Analysis of I. Bunin's story "Antonov Apples". “Antonov Apples” - analysis of Bunin’s work

Great writer Ivan Alekseevich Bunin his work “ Antonov apples"Wrote quickly, in just a few months. But he did not complete the work on the story, because he turned to his story again and again, changing the text. Each edition of this story had already changed and edited text. And this could easily be explained by the fact that the writer’s impressions were so vivid and deep that he wanted to show all this to his reader.

But a story like “Antonov Apples,” where there is no plot development, and the basis of the content is Bunin’s impressions and memories, is difficult to analyze. It is difficult to capture the emotions of a person who lives in the past. But Ivan Alekseevich manages to accurately convey sounds and colors, showing his unusual literary excellence. Reading the story “Antonov Apples” you can understand what feelings and emotions the writer experienced. This is both pain and sadness that all this is left behind, as well as joy and tenderness for the ways of deep antiquity.

Bunin uses bright colors description of colors, for example, black-lilac, gray-iron. Bunin’s descriptions are so deep that he even notices how the shadow of many objects falls. For example, from the flames in the garden in the evening he sees black silhouettes, which he compares with giants. By the way, there are a huge number of metaphors in the text. It is worth paying attention to the sundresses that girls wear at fairs: “sundresses that smell like paint.” Even the smell of Bunin's paint does not cause irritation, and this is another memory. And what words does he choose when he conveys his feelings from water! The writer’s character is not easily cold or transparent, but Ivan Alekseevich uses the following description of it: icy, heavy.

What is happening in the narrator’s soul, how strong and deep his experiences are, can be understood if we analyze those details in the work “Antonov Apples”, where he gives a detailed description of them. There is also in the story main character- barchuk, but his story is never revealed to the reader.

At the very beginning of his work, the writer uses one of the means artistic expression speech. The gradation lies in the fact that the author very often repeats the word “remember,” which allows you to create a feeling of how carefully the writer treats his memories and is afraid of forgetting something.

The second chapter contains not only a description of a wonderful autumn, which is usually mysterious and even fabulous in villages. But the work tells about old women who were living out their lives and preparing to accept death. To do this, they put on a shroud, which was wonderfully painted and starched so that it stood like a stone on the body of the old women. The writer also recalled that, having prepared for death, such old women dragged gravestones into the yard, which now stood awaiting the death of their mistress.

The writer’s memories take the reader in the second part to another estate, which belonged to Ivan Alekseevich’s cousin. Anna Gerasimovna lived on her own, so she was always happy to visit her old manor. The road to this estate still appears before the narrator’s eyes: a lush and spacious sky blue color, the well-trodden and well-trodden road seems to the writer the most dear and so dear. Bunin’s description of both the road and the estate itself evokes a great feeling of regret that all this is a thing of the distant past.

The description of the telegraph poles that the narrator encountered on the way to his aunt is sad and sad to read. They were like silver strings, and the birds sitting on them seemed to the writer like musical notes. But even here, on the aunt’s estate, the narrator again remembers the smell of Antonov apples.

The third part takes the reader into deep autumn, when after cold and prolonged rains, the sun finally begins to appear. And again the estate of another landowner - Arseny Semenovich, who was a great lover of hunting. And again one can see the author’s sadness and regret that the spirit of the landowner, who honored both his roots and the entire Russian culture, has now faded away. But now that former way of life has been lost, and it is now impossible to return the former noble way of life in Rus'.

In the fourth chapter of the story “Antonov Apples,” Bunin sums it up by saying that there is no more than the smell of childhood that was associated with life and everyday life landed nobility, the smell of Antonov apples disappeared. And it is impossible to see either those old people, or the glorious landowners, or those glorious times. And the last lines of the story “I covered the road with white snow” lead the reader to the fact that it is no longer impossible to return the old Russia, its old life.

The story “Antonov Apples” is a kind of ode, enthusiastic, but sad and sad, imbued with love, which is dedicated to Russian nature, life in the villages and the patriarchal way of life that existed in Rus'. The story is small in volume, but quite a lot is conveyed in it. Bunin has pleasant memories of that time; they are filled with spirituality and poetry.

“Antonov Apples” is Bunin’s hymn to his homeland, which, although it remained in the past, far from him, still remained forever in the memory of Ivan Alekseevich, and was for him like the best and purest time, the time of his spiritual development.

The story “Antonov Apples” was written quite quickly, but was not completely finished. For a long time, the author Ivan Alekseevich Bunin returned to it, so each subsequent edition has additions. Throughout the entire narrative, Bunin remembers and yearns for the past.

It was early autumn. At this time, apple picking begins. They are strong and aromatic. Reading how a man eats, you yourself feel the crunch of an apple on your teeth and its sweet and sour taste. And their smell and autumn mixed, it turned out something delicious. This scent haunts the author all his life. When describing nature, the writer uses many metaphors, chooses such words that the reader seems to be in the right place and sees everything in truth. You feel the coolness of the morning and the icy water on your skin. The taste of boiled potatoes with black bread is felt in the mouth.

The story has the main thing actor- barchuk. The author does not try to reveal his story, but simply talks about his life during this period. In parallel with nature, the writer also does not forget about the earthly. Tells the story of old women who are preparing to finish their earthly path. She remembers her aunt, how she loved guests and greeted everyone with joy. Although her house was old, it was durable and everything around it was made with love and to last. The next story is about another landowner who was very fond of hunting. Hunters gathered at his place, did not forget to drink vodka and went hunting. Apparently, neither the aunt nor the landowner no longer exists. To enhance the feeling of melancholy, Ivan Alekseevich writes about late autumn. The rains have stopped, but the sun, although bright, does not warm at all.

Along with the warm autumn days, the smell of Antonov apples, events and childhood disappeared, all in the distant past. All that remains is longing for the days gone by. And finally, everything was covered with snow, by this the author shows that there is no turning back. You won't go back to the past.

How accurately the author chose the time of year. Early autumn - harvesting, hunting is fun and fervent. Childhood and adolescence continues, everyone is alive. Late fall old women's farewell to the past and early winter. Everything in the snow, the past remains only in memories. Life goes on, but another life is already new. Despite the fact that the story is a little sad, Bunin put his soul into it.

Analysis of the work Antonov Apples

The most talented writer Ivan Bunin had the ability to describe his thoughts and reasoning with precision and detail. The memories that stuck in the creator’s head poured out into the story “Antonov Apples”, which was written quickly; after a few months it was ready. The work involves Bunin's impressions, his long-standing memories, which are now provided in a free version to readers. The story, besides what it was a short time written, constantly reworked, the writer again and again added colors, certain details, without which the work would seem ordinary and boring.

In “Antonov Apples” there is no plot development; when you open the pages of the book, pictures of what Ivan Bunin once managed to see pop up before your eyes. All emotions and impressions are depicted subtly and intelligently. The writer thought through everything down to the smallest detail. You can see pain, suffering, torment, and sadness because all that beautiful things are left in the past; unfortunately, they are already behind us.

The main character in the work seems to be a certain barchuk, which leads to a description of wonderful places from which the imagination plays. However, it is noteworthy that the character's history is not revealed to the readers of the book; it is hidden behind the veil, remaining inaccessible.

What can you say about the plot? It is divided into four parts. In the first chapter of the story, Bunin talks about the unusual smell of excellent Antonov apples, which are breathtaking, because their taste cannot be described in words, but the writer can do anything. This smell is inextricably linked with memories of a cozy village, its wonderful life. There are men there, their life in the autumn season, talking about the old patriarchal system.

The second part includes stories about a magnificent autumn, which is mysterious and enigmatic. You could see old women who were preparing to leave this life, and gravestones that were waiting for them. The heroines lived out their lives.

Then Bunin leads readers to the estate of the hero’s aunt named Anna Gerasimovna, where the road is beautiful, the sky is blue, everything is so dear and close...

The third part is about how the past cannot be returned. The former noble life is lost, there is no return. This makes my soul feel heavy and sad...

Then, in the fourth chapter, Ivan Bunin concludes: the old smell of childhood cannot be returned, it can only be stored in bright memories, and with a smile on your face, talk about past events. But now, alas, the smell of Antonov apples has disappeared. The glory days are gone.

The writer dedicated his story to Russia, the work is an appeal to her, an interpretation that the old life cannot be returned to normal. But great times remain in the memory! They are worth remembering!

Several interesting essays

• Analysis of Chekhov's story After the Theater

  No matter how many works of Chekhov a person opens, from each he will take away an important thought that, perhaps, will turn his life around one hundred and eighty degrees. Anton Pavlovich touched on many issues, including the influence of art on humans

“Antonov Apples” is a story by Bunin, published in 1900. The work is built on a lyrical monologue-memory. What is the main theme of Bunin's Antonov Apples? What events inspired the writer to create this work?

Ivan Bunin

The analysis of "Antonov apples", like any similar task, should begin with brief information about the author. Ivan Bunin entered literature not as a prose writer, but as a poet. However, the debut collection of poems, which was published in Orel, did not cause much reaction from critics. Bunin received recognition after the publication of the book “Falling Leaves,” which also included exclusively poems.

Ivan Bunin left a deep and bright mark on Russian literature. In their lyrical works continued classical traditions A. Fet, Y. Polonsky, A. Tolstoy. In stories and tales he showed, often with a nostalgic mood, the impoverishment noble estates, and the cruel face of the village, and disastrous oblivion moral principles life. Bunin became a classic of Russian literature thanks to such prose works as “The Life of Arsenyev”, “Easy Breathing”, “ Damn days", "Antonov apples".

Analysis work of art can't do without brief history creation of a work. How did the idea for the story come about?

The history of the creation of "Antonov Apples"

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin planned to write this work back in the early nineties of the 19th century. Then he was visiting his relative's estate. One day I went out onto the porch and smelled the amazing, unique smell of apples. At the same time, he experienced nostalgia for serfdom.

When analyzing “Antonov Apples,” it should be said that in this work the author glorified the old landowner life. The main theme of the story is lyrical memories of noble culture. Many of Bunin’s works, including “Antonov Apples,” are permeated with nostalgia for the past.

An analysis of the writer’s work involves a presentation of the main facts from his biography. As you know, Bunin left Russia. But this happened many years after the publication of the story. However, already at the beginning of the century, Russia was not the same as depicted in the work “Antonov Apples”. Bunin's heroes are images from a past, happier life.

Vyselki

The lyrical hero remembers the past. In his imagination an early Golden autumn, a thinned garden, an incomparable aroma of apples. The author recalls Vyselki, a village that has been known in the area since the time of his grandfather as the richest. The houses here were strong and made of brick. There was also a small estate with an apple orchard.

Arseny Semyonich

The hero also remembers people who have long been dead. And first of all, the late relative of Arseny Semyonich. He was an avid hunter. A lot of people gathered at his house. The table was laden with food, and after dinner the owner and his guests went hunting. The horn sounded and the dogs howled. The author remembers horseback riding, the cries of hunters...

Years have passed

But what the lyrical hero remembers is long gone. The village still stands the same. What is she without her owners? Arseny Semyonich shot himself. The owner of the estate and apple orchard died. The kingdom of impoverished nobles has arrived.

Happy times are a thing of the past. Now the nobles are no longer the same, they are impoverished. True, they still gather at each other’s houses in the evenings. But life will never be the same. The harsh rural reality is shown. And the author wonders how to live now. But this life is not so bad... And again the author betrays himself colorful description of rural life, still not suspecting anything that the small landed nobility had very little time left to exist.

Analysis

What problems did Bunin raise in Antonov Apples? The author showed how it goes into the past patriarchal world, village estates are going bankrupt, disappearing. In his work, the writer made a kind of study of the historical foundations of the Russian village, tried to grasp the reasons for their collapse, to understand what new life every single person.

The story “Antonov Apples” is surprisingly poetic. However, the lyrical hero seems to be hidden from the reader. His story remains unknown. The reader only knows that the men call him “barchuk.” The emphasis in the work is on associations, memories of the past.

When a person is closer to nature, his life and relationships with others are simpler. Bunin clearly showed in this story the idea of ​​disastrous and doomed beauty. The idea of ​​the common destinies of the nobility and peasantry sweeps through the entire work. After all, everyone is equally threatened with death.

Image of Russia

The book “Antonov Apples” is a unique look at Russia. For some, their native land is associated with Antonov apples, honey and morning freshness. For others - on a frosty winter morning. Like no one else, Bunin managed to discover the beauty of Russia, the tenderness native nature. After all, even readers who have never been to the village and can hardly imagine the smell of apples are imbued with rural old landowners landscapes created by this writer.

Criticism

The story caused a mixed reaction in the literary community. Maxim Gorky, having read Bunin’s work, said that the author managed to “sing beautifully, sincerely, juicily.” However, the Petrel of the Revolution did not like Bunin's idea. He expressed categorical disagreement with philosophical concept works. The most widely read newspaper in the capital greeted Antonovsky Apples with bewilderment. A well-known publicist noted: “Bunin writes about everything that comes to his hand, and therefore it is impossible to read to the main thing.”

Five years after the publication of the story, a parody of Kuprin appeared in the magazine “Zhupel”. This essay contained the following words: “Where are you, the wonderful time of Antonov apples, serf souls, ransom payments?”

There is a version that the parody became Kuprin’s revenge on the “nobleman after his mother” - this is what the aristocrat Bunin once had the imprudence to call his colleague. By the way, Kuprin called his satirical work not at all poetically - “Pies with Mushrooms.” Story by I.A. Bunin's "Antonov Apples" refers to one of those works where the writer with sad love

remembers the irretrievably gone “golden” days. The author worked in an era of fundamental changes in society: the entire beginning of the twentieth century was drenched in blood. It was possible to escape from the aggressive environment only by remembering the best moments. The idea for the story came to the author in 1891, when he was visiting his brother Eugene at the estate. The smell of Antonov apples with which they were filled, reminded Bunin of those times when the estates flourished, and the landowners did not become poor, and the peasants reverently treated everything lordly. The author was sensitive to the culture of the nobility and the old-time way of life, and deeply felt their decline. That is why a cycle of epitaph stories stands out in his work, which tell about the long-gone, “dead”, but still so dear old world.

The writer hatched his work for 9 years. “Antonov Apples” was first published in 1900. However, the story continued to be refined and changed, Bunin polished literary language, gave the text even more imagery, and removed all unnecessary things.

What is the work about?

“Antonov Apples” represent an alternation of pictures of noble life, united by memories lyrical hero. At first he remembers early autumn, the golden garden, picking apples. All this is managed by the owners, who lived in a hut in the garden, organizing a whole fair there on holidays. The garden is filled by different persons peasants who amaze with contentment: men, women, children - all of them in the most good relations with each other and with the landowners. The idyllic picture is complemented by pictures of nature; at the end of the episode the main character exclaims: “How cold, dewy and how good it is to live in the world!”

A fruitful year in the ancestral village of the main character of Vyselka is pleasing to the eye: everywhere there is contentment, joy, wealth, the simple happiness of the men. The narrator himself would like to be a man, not seeing any problems in this lot, but only health, naturalness and closeness to nature, and not at all poverty, lack of land and humiliation. From the peasant life he moves on to the noble life of former times: serfdom and immediately after, when the landowners were still playing main role. An example is the estate of Aunt Anna Gerasimovna, where prosperity, severity, and serf-like obedience of the servants were felt. The decor of the house also seems to be frozen in the past, even conversations are only about the past, but this also has its own poetry.

Hunting, one of the main entertainments of the nobility, is especially discussed. Arseny Semenovich, the brother-in-law of the main character, organized large-scale hunts, sometimes for several days. The whole house was filled with people, vodka, cigarette smoke, and dogs. The conversations and memories about this are remarkable. The narrator saw these amusements even in his dreams, falling into a slumber on soft feather beds in some corner room under the images. But it’s also nice to sleep through the hunt, because in the old estate there are books, portraits, and magazines all around, at the sight of which you feel a “sweet and strange melancholy.”

But life has changed, it has become “beggarly”, “small-scale”. But it also contains remnants of former greatness, poetic echoes of former noble happiness. So, on the threshold of a century of change, the landowners had only memories of carefree days.

The main characters and their characteristics

1. The disparate paintings are connected through a lyrical hero who represents author's position in the work. He appears before us as a man with a subtle mental organization, dreamy, receptive, and divorced from reality. He lives in the past, grieving for it and not noticing what is actually happening around him, including in the village environment.
2. The main character's aunt Anna Gerasimovna also lives in the past. Order and neatness reign in her house, antique furniture is perfectly preserved. The old woman also talks about the times of her youth, and about her inheritance.
3. Shurin Arseny Semenovich is distinguished by his young, dashing spirit; in hunting conditions these reckless qualities are very organic, but what is he like in everyday life, on the farm? This remains a secret, because in his face the culture of the nobility is poeticized, just like the previous heroine.
4. There are many peasants in the story, but they all have similar qualities: folk wisdom, respect for landowners, dexterity and thrift. They bow deeply, run at the first call, and, in general, maintain a happy noble life.

Problems

The problematics of the story “Antonov Apples” mainly focus on the theme of the impoverishment of the nobility, their loss of their former authority. According to the author, the life of a landowner is beautiful, poetic, in village life there is no place for boredom, vulgarity and cruelty, owners and peasants coexist perfectly with each other and are inconceivable separately. Bunin’s poeticization of serfdom also clearly emerges, because it was then that these beautiful estates flourished.

Another important issue raised by the writer is also the problem of memory. In the turning point, crisis era in which the story was written, I want peace and warmth. It is precisely this that a person always finds in childhood memories, which are colored with a joyful feeling; only good things usually arise in memory from that period. This is beautiful and Bunin wants to leave it in the hearts of readers forever.

Subject

• The main theme of Bunin's Antonov Apples is the nobility and its way of life. It is immediately clear that the author is proud of his own class, therefore he places it very highly. Village landowners are also glorified by the writer because of their connection with the peasants, who are clean, highly moral, and morally healthy. In rural worries there is no place for melancholy, melancholy and bad habits. It is in these remote estates that the spirit of romanticism is alive, moral values and concepts of honor.
• The theme of nature occupies a large place. Paintings native land written freshly, cleanly, with respect. The author's love for all these fields, gardens, roads, and estates is immediately visible. In them, according to Bunin, lies the true, real Russia. The nature surrounding the lyrical hero truly heals the soul and drives away destructive thoughts.

Meaning

Nostalgia is the main feeling that covers both the author and many readers of that time after reading Antonov Apples. Bunin – a real artist words, so it country life- an idyllic picture. The author carefully avoided all the sharp corners, in his story life is beautiful and devoid of problems, social contradictions, which in reality had accumulated by the beginning of the twentieth century and inevitably led Russia to change.

The meaning of this story by Bunin is to create a picturesque canvas, to plunge into a bygone but alluring world of serenity and prosperity. For many people, escapism became a solution, but it was short-lived. Nevertheless, Antonov Apples is an exemplary work in artistically, and you can learn from Bunin the beauty of his style and imagery.

Interesting? Save it on your wall!

I breathed sharply with coolness

The smell of decay hits my face;

But I wasn’t looking for spring decorations,

And memories of past years.

E.A.Baratynsky

I.A. Bunin is often called the last Russian classic, a representative of the outgoing noble culture. His works are imbued tragic feeling the doom of the old world, close and dear to the writer, with whom he was connected by origin and upbringing: “The spirit of this environment, romanticized by my imagination, seemed to me all the more beautiful because it disappeared forever before my eyes.” An elegiac motif of longing for the past runs through all of Bunin’s work.

In the story “Antonov Apples” the writer recalls the old, good time, when the nobility was at the ideal time of its existence. “I remember a large room, illuminated by the pre-autumn sun...” - this is how a detailed, slow and unhurried narrative begins. Bunin’s lyrical prose is generally impossible to read quickly: the constant interpenetration from the present to the past is disrupted. This is one of the main problems of the writer’s work - the need to connect times and generations, preserving the memory of a bygone culture. The author emphasizes the idea of ​​the doom of beauty in the “iron” age, the displacement of everything lost, aesthetic, by a crude thirst for profit. And all that remains from the old world is the subtle smell of Antonov apples. The smell is ethereal, and therefore nothing remains of the previous way of life.

At the beginning of the story, we note the technique of anaphora, characteristic of poetic works: “I remember a large, all golden, dried up and thinning garden, I remember maple alleys, the subtle aroma of fallen leaves and the smell of Antonov apples.” A number of nouns attract attention here. Behind each of them is a visible image, colored with bright epithets (“fresh, quiet morning", "Golden Garden", etc.) This makes prose work like a poem. Here you can see an undoubted similarity with “Poems in Prose” by I.S. Turgenev. Not only a love of words and beauty united the two great writers - they were also brought together by a passion for hunting. It is no coincidence that Turgenev called his cycle of stories “Notes of a Hunter,” and Bunin noted that “for last years only one thing supported the fading spirit of the landowners - hunting.” Hunting is an ancient and favorite pastime of Russian nobles. Bunin calls the autumn season “golden”. Big stage hunting is given against the backdrop of the beginning of October - the farewell holiday of autumn. The writer makes us, as it were, accomplices of this joyful, exciting spectacle, hence the narration in the 2nd person: “You are riding on a horse, you feel “sweet fatigue,” “you won’t notice how you will drown... in a sweet, healthy sleep...”.

Landscape sketch The 1st part (exposition) is replaced by portrait sketches. Bunin lovingly shows an old man, a long-liver, who lived in Vyselki, where “from time immemorial” the peasants were “famous” for their age and “wealth.” Such longevity was considered a sign of a happy, prosperous life; the author describes in detail the

good courtyards, depicts the measured, leisurely existence of wealthy men. It is important for Bunin to compare this familiar way of life with the life of the local nobility using the example of his aunt Anna Gerasimovna.

The story is based on the author’s impressions of visiting his brother’s estate. Before us, against the background of an open area, a “spacious and deep” sky (a favorite image of Bunin’s prose and poetry), the aunt’s estate appears. The description of the estate is typical, we saw something similar in both Turgenev and L. Tolstoy: white lordly two-storey house with columns, neglected garden with a pond, linden alley, bench. The narrative includes a description of the interior: old “mahogany” furniture, “blue and purple glass windows, dried linden blossom” outside the window frames. We pay special attention to the library - grandfather's books in thick bindings that “smell so nice.” This collection of books highlights the interests and hobbies of the nobles. Sometimes the choice of volumes is random: “satirical and philosophical works Voltaire”, and next to them are your loved ones romantic works Zhukovsky and Pushkin. “And the old, dreamy life rises before you,” and you imagine how “aristocratically beautiful heads,” sadly and tenderly looking from portraits in tarnished gilded frames, thoughtfully froze over the open pages.

The ellipsis that ends Chapter 3 is significant. This is a longing for a bygone life, the symbol of which for Bunin was the smell of Antonov apples: “These days were so recent, and yet it seems that almost a whole century has passed since then.” Therefore, the next chapter is based on contrast: exquisitely aristocratic “ the life of the fathers" and the "beggarly small-scale life" of the "children." But even in this, Bunin knows how to find attractive features. Hence the abundance of exclamatory sentences: “The small-scale life is good!” (these words sound like a refrain), “It will be a glorious day of hunting!” The usual sound of autumn work merges with the sounds of hunting horns in the fields. And although small-scale families still come together and disappear for whole days in the snow-covered fields, now they “drink with their last money,” and their song about the wild wind is full of hopeless sadness:

Opened my gates wider,

The path was covered with white snow...

The ending of the story is symbolic. It echoes the beginning. There is the cool silence of the morning, here it is late evening, when they “glow in the dark” winter night outbuilding windows." This is the dawn and dusk of noble life, and more and more often, towards the end of the story, ellipses appear. If at the beginning of the work they give the character of memories, now they carry in themselves understatement and sadness for a bygone noble life, for a vanished youth.

Thus, the work reflected main topic creativity of I.A. Bunin of the 900s - the theme of the patriarchal past of Russia. The writer regrets his passing life, idealizing the noble way of life. His best memories are associated with the smell of Antonov apples. But Bunin hopes that, along with the dying Russia of the past, the roots of the nation will still be preserved in its memory.