Bunin sunstroke genre of work. Analysis of I. Bunin's story "Sunstroke". Metamorphosis of the lieutenant and its meaning

"Sunstroke", like most of Bunin's prose of the emigration period, has a love theme. In it, the author shows that shared feelings can give rise to a serious love drama.

L.V. Nikulin in his book "Chekhov, Bunin, Kuprin: Literary Portraits" indicates that the story "Sunstroke" was originally called the author "A Chance Acquaintance", then Bunin changes the name to "Xenia". However, both of these names were crossed out by the author, because. did not create Bunin's mood, "sound" (the first simply reported the event, the second called the potential name of the heroine).

The writer settled on the third, most successful option - "Sunstroke", which figuratively conveys the state experienced by the main character of the story and helps to reveal the essential features of Bunin's vision of love: suddenness, brightness, short duration of a feeling that instantly captures a person and, as it were, burns him to ashes.

Little is known about the main characters in the story. The author does not indicate names or ages. With this technique, the writer, as it were, elevates his heroes above the environment, time and circumstances. There are two main characters in the story - the lieutenant and his companion. They had only known each other for a day and could not imagine that an unexpected acquaintance could turn into a feeling that none of them had experienced in their entire lives. But the lovers are forced to leave, because. in the understanding of the writer, everyday life is contraindicated for love, they can only destroy and kill it.

Here, a direct, polemic with one of the famous stories of A.P. Chekhov's "Lady with a Dog", where the same unexpected meeting of the characters and the love that visited them continues, develops in time, overcomes the test of everyday life. The author of "Sunstroke" could not make such a plot decision, because "ordinary life" does not arouse his interest and lies outside his love concept.

The writer does not immediately give his characters the opportunity to realize everything that happened to them. The whole story of the rapprochement of the heroes is a kind of exposition of action, preparation for the shock that will happen in the soul of the lieutenant later, and in which he will not immediately believe. This happens after the hero, having seen off his fellow traveler, returns to the room. At first, the lieutenant is struck by a strange feeling of emptiness in his room.

In the further development of the action, the contrast between the absence of the heroine in the real surrounding space and her presence in the soul and memory of the protagonist gradually intensifies. The inner world of the lieutenant is filled with a feeling of implausibility, unnaturalness of everything that happened and the unbearable pain of loss.

The writer conveys the painful love experiences of the hero through changes in his mood. At first, the lieutenant's heart shrinks with tenderness, he yearns, while trying to hide his confusion. Then there is a kind of dialogue between the lieutenant and himself.

Bunin pays special attention to the gestures of the hero, his facial expressions and views. Equally important are his impressions, which manifest themselves in the form of phrases spoken aloud, quite elementary, but percussive. Only occasionally is the reader given the opportunity to know the thoughts of the hero. In this way, Bunin builds his psychological author's analysis - both secret and explicit.

The hero tries to laugh, to drive away sad thoughts, but he does not succeed. Every now and then he sees objects that remind of a stranger: a crumpled bed, a hairpin, an unfinished cup of coffee; smells her perfume. This is how flour and longing are born, leaving no trace of the former lightness and carelessness. Showing the abyss that lay between the past and the present, the writer emphasizes the subjective-lyrical experience of time: the present momentary, spent together with the characters and the eternity into which time grows for the lieutenant without a beloved.

After parting with the heroine, the lieutenant realizes that his life has lost all meaning. It is even known that in one of the editions of "Sunstroke" it was written that the lieutenant stubbornly matured the thought of suicide. So, literally before the eyes of the reader, a kind of metamorphosis is taking place: in the place of a completely ordinary and unremarkable army lieutenant, a person has appeared who thinks in a new way, suffers and feels ten years older.

The writing

Everything passes...

Julius Caesar

A soft maple leaf meekly and tremblingly ascends with the wind and falls again on the cold earth. He is so lonely that he does not care where his fate takes him. Neither the warm rays of the gentle sun, nor the spring freshness of a frosty morning pleases him. This little leaf is so defenseless that he has to put up with the fate of fate and only hope that someday he will be able to find his refuge.

In I. A. Bunin's story "Sunstroke", the lieutenant, like a lonely leaf, wanders around a strange city. This is a story about love at first sight, about a fleeting infatuation, about the power of passion and the bitterness of parting. In Bunin's work, love is complex and unhappy. The heroes part, as if waking up after a sweet love dream.

The same thing happens with the lieutenant. The reader is presented with a picture of heat and stuffiness: a tan on the body, boiling water, hot sea sand, a dusty cab... The air is filled with love passion. A terribly stuffy, very hot hotel room during the day - this is a reflection of the state of lovers. The white lowered curtains on the windows are the border of the soul, and two unburned candles on the under-mirror are what may have been left here from the previous pair.

However, the time comes for parting, and a small, nameless woman, who jokingly called herself a beautiful stranger, leaves. The lieutenant does not immediately understand that love is leaving him. In a light, happy state of mind, he drove her to the pier, kissed her and carelessly returned to the hotel.

His soul was still full of her - and empty, like a hotel room. The scent of her good English cologne, her unfinished cup only added to the loneliness. The lieutenant hurried to light a cigarette, but cigarette smoke is not able to overcome longing and spiritual emptiness. Sometimes it happens that we understand what a wonderful person fate brought us together, only at the moment when he is no longer around.

The lieutenant rarely fell in love, otherwise he would not have called the experienced feeling a “strange adventure”, he would not have agreed with the nameless stranger that they both received something like a sunstroke.

Everything in the hotel room still reminded her of her. However, these memories were heavy, from one look at the unmade bed, the already unbearable longing intensified. Somewhere out there, behind the open windows, a steamer with a mysterious stranger was sailing away from him.

The lieutenant for a moment tried to imagine what the mysterious stranger was feeling, to feel himself in her place. She is probably sitting in a glassy white saloon or on the deck and looking at the huge river shining under the sun, at the oncoming rafts, at the yellow shallows, at the shining distance of water and sky, at all this immense expanse of the Volga. And he is tormented by loneliness, irritated by the bazaar dialect and the creak of wheels.

The life of the most ordinary person is often boring and monotonous. And only thanks to such fleeting meetings do people forget about everyday boring things, each parting inspires hope for a new meeting, and nothing can be done about it. But where can the lieutenant meet his beloved in the big city? In addition, she has a family, a three-year-old daughter. It is necessary to continue to live, not to let despair take over the mind and soul, at least for the sake of all future meetings.

Everything passes, as Julius Caesar said. At first, a strange, incomprehensible feeling overshadows the mind, but longing and loneliness inevitably remain in the past, as soon as a person finds himself in society again, communicates with interesting people. New meetings are the best cure for parting. There is no need to withdraw into yourself, to think about how to live this endless day with these memories, with this inseparable torment.

The lieutenant was alone in this godforsaken town. He hoped to find sympathy for himself from those around him. But the street only reinforced the painful memories. The hero could not understand how one can calmly sit on the goats, smoke, and generally be careless, indifferent. He wanted to know if he was the only one so terribly unhappy in this whole city.

In the bazaar, everyone did nothing but praise their goods. All this was so stupid, absurd that the hero ran away from the market. In the cathedral, the lieutenant also did not find shelter: they sang loudly, cheerfully and decisively. No one cared about his loneliness, and the pitiless sun burned inexorably. The shoulder straps and buttons of his tunic were so hot that it was impossible to touch them. The severity of the lieutenant's inner feelings was aggravated by the unbearable heat outside. Yesterday, being under the power of love, he did not notice the scorching sun. Now, it seemed, nothing could overcome the loneliness. The lieutenant tried to find solace in alcohol, but his feelings cleared up even more from vodka. The hero so wanted to get rid of this love and at the same time he dreamed of meeting his beloved again. But how? He didn't know her last name or her first name.

The lieutenant's memory still retained the smell of her tan and canvas dress, the beauty of her strong body and the elegance of her small hands. For a long time looking at the portrait of some military man on the photo display case, the hero thought about the question of whether such love is needed, if then everything everyday becomes scary and wild, is it good when the heart is struck by too much love, too much happiness. They say everything is good in moderation. The once strong love after parting is replaced by envy of others. The same thing happened to the lieutenant: he began to languish with tormenting envy of all non-suffering people. Everything around looked lonely: houses, streets... It seemed that there was not a soul around. From the former well-being, only thick white dust lay on the pavement.

When the lieutenant returned to the hotel, the room had already been cleaned and seemed empty. The windows were closed, the curtains drawn. Only a light breeze entered the room. The lieutenant was tired, besides, he was very drunk and lay with his hands behind his head. Tears of despair rolled down his cheeks, so strong was the feeling of a person's powerlessness in front of an omnipotent fate.

When the lieutenant woke up, the pain of loss dulled a little, as if he had parted with his beloved ten years ago. Staying in the room was unbearable. Money for the hero lost all value, it is quite possible that memories of the city bazaar and the greed of merchants were still fresh in his memory. Having generously settled with the cabman, he went to the pier and a minute later found himself on a crowded steamer following the stranger.

The action came to a denouement, but at the very end of the story, I. A. Bunin puts the final touch: in a few days, the lieutenant has aged ten years. Feeling in captivity of love, we do not think about the inevitable moment of parting. The more we love, the more painful our suffering becomes. This severity of parting with the person closest to you is incomparable. What does a person experience when he loses his love after unearthly happiness, if, due to a fleeting passion, he ages ten years?

Human life is like a zebra: the white stripe of joy and happiness will inevitably be replaced by black. But the success of one person does not mean the failure of another. We need to live with an open mind, giving joy to people, and then joy will return to our lives, more often we will lose our heads with happiness, rather than languish in anticipation of a new sunstroke. After all, there is nothing more unbearable than waiting

I. A. Bunin is known for being a master of short stories. His small works are distinguished by piercing, emotionality. One of his favorite collections was "Dark Alleys", written by him during the Second World War. These short stories excite the reader, after reading them, he begins to reflect on the mysterious power of love. The closest in composition and content is "Sunstroke", written by the author in 1927.

Main characters

The heroes of Bunin's "Sunstroke" are an officer and a married lady. There are no names in the story, although the man tried to get the woman's name. But she refused to name him, deciding to remain a beautiful stranger to him. The lack of names in the narrative is an interesting feature of the story that shows the reader that this is a story about a simple man and a simple woman.

Naming his characters only as "he" and "she", the author does not endow them with distinctive features or bright appearance. This is an ordinary man and woman who met by chance on the ship. Bunin wanted all the reader's attention to be riveted to these two people, to what was happening between them. Therefore, there is no detailed description of their appearance and their acquaintance. In the center of the story - only he and she.

One of the points in the analysis of Bunin's "Sunstroke" is a brief description of the plot of the story. The narrative begins immediately with the fact that a man and a woman, who accidentally met on the ship, went out on deck. Nothing is known about them, except that he was a lieutenant, and she was a married woman returning home from Anapa.

Further, in the story "Sunstroke" by Bunin, a summary of which we give in the article, it is said that the stranger was intoxicated by the meeting and those emotions that suddenly arose. The lieutenant offered to go ashore. The woman agrees, and they got off the ship at the next stop. They found some hotel and spent the night together. In the morning the woman was again the same as before, and told the officer about the impossibility of their further relationship. She left the city on the steamer, and the man stayed to wait for the next one.

And suddenly the room with her departure seemed empty to him. It became increasingly difficult for the officer to be alone, he missed her more and more. He dreamed of returning her, wanted to confess his feelings, but these were empty dreams. A man wanders around the city, trying to distract himself from thoughts about a stranger.

Tired of experiences, the officer fell asleep. Waking up, he slowly got ready and left on the arriving steamer. True, after this sudden meeting, the officer felt 10 years older. This was a summary of Bunin's "Sunstroke".

Theme of the story

The next point in the analysis of Bunin's "Sunstroke" is the definition of the subject matter of the work. Of course, this is a story about love and relationships. The theme of Bunin's "Sunstroke" is similar to the themes of most of his stories.

For the writer, love is not just sentimental sighs and platonic relationships. For Bunin, love is a flash, an explosion of emotions, a heat of passion, which manifests itself not only emotionally, but also physically. For Ivan Alekseevich, the sensual aspect of love was no less important, about which others usually did not write.

But all this is not described vulgarly, but the reader's attention is focused precisely on the emotions of a person. That's about such a love-flash, too much happiness is narrated in this story.

Composition features

In the analysis of "Sunstroke" by Bunin, one should consider the compositional features of the story. The story of this unexpected attraction seems to be framed by two landscapes - darkness and lights. Small gusts of wind, approaching lights - all this only emphasizes the swiftness, spontaneity of their feelings. Darkness is a symbol of the unknown that awaits this relationship.

But besides the exciting anticipation, there was something sad in the air. A warm summer evening, the dawn, the light of which is reflected in the calm ripples of the water, the lights ... All this seems to prepare the reader for the sad ending of a chance meeting on a steamer. The lights flickering ahead signify the happiness that awaits the heroes. When the officer leaves the city, they are left behind, as if showing that happy moments were left with a stranger.

But despite the small descriptions that were present in the story, the main place was occupied by a description of the inner world of the characters. Landscapes were only supposed to frame this story, complement it beautifully. The meeting place is also quite symbolic - people met quite by accident. And then they just as simply parted and each went on his own voyage. All this only emphasizes the concept of Bunin's stories.

means of expression

In the analysis of "Sunstroke" by Bunin, it should be noted that at the very beginning a lot of verbal vocabulary is used. A quick change of actions, the repetition of verbs focuses on the swiftness of the feelings of the characters, their sudden desire. They are in a hurry, as if they are afraid that this sudden attraction will pass. And then they will again begin to reason prudently, and not obey the call of feelings.

Enthusiastic and sentimental epithets are almost never found in the story. Because the officer and the married lady do not have an elevated feeling at all, but some kind of eclipse, a sunstroke.

The inner world of the heroine

In the story "Sunstroke" by Bunin, the heroine is described as a small woman, in whose appearance everything was charming. She refuses to give her name to the officer, realizing that then all the magic of their meeting will melt away. The woman, most likely, was attracted by an accident in their meeting.

She easily agreed to the offer of a new acquaintance to go ashore. Although at that time it was insulting for a married lady. This already tells the reader that she can be a frivolous person.

In the morning the woman was again light and cheerful, but she was already guided by reason. It was she who initiated the termination of their further relationship. It turns out that the heroine easily broke up with the officer. From this we can conclude that this meeting was for her a sunstroke, an adventure, but no more.

The hero's inner world

For the officer, this meeting was more important than for the heroine. At the very beginning, he regarded this chance acquaintance as nothing more than a pleasant adventure. And when in the morning she said that they should no longer meet, the man easily agreed. It would seem that he did not attach serious importance to this fleeting feeling.

But when the hero realizes that the stranger has left him forever, only then does he realize that he needed her. He begins to be frightened by the storm of emotions that appeared with her departure. He had never experienced anything like this before. And the rush of attraction, happiness and longing for her combined together, which led to him realizing that this sunstroke was too much happiness for him.

But at the same time, the man is shown as a weak person: after all, he did not try to stop her. And I didn’t even think about fighting for my love. He could only remember this chance meeting on the ship.

Why was the story called that?

The meeting of the heroes and their sudden attraction to each other was like a flash that appears as suddenly as it disappears. And the emotions that they experienced from the impetuous feeling were as bright as sunlight. Even at the very beginning, the heroine is surprised at how this acquaintance affected her.

Heroes were guided by desire, emotions. They seemed to be in a fever, the whole world ceased to exist for them for these brief happy moments. The meaning of Bunin's "Sunstroke" is that such a short love, in which people were guided only by desire, could not last long. Indeed, for a real strong relationship, it is important to understand and feel the other person.

The problem of Bunin's "Sunstroke" is the complexity of relationships between people. Even though the heroes took everything lightly, the officer realizes that this eclipse was happiness for him. Ivan Alekseevich Bunin was sensitive to love, in his stories he considered various aspects of its manifestation. It could last a lifetime or be as fleeting as a sunstroke.

Ryazanova Polina, 11th grade

The presentation introduces the content of I. Bunin's story "Sunstroke" and helps to understand the position of the author of the work

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"Sunstroke" I. Bunin Prepared by 11th grade student Polina Ryazanova

"Sunstroke" (Bunin): summary During a trip on a ship, a military man - a lieutenant and a young woman - a stranger, meet. The author does not endow her with a name, however, as well as a lieutenant. They are just people, their history is not unique at all, similar to many of those that happen. The couple spend the night together. The young woman is embarrassed, but she has no remorse for what happened. It's just that she has to go, and it's time for him to get off the ship. The lieutenant easily releases the woman, escorts her to the pier and returns to his room. Here he is unsettled by the smell of her perfume, the half-finished cup of coffee they forgot to put away, the memory of last night still alive.

The lieutenant's heart is suddenly filled with a touching feeling, which he is unable to accept and tries to drown out by trying to continuously smoke cigarettes. As if looking for salvation from impending tenderness, he rushes into the city, wanders thoughtlessly through the market, passes among people and feels an emptiness in his soul. When an inexpressible feeling prevents him from thinking, thinking sensibly and reasoning, he decides to send her a telegram, but on the way to the post office he realizes that he does not know the name, surname of the woman, or her address. Back in his room, he feels ten years older. The lieutenant already understands that they will never meet again.

What is the story "Sunstroke" about? Bunin's work "Sunstroke" tells about the unexpected love that overtakes the main characters (lieutenant and stranger) while traveling on a ship. Both of them are not ready for the feeling that has appeared. Moreover, they have absolutely no time to figure it out: there is only one day, which decides the outcome of events. When the time comes to say goodbye, the lieutenant cannot even think about what kind of torment he will experience after the young woman leaves his comfortable room. It is as if a whole life passes before his eyes, which is measured, now evaluated from the height of yesterday's night and the feeling that bewitched the lieutenant.

Composition of the story The story can be conditionally divided into three parts, containing different semantic meanings: the first part is the moment when the lieutenant and the stranger are together. Both are confused, somewhat confused. The second compositional part: the moment of parting of the lieutenant and the young woman. The third part is the moment of awakening a tender feeling, which is difficult to control. The author very subtly shows the moments of transition from one compositional part to another, while the state of the main character, the lieutenant, gradually becomes the center of the narrative.

The ideological component of the story The meeting of the lieutenant and the stranger became for both of them akin to a real sunstroke, brought blindness with passion, and then a bitter insight. Bunin is talking about this. The book "Sunstroke" is fanned by a romantic beginning, tells about the need of everyone to love and be loved, but at the same time it is absolutely devoid of illusions. Perhaps the young men will see here the desire of the heroes to find their only love, but rather, this is an attempt to abandon love in favor of common sense: “We had to save ourselves ...” “This new feeling was too much happiness,” which, obviously, the heroes could not afford otherwise, one would have to change the entire established way of life, make some changes in oneself and change the environment.

The Condition of the Stranger The image of a young woman whom the lieutenant meets on the ship, Bunin draws without embellishment and does not endow her with special characteristics. She has no name - she is just a woman with whom a certain lieutenant spent the night. But the author very subtly emphasizes her experiences, anxieties and worries. The woman says, "I'm not at all what you might imagine me to be." Perhaps she was looking for in this fleeting connection the need to love and be loved. Perhaps for her everything that happened was nothing more than an accident, a surprise. It must be that in her married life (the presence of which is mentioned in the story) she did not receive enough warmth and attention. We see that the stranger does not make any plans, does not oblige the lieutenant in anything. That is why she does not consider it necessary to give her name. It is bitter and painful for her to leave, leaving the lieutenant forever, but she does this, obeying her intuition. She subconsciously already knows that their relationship will not end in anything good.

The state of the lieutenant As shown in the story, probably at first the main character was not ready to appreciate the feeling that had arisen for an unfamiliar woman. Therefore, he so easily releases her from him, believing that nothing binds them. Only when he returns to his room, he feels the signs of the beginning "fever" and understands that it cannot be avoided. He no longer belongs to himself, he is not free. He was suddenly incredibly affected by the atmosphere of the room in which they spent the night together: “there was still an unfinished cup of coffee on the table, the bed was still unmade, but it was gone.” The lieutenant cannot accept this feeling, in every possible way pushes it away from him, almost reaches a frenzy.

Metamorphosis of the lieutenant and its meaning The way his state of mind changes speaks of the awakening power of feelings. Perhaps the lieutenant, a military man, could not even imagine that some fleeting meeting with a woman would turn his entire system of values ​​upside down, make him rethink the significance of life and rediscover its meaning for himself. The theme of love as the greatest mystery that knows no compromises is revealed in the story "Sunstroke". Bunin analyzes the state of his hero, emphasizes the confusion and despair, as well as the bitterness with which he tries to suppress the awakening feeling of love in himself. In this unequal battle, it is quite difficult to win. The lieutenant is defeated and feels tired, ten years older.

The main idea of ​​the story Obviously, with his work, the author wanted to show the dramatic outcome of love. Meanwhile, each of us is always free to choose how to act in this or that difficult situation. The lieutenant and his lady were simply not ready to accept a generous gift of fate, therefore they preferred to part, having barely met. Yes, and it is difficult to call it an acquaintance - they did not tell each other their names, did not exchange addresses. Most likely, their meeting was only an attempt to drown out the disturbing voice of a yearning heart. As you might guess, the characters are unhappy in their personal lives and very lonely, despite being married. They did not leave each other addresses, did not give their names because they did not want to continue the relationship. This is the main idea of ​​the story "Sunstroke". Bunin analyzes and compares the heroes, which of them is no longer ready for a new life, but as a result it turns out that both show significant cowardice.

Theatrical performances and cinema This work was filmed more than once, and also played on the stage of the theater, the situation that Bunin described in the story "Sunstroke" is so amazing. Mikhalkov filmed the film of the same name in Bouvre. The acting is amazing, it conveys the feelings of the characters and their inner pain to the utmost, which sounds like a heavy chord from beginning to end. There is probably no other work that evokes such ambivalent feelings as "Sunstroke". Bunin, reviews of this story (very contradictory) confirm this, described a situation that leaves few people indifferent. Someone pities the main characters and believes that they certainly needed to find each other, others are sure that such meetings between a man and a woman should remain a secret, an unattainable dream and have nothing to do with reality. Who knows whether it is worth believing in a sudden passion or should one look for the cause deep within oneself? Maybe all "love" is only a rapturous fantasy peculiar to youth

Unforgettably strong work - "Sunstroke". Bunin analyzes in it a person's ability to accept love in special circumstances of life and how the characters cope with this task, shows that in most cases people are not able to recognize it at the very beginning and take responsibility for the development of relationships. Such love is doomed.

... the title of a poetic work is always important, because it always points them to the main of its characters, in which the thought of the composition is embodied, or directly to this thought.
V. G. Belinsky

The theme of "Sunstroke" (1925) is an image of love that suddenly seizes a person and remains in his soul the brightest memory for life. The idea of ​​the story is in that peculiar understanding of love, which is connected with the writer's philosophical views on a person and his life. Love, from the point of view of Bunin, is the moment when all the emotional abilities of a person become aggravated and he breaks away from the gray, unsettled, unhappy reality and comprehends a “wonderful moment”. This moment quickly passes, leaving in the soul of the hero regret about the irretrievability of happiness and gratitude that it still happened. That is why the short-term, piercing and delightful feeling of two young people who accidentally met on a steamer and parted forever in a day is compared in the story with a sunstroke. This is what the heroine says: "We both got something like a sunstroke ...".

It is interesting that this figurative expression is confirmed by the real suffocating heat of the described day. The author gradually builds up the impression of heat: the steamer smells hot of the kitchen; the “beautiful stranger” is going home from Anapa, where she sunbathed under the southern sun on the hot sand; the night when the heroes got off the ship was very warm; the footman in the hotel is dressed in a pink kosovorotka; in a hotel room heated during the day, it is terribly stuffy, etc. The day following the night was also sunny and so hot that it was painful to touch the metal buttons on the lieutenant's tunic. The town irritatingly smells of various bazaar food.

All the experiences of the lieutenant after a fleeting adventure really resemble a painful condition after a sunstroke, when (according to medical indications) a person, as a result of dehydration of the body, feels a headache, dizziness, irritability. However, this excited state of the hero is not the result of overheating of the body, but a consequence of the realization of the significance and value of the empty adventure that he has just experienced. It was the brightest event in the life of the lieutenant and the “beautiful stranger”: “both of them remembered this moment for many years: neither one nor the other had ever experienced anything like this in their entire lives.” So for Bunin, a moment of happiness and a whole life become values ​​of the same order. The writer is attracted by the "mystery of being" - a combination of joy and sadness, miracle and horror.

The story "Sunstroke" is short, and five of the six pages are devoted to the description of the lieutenant's experiences after parting with the "beautiful stranger". In other words, it is not interesting for Bunin to draw various vicissitudes of love (they have already been drawn in Russian and world literature thousands of times) - the writer comprehends the meaning of love in human life, without exchanging for enticing little trinkets. Therefore, it is interesting to compare the image of love in Bunin's story "Sunstroke" and in Chekhov's story "The Lady with the Dog", especially since literary critics note the similarity of the plots of these works.

Both Chekhov and Bunin show a gray, ordinary life that stifles human feelings, but they show it in different ways. Chekhov shows the nightmare of the surrounding life, drawing its vulgarity; Bunin - depicting a moment of true passion, that is, real life, according to the writer, which is so unlike the gray routine. Chekhovsky Gurov, returning to Moscow, cannot tell anyone about his acquaintance with Anna Sergeevna. Once, however, he confesses to his partner in the cards that he met a charming woman in the Crimea, but in response he hears: “But just now you were right: sturgeon is something with a smell!” (III). The above phrase made Gurov horrified by his usual life, because he realized that even "in an educated society" few people care about high feelings. And Bunin's heroes are seized by the same fear and despair as Gurov. At the moment of happiness, they deliberately fence themselves off from everyday life, and Bunin, as it were, says to readers: “Now think for yourself what your usual existence is worth compared to wonderful moments of love.”

Summing up, it should be recognized that in Bunin's story, a sunstroke became an allegory of high love, which a person can only dream of. Sunstroke demonstrates both the artistic principles and the philosophical views of the writer.

Bunin's philosophy of life is such that for him the moment when a person immediately knows the happiness of love (as in "Sunstroke") or the meaning of being is revealed to him (as in "Silence"), a moment of happiness strikes Bunin's heroes, as sunstroke, and the rest of life is held only by deliciously sad memories of him.

However, it seems that such a philosophy devalues ​​the rest of a person's life, which becomes just a vegetation between rare moments of happiness. Gurov in "The Lady with the Dog" knows no worse than Bunin's "beautiful stranger" that after a few happy days of love everything will end (II), the prose of life will return, but he beat Anna Sergeevna and therefore does not leave her. Chekhov's heroes do not run away from love, and thanks to this, Gurov was able to feel that "now that his head has turned gray, he fell in love properly, for the first time in his life" (IV). In other words, "The Lady with the Dog" only begins where "Sunstroke" ends. Bunin's heroes have enough passionate feelings for one brightly emotional scene in a hotel, while Chekhov's heroes try to overcome the vulgarity of life, and this desire changes them, makes them nobler. The second life position seems to be more correct, although rarely does anyone succeed.

Bunin's artistic principles, which are reflected in the story, include, firstly, an uncomplicated plot, interesting not with exciting twists and turns, but with inner depth, and secondly, a special subject depiction, which gives the story credibility and persuasiveness. Thirdly, Bunin's critical attitude to the surrounding reality is expressed indirectly: he draws an extraordinary love adventure in the ordinary life of the heroes, which shows their entire habitual existence in an unsightly form.