Russian classical literature is distinguished by the special beauty of speech, the depth of the spiritual heritage and the unique flavor of life sketches. And if we consider that all the works of our authors from this category are filled with political accents, then it becomes quite clear that all civilized people need to study the classics. The story of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin "Antonovskie apples", which is now part of the school curriculum, is distinguished by all of the above qualities.
An interesting and instructive story by I. A. Bunin's "Antonov Apples" is a work of art in which the prose writer is nostalgic about the irrevocably past time. Against the background of the general tendency of the writer's work during that period, the described "golden days", just as opportunely, help the reader to plunge into the atmosphere of spiritual comfort and serenity. After all, the radical changes in the social structure associated with the "bloody horrors" of the 20th century in our country, had an extremely negative impact on all patriotic people. And only the best moments of life could distract both the classic himself and the admirers of his work from reality.
The narrative of "Antonov apples" immerses readers in a kind of kaleidoscope of life pictures, which are filled with the noble life. It is the memories of the lyrically-minded hero that colorfully and picturesquely characterize the golden autumn, apple orchard and harvest. The fact that the owners at this wonderful time live in an ordinary hut, which they set up right in the garden, also adds color.
Everything here amazes and pleases the reader - holiday fairs, peasant families living in abundance, good relations between ordinary people and landowners. And the completeness of the idealistic picture is colorfully complemented by picturesque pictures of nature. All this is very revealingly summed up by the main character of the story, who exclaimed: “How cold, dewy and how good it is to live in the world!”.
Analysis of the work
The author of the story "Antonov apples" in his work, which fully corresponds to the traditional form of prose narration, resorted to artistic methods of poetic expression. And this is no coincidence. After all, the beginning of I. A. Bunin was directly related to the lyrics. In the first literary work about his small homeland, the author shares with readers in detail his ardent love for the land and the people who live here, including, of course, the rural landowners.
With undisguised delight, Bunin describes a peasant life filled with simple everyday joys. He even dreams of getting up at dawn, like a country man, and doing his daily activities, and then "wash himself with cold water from a barrel and go to visit."
If you try to thoroughly delve into the essence of the narration of the story "Antonov Apples", it becomes quite obvious that his author's plan touched on three temporal aspects concerning the cyclical nature of the seasons, human life and estate culture. So, the annual periodicity from the beginning of autumn to the end of summer is compared here with the birth and death of a person, the flourishing of the rural local way of life and its extinction.
First chapter
The beginning of the story "Antonov apples" is connected with the author's recollections of the golden autumn, which he associates with the smell of Antonov apples. This harvest time was characterized by the fact that the bourgeois gardening hired peasants to pick and sort apples, which were then taken to the fair in the city. Of course, the collection of fragrant fruits was accompanied by an unpretentious delicacy without restrictions and the preparation of a brew drink, which also everyone drank to their fullest. According to eyewitnesses, "even the thrushes here, well-fed and satisfied, sit near the coral rowan trees."
The positive mood of the narrative in the story "Antonov Apples", conducted on behalf of Nikolai the Barchuk, is aimed primarily at describing a prosperous Russian village. People live here for a long time, and there are always excellent harvests. The author sees the fertility of his native land in everything, including even the elder, who reminds him of the Kholmogory cow, symbolizing prosperity. The descriptions of this colorful woman even touch upon associations such as horns on her head instead of especially folded braids, which gives her a special resemblance to a cow. Moreover, the pregnancy of the elder enhances the effect inherent in it. She very characteristically embodies familiar traditions based on well-being, prosperity and fertility.
The reader is immersed in the atmosphere of contentment of all the characters. His imagination painterly draws colorful pictures of the area, where there is a fresh country air with the smell of straw and a beautiful night sky with a scattering of bright stars.
Chapter two
At the beginning of the next chapter, there is also a mention of Antonov apples in the context of already popular signs. Thus, the traditional belief says that a good harvest of apples also testifies to an abundance of bread this year. Further, the author very colorfully describes the early morning and all the experiences he experienced. Here and pleasant freshness from swimming in a pond, and a colorful sky in turquoise color, and an unpretentious breakfast with aromatic black bread and potatoes in the circle of workers, and fast riding on a strong horse - all testify to the extraordinary happiness of connecting with nature and simple human joys.
Further, the narration of the story takes the reader to the village of Vyselki, where the old-timers have lived for more than a century, and some of them (for example, Pankrat) have even forgotten how many years and winters have passed since the "age". After this sketch, the author talks about his
aunt Anna Gerasimovna, who had a garden with Antonov apples in the estate. The description refers to a wealthy household, a pillared house and an apple-tree scent that filled even all his rooms. It is the aroma of Antonovka that becomes, according to I. A. Bunin, a kind of symbol of the carefree and prosperous life of a rural person.
Chapter Three
It is impossible to completely immerse oneself in the rural way of landlord life, if one does not describe the main pleasure of the representatives of the rural nobility - hunting.
And here, it would seem, the usual leisure of those years has nothing to do with an idle and meaningless pastime. After all, hunting for wolves regulated the number of these predators in their habitat, which in turn directly affected the safety of humans and livestock in this region.
The company of hunting friends fills the story with a special flavor. After all, this aspect of village life is distinguished by special life values. In the story "Antonov apples" the main character always returned from hunting with trophies. He could immediately come to his aunt's house or stay for several days with a landowner he knew.
Fourth chapter (last)
The final chapter of the story differs from the previous ones in that the smell of Antonov's apples disappears in it, which in itself already carries a negative message for the reader. The protagonist sees with bitterness the impoverished state of small landowners, brought to a beggarly state. "The days are bluish, cloudy." He wanders across the desert plains with a gun. Despite the oppressive atmosphere around, “my soul becomes so warm and gratifying when the Vyselok lights flash and pulls smoke out of the estate”.
The author plunges the reader into his nostalgic state when he recalls warm conversations without fire at dusk, the first snow, hunting in snow-covered fields, tuning a guitar in clouds of smoke. The depressed mood is complemented by the story that all the centenarians in Vyselki died, and one even shot himself. However, the author shows that, despite the big changes, life in the village is still in full swing. The village girls thrash the grain, as always fussing immensely.
The ending of the story is also symbolic. The first snow fell. And the ellipsis eloquently indicates to the readers that in this story it was only about a certain and short period of time, after which new conditions of life will come. The reader, as always, should be optimistic about the future, because life is so beautiful!
