Easy breathing problem analysis. Analysis of the story "Easy breathing

When it comes to stories about love, the first person to remember is Ivan Alekseevich Bunin. Only he could so reverently, subtly describe a wonderful feeling, so accurately convey all the shades that are in love. His story "Light Breathing", an analysis of which is presented below, is one of the pearls of his work.

Heroes of the story

The analysis of "Easy Breath" should begin with a brief description of the characters. The main character is Olya Meshcherskaya, a schoolgirl. A spontaneous, carefree girl. She stood out among other gymnasium girls with her beauty and grace, and already at a young age she had many admirers.

Alexei Mikhailovich Malyutin, a fifty-year-old officer, friend of Olga's father and brother of the head of the gymnasium. A single, good-looking man. Seduced Olya, thought she liked him. He is proud, therefore, having learned that the girl is disgusted with him, he shot her.

The head of the gymnasium, sister Malyutina. A grey-haired but still youthful woman. Strict, unemotional. She was irritated by the liveliness and immediacy of Olenka Meshcherskaya.

Cool lady heroine. A middle-aged woman whose dreams have replaced reality. She thought of lofty goals and devoted herself to thinking about them with all her passion. It was precisely such a dream that Olga Meshcherskaya, associated with youth, lightness and happiness, became with her.

The analysis of "Light Breath" should be continued with a summary of the story. The narrative begins with a description of the cemetery where the high school student Olya Meshcherskaya is buried. A description of the expression of the girl's eyes is immediately given - joyful, amazingly lively. The reader understands that the story will be about Olya, who was a cheerful and happy schoolgirl.

It goes on to say that until the age of 14, Meshcherskaya was no different from other gymnasium girls. She was a pretty, playful girl, like many of her peers. But after she turned 14, Olya blossomed, and at 15 everyone considered her a real beauty.

The girl differed from her peers in that she was not bothered by her appearance, did not care that her face turned red from running, and her hair became disheveled. No one danced at balls with such ease and grace as Meshcherskaya. No one was so cared for as she was, and no one was loved by the first graders as much as she was.

In the last winter for her, they said that the girl seemed to have gone crazy with fun. She dressed up like a grown woman and was the most carefree and happy at that time. One day, the head of the gymnasium called her to her. She began to scold the girl for being frivolous. Olenka, not at all embarrassed, makes a shocking confession that she has become a woman. And the boss's brother, a friend of her father, Alexei Mikhailovich Malyutin, is to blame for this.

And a month after this frank conversation, he shot Olya. At the trial, Malyutin justified himself by saying that Meshcherskaya herself was to blame for everything. That she seduced him, promised to marry him, and then said that she was disgusted with him and let her read her diary, where she wrote about it.

Every holiday, her classy lady comes to Olenka's grave. And spend hours thinking about how unfair life can be. She remembers a conversation she once overheard. Olya Meshcherskaya told her beloved friend that in one of her father's books she read that light breathing is most important in the beauty of a woman.

Composition features

The next point in the analysis of "Light Breath" is the features of the composition. This story is distinguished by the complexity of the chosen plot construction. At the very beginning, the writer already shows the reader the end of the sad story.

Then he comes back, quickly running through the girl's childhood and returning to the heyday of her beauty. All actions quickly replace each other. This is also evidenced by the description of the girl: she becomes more beautiful "by leaps and bounds." Balls, skating rinks, running around - all this emphasizes the lively and direct nature of the heroine.

There are also sharp transitions in the story - here, Olenka makes a bold confession, and a month later an officer shoots at her. And then April came. Such a quick change in the time of the action emphasizes that in Olya's life everything happened quickly. She acted without thinking about the consequences at all. She lived in the present without thinking about the future.

And the conversation between friends at the end reveals to the reader the most important secret of Olya. It is that she had easy breathing.

The image of the heroine

In the analysis of the story "Easy Breath" it is important to talk about the image of Olya Meshcherskaya - a young charming girl. She differed from other high school students in her attitude to life, her outlook on the world. Everything seemed simple and understandable to her, she met every new day with joy.

Perhaps that is why she was always light and graceful - her life was not constrained by any rules. Olya did what she wanted, without thinking about how it would be accepted in society. For her, all people were just as sincere, good, which is why she so easily admitted to Malyutin that she did not feel sympathy for him.

And what happened between them was curiosity on the part of a girl who wanted to become an adult. But then she realizes that it was wrong and tries to avoid Malyutin. Olya considered him as bright as she herself was. The girl did not think that he could be so cruel, proud that he would shoot her. It is not easy for people like Olya to live in a society where people hide their feelings, do not enjoy every day and do not seek to find the good in people.

Comparison with others

In the analysis of the story "Light Breath" by Bunin, it is no coincidence that the boss and cool lady Olya are mentioned. These heroines are complete opposites of the girl. They lived their lives without attaching themselves to anyone, putting rules and dreams at the head of everything.

They did not live that real bright life that Olenka lived. That is why they have a special relationship with her. The boss is annoyed by the girl's inner freedom, her courage and willingness to resist society. The classy lady admired her carelessness, happiness and beauty.

What is the meaning of the name

In the analysis of the work "Easy Breath" it is necessary to consider the meaning of its name. What is meant by light breathing? It was not the breath itself that was meant, but precisely the carelessness, immediacy in expressing feelings, which was inherent in Olya Meshcherskaya. Sincerity has always fascinated people.

It was a brief analysis of Bunin's "Easy Breathing", a story about easy breathing - about a girl who loved life, knew sensuality and the power of sincere expression of feelings.

One of the most widely known works of I.A. Bunin is undoubtedly the story "Easy breathing". It can be assumed that the impetus for writing it was the writer's trip to Capri, where during a walk the writer saw a tombstone with a medallion in a small cemetery. It depicted a very young and unusually beautiful girl with a happy expression on her face. The tragedy of this terrible inconsistency, apparently, struck the writer so much that he decided to "revive" the heroine on the pages of his prose.

The image of “light breathing”, which organizes the whole story, is taken from an old book that the main character Olya Meshcherskaya reads, retelling to her friend the episode that especially struck her. It says that a woman should be able to be beautiful and the most important thing in her is just “easy breathing”. The heroine joyfully concludes that she has it and that only happiness awaits her in life. However, fate decrees otherwise.

The central character of this story is the schoolgirl Olya Meshcherskaya. She is famous for her beauty, sweet spontaneity, charming naturalness. “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,” the author of the story writes lovingly about her. In Olya there is even something from Natasha Rostova - the same love of life, the same openness to the whole world. No one danced better than Olya, did not skate, no one was looked after like that. This young creature with bright, lively eyes seemed to be created only for happiness.

But one Cossack officer, who sought closeness with her and was refused, cuts off this young beautiful life with one shot.

This ending is too tragic, and sometimes you want to reproach "the writer for such a painful end. But let's think about it: did the shot really kill the heroine? Maybe the officer just pulled the trigger, and the tragedy happened much earlier?

Indeed, reading the story, one wonders why, besides Olya, in this provincial town there is not a single person who is at least somewhat worthy of being depicted with the same admiration. The rest of the characters simply leave us indifferent, like, for example, Meshcherskaya's friend, or they are disgusted. Such is the friend of Olya's father, fifty-six-year-old Malyutin. The whole city seems to be saturated with a suffocating atmosphere of vulgarity, inertness and debauchery. Indeed, how can you explain Olya's behavior? Yes, she is charming, sweet, natural, but when reading the scene where Meshcherskaya confesses to the head of the gymnasium that she is already a woman, you involuntarily become embarrassed by such a terrible split personality: on the one hand, Olya is perfection itself, on the other, she is just a girl who knew too early the joy of carnal pleasures. These contradictory images of the same heroine do not give an unambiguous understanding of her character, and sometimes an almost hooligan thought comes to mind: is Olya Nabokov's Lola, introduced by Bunin into literature long before the author of Lolita?

In my opinion, the motives of the actions of the heroine of Easy Breath are very difficult to assess from a logical point of view. They are irrational, "uterine". Revealing the image of such an ambiguous heroine as Meshcherskaya, one should not be afraid to consider different and even opposite points of view. Above we said that the fate and character of Olya is the product of the inert provincial environment where she grew up. Now, faced with the striking inconsistency of the heroine, one can assume a completely different thing.

Bunin, as you know, although he is considered the last classic of critical realism, still does not fully follow his principles of depicting reality. To say that Meshcherskaya is just a product of the environment that corrupts and kills young innocence means, in my opinion, to consider the story too straightforward, thereby impoverishing the original author's intention. Correct society, and there will be no vices - that's what they said in the 19th century, but in the 20th century they are increasingly not looking for reasons, saying that the world is unknowable. Meshcherskaya is like that, and nothing more. As another argument, one can recall the stories of Bunin

about love, in particular - "Dark Alleys", where the actions of the characters are also very difficult to motivate. They seem to be controlled by some kind of blind, unreasoning force, spontaneously giving people happiness with grief in half. In general, Bunin is characterized by just such a worldview. Let us recall the story "The Gentleman from San Francisco", in which fate manages the hero's life in the most unexpected way, without giving any explanations. In the light of these considerations, it is possible to make a judgment about Olya that is opposite and to some extent balancing our first conclusions: the writer, in the form of a schoolgirl unlike any other, wanted to show the true nature of a woman who is completely dominated by blind, “uterine” instincts. The conviction that life disposes of us solely at its own discretion is perfectly illustrated by the example of a young girl who knew life too early and died untimely because of that.

Probably, it is impossible to give an unambiguous answer to the question of who Olya really is, what problems Bunin raises in this story, and it is hardly necessary. You can penetrate deeper into the image of the main character, better understand the specifics and problems of the story and try to reconcile the two opposing points of view outlined above, by thinking about the title. “Light breathing”, which “dispersed forever in this cold wind”, is, in my opinion, a figurative expression of what is spiritual, truly human in a person. A charming and at the same time depraved schoolgirl, a stupid and evil officer who left her, a provincial town with all its deformities - all this will remain on sinful earth, and this spirit that lived in Olya Meshcherskaya will fly up to incarnate again into something and remind us that in addition to our vain and petty thoughts and deeds, there is something else in the world that is beyond our control. This, in my opinion, is the enduring significance of the outstanding story of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin.

Preview:

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

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin entered the history of Russian literature as a writer capable of surprisingly subtly and reverently describing such a multifaceted feeling as love. One of his most striking works on this topic was the work "Easy breathing". Analysis of the story will allow you to better understand the psychology of this feeling, and will be especially useful for 11th grade students in preparing for a lesson in literature.

Brief analysis

Year of writing- 1916.

History of creation– The story was written under the influence of a walk through the cemetery, where the writer accidentally stumbled upon the grave of a young girl. The contrast between the sad place and the medallion depicting a beautiful woman with unusually lively and joyful eyes shook Bunin deeply.

Subject– The central theme of the work is the charm and tragedy of careless youth.

Composition– The composition is distinguished by the absence of a chronological order and a clear scheme of “start-climax-denouement”. Events begin and end in the cemetery, the plot does not always coincide with the plot, there are episodes that, at first glance, have nothing to do with the history of Olya Meshcherskaya.

Genre- Novella (short plot story).

Direction- Modernism.

History of creation

Bunin's story "Light Breath" was written in March 1916 and published in the same year in the newspaper "Russian Word".

During Ivan Alekseevich's stay at the Vasilievskoye estate, he was approached from the capital's newspaper "Russian Word" with a request to provide some small work for publication in the Easter issue. Bunin was not averse to sending his work to a reputable publication, but by that time he had no ready-made new stories.

Then the writer remembered his walks around Capri, when he accidentally came across a small cemetery. Walking along it, he discovered a grave cross with a portrait of a blooming cheerful girl. Looking into her laughing, full of life and fire eyes, Bunin drew pictures for himself from the past of this young beauty, who had gone so early into another world.

Memories of that walk served as an impetus for writing a love story, the main character of which was the high school student Olya Meshcherskaya, whose image was “copied” from a portrait in the cemetery.

However prerequisite for writing short stories were more profound memories of the writer, recorded in his diary. At the age of seven, he witnessed the death of his younger sister Sasha, the favorite of the whole family. The tragedy that occurred on a February night deeply shocked the boy, forever leaving in his soul the images of a girl, winter, a cloudy sky, death.

Subject

Love Theme is central to the story "Easy Breathing". The author reveals her through the prism of the character and behavior of Olya Meshcherskaya - an incredibly cheerful, charming and spontaneous girl.

For Bunin, love is, above all, a passion. All-consuming, violent, destructive. It is not surprising that death is always a faithful companion of love in the work (the young high school student Shenshin was on the verge of suicide from unrequited love for Olya, and the main character herself became the victim of a distraught lover). Such is the peculiarity of Ivan Alekseevich's concept of love.

Despite the immoral actions of the schoolgirl, the writer, nevertheless, does not criticize her behavior. On the contrary, Olya's inexhaustible vital energy, her ability to see life only in joyful, bright colors, her disarming charm and femininity attract the author. True female beauty lies not in external features, but in the ability to inspire and charm people. That's what it is Main thought works.

Carelessness and some superficiality of Meshcherskaya is only the other side of the coin of her nature. And the main problem of the girl is that no one from her inner circle could teach her to balance between lightness and “fluttering” through life and responsibility for her actions.

Such indifference causes the death of a girl. However, death is not able to take the charm of youth with it into the abyss - the “light breath” dissipates in the universe, only to be reborn again soon. The writer leads readers to this conclusion, thanks to which the work does not leave a heavy residue.

Composition

The main features of the composition of the novel should include contrast and lack of chronological sequence. The work begins with a description of Olya's grave, then the author talks about the girl's early childhood, then again "jumps" to her last winter. After that, there is a conversation between Meshcherskaya and the head of the gymnasium, during which it becomes known about her connection with an elderly officer. Then - the news of the murder of a schoolgirl. And at the very end of the story, the author adds a seemingly insignificant episode from Olya's life, in which she shares her idea of ​​female beauty with her friend.

Thanks to temporary movements and a quick change of all actions, the author managed to create a feeling of lightness and some kind of emotional detachment. In the work, everything is designed to emphasize the lively and direct nature of the main character. All events occur rapidly, making it impossible to properly analyze them. So the life of Olya Meshcherskaya, who always lived exclusively for today, flashed and faded away, without thinking about the consequences of her actions.

In his story, Bunin immediately deprives the plot of unpredictability and climactic denouement. It has already happened - and this is the death of a young schoolgirl. Realizing that the most important thing has already happened, the reader switches to the events that led to the sad ending.

Intentionally destroying the causal relationships in the story, the writer emphasizes that neither the motives of Olya's behavior nor the further development of events in the story matter. The inevitable doom of the heroine is in her seme, in her incredibly attractive feminine essence, charm, immediacy. A huge passion for life and led her to such a quick end.

This is what the meaning of the name story. “Easy breathing” is an incredible thirst for life, the ability to soar above everyday reality with amazing ease, not noticing problems and sincerely enjoying every day, every minute.

Genre

Carrying out an analysis of the genre of the work in Easy Breathing, it should be noted that it was written in the genre of a short story - a short plot story that fully reflects the main issues and ideas that excite the author, presents a picture of the life of heroes from various groups of society.

Being a follower of realism, Ivan Alekseevich could not remain aloof from modernism, which was gaining more and more momentum in the 20th century. The brevity of the plot, the symbolization and ambiguity of details, the fragmentation of the described history and the demonstration of unadorned reality indicate that "Easy Breath" corresponds to modernism, in which the main tendencies of realism are present.

Artwork test

Analysis Rating

Average rating: 4.6. Total ratings received: 244.

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 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.