Analysis Of Ivan Bunin's Light Breathing

In Ivan Bunin’s short story Light Breathing, Olya Meshcherskaya struggles to live with societal views of women and rape. Bunin briefly portrays rape as an evil act. In order to cope with this evil, Olya acts and dresses like the woman that her rapist has forced her to become. However, this further damages her emotionally because she faces societal consequences for acting beyond her years. She understands how society views her and uses this understanding to escape from the crushing pressures that she faces. Neither the man that kills her, nor the man that rapes her face any consequences for their actions because society believes that their actions are a result of her behavior. Olya exemplifies the consequences of societal perspectives of rape

However, Olya tries two different methods to cope with her rape. In order to endure her loss of innocence, Olya acts how she expects a woman to act. This change may come from two different places of motivation. The first is that she is acting how society would expect a promiscuous young lady to behave. In her diary entry, she says, “never did she think [she] would be that kind” (Bunin 63). She knows exactly how society would view her if they knew that she was not a virgin, so she creates a persona that fits society’s expectations. If this is the case, it is only a temporary action until she can find the “one way out” through death. On the other hand, she could be acting like a woman in order to handle the situation maturely. She dresses like a woman because that is what she now believes that she is or what society expects her to be. From her father’s books, she learns what it takes to appear beautiful to men, particularly by practicing “light breathing” and having “arms longer than usual” (Bunin 65). Olya changes her behavior as a way to handle her situation. Perhaps, if she can act like a woman, she will be able to handle everything like an

The principal scolds her for acting like a wealthy woman. According to Shannon A. Glenn and E. Sandra Byers in their study The roles of situational factors, attributions, and guilt in the well-being of women who have experienced sexual coercion,” society encourages Olya to “’look at [herself]’" for reasons as to why” Malyutin rapes her (201). The principal tells her that her appearance is her responsibility, suggesting that her appearance is something shameful and that society will consider the actions of those around her to be her fault because her appearance may provoke them. When Olya tries to defend herself by saying that she cannot control certain aspects of her appearance, the principal scolds her, saying, “Ah, that’s it! Not your fault… Not your fault how your hair is done, not your fault that you’re wearing those expensive combs” (Bunin 62). The principal says that her clothing is too “expensive,” however; Olya is dressing like a woman of high class, which, to some extent, is exactly what she is. The rant suggests that Olya’s appearance is her own responsibility, and that, should her appearance be the cause of unwanted attention, it is entirely her fault. The principal is telling her that she should not dress like a woman because men will begin to treat her as they believe they should treat a woman who acts the way that Olya does. She receives other messages from society,