Man from San Francisco characteristics of the main character. An acute sense of the crisis of civilization. The gentleman's daughter from San Francisco

The main character of Bunin's story lived his life in anticipation of rest and pleasure; until a certain time, he worked, but did not live, but existed. All his plans to live were postponed for the future. Expensive outfits, treats, shows - everything that is appropriate for people with a high income accompanies the gentleman, but does not bring him any impressions or pleasure. The main characters of “Mr. from San Francisco” endure all the joys of a rich life calmly and indifferently, this is the same necessity as following fashion for the sake of convenience.

Characteristics of the characters "Mr. from San Francisco"

Main characters

Minor characters

In the story, Bunin touches on the topic of the meaning of human life, the price of money and human happiness. A sharp contrast is created by the description of the journey before and after the death of the main character. At the end of the work “Mr. from San Francisco,” the heroes mourn more about a spoiled trip, about a lost status, than about the death of a loved one. Analysis of pictures of nature and the lives of those who continue their path, despite the death of a person, suggests the indifference of everything around him to his tragedy. The truth is cruel: for a person hanging out in a wooden box for a week in the hold, money and position do not play any role.

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History of creation and plot of the story

According to Bunin himself, the inspiration for writing “Mr...” was Thomas Mann’s story “Death in Venice.” At that time, Ivan Alekseevich had not read the work of his German colleague, but only knew that in it an American was dying on the island of Capri. So “The Mister from San Francisco” and “Death in Venice” are in no way connected, except perhaps by a good idea.

In the story, a certain gentleman from San Francisco, together with his wife and young daughter, set off on a long journey from the New World to the Old World. The gentleman worked all his life and made a substantial fortune. Now, like all people of his status, he can afford a well-deserved rest. The family is sailing on a luxury ship called Atlantis. The ship is more like a luxury mobile hotel, where an eternal holiday lasts and everything works in order to bring pleasure to its obscenely rich passengers.

The first tourist point on the route of our travelers is Naples, which greets them unfavorably - the weather in the city is disgusting. Soon the gentleman from San Francisco leaves the city to go to the shores of sunny Capri. However, there, in the cozy reading room of a fashionable hotel, unexpected death from an attack awaits him. The gentleman is hastily transferred to the cheapest room (so as not to spoil the reputation of the hotel) and in a blind box in the hold of the Atlantis, he is sent home to San Francisco.

Main characters: characteristics of images

Mister from San Francisco

We get to know the gentleman from San Francisco from the first pages of the story, because he is the central character of the work. Surprisingly, the author does not honor his hero with a name. Throughout the entire narrative, he remains “Mister” or “Mr.” Why? The writer honestly admits this to his reader - this faceless man is “in his desire to buy the delights of real life with his existing wealth.”

Before we hang labels, let's get to know this gentleman better. What if he's not so bad? So, our hero worked hard all his life (“the Chinese, whom he hired thousands of to work for him, knew this well”). He turned 58 years old and now he has every financial and moral right to arrange a great vacation for himself (and his family as well).

“Until this time, he did not live, but only existed, although very well, but still pinning all his hopes on the future.”

Describing the appearance of his nameless master, Bunin, who was distinguished by his ability to notice individual features in everyone, for some reason does not find anything special in this man. He casually draws his portrait - “dry, short, poorly cut, but tightly sewn... a yellowish face with a trimmed silver mustache... large teeth... a strong bald head.” It seems that behind this crude “ammunition”, which is given out along with a solid fortune, it is difficult to discern the thoughts and feelings of a person, and, perhaps, everything sensual simply sours in such storage conditions.

With a closer acquaintance with the gentleman, we still learn little about him. We know that he wears elegant, expensive suits with suffocating collars, we know that at dinner at “Antlantis” he eats his fill, smokes red-hot with cigars and gets drunk on liqueurs, and this brings pleasure, but essentially we know nothing more.

It’s amazing, but during the entire long journey on the ship and stay in Naples, not a single enthusiastic exclamation sounded from the gentleman’s lips; he does not admire anything, is not surprised by anything, does not reason about anything. The trip brings him a lot of inconvenience, but he cannot not go, because this is what all people of his rank do. That’s how it’s supposed to be - first Italy, then France, Spain, Greece, certainly Egypt and the British Isles, on the way back exotic Japan...

Exhausted by seasickness, he sails to the island of Capri (an obligatory point on the route of any self-respecting tourist). In a luxurious room at the best hotel on the island, a gentleman from San Francisco constantly says “Oh, this is terrible!”, without even trying to understand what exactly is terrible. The pricks of cufflinks, the stuffiness of a starched collar, naughty gouty fingers... I’d rather go to the reading room and drink local wine, all respected tourists certainly drink it.

And having reached his “mecca” in the hotel reading room, the gentleman from San Francisco dies, but we don’t feel sorry for him. No, no, we don’t want righteous reprisal, we simply don’t care, as if a chair breaks. We wouldn't shed tears over the chair.

In pursuit of wealth, this deeply limited man did not know how to manage money, and therefore bought what society imposed on him - uncomfortable clothes, unnecessary travel, even a daily routine according to which all travelers were required to rest. Early rise, first breakfast, walk along the deck or “enjoying” the sights of the city, second breakfast, voluntary-forced sleep (everyone should be tired at this time!), getting ready and the long-awaited dinner, plentiful, satisfying, drunk. This is what the imaginary “freedom” of a rich man from the New World looks like.

Master's wife

The wife of the gentleman from San Francisco, alas, also has no name. The author calls her “Mrs.” and characterizes her as “a large, broad and calm woman.” She, like a faceless shadow, follows her wealthy husband, walks along the deck, has breakfast, dinner, and “enjoys” the sights. The writer admits that she is not very impressionable, but, like all older American women, she is a passionate traveler... At least she is supposed to be one.

The only emotional outburst occurs after the death of a spouse. The Mrs. is indignant that the hotel manager refuses to place the body of the deceased in expensive rooms and leaves him to “spend the night” in a wretched, damp room. And not a word about the loss of their spouse, they have lost respect, status - that’s what occupies the unhappy woman.

Master's daughter

This sweet miss does not evoke negative emotions. She is not capricious, not arrogant, not talkative; on the contrary, she is very reserved and shy.

“Tall, thin, with magnificent hair, perfectly styled, with aromatic breath from violet cakes and with the most delicate pink pimples near the lips and between the shoulder blades.”

At first glance, the author is favorable to this lovely person, but he does not even give his daughter a name, because again there is nothing individual about her. Remember the episode when she is in awe, talking on board the Atlantis with the crown prince, who was traveling incognito. Everyone, of course, knew that this was an oriental prince and knew how fabulously rich he was. The young miss went crazy with excitement when he paid attention to her, she may even have fallen in love with him. Meanwhile, the eastern prince was not at all good-looking - small, like a boy, a thin face with tight dark skin, a sparse mustache, an unattractive European outfit (after all, he was traveling incognito!). You're supposed to fall in love with a prince, even if he's a complete freak.

Other characters

As a contrast to our cold trio, the author intersperses descriptions of characters from the people. This is the boatman Lorenzo (“a carefree reveler and a handsome man”), and two highlanders with bagpipes at the ready, and simple Italians meeting the boat from the shore. All of them are inhabitants of a joyful, cheerful, beautiful country, they are its masters, its sweat and blood. They do not have countless fortunes, tight collars and social duties, but in their poverty they are richer than all the gentlemen from San Francisco, their cold wives and gentle daughters combined.

The gentleman from San Francisco understands this on some subconscious, intuitive level... and hates all these “garlic-smelling people,” because he can’t just run barefoot along the shore - he has a second breakfast on schedule.

Analysis of the work

The story can be roughly divided into two unequal parts - before and after the death of the gentleman from San Francisco. We are witnessing a vibrant metamorphosis that has occurred in literally everything. How suddenly the money and status of this man, this self-proclaimed ruler of life, depreciated. The hotel manager, who just a few hours ago was smiling sweetly in front of a wealthy guest, now allows himself undisguised familiarity in relation to Mrs., Miss and the deceased Mr. Now this is not an honored guest who will leave a substantial sum at the box office, but just a corpse that risks casting a shadow on the high-society hotel.

With expressive strokes, Bunin paints the chilling indifference of everyone around to the death of a person, starting from the guests, whose evening is now overshadowed, and ending with his wife and daughter, whose journey is hopelessly ruined. Fierce selfishness and coldness - everyone thinks only about themselves.

The ship Atlantis becomes a generalized allegory of this thoroughly false bourgeois society. It is also divided into classes by its decks. In luxurious halls, rich people with their companions and families have fun and get drunk, and in the holds, those whom representatives of high society do not even consider to be people work until they sweat. But the world of money and lack of spirituality is doomed, which is why the author calls his allegory ship in honor of the sunken continent “Atlantis”.

Problems of the work

In the story “Mr. from San Francisco,” Ivan Bunin raises the following questions:

• What is the true importance of money in life?
• Is it possible to buy joy and happiness?
• Is it worth enduring constant hardship for the sake of an illusory reward?
• Who is freer: the rich or the poor?
• What is the purpose of man in this world?

The last question is especially interesting to discuss. It is certainly not new - many writers have thought about the meaning of human existence. Bunin does not go into complex philosophy, his conclusion is simple - a person must live in such a way as to leave a mark behind him. Whether these are works of art, reforms in the lives of millions, or bright memories in the hearts of loved ones, does not matter. The gentleman from San Francisco left nothing behind; no one will sincerely grieve for him, not even his wife and daughter.

Place in literature: Literature of the 20th century → Russian literature of the 20th century → The works of Ivan Bunin → The story “The Gentleman from San Francisco” (1915).

Article menu:

History of creation and plot of the story

According to Bunin himself, the inspiration for writing “Mr...” was Thomas Mann’s story “Death in Venice.” At that time, Ivan Alekseevich had not read the work of his German colleague, but only knew that in it an American was dying on the island of Capri. So “The Mister from San Francisco” and “Death in Venice” are in no way connected, except perhaps by a good idea.

In the story, a certain gentleman from San Francisco, together with his wife and young daughter, set off on a long journey from the New World to the Old World. The gentleman worked all his life and made a substantial fortune. Now, like all people of his status, he can afford a well-deserved rest. The family is sailing on a luxury ship called Atlantis. The ship is more like a luxury mobile hotel, where an eternal holiday lasts and everything works in order to bring pleasure to its obscenely rich passengers.

The first tourist point on the route of our travelers is Naples, which greets them unfavorably - the weather in the city is disgusting. Soon the gentleman from San Francisco leaves the city to go to the shores of sunny Capri. However, there, in the cozy reading room of a fashionable hotel, unexpected death from an attack awaits him. The gentleman is hastily transferred to the cheapest room (so as not to spoil the reputation of the hotel) and in a blind box in the hold of the Atlantis, he is sent home to San Francisco.

Main characters: characteristics of images

Mister from San Francisco

We get to know the gentleman from San Francisco from the first pages of the story, because he is the central character of the work. Surprisingly, the author does not honor his hero with a name. Throughout the entire narrative, he remains “Mister” or “Mr.” Why? The writer honestly admits this to his reader - this faceless man is “in his desire to buy the delights of real life with his existing wealth.”

Before we hang labels, let's get to know this gentleman better. What if he's not so bad? So, our hero worked hard all his life (“the Chinese, whom he hired thousands of to work for him, knew this well”). He turned 58 years old and now he has every financial and moral right to arrange a great vacation for himself (and his family as well).

“Until this time, he did not live, but only existed, although very well, but still pinning all his hopes on the future.”

Describing the appearance of his nameless master, Bunin, who was distinguished by his ability to notice individual features in everyone, for some reason does not find anything special in this man. He casually draws his portrait - “dry, short, poorly cut, but tightly sewn... a yellowish face with a trimmed silver mustache... large teeth... a strong bald head.” It seems that behind this crude “ammunition”, which is given out along with a solid fortune, it is difficult to discern the thoughts and feelings of a person, and, perhaps, everything sensual simply sours in such storage conditions.

With a closer acquaintance with the gentleman, we still learn little about him. We know that he wears elegant, expensive suits with suffocating collars, we know that at dinner at “Antlantis” he eats his fill, smokes red-hot with cigars and gets drunk on liqueurs, and this brings pleasure, but essentially we know nothing more.

It’s amazing, but during the entire long journey on the ship and stay in Naples, not a single enthusiastic exclamation sounded from the gentleman’s lips; he does not admire anything, is not surprised by anything, does not reason about anything. The trip brings him a lot of inconvenience, but he cannot not go, because this is what all people of his rank do. That’s how it’s supposed to be - first Italy, then France, Spain, Greece, certainly Egypt and the British Isles, on the way back exotic Japan...

Exhausted by seasickness, he sails to the island of Capri (an obligatory point on the route of any self-respecting tourist). In a luxurious room at the best hotel on the island, a gentleman from San Francisco constantly says “Oh, this is terrible!”, without even trying to understand what exactly is terrible. The pricks of cufflinks, the stuffiness of a starched collar, naughty gouty fingers... I’d rather go to the reading room and drink local wine, all respected tourists certainly drink it.

And having reached his “mecca” in the hotel reading room, the gentleman from San Francisco dies, but we don’t feel sorry for him. No, no, we don’t want righteous reprisal, we simply don’t care, as if a chair breaks. We wouldn't shed tears over the chair.

In pursuit of wealth, this deeply limited man did not know how to manage money, and therefore bought what society imposed on him - uncomfortable clothes, unnecessary travel, even a daily routine according to which all travelers were required to rest. Early rise, first breakfast, walk along the deck or “enjoying” the sights of the city, second breakfast, voluntary-forced sleep (everyone should be tired at this time!), getting ready and the long-awaited dinner, plentiful, satisfying, drunk. This is what the imaginary “freedom” of a rich man from the New World looks like.

Master's wife

The wife of the gentleman from San Francisco, alas, also has no name. The author calls her “Mrs.” and characterizes her as “a large, broad and calm woman.” She, like a faceless shadow, follows her wealthy husband, walks along the deck, has breakfast, dinner, and “enjoys” the sights. The writer admits that she is not very impressionable, but, like all older American women, she is a passionate traveler... At least she is supposed to be one.

The only emotional outburst occurs after the death of a spouse. The Mrs. is indignant that the hotel manager refuses to place the body of the deceased in expensive rooms and leaves him to “spend the night” in a wretched, damp room. And not a word about the loss of their spouse, they have lost respect, status - that’s what occupies the unhappy woman.

Master's daughter

This sweet miss does not evoke negative emotions. She is not capricious, not arrogant, not talkative; on the contrary, she is very reserved and shy.

“Tall, thin, with magnificent hair, perfectly styled, with aromatic breath from violet cakes and with the most delicate pink pimples near the lips and between the shoulder blades.”

At first glance, the author is favorable to this lovely person, but he does not even give his daughter a name, because again there is nothing individual about her. Remember the episode when she is in awe, talking on board the Atlantis with the crown prince, who was traveling incognito. Everyone, of course, knew that this was an oriental prince and knew how fabulously rich he was. The young miss went crazy with excitement when he paid attention to her, she may even have fallen in love with him. Meanwhile, the eastern prince was not at all good-looking - small, like a boy, a thin face with tight dark skin, a sparse mustache, an unattractive European outfit (after all, he was traveling incognito!). You're supposed to fall in love with a prince, even if he's a complete freak.

Other characters

As a contrast to our cold trio, the author intersperses descriptions of characters from the people. This is the boatman Lorenzo (“a carefree reveler and a handsome man”), and two highlanders with bagpipes at the ready, and simple Italians meeting the boat from the shore. All of them are inhabitants of a joyful, cheerful, beautiful country, they are its masters, its sweat and blood. They do not have countless fortunes, tight collars and social duties, but in their poverty they are richer than all the gentlemen from San Francisco, their cold wives and gentle daughters combined.

The gentleman from San Francisco understands this on some subconscious, intuitive level... and hates all these “garlic-smelling people,” because he can’t just run barefoot along the shore - he has a second breakfast on schedule.

Analysis of the work

The story can be roughly divided into two unequal parts - before and after the death of the gentleman from San Francisco. We are witnessing a vibrant metamorphosis that has occurred in literally everything. How suddenly the money and status of this man, this self-proclaimed ruler of life, depreciated. The hotel manager, who just a few hours ago was smiling sweetly in front of a wealthy guest, now allows himself undisguised familiarity in relation to Mrs., Miss and the deceased Mr. Now this is not an honored guest who will leave a substantial sum at the box office, but just a corpse that risks casting a shadow on the high-society hotel.

With expressive strokes, Bunin paints the chilling indifference of everyone around to the death of a person, starting from the guests, whose evening is now overshadowed, and ending with his wife and daughter, whose journey is hopelessly ruined. Fierce selfishness and coldness - everyone thinks only about themselves.

The ship Atlantis becomes a generalized allegory of this thoroughly false bourgeois society. It is also divided into classes by its decks. In luxurious halls, rich people with their companions and families have fun and get drunk, and in the holds, those whom representatives of high society do not even consider to be people work until they sweat. But the world of money and lack of spirituality is doomed, which is why the author calls his allegory ship in honor of the sunken continent “Atlantis”.

Problems of the work

In the story “Mr. from San Francisco,” Ivan Bunin raises the following questions:

• What is the true importance of money in life?
• Is it possible to buy joy and happiness?
• Is it worth enduring constant hardship for the sake of an illusory reward?
• Who is freer: the rich or the poor?
• What is the purpose of man in this world?

The last question is especially interesting to discuss. It is certainly not new - many writers have thought about the meaning of human existence. Bunin does not go into complex philosophy, his conclusion is simple - a person must live in such a way as to leave a mark behind him. Whether these are works of art, reforms in the lives of millions, or bright memories in the hearts of loved ones, does not matter. The gentleman from San Francisco left nothing behind; no one will sincerely grieve for him, not even his wife and daughter.

Place in literature: Literature of the 20th century → Russian literature of the 20th century → The works of Ivan Bunin → The story “The Gentleman from San Francisco” (1915).

We also recommend that you familiarize yourself with the work Clean Monday. Ivan Bunin considered this work his best work.

Mister from San Francisco- at the very beginning of the story, the lack of a name for the hero is motivated by the fact that “no one remembered him.” G. “went to the Old World for two whole years, with his wife and daughter, solely for the sake of entertainment. He was firmly convinced that he had every right to rest, pleasure, and an excellent trip in all respects. For such confidence, he had the argument that, firstly, he was rich, and secondly, he had just started life, despite his fifty-eight years.” Bunin sets out in detail the route of the upcoming trip: Southern Italy - Nice - Monte Carlo - Florence - Rome - Venice - Paris - Seville - Athens - Palestine - Egypt, “even Japan, of course, is already on the way back.” “Everything went fine at first,” but in this dispassionate statement of what is happening, the “hammers of fate” can be heard.

G.- one of the many passengers on the large ship Atlantis, which looked like “a huge hotel with all the amenities, with a night bar, oriental baths, and its own newspaper.” The ocean, which has long become a symbol of life in world literature in its variability, menace and unpredictability, “was terrible, but no one thought about it”; “on the forecastle the siren constantly howled with hellish gloom and squealed with frantic anger, but few of the diners heard the siren - it was drowned out by the sounds of a beautiful string orchestra.” “Siren” is a symbol of world chaos, “music” is a symbol of calm harmony. The constant juxtaposition of these leitmotifs determines the dissonant stylistic intonation of the story. Bunin gives a portrait of his hero: “Dry, short, poorly cut, but tightly sewn<...>. There was something Mongolian in his yellowish face with a trimmed silver mustache, his large teeth glittered with gold fillings, and his strong bald head was old ivory.” Another important, as it turns out later, deceptive detail: “The tuxedo and starched underwear made you look very young” G.

When the ship arrived in Naples, G. and his family decide to get off the ship and go to Capri, where, “everyone assured,” it was warm. Bunin does not indicate whether G.’s tragic outcome was predetermined if he had remained on Atlantis. Already during the voyage on a small boat to the island of Capri, G. felt “like himself, just as he should have, a completely old man” and thought with irritation about the goal of his journey - about Italy.

The day of his arrival in Capri became “significant” in G’s life. He is looking forward to an elegant evening in the company of a famous beauty, but when he gets dressed, he involuntarily mutters: “Oh, this is terrible!”, “without trying to understand, without thinking what exactly is terrible.” He overcomes himself, waits for his wife in the reading room, reads newspapers - “when suddenly the lines flashed before him with a glassy shine, his neck tensed, his eyes bulged, his pince-nez flew off his nose... He rushed forward, wanted to take a breath of air - and wheezed wildly; his lower jaw fell off, illuminating his entire mouth with gold fillings, his head fell on his shoulder and began to roll, the chest of his shirt stuck out like a box - and his whole body, writhing, lifting up the carpet with his heels, crawled to the floor, desperately struggling with someone.” G.'s agony is depicted physiologically and dispassionately. However, death does not fit into the lifestyle of a wealthy hotel. “If there had not been a German in the reading room, the hotel would have quickly and deftly managed to hush up this terrible incident<...>they would have rushed away by the legs and by the head of the gentleman from San Francisco, to hell - and not a single soul of the guests would have known what he had done.” G. “persistently fights death,” but calms down “in the smallest, worst, coldest and dampest room, at the end of the lower corridor.” A quarter of an hour later, everything is in order at the hotel, but with a reminder of death, “the evening was irreparably ruined.”

On Christmas Day, the body of “a dead old man, having experienced much humiliation, much human inattention” in a “long soda box of English water” is sent along the same route, first on a small steamer, then on “the same famous ship” goes home. But the body is now hidden from the living in the womb of the ship - in the hold. A vision of the Devil appears, observing “a ship, multi-tiered, multi-pipe, created by the pride of the New Man with an old heart.”

At the end of the story, Bunin re-describes the brilliant and easy life of the ship’s passengers, including the dance of a pair of hired lovers: and no one knew their secret and fatigue from pretense, no one knew about G.’s body “at the bottom of the dark hold, in the vicinity of the gloomy and the sultry bowels of the ship, heavily overcome by the darkness, the ocean, the blizzard...” This finale can be interpreted as a victory over death and at the same time as submission to the eternal circle of existence: life - death. T. Mann put the story on a par with “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” by L. Tolstoy.

The story was originally titled "Death on Capri". Bunin connected the idea of ​​the story with Thomas Mann’s story “Death in Venice,” but even more with memories of the sudden death of an American who came to Capri. However, as the writer admitted, he invented “San Francisco and everything else” while living on his cousin’s estate in the Yeletsky district of the Oryol province.