Man and nature in the story of I.A. Bunin "Pines"

Abstract. This article is devoted to the consideration of the relationship between nature and man in the story of I. A. Bunin "Pines" from the point of view of the general philosophical laws of being, which fill this work. In the article, based on the analysis of the story "Pines", it is shown how, with the help of landscape sketches, the author illustrates the spiritual experiences of the hero, which reveal the coherence of the natural world and the human world, and in addition are a means of expressing the author's attitude to the world, in confirmation of this, quotes from the text are given. Also, special attention is paid to the question of the indissoluble connection of man with the cosmic world order, I. A. Bunin in his story leads to the idea that the earthly path of man from the beginning to the end of life is accompanied by the riddles of life and death, as evidenced by quotes from the work. The article is intended for a wide range of readers interested in the work of I. A. Bunin.

Аннотация. Данная статья посвящена рассмотрению взаимосвязи природы и человека в рассказе И.А. Бунина «Сосны» с точки зрения общефилософских закономерностей бытия, которые и наполняют указанное произведение. В статье на основе анализа рассказа «Сосны» показано, как с помощью пейзажных зарисовок автор иллюстрирует душевные переживания героя, которые раскрывают связность мира природы и мира человека, и вдобавок являются средством выражения авторского отношения к миру, в подтверждение этого приводятся цитаты из текста. Также, особое внимание уделяется вопросу о нерасторжимой связи человека с космическим мироустройством, И.А. Бунин в своём рассказе подводит к мысли о том, что земной путь человека от начала до конца жизни сопровождают загадки жизни и смерти, свидетельствуют этому также цитаты из произведения. Статья предназначается для широкого круга читателей, интересующихся творчеством И.А. Бунина.

Keywords: landscape, philosophy, nature, world order, man.

Ключевые слова: пейзаж, философия, природа, мироустройство, человек.

The theme of nature and man in many of the works of Ivan Bunin appears as the most important. The writer himself was convinced that man and nature are inextricably linked by the harmony of a single and common life:"...It is impossible to separate man from nature, because every movement of the air is the movement of our own life. We are one with nature. We are part of it. If you do not love nature, you cannot love and understand man" [Vantenkov, 157]. Nature and the surrounding world attracted I. A. Bunin's charm of its beauty and variability, struck the imagination of the writer with the scale and eternity of being, forced to look for their solution. In this regard, the purpose of this work is to consider the relationship between nature and man in the story of I. A. Bunin "Pines" from the point of view of general philosophical laws of being, which fill the story.

According to I. A. Bunin, the perception of everything beautiful that is on Earth helps a person to overcome longing, loneliness and experience a sense of joy and spiritual harmony. Therefore, it is no accident that landscape sketches in" Pines "are filled with deep philosophical meaning, emotional experiences and are often a means of expressing the author's attitude to the world: "Neither the village nor the forest can be seen because of a strong blizzard" [Bunin, 270]. It is on such a night that the narrator goes to the hut of the deceased Mitrofan. A sharp wind takes his breath away, rips off his hat, and showers him with frosty snow. It seems that nature itself is saying goodbye to "a real forest peasant-hunter Mitrofan" [Bunin, 270]. He preferred a wise and quiet existence to the aimless bustle of the world and "lived all his life as if he were in the laborers of life" [Bunin, 270]. Reflecting on the deceased, the author asks the question: "And who knows – was he not right? "[Bunin, 270].

I. A. Bunin shows in the story such an ability to draw with words that the reader, together with the author, experiences a winter blizzard, admires its elements, and is overwhelmed with a sense of freedom. With the help of expressive language techniques, the writer managed to create a symphony of the winter forest, to convey its polyphony: "...The pines, which reign high above everything around them, respond to the hurricane with such a gloomy and menacing octave that it becomes scary in the village." "The forest sounds like the wind blowing through a thousand Aeolian harps, muffled by the walls and the blizzard." "The hum of the forest breaks out of the noise of the blizzard, like the hum of an organ" [Bunin, 271]. However, here it is worth noting that from the first pages of the story "Pines" nature and man seem to be opposed, but not everything is so clear. Initially, the contrast is carried out sequentially-through the entire first part of the story. There is a clear distinction between the natural world and the human world. "Evening, the silence of the snow-covered house and the noisy forest blizzard outside" [Bunin, 271]. The endless expanse of forest and snow is opposed by the quiet space of human habitation in the "fog of rest", slumber. And to the frosty wind – a hot bed. To the enchanted, wonderful, living forest, threatening a person with troubles – the fantasy world of an old shepherd about how one "creeper" lived and was.

However, it should be noted that a person can not fully comprehend the secrets of the existence of all living things, his earthly path from the beginning to the end of life is accompanied by the mysteries of life and death. Therefore, the writer of the story speaks with reverence of the funeral rite as a kind of sacrament, speaks of a prayer in which he hears "sorrow for the frailty of all earthly things and joy for a brother who, after an earthly feat, has passed into the bosom of infinite life" [Bunin, 272]. But neither reflection nor religion can console the hero. The" long earthen hillock of the grave "seems to the hero" sometimes a very ordinary pile of earth, sometimes significant-thinking and feeling." It seems to him that nature is interacting with him again in its own way. And, looking at this earthen hillock, the hero tries to catch "that elusive thing that only God knows – the secret of the uselessness and significance of all earthly things" [Bunin, 274]. Here the author of the story emphasizes this indissoluble connection with man with the great universe. The final lines of the story "Pines" helps to understand why I. A. Bunin calls this work exactly this way: "The distant, barely audible hum of the pines spoke with restraint and incessantly spoke about some eternal, majestic life...", about the life of nature. [Bunin, 274]. Here, the pine trees near Bunin symbolize eternity.

Thus, having considered the relationship between nature and man in the story of I. A. Bunin "Pines", we can conclude that this work is filled with general philosophical reflections of the author about the essence and purpose of man, as well as about the eternal unfading beauty of nature, as evidenced by the landscape sketches in "Pines", they are filled with a deep philosophical meaning and are a means of expressing the author's attitude to the world. Similarly, in his story, I. A. Bunin makes the reader think about the indissoluble connection of man with the immeasurable world order, that is, with nature, to show that she can "think", "talk", "feel sad" like a person. And finally, the writer leads us to the idea that the earthly path of man from the beginning to the end of life is accompanied by the mystery of life and death.