The problematic of the work is easy breathing. Composition based on the story "Light Breath" by Bunin

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About Bunin's "Light Breath"

Literature of the highest category

Ivannikova V.I.

MBOU Lyceum №8

G. Stavropol

This material is not a lesson summary, but not an article in the classical sense of the word. This is my vision of what Bunin wanted to say with his story “Easy Breathing”, as well as an analysis of the lessons in different 11th grades on this work, which retained the logic of these lessons, so that each teacher can easily restore their structure and create their own lesson.

On the eve of October, Bunin writes stories about the loss and loneliness of a person, about the catastrophic nature of his life, about the tragedy of his love, about the transience and fragility of beauty in our lives. Perhaps the most complete expression of all these themes was found in the poetic miniature "Light Breath", which tells the sad story of the schoolgirl Olya Meshcherskaya, built as a chain of memories and thoughts about the fate of the heroine, caused by the contemplation of her grave. One cannot but agree with the researcher of life and work I.A. Bunina Smirnova L.A., who called the story “Light Breath” the pearl of Bunin’s prose, “the image of the heroine is so concisely and vividly captured in it, the feeling of the Beautiful is so reverently conveyed, despite her bleak fate.”

When studying the writer's work at school, it seems impossible to ignore this work: it equally captivates both teachers and high school students. Causing a lively response in the souls of students, because the heroine is their age, whose life was so absurdly and tragically cut short, the story nevertheless turns out to be difficult for them in terms of understanding and comprehending the main idea, the motives of the behavior of the main character, the seeming inconsistency of her actions. Moreover, both in literary criticism and in criticism there is no unambiguous assessment of this work. So, the psychologist L.S. Vygotsky reduced the whole content of Bunin's story to Olya's love affairs with Malyutin and a Cossack officer - all this "led her astray." K. Paustovsky argued: “This is not a story, but an insight, life itself with its trembling and love, the writer’s sad and calm reflection is an epitaph to girlish beauty.” N. Kucherovsky gave his conclusion: “Easy breathing” is not just and not only an “epitaph for girlish beauty”, but also an epitaph for the spiritual “aristocratism” of being, which is opposed in life by the rough and merciless power of “plebeianism”. L.A. Smirnova believes that "Olya ... does not notice her frivolous intoxication with empty pleasures ... The story "Light Breath" develops Bunin's fundamental theme - an unconscious state that is dangerous for human relations and for the fate of the individual."

This miniature is also interpreted differently by school teachers. As a practicing teacher, who has studied this work with high school students for the first time, I have my own view on “Easy Breathing”, my own version of studying this story in literature classes in grade 11.

It is a well-known fact that Bunin's prose very often echoes his poetic work. The story "Easy breathing" was written in 1916, and in spirit, mood, general theme, the poems "Epitaph" and "Non-Sunset Light" (September 1917), as well as the previously written "Portrait" (1903) are closest to him in my opinion. G.).

Epitaph

On earth you were like a wondrous bird of paradise

On the branches of cypress, among the gilded tombs.

And radiant suns shone from black eyelashes.

Rock marked you. On earth you were not a tenant.

Beauty only in Eden knows no forbidden boundaries.

19.IX.17

Sunset light

There, in the fields, in the churchyard,

In a grove of old birches,

Not graves, not bones -

Kingdom of joyful dreams.

The summer wind blows

Greens of long branches -

And it comes to me

The light of your smile

Not a plate, not a crucifix -

Before me so far

Institute dress

And shining eyes.

Are you alone?

Are you not with me

In our distant past

Where was I different?

In the world of the earthly circle,

of the present day

young, former

Long time no me!

24.IX.17

The poems "Epitaph" and "Unsunsetting Light" were taken by me as an epigraph to the lesson. The lesson begins with their discussion. Direct analysis of the work opens with the question:

What feelings and emotions does the main character of the story Olya Meshcherskaya evoke in you?The answers of the students show that the perception of the heroine by young people is very different, the emotions are complex and contradictory. Someone likes a girl for her beauty, naturalness, independence; many condemn her for her frivolous behavior and windiness, Olya simultaneously attracts and repels someone, but most high school students are perplexed by the connection of the heroine with the Cossack officer. After summing up the student's perception, we turn to the question:

How do you think the author feels about his character?In order to answer this question, we recall the features of Bunin's poetics, which were studied in previous lessons. Bunin is very concise in expressing his attitude towards the characters, and, nevertheless, according to the words that the author selects, and especially according to the intonation, mood conveyed by the writer, his attitude can be determined. Students, often not understanding the meaning of the work, usually very accurately feel its atmosphere. The mood of light sadness, sadness, regret for the heroine who has passed away, which is imbued with Easy Breath, is unmistakably felt by them. And many high school students say that the author, as it seems to them, admires his heroine. According to the students, this is reflected in the title of the work (beautiful, poetic, airy, like the main character herself - the statements of the students), and in the conversation between Olya and her friend about female beauty, overheard by the cool lady, and in the last lines of the story. Obviously, the feelings of the students and the author in relation to Ole Meshcherskaya are different. We are trying to understand what caused Bunin's mood, his admiration of the heroine and attitude towards her, because Olya's actions and behavior can hardly be called moral. And first of all, we pay attention to how and how many times Olya's eyes and eyes are depicted in this poetic miniature, because the eyes are a mirror of the soul (one or more students are given a preliminary task - to find and write out all the epithets that the author gives to the eyes of the heroine) . These epithets are: “a photographic portrait of a schoolgirl with joyful, amazingly lively eyes”, “a clear sparkle in her eyes”, “shining her eyes”, “looking at her clearly and vividly”, “whose eyes shine so immortally”, “with this pure look” . Such close attention to the eyes of the heroine, I think, cannot be an accident. A clean, clear, radiant look indicates that Olya's soul is also pure. But how then can one explain the connection of the heroine with Malyutin and the Cossack officer, the rumors about her windiness, frivolity and inconstancy?What should we believe - Olya's pure look or her actions?We turn to Olya's conversation with her friend about female beauty, overheard by the cool lady (the episode is read out by a trained student or staged). Of all the signs of beauty, this girl, with some inner instinct, chooses the most important, immortal - light breathing. Question for high school students:

What associations does the phrase “easy breathing” give you?Purity, freshness, freedom, elusiveness, immediacy. These words are most often heard in the answers of students. We pay attention to the fact that all these are signs not of external, but of internal beauty. And all of them - both external and internal signs - are present in Ole Meshcherskaya. This is what captivates the main character of the story: physical and spiritual beauty organically merged in her, which, only when united together, create harmony. Inner integrity and harmony, the gift of femininity and beauty, not noticing and not realizing themselves, the talent to live a full life - this is exactly what distinguishes Olya from others. That is why "she was not afraid of anything - neither ink stains on her fingers, nor a flushed face, nor disheveled hair, nor a knee that became naked when she fell on the run ...".

And now let's turn to what happened to Olya in the summer and what we learn from her diary. Question for students:

How does the heroine perceive what happened? What lines of the diary do you think are the most important?High school students note the amazing calmness and even some detachment of the heroine when describing what happened to her at the beginning of the diary and literally an explosion of emotions at the very end: “I don’t understand how this could happen, I went crazy, I never thought that I am! Now there is only one way out for me ... I feel such disgust for him that I can’t survive this! .. ”. It is these lines, according to the students (and I absolutely agree with them), that are the most significant, as they make it possible to understand the character and actions of Olya Meshcherskaya and all subsequent events. Answering the questions: “What happened to Olya? How do you understand the words "I never thought I was like that!"? What way out, in your opinion, are we talking about? ”, the students come to the conclusion that the heroine has lost her “light breath”, her purity, innocence, freshness, and this loss is perceived by her as a tragedy. Apparently, the only way she sees is to die.

But how then to understand Olya's behavior in the last winter of her life?We turn to this episode already knowing what happened to the heroine in the summer. The task of the students is to find words and sentences that show Olya's condition. High school students highlight the following sentences: “In her last winter, Olya Meshcherskaya went completely crazy with fun,as they said in high school…”, “imperceptibly her gymnasium fame has been strengthened, and rumors have already begunthat she is windy, cannot live without admirers”, “... the crowd in which Olya Meshcherskaya seemed the most carefree, the happiest.". We focus students' attention on the highlighted phrases:as they said in high school», « rumors have already gone, « seemed the most carefree, the happiest". In most cases, young men and women are able to independently conclude that this is an external look, far from a true understanding of what is actually happening in the soul of the heroine. Olya really only seems carefree and happy. And her crazy fun is, in my opinion, just an attempt to forget, to get away from the pain, from what happened in the summer. The attempt, as we know, failed. Why? It’s hard for me to agree with those critics and teachers who say that Olya does not notice her intoxication with empty pleasures, that she easily and carelessly flutters through life, imperceptibly and calmly stepping over moral norms and rules, that she is a “sinner”, not remembering his fall. In my opinion, Bunin's text does not give us grounds for such conclusions. Olya cannot come to terms with the loss of “easy breathing”, with the realization that “she is like that!”. The heroine judges herself, and her moral maximalism does not give her the possibility of justification. What is the way out? Olya will find him. The students again turn to the text, they read out (we are staging this episode) an episode in which the life of the heroine tragically ends. Question for students:

Do you think the murder of Olya Meshcherskaya by a Cossack officer was a tragic accident?(the task of students is to find words and expressions that help to understand the motives and reason for Olya's actions). On their own or with the help of a teacher, high school students highlight the following points: “a Cossack officer,ugly and plebeian looking, which did not have exactly nothing in common with the circle to which Olya Meshcherskaya belonged”, “said that Meshcherskaya lured him in was close to him, vowed to be his wife, and at the station ... suddenly told him that she and never thought to lovehim that all this talk of marriage -one mockery above them let him readthat page of the diary where it was said about Malyutin. All the highlighted phrases and words, in my opinion, clearly tell us about the intention, consciousness, purposefulness of the actions of the main character. It is quite obvious that, having an affair with an “ugly ... plebeian-looking” Cossack officer not of her circle, Olya pursued some goal. And her behavior at the station, at the moment of parting, is nothing but a provocation. A provocation that could not have ended otherwise than with a shot. And this shot, which tragically cut short the life of Olya Meshcherskaya, is the only way out that was found by the heroine of the story: it was not possible to get away from herself, to come to terms with the loss of “easy breathing”, it was impossible to live on with the realization that she was “like that”. But on her own to leave the life of the one who, according to the writer, is the embodiment of life itself, did not have the courage. And Bunin shows not a murder scene, but a successful suicide attempt. Awareness of this fact makes students look at the main character of the story with different eyes. Having lost physical purity and innocence, Olya Meshcherskaya did not lose her integrity and spiritual purity - her moral maximalism confirms this. And with her death, she regained again "a light breath, which again dissipated in the world, in this cloudy sky, in this cold spring wind."

What did Bunin want to say with his story, what is its hidden meaning?The composition of the story helps us answer this question. It is very complex and chaotic at first glance, but only at first glance... It is this construction of the story, in my opinion, that gives us the key to unraveling and understanding the essence of the work. Together with the students, we draw the compositional scheme of the story: “Easy breathing” (in this case, the title is undoubtedly a full-fledged element of the composition) - a cemetery - the heyday of the heroine and her last winter, including a conversation with the head of the gymnasium (an external look at the heroine) - a murder scene - a diary - again a cemetery - the story of a cool lady - Olya's conversation with her friend about easy breathing - the end of the story (“Now this is easy breathing ...”). After drawing up the diagram, the ring composition becomes obvious, moreover, the double one (cemetery - cemetery, light breathing - light breathing), of this lyrical miniature, and the central place of Olya's diary, and that the author leads us from an external look at the heroine to comprehending her inner essence . All this, according to L.A. Smirnova, “allows you to preserve the amazing breath of beauty, the eyes of the main character “immortally shining” with a “clean look”. I cannot but agree with her, especially since the composition of the “cemetery-cemetery” ring is located inside the “easy breathing – easy breathing” ring. Thus, with the whole structure of his story, fanned by quiet sadness and lyrics, rhythmic, like the breath of the main character, a story written at the height of World War I, I.A. Bunin convinces us of the triumph of life over death, of fragility and at the same time indestructibility of beauty and love.

An analysis of the story would be incomplete without discussing two more questions:

What role does the conversation of the main character with the head of the gymnasium play in the story? Why is the story of her classy lady given in a work about the life and death of Olya Meshcherskaya? These questions are offered to students as homework, and the next lesson on the work of I.A. Bunin will begin with a discussion of them.

Literature:

1. Smirnova L.A. Ivan Alekseevich Bunin. - M., "Enlightenment", 1991. -192p.

2. Vygotsky L.S. Psychology of art. - M., 1987. - p.140-156.

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Integrated lesson based on the story of I.A. Bunin "Easy breathing"

Lesson based on the story of I.A. Bunin "Easy breathing" (Teacher Stebleva R.I.).

Topic: Responsibility of a person for how his life develops (according to the story of I.A. Bunin “Easy breathing”).

With the story of I. A. Bunin "Easy breathing" we complete the study of the writer's work. The heroine is the same age as the eleventh graders, so her fate is very interesting to them.

The theme of the tragic early death of a young girl worried Bunin throughout his entire work. It seems that the writer all his life could not come to terms with such cruelty of fate, when that which, with its whole being, personifies life, youth, joy, dies. Bunin was helped to realize his feelings, to formulate his life principles, views on the world, people, the philosophical maxims of the Roman stoic Marcus Aurelius. The most important was the idea of ​​the cycle of being, within which birth and death were equal.

Individual homework.

Group 1 - expressive reading and analysis of Bunin's poem "Epitaph". Group 2 - "Portrait".

The student and share their impressions of the verses they heard.

Individual task.A short message about the history of the creation of the story.

Work with text.

What feelings do you have from the first lines of the story?I was struck by the scene - the cemetery. A painful impression is left by "a new cross, strong, heavy, smooth." We saw that it was no coincidence that the time of the action was when the "days are gray." It was noted that the author's use of contrast (living eyes and an oak cross on the grave) strongly affects the senses.

- Formulate and write down the questions that you would like to discuss. (This task was given in advance.)

Target: identification of problems that concern students, readiness to enter into a dialogue with a literary text.

We see that the questions posed by the eleventh-graders were in the center of attention of the author himself, and their discussion in the class is quite natural.

- Write on the board these problematic questions:

1. Why is the story called Easy Breathing?

3. How Bunin relates to the heroine of the story - Ole Meshcherskaya.

4. What is the main thing in it: serenity and purity of youth or thoughtlessness and frivolity?

At the first stage of the lesson, we turn to the epigraphs (written on the board):

“Each slightest movement of air is the movement of our own life ...” (I. Bunin.)

“Everything from the age is equal to itself, being in the cycle ...” (M. Avreliy.)

- Comment on the epigraphs, highlight the keywords in each of them.

Let's turn to the phrase "easy breathing". Name the words-associations, words-sensations. Purpose: immersion in the subconscious, identifying personally significant words that “will become symptoms of meaning.” As a result of collective creative efforts, a record appears: “Easy breathing is purity, freshness, carelessness, thoughtlessness, carelessness.”

- A. Fet's poem "Butterfly"will expand the meaning of the phrase “easy breathing. »

Questions for the poem.

1. Why is a butterfly cute? What is its feature?

2. What does the butterfly symbolize in A. Fet's system of aesthetic values? (A symbol of beauty, lightness, carelessness, transience and transience of life.)

At the second stage of the lesson, there is an immersion in the verbal fabric of the work

The class is divided into groups.

1 group writes out words and phrases from the text that determine the nature of Olya Meshcherskaya’s behavior, her internal state and answer the question: “what is in common between the heroine of the story and A. Fet’s butterfly?” (“Careless to instructions”, “crazy with fun”, “was not afraid of anything”, “the most carefree”, “never thought to love him”, “all talk about marriage is a mockery”, “I don’t understand how it could happen.")

2 group answers the question: “How does the text solve the philosophical problem of life and death, which is important for the writer?”, revealing the episodes in which these motives sound.

3 group ponders questions about the role of the image of a classy lady and the cold spring wind in the story.

Such a methodical device as an associative one contributes to the development of reader's perception, linguistic instinct, associative thinking, and improvement of students' analytical abilities.

At the final stage of the lesson, students sum up the work, answer questions.

Olya Meshcherskaya is carefree, coquettish, elegant, graceful. Like a butterfly, it flies out of the norms of behavior, out of age, out of life. She does not listen to the instructions of the boss, prematurely turns from a girl into a girl, from a girl into a woman and dies prematurely. In all her thoughts, feelings, actions, there is the lightness of a light-winged creature that came into this world for a moment.

What is the logic of the heroine's behavior?(This is a strange logic. Circling through life: at balls, at the skating rink, a whirlwind run around the gymnasium, the swiftness of change, unexpected actions. They say about her: “she has completely lost her mind.” “I have completely lost my mind,” says the heroine.

- What destroys harmony in the soul of Olya Meshcherskaya?(The appearance at the dacha of Malyutin, before whose harassment she turned out to be defenseless.)

- What feelings does the heroine have for Malyutin?(The scary thing is that none. What she liked about him was insignificant.) Working with text.

- Does the heroine notice her carefree frivolous behavior, maybe she repents?(At first, Olya was shocked by what happened to her: “I don’t understand how this could happen ... I never thought that I was like that!” The pain of repentance was not long. The heroine seeks to drown it out with violent fun.

What is the second mistake caused by the irreparable first?(Analysis of an episode of communication with a Cossack officer.)

This can no longer be called a prank. This frivolity leads to dangerous unconscious frivolity, when a person becomes a toy in the hands of others.

- What are the reasons for this tragedy?

Where did Olya Meshcherskaya get acquainted with the “code of female beauty”, the component of which was “light breathing”?(Olya met while reading her father's books.) It was they who had a negative impact on the fragile soul. (Work with text.)

This tabloid code of female beauty speaks only of appearance, and exaggeratedly, vulgarly. And nothing - about spirituality, moral qualities.

- How does Bunin show the absence of such a trait in the heroine as spiritual subtlety?(Everything she said about female beauty emphasized the ugliness of her friend, Subbotina.)

The seventeen-year-old schoolgirl could not help but read individual works by Pushkin, Turgenev, Tolstoy. These works were included in the gymnasium curriculum in literature. Unfortunately, they did not leave a mark on her soul. As the author suggests, in the family bookcases there was only room for tabloid fiction.

The writer showed the reasons for the failed life of Meshcherskaya.

This is insouciance. Olya never thought about what worries a girl of her age - about love, about her future.

Each episode is a stage in the life of the heroine, her growing up, moral decline and death.

- What is Bunin's attitude to the heroine of the story? (Bunin is experiencingdual feeling: enthusiastic and sad.)

What is the main compositional principle of the story?(Contrast.) Why? (With its help, the image of the main character is created, the author's position is expressed.)

The sad lines at the beginning of the story precede and complete the reader's perception and serve as a kind of epitaph to the elusive beauty, the untimely end of life.

What concepts could become symbols of the fate of Olya Meshcherskaya?((Death and life, sadness and joy are the symbols of her fate.)

The image of easy breathing. This is not just an image, it is an image-symbol in the story. What associations does it evoke in you? (Many associations: joyful perception of life, the world, unpretentiousness, simplicity, beauty, carelessness.)

- "Easy breathing" in the story of the same name is a symbol of the carefree joy of life in the fullness of its sensations, a symbol of life for the sake of life - without reflections and any doubts.

- For Bunin, the words "easy breathing"personify youth, a riot of vitality, but at the same time frivolity and thoughtlessness: “Such naivety and lightness in everything, both in audacity and in death, is “light breathing”, non-thinking.”

How do you perceive the narrator? (We feel the deep regret of the person who said his word about the undeveloped possibilities of the girl.)

Students' statements.

Dreams, plans, aspirations cut short. Life was interrupted, only "the sound of the wind in the Porcelain wreath" remained. Olya really had a light, natural breath - a thirst for life, some special, unique fate. This cherished dream of hers is said only at the end. The author reveals to us not only the beauty of the girl (of course, not her experience), but only the wonderful possibilities that have not developed.

- What is the role of the classy lady in the story? (With cool looksladies and cold spring windthe return of the light breath of Olya Meshcherskaya to the world, to people is connected. According to the author, the craving for beauty, fortunately, for perfection, cannot disappear.)

What was this story for you?

If it were not for the thoughtless fluttering through the life of the heroine, not for the primitive idea of ​​\u200b\u200bhappiness, her life could have turned out quite differently.

The story sounds like a warning. After all, the most dangerous thing is frivolity. Olya stumbled once, but the cost of this mistake is life.

Lesson results.

Life and death, separation and love, beauty are eternal themes in literature.

But there is another storydeep meaning.The adult world can be alien and hostile to beauty, and it can also break destinies and destroy immature souls.A person is responsible for how his life develops. He is in many ways the creator of his own destiny.

Completing the Feedback Sheet.

Psychological training (teacher-psychologist)

"The unknown life is not worth living (Socrates)"

(according to the story by I.A. Bunin "Easy breathing")

Lesson Objectives:

• Consider the motives that drive the actions of the heroes: a cool lady and Olenka.
• Compare the inner world of the characters with external manifestations.
  Tasks:
• Describe the defense mechanisms of the individual.

Lesson progress

Introduction

As already mentioned, light breathing is a symbol of carefree joy, life without reflection and doubt.

- What is reflection?

Reflection (from lat. geyeho - “turning back”) - self-knowledge of internal mental acts, feelings, sensations, as well as an analysis of one's actions.

• Do we need doubts and analysis of our actions and feelings in our life?
• What gives a person life without doubt?(Discussion.)

• It is a lack of responsibility for one's actions.
• This is childishness, naivete, children live just as carelessly. They are immediate. Any of them
  the feeling takes place only in this very moment. Children are full of life and joy. Every
  day for them - the opening of the new.
• This is an easy attitude to life, you take nothing to heart.

• And what is the ease of life for Bunin?(Live in the moment, in the name of feelings and
  sensations.)
• Where did Olya Meshcherskaya get such an attitude to life?(Since childhood, carefree, carefree, -
  Bunin repeatedly emphasizes this - she is happy, loved the image she invented, which
  read it in a book...
• How is childhood different from other periods of life?(Discussion about the role of childhood in
  personality formation.)

Main part.

“A classy lady is a middle-aged girl who has long been living in some kind of fiction that replaces her reality.”

• What role do fantasies play in human life? What kind of fantasies can these be?
  are they expressed?
• What makes a person go into a fictional virtual world? How is this care
  reflected in real life, real relationships with people?
• Does a person who lives in unreality realize that he does not live a real life?
  Or is it a defensive reaction of the psyche? Does he need this awareness?(A story about protective
  mechanisms of the psyche: denial, projection, rationalization, compensation, appeal to
  students' own experiences.)

People react differently to their inner difficulties. Some suppress their inclinations by denying their existence. Others “forget” about the traumatic event. Still others seek a way out in self-justification and condescension to their weaknesses. And the fourth try to distort reality and engage in self-deception. And all this is so sincere: they sincerely “do not see” the problem, they sincerely “forget” about the reasons ... But no matter what method people resort to, protecting their psyche from painful tension, defense mechanisms help them in this.

What are defense mechanisms?

This term first appeared in 1894 in the work of the psychoanalyst 3. Freud "Defensive neuropsychoses" and was used in a number of his subsequent works to describe the struggle ego against painful or unbearable thoughts and affects. The mechanism of psychological defense is aimed at depriving the significance and thereby neutralize the psychologically traumatic moments. So, for example, the Fox from the famous fable, who could not get a grape, declared it immature, because she did not want to admit (even to herself) her failure - her inability to get it.

Thus, it can be said thatdefense mechanisms- a system of regulatory mechanisms that serve to eliminate or minimize negative, traumatic experiences. These experiences are mainly associated with internal or external conflicts, states of anxiety or discomfort. Situations that give rise to psychological defense are characterized by a real or perceived threat to the integrity of the individual, his identity and self-esteem. This subjective threat can, in turn, be generated by a conflict of contradictory tendencies within the personality or by a discrepancy between the information coming from the outside and the image of the world and the image of the Self that has developed in the personality.

Protection mechanisms are ultimately aimed at maintaining stability. There are many defense mechanisms. I will talk about just a few of them:

Negation This is an attempt not to take events that are undesirable for oneself as real. Remarkable is the ability in such cases to "skip" experienced unpleasant events in their memories, replacing them with fiction. As a defense mechanism negation consists in diverting attention from painful ideas and feelings, but does not make them completely inaccessible to consciousness.

Projection - subconscious attribution of one's own qualities, feelings and desires to another person. This mechanism corresponds to the saying: "In someone else's eye you notice a speck, in your own - and you will not notice a log."

Rationalization - this is the construction of reasonable explanations for the reasons for disturbing a person's unacceptable desires, thoughts, actions or situations that a person could not cope with. Expanded self-justification. Naturally, these "justificatory" explanations of one's thoughts and actions are more ethical and noble than true motives. Thus, rationalization is aimed at preserving status quo life situation and works to hide the true motivation. A classic example is The Fox and the Grapes.

Compensation is a mechanism that helps overcome feelings of inferiority. A person under the influence of this protective mechanism tends to identify himself with a concrete or abstract ideal, receiving satisfaction from this. He realizes an insolvency complex in dreams of fame, power and wealth. He experiences a compensatory desire to prove to everyone his significance in a certain type of activity.

• What is this "terrible dream" for a classy lady? What is she
  afraid? (Unfulfillment of oneself as a woman.)
• And what defense mechanism helps her in this? Is it necessary to "expose" the classroom
  lady?

Final part

Staged two scenes(spontaneously, without preparation), relying as much as possible on the text:

1. The conversation of a classy lady with Olenka Meshcherskaya.
2. The conversation of girlfriends about easy breathing (and the classy lady listens to him by chance).

After each scene, the psychologist asks questions about the feelings of the characters. The students who play respond on behalf of the characters without leaving the role. Then the conversation continues with them about their feelings (whether they have changed in relation to the hero they played) after leaving the role.

Exercise. Divide into 2 groups. 3 minutes preparation. One group will come up with theses in defense of "easy fluttering through life", the other- Against this.

Answers are read. Organization of the discussion. Feedback

The first impression of the story "Easy Breath" brought me into a state of some kind of incomprehensible feeling, bewilderment, a feeling of unfinished events, as if some secret of the author had eluded me. I wanted to re-read it again, go deeper, understand the secret meaning of the work and trace the techniques used by I. Bunin to achieve the effect of mystery. To do this, you need to analyze the story.

Let's start with the history of creation. I. Bunin's story is written on the eve of the First World War. During this period, the situation in the country is quite tense. And the questions of "life", "death" and "meaning of life" were widely discussed in journalism. The old theories are being replaced by new ones. The most popular was the theory of "living life", which was preached by the famous realist writer V. Veresaev. In his opinion, to live a “living life” means to follow nature, to be imbued with a sense of the inexhaustible intrinsic value of life. Its meaning is in itself, it in itself is of the greatest value, regardless of its content. These theories and disputes are reflected in some of Bunin's stories, including the story "Light Breath".

Bunin writes about the idea as follows: “One winter I wandered into a small cemetery in Capri and came across a grave cross with a photographic portrait on a convex porcelain medallion of some little girl with unusually lively and joyful eyes. I immediately made this girl mentally Russian, Olya Meshcherskaya, and, dipping my pen in the inkwell, began to invent a story with that delightful speed that happened in some of the happiest moments of my writing.

The plot itself (storyline) is very trivial. A provincial schoolgirl, the story of her fall into sin, indicated by just one phrase addressed to the head of the gymnasium, and a few excerpts from the diary, dissolute, in fact, and such a short life, and a nightmarish ending - the murder of a girl by a Cossack officer, whose heart was broken by Olya. It is noteworthy that this entire storyline, despite all the tragedy, is presented in a calm tone, as if by the way. And the feeling of tragedy does not remain at all in the finale.

Bunin called his story "Easy breathing". The title sets you up for the perception of something light, bright, joyful. How can breathing be light? After all, this is something initially light, familiar. Breathing is given by nature, it is natural for every person and is not a difficult job. However, the author wanted to emphasize that light breathing is something elusive and very short-lived.

In the story, “easy breathing” turns from an ordinary detail of a portrait into a “leitmotif, a “musical” key, the main lyrical theme, which is reinforced by the use of other words with the root “dykh-”: “the field air is blowing freshly”, “a study that breathed so well on frosty days with the warmth of a brilliant Dutch woman", "took only one deep breath". This motif from the first lines bursts into the story with a "cold wind" and "rings a porcelain wreath at the foot of the cross", not at all corresponding to the mood of the initial chord of the story: "light breathing" and a cemetery.

Bunin compares the main character - Olya Meshcherskaya - with "easy breathing", because Olya lived her whole short but bright life as if in one breath - "light breathing". This is evidenced by the following lines: "without any worries and efforts somehow everything that so distinguished her from the whole gymnasium came to her imperceptibly - grace, elegance, dexterity, a clear sparkle in her eyes, "" she began to flourish, develop by leaps and bounds, "" she rushed around the assembly hall like a whirlwind from chasing after her and blissfully squealing first-graders", "and there was already talk that she was windy" - nature gave her what many would like to have.

The author even gives the name of his heroine harmonious and light. Olya Meshcherskaya ... Let's remember Paustovsky. Meshchery is denseness, untouchedness. When applied to the main character, this means the "denseness" of consciousness, its underdevelopment and at the same time originality. Phonosemantic assessment of the name shows that the image of the word gives the impression of something good, beautiful, simple, safe, kind, strong, bright. Against her background, death seems absurd and does not look sinister. It is no coincidence that I. Bunin begins the story with a message about the death of Olya, this deprives this fact of the murder of emotional coloring. So the reader is puzzled not by the result of life, but by the dynamics of life itself, Olya's story.

The image of the boss is opposed to the image of Olya Meshcherskaya. Unlike the boss, the girl cares little about how others perceive her. In addition, the opposition lies in the appearance of the heroines, hairstyles are compared. Olya Meshcherskaya draws attention to the "smooth parting in milky, neatly ruffled hair", which, apparently, takes a lot of time to create. And Olya, having learned that her boss is calling her, preens in just a few seconds: “She stopped with a run, took only one deep breath, straightened her hair with a quick and already familiar female movement.” And this is already familiar to her. The boss is annoyed by Olya's frivolous behavior, her simple and cheerful answers.

The image of a cool lady is presented to the reader at the end of the story. The author pays a lot of attention to the image of a classy lady. She doesn't have a name. The reader meets "a little woman in mourning, in black kid gloves, with an ebony umbrella," heading towards the cemetery. The author's selection of details-symbols said everything about this woman. She goes to Olya's grave, does not take her eyes off the oak cross, which from the very beginning symbolizes the common life cross. The little woman does not just look at the cross, she carries the cross of life. She cannot be happy. Her mourning is not so much mourning for Olya, but evidence that the life of a classy lady is an endless mourning.

We learn about Alexei Mikhailovich Malyutin from the diary of Olya Meshcherskaya: "he is fifty-six years old, but he is still very handsome and always well dressed." Malyutin, who is old enough to be Olya's grandfather, has sexual relations with the child, thus violating social norms. Malyutin committed a crime, but for the hero this is a deliberate overstepping of boundaries, which he motivates with literary allusions and flirtations. I would like to ask the question: what was this man thinking about, how could he afford to take such a reckless vile step? After all, he was a friend and neighbor of the father of this young girl, which means that he knew Olya for a long time and she was almost like his own. The motivation of his behavior is revealed through the portrait. In her diary, Olya several times emphasizes the youthfulness (pseudo-youth) of the hero, and this youthfulness is depicted on the rise: first Olya notes that Malyutin is “still very handsome”, and then describes the “very young” black eyes. Olya also notes "... was He was very lively and behaved like a gentleman with me, he joked a lot that he had been in love with me for a long time. These actions of Malyutin do not at all correlate with his old age! The name and patronymic of the hero significantly coincides with the name and patronymic of the sovereign ancestor of that very “young tsar”, whose portrait the girl “really liked”; and his last name - Malyutin - provokes the reader to recall the favorite of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Malyuta Skuratov.

The image of the schoolboy Shenshin is mentioned only once in the story “...her gymnasium fame has imperceptibly strengthened, and rumors have already begun that she is windy, that she cannot live without admirers, that the schoolboy Shenshin is madly in love with her, that as if she were his loves, but is so changeable in dealing with him that he attempted suicide...” Shenshin expected constancy from Olya and could not forgive her changeable nature. For I.A. Bunin, this image is important. Many details of Shenshin's image remain unknown to the reader, for example, the author does not give accurate information about the hero's suicide, but relies on rumors that circulate in the gymnasium.

I.A. Bunin describes the events in the story "Light Breath" through the eyes of several participants at once. On five pages, he covers the life of Olya Meshcherskaya from different points of view.

The short story by I.A. Bunin "Easy Breath" has long been an example of an unusual, "inverted" construction of the composition. As you know, the first to note this feature and tried to explain it back in the 20s. 20th century L.S. Vygotsky in one of the chapters of his book "The Psychology of Art"

The composition of the work has a ring structure, i.e. is a story within a story. The "frame" is the description of the cemetery and one of the graves (beginning) and the woman who visits this grave, reflecting on the fate of the girl buried here (end). The fate of the girl is at the center of the story. The story about her also has a non-standard composition: the plot of the story, the reasons for the internal drama of Olya Meshcherskaya become clear after the tragic death of the girl.

The plot of the story, moved to the end, illuminates the whole story in a new way, which makes it possible to feel it especially sharply. Only at the end of the story is it revealed that Olya Meshcherskaya is not empty and dissolute, but unhappy and cruel, primarily towards herself. And death, perhaps, is exactly what she was striving for.

A feature of the composition of "Light Breath" is its mismatch with the disposition (the chronological order of events). If you highlight the semantic parts of the text, it turns out that each part breaks off at the moment of the highest emotional stress. At the beginning of the work, it should be noted the interweaving of contrasting motifs of life and death. The description of the city cemetery, the monotonous ringing of a porcelain wreath create a sad mood. Against this background, the portrait of a schoolgirl with joyful, amazingly lively eyes is especially expressive. The next sentence (This is Olya Meshcherskaya) is separated into a separate paragraph. In Bunin's story, the mentioned name does not yet mean anything, but we are already involved in the action. Many questions arise: "Who is this girl? What is the cause of her death?" The author deliberately hesitates to answer, maintaining the intensity of perception.

The main compositional technique that Bunin uses is antithesis, that is, opposition. The author uses it from the very first lines: the theme of life and death prevails at the beginning of the story. Bunin begins with a description of the cross: "heavy, strong," a symbol of death. He contrasts clear, sunny April days with gray days (gloomy, inanimate). Instead of fresh flowers, there is a porcelain wreath on the grave, personifying lifelessness, death. All this gloomy description is contradicted by the image of Olya Meshcherskaya: "A rather large, convex porcelain medallion is embedded in the very cross, and in the medallion there is a photographic portrait of a schoolgirl with joyful, amazingly lively eyes. This is Olya Meshcherskaya." Bunin does not say directly that this is the grave of Olya Meshcherskaya, as if he does not want to associate this cheerful and cheerful girl with the cemetery, with death.

When describing the life of a girl in a gymnasium, the author again turns to the antithesis: "as a girl, she did not stand out in the crowd of brown gymnasium dresses," but unlike her peers, who were very careful about their appearance and face, she "was not afraid of anything - not ink spots on the fingers, no flushed face, no disheveled hair, no bloated knee when falling on the run. Bunin constantly emphasizes that Olya Meshcherskaya was the best in everything: in skating, in dancing, she was looked after like no other schoolgirl. No one else was loved by the lower classes as much as her! Olya's life - cheerful, without worries, constantly on the move - does not correspond in any way with the image of the cemetery. She swept through this life like a whirlwind, a bright star. He even contrasts Malyutin and the Cossack officer. Malyutin is a handsome elderly man, and the Cossack officer does not stand out in any way.

Bunin constantly emphasizes her eyes: "clear sparkle of eyes", "shining eyes". Light is a symbol of life. He introduces a rhetorical question: "Is it possible that under him is the one whose eyes shine so immortally from this convex porcelain medallion on the cross, and how to combine with this pure look that terrible thing that is now connected with the name of Olya Meshcherskaya?" Even after death, the eyes shine "immortally".

The author distracts the reader from seemingly significant events, clutters them up with words. For example, the word "shot" is extinguished by the author among the description of an officer and a platform, a crowd of people, a train that has just arrived. Thus, our attention is persistently directed to some secret springs of Olya's life.

The motive of a woman runs like a red thread through the entire story of I. A. Bunin.

Let us first dwell on its verbal incarnations. The words woman and female are mentioned 7 times in the story. For the first time this word is heard in a conversation between Olya Meshcherskaya and the school principal. "It's a woman's hairstyle!" - the boss says reproachfully. "... I am a woman," Olya answers her. Then this word is mentioned in Olya's diary: "Today I have become a woman!" After Olya's death, a "little woman" comes to her grave - a cool lady (the word "woman" is mentioned 3 times ). And, finally, at the end of the story, the words of Olya herself are again quoted about "what beauty a woman should have." Following the use of this motive in the story, we can conclude that Olya Meshcherskaya in her actions is guided by the desire to become a woman, but the transformation into a woman turns out to be completely different from what the girl imagined. The author reveals to us not only the beauty of the girl, of course, not her experience, but only these undeveloped wonderful opportunities. They, according to the author, cannot disappear, just as the craving for beauty, fortunately, for perfection, never disappears.
Beauty and death, love and separation - the eternal themes that have received such a touching and enlightened embodiment in the work of I. A. Bunin, excite us today:

And it comes to me
The light of your smile
Not a plate, not a crucifix
Before me so far -
Institute dress
And shining eyes.

About the story "Light Breath" it must be said that the action takes place in a cemetery. It's April, the weather is terrible and cold. Olya Meshcherskaya is the main character of the story. On the cross, which stands at one of the graves, one can see a portrait of a girl, apparently, she is a high school student. Bunin creates a dual atmosphere, intertwines life with death, describes April, bare trees. This shows that life is always inseparable from death.

The whole story is built on opposition, even the description of the life of the main character, which was short, but bright. Olechka was a brave, beautiful girl, she was popular, she was sweet and she skated well.

But in the last winter, something changed, Olya behaved strangely, constantly had fun and dressed provocatively. Treated Shenshin low, at first swore in love, and then simply "played", which led to his attempt to kill himself.

Aleksey Mikhailovich Malyutin also falls under her spell, he is much older than Olya, but this does not prevent her from flirting with him.

The Cossack officer, who did not look like the people of her entourage, was also in a relationship with Olya, she swore to him her love, that she would marry him after. But at the station, her words hurt the officer, she deceived him. Olya tells about the connection with Alexei Malyutin, so the officer kills her with a pistol.

When reading the story, the question arises, why did Olya Meshcherskaya behave like this? And the answer is simple - she did not understand what she was doing. She did not understand and did not consider the feelings of other people.

Olya Blok is described as a capable girl, but carefree and at the same time frivolous. She is compared to a storm that can destroy everything in its path.

But besides this, the image of Olya is contrasted with the image of the lady who ran the gymnasium, she was not young, she scolded Olga for bad behavior. She was Malyutin's sister, so she tried to keep him from making a mistake.

No matter what, the lady comes to the cemetery - and it is at this moment that the reader sees the antithesis. The lady sits next to the grave and recalls Olya's conversation about the book, in which it was prescribed that the girl should be bright, with burning eyes. This is how the understanding comes that after Olga there is nothing left, only emptiness.

Option 2

No one wrote about love so penetratingly, brightly and completely, like Bunin. He was the undoubted master of describing all the shades and nuances of this feeling. First love, absorbing passion, suffering from unrequited feelings, reckless love - his pen knew no equal in this.

The story "Light Breath" is no exception. He describes a short but vivid story of a young girl who, contrary to all the rules and foundations of society, led a thoughtless, full of pleasure life and followed her passions.

The whole story is built on contrasts. It begins with a description of the grave of the main character, Olga Meshcherskaya. A gloomy cemetery, a dim day, bare tree branches, a fresh embankment further emphasize the bleakness of this place. Therefore, the portrait of Olenka on the cross evokes conflicting feelings. On it is a carefree girl, with cheerful, full of life eyes.

Olya Meshcherskaya blossomed early, already at the age of 14 she turned from an ordinary girl into a real beauty. This could not but arouse interest in the opposite sex, and displeasure among the headmistress and teachers of the gymnasium in which Olya studied. There were many admirers, the girl did not resist temptations. Her carefree windy life becomes almost dissolute, but the author does not condemn the heroine for this. He likes Olechkin's lust for life, the courage with which she challenges the routine and dullness of the townsfolk. In a conversation with the head of the gymnasium, Olya Meshcherskaya, she does not hide the fact that she leads an immoral lifestyle. And Alexei Malyutin, the boss's brother, is to blame for this. It was he who seduced Olya and became her first man. But the headmistress wanted to give Meshcherskaya a lecture on modesty, but the notation failed.

Very soon it turns out that Olya had a love relationship with a person not of her circle. The Cossack officer planned to marry the girl, but Olga announced to him that her feelings were superficial. And as evidence, he gives a page from the diary to read, which describes the connection with Malyutin. It becomes clear that this is true, the offended officer kills Olga with one shot.

Not only the story, Olechka's whole life consisted of contradictions. Beautiful but damaged. Silly, but frivolous. Sincere, but not caring about the feelings of others. She fluttered like a butterfly, not thinking about the future and the consequences. But even such a short life, according to the author, is more attractive than the dull and joyless life of a classy lady who goes to Olya's grave. She does not have the audacity and lust for life that her pupil had. It was there, on the grave, that the classy lady recalls Olya's conversation with her friend. In it, the girl confesses her secret. A real woman should have easy breathing. She read this in one of the books in her father's library. And I decided that it should be the same for her.

Olechka Meshcherskaya had not only breathing easy. She took life with ease. The charm and fragility of beauty, the simplicity of perception of the world, thoughtlessness and frivolity - a high price was paid for all this. But Bunin does not pose global problems in the story. It just makes you wonder why and how a person lives in this world.

Analysis #3

After reading the title of the story, the question immediately arises what it is about. Somehow it is not clear. “Easy breathing” is an expression that is immediately associated with medicine. And Bunin associates it with the heroine Olechka Meshcherskaya. Why? Women at all times have been mysterious and incomprehensible natures. Many men have tried to comprehend the female soul. Tried to do this and Bunin.

Olya was a rich and happy girl. She immediately caught the eye among the other students of the gymnasium in these dull brown dresses - graceful, smart, dexterous, with a clear gleam in her eyes.

She tries to find only the good in the people around her and the environment. Here the boss, despite her gray hair, retained her youthfulness. And the office is kept clean and tidy, the Dutch stove gives off warmth and smells of lilies of the valley. Well, how can they scold in such an office? In her father's friend Malyutin, she notices taste in clothes, beautiful black eyes, and a silver beard.

Such a little man as Olya is not capable of a vile act. She judged other people by her standards. Yes, she was quite a naive child. The world around her was interesting, he beckoned her with its diversity. She could not imagine that scoundrels live in it, who can take advantage of her childish naivety and young beauty.

Every society has certain rules of conduct. And not always what she did, coincided with these rules. She raced with the first-graders, rejoicing at the emotions that overwhelmed her, but she had to walk sedately and primly along the corridors of the gymnasium. Olya was like a light breath of a spring breeze. Like a ray of light breaking through a cloudy window pane.

It was necessary to merge with the faceless brown mass of schoolgirls and not stand out from the crowd, but she wore combs in her hair and high female hairstyles. And on her feet were expensive elegant women's shoes. She so wanted to be a grown woman. Having received the first cruel lesson of adult life, this half-woman, half-child hated not only her seducer Malyutin, but also herself.

After Olya's death, a cool lady came to her grave, sat there for a long time and looked at her photo in a mourning frame. Why? Maybe she mentally compared her invented life with Olina. I envied the ease with which she lived in life. I envied her courage with which she challenged society.

She herself did not know how to live like that, but in her heart, probably, she wanted to. I wanted to throw off my years, my position, sincerely rejoice at both the snow and the sun. But her essence was only enough to knit at the desk, like an old woman. An old lady in the shower, became an old lady outside. Vaughn and gray hairs appeared.

And again about love ... And if it’s about love, then it’s definitely about Ivan Alekseevich Bunin, because so far he has no equal in literature in the ability to so deeply, accurately,

and at the same time, it is easy and easy to convey an endless palette of colors and shades of life, love and human destinies, and what is most surprising - all this is on two or three sheets. In his stories, time is inversely proportional to the emerging fullness of feelings and emotions. Here you are reading his story “Light Breathing” (an analysis of the work follows), and it takes five to ten minutes at the most, but at the same time you manage to immerse yourself in the life, and even the soul of the main characters, and live with them for several decades, and sometimes for the rest of your life. Isn't it a miracle?

The story of I.A. Bunin "Easy breathing": analysis and summary

From the first lines, the author introduces the reader to the main character of the story - Olya Meshcherskaya. But what is this acquaintance? An analysis of the story "Easy Breathing" draws attention to the scene - a cemetery, a fresh clay mound on the grave and a heavy, smooth oak cross. Time - cold, gray days of April, still bare trees, icy wind. A medallion is inserted into the very cross, and in the medallion there is a portrait of a young girl, a schoolgirl, with happy, "amazingly lively eyes." As you can see, the narrative is built on contrasts, hence the dual sensations: life and death are spring, the month of April, but still bare trees; a strong tomb cross with a portrait of a young girl, in the prime of her awakening femininity. You involuntarily think about what this earthly life is, and you are amazed at how close the atoms of life and death adjoin each other, and along with them beauty and ugliness, simplicity and cunning, stunning success and tragedy ...

main character

The principle of contrast is used both in the image of Olga Meshcherskaya herself and in the description of her short but brilliant life. As a girl, she paid no attention to herself. The only thing that could be said was that she was one of the many sweet, rich and absolutely happy girls who, due to their age, are playful and careless. However, she soon began to develop rapidly and become prettier, and at her incomplete fifteen she was known as a real beauty. She was not afraid of anything and was not embarrassed, and at the same time, her fingers or disheveled hair looked much more natural, neat and elegant than the deliberate neatness or thoroughness of her friends' styled hair. No one danced so gracefully at balls as she did. No one skated as skillfully as she did. No one had as many fans as Olya Meshcherskaya ... The analysis of the story "Light Breath" does not end there.

Last winter

As they said in the gymnasium, “Olya Meshcherskaya went completely crazy with fun during her last winter.” She flaunts herself everywhere: she combs her hair defiantly, wears expensive combs, ruins her parents for shoes “twenty rubles”. She openly and simply declares to the headmistress that she is no longer a girl, but a woman ... She flirts with high school student Shenshin, promises him to be faithful and loving, and at the same time is so fickle and capricious in dealing with him, bringing him once to attempted suicide. She, in fact, lures and seduces Alexei Mikhailovich Malyutin, an adult of fifty-six years old, and then, realizing her disadvantageous position, as an excuse for her dissolute behavior, arouses in herself a feeling of disgust for him. Further - more ... Olya enters into a relationship with a Cossack officer, ugly, plebeian-looking, who had nothing to do with the society in which she moved, and promises him to marry him. And at the station, seeing him off to Novocherkassk, he says that there can be no love between them, and all these conversations are just a mockery and mockery of him. As proof of her words, she gives him to read that page of the diary, which spoke of her first connection with Malyutin. Without taking the insult, the officer shoots at her right there, on the platform ... The question arises: why, why does she need all this? What corners of the human soul is trying to open to us the work "Light Breath" (Bunin)? An analysis of the sequence of actions of the main character will allow the reader to answer these and other questions.

fluttering moth

And here the image of a fluttering moth involuntarily suggests itself, frivolous, reckless, but possessing an incredible thirst for life, a desire to find some kind of its own, special, fascinating and beautiful destiny, worthy only of the elect. But life is subject to other laws and rules, the violation of which must be paid. Therefore, Olya Meshcherskaya, like a moth, bravely, without fear, and at the same time easily and naturally, regardless of the feelings of others, flies towards the fire, towards the light of life, towards new sensations in order to burn to ashes: smooth the lined notebook, not knowing about the fate of your line, where wisdom, heresy are mixed ... ”(Brodsky)

contradictions

Indeed, everything was mixed up in Ole Meshcherskaya. “Easy breathing”, the analysis of the story, allows us to distinguish in the work such as antithesis - a sharp opposition of concepts, images, states. She is beautiful and at the same time immoral. She was not stupid, she was capable, but at the same time superficial and thoughtless. There was no cruelty in her, "for some reason, no one was loved as much by the lower classes as she was." Her merciless attitude towards other people's feelings was not meaningful. She, like a raging element, demolished everything in her path, but not because she sought to destroy and suppress, but only because she could not do otherwise: “... how to combine with this pure look that terrible thing that is now connected with the name of Olya Meshcherskaya?” Both beauty and were her essence, and she was not afraid to show both of them to the fullest. Therefore, she was so loved, admired, drawn to her, and therefore her life was so bright, but fleeting. It could not be otherwise, which is proved to us by the story “Light Breath” (Bunin). Analysis of the work gives a deeper understanding of the life of the main character.

cool lady

The antithetical composition (antithesis) is observed both in the description of the very image of the classy lady Olechka Meshcherskaya, and in an indirect, but so guessable comparison of her with the schoolgirl under her charge. For the first time, I. Bunin ("Light Breath") introduces the reader to a new character - the head of the gymnasium, in the scene of a conversation between her and Mademoiselle Meshcherskaya regarding the defiant behavior of the latter. And what do we see? Two absolute opposites - a youthful, but gray-haired madame with an even parting in neatly frilled hair and a light, graceful Olya with a beautifully tidied up, albeit beyond her years, hairstyle with an expensive comb. One behaves simply, clearly and lively, fearing nothing and boldly responding to reproaches, despite such a young age and unequal position. The other one does not take her eyes off the endless knitting and secretly begins to get annoyed.

After the tragedy

We remind you that we are talking about the story "Light Breath". An analysis of the work follows. The second and last time the reader encounters the image of a classy lady after Olya's death, in the cemetery. And again we have before us the sharp but vivid clarity of the antithesis. A "middle-aged girl" in black kid gloves and in mourning goes to Olya's grave every Sunday, keeping her eyes on the oak cross for hours. She devoted her life to some kind of "incorporeal" feat. At first, she cared about the fate of her brother, Alexei Mikhailovich Malyutin, that very remarkable ensign who had seduced a beautiful schoolgirl. After his death, she devoted herself to work, merging entirely with the image of an "ideological worker." Now Olya Meshcherskaya is the main theme of all her thoughts and feelings, one might say, a new dream, a new meaning of life. However, can her life be called life? Yes and no. On the one hand, everything that exists in the world is necessary and has the right to exist, despite the seeming worthlessness and uselessness to us. And on the other hand, in comparison with the splendor, brilliance and audacity of the colors of Olya's short life, it is rather a "slow death". But, as they say, the truth is somewhere in the middle, because a colorful picture of the life path of a young girl is also an illusion, behind which lies emptiness.

Talk

The story "Light Breath" does not end there. A classy lady sits near her grave for a long time and endlessly recalls the same conversation of two girls overheard once ... Olya was chatting with her friend at a big break and mentioned one book from her father's library. It talked about what a woman should be. First of all, with large black eyes boiling with resin, with thick eyelashes, a delicate blush, longer than usual arms, a thin figure ... But the main thing is that a woman should be with easy breathing. Olya understood literally - she sighed and listened to her breathing, the expression "easy breathing" still reflects the essence of her soul, thirsting for life, striving for its fullness and alluring infinity. However, “light breathing” (the analysis of the story of the same name is coming to an end) cannot be eternal. Like everything worldly, like the life of any person and like the life of Olya Meshcherskaya, sooner or later it disappears, dissipates, perhaps becoming part of this world, the cold spring wind or the leaden sky.

What can be said in conclusion about the story "Light Breathing", the analysis of which was carried out above? Written in 1916, long before the collection "Dark Alleys" was born, the short story "Light Breathing" can be called without exaggeration one of the pearls of I. Bunin's work.