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The study of life and death is the main motif of the works by Ivan Alexievich Bunin. Taking many trips, Bunin, the last classic writer of the
Russian literature could create works which are the results of the impacts of
those travels. The story of "The Gentleman from San Francisco" in 1915 was written following the author's trips to Egypt, Sri Lanka, ltalia via sea and his settlement in Capri islands. Despite its small volume which is one of the characteristics of this genre, the story of "The Gentleman form San Francisco" is about philosophy, history, nature, life, death, ethic, goodness and evil, love, civilization, violations... . The paper first deals with the literary life of Bunin and then to the process of the formation of writing of this story. The story of "The Gentleman from San Francisco" to the conflict of the permanent values such as life, love and the nature with that of secular and transit values. Bunin has been able to introduce the instability and fragile state of the material and mortal values vis-a-vis eternal and spiritual values in a skillful way. Being a surrealist writer, by; using symbols as a tool to express his literary ideas, he has been able to show the tragedy of the contemporary man who is involved in the material life. Reading the story of "The Gentleman from San Francisco", the reader realizes the minor ideas and wishes of the materialistic man vis-a-vis those of the metaphysics.