And Bunin light breathing analysis. The meaning of the title and problems of the story by I.A. Bunin “Easy Breathing” (Bunin I
Story " Easy breath", written in 1916, is deservedly considered one of the pearls of Bunin’s prose - the image of the heroine is so succinctly and vividly captured in it, the feeling of beauty is so tenderly conveyed. What is “light breathing”, why has this phrase long ago become a common noun to denote human talent - the talent to live? To understand this, let’s analyze the story “Easy Breathing.”
Bunin builds his narrative on contrasts. Already from the first lines, the reader has some kind of dual feeling: a sad, deserted cemetery, a gray April day, cold wind, which "rings and rings like a porcelain wreath at the foot of the cross." Here is the beginning of the story: “In the cemetery, over a fresh clay mound stands new cross made of oak, strong, heavy, smooth... The cross itself has a rather large, convex porcelain medallion embedded in it, and in the medallion is a photographic portrait of a schoolgirl with joyful, amazingly lively eyes.” The whole life of Olechka Meshcherskaya is described according to the principle of contrast: cloudless childhood and adolescence are contrasted tragic events the last year Olya lived. The author everywhere emphasizes the gap between the apparent and the real, external and internal state heroines. The plot of the story is extremely simple. The young, recklessly happy beauty schoolgirl Olya Meshcherskaya becomes first the prey of an elderly sensualist, and then a living target for the Cossack officer deceived by her. Tragic death Meshcherskaya encourages a lonely little woman - a classy lady - to perform a frantic, withering “service” to her memory. The apparent simplicity of the story's plot is disrupted by the contrast: a heavy cross and joyful, lively eyes, which makes the reader's heart clench anxiously. It will haunt us throughout the entire story of short life Olya Meshcherskaya. The simplicity of the plot is deceptive: after all, this is a story not only about the fate of a young girl, but also about the joyless fate of a classy lady, accustomed to living someone else’s life, shining with reflected light - the light of Olya Meshcherskaya’s “living eyes”.
Bunin believed that the birth of a person is not his beginning, which means that death is not the end of the existence of his soul. The soul - its symbol is “light breathing” - does not disappear irrevocably. She is the best, real part of life. The embodiment of this life was the heroine of the story, Olya Meshcherskaya. The girl is so natural that even the external manifestations of her existence cause rejection among some and admiration among others: “And she was not afraid of anything - not ink stains on her fingers, not a flushed face, not disheveled hair, not a knee that became bare when falling while running. Without any of her worries or efforts, and somehow imperceptibly, everything that distinguished her from the entire gymnasium in the last two years came to her - grace, elegance, dexterity, the clear sparkle of her eyes...” At first glance, before us is an ordinary high school student - a beautiful, prosperous and slightly flighty girl, the daughter of wealthy parents, who is expecting a brilliant match.
But our attention is constantly and persistently directed to some hidden springs of Olya’s life. To do this, the author delays the explanation of the reasons for the death of the heroine, as if generated by the very logic of the girl’s behavior. Maybe she herself is to blame for everything? After all, she flirts with the high school student Shenshin, flirts, albeit unconsciously, with Alexei Mikhailovich Malyutin, who seduces her, for some reason promises the Cossack officer to marry him. For what? Why does she need all this? And gradually we understand that Olya Meshcherskaya is beautiful, just as the elements are beautiful. And just as immoral as she is. She wants to reach the limit in everything, to the depth, to the innermost essence, regardless of the opinions of others. In Olya’s actions there is no meaningful vice, no sense of revenge, no pain of repentance, no firmness of decision. It turns out that a wonderful feeling of fullness of life can be destructive. Even the unconscious longing for her (like a classy lady) is tragic. Therefore, every detail, every step of Olya’s life threatens disaster: curiosity and pranks can lead to violence, frivolous play with other people’s feelings can lead to murder. Olya Meshcherskaya lives, and does not play the role of a living being. This is her essence. This is her fault. To be extremely alive without following the rules of the game means to be extremely doomed. After all, the environment in which Meshcherskaya was destined to appear was completely devoid of an organic, holistic sense of beauty. Here life is subject to strict rules, the violation of which has to be paid. Olya, who was accustomed not only to teasing fate, but simply to courageously go towards new sensations and impressions in their entirety, did not have the chance to meet a person who would appreciate not only her physical beauty, but also her spiritual generosity and brightness. After all, Olya really had “ easy breathing“- a thirst for some special, unique destiny, worthy only of the chosen few. The teacher, who was unable to save her student, recalls her words, accidentally overheard during recess. Among detailed description feminine beauty and the half-childish “trying on” of this description to one’s own appearance, the phrase about “easy breathing” sounds so unexpectedly, taken literally by the girl: “...But the main thing is, do you know what? - easy breath! But I have it - listen to how I sigh...” The author leaves to the world not the beauty of the girl, not her experience, but only this never-revealed opportunity. She, according to Bunin, cannot completely disappear, just as the craving for beauty, happiness, for perfection cannot disappear: “Now this light breath has again dissipated in the world, in this cloudy sky, in this cold spring wind.”
“Easy breathing” in Bunin’s view is the ability to enjoy life and accept it as a bright gift. Olya Meshcherskaya captivated those around her with her generous and fierce love of life, but in the meager world of the small town, unfortunately for her, there was no person who could protect her “light breath” from the “cold spring wind.”
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Ivan Alekseevich Bunin entered the history of Russian literature as a writer capable of surprisingly subtly and reverently describing such a multifaceted feeling as love. One of his most striking works on this topic was the work “Easy Breathing”. Analysis of the story will allow you to better understand the psychology of this feeling, and will be especially useful for 11th grade students when preparing for a literature lesson.
Brief Analysis
Year of writing– 1916.
History of creation– The story was written under the impression of a walk through the cemetery, where the writer accidentally came across the grave of a young girl. The contrast of the dull place and the medallion with the image of a beauty with unusually lively and joyful eyes deeply shocked Bunin.
Subject – Central theme works - the charm and tragedy of careless youth.
Composition– The composition is distinguished by the absence chronological order and a clear “commencement-climax-denouement” scheme. Events begin and end in a cemetery, the plot does not always coincide with the plot, and there are episodes that, at first glance, have nothing to do with the story of Olya Meshcherskaya.
Genre– Novella (short plot story).
Direction– Modernism.
History of creation
Bunin's story "Easy Breathing" was written in March 1916 and published the same year in the newspaper " Russian word».
During Ivan Alekseevich’s stay at the Vasilievskoye estate, he was approached by the capital’s newspaper “Russkoe Slovo” with a request to provide some small piece for publication in the Easter issue. Bunin was not averse to sending his work to a reputable publication, but by that time he did not have ready-made new stories.
Then the writer remembered his walks around Capri, when he accidentally came across a small cemetery. Walking along it, he discovered a grave cross with a portrait of a blooming, cheerful girl. Peering at her laughing, full of life and the fire of his eyes, Bunin painted himself pictures from the past of this young beauty, who had passed away so early into the other world.
Memories of that walk served as the impetus for writing a love story, the main character of which was high school student Olya Meshcherskaya, whose image was “copied” from a portrait in the cemetery.
However prerequisite for writing The short stories also contained more profound memories of the writer, recorded in his diary. At the age of seven, he witnessed the death of his younger sister Sasha, the favorite of the whole family. The tragedy that occurred on a February night deeply shocked the boy, forever leaving in his soul images of a girl, winter, cloudy sky, and death.
Subject
Love theme is central to the story “Easy Breathing”. The author reveals her through the prism of the character and behavior of Olya Meshcherskaya - an incredibly cheerful, charming and spontaneous girl.
For Bunin, love is, first of all, passion. All-consuming, frantic, destructive. It is not surprising that in the work the faithful companion of love is always death is coming(the young high school student Shenshin was on the verge of suicide from unrequited love to Olya, and the main character herself became the victim of a distraught lover). This is the peculiarity of Ivan Alekseevich’s concept of love.
Despite the immoral actions of the schoolgirl, the writer, nevertheless, does not criticize her behavior. On the contrary, inexhaustible Vital energy Olya, her ability to see life only in joyful, light colors, disarming charm and femininity attracts the author. Not in external features lies the truth female beauty, but in the ability to inspire and charm people. That's what it is Main thought works.
Meshcherskaya’s carelessness and some superficiality are only back side medals of her nature. AND the main problem The girl’s problem is that no one from her close circle could teach her to balance between ease and “fluttering” through life and responsibility for her actions.
Such indifference becomes the cause of the girl’s death. However, death is not able to take the charm of youth with it into the abyss - the “light breath” dissipates throughout the universe, to soon be reborn again. The writer leads readers to this conclusion, thanks to which the work does not leave a heavy aftertaste.
Composition
The main features of the novella’s composition include: contrast and lack of chronological sequence. The work begins with a description of Olya’s grave, then the author talks about early childhood girls, then again “skips” to her last winter. Afterwards there is a conversation between Meshcherskaya and the head of the gymnasium, during which it becomes known about her relationship with an elderly officer. Then - the news of the murder of a high school student. And at the very end of the story, the author adds a seemingly insignificant episode from Olya’s life, in which she shares with her friend her idea of female beauty.
Thanks to temporary movements and quick changes in all actions, the author managed to create a feeling of lightness and a certain emotional detachment. Everything in the work is designed to emphasize the living and spontaneous nature main character. All events happen quickly, making it impossible to properly analyze them. So the life of Olya Meshcherskaya, who always lived exclusively for today, flashed and faded away, without thinking about the consequences of her actions.
In his story, Bunin immediately deprives the plot of unpredictability and climactic outcome. It has already happened - and this is the death of a young schoolgirl. Realizing that the most important thing has already happened, the reader switches to the events that led to the sad ending.
Deliberately destroying the cause-and-effect relationships in the story, the writer emphasizes that neither the motives of Olya’s behavior nor further development events in the story. The inevitable doom of the heroine is in her, in her incredibly attractive feminine essence, charm, spontaneity. A huge passion for life led her to such a quick end.
This is what it's all about meaning of the name story. “Easy breathing” is an incredible thirst for life, the ability to soar above everyday reality with amazing ease, not noticing problems and sincerely enjoying every day, every minute.
Genre
Carrying out an analysis of the genre of the work in “Easy Breathing”, it should be noted that it was written in the genre of a short story plot story, which fully reflects the main issues and ideas that concern the author, presents a picture of the life of heroes from various groups society.
Being a follower of realism, Ivan Alekseevich could not stay away from modernism, which was increasingly gaining momentum in the twentieth century. The brevity of the plot, the symbolization and ambiguity of details, the fragmentation of the story described and the demonstration of unadorned reality indicate that “Easy Breathing” corresponds to modernism, in which the main tendencies of realism are present.
The story “Easy Breathing” is one of the most complex and philosophically filled works by I.A. Bunina. The reader is presented with quite simple story from the life of an ordinary high school student, but it is she who makes you think about many pressing issues not only of modernity, but also of existence.
"Easy breathing" genre features refers to a short story that sets itself the task, through a unique and specific event, to show not only the fate of its hero, but also to recreate a picture of the life of the entire society, including its vices and delusions.
The composition of the story is complex and unusual. The technique of reverse narration is used as a basis. At the beginning of the work, the reader learns that the main character Olya Meshcherskaya is dead, and then gets acquainted with her and the story of her life, already understanding that it will be tragic.
Analysis of Bunin’s work “Easy Breathing”
Compositional shifts and contrasts occur throughout the story. First there is a narrative from the present (the girl’s grave), which moves on to events of the past (a description of life in the gymnasium). Then the reader returns to a time close to the present - the death of Olya and the investigation of the officer who committed the murder. After which the narrative again moves into the past, telling about the vulgar connection between the girl and Malyutin. Here again the present is described: a cool lady on the way to the cemetery where the heroine is buried. The work ends with another reference to the past - a dialogue between Ole Meshcherskaya and her friend and her thoughts about the “light breathing” of a woman.
In each episode telling about the stage of Meshcherskaya’s life (growing up, moral decline and death), the author turns to various forms: narration, portrait, speech characters, landscape sketches, diary entries and author's remarks.
The time of the work is constantly interrupted or stopped, and the reader reconstructs the chronology of what happened. The narrative is vague, but thanks to this, reading the novel not only arouses interest, but also gives new meanings, provides an answer to main question: “Why is Olya’s fate so tragic?”
Everyone is to blame for what happened. This is also a cool lady who was unable to establish communication with her student, give her advice and become a mentor. Naturally, this is Malyutin, who seduced and seduced Olya. There is some blame also on the shoulders of the girl’s parents, who are mentioned a little in the story. Were they not obliged to protect their daughter from frivolity and, at a minimum, not to make friends with a person like Malyutin.
The tragic outcome was also predetermined by Ole Meshcherskaya’s attitude towards life. A person is also responsible for his destiny and what happens to him. I.A. Bunin speaks about this very clearly in his work.
Characteristics of the main characters of the story “Easy Breathing”
Olya Meshcherskaya is the main character of the story. She is the daughter of wealthy parents. He dances and skates best at balls. The girl differs from her peers in her beauty and femininity: early “she began to blossom, to develop by leaps and bounds,” and “at fifteen she was already known as a beauty.” Olya is opposed to other high school students with her attitude to life. While others carefully combed their hair, were very clean, and “watched their restrained movements,” the heroine of the story was not afraid of “neither ink stains on their fingers, nor a flushed face, nor disheveled hair.”
Her image intertwines childish naivety, sincerity, simplicity with unprecedented femininity and beauty. Such a destructive combination gave rise to envy, jealousy, and the emergence of thousands of rumors that she was flighty, incapable of love, and was driving her loved one to suicide with her behavior. However, the author makes it clear that these opinions of people about Olga Meshcherskaya are groundless. Her beauty and uniqueness attracts not only young people, but also evil with a fatal outcome.
Children are drawn to the heroine and feel in her good man. The narrator constantly mentions Olya only in context beautiful landscapes and harmonious places. When she is skating, it is a beautiful pink evening outside. When a girl is on a walk, the sun shines throughout wet garden" All this indicates the author's sympathy for his character.
Olga always reaches out to the beautiful, the perfect. She is not satisfied with the philistine attitude towards herself and life. However, it is precisely this position of the main character, together with her uniqueness and spiritual subtlety, that predetermine the tragic outcome. How could it have been different? No. Olya Meshcherskaya is opposed to the whole world, her actions are unconscious, and her behavior does not depend on modern norms and rules accepted in society.
The rest of the characters, including the cool lady, Malyutin, Olya’s friend and other people around, were introduced by the author only to emphasize the heroine’s individuality, her unusualness and originality.
The main idea of the story “Easy Breathing”
Researchers have long come to the conclusion that it is not so much the external appearance that helps to understand the author’s intention, but internal plot, filled with psychological, poetic and philosophical meanings.
The heroine of the story is frivolous, but in a good way this word. Unknowingly she is exposed love affair with Malyutin, my father’s friend. But is this really the fault of the girl who believed an adult who talked about his feelings for her, who, as it turned out, showed ostentatious kindness and seemed like a real gentleman?
Olya Meshcherskaya is not like all the other characters, she is opposed to them and at the same time lonely. The episode of the fall and relationship with Malyutin only aggravated internal conflict and the heroine's protest.
The main character's motives
A number of researchers believe that the heroine herself sought death. She specifically handed over a sheet from the diary to the officer, who learned about the vicious affair of his beloved and was so upset that he shot the girl. Thus, Olga broke out of the vicious circle.
Other literary scholars believe that one mistake, i.e. The vicious relationship with Malyutin did not make the girl think about what happened. As a result, Olga started a relationship with an officer who had “absolutely nothing in common with the circle to which she belonged,” making her second and already fatal mistake.
Let's look at the episode of farewell to the officer at the station from a different angle. Olga gave him the most valuable and intimate thing - a sheet of paper with an entry from the diary. What if she loved her future killer and decided to tell the bitter truth about what happened to her. True, the officer did not take this as a confession, but as a mockery, a deception of the one who “swore to be his wife.”
Analysis of I. Bunin's story "Easy Breathing"
Man is the reason for the explosion.
(Why do volcanoes explode?).
Sometimes volcanoes explode with treasure.
Letting it explode is more than getting it.
M. Tsvetaeva.
Starting to write this essay, I set myself the goal of understanding why extraordinary, unusual people, people “exploding with treasures,” remain unrecognized and rejected by society. Olya Meshcherskaya is one of these people. Radiating undying light, good spirits, cheerfulness, lightness, she aroused envy in some, hostility in others. Although all these people, it seems to me, deep down in their souls admired her carelessness, courage, admired her fate, behavior, her unbridled happiness. Undoubtedly, the personality of Olya Meshcherskaya, her character and way of life are ambiguous. On the one hand, this strong personality lives without fear of being misunderstood. But on the other hand, Olya is unable to resist society, she cannot withstand this cruel struggle against prejudices, “moral principles” that are created by the crowd, a gray and faceless mass of people who have no individuality, no own life who condemn even attempts to live as they please.
“She was not afraid of anything - not an ink stain on her fingers, not a flushed face, not disheveled hair, not a knee that got exposed when she fell while running” - that’s something worth admiring! This is something worth envying! Rare man will be able to behave so fearlessly, without thinking about the consequences, doing everything sincerely and easily. All her words, actions (that is, deeds) - all this came from pure heart. She lived for today, without fear of the future, truly enjoying life. To be honest, I'm jealous! I probably wouldn’t be able to live like that, behave so carelessly, and few people could. This is the uniqueness of Olya, her individuality, such fate as a gift, one should be proud of her.
The idea of the story is in the contradiction of two worlds: a gray, boring, faceless society and a light, bright one inner world Olya Meshcherskaya. Here there is an interpersonal conflict: “... rumors began to spread that she (Olya) is flighty, cannot live without fans...” Society did not accept Olya’s behavior because it went beyond its boundaries, Olya, in turn, perhaps even too much took it easy increased attention those around you. Every time underestimating the enemy, a person is doomed to defeat in the fight.
Here, in “Easy Breathing,” the conflict of two worlds is reflected in the landscape: on the one hand, “...April, gray days; the cold wind rings like a wreath at the foot of the cross,” and on the other, a medallion in which “a photographic portrait of a schoolgirl with joyful, amazingly lively eyes." And this lightness, joy, liveliness is everywhere. Reading the story, you become infected with that boiling, seething energy of Olya, you seem to be pierced by the biocurrents sent by the high school student Meshcherskaya: “grace, elegance, dexterity, clear sparkle of eyes,” “Olya Meshcherskaya seemed the most carefree, the happiest,” “shining eyes, she ran upstairs.” , “... looking at her clearly and vividly,” “... as easily and gracefully as only she could,” “... Meshcherskaya answered simply, almost cheerfully.”
Olya's carelessness and desire to know everything led her to a dead end. This is the main contradiction: while living her destiny, Olya discovered for herself new world, but at the same time, wanting everything at once, without thinking about the meaning of her life, she hopelessly lost her childhood, adolescence, youth. Too early she learned the vulgar side of love, without ever unraveling the secret of romantic feelings. Only later, realizing this, or rather, feeling fear, disappointment and shame, perhaps for the first time in her life, Olya got scared: “I don’t understand how this could happen, I’m crazy, I never thought I was like this.” ! Now I have only one way out... I feel such disgust for him that I can’t get over it!..”
Only now it becomes clear how weak Olya is. She is unable to fight. Having descended from heaven to earth, she was afraid. And the only possible way out of this situation for her is death. Olya understood this well. I believe death was the natural result of her reckless behavior.
Many questions arise when you re-read the text again and again. Malyutin and this Cossack officer who killed Olya - are they the same person or not? And the woman we see at Meshcherskaya’s grave at the end of the story, and the boss? It is difficult to answer unequivocally. One thing is clear: in principle, it doesn’t matter, because these people represent a crowd, and it is not at all necessary to know who they are, because they are all, in essence, the same. The only one bright image in the story - Olya Meshcherskaya, and Bunin depicts her to us in every detail, because there are only a few people like her. “Now Olya Meshcherskaya is the subject of her persistent thoughts and feelings,” we are talking about the worship of the classy lady Olya as an ideal. Thanks to such people, the world exists: they give those around them that energy, that lightness that the world of mere mortals lacks. Although these people are weak and unable to resist both their passions and the contempt of others, people like Olya live the time allotted to them with dignity and pleasure. And even one like this human destiny, I believe, is capable of turning the whole world around, something that a faceless crowd can never do. High school student Olya, a young girl who was just beginning to live, left a deep imprint on the soul of everyone who knew her story. In a short period of her life, she was able to do what many fail to do in their entire lives: she stood out from the crowd.
“...But the main thing, you know what? Easy breathing! But I have it,” listen to how I sigh, “I really have it?” Of course, she had this lightness that she gave to everyone. “Is it possible that under it (under the porcelain wreath) is the one whose eyes shine so immortally from this convex porcelain medallion on the cross..?” Of course not, only her body is buried in the ground, but Olya’s life, her smile, pure look, lightness will forever remain in the hearts of people: “Now this light breath has again dissipated in the world, in this cloudy sky, in this cold spring wind.” Such people are immortal, because they give life to others, a full, real, genuine life.
So why was Olya rejected by society? There is only one answer: envy. All these faceless creatures envied her with “black envy.” Realizing that they would never become LIKE Meshcherskaya, people made her an outcast. The stubborn crowd did not want to accept anything that did not fit into its framework.
But this is not the main problem for people like Olya. They simply, living their lives, completely forget about the cruel reality, which costs nothing to break all their dreams, joys, their whole life. But nevertheless, I admire Olya Meshcherskaya, her talent to live beautifully, wrongly, but interestingly, little, but brightly and easily!!!
…It’s a pity that light breathing is rare.
One of the most widely famous works I.A. Bunin is undoubtedly the story “Easy Breathing”. It can be assumed that the impetus for its writing was the writer’s trip to Capri, where during a walk the writer saw a tombstone with a medallion in a small cemetery. It depicted a very young and unusually beautiful girl with a happy expression on his face. The tragedy of this terrible contradiction, apparently, struck the writer so much that he decided to “revive” the heroine on the pages of his prose.
The image of “light breathing” that organizes the entire story is taken from an old book, which the main character Olya Meshcherskaya reads, retelling to her friend an episode that particularly struck her. It says that a woman should be able to be beautiful and the most important thing about her is “easy breathing.” The heroine joyfully concludes that she has it and that only happiness awaits her in life. However, fate decrees otherwise.
The central character of this story is high school student Olya Meshcherskaya. She is famous for her beauty, sweet spontaneity, charming naturalness. “She was not afraid of anything - not ink stains on her fingers, not a flushed face, not disheveled hair, not a knee that became bare when falling while running,” the author of the story lovingly writes about her. There is even something from Natasha Rostova in Olya - the same love of life, the same openness to the whole world. No one danced better than Olya, no one skated better, no one was looked after like that. This young creature with sparkling, lively eyes seemed created only for happiness.
But one Cossack officer, who sought intimacy with her and was refused, ends this young wonderful life with one shot.
This ending is too tragic, and sometimes I want to reproach the writer for such a painful ending. But let's think about it: did the shot really kill the heroine? Maybe the officer just pulled the trigger, and the tragedy happened much earlier?
Indeed, reading the story, you wonder why, besides Olya, in this provincial town there is not a single person worthy of being depicted with the same admiration. The rest of the characters simply leave us indifferent, like, for example, Meshcherskaya’s friend, or they cause disgust. This is Olya’s father’s friend, fifty-six-year-old Malyutin. The whole city seems to be saturated with a suffocating atmosphere of vulgarity, inertia and depravity. Indeed, how can you explain Olya’s behavior? Yes, she is charming, sweet, natural, but reading the scene where Meshcherskaya admits to the head of the gymnasium that she is already a woman, you can’t help but be embarrassed by such a terrible dual personality: on the one hand, Olya is perfection itself, on the other, she is just a girl , who knew the joy of carnal pleasures too early. These contradictory images the same heroine is not given an unambiguous understanding of her character, and sometimes an almost hooligan thought comes to mind: isn’t Olya Lola, introduced by Bunin into literature long before the author of “Lolita”?
In my opinion, the motives for the heroine’s actions “ Easy breathing" is very difficult to evaluate from a logical point of view. They are irrational, “uterine”. Revealing the image of such an ambiguous heroine as Meshcherskaya, one should not be afraid to consider different and even opposing points of view. We said above that Olya’s fate and character are a product of the inert provincial environment where she grew up. Now, faced with the amazing inconsistency of the heroine, we can assume something completely different.
Bunin, as you know, although he is considered the last classic critical realism, still does not fully follow his principles of depicting reality. To say that Meshcherskaya is just a product of an environment that corrupts and kills young innocence means, in my opinion, to consider the story too straightforwardly, thereby impoverishing the original author’s intention. Correct society, and there will be no vices - this is what they said in the 19th century, but in the 20th they increasingly do not look for reasons, saying that the world is unknowable. Meshcherskaya is like that, and nothing more. As another argument, we can recall Bunin’s stories about love, in particular, where the actions of the heroes are also very difficult to motivate. It’s as if they are controlled by some blind, unreasoning force, spontaneously giving people happiness and sorrow in half. In general, Bunin is characterized by just such a worldview. Let us recall the story “The Gentleman from San Francisco,” in which fate takes the hero’s life in the most unexpected way, without giving any explanation. In the light of these considerations, we can make a judgment about Olya that is opposite and to some extent counterbalances our first conclusions: the writer, in the image of a high school student unlike others, wanted to show the true nature of a woman who is completely at the mercy of blind, “uterine” instincts. The conviction that life disposes of us solely at its own discretion is best illustrated by the example of a young girl who knew life too early and therefore died untimely.
Probably, it is impossible to give an unambiguous answer to the question of who Olya really is, what problems she raises in this story, and it is hardly necessary. You can delve deeper into the image of the main character, better understand the specifics and problems of the story and try to reconcile the two opposing points of view outlined above by thinking about the title. The “light breath” that “dissipates forever in that cold wind” is, in my opinion, figurative expression what is spiritual, truly human, in a person. A charming and at the same time depraved schoolgirl, a stupid and evil officer who killed her, a provincial town with all its ugliness - all this will remain on the sinful earth, and this spirit that lived in Ola Meshcherskaya will fly up to be embodied in something again and remind us that, besides our vain and petty thoughts and deeds, there is something else in the world that is beyond our control. This, in my opinion, is the enduring significance outstanding story Ivan Alekseevich Bunin.
