The theme of love is central to the work of Ivan Bunin. "Sunstroke" is one of his most famous stories. Analysis of this product helps to identify the author's views on love and its role in human destiny.
What is characteristic of Bunin, he focuses not on platonic feelings, but on romance, passion, desire. For the beginning of the 20th century, it can be considered a bold innovative solution: no one before Bunin openly has not extolled and spiritualized the bodily senses. For a married woman fleeting relationship was unforgivable, a grave sin.
The author stated that love is great happiness, even if it is not divided. This statement applies to this story. In it love comes as a revelation, as the bright flash, as a sunstroke. It is spontaneous and often tragic feeling, however, it is a great gift.
In the story "Sunstroke" Bunin said about fleeting affair between lieutenant and married lady who sailed on the same boat and suddenly were smitten with passion towards one another. The author sees the eternal mystery of love that the characters are not free in their passion: after the night they parted forever, not even knowing each other's name.
The motif of the sun in the story gradually changes color. If at the beginning the sun is associated with the light of joy, life and love, in the end the hero sees a "pointless sun" and realizes that he experienced "terrible sunstroke." Cloudless sky became grayish for him. Lieutenant yearns and feels grown for 10 years old: he does not know how to find the lady and tell her he could no longer live without her. What happened to the heroine, is a mystery, but we guess that love, too, has left a mark.
Bunin's manner of narration is very dense. He is master of the short genre, and in a small volume he manages to reveal the images fully and convey their idea. In the story there are a lot of short but intensive descriptive sentences. They are filled with epithets and details.
Interestingly, love is the scar that stays in memory, but does not lie as a burden on the heart. Waking up alone he realizes that he can once again see the smiling people. He himself will soon be able to enjoy: psychic wound may be delayed and would not hurt.
Bunin never wrote about happy love. According to him, the reunion of souls is a completely different feeling, having nothing to do with the sublime passion. True love, as has been said, comes and goes suddenly as a sunstroke.
