Bunin Antonov apples summary analysis. “Antonov Apples” - analysis of Bunin’s work

Analysis of I. A. Bunin’s story “Antonov Apples”

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 with a tragic sense of 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 remembers the old things, 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, to preserve 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...”.

The landscape sketch of 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 – “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 life landed 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 backdrop 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 the small estates 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.

The great writer Ivan Alekseevich Bunin wrote his work “Antonov Apples” 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 skill. 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 you 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 the smell of Antonov apples has disappeared no more than the smell of childhood, which was associated with the life and everyday life of the local nobility. 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 former 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.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin deeply and sincerely loved his Motherland. All his works are permeated with a touching feeling of aching sadness, love for nature and the Motherland. One of such striking works of the great Russian writer is the story “Antonov Apples”, where the writer regrets the passing of the past. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the analysis of the work.

Brief Analysis

Year of writing: 1900

History of creation - The idea of writing the story was inspired by the author’s aroma of ripe apples, which he felt when he was visiting his brother’s estate.

Theme - The main theme of the work is regret for the noble class, which is gradually becoming a thing of the past, and the great theme of love for nature.

Composition - The story consists of four parts, which reflect periods of Russia's life, its past, present and future.

Genre - Narrative refers to the genre of a story composed of several parts in the form of a monologue. Direction - Realism.

History of creation

When analyzing the work in “Antonov Apples,” it is necessary to mention its creation story, which gave the main idea to this story.

The writer was visiting his brother's estate, surrounded by orchards. He came from the noble class, whose estates necessarily included gardens as a sign of nobility.

One day the writer left his brother’s house and was overwhelmed by the aroma of Antonov apples. This sweet and aromatic smell evoked in the writer nostalgia for the past and brought back memories of bygone youth. The writer was pierced by sadness for the passing of time, and the idea came to his mind to express his nostalgic feelings about the past on paper. The idea sank firmly into the writer’s soul, but he brought his idea of writing this story to life only nine years later. This is how Bunin’s story “Antonov Apples” was created, and nine years passed from conception to implementation, the year of writing was 1900. The nostalgic work is dedicated to the memories of the passing nobility.

Subject

The writer puts sadness and sadness about the passing time into the meaning of the title of his story. The smell of apples, sweet and at the same time tart, embodies the state of his life in the writer’s plan. poetic soul. His memories have the same shade, sometimes they are sweet and happy when the author remembers the past. About the time when the nobility lived in full bloom, a pure and righteous life. Everything was busy with worries and work, there was no room bad habits and boredom.

The bitterness of the memories is given by the moment when the writer realizes that the nobility has gradually fallen into decline, that calm and measured life is no longer there, and society has begun to wallow in vices.

Memories of people he once knew pass before the narrator’s eyes. The heroes of his memories are as close and dear to the poet as his entire past. The emerging problems of ruin and devastation of noble family nests run through the author’s entire narrative.

With his expressive artistic means, the author masterfully managed to awaken in every reader the memories dear to his heart.

The meaning of the work is to show a smooth and serene picture of the past, idealizing and embellishing it, bypassing the sharp corners of reality. To touch the hidden corners of the reader’s soul, so that these memories are only of a constructive nature, cleansing them of filth and malice.

Analysis of the story leads to the conclusion that this work leads to high moral thoughts, allows readers to renounce everything dirty and obscene, leads to true purification of the soul, and generates a desire for high ideals. The problem of the story is not only in regret about the passing of the nobility. The theme of nature is also deeply developed in the work. The author is rightfully considered an unsurpassed poet who glorifies his native nature. Bunin not only loves nature, he understands and knows it well. No writer can compare with him in describing nature. This is that emotional and deeply feeling person, so much nature lover that even the smell of apples allows him to create a work of genius.

Composition

Interesting compositional structure story, features of the composition include ellipsis both at the beginning and at the end of the work. Between these dots are four chapters of the story. Such features mean that the story seems to have no beginning and no end. This is just a piece of life, taken from some point, and does not end with anything, but gives food for thought about the coming future.

In the composition of the text there seems to be an absence of plot; there is no dynamic development in it. The entire story takes the form of a monologue.

The story, this inner monologue of the writer, is divided into four parts. Each part makes up a certain picture past, and all together they form one whole. All four parts of the work are subordinated to one theme. Using artistic media, features of the composition, in each of these parts, the author outlines the life and way of life of the noble class, its culture. He describes both the rise of the nobility and its decline. With slight sadness, in each of the four chapters, the writer talks about the past, suggesting the inevitability of a new future. In each of these parts, in each line, he calls on the reader not to forget about the past, to remember his homeland and ancestors, to cherish traditions, and only then can a new, happy future be built.

The composition of the work ends with the words of a song, the allegorical meaning of which is expressed by the author in the fact that history inevitably moves forward, sweeping away its past.

Genre

Bunin's work belongs to the short story genre. Bunin, a singer of nature and a poet, used poetic motifs in his narrative, and “Antonov Apples” can confidently be called a poetic story, a lyrical story of a realistic direction.

Criticism was ambiguous in its judgments about the work; its genius is evidenced by the fact that the story has become a classic.

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

In the story “Antonov Apples,” the writer recalls the good old days, 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, to preserve 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 the prose work look 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 “in recent years, only one thing has supported the fading spirit of the landowners - hunting.” Hunting is an ancient and favorite pastime of Russian nobles. Bunin calls the autumn season “golden”. A large hunting scene is given against the background 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...”.

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 backdrop 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: a white two-story manor house with columns, a neglected garden with a pond, a linden alley, a 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 of Voltaire,” and next to them are the favorite romantic works of 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 in this too, 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 the small estates 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 “the outbuilding windows glow in the darkness of the winter night.” 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 the main theme of I.A. Bunin’s work in the 900s - the theme of Russia’s patriarchal past. 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.

The story “Antonov Apples” as a whole can be considered as a prose poem. A brief and incredibly poetic time is depicted - Indian summer, when elegiac reflections naturally form in the soul.

Behind the detailed landscape sketch one can discern the poetic soul of the author, a subtle, educated, deeply loving life native nature. close to him folk wisdom, since he often refers to signs: “Autumn and winter live well if the water is calm and there is rain on Laurentia.”

I.A. Bunin is incredibly dear National character. With what care, for example, he describes the festive spirit of the garden fair. His creation of figures of people from among the people is amazing high degree individualization. Just look at one important thing, like a Kholmogory cow, a young elder, or a burry, nimble half-idiot playing the Tula harmonica.

To recreate in detail the atmosphere of early fine autumn in the apple orchard I.A. Bunin makes extensive use of entire rows artistic definitions: “I remember an early, fresh, quiet morning... I remember a large, all golden, dried up and thinning garden, I remember maple alleys, the subtle aroma of fallen leaves...” To reflect the surrounding atmosphere more fully, more clearly, to convey every sound (the creaking of carts, the clucking of blackbirds, the crackling apples eaten by men) and aroma (the smell of Antonov apples, honey and autumn freshness).

The smell of apples is a recurring detail in the story. I.A. Bunin describes a garden with Antonov apples in different time days. At the same time, the evening landscape turns out to be no poorer than the morning one. It is decorated with the diamond constellation Stozhar, the Milky Way, whitening overhead, and shooting stars.

Central theme of the story- the theme of the ruin of noble nests. The author writes with pain that the smell of Antonov apples is disappearing, and the way of life that has developed over centuries is falling apart. Admiring the past and the passing brings an elegiac tone to the work. Bunin emphasizes in certain details the social aspect of relationships between people. This is evidenced by the vocabulary (“philistine”, “barchuk”). Despite the elegiac tone, the story also contains optimistic notes. “How cold, dewy and how good it is to live in the world!” - emphasizes I.A. Bunin. The story reveals the idealization of the image of the people characteristic of the writer. He is especially close to the author in holidays when everyone is tidy and happy. “The old men and women lived in Vyselki for a very long time - the first sign of a rich village - and they were all tall, big and white, like a harrier. All you heard was: “Yes,” Agafya waved off her eighty-three year old!” - this is how I.A conveys through dialogues. Bunin his admiration for the simple way of life village life. The author poetizes everyday values: work on the land, a clean shirt and lunch with hot lamb on wooden plates.

Social and class differences do not escape the author's attention either. It is no coincidence that old Pankrat stands stretched out in front of the master, smiling guiltily and meekly. It is in this work that I.A. expresses. Bunin had an important idea for him that the structure of the average noble life was close to that of the peasants. The author-narrator directly admits that he did not know or see serfdom, but felt it, remembering how former servants bowed to their masters.

The social aspect is also emphasized in the interior of the house. Footman's room, people's room, hall, living room - all these names indicate the author's understanding of class contradictions in society. However, at the same time, the story also contains admiration for the refined life of the nobility. The writer, for example, emphasizes arctocratically beautiful heads in ancient hairstyles, from portraits lowering their long eyelashes onto sad and tender eyes.