Historical and geographical background of Bunin's story cold autumn. Analysis of the story "Cold Autumn" by I.A.

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Analysis of the story by I. A. Bunin "Cold Autumn".

Before us is the story of I. A. Bunin, which, among his other works, has become classical Russian literature.

The writer turns to ordinary, at first glance, types of human characters, so that through them, their experiences reveal the tragedy of an entire era. The comprehensiveness and accuracy of each word, phrase (characteristic features of Bunin's stories) manifested itself especially clearly in the story "Cold Autumn". The name is ambiguous: on the one hand, the time of the year when the events of the story unfolded is quite specifically called, but in a figurative sense, “cold autumn”, like “Clean Monday”, is a period of time, the most important in the life of heroes, this is also a state of mind.

The story is told from the perspective of the main character.

The historical framework of the story is wide: they cover the events of the First World War, and the revolution that followed it, and the post-revolutionary years. All this fell to the lot of the heroine - a blooming girl at the beginning of the story and an old woman close to death at the end. Before us are her memoirs, similar to a generalizing life outcome. From the very beginning, events of world significance are closely connected with the personal fate of the characters: “war breaks into the sphere of“ peace ”. “... at dinner, he was announced as my fiancé. But on July 19 Germany declared war on Russia…”. The heroes, anticipating trouble, but not realizing its true scale, still live in a peaceful regime - calm both internally and externally. “Father left the office and cheerfully announced: “Well, my friends, war! Austrian crown prince killed in Sarajevo! This is war! - so the war entered the life of Russian families in the hot summer of 1914. But here comes the "cold autumn" - and before us it seems that the same, but in fact already different people. Bunin talks about their inner world with the help of dialogues that play a particularly important role in the first part of the work. Behind all the on-duty phrases, remarks about the weather, about “autumn”, there is a second meaning, subtext, unspoken pain. They say one thing - they think about another, they say only for the sake of maintaining a conversation. Quite Chekhov's technique - the so-called "undercurrent". And the fact that the distraction of the father, the diligence of the mother (like a drowning man clutching at a straw for a “silk bag”), the indifference of the heroine are feigned, the reader understands even without a direct explanation of the author: “only occasionally they exchanged insignificant words, exaggeratedly calm, hiding their secret thoughts and the senses". Over tea, anxiety grows in the souls of people, already a clear and inevitable premonition of a thunderstorm; the same “fire rises” - the ghost of war looms ahead. In the face of adversity, secrecy increases tenfold: “My heart was getting harder, I responded indifferently.” The harder it is inside, the more indifferent the heroes become outwardly, avoiding explanations, as if it is easier for them all, until the fatal words are spoken, then the danger is more vague, the hope is brighter. It is no coincidence that the hero turns to the past, the nostalgic notes of “The Times of Our Grandparents” sound. The heroes yearn for a peaceful time, when they can put on a “shawl and a hood” and, embracing, take a calm walk after tea. Now this life is collapsing, and the heroes are desperately trying to keep at least an impression, a memory of him, quoting Fet. They notice how the windows “shine” in an autumnal way, how “mineral” the stars shine (these expressions acquire a metaphorical coloring). And we see what a huge role the spoken word plays. Until the groom performed the fatal "If they kill me." The heroine did not fully understand the full horror of what was to come. “And the stone word fell” (A. Akhmatova). But, frightened, even by a thought, she drives her away - after all, her beloved is still there. Bunin, with the precision of a psychologist, exposes the souls of the characters with the help of replicas.

As always with Bunin, nature plays an important role. Starting with the name "Cold Autumn" dominates the narrative, the refrain sounds in the words of the characters. The “joyful, sunny, sparkling frost” morning contrasts with the internal state of people. Mercilessly "bright and sharp" sparkle "ice stars". How the stars "shine eyes." Nature helps to feel more deeply the drama of human hearts. From the very beginning, the reader already knows that the hero will die, because everything around points to this - and above all the cold - a harbinger of death. "Are you cold?" - asks the hero, and then, without any transition: "If they kill me, will you ... not immediately forget me?" He is still alive, and the bride is already blowing cold. Premonitions - from there, from another world. “I will be alive, I will always remember this evening,” he says, and the heroine, as if she already knows what she will have to remember, is why she remembers the smallest details: “Swiss cape”, “black branches”, head tilt ...

The fact that the main character traits of the hero are generosity, disinterestedness and courage is indicated by his remark, similar to a poetic line, sounding heartfelt and touching, but without any pathos: “Live, rejoice in the world.”

And the heroine? Without any emotions, sentimental lamentations and sobs, she tells her story. But not callousness, but fortitude, courage and nobility are hidden behind this secrecy. We see the subtlety of feelings from the scene of separation - something that makes her related to Natasha Rostova, when she was waiting for Prince Andrei. Narrative sentences predominate in her story, scrupulously, to the smallest detail, she describes the main evening of her life. Doesn't say, "I cried," but notes that the friend said, "How the eyes are shining." He talks about misfortunes without pity for himself. Describes the "sleek hands", "silver nails", "golden laces" of his pupil with bitter irony, but without any malice. In her character, the pride of an emigrant coexists with resignation to fate - are these not traits of the author himself? A lot of things coincide in their lives: the revolution fell to his lot, which he could not accept, and Nice, which could never replace Russia. The French girl shows the features of the younger generation, a generation without a homeland. Having chosen several characters, Bunin reflected the great tragedy of Russia. Thousands of elegant ladies who have turned into "women in bast shoes." And "people of a rare, beautiful soul" who put on "worn Cossack zipuns" and lowered "black beards." So gradually, following the “ring, cross, fur collar” people lost their country, and the country lost its color and pride. The ring composition of the story closes the circle of the heroine's life: it's time for her to "go", to return. The story begins with a description of the “autumn evening”, ends with a recollection of it, and the sad phrase sounds like a refrain: “You live, rejoice in the world, then come to me.” We suddenly find out that the heroine lived only one evening in her life - that very cold autumn evening. And it becomes clear why, in fact, in such a dry, hurried, indifferent tone, she told about everything that happened after - after all, it was all just an “unnecessary dream”. The soul died along with that evening, and the woman looks at the remaining years as if they were someone else’s life, “as with the soul they look from a height at the body they abandoned” (F. Tyutchev). According to Bunin, true love - love - a flash, love - a moment - triumphs in this story. Bunin's love constantly breaks off at the most seemingly bright and joyful note. Circumstances interfere with her - sometimes tragic, as in the story "Cold Autumn". I recall the story "Rusya", where the hero really lived for only one summer. And circumstances intervene not by chance - they "stop the moment" until love is vulgarized, died, so that the memory of the heroine retains "not a plate, not a crucifix", but the same "shining gaze", full of "love and youth", so that life-affirming beginning, "hot faith" was preserved.

Fet's poem runs through the whole story - the same technique as in the story "Dark Alleys".

The man lived a long life. It had many hardships and losses. But before his death, he remembers only one day. Decades separate it from this day, but it seems to be the only one that matters. Everything else is an unnecessary dream. The tragic fate of a Russian emigrant is told in Bunin's "Cold Autumn". Analysis of a small work only at first sight may seem like a simple task. The writer, using the example of one story, told the tragic fate of the Russian nobles, who were forced to leave their homeland after the revolution.

Analysis of Bunin's story "Cold Autumn" according to plan

How to start this task? An analysis of Bunin's story "Cold Autumn" can be started with a short biographical note. It is permissible to state a few words about the author at the end, as is done in this article. The main thing that should certainly be present in the artistic analysis of Bunin's "Cold Autumn" is the mention of important historical events that took place in Russia in 1914-1918.

Analysis plan "Cold Autumn" Bunin:

1. War.
2. Farewell evening.
3. Parting.
4. Smolensk market.
5. Kuban.
6. Emigration.

War…

The story is told in the first person - from the perspective of a woman who remembers her youth. True, the reader will learn later that the main character is in nostalgic thoughts. Events take place in the family estate. In Russia, it becomes known about the assassination of Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Two months later, the engagement of a girl and a young man whom she has long loved and will love until the last days of her life will be celebrated in the house. And on that day it will become known: Germany has declared war on Russia. The war has begun.

At the end of June 1914, the Austrian Archduke was assassinated in Sarajevo. This event became a formal pretext for war. In those days, many in Russia were convinced that Germany would not attack Russia. Nevertheless, it happened. But even when the war began, people believed that it would not last long. No one suspected how large-scale and long this armed conflict would be.

When analyzing Bunin's Cold Autumn, it is very important to pay attention to the historical background. The events that followed after the assassination of the Archduke changed the whole world. On the eve of the war in Russia, the nobles made up 1.5% of the total population. This is about two million people. Some, who made up the majority, emigrated. Others remained in Soviet Russia. It was not easy for both.

farewell party

Why is it necessary to make an excursion into history when analyzing Bunin's "Cold Autumn"? The fact is that the style of the writer is rather concise. He says very little about his characters. You need to have at least a superficial knowledge of what happened at the beginning of the last century in Russia and in the world as a whole. Who is the main character? Probably the daughter of a hereditary nobleman. Who is her lover? White officer. In 1914 he went to the front. It happened in September. In 1914 it was an early and cold autumn.

Bunin, when analyzing the work, it is worth mentioning this, he does not name the names of his heroes. The writer has always been true to his principle: not a single superfluous word. It doesn't matter what the name of the heroine's lover is. It is important that that farewell evening was remembered by her forever.

Parting

How was that day? Mother sewed up a small silk pouch. The next day, she had to hang it around the neck of her failed son-in-law. In that bag of gold scapular, which inherited from her father. It was a quiet, autumn evening, filled with boundless, disappointing sadness.

On the eve of parting, they went out into the garden for a walk. Suddenly he remembered Fet's poems, which begin with the words "What a cold autumn ...". The analysis of Bunin's work should begin with reading the story itself. It has a lot seemingly minor details which reveal the depth of the experiences of the main character. He quoted Fet's poems and, perhaps, thanks to these lines, she remembered all her life that the autumn of 1914 was very cold. In fact, she did not see anything around. I was just thinking about the upcoming breakup.

In the morning she saw him off. The girl and her parents, who loved the young man like their own son, looked after him for a long time. They were in a state of stupefaction, typical of people who see someone off for a long separation. He was killed a month later in Galicia.

The Galician battle began on August 18 and lasted more than a month. The Russian army won. Since then, Austria-Hungary has not risked any major operations without the help of German troops. It was an important stage in the First World War. There is no exact information about how many Russian officers and soldiers died in this battle.

Smolensk market

Four years have passed. There is no father or mother of the main character. She lived in Moscow, not far from the Smolensk market. Like many, she was engaged in trade: she sold what she had left from the old days. On one of these gray days, the girl met a man of amazing kindness. It was a middle-aged retired officer who soon married her.

After the October Revolution, civil ranks and estates no longer existed. The nobles also lost their landed property, which was for many the main source of livelihood. It was also difficult to find new sources due to class discrimination.

When analyzing Bunin's text "Cold Autumn" it is worth quoting a few quotes. In her short Moscow period, the heroine lived in the basement of a merchant, who addressed her only as “your excellency.” These words were, of course, not respect, but mockery. Representatives of the nobility, who a few years ago lived in huge luxurious estates, suddenly found themselves on the very bottom of social life. Justice has triumphed - something like that thought those who had cringed before them yesterday.

in the Kuban

Life in Russia became more unbearable every day. Former nobles were heading further and further from Moscow. The main character and her husband lived in the Kuban for more than two years. Together with them was his nephew - a very young man who dreamed of becoming a volunteer. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, they, along with other refugees, headed for Novorossiysk. From there to Turkey.

Emigration

The heroine tells about what happened after the death of her lover as a strange, incomprehensible dream. She got married, then went to Turkey. The husband died of typhus on the way. She didn't have any relatives left. Only the husband's nephew and his wife. But they soon went to Wrangel, in the Crimea, leaving her a seven-month-old daughter.

She traveled with the child for a long time. She was in Serbia, and in Bulgaria, and in the Czech Republic, and in France. Settled in Nice. The girl grew up, lives in Paris, has no childish feelings for the woman who raised her.

In 1926, about a thousand Russian refugees lived in Europe. A fifth of them remained in France. Longing for the homeland, which no longer exists - this is the basis of the spiritual torment of the Russian emigrant.

You live, rejoice ...

30 years have passed. The woman understood: that distant and close autumn evening was real in her life. The following years passed like a dream. Then, the day before his departure, he suddenly spoke of death. "If they kill me, you live longer, and I'll wait for you there" - these were his last words, which she remembered for the rest of her life.

Bunin's story about the unbearable pain of a man separated from his homeland. This is a work about loneliness, the terrible losses that the war brought.

Many works of Ivan Bunin are permeated with nostalgia. The writer left Russia in 1920. Abroad, he was engaged in literary creativity, in 1933 he received the Nobel Prize. He remained stateless until the last days of his life. The story "Cold Autumn" was published in 1944. The writer died 11 years later. Buried in the cemetery Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.

The stories of Ivan Bunin have always been distinguished by their penetrating and peculiar subtlety of narration. This work is a story of a woman who describes her life. In particular, she describes one evening in her youth when she felt almost happy and lived every moment vividly.

The plot of the story is simple - the main character tells about the beginning of the First World War and about a significant evening that will forever remain in her memory. Then she talks about what happened next, about deprivation, about death, about migration. But, summing up a certain result of her life, she always returns to the cold autumn of the 14th year. Then her whole family was alive, and feelings with the now deceased groom only flared up. The composition of the story is based on the fact that the story returns to the past.

In the story, all the characters are not spelled out in great detail. It is known that a girl in love with a future soldier has a father and mother, many relatives. Also later, after the death of the latter, a grumpy Moscow merchant appears, a new husband, a girl who forgets the kindness of a woman. All these chaotic events, faces were and have passed. But it seems that only that cold autumn evening, the beloved groom and parents remain in the heart of the heroine.

The attitude of the writer to this woman is paternally warm. He understands her thoughts, her pain. He knows that the war and revolution broke the personal happiness of many, and writes this very story about one of the victims.
Bunin uses figurative and expressive means. Among them are epithets - “early”, “cold” - reflecting autumn, personification - “the windows of the house shine”, metaphors - “boughs showered with stars”. All means create a special, soft atmosphere in the work. The love of a girl and her fiancé, the silence of a beautiful evening, the twinkling of stars, eternity...

This is a story - a memory. Remembrance through the dream of a lifetime, as the heroine herself put it in the text. Dear heart nostalgia lives in her memory and heart forever. Ivan Bunin has such a subtle understanding of the mental organization of people. In particular, this work of his is profound from a psychological point of view. Small in size, the story absorbs the tragedy of one tender soul. Her simple happiness was stolen by the confrontation of powers and the arms race. But how many of those who just want to live in peace and appreciate every moment of life, as the heroine appreciated that cool autumn evening.

Analysis of the work Cold Autumn Bunin

A work called "Cold Autumn" was written by Bunin in 1944 in May. It is also included in the author's cycle "Dark Alleys". The plot of the work is quite voluminous and significant.

Genre of the work: story. Although this is just a story, it contains so much information, as well as emotions, that it could be considered a whole novel. In the story itself, the events seem to stretch for as much as thirty years. If we briefly describe the events that take place in the plot itself, it becomes clear that the two main characters fall in love, after which, naturally, they want to get married and live together, raise children and create a strong family. But one event interferes, which spoils the beautiful picture of a close-knit family and the love of heroes. After all, the fact is that war was declared. Which means the main character, the guy, will have to go to war. And before that, when no one suspects anything yet, an important event takes place for the young - an engagement that coincides with her father's name day. At the very moment when the engagement is announced, war is declared. This means that a joyful event will have to be postponed.

Bunin shows how bitter the girl is, and the guy too. But both hold on, not showing their disappointment and fear of the upcoming events. In addition, the author in the story itself does not name his heroes in any way. And this is quite usual for this author, because he considers it important not the very name of the main or secondary heroes, but the very essence and thought invested in this work. Also, there are no portrait characteristics at all, which also characterizes Bunin as a writer. He simply describes the events, and the reader himself sees from the actions of the characters what they are like as a person. It is always interesting, because reading between the lines develops a person, giving him the opportunity to learn to understand people.

Bunin was able to describe his heroes as very realistic people, he did not add any too colorful details to their descriptions or to the plot itself. Everything looks very natural and realistic, which is perceived well. But in his work there are many beautiful, almost insignificant in appearance, details, which, nevertheless, make the story very interesting and colorful in emotions. For example: “eyes shining with tears”, “glasses”, “cigarettes” and others. It is to these details, as it sometimes seems, that even too much attention is given than to the heroes themselves in their description, which is very sparing.

If you still try to describe the main characters, you can still find, after reading only the whole story, that the guy is smart, delicate and very brave. His girlfriend is also smart and beautiful. In addition, both are very proud, and do not show their feelings too much, especially in public.

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Not recognizing the division of literature into prose and lyrics, he created a collection of stories “Dark Alleys”, amazing in beauty and tragedy of the worldview. Penetrating and poetic, it would seem, is a simple, dry language, life story of the heroine of the story "Cold Autumn". As in the entire collection, here are tightly intertwined with each other two themes: love and death.

Love is perceived by Bunin as the highest gift of human destiny. But the purer, more perfect, more beautiful the feeling, the shorter it is. True love always ends in tragedy; for moments of happiness, the heroes pay with longing and pain. A high love experience is associated with the idea of ​​infinity and a mystery that a person can only touch.

The story has no traditional plot construction - there is no intrigue in it. The plot is easy to retell, but the true meaning of the text is barely perceptible. Bunin has no causal relationships, everything is based only on sensations, and therefore life is perceived in a pure, undistorted form.

With tenderness, the heroine recalls her youthful love, a feeling of aching sadness, longing for unfulfilled, failed happiness is hidden behind her every word. But the death of a beloved is spoken of as something ordinary, the most terrible event in life is presented in an instant in a series of events.

Bunin is the subtlest psychologist. There is no vivid expression in the text, no open emotions, but behind the outward calm lies a carefully suppressed desire to once again enjoy that breath of happiness that the cold autumn once gave. Callousness speaks to a woman about a series of ridicule of fate. What was her life? All of it is concentrated only in that cold autumn evening when happiness was so possible. And then only a string of events and faces. The heroine speaks about something that does not excite, unimportant, about hunger that does not know mercy, about the death of her husband, the flight of relatives, the distance of the named daughter. The driest mention is the words about the death of a loved one. The stronger the pain, the more emotions it absorbs, burning out the soul. The unique, lively intonation is associated only with the description of that moment, the "lightning of happiness", which the heroine was lucky to know.

Hidden in the text of the story oxymoron. The coldest evening becomes the hottest, exciting, tender time. And autumn is a symbol, a time when winter is near, death, oblivion during life. Only the hope of meeting there, somewhere outside of being and space, everything that supported the existence of the heroine.

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Sections: Literature

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin is an outstanding Russian writer who has gained special worldwide fame. Bunin's poetry and prose come from a common verbal-psychological source, his richest language, full of unique plasticity, is united beyond the division into literary types and genres. In it, according to K. Paustovsky, there was everything "from ringing copper solemnity to the transparency of flowing spring water, from measured chasing to intonations of amazing softness, from a light melody to slow peals of thunder."

What attracts the creativity of I.A. Bunin today's schoolchildren?

Bunin's work is characterized by an appeal to the inner world of heroes: penetration into the secret impulses of the soul, the riddles of actions, the connection between "mind" and "heart". The environment, surrounding material things lose their meaning. The angle of the author's work of art is narrowed down to the psychology and emotionality of the hero.

What a cold autumn
Put on your shawl and hood...
Look between the blackening pines
As if a fire is rising.

These lines of Fet, uttered by the hero of the story "Cold Autumn", most clearly reflect the time when I. Bunin wrote the cycle "Dark Alleys" in exile. Time of change, time of struggle, time of contradictions. It is noteworthy that in the story "Cold Autumn" contradictions appear constantly. If we trace the creative activity of Bunin, we will see that its “distinctive feature is the opposition of the poetic traditions of the Russian muse of the “Golden Age” to the innovative searches of the Symbolists.” According to Y. Aikhenvald's definition, Bunin's work "... stood out against their background as a good old one."

But for Bunin himself, this was not just an opposition of views, principles, worldviews - it was a stubborn and consistent struggle against symbolism. And this struggle was so heroic that Bunin was alone and was not afraid of the deep wounds that she inflicted on him. “He contrasted the extremes of the Symbolists with too much balance of feeling: their whimsicalness was too complete a sequence of thought, their desire for unusualness was too deliberately emphasized simplicity, their paradoxes were the obvious irrefutability of statements. The more the subject of Symbolist poetry wants to be exceptional, the more the subject of Bunin's poetry tries to be normal. An interesting fact is that while in Italy or Capri, Bunin wrote stories about the Russian village, and while in Russia - about India, Ceylon. Even in this example, one can see the conflicting feelings of the artist. When looking at Russia, Bunin always needed a distance - chronological, and even geographical.

Bunin's position in relation to Russian life looked unusual: to many of his contemporaries, Bunin seemed "cold", albeit a brilliant master. "Cold" Bunin. "Cold fall". Consonance of definitions. Is it random? It seems that there is a struggle behind both - the struggle of the new with the old, truth with untruth, justice with injustice - and inevitable loneliness.

"Cold" Bunin. He sought to wrest from his work everything that could be in it in common with symbolism. Bunin was especially stubborn against the symbolists in the field of depicting reality. “The symbolist is the creator of his landscape, which is always located around him. Bunin, on the other hand, steps aside, making every effort to reproduce the reality he idolizes most objectively. But the symbolist, depicting not the world, but essentially himself, in each work achieves the goal immediately and completely. Bunin, on the other hand, complicates the achievement of his goal, he depicts the landscape as accurate, truthful, alive, which leads to the fact that most often there is no place left for the personality of the artist. But this is precisely what he opposed himself to the symbolists.

"Cold fall". Bunin in this story, by awakening the system of associative connections in the mind of the reader, seeks to say about what is left in the past - simplicity, goodness, purity of thoughts and about the inevitability of the coming tragedy.

In it, the fate of the Russian intelligentsia is shown through the fate of a woman, and her fate is revealed not so much through a detailed biography, but through a story about love, in which several days of the past are perceived more fully than the 30 years that have flown by after him. The dissonance between good and evil, peace and war, harmony and chaos can be traced throughout the short story. And in the end - loneliness, disappointment in life, although it is brightened up by a dream and faith in happiness "out there". The story is a tragedy of love in troubled times, a tragedy of reason in the mad flame of revolutionary upheavals.

Contrasting Bunin's worldview and creativity with others, contraposing the old world and the new, good and evil in the story. This is what unites the consonance of definitions - “cold” Bunin and “Cold autumn”. Bunin's antithesis is very attractive, so I would like to consider the story "Cold Autumn" from this point of view.

The aim of the work is to determine the ideological and artistic role of antithesis reception in the story "Cold Autumn" at the level of:

• plot
• compositions
• chronotope
• space
• image systems
• artistic and visual means.

The story "Cold Autumn" begins with an event that sets the stage for historical authenticity - the First World War. Events are given in fragments: "In June he was a guest", "On Peter's day he was declared a groom." The whole work is built on contrast. So in the exposition we read: “In September I came to say goodbye" and "Our wedding has been postponed until spring." Cold autumn can be interpreted as the end of ordinary peaceful life along with the dying of nature. But the wedding of the heroes has been postponed until spring. After all, spring appears not only as a time of rebirth of nature, but also as the beginning of a new peaceful life.

Further development of the action takes place in the house of the heroine, where "he" came to say goodbye. Bunin capaciously conveys the atmosphere "farewell party" reapplying one antithesis after another. On the one hand, a window behind which surprisingly early cold autumn. This laconic phrase has a multi-layered meaning: it is both the cold of autumn and the cold of the soul - as if we are hearing a father's prophecy to his child: surprisingly, terribly early you will lose Him, you will know the cold of loneliness. On the other hand, "Steam-fogged window" With this phrase, Bunin emphasizes the warmth of the house, comfort, tranquility - “sat quietly”, “exchanged insignificant words, exaggeratedly calm, hiding their secret thoughts and feelings”, “with feigned simplicity”. And again, the antithesis is in the manifestation of external calm and internal anxiety. Bunin masterfully contrasts this state of all the people in the room with the feeling that "touching and creepy." In the same part of the story “in the black sky, pure ice stars sparkled brightly and sharply” and “a hot lamp hanging over the table”. Another vivid illustration of the antithesis: "cold" and "heat", external "ice stars" and internal "hot lamp" - someone else's and one's own.

The next steps take place in the garden. "Get out into the garden" Bunin uses this particular verb so that the reader immediately has a single association: they descended into hell (take away “s” from the word garden). From the world of warmth, family - into autumn, war. “At first it was so dark. Then black boughs began to appear in the brightening sky, showered with sparkling mineral stars.. And from hell “quite especially, the windows of the house shine in autumn.” House-paradise, which will soon burst into autumn, war, hell. There is also a strange dialogue between "her" and "him". The author escalates the state of impending trouble. Deeply symbolic are the words quoted by "him": "look between the blackening pines as if a fire rises ..." Her misunderstanding of the symbol: "What fire? “Moonrise, of course.” The moon symbolizes death, cold. And "fire", fire as a symbol of suffering, pain, destruction of one's own, dear, warm. The atmosphere of non-comfort, non-vitality is discharged by a logical emotional outburst: “Nothing, dear friend. Still sad. Sad and good. I very-very love you". This phrase, warm and light, stands out in contrast to the gloomy and cold background of the story. This makes the dissonance between good and evil, peace and war even stronger.

The climax of the story is the send-off scene, which is built on contrast. Heroes become in opposition to nature. “They crossed themselves with impetuous despair and, after standing, entered the empty house” and felt “only the amazing incompatibility between us and those around us on a joyful, sunny morning sparkling with frost on the grass.” Climax phrase: “Killed him - what a terrible word! - A month later in Galicia "- Bunin capaciously recreated the feeling of an erased emotional perception over the years. That descent has already happened: "I lived in Moscow in the basement." This is from home where “after dinner, as usual, a samovar was served!”, “became a woman in bast shoes.” It's from "Swiss Cape!" Aptly and meaningfully, the author here uses details that characterize better than lengthy descriptions: she sold “some ring, then a cross, then a fur collar ...” That is, she sold the past, renouncing it: "The times of our grandparents", "Oh, my God, my God." The beauty and slowness of life before the death of the hero are contrasted with the frantic pace of life, the abundance of misfortunes and failures after. Paradise-house turned into a hell-foreign land. The descent has ended. There is no life here - it's just an unnecessary dream.

There is another climactic wave in the work - “I always ask myself: yes, but what happened in my life after all? And I answer myself: only that cold evening. Bunin gives the heroine the last chance to realize that that evening was the triumph of the spirit, the meaning of life, life itself.

This contradiction is the basis of the tragic plot. Now the heroine has only faith in the expectation of a meeting, faith in happiness “there.” Thus, the storyline can be built like this:

The composition is in the form of a ring: "You live, rejoice in the world ..."- life - "... I lived and rejoiced ...". Compositional construction is explained by Bunin as follows: “What did happen in my life? Only that cold autumn evening ... the rest is an unnecessary dream. The work begins with a description of the autumn evening, ends with a recollection of it. In the episode of the conversation in the park, the heroine says: "I won't survive your death." And his words: "You live, rejoice in the world, then come to me." And she admits that she did not survive him, she simply forgot herself in a terrible nightmare. And it becomes clear why, in such a dry, hurried, indifferent tone, she told about everything that happened after. The soul died with that evening. The ring composition is used to show the closed circle of the heroine's life: It's time for her to "go", to return to "him". Compositionally, the work can be divided into parts that contrast with each other.

Part 1. From the beginning of the story to the words: “... do you want to walk a little?”- an almost absurd picture of tragic calmness, regularity in life, in the estate against the backdrop of a distant, seemingly unreal war.

Part 2 . From the words: “In my soul ...” to the words: “... or sing at the top of my voice?”- He and she, farewell. Against the backdrop of a joyful, sunny morning, there is emptiness and impotence in the soul of the heroine.

Part 3 From the words: "They killed him ..." to the words: "what did she become for me"-acceleration of action: on one page - the rest of life. The depiction of the wanderings and hardships of the heroine, which begins with a climactic phrase about "his" death. The heroine impartially describes her future life, stating the facts.

Part 4 until the end of the story- before us is the heroine-narrator in the present.

So, the story is built on antithesis. This principle is proclaimed by the exclamation: "Well, my friends, war!" The words "friends" and "war" are the main links in the chain of contradictions: farewell to your beloved - and a conversation about the weather, the sun - and separation. The contradictions of the absurd.

But there are also contradictions associated with human psychology, accurately conveying mental confusion: "... cry for me or sing at the top of my voice." And then the beauty and unhurriedness of life before “his” death is contrasted with the frantic pace and abundance of failures and misfortunes after.

The chronotope of the work is very detailed. In the first sentence, the season is right away: "in June". Summer, the flowering of the soul, feelings. There is no exact date of “that year”: the numbers are not important - this is the past, gone. Past, own, native, blood, organic. The official date is a foreign concept, therefore the foreign date is indicated exactly: "the fifteenth of July they killed", "on the nineteenth of July, Germany declared war on Russia," to emphasize rejection even in time. A vivid illustration of Bunin's antithesis of "friend or foe".

The boundaries of the time of the whole story are open. Bunin states only the facts. Mentioning specific dates: “July 15 they killed”, “on the morning of the 16th”, “but on June 19th”. Seasons and months: "in June of that year", "in September", "postponed until spring", "in the winter in a hurricane", "killed him a month later". Enumeration of the number of years: “Thirty whole years have passed since then”, “we spent two years in the Don and Kuban”, “in 1912”. And the words by which you can determine the passage of time: “she lived for a long time”, “the girl grew up”, “that cold autumn evening”, “the rest is an unnecessary dream”. Of course, there is a feeling of vanity, mobility of time. In the episode of the farewell evening, Bunin uses only words by which you can determine the time, feel it: “after dinner”, “that evening”, “time to sleep”, “we stayed a little longer”, “at first it was so dark”, “he left in the morning”. There is a feeling of isolation, everything happens in one place, in one small period of time - evening. But it does not burden, but causes a feeling of concreteness, reliability, warm sadness. The specificity and abstractness of time is the antithesis of “her own” time and “alien” one: the heroine lives in “her own”, while she lives in “alien” as if in a dream.

The boundaries of time and the meaning of living life are contradictory. The words of the time of the whole story are numerous enumerations, but they are insignificant for the heroine. But the words of time in the episode of the farewell evening, according to the meaning of living, are a whole life.

The contrast of the narrative is felt in the work immediately. The space of the story seems to expand when the stars appear. They appear in two images: first, sparkling in a black sky, and then shining in a brightening sky. This image carries a philosophical meaning. Stars in world culture symbolize eternity, the continuity of life. Bunin emphasizes the contrast: the quick separation and death of the hero - the eternity and injustice of life. In the second part of the story, when the heroine talks about her wanderings, the space lengthens first to Moscow, and then to Eastern and Western Europe: “lived in Moscow”, “lived in Constantinople for a long time”, “Bulgaria, Serbia, Czech Republic, Paris, Nice...” The measured calm life in the estate turned into endless fuss, the randomness of the heroine's living space : "I was in Nice for the first time in 1912 - and could I think in those happy days what she would once become for me".

One of the main means in the formation of the author's position is the system of images. Bunin's principle of presenting heroes is distinguished by its brightness and unusualness. So none of the characters has a name, the name of the “guest” and “groom” is never mentioned - it is too sacred to trust the paper with the sacred letters, the sounds of the beloved name. Name of a dear person "He" akin to Blok's name of the Beautiful Lady in verse - "She". But the name of not one's own, a stranger's name is called - "Ferdinand was killed in Sarajevo." In a surreal sense, it can be considered a source of trouble. Evil is "more expressive" than good - here it has a specific name. Bunin's antithesis of "one's own - someone else's" was embodied in these images.

Bunin introduces a new layer of images into the work: "family - people." The family is in comfort, kindness, happiness, and the people are strangers “like destroyers”, thieves of harmony, “like many”, “on Peter’s day a lot of people came to us”, “Germany declared war on Russia”, “I, too(as mass ) was engaged in trade, sold”, “sailed with a myriad crowd of refugees”. Using these images, the author seems to emphasize that his story is not only about what happened to everyone personally, but also about what happened to a whole generation. Most clearly, Bunin shows the tragedy of the generation, using the fate of the woman - the main character. The image of a woman has always been associated with the image of a homemaker, and family and home are the main values ​​of the time. The events of the First World War, the revolution that followed it, the post-revolutionary years - all this fell to the lot of the heroine - a blooming girl at the first meeting with her and an old woman close to death - at the end of the story with her memories, similar to a life outcome. In her character, the pride of an emigrant coexists with disobedience to fate - are not the traits of the author himself? A lot of things coincide in life: the revolution fell to his lot, which he could not accept, and Nice, which could not replace Russia.

An important touch in the system of images "girl". She is indifferent to her past: she has become "French". The heroine describes "sleek hands", "silver nails" and "gold laces" his pupil with bitter irony, but without any malice. "Sunny bunny" among the dull colors of "her" narrative, but we do not feel heat - an icy shine. The greatest tragedy of the intelligentsia is shown by Bunin through its image: the loss of the future, lack of demand, the death of Russia in the souls of the children of emigrants.

Appears in the story and the metonymic image of soldiers "in folders and unbuttoned greatcoats." This is obvious, the Red Army soldiers, who were sold their things by people who did not fit the new time. The image of the heroine's husband is interesting. He is also not named by name, but the contrast of the place of their (the heroine and future husband) meeting (at the corner of the Arbat and the market) and a very laconic, but capacious characterization of the husband himself is emphasized. "a man of rare, beautiful soul." This perhaps symbolizes the chaos of the history of Russia at that time. Having chosen several characters, Bunin reflected the great tragedy of Russia. Again, the contrast - what was and what has become. Thousands of elegant ladies turned into "Baby in bast shoes", and "people, a rare, beautiful soul", dressed "Worn-out Cossack zipuns" and let go "black beards". So gradually, following ring, cross, fur collar " people were losing their country, and the country was losing its color and pride. The contrast of Bunin's system of images is obvious.

Bunin, as a master of the word, brilliantly, masterfully uses the antithesis at all levels of the language. Bunin's syntax is the most interesting. The language of this work of art is typical for the author: it is simple, not replete with pretentious metaphors and epithets. In the first part of the short story (see above for the boundaries of the parts), the author uses simple, uncommon sentences. This creates the impression of flipping through photos in a family album, only a statement of facts. Offer - frame. Fifteen lines - ten sentences - frames. Flipping through the past. "On June 15, Ferdinand was killed in Sarajevo." “On the morning of the sixteenth they brought newspapers from the post office.” "This is war!" "And now our farewell party has come." "Surprisingly early and cold autumn." In the episode of the farewell evening, the author seems to stop time, stretches the space, filling it with events, and the sentences become complex, each of their parts is widespread. In this part, there are many minor members of the sentence, contrasting in meaning: « sweaty from steam windows" and "surprisingly early and cold autumn", "on black sky brightly and sharply sparkled clean icy stars" and "hung over the table hot lamp". Numerically, this is expressed as follows: there are five sentences in fourteen lines. “That evening we sat quietly, only occasionally exchanging insignificant words, exaggeratedly calm, hiding our secret thoughts and feelings.” “Then black boughs began to appear in the brightening sky, showered with minerally shining stars.” “Left alone, we stayed a little longer in the dining room,” I decided to play solitaire, “he silently walked from corner to corner, then asked:“ Do you want to walk a little? In the next part, Bunin reveals the inner world of the heroes using dialogue. Dialogues in this part play a particularly important role. Behind all the on-duty phrases, remarks about the weather, about “autumn”, there is a second meaning, subtext, unspoken pain. They say one thing - they think about something else, they speak only for the sake of a word, a conversation. The so-called "undercurrent". And the fact that the distraction of the father, the diligence of the mother, the indifference of the heroine are feigned, the reader understands even without a direct explanation of the author: "only occasionally exchanged insignificant words, exaggeratedly calm, hiding their secret thoughts and feelings." “Dressing in the hallway, he continued to think something, with a sweet smile he remembered Fet’s poems:

What a cold autumn

Put on your shawl and hood...

- I do not remember. It seems so:

Look between the blackening pines As if the fire rises...

- What fire?

- Moonrise, of course. There is some charm in these verses: “Put on your shawl and hood...” The times of our grandparents... Oh, my God, my God!

- What you?

- Nothing, dear friend. Still sad. Sad and good. I really, really love you I love".

The final part of the story is dominated by declarative sentences complicated by homogeneous parts of the sentence. An unusual feeling of rhythm, overflowing with life events is created: “some kind of ring, then a cross, then a fur collar”, “Bulgaria, Serbia, Czech Republic, Belgium, Paris, Nice ...”, “was engaged ..., sold ..., met ..., left. ..", "sleek hands with silver nails... gold laces". Bunin contrasts all this with the inner emptiness, the fatigue of the heroine. She states her misfortunes without any emotion. The overcrowding of events life turns into the fact that life - then there is none. At the level of syntax, the antithesis is clearly expressed: simple - complex sentences, prevalence, saturation with homogeneous members of the sentence and their absence, dialogue - the monologue of the heroine. Consciousness splits: there is yesterday and now, the past and all life. Syntax tools help with this.

The masterful use of morphological means of language also draws attention. So in the first part of the work, the verbs are put in the past tense. Memories... The heroine seems to be making her way through the windbreak of the past to the present, living life, growing old, disappointed: “rose”, “crossed”, “passed”, “looked”, “lived”, “wandered”. In the last part of the story, the narration is conducted using the forms of the present tense: I ask, I answer, I believe, I wait. The heroine awakens. And life is over.

So, the main feature of the "Bunin" antithesis is that it permeates all levels of the story "Cold Autumn".

1. "Bunin's" antithesis is a way of expressing the author's position.
2. Bunin's contrast is a way of reflecting reality, creating a picture of the world.
3. The opposition is used to reveal the worldview, philosophical concept of the author.
4. Antithesis as a demonstration of the catastrophic nature of time at the turn of two centuries, revolutions, wars.
5. The contrast of the psychology of people in the early 20th century.
6. The antithesis in Bunin's story "Cold Autumn" is a technique for creating a composition, plot, chronotope, space, system of images, language features.

The title of the collection "Dark Alleys" evokes images of dilapidated gardens of old estates, overgrown alleys of Moscow parks. Russia, fading into the past, into oblivion.

Bunin is a master who knows how to be unique in the most banal situations, to always remain chaste and pure, because love for him is always unique and holy. In Dark Alleys, love is alien to the concept of sin: “After all, cruel tears remain in the soul, that is, memories that are especially cruel, painful if you remember something happy.” Perhaps, in the melancholy of the short stories of "Dark Alleys", the old pain from the happiness experienced once gains a voice.

Bunin is not a philosopher, not a moralist and not a psychologist. For him, it is more important what sunset was when the heroes said goodbye and went somewhere than the purpose of their trip. "He was always a stranger to both God-seeking and theomachism." Therefore, it is pointless to look for a deep meaning in the actions of the heroes. "Cold Autumn" is a story where love, in fact, is not mentioned. This work is the only one with a documented accurate chronology. The language of the narration is emphatically dry... An elderly woman, neatly dressed, is sitting somewhere in a coastal restaurant, and, nervously fiddling with her scarf, tells her story to a random interlocutor. There are no more emotions - everything has long been experienced. She equally casually speaks of the death of her fiancé and the indifference of her adopted daughter. As a rule, Bunin's action is concentrated in a short time interval. "Cold Autumn" is not just a segment of life, it is a chronicle of a lifetime. Earthly love, cut off by death, but, thanks to this death, became unearthly. And at the end of her turbulent life, the heroine suddenly realizes that she had nothing but this love. “During his bleak “cold autumn”, Bunin, having survived the revolution and exile, during the days of one of the most terrible wars writes a story about love, just as Boccaccio wrote “The Decameron” during the plague. For the flashes of this unearthly fire are the light that illuminates the path of mankind.” As one of the heroines of "Dark Alleys" said: "All love is a great happiness, even if it is not divided."

List of used literature

1. Adamovich G.V. Loneliness and freedom. New York, 1985.
2. Aleksandrova V.A. "Dark Alleys" // New Journal, 1947 No. 15.
3. Afanasiev V.O. On some features of Bunin's late lyrical prose // Izvestiya AN SSSR. Dep. Literature and language, 1979, v.29, issue 6.
4. Baboreko A.K. Bunin during the war 1943-1944 // Daugava, 1980 No. 10.
5. Dolgopolov L.O. On some features of late Bunin's realism // Russian Literature, 1973 No. 2.
6. Muromtseva - Bunina V.N. Bunin's life, Paris, 1958.
7. School of Classics. Criticism and comments. Silver Age. 1998.