Portrait of a gentleman from San Francisco. Creating a story, a summary and characterization of the hero with quotes

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

In 1915, I. Bunin created one of the most remarkable and profound works of his time, in which he painted an impartial portrait of a gentleman from San Francisco. In this story, published in the collection The Word, the outstanding Russian writer, with his characteristic sarcasm, demonstrates the ship of human life that moves in the middle of the ocean of sins.

This hard, heavy and gloomy work by I. Bunin is gradually revealed to us as a reminder that everyone is mortal, even those who live without worries and do not think about their crimes against humanity, and retribution is inevitable.

How the idea came about

The author in one of the essays himself said that, being in Moscow at the end of summer, he saw T. Mann's book "Death in Venice" in the window of one of the bookstores, but Bunin did not go into Gauthier's store and did not buy it. In autumn, in September, the writer was visitingthe estate of his cousin in the Oryol region. There he remembered the story he had not acquired and decided to write about the sudden death of an unknown American.

How the story was created

Unlike the usual quick creation of a new work, which Ivan Alekseevich was not accompanied by excitement, this time he worked slowly and even cried at the end. As soon as the first words came out from under his pen, he understood what the story would be called, and that a portrait of a gentleman from San Francisco would be created, who should not even be given a name. The days were quiet, cool and grey. After working, the writer went for a walk in the garden or, taking a gun, went to the threshing floor. There, pigeons flew to the grain, which he shot.

When he returned, he sat down at the table again. So, in 4 days he completely finished his work, creating an amazing story and a finished portrait of a gentleman from San Francisco. The whole work was invented by the writer from beginning to end, except for one moment: some American really died suddenly after dinner at a hotel in Capri. Several manuscripts of the story have survived. From them one can trace how intensely the author worked on the word, avoiding edification, clichés, foreign words and epithets. The story of the German writer "Death in Venice" was read after Bunin wrote his story.

Story summary

The action takes place at the beginning of the 20th century. The main character, like everyone else, has no name. This is a rich or very, very we althy old American 58years. He worked tirelessly all his life and now, in his old age, he went with an adult unmarried daughter and wife to Europe for two years.

On the way back, he planned to stop by Japan. Money could open up the whole world to him. They are carried by a luxurious, powerful, reliable ship "Atlantis". The portrait of a gentleman from San Francisco, which begins to be created even before boarding the ship, shows us a man who squeezed all the strength out of his workers, and now treats the servants mercifully and condescendingly, giving them generous tips. The family, of course, occupies a deluxe cabin, relaxing on the decks during the day, and relaxing in the evenings at sumptuous dinners and balls, where all the ladies are dressed in exquisite evening dresses, and the men wear tuxedos and tailcoats.

No one is in a hurry. Italy is steadily approaching, but in December the weather in Naples turned out to be bad, gloomy and rainy. The family moves to Capri. On the ship "chatter", everyone suffers from seasickness. On the island they occupy a fine room in the best hotel. Her master and servants diligently cater to we althy guests from America. They are unable to enjoy their holidays. Changing clothes for dinner, our hero feels the inconvenience of a too tight collar and goes to the reading room to wait for his wife and daughter. There is only one person who witnesses the sudden death of the main character.

The portrait of a gentleman from San Francisco is terrible at this moment: linesthey glow with a glassy luster, their eyes bulge, their neck tenses, pince-nez flies off their noses. He wheezes, trying to take a breath, his mouth opens, his head dangles. And he himself, wriggling with his whole body, crawled to the floor, struggling with death. The owner came running, instructed the servants to move the convulsing man to a damp, inferior room. Life still gurgled hoarsely in it, and then it broke off. His wife and daughter were told to pick him up from the hotel at once. There were no ready coffins, and the owner ordered to give the women a long and large box of soda water. In the early morning, the widow and daughter take the deceased to Naples. After going through humiliation and rejection, they still send the body to the New World. Ironically, this takes place deep in the bowels of the same ship on which they sailed merrily to Europe. And on the deck and in the halls, the same joyful life goes on with dinners, balls and all kinds of entertainment.

Story analysis

The work is written in long, heavy-sounding sentences, which Leo Tolstoy loved. This monstrous ship, cutting through the darkness of the ocean and sparkling with lights like diamonds, is filled with human sins, against which the portrait of a hero, a gentleman from San Francisco, is lost in his tarred coffin in the dark womb of a giant.

He accompanies carefree travelers in whose hands are not only other people's lives, but also material goods, allowing them to rule the world according to their own taste. The colossal ship becomes for I. Bunin a symbol of an insignificant, but proud humanity, to whichbelongs to the portrait of the main character - a gentleman from San Francisco. Only death in its most primitive and brutal form can push them out of the luxurious halls into the cold of the grave. The rest will indifferently continue their fun.

Character appearance

The portrait of a gentleman from San Francisco, which we will now describe, is made up of minor but important details. He is short, old and almost bald. On the round head "remains of pearl hair have been preserved." He has false teeth. He is not fat, but dry. "Awkwardly tailored," as the writer put it. There is something Mongolian in the yellowish face. The trimmed mustache was silvered by gray hair. Gold fillings gleam in large, aged ivory teeth.

He's starting to gain weight from overeating, his waist swells, and he struggles to put on his wardrobe as he prepares for his last meal. His fingers are short with "gouty knots". The nails are convex and large, "almond color". His feet are dry, "flat-footed." He is dressed, as is customary in his environment: cream silk underwear, over which he wears a stiffly starched white shirt with a stand-up collar, a tuxedo, black pants with a shoulder strap, black stockings. Expensive cufflinks serve as decorations.

Portrait of a gentleman from San Francisco: quotes

The characterization of the main character will be incomplete if we do not offer some quotes. Although this is an influential and generous man with lackeys, none of the staff "remembered his name either in Naples or in Capri." Bunin says directly that "he was rich."Most likely, this person owned a factory or factories. Only "the Chinese, whom he signed out for himself by the thousands," imagined what their master was like. All his life he was stubborn and hardworking. "He did not live, but existed, laying all his hopes on the future." Here it is done. He retires and goes on a trip around the world with his family, which included a middle-aged wife and a marriageable daughter, for whom there has not yet been a worthy applicant. On the steamer, the girl with trepidation met an oriental prince who traveled incognito. But this acquaintance was interrupted, ending in nothing. And then the girl watched her father, who looked at the "global beauty".

She was a "tall, amazingly built blonde" who was only interested in her little dog. The daughter tried, but could not ignore it. “For years of work, he wanted to reward himself first of all.” Resting, our hero drinks a lot and visits dens, where he admires "living pictures". He is generous with servants and speaks to them in a "creaky, unhurried, insultingly polite voice," speaking calmly through his teeth. He only stays at the best hotels frequented by high-profile people and takes over their suites.

We tried to offer the reader a complete look at the story of I. A. Bunin "The Gentleman from San Francisco", including the characterization of the hero with separate quotes.