Read online Bunin light breathing complete. Bunin "Easy Breathing": analysis of the work

Easy breath. “In the cemetery, over a fresh clay mound stands new cross made of oak, strong, heavy, smooth.” On cold, gray April days, the monuments of the spacious county cemetery are clearly visible through the bare trees. The porcelain wreath at the foot of the cross rings sadly and lonely. “In the cross itself there is a rather large, convex porcelain medallion, and in the medallion there is a photographic portrait of a schoolgirl with joyful, amazingly lively eyes. This is Olya Meshcherskaya.”

She did not stand out among her peers in any way, although she was “one of the pretty, rich and happy girls.” Then she suddenly began to blossom and become amazingly prettier: “At the age of fourteen, she thin waist And slender legs, breasts and all those forms were already clearly outlined, the charm of which has never yet been expressed by human words; at fifteen she was already considered a beauty.” Everything suited her and it seemed that nothing could harm her beauty: not the ink stains on her fingers, not her flushed face, not her disheveled hair. Olya Meshcherskaya danced better than anyone at balls and skated, no one was looked after as much as she was, and no one was loved so much junior classes like her. They said about her that she was flighty and could not live without admirers, that one of the schoolchildren was madly in love with her, who, because of her changeable treatment of him, even attempted suicide.

“Olya Meshcherskaya went completely crazy with fun during her last winter, as they said in the gymnasium.” The winter was beautiful - snowy, frosty and sunny. The pink evenings were beautiful, when the music sounded and the dressed crowd merrily glided along the ice of the skating rink, “in which Olya Meshcherskaya seemed the most carefree, the happiest.”

One day, when Olya Meshcherskaya was playing with first-graders during a long break, she was called to the head of the gymnasium. Stopping in her tracks, she took a deep breath, smoothed her hair, pulled down her apron and ran up the stairs with shining eyes. “The boss, young-looking but gray-haired, sat calmly with knitting in her hands at her desk, under the royal portrait,”

She began to reprimand Meshcherskaya: it was not appropriate for her, a high school student, to behave like that, to wear expensive combs, “shoes that cost twenty rubles,” and, finally, what kind of hairdo did she have? This is women's hairstyle! “You are no longer a girl,” the boss said meaningfully, “... but not a woman either...” Without losing her simplicity and calmness, Meshcherskaya boldly objected: “Forgive me, madame, you are mistaken: I am a woman. And you know who is to blame for this? Dad's friend and neighbor, and your brother Alexey Mikhailovich Malyutin. It happened last summer in the village..."

And a month after this conversation, the incredible confession that stunned the boss was unexpectedly and tragically confirmed. “... A Cossack officer, ugly and plebeian in appearance, who had absolutely nothing in common with the circle to which Olya Meshcherskaya belonged, shot her on the station platform, among a large crowd of people who had just arrived by train.” He told the investigator that Meshcherskaya was close to him, vowed to be his wife, and at the station, seeing him off to Novocherkassk, suddenly told him that she had never thought of loving him, that all the talk about marriage was just her mockery of him, and let me read that page of her diary that talked about Milyutin.

On the page marked the tenth of July last year, Meshcherskaya described in detail what happened. That day her parents and brother left for the city, and she was left alone in their village house. It was a wonderful day. Olya Meshcherskaya walked for a long time in the garden, in the field, and was in the forest. She felt as good as she had ever felt in her life. She fell asleep in her father’s office, and at four o’clock the maid woke her up and said that Alexei Mikhailovich had arrived. The girl was very happy about his arrival. Despite his fifty-six years, he was “still very handsome and always well dressed.” He smelled pleasantly of English cologne, and his eyes were very young, black. Before tea they walked in the garden, he held her arm and said that they were like Faust and Margarita. What happened next between her and this elderly man, her father’s friend, could not be explained: “I don’t understand how this could happen, I’m crazy, I never thought I was like this!... I feel such disgust for him that I can’t survive this!..”

Having given the diary to the officer, Olya Meshcherskaya walked along the platform, waiting for him to finish reading. This is where her death overtook...

Every Sunday, after mass, a small woman in mourning goes to the cemetery, which looks like “a large low garden, surrounded by a white fence, above the gate of which is written “The Dormition of the Mother of God.” Finely crossing myself as we walk, woman walking along the cemetery alley to the bench opposite the oak cross above Meshcherskaya’s grave. Here she sits in the spring wind for an hour or two, until she gets completely cold. Listening to the singing of birds and the sound of the wind in a porcelain wreath, the little woman sometimes thinks that she would not regret half her life, if only this “dead wreath” were not in front of her eyes. It is difficult for her to believe that under the oak cross lies “the one whose eyes shine so immortally from this convex porcelain medallion on the cross, and how can one combine with this pure gaze the terrible thing that is now associated with the name of Olya Meshcherskaya?”

This woman is the cool lady Olya Meshcherskaya, “an elderly girl who has long been living with some kind of fiction that replaces her real life.” Previously, she believed in the brilliant future of her brother, “an in no way remarkable ensign.” After his death near Mukden, my sister began to convince herself “that she is an ideological worker.” The death of Olya Meshcherskaya gave her food for new dreams and fantasies. She recalls a conversation she accidentally overheard between Meshcherskaya and her beloved friend, plump, tall Subbotina. Walking through the gymnasium garden during recess, Olya Meshcherskaya excitedly recounted to her the description of the perfect female beauty, read in one of the old books. Many things seemed so true to her that she even learned them by heart. Among the mandatory qualities of a beauty were mentioned: “black, boiling with resin eyes are black“like night, eyelashes, a gently playing blush, a thin figure, longer than an ordinary arm... a small leg, moderately large breasts, a properly rounded calf, shell-colored knees, sloping shoulders... but most importantly... easy breathing!” “But I have it,” Olya Meshcherskaya said to her friend, “listen to how I sigh—it’s true, I have it?”

“Now this light breath has dispersed again into the world, into this cloudy sky, into this cold spring wind.”

This story allows us to conclude that it belongs to the short story genre. The author managed to convey in a short form the life story of high school student Olya Meshcherskaya, but not only her. According to the definition of the genre, a short story in a unique, small, specific event must recreate the entire life of the hero, and through it, the life of society. Ivan Alekseevich creates through modernism unique image a girl who is still dreaming of true love.

Not only Bunin wrote about this feeling (“Easy Breathing”). The analysis of love was carried out, perhaps, by all the great poets and writers, very different in character and worldview, therefore, many shades of this feeling are presented in Russian literature. When we open the work of another author, we always find something new. Bunin also has his own. In his works there are often tragic endings, ending with the death of one of the heroes, but it is more light than deeply tragic. We are faced with a similar ending after finishing reading “Easy Breathing”.

First impression

At first glance, the events seem messy. The girl plays at love with an ugly officer, far from the circle to which the heroine belonged. In the story, the author uses the so-called “proof by return” technique, since even with such vulgar external events, love remains something untouched and bright, does not touch everyday dirt. Arriving at Olya’s grave, the class teacher asks herself how to combine all this with a pure look at “that terrible thing” that is now associated with the name of the schoolgirl. This question does not require an answer, which is present in the entire text of the work. It permeates Bunin's story "Easy Breathing".

The character of the main character

Olya Meshcherskaya seems to be the embodiment of youth, thirsty for love, a lively and dreamy heroine. Her image, contrary to the laws of public morality, captivates almost everyone, even the lower grades. And even the guardian of morals, teacher Olya, who condemned her for early adulthood, after the death of the heroine, comes to the cemetery to her grave every week, constantly thinks about her and at the same time even feels, “like all people devoted to a dream,” happy.

Character trait main character The story is that she longs for happiness and can find it even in such an ugly reality in which she had to find herself. Bunin uses “light breathing” as a metaphor for naturalness, vital energy. the so-called “ease of breathing” is invariably present in Olya, surrounding her special halo. People feel this and therefore are drawn to the girl, without even being able to explain why. She infects everyone with her joy.

Contrasts

Bunin's work "Easy Breathing" is built on contrasts. From the very first lines, a double feeling arises: a deserted, sad cemetery, a cold wind, a gray April day. And against this background - a portrait of a schoolgirl with lively, joyful eyes - a photograph on the cross. Olya's whole life is also built on contrast. Cloudless childhood is contrasted tragic events that occurred in Last year life of the heroine of the story "Easy Breathing". Ivan Bunin often emphasizes the contrast, the gap between the real and the apparent, internal state and the outside world.

Story plot

The plot of the work is quite simple. The happy young schoolgirl Olya Meshcherskaya first becomes the prey of her father's friend, an elderly sensualist, and then a living target for the aforementioned officer. Her death prompts a cool lady, a lonely woman, to “serve” her memory. However, the apparent simplicity of this plot is violated by a bright contrast: a heavy cross and lively, joyful eyes, which involuntarily makes the reader’s heart clench. The simplicity of the plot turned out to be deceptive, since the story “Easy Breathing” (Ivan Bunin) is not only about the fate of a girl, but also about the unfortunate lot of a classy lady who is used to living someone else’s life. Olya’s relationship with the officer is also interesting.

Relationship with the officer

In the plot of the story, the already mentioned officer kills Olya Meshcherskaya, involuntarily misled by her game. He did this because he was close to her, believed that she loved him, and could not survive the destruction of this illusion. Not every person can evoke such strong passion. This speaks of Olya’s bright personality, says Bunin (“Easy Breathing”). The act of the main character was cruel, but she, as you might guess, having a special character, stupefied the officer unintentionally. Olya Meshcherskaya was looking for a dream in her relationship with him, but she failed to find it.

Is Olya to blame?

Ivan Alekseevich believed that birth is not the beginning, and therefore death is not the end of the existence of the soul, the symbol of which is the definition used by Bunin - “light breathing.” Analysis of it in the text of the work allows us to conclude that this concept is souls. It does not disappear without a trace after death, but returns to its source. The work “Easy Breathing” is about this, and not just about Olya’s fate.

It is no coincidence that Ivan Bunin delays explaining the reasons for the heroine’s death. The question arises: “Maybe she is to blame for what happened?” After all, she is frivolous, flirts either with the high school student Shenshin, or, albeit unconsciously, with her father’s friend Alexei Mikhailovich Malyutin, who seduced her, then for some reason promises the officer to marry him. Why did she need all this? Bunin (“Easy Breathing”) analyzes the motives of the heroine’s actions. It gradually becomes clear that Olya is as beautiful as the elements. And just as immoral. She strives in everything to reach the depth, to the limit, to the innermost essence, and the opinion of others does not interest the heroine of the work “Easy Breathing”. Ivan Bunin wanted to tell us that in the actions of the schoolgirl there is no feeling of revenge, no meaningful vice, no firmness of decision, no pain of repentance. It turns out that the feeling of fullness of life can be destructive. Even the unconscious longing for her is tragic (like that of a classy lady). Therefore, every step, every detail of Olya’s life threatens disaster: pranks and curiosity can lead to serious consequences, to violence, and frivolous play with other people’s feelings can lead to murder. To such philosophical thought Bunin lets us down.

"Easy breath" of life

The essence of the heroine is that she lives, and not just plays a role in a play. This is also her fault. To be alive without following the rules of the game means to be doomed. The environment in which Meshcherskaya exists is completely devoid of a holistic, organic sense of beauty. Life here is subject to strict rules, violation of which leads to inevitable retribution. Therefore, Olya’s fate turns out to be tragic. Her death is natural, Bunin believes. “Light Breath,” however, did not die with the heroine, but dissolved in the air, filling it with itself. In the finale, the idea of ​​the immortality of the soul sounds like this.