life gave him a second chance at happiness, but he did not take advantage of it.

What meaning does Bunin put into the title of the story "Dark Alleys"? What does he mean? Dark nooks and crannies human soul And human memory. Every person has their own secrets. And they sometimes pop up for him in the most unexpected way. There is nothing accidental in life. Chance is a pattern well planned by God, fate or the cosmos.

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The theme of love in literature found its most complete disclosure in A. Bunin's cycle of stories "Dark Alleys". The entire cycle consists of thirty-eight stories. All the stories in the collection are united by the theme of unhappy love. In his stories, he shows love frankly and boldly. Bunin's love is in a sense criminal, it transcends the norm, goes beyond the ordinary. In his work, love is a special synthesis of spirit and flesh.

Spirit is high and beautiful love that penetrates souls and binds them to each other. And the love of the flesh, in a different way, carnal pleasures. Such love gives only physical pleasure. As an example, let's analyze Bunin's story "Dark Alleys".

The story "Dark Alleys" was written by Bunin in exile, under the influence of the poem "An Ordinary Tale". The plot is based on the meeting of two elderly people after many years of separation. More precisely, the story refers to thirty years.

From the time they last meeting passed already whole life which they lived separately. In his youth, Nikolai Alexandrovich left Nadezhda, who later received her freedom and became the mistress of the inn.

The meeting of the main characters raises a whole storm of feelings, memories and experiences. After a conversation with Nadezhda, Nikolai Aleksandrovich understands that the past cannot be returned. He leaves soon. Leaving, he realizes that if he had not abandoned this maid, he could now have a happy family.

So the composition of the story can be divided into three compositional parts: the arrival of the hero at the inn, the meeting of former lovers, reflections on the way after the meeting.

The first part of the work is an episode showing the meeting of lovers, how they recognize each other. This episode shows portrait characteristic heroes. The social difference between the characters is also shown.

The second part of the work is the main part. Here we see a description of the feelings, emotions and experiences of the characters. Social restrictions are dropped. Now the characters appear before each other not as a hotel owner and a soldier, but as a man and woman in love. This part allows you to get to know the characters better. The author clearly shows us how the characters relate to this love. Nadezhda has never been married, she saved herself for her lover. And Nikolai married another woman and was devoted to her, just like he was betrayed by his son.

The third part of the work is the departure of Nicholas. For him, social norms are important, which he cannot neglect. But at the same time, he is tormented by thoughts that his life could be much better if he stayed with her.

All Bunin's stories are permeated with unhappy love that goes beyond the ordinary. Whether it is sincere love or only passion, but she is always unhappy. The heroes of the stories are forced to leave for one reason or another. This may be a difference in social strata, age, or simply a forced separation. One way or another, according to Bunin, love remains a drama, and sometimes a tragedy.

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Updated: 2017-10-29

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Yulia Yuryevna Chernokozova is a teacher of literature at the Novocherkassk Pedagogical College.

Analysis of the story by I.A. Bunin "Dark Alleys" at a literature lesson in the senior class

“All around the scarlet rose hips bloomed, there were alleys of dark lindens ...”

In accordance with the program, acquaintance of students with the work of I.A. Bunin is carried out gradually. In elementary school, they get an idea about his poetic work, read and analyze epic works - “ Clean Monday», « Sunstroke". In the eleventh grade, when studying a monographic topic on the writer's work, it is necessary to systematize the existing knowledge, help high school students in comprehending the peculiarities of the writer's worldview and skill. It is important to consider each small work chosen for study as part of an integral artistic world containing unique features of the author's individuality. Therefore, when starting to work on the story “Dark Alleys”, we set as our goal the creation of conditions not only for the students to fully interpret the text, but also for them to comprehend the artistic concept of the entire cycle. Given that for eleventh graders, of course, the appeal to the theme of love is personally significant, in the process of analyzing Bunin's work, we tried to arouse in them a desire to deeply comprehend the author's concept of love, to determine their attitude to it. The story of I. Bunin is harmonious, with a small volume and a folded plot, it is unusually meaningful, truly “the best words in best order". This allows the lesson to successfully solve another problem - to develop the skills of students through the consideration of the elements of the form (in this case, through the relationship between the plot and the plot) to come to empathy with the author.

As an epigraph to the dialogue with students, we choose the words of the writer himself: “We live by everything that we live, only to the extent that we comprehend the value of what we live. Usually this price is very small: it rises only in moments of delight - the delight of happiness or unhappiness, a vivid consciousness of gain or loss; more - in moments of poetic transformation of the past in memory.

In anticipation of working with the text, we recall with the students what works about love they know, we analyze the reader's impressions of the stories I. Bunin read (as homework, it was proposed to read not only "Dark Alleys", but also two or three other stories from this cycle) and note that by the beginning of the 20th century, it seems that everything that could be said about love had already been said. However, I. Bunin talks about this feeling in his own way. For the heroes of his works, love is a moment of happiness, which is tragic only because it is irrevocable. The price of this irretrievable moment is realized not at the moment of absorption by the feeling, but later. “Later” can come fifteen minutes after parting with a loved one (“Sunstroke”), and thirty years later (“Dark Alleys”). Bunin's feeling of love is devoid of vulgarity, even purely physical intimacy is exclusively spiritual. These are always “truly magical” minutes.

The story that interests us belongs to the late period of I.A. Bunin. At this time, according to the fair remark of the researcher of the writer L.A. Kolobaeva, in connection with the tendency to expand the epic beginning in the works of Bunin, such a genre structure of the story appears, which, as if exceeding its own nature, reaches out to the story and even to the novel, takes on its tasks - through the “instant” of life to look through the beginnings and ends , the history of the personality as a whole, its fate, the whole “chalice of life”. It is from this point of view that the story "Dark Alleys" is interesting. His analysis should show high school students how "a vulgar, ordinary story" is transformed into "a light breath of Bunin's story."

At the beginning analytical conversation in the text we find out what this small (only four pages) work of I. Bunin is about, which gave the name to the whole cycle. Usually there are answers: about love, about a meeting, about the life of two people. What is unusual about the love story of Nikolai Alekseevich and Nadezhda? How does the hero himself respond to her? We conclude that in itself the history of the relationship between two people is no different. Nikolai Alekseevich himself evaluates it as “vulgar and ordinary”. However, it was interesting to read, the feeling of banality did not arise. Why?

Let's try to retell the work, highlighting the main events. It is possible that some student will try to build his retelling in chronological order: love and separation - a thirty-year separation - a meeting at the post station. If the story matches the plot, high school students can be invited to determine the temporal correlation of events and compare them with how the author tells about them. At the same time, we depict this schematically on the board and in notebooks.

What are the similarities and differences between the schemes?

Which version of the story grabs our attention the most? Why?

Together with the students, we note that in both schemes the episodes that make up the story are highlighted. However, the first scheme is a list of episodes in their chronological sequence, and the second is the same set of episodes, but they are arranged differently, according to the laws of the story's artistic time: present - past - future. The reader is more attracted to the second option, since we are interested in the moment of recognition, which motivates attention to the conversation following it, the memory of former lovers. It makes us feel surprised, gives rise to a desire to learn about what happened in the past, encourages empathy.

We update the knowledge of eleventh graders about the plot and the plot, we propose to correlate these concepts with the diagrams depicted on the board, we help to come to the conclusion that reflections on the features of the plot construction in the work help to better understand the author’s intention, in this case, through one life situation to show the whole human life.

What events from the life of the characters did the author choose to tell us the story of the life of two people? Only meager facts: love that arose thirty years ago, a meeting at the station, the family life of Nikolai Alekseevich, about which he told Nadezhda in five sentences.

Were these only events in the life of forty-eight-year-old Nadezhda and sixty-year-old Nikolai Alekseevich? Of course not. But why did the writer choose them? Probably, they were the main ones in the fate of the heroes. Let's find confirmation of this in the text.

Nikolai Alekseevich:“I think that I have lost in you the most precious thing that I had in my life.” “Yes, of course, the best moments. And not the best, but magical!”

Hope:“Youth passes for everyone, but love is another matter.” “Everything passes, but not everything is forgotten.” “No matter how much time passed, everything lived by one.” There were many events in the life of Nadezhda: "It's a long story, sir." But lived she only love for Nikolai Alekseevich.

Why I. Bunin did not tell us the story in more detail family life Nikolai Alekseevich, because this could turn out to be a fascinating novel? (I loved my wife without memory. - I left it. - I adored my son. - A scoundrel grew up.) Because in such a small work, only the most important thing had to be revealed, explaining everything in the fate of people. This main thing turned out to be an old love. And although the content of the story is “a vulgar, ordinary story,” the reading evokes a special lyrical mood: “All around the scarlet rose hips bloomed, there were alleys of dark lindens ...” The atmosphere of the story is as light and harmonious as the tetrameter iambic of these poetic lines. The memory of Nikolai Alekseevich poetically transformed the moments of departed love, showed the real value of this feeling.

For the hero love - beautiful moment, but for Hope? We suggest finding words in the text confirming that Nadezhda has retained her feelings for many years. For her, love is her whole life.

In conclusion, we turn to the epigraph, to the words of I. Bunin, revealing “the main creative aspirations of the writer - his pathos, the principles of selection and artistic transformation of life material” . What is the epigraph about? How does it relate to the analyzed story? What moments in a person's life make it possible to comprehend the price of what he lives by? Discussion of questions helps to comprehend the story in a lyrical and philosophical way, when the main characters are three elements: love, time and memory. Love is a state when “the whole world was in the soul”, and the person is ideal. Time inexorably pulls away and makes you forget everything. Memory selects and poetically transforms moments of the past - love. The circle, having begun with love, closes with it. I. Bunin suggested in his story "Dark Alleys" just such a situation, when the memory of an aging hero allows him to realize the already forgotten love as the "best", the only "truly magical" minutes of life.

Immediately after the revolution of 1917, Bunin created a number of journalistic articles, where he opposed the Bolsheviks. In 1918, he moved from Moscow to Odessa, and in early 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 a break 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 - full of deep psychology and subtle lyrics, develops the genre of philosophical and psychological short stories ("Dark Alleys"). He combined his stories into the collections Mitina's Love (1925), Sunstroke (1927), Bird's Shadow (1931).

Bunin's prose continues the traditions of I.S. Turgenev, I.A. Goncharova and L.N. Tolstoy. The economical and efficient use of artistic means, visual imagery and psychological insight - these are the features of Bunin's style. Some of his stories, thanks to the perfection of form, belong to the best works of world short stories. K.G. Paustovsky wrote that everything is heard in Bunin's language: "... from ringing copper solemnity to the transparency of flowing spring water, from measured chasing to intonations of amazing softness, from light melody to slow peals of thunder."

Bunin expressed his understanding of the world and his place in it in a characteristic note dating back to that time: “And day after day goes by - and the secret pain of their steady loss does not leave them - steady and meaningless, because they go in inaction, everything is only in anticipation of action and what - something else ... And the 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 by 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 unhappiness, a vivid consciousness of gain or loss; more - in moments of poetic transformation of the past in memory. Such a “poetic transformation of the past in memory” is Bunin’s work of the emigrant period, in which the writer seeks salvation from the boundless feeling of loneliness.

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

In his memory, the image of Russia arose in its long past times, the recent past and the present.. Such a combination of plans at different times was salutary for him. It allowed Bunin, still not accepting Russian modernity, to find that native, bright, eternal that gave him hope: a birch forest in the Oryol region, songs sung by mowers ("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, how he remembered it and how dear he was to his blood.

In 1927, Bunin began to write the novel "The Life of Arseniev", which has become another artistic autobiography from the life of the Russian nobility, along with such classic works as “Family Chronicle” and “Childhood of Bagrov-grandson” by S. Aksakov, “Childhood”, “Boyhood”, “Youth” by L. Tolstoy. The events of childhood, adolescence, life in the village, studying at the gymnasium (80-90s of the XIX century) are seen in him with double vision: through the eyes of the schoolboy Alexei Arsenyev and through the eyes of Bunin, who created the novel in the 20s-30s. 20th century Speaking of Russia, "which perished before our eyes in such a magically short time," Bunin overcomes the thought of the end and death with the entire artistic structure of his novel. 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 greatest writers of the 20th century took place. And, of course, the fifth, last chapter of Arseniev's Life, which is called Lika, and in which Bunin recalls how back in 1889, when he was working in the Orlovsky Vestnik, he was "smitten by unfortunately, a 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 38 short stories that made it up are about love, most often unrequited and tragic. Bunin's understanding of love was reflected here: "All love is a great happiness, even if it is not divided." 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, “that he gave me the opportunity to write Clean Monday.”

Behind the simple plot of the story, the presence of some kind of hidden significance is felt. It turned out to be an allegorical, symbolically expressed idea about the historical path of Russia. Therefore, the heroine of the story is so mysterious, embodying not the idea of ​​\u200b\u200blove-passion, but longing for moral ideal, the combination of eastern and western principles is so significant in it as a reflection of this combination in the life of Russia. Her unexpected, at first glance, departure to the monastery symbolizes the "third way" that Bunin chose for Russia. He prefers the path of humility, curbing the elements, and sees this as an opportunity to go beyond the bounds 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 cycle of stories called "Dark Alleys" is dedicated to the eternal theme of any kind of art - love. They say about "Dark Alleys" 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 were included in Bunin's collection amaze with their diverse plots and extraordinary style, they are the main assistants of Bunin, who wants to portray love at the peak of feelings, tragic love, but from this - and perfect.

Feature of the cycle "Dark Alleys"

The phrase itself, which served as the name for the collection, was taken by the writer from the poem "An Ordinary Tale" by N. Ogaryov, which is dedicated to first love, which did not have the expected continuation.

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

A feature of the cycle of stories "Dark Alleys" can be called moments when the love of two heroes for some reason can no longer 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 given to come true.

This is the key concept of Bunin's idea of earthly love between two. He wants to show love at its peak, he wants to emphasize its real wealth and highest value, the fact that she 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 unusual female portraits, which are so rich in "Dark Alleys". Ivan Alekseevich writes out images of women with such grace and originality that the female portrait of each story becomes unforgettable and truly intriguing.

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

The stories "Rus", "Antigone", "Galya Ganskaya" are an exemplary example of various, but vivid images Russian woman. The girls whose stories are created by the talented Bunin are somewhat reminiscent of the love stories they experience.

We can say that the key attention of the writer is directed precisely to these two elements of the cycle of stories: women and love. And love stories are just as rich, unique, sometimes fatal and masterful, 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 causes the fatal course of all love stories.

Feature 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" is presented 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 relentlessly ongoing in order to please and make a person happy.

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

"Clean Monday" story

The story "Clean Monday" is a mysterious and not fully understood love story. Bunin describes a pair of young lovers who, it would seem, look perfect for each other, but the catch is that they inner worlds have nothing in common.

The image of a young man is simple and logical, while the image of his beloved is inaccessible 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 a young man, she silently leaves him, then asks him not to ask anything, and soon he learns that she has gone to the monastery.

She made the decision on Pure Monday, when there was an intimacy between lovers, and the symbol of this holiday is a symbol of her purity and torment, from 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 novels of the cycle are connected by one theme - love. The tragic and even catastrophic nature of love is revealed by the author. Love is a gift. She is beyond human control. It would seem a banal story about a meeting of elderly people who in their youth passionately loved each other. A simple plot of the story - a rich young handsome landowner seduces and then leaves the maid. But it is Bunin who manages to tell with the help of this uncomplicated artistic move about simple things in an exciting and impressive way. A short work - 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 an ex-lover,

Reflections of the military on the way a few minutes after the meeting.

Pictures of dull everyday life and everyday life appear at the beginning of the story. But in the hostess 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.” Since then, a whole life has passed, 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 "changed, left me even more insultingly than I did you," and his son grew up a scoundrel "without a heart, without honor, without a conscience." Nadezhda turned from a former serf into the owner of a “private room” at the post office “mind chamber. And everyone, they say, is getting richer, cool ... ”, but she never got married.

And yet, if the hero is tired of life, then she is still beautiful and light, full of vitality his former lover. He once refused love and spent the rest of his life without it, and therefore without happiness. Nadezhda, all her life, loves him alone, to whom she gave "her beauty, her fever", whom she once called "Nikolenka". As before, love lives in her heart, but she does not forgive Nikolai Alekseevich. Although it does not descend 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 trends in understanding the eternal categories of being - death, love, happiness, nature. Often he describes "moments of love", which have a fatal character, a tragic coloring. great attention he devotes to female characters, mysterious and incomprehensible.

The beginning of the novel "Light Breath" 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 on the following pages.

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

In the last winter, many changes took place 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 admirers, but at the same time she treated them very cruelly. In her last winter, Olya completely devoted herself to the joys of life, she went to balls and went to the skating rink every evening.

Olya always tried to look good, she wore expensive shoes, expensive combs, perhaps she would have dressed in the latest fashion if all the gymnasium girls 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 declared that she has the right to dress like a woman, because she is her, and none other than the director's brother 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 not for her age, behaves like a mature woman and at the same time openly argues her behavior with rather intimate things.

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

After that there was tragedy. Malyutin shot Olga at the train 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 even a bachelor, it was natural for him to amuse himself with the fact that a young girl expressed her sympathy for him. But when he found out that she felt nothing for him but disgust, it was like a bolt from the blue. He himself used to push women away, and then they pushed him away. The society was on the side of Malyutin, he justified himself by the fact that Olga herself 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 cool lady Olga Meshcherskaya, a dreamy lady living in her fictional ideal world, comes to Olya's grave every holiday and watches her silently for several hours. For the lady Olya is the ideal of femininity and beauty.

Here, “easy breathing” is an easy attitude to life, sensuality and impulsiveness that were inherent in Olya Meshcherskaya.