The path of life by the will of god in the novel “The life of Arseniev” by I. A. Bunin

The article is devoted to the analysis of a Christian motif of the Path by the Will of God in the novel “The Life of Arseniev” by I. A. Bunin. The novel “The Life of Arseniev” is full of images of the main character's movement in space as well as of the motifs of motion which as a whole form and allow discovering the most ancient mythologem of the Path in the text that has high semantic potential. In course of the study the author has revealed several meanings and invariants of this mythologem in the novel, among which the motif of Life Path by God's Will plays a peculiar role and is taken into account while making researches. For that purpose, the key spatial images of the Christian chronotope of the novel (temple, church, cathedral) have been disclosed and analyzed, the role of the Bible quotations, subjects, motifs, images the main character appeals to in the course of his insights into searching for the true Path has been revealed. The motifs of the Path to God and the Path by God's Will play a key role for understanding hero's strivings and leading author's ideas, and fulfill in the novel a subject-making function as well as a sense-making one.