The story "Mr. from San Francisco", the meaning of the title of which is explained in this article, is one of the most famous works Ivan Bunin. This is a kind of parable that talks about the meaninglessness of wealth and fame before the inevitability of death. The key idea of the work is a person’s comprehension of the essence of his existence, awareness of how fragile life is, how insignificant it is if it lacks beauty and authenticity.
Meaning of the name
The story "Mr. from San Francisco", the meaning of the title of which is revealed in this article, was first published in 1915.
The main feature of this work is that the author did not give a name to the main character. Even in the title he is simply referred to as the gentleman from San Francisco. This is the meaning of the title of the work.
This gentleman was a representative of the false, boring and monotonous so-called high society. The author despised such people, the social circle to which they belonged, for their callousness and belief in permissiveness at the expense of money, fake relationships, love of convenience. Because of all this, Bunin did not even give a name to his hero, emphasizing this in the title. This is the meaning of the title "Mr. from San Francisco."
Plot of the story
Without ever naming the main character by name in the story, the author emphasizes his attitude towards him, noting that no one remembered his name either in Capri or in Naples, where he stayed. Together with his family (wife and daughter), he goes to the Old World. Bunin in “Mr. from San Francisco” writes that the heroes only intended to have fun and move from place to place for two whole years. The gentleman has worked a lot over the past few years, and now he can afford such a vacation.
The family is sailing on a huge ship - Atlantis. It looks more like a luxury hotel, which has everything you need for a comfortable trip.
Life on the ship in Bunin's story "Mr. from San Francisco" flows very measuredly. Passengers drink chocolate in the morning, then go take baths, do gymnastics, and sedately walk along the decks filled with people equally happy with life. All this is to work up an appetite. Only after exercise fresh air go for the first breakfast.
After eating, they read the latest newspapers while waiting for the second breakfast. Then two hours are devoted to rest. For this purpose, comfortable reed chairs are installed on the decks, on which you can comfortably lounge, covered with a blanket. Here travelers spend time until lunch, admiring the cloudless sky.
In the afternoon, a small snack - tea with cookies. Dinner in the evening. For vacationers on Atlantis, this can be said to be the main purpose of existence.
An orchestra plays in the huge hall where the rich spend every evening. And at this time the ocean is roaring outside the walls. But these men in tuxedos and women in low-cut evening dresses don’t even remember him. Every evening after dinner, dancing begins in the hall.
Sedate men go to the bar, where they drink liqueurs and cocktails. They are served by blacks in the obligatory red camisoles.
Old Lady Europe
The ship's first major stop occurs in Naples. In this city, the family of a gentleman from San Francisco is accommodated in a fashionable hotel. But their daily routine remains virtually unchanged. Early morning breakfast, afternoon cultural program - visiting museums and temples. Then second breakfast, afternoon tea and then preparation for evening dinner. A hearty lunch is the icing on the cake of every day.
The only thing that spoils the impression is the weather in Naples. The characters from "Mr. from San Francisco" arrive in December. At this time of year there is constant bad weather - strong wind, heavy rain at times, mud underfoot. Therefore, the family decides to move to the island of Capri. Everyone around them assures them that on it they will be like in heaven. The family will be surrounded only by sun, warmth and blooming lemons.
Americans in Capri
The heroes of "Mr. from San Francisco" move to the island. They are sailing on a small boat. On the way, they suffer from seasickness, as the ship sways violently in the waves.
But here they are on the shore. The funicular takes them to a miniature town located on the top of the mountain. They check into a hotel where they are greeted by friendly staff. And they immediately begin to prepare for dinner.
The main character gets dressed before his loved ones and goes alone to a cozy hotel reading room, where he gets acquainted with the latest press. He begins to read, but suddenly the lines begin to jump in front of him. The gentleman, writhing with his whole body, slides to the floor. A guest nearby calls for help, everyone is worried. The hotel owner tries to reassure the guests, but all in vain. The evening is already ruined.
Death
The gentleman from San Francisco is put in the cheapest and smallest room. His wife and daughter stand nearby in horror. What they feared most happens - he dies.
The main character's wife wants to move the body to her apartment. But the owner is against it. He values these rooms too much and is afraid that guests will avoid staying with him if they find out that there was a corpse there. After all, Capri is a small island, and everyone will know about it right away. Getting the coffin is also problematic; we can only find a long box that used to contain bottles of soda water.
Way back
The family of the gentleman from San Francisco sets off on the return journey. On the same "Atlantis" on which they sailed here, they go home.
But now the dead are carried in a coffin, which is hidden from others in the hold. And on the decks at this time the usual measured life continues. Everyone is having breakfast, preparing for their evening dinner, and still admiring the ocean outside the window.
Story Analysis
The analysis of "Mr. from San Francisco" should begin with deciding on the intent of the story. It opens up when the family ends up in Capri. This is where Bunin’s philosophical plan becomes clear.
After the death of the main character, a paradoxical thing happens. He is taken to the dirtiest and most disgusting room in the hotel, and the body is sent on a ship in a bottle box so that as few guests as possible will know about the tragedy.
This is the main theme of "Mr. from San Francisco." After death, wealth, fame and honor become completely unimportant. So the author clearly demonstrates the essence of human existence. Money and respect, which were so important during life, become completely useless after death.
Bunin also uses symbolic contrast when describing representatives of the bourgeoisie and poor people. In the analysis of "Mr. from San Francisco" it is worth noting that the images ordinary people the author's are lively, real and attractive. But he describes the rich with undisguised disdain.
The problem of "Mr. from San Francisco" is also that luxury and money do not in any way protect a person from real life. People who care only about their wallet, according to Bunin, are doomed to moral baseness.
Bunin’s story “Mr. from San Francisco” has a highly social orientation, but the meaning of these stories is not limited to criticism of capitalism and colonialism. Social problems capitalist society are only a background that allows Bunin to show the aggravation of the “eternal” problems of humanity in the development of civilization.
In the 1900s, Bunin traveled around Europe and the East, observing the life and order of capitalist society in Europe and the colonial countries of Asia. Bunin realizes the immorality of the orders that reign in imperialist society, where everyone works only to enrich the monopolies. Rich capitalists are not ashamed of any means to increase their capital.
This story reflects all the features of Bunin’s poetics, and at the same time it is unusual for him, its meaning is too prosaic.
The story has almost no plot. People travel, fall in love, earn money, that is, they create the appearance of activity, but the plot can be told in two words: “A man has died.” Bunin generalizes the image of the gentleman from San Francisco to such an extent that he does not even give him any specific name. We don't know much about his spiritual life. Actually, this life did not exist; it was lost behind thousands of everyday details, which Bunin lists down to the smallest detail. Already at the very beginning we see the contrast between cheerful and easy life in the cabins of the ship and the horror that reigns in its bowels: “The siren constantly cried out with hellish gloom and squealed with frantic anger, but few of the inhabitants heard the siren - it was drowned out by the sounds of a beautiful string orchestra...”
A description of life on the ship is given in a contrasting image of the upper deck and the hold of the ship: “The gigantic furnaces rumbled dully, devouring piles of hot coal, with a roar being thrown into them, drenched in caustic, dirty sweat and naked to the waist, people crimson from the flames; and here, in the bar, they carelessly threw their feet up on the arms of the chairs, smoked,
they strained cognac and liqueurs...” With this abrupt transition, Bunin emphasizes that the luxury of the upper decks, that is, the highest capitalist society, was achieved only through the exploitation and enslavement of people who continuously work in hellish conditions in the hold of the ship. And their pleasure is empty and false, symbolic meaning The story features a couple hired by Lloyd “to play at love for good money.”
Using the example of the fate of the gentleman from San Francisco himself, Bunin writes about the aimlessness, emptiness, and worthlessness of the life of a typical representative of a capitalist society. The thought of death, repentance, sins, and God never occurred to the gentleman from San Francisco. All his life he sought to be compared with those “whom he once took as a model.” By old age there was nothing human left in him. He became like expensive thing, made of gold and ivory, one of those that always surrounded him: “his large teeth shone with gold fillings, his strong bald head shone with old ivory.”
Bunin's thought is clear. He talks about eternal problems humanity. About the meaning of life, about the spirituality of life, about man’s relationship to God.
The work of Ivan Bunin is characterized by small but piercing short stories on the “biggest” philosophical topics. One of his small masterpieces is the story “Mr. from San Francisco,” which raises issues such as death, the meaning of life, and love.
Like most of Bunin’s works, “The Man from San Francisco” is a protest cry about the “wrongness” of this world. A person in a capitalist society lives almost like a robot, endlessly earning money and not paying attention to all other aspects of life. And so, when the hero of the story has finally earned a lot of money and is completely exhausted, he goes to travel and relax. And suddenly, absolutely unpredictably, without any prerequisites or apparent reasons, he suddenly dies.
The poignancy of the story is achieved by such a special technique as the depersonalization of the main characters. The main character has no name, appearing in the image of a certain unremarkable gentleman from San Francisco; even his wife and daughter did not receive literary work Bunin names. This seems to show the indifference of not only the entire surrounding world, but also the author himself to the personalities of the characters drawn. Against such a background, even the smallest employees of the Italian hotel where the tragic event takes place receive from Bunin specific names, thereby emphasizing the insignificance of the American guests. The impression is strengthened by the contrast between the servants' subservience to the personality of the rich American before his death and the cynical ridicule of him after.
Also missing from the story is a description of the reaction of the wife and daughter of the gentleman from San Francisco to his death. One gets the feeling that they, too, remained generally indifferent to what happened. Thus, the whole world, including those close to the deceased, perceives his death only as some kind of unfortunate and very untimely incident.
The question inevitably arises: why did this man live? Who was dear to him and to whom was he dear? Did he really love anyone? What did he leave behind besides money? And the author unequivocally answers all these questions in a negative way, summing up the harsh conclusion of the life of a man from San Francisco - his life was meaningless. In the text we find many small indications of the pathetic, if not wretched, aspirations of the main character: constant gluttony, excessive passion for cigars and alcohol, dreams of buying the corrupt love of young Italian beauties, etc. And all this against the backdrop of the absence of any live communication with his wife and daughter.
What conclusion should the reader of “The Gentleman from San Francisco” draw?
In my opinion, Bunin hints to us that the meaning of life in itself does not exist, it is acquired by each individual person independently in the process of his life. Everyone must determine for himself what the meaning of life is for him; You cannot exist mindlessly and turn into a faceless cog in the capitalist mechanism. Therefore, the story “Mr. from San Francisco” itself serves as a constant reminder to us of these eternal truths, a call not to repeat the pitiful life path the main character of the work.
Bunin's story "Mr. from San Francisco" tells the story of how everything is devalued before the fact of death. Human life subject to decay, it is too short to be wasted in vain, and the main idea of this cautionary tale, is an understanding of the essence of human existence. The meaning of life for the hero of this story lies in his confidence that he can buy everything with his existing wealth, but fate decided otherwise. We offer an analysis of the work “Mr. from San Francisco” according to plan; the material will be useful in preparing for the Unified State Exam in literature in 11th grade.
Brief Analysis
Year of writing– 1915
History of creation– In a store window, Bunin accidentally noticed the cover of Thomas Mann’s book “Death in Venice”, this was the impetus for writing the story.
Subject– The opposites that surround man everywhere are main theme works are life and death, wealth and poverty, power and insignificance. All this reflects the philosophy of the author himself.
Composition– The problematics of “Mr. from San Francisco” contain both a philosophical and socio-political character. The author reflects on the frailty of existence, on man’s attitude to spiritual and material values, from the point of view of various strata of society. The plot of the story begins with the master's journey, the climax is his unexpected death, and in the denouement of the story the author reflects on the future of humanity.
Genre– A story that is a meaningful parable.
Direction– Realism. Bunin's story takes on a deep philosophical meaning.
History of creation
The history of the creation of Bunin's story dates back to 1915, when he saw the cover of a book by Thomas Mann. After that, he was visiting his sister, remembered the cover, for some reason it evoked an association in him with the death of one of the American vacationers, which happened during a vacation in Capri. Immediately a sudden decision came to him to describe this incident, which he did as quickly as possible. short term– the story was written in just four days. With the exception of the deceased American, all other facts in the story are completely fictitious.
Subject
In “The Gentleman from San Francisco,” an analysis of the work allows us to highlight the main idea of the story, which consists of the author’s philosophical reflections on the meaning of life, on the essence of being.
Critics were enthusiastic about the creation of the Russian writer, interpreting the essence in their own way. philosophical story. Theme of the story- life and death, poverty and luxury, in the description of this hero, who lived his life in vain, reflects the worldview of the entire society, divided into classes. High society, possessing all material values, having the opportunity to buy everything that is on sale, does not have the most important thing - spiritual values.
On the ship, the dancing couple pretending to be sincerely happy is also fake. These are actors who were bought to play love. There is nothing real, everything is artificial and feigned, everything is purchased. And the people themselves are false and hypocritical, they are faceless, which is what meaning of the name this story.
And the master has no name, his life is aimless and empty, he does not bring any benefit, he only uses the benefits created by representatives of another, lower class. He dreamed of buying everything he could, but he didn’t have time; fate had its own way and took his life. When he dies, no one remembers him; he only causes inconvenience to those around him, including his family.
The point is that he died - and that’s it, he doesn’t need any wealth, luxury, power or honor. He doesn't care where he lies - in a luxurious inlaid coffin, or in a simple soda box. His life was in vain, he did not experience real, sincere human feelings, did not know love and happiness in the worship of the golden calf.
Composition
The narrative of the story is divided into two parts: how a gentleman sails on a ship to the coast of Italy, and the journey of the same gentleman back, on the same ship, only in a coffin.
In the first part, the hero enjoys all the possible benefits that money can buy, he has all the best: a hotel room, gourmet dishes, and all the other delights of life. The gentleman has so much money that he planned a trip for two years, together with his family, his wife and daughter, who also do not deny themselves anything.
But after climax When the hero suffers sudden death, everything changes dramatically. The hotel owner does not even allow the gentleman’s corpse to be placed in his room, having allocated the cheapest and most inconspicuous one for this purpose. There is not even a decent coffin in which to place the gentleman, and he is placed in an ordinary box, which is a container for some kind of food. On the ship, where the gentleman was blissfully on deck among high society, his place is only in the dark hold.
Main characters
Genre
“Mr. from San Francisco” can be briefly described as genre story ah, but this story is filled with deep philosophical content, and differs from other Bunin works. Usually, Bunin's stories contain a description of nature and natural phenomena, striking in its liveliness and realism.
In the same work there is main character, around which the conflict of this story is tied. Its content makes you think about the problems of society, about its degradation, which has turned into a soulless, mercantile being who worships only one idol - money, and has renounced everything spiritual.
The whole story is subordinated philosophical direction, and in plot-wise- This is an instructive parable that gives a lesson to the reader. The injustice of a class society, where the lower part of the population languishes in poverty, and the cream of high society waste their lives senselessly, all this, in the end, leads to a single ending, and in the face of death everyone is equal, both poor and rich, it cannot be bought off by any money.
Bunin's story "Mr. from San Francisco" is rightfully considered one of the most outstanding works in his work.
Work test
Rating analysis
Average rating: 4.6. Total ratings received: 769.
In his works, Bunin often speaks with cold contempt about the meaninglessness of the world and human dreams, about the illusory and deceitful nature of the goals to which a person strives and to which he devotes his existence. The writer notes with bitterness that life is separated from death by a very weak partition. This is what the story “Mr. from San Francisco” is about.
Bunin does not give his hero a name. This is not necessary. He is the same as thousands of other rich and self-satisfied people. His image is typical. The hero is fifty-eight years old, but he is just beginning to live, because for many years“only existed”, doing only one thing - increasing his own capital. He worked tirelessly, and this was the only meaning of his life. Now he is firmly confident in his right to rest, the right to finally begin to enjoy life, look around, and reward himself for his years of work. Appearance the Atlantis passenger and the environment around him speak eloquently about his social status: tuxedo, starched linen, bottle of wine, glasses made of the finest glass, bouquet of hyacinths. The service staff is ready from morning to evening to anticipate the slightest desires of this respectable, and also generous, gentleman. They “guarded his cleanliness and peace, carried his things, called porters for him, delivered his chests to hotels. It was like this everywhere,” the author notes. When they rushed to the gentleman with an offer of services, he only grinned arrogantly and calmly said through his teeth: “Get out!” On the island of Capri, a wealthy traveler is greeted as a particularly important person. Everyone is fussing around him, everything around him comes to life, is filled with movement and even delight. Glitter and chic - this is the atmosphere surrounding the visitor from San Francisco at this stage of his journey.
But something terrible happens: the hero dies. Like mere mortals, she came to him unexpectedly and suddenly, regardless of his financial condition, prospects for the future, dreams and plans. The author again gives a portrait of his hero. But this is no longer the same person who just recently amazed those around him with his external polish. Bunin provides the reader with a merciless picture of death: “his neck tensed, his eyes bulged, his pince-nez flew off.”nose.....the lower jaw fell off....the head fell overover his shoulder and wrapped around him, the chest of his shirt stuck out like a box - and his whole body, wriggling, lifting up the carpet with his heels, crawled to the floor... He shook his head, wheezed as if he had been stabbed to death, rolled his eyes like a drunk.”
A. T. Tvardovsky wonderfully revealed the meaning of this episode: “In the face of love and death, according to Bunin, the social, class, and property lines that separate people are erased by themselves—everyone is equal before them... Nameless gentleman from San Francisco dies, having just got ready to have a good lunch in the restaurant of a first-class hotel on the warm sea coast. But death is equally terrible in its inevitability.”
Death is cruel to the hero. What about people? Those who not long ago sought to please the Lord’s every whim? They take his body “to the smallest, worst, dampest and coldest” room and place him on a cheap iron bed. For them, the guest from San Francisco is no longer interesting, his tragic death is not a grief, but a nuisance that they are ready to eliminate by any means for the sake of gentlemen who are just like him recently, capricious and demanding respect. And where did their recent courtesy, with which they looked into the hero’s eyes just a few minutes ago, go? They try to get rid of the body as quickly as possible and at any cost, and instead of a coffin, large long soda boxes are used for it. The gentleman is no longer traveling back as a first-class passenger, but as a burdensome cargo, carelessly thrown in a black hold, into which he ended up only after spending a week “from one barn to another,” “having experienced a lot of humiliation, a lot of human inattention.” During this time, no one thought that someone’s life was cut short, that the person lived for something, loved someone, rejoiced at something, strived for something. The power of the gentleman from San Francisco, as A. T. Tvardovsky argued, turns out to be ephemeral in the face of the same mortal outcome for everyone.