(336 words) “Clean Monday” is included in the series of short stories “Dark Alleys” by I. A. Bunin. In this work we meet a couple of lovers. The narrator finds his relationship very strange and unusual, but this does not stop him, because he is unconditionally in love with his chosen one.
She is the embodiment of femininity and grace, constantly misleads the protagonist. He will not understand why his companion suppresses all conversations about their future, why he reacts so strangely to his gifts, does not allow real intimacy with him? The narrator sometimes doubts her feelings, but never her own. Perhaps that is why they have been together for so long.
The heroine is too pious, although this does not immediately become known. She often goes to Kremlin cathedrals, sometimes even to cemeteries. She is very attracted to this elevation, the tranquility inherent in such places. Despite the fact that the young man has been in a relationship with her for a long time, he still cannot understand his chosen one, she is a closed book for him. Once a girl says that she wants to go to some remote monastery, which makes the storyteller worry. He is so in love with her that the thought flashes in his head: if this happens, he himself will go to the monastery or he will kill someone. However, the hero soon calms down.
On Pure Monday night, the couple is really close. This tells us that the heroine still has strong feelings for her chosen one, because otherwise she would not have done it. After the girl leaves for the monastery and asks not to look for her, the narrator cannot come to his senses for a very long time, which once again convinces us of the genuineness of his feelings.
In the stories of the Dark Alleys series, we will not find love growing into a state of absolute happiness. In this work, Bunin also shows us two lovers who are not destined to be together. Clean Monday is the day that became a turning point in the fate of heroes. This is the day when a person must free himself from everything evil, so the heroine decides to start a new life from this date. Love, according to the author, is not only happiness and pleasure, but also flour, a kind of test. This story, like no other, conveys the meaning and main idea of the whole cycle.
Viscount de Brazhelon
