Das Dorf. Suchodol

In two short novels, Ivan Bunin provides insight into Russian rural life after the failed revolution of 1905. Life is bleak, the dwellings are shabby, and the violence is brutal. 'The Village' tells the story of two unequal brothers: Tikhon remains at the Durnovo estate, where their ancestors had served, but finds no way out of the grim provincial life. His brother seeks happiness in the city but finds nothing but alcohol and eventually returns to Tikhon in the countryside. In 'Suchodol', the maid Natalya loves her master but only experiences humiliation. In the rape by a vagabond, she sees the just punishment for her sinful feelings. Bunin unflinchingly depicts the decline of the landed gentry and the miserable impoverishment of the peasants after 1905.