“A Hero of Our Time” is read in one sitting. The life of an officer in the tsarist army, Grigory Pechorin, is captivating with events seasoned with the character’s mental torment. The author created the image of a “superfluous person” in society, who does not know in what direction to direct his energy and vitality.

History of creation

The unusualness of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is that it opened the list of psychological works in Russian literature. Mikhail Lermontov spent three years on the work - the story about a representative of a new generation was born from 1838 to 1940.

The idea arose from the writer in Caucasian exile. The time of Nikolaev reaction reigned when, after the suppressed Decembrist uprising, intelligent youth were lost in search of the meaning of life, purpose, and ways to use their abilities for the benefit of the Fatherland. Hence the title of the novel. Plus, Lermontov was an officer in the Russian army, walked the military paths of the Caucasus and managed to become closely acquainted with the life and customs of the local population. The restless character of Grigory Pechorin was revealed far from his homeland, surrounded by Chechens, Ossetians and Circassians.

The work was sent to the reader in the form of separate chapters in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski. Seeing the popularity of his literary work, Mikhail Yuryevich decided to combine the parts into a whole novel, which was published in two volumes in 1840.

Five stories with their own titles make up a composition where the chronological order is disrupted. First, Pechorin is introduced to the readers by an officer of the tsarist army, close friend and boss Maxim Maksimych, and only then does the opportunity arise to “personally” get to know the emotional experiences of the protagonist through his diaries.

According to writers, when creating the image of the character, Lermontov relied on the famous hero of his idol -. The great poet borrowed his surname from the calm Onega River, and Mikhail Yuryevich named the hero in honor of the stormy mountain Pechora. And in general, it is believed that Pechorin is an “extended” version of Onegin. In their search for prototypes, the writers also came across a typo in Lermontov’s manuscript - in one place the author mistakenly named his character Evgeniy.

Biography and plot

Grigory Pechorin was born and raised in St. Petersburg. In his youth, he quickly abandoned the tedious study of science and plunged into social life with carousing and women. However, this quickly became boring. Then the hero decided to repay his debt to the Fatherland by going to serve in the army. For participating in a duel, the young man was punished with real service, sent to the Caucasus to join the active troops - this is the starting point of the story of the work.

In the first chapter, entitled “Bela,” Maxim Maksimych tells an unknown listener a story that happened to Pechorin and revealed the nature of an egoist in him. The young officer managed to get bored even during the war - he got used to the whistling of bullets, and the remote village in the mountains made him sad. With the help of the Circassian prince, the selfish and unbalanced Azamat, he stole first a horse, and then the daughter of the local prince Bela. Feelings for the young lady quickly cooled, giving way to indifference. The thoughtless actions of the Russian officer led to a series of dramatic events, including the murder of a girl and her father.

The chapter “Taman” takes the reader to pre-army events, when Pechorin meets with a group of smugglers, falsely mistaking its members for people acting in the name of something great and valuable. But the hero was disappointed. In addition, Grigory comes to the conclusion that he brings nothing but misfortune to those around him, and goes to Pyatigorsk to the healing waters.

Here Pechorin intersects with his past lover Vera, who still has tender feelings for him, his friend Junker Grushnitsky and Princess Mary Ligovskaya. The quiet life again did not work out: Grigory won the princess’s heart, but refused the girl, and then, because of a quarrel, fought a duel with Grushnitsky. For the murder of a cadet, the young man again found himself in exile, but now he was assigned to serve in the fortress, where he met Maxim Maksimych.

In the last chapter of the novel “Fatalist,” Lermontov placed the hero in a Cossack village, where a conversation about fate and predestination began between the participants while playing cards. Men are divided into two camps - some believe in the predestination of life events, others deny this theory. In a dispute with Lieutenant Vulich, Pechorin stated that he saw the imprint of imminent death on his opponent’s face. He tried to prove his invulnerability using Russian roulette, and indeed, the gun misfired. However, that same evening Vulich died at the hands of an over-drinking Cossack.

Image

The hero of his time is unable to find a sphere of application for his boundless young energy. Energy is wasted on insignificant trifles and heart dramas; society does not benefit from either one. The tragedy of an individual who is doomed to inertia and loneliness is the ideological core of Lermontov’s novel. The author explains:

“... exactly a portrait, but not of one person: it is a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development.”

Since his youth, Grigory has existed “for the sake of curiosity” and admits: “I have long lived not with my heart, but with my head.” “Cold mind” pushes the character to actions that only make everyone feel bad. He interferes in the affairs of smugglers, plays with the feelings of Bela and Vera, and takes revenge. All this brings complete disappointment and spiritual devastation. He despises the high society in which he was born and raised, but it is his idol that he becomes after winning a duel over Grushevsky. And this turn of events depresses Gregory even more.

The characteristics of Pechorin's appearance convey his inner qualities. Mikhail Yurievich painted an aristocrat with pale skin and thin fingers. When walking, the hero does not swing his arms, which speaks of a withdrawn nature, and when laughing, his eyes lack a cheerful sparkle - with this the author tried to convey a character prone to analysis and drama. Moreover, even Grigory Alexandrovich’s age is not clear: he looks 26, but in fact the hero celebrated his 30th birthday.

Film adaptations

The star of “A Hero of Our Time” lit up in cinema in 1927 - director Vladimir Barsky shot a trilogy of black-and-white silent films, where actor Nikolai Prozorovsky played the role of Pechorin.

Once again we remembered Lermontov’s work in 1955: Isidor Annensky presented the audience with the film “Princess Mary”, in which Anatoly Verbitsky got used to the image of a restless young man.

10 years later he appeared in the image of Pechorin. All these films did not receive recognition from critics, who felt that the directors did not sufficiently reveal the character of Lermontov’s character.

And the following film adaptations turned out to be successful. This is the 1975 teleplay “Pechorin’s Magazine Page” (starring) and the 2006 TV series “Hero of Our Time” ().

Grigory Pechorin also appears in Lermontov’s unfinished novel “Princess Ligovskaya,” but here the hero is not a St. Petersburger, but a Muscovite.

The script for the series, released on television in 2006, was written by Irakli Kvirikadze. The work is close to the textbook source, but the main difference is that the chronology of actions is observed. That is, the chapters have been rearranged. The picture begins with the events described by the classic of literature in the part “Taman”, followed by the chapter “Princess Mary”.

Quotes

“Of two friends, one is always the slave of the other, although often neither of them admits it to himself. I was created stupidly: I don’t forget anything - nothing!”

“Women only love those they don’t know.”

“What began in an extraordinary way must end in the same way.”

“We must give justice to women: they have an instinct for spiritual beauty.”

“To be the cause of suffering and joy for someone, without having any positive right to do so - isn’t this the sweetest food of our pride? What is happiness? Intense pride."

“This has been my lot since childhood. Everyone read on my face signs of bad feelings that were not there; but they were anticipated - and they were born. I was modest - I was accused of guile: I became secretive. I felt good and evil deeply; no one caressed me, everyone insulted me: I became vindictive; I was gloomy, - other children were cheerful and talkative; I felt superior to them - they put me lower. I became envious. I was ready to love the whole world, but no one understood me: and I learned to hate. My colorless youth passed in a struggle with myself and the light.”

“My love did not bring happiness to anyone, because I did not sacrifice anything for those I loved.”

“Tomorrow she will want to reward me. I already know all this by heart - that’s what’s boring!”

HERO OF OUR TIME

(Novel, 1839-1840; published as a separate edition without preface - 1840; 2nd edition with preface - 1841)

Pechorin Grigory Alexandrovich - the main character of the novel, related in type to the characters of psychological novels by R. Chateaubriand (“René, or Consequences of the Passions”), B. Konstan (“Adolphe”), E. Senancourt (“Obermann”), A. de Musset (“Confession of the Son of the Century”), the unfinished novel by N. M. Karamzin “The Knight of Our Time” and the novel in verse by A. S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin” (the origin of the surname “Pechorin” is from the name of the Pechora River, as well as the surname “Onegin” - from the name of the Onega River, noted by V. G. Belinsky). The story of his soul forms the content of the work. This task is directly defined in the “Preface” to “Pechorin’s Journal”. The story of Pechorin's disappointed and dying soul is set out in the hero's confessional notes with all the mercilessness of introspection; being both the author and the hero of the “magazine,” P. fearlessly speaks about his ideal impulses, and about the dark sides of his soul, and about the contradictions of consciousness. But this is not enough to create a three-dimensional image; Lermontov introduces other narrators into the narrative, not the “Pechorin” type - Maxim Maksimych, a traveling officer. Finally, Pechorin’s diary contains other reviews about him: Vera, Princess Mary, Grushnitsky, Doctor Werner. All descriptions of the hero’s appearance are also aimed at displaying the soul (through the face, eyes, figure and details of clothing). Lermontov does not treat his hero ironically; but the very type of Pechorin personality, which arose at a certain time and in certain circumstances, is ironic. This sets the distance between the author and the hero; Pechorin is by no means Lermontov's alter ego.

The history of P.'s soul is not presented sequentially chronologically (the chronology is fundamentally shifted), but is revealed through a chain of episodes and adventures; the novel is constructed as a cycle of stories. The plot is closed in a circular composition: the action begins in the fortress (the story “Bela”), and ends in the fortress (the story “Fatalist”). A similar composition is characteristic of a romantic poem: the reader’s attention is focused not on the external dynamics of events, but on the character of the hero, who and does not find a worthy goal in life, returning to the starting point of his moral quest. Symbolically - from fortress to fortress.

P.'s character is set from the very beginning and remains unchanged; He does not grow spiritually, but from episode to episode the reader is immersed deeper and deeper into the psychology of the hero, whose inner appearance seems to have no bottom and is fundamentally inexhaustible. This is the story of Pechorin’s soul, its mystery, strangeness and attractiveness. Equal to itself, the soul cannot be measured, knows no limits to self-deepening and has no prospects for development. Therefore, P. constantly experiences “boredom”, dissatisfaction, feels the impersonal power of fate over him, which sets a limit to his mental activity, leads him from disaster to disaster, threatening both the hero himself (“Taman”) and other characters (“Bela” , "Princess Mary"). P. seems to himself to be a demonic creature, an evil instrument of an unearthly will, a victim of its curse. Therefore, the hero’s “metaphysical” sense of self, his human qualities are more important for Lermontov than P.’s “social registration”; he acts not as a nobleman, a secular person, an officer, but as a person in general.

Feeling life as banal, P. nevertheless hopes every time that the next love adventure will refresh his feelings and enrich his mind. But P.’s corrosive, skeptical mind destroys the spontaneity of feeling. The love for the mountain woman Bela and Vera is mutual, but short-lived; his love for “ondine” remains unanswered, and he himself does not love Princess Mary P., who is in love with him. In the end, power over a woman turns out to be more important to him than the sincerity of feelings. Love turns into a game guided by reason, and ultimately into a game with the destinies of women who must sacrifice themselves, experience “devotion and fear” and thus provide “food for our pride.” The hero is also ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of women (he embarks on a life-threatening adventure in Taman, shoots with Grushnitsky, defending Mary’s honor, and at risk captures a Cossack), but refuses to sacrifice his freedom for the sake of someone else’s happiness. For the same reason He is incapable of friendship. Werner P. is only a friend who keeps his distance in the relationship. He also makes Maxim Maksimych feel his outsiderness, avoiding friendly hugs. So P. involuntarily, unconsciously becomes an egoist.

Free will, which develops into individualism, serves as the principle of life behavior for P. She attracts the hero to new and new impressions, forces P. to risk himself, to plunge into self-reflection; she distinguishes P. from his environment, imparts scale to his personality and character. And she dissipates P.’s enormous spiritual potential, provokes him to think about death, which can break the vicious circle in which the hero is locked. Only P.’s irreconcilability with himself, with his share in the present, gives rebellion, restlessness and significance to his personality. The novel reports a new attempt to find food for the soul - P. goes to the East; but Lermontov makes it clear that in Russia his hero is doomed to his previous state, and the journey to exotic, unknown countries is also imaginary, because P. cannot escape from himself. Sudden death relieves him of his torment.

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A person is always driven by the desire to know his purpose. Should you go with the flow or resist it? What position in society would be correct, should all actions comply with moral standards? These and similar questions often become the main ones for young people who are actively comprehending the world and human essence. Youthful maximalism requires clear answers to these problematic questions, but it is not always possible to give an answer.

It is precisely this seeker of answers that M.Yu. tells us about. Lermontov in his novel “Hero of Our Time”. It should be noted that Mikhail Yuryevich was always on good terms when writing prose, and his same position remained until the end of his life - all the prose novels he started were never finished. Lermontov had the courage to bring the matter with “Hero” to its logical conclusion. This is probably why the composition, the manner of presentation of the material and the style of narration look, compared to other novels, quite unusual.

“Hero of Our Time” is a work imbued with the spirit of the era. The characterization of Pechorin - the central figure of Mikhail Lermontov's novel - allows us to better understand the atmosphere of the 1830s - the time the work was written. It is not for nothing that “A Hero of Our Time” is recognized by critics as the most mature and philosophically ambitious novel by Mikhail Lermontov.

The historical context is of great importance for understanding the novel. In the 1830s, Russian history was characterized by reactivity. In 1825, the Decembrist uprising occurred, and subsequent years contributed to the development of a mood of loss. The Nikolaev reaction unsettled many young people: young people did not know which vector of behavior and life to choose, how to make life meaningful.

This caused the emergence of restless individuals, unnecessary people.

Origin of Pechorin

Basically, the novel singles out one hero, who is the central image in the story. It seems that this principle was rejected by Lermontov - based on the events told to the reader, the main character is Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin - a young man, an officer. However, the style of the narration gives the right to doubt - the position in the text of Maxim Maksimovich is also quite weighty.

In fact, this is a misconception - Mikhail Yuryevich has repeatedly emphasized that in his novel the main character is Pechorin, this corresponds to the main purpose of the story - to talk about typical people of the generation, to point out their vices and mistakes.

Lermontov provides rather scant information about childhood, conditions of upbringing and the influence of parents on the process of formation of Pechorin’s positions and preferences. Several fragments of his past life lift this veil - we learn that Grigory Alexandrovich was born in St. Petersburg. His parents, according to existing orders, tried to give their son a proper education, but young Pechorin did not feel the burden of science, he “quickly got bored” with them and he decided to devote himself to military service. Perhaps such an act is connected not with the emerging interest in military affairs, but with the special disposition of society towards military people. The uniform made it possible to brighten up even the most unattractive actions and character traits, because the military was loved for what they were. In society it was difficult to find representatives who did not have a military rank - military service was considered honorable and everyone wanted to “try on” honor and glory along with the uniform.

As it turned out, military affairs did not bring proper satisfaction and Pechorin quickly became disillusioned with it. Grigory Alexandrovich was sent to the Caucasus because he was involved in a duel. The events that happened to the young man in this area form the basis of Lermontov's novel.

Characteristics of Pechorin's actions and deeds

The reader gets his first impressions of the main character of Lermontov’s novel after meeting Maxim Maksimych. The man served with Pechorin in the Caucasus, in a fortress. It was the story of a girl named Bela. Pechorin treated Bela badly: out of boredom, while having fun, the young man kidnapped a Circassian girl. Bela is a beauty, at first cold with Pechorin. Gradually, the young man kindles the flame of love for him in Bela’s heart, but as soon as the Circassian woman fell in love with Pechorin, he immediately lost interest in her.

Pechorin destroys the destinies of other people, makes those around him suffer, but remains indifferent to the consequences of his actions. Bela and the girl's father die. Pechorin remembers the girl, feels sorry for Bela, the past resonates with bitterness in the hero’s soul, but does not cause Pechorin to repent. While Bela was alive, Grigory told his comrade that he still loved the girl, felt gratitude to her, but boredom remained the same, and it was boredom that decided everything.

An attempt to find satisfaction and happiness pushes the young man to experiments that the hero performs on living people. Psychological games, meanwhile, turn out to be useless: the same emptiness remains in the hero’s soul. The same motives accompany Pechorin’s exposure of the “honest smugglers”: the hero’s act does not bring good results, only leaving the blind boy and the old woman on the brink of survival.

The love of a wild Caucasian beauty or a noblewoman - it does not matter for Pechorin. Next time, the hero chooses an aristocrat, Princess Mary, for the experiment. Handsome Gregory plays with the girl, arousing love for him in Mary’s soul, but then leaves the princess, breaking her heart.

The reader learns about the situation with Princess Mary and the smugglers from the diary that the main character kept, wanting to understand himself. In the end, even Pechorin gets tired of his diary: any activity ends in boredom. Grigory Alexandrovich does not complete anything, unable to bear the suffering of losing interest in the subject of his former passion. Pechorin's notes accumulate in a suitcase, which falls into the hands of Maxim Maksimych. The man experiences a strange attachment to Pechorin, perceiving the young man as a friend. Maxim Maksimych keeps Grigory’s notebooks and diaries, hoping to give the suitcase to a friend. But the young man does not care about fame, fame, Pechorin does not want to publish the entries, so the diaries turn out to be unnecessary waste paper. This secular disinterest of Pechorin is the peculiarity and value of Lermontov’s hero.

Pechorin has one important feature - sincerity towards himself. The hero’s actions evoke antipathy and even condemnation in the reader, but one thing needs to be recognized: Pechorin is open and honest, and the touch of vice comes from weakness of will and the inability to resist the influence of society.

Pechorin and Onegin

After the first publications of Lermontov's novel, both readers and literary critics began to compare Pechorin from Lermontov's novel and Onegin from Pushkin's work with each other. Both heroes share similar character traits and certain actions. As researchers note, both Pechorin and Onegin were named according to the same principle. The surname of the characters is based on the name of the river - Onega and Pechora, respectively. But the symbolism doesn't end there.

Pechora is a river in the northern part of Russia (modern Komi Republic and Nanets Autonomous Okrug), by its nature it is a typical mountain river. Onega is located in the modern Arkhangelsk region and is calmer. The nature of the flow has a relationship with the characters of the heroes named after them. Pechorin's life is full of doubts and active searches for his place in society; he, like a seething stream, sweeps away everything without a trace in his path. Onegin is deprived of such a scale of destructive power; complexity and inability to realize himself cause him to feel a state of dull melancholy.

Byronism and the “extra man”

In order to holistically perceive the image of Pechorin, understand his character, motives and actions, it is necessary to have knowledge about the Byronic and superfluous hero.

The first concept came to Russian literature from England. J. Bynov in his poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” created a unique image endowed with the desire to actively search for one’s purpose, the characteristics of egocentrism, dissatisfaction and desire for change.

The second is a phenomenon that arose in Russian literature itself and denotes a person who was ahead of his time and therefore alien and incomprehensible to those around him. Or someone who, based on his knowledge and understanding of everyday truths, is higher in development than the rest and, as a result, he is not accepted by society. Such characters become the cause of suffering for female representatives who love them.

Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is a classic representative of romanticism, who combined the concepts of Byronism and the superfluous man. Dejection, boredom and spleen are the product of this combination.

Mikhail Lermontov considered the life story of an individual more interesting than the history of a people. Circumstances make Pechorin a “superfluous man.” The hero is talented and smart, but the tragedy of Grigory Alexandrovich lies in the lack of a goal, in the inability to adapt himself, his talents to this world, in the general restlessness of the individual. In this, Pechorin’s personality is an example of a typical decadent.

A young man’s strength goes not to finding a goal, not to realizing himself, but to adventure. Sometimes, literary critics compare the images of Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin and Lermontov’s Grigory Pechorin: Onegin is characterized by boredom, and Pechorin is characterized by suffering.

After the Decembrists were exiled, progressive trends and tendencies also succumbed to persecution. For Pechorin, a progressive-minded person, this meant the onset of a period of stagnation. Onegin has every opportunity to take the side of the people's cause, but refrains from doing so. Pechorin, having the desire to reform society, finds himself deprived of such an opportunity. Grigory Alexandrovich wastes his wealth of spiritual strength on trifles: he hurts girls, Vera and Princess Mary suffer because of the hero, Bela dies...

Pechorin was ruined by society and circumstances. The hero keeps a diary, where he notes that, as a child, he spoke only the truth, but adults did not believe in the boy’s words.

Then Gregory became disillusioned with life and his previous ideals: the place of truth was replaced by lies. As a young man, Pechorin sincerely loved the world. Society laughed at him and this love - Gregory’s kindness turned into anger.

The hero quickly became bored with his secular surroundings and literature. Hobbies were replaced by other passions. Only travel can save you from boredom and disappointment. Mikhail Lermontov unfolds on the pages of the novel the entire evolution of the protagonist’s personality: Pechorin’s characterization is revealed to the reader by all the central episodes in the formation of the hero’s personality.

The character of Grigory Alexandrovich is accompanied by actions, behavior, and decisions that more fully reveal the characteristics of the character’s personality. Pechorin is also appreciated by other heroes of Lermontov’s novel, for example, Maxim Maksimych, who notices the inconsistency of Grigory. Pechorin is a strong young man with a strong body, but sometimes the hero is overcome by a strange physical weakness. Grigory Alexandrovich turned 30 years old, but the hero’s face is full of childish features, and the hero looks no more than 23 years old. The hero laughs, but at the same time one can see sadness in Pechorin’s eyes. Opinions about Pechorin expressed by different characters in the novel allow readers to look at the hero, respectively, from different positions.

Pechorin's death expresses the idea of ​​Mikhail Lermontov: a person who has not found a goal remains superfluous, unnecessary for those around him. Such a person cannot serve for the benefit of humanity and is of no value to society and the fatherland.

In “Hero of Our Time,” the writer described the entire generation of contemporaries - young people who have lost the purpose and meaning of life. Just as Hemingway’s generation is considered lost, so Lermontov’s generation is considered lost, superfluous, restless. These young people are susceptible to boredom, which turns into a vice in the context of the development of their society.

Pechorin's appearance and age

At the beginning of the story, Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is 25 years old. He looks very good, well-groomed, so in some moments it seems that he is much younger than he actually is. There was nothing unusual in his height and build: average height, strong athletic build. He was a man with pleasant features. As the author notes, he had a “unique face,” one that women are madly attracted to. Blonde, naturally curly hair, a “slightly upturned” nose, snow-white teeth and a sweet, childish smile - all this complements his appearance favorably.

His eyes, brown in color, seemed to live a separate life - they never laughed when their owner laughed. Lermontov names two reasons for this phenomenon - either we have a person with an evil disposition, or someone who is in a state of deep depression. Lermontov does not give a direct answer which explanation (or both at once) is applicable to the hero - the reader will have to analyze these facts themselves.

His facial expression is also incapable of expressing any emotion. Pechorin does not restrain himself - he simply lacks the ability to empathize.

This appearance is finally blurred by a heavy, unpleasant look.

As you can see, Grigory Alexandrovich looks like a porcelain doll - his cute face with childish features seems like a frozen mask, and not the face of a real person.

Pechorin's clothes are always neat and clean - this is one of those principles that Grigory Alexandrovich follows impeccably - an aristocrat cannot be an unkempt slob.

While in the Caucasus, Pechorin easily leaves his usual outfit in the closet and dresses in the national men's attire of the Circassians. Many note that these clothes make him look like a true Kabardian - sometimes people who belonged to this nationality do not look so impressive. Pechorin looks more like a Kabardian than the Kabardians themselves. But even in these clothes he is a dandy - the length of the fur, the trim, the color and size of the clothes - everything is chosen with extraordinary care.

Characteristics of character qualities

Pechorin is a classic representative of the aristocracy. He himself comes from a noble family, who received a decent upbringing and education (he knows French and dances well). All his life he lived in abundance, this fact allowed him to begin his journey of searching for his destiny and an activity that would not let him get bored.

At first, the attention shown to him by women pleasantly flattered Grigory Alexandrovich, but soon he was able to study the types of behavior of all women and therefore communication with ladies became boring and predictable for him. The impulse to create his own family is alien to him, and as soon as it comes to hints about a wedding, his ardor for the girl instantly disappears.

Pechorin is not assiduous - science and reading make him even more melancholy than secular society. A rare exception in this regard is provided by the works of Walter Scott.

When social life became too burdensome for him, and travel, literary activity and science did not bring the desired result, Pechorin decides to start a military career. He, as is customary among the aristocracy, serves in the St. Petersburg Guard. But he doesn’t stay here for long either - participation in a duel dramatically changes his life - for this offense he is exiled to serve in the Caucasus.

If Pechorin were a hero of a folk epic, then his constant epithet would be the word “strange.” All the heroes find something unusual in him, different from other people. This fact is not related to habits, mental or psychological development - the point here is precisely the ability to express one’s emotions, adhere to the same position - sometimes Grigory Alexandrovich is very contradictory.

He likes to cause pain and suffering to others, he is aware of this and understands that such behavior does not look good not only on him specifically, but on any person. And yet he doesn’t try to restrain himself. Pechorin compares himself to a vampire - the realization that someone will spend the night in mental anguish is incredibly flattering to him.

Pechorin is persistent and stubborn, this creates many problems for him, because of this he often finds himself in not the most pleasant situations, but here courage and determination come to his rescue.

Grigory Alexandrovich becomes the reason for the destruction of the life paths of many people. By his mercy, the blind boy and the old woman are left to their fate (the episode with the smugglers), Vulich, Bella and her father die, Pechorin’s friend dies in a duel at the hands of Pechorin himself, Azamat becomes a criminal. This list can still be replenished with many names of people to whom the main character insulted and became a reason for resentment and depression. Does Pechorin know and understand the full gravity of the consequences of his actions? Quite, but this fact does not bother him - he does not value his life, let alone the destinies of other people.

Thus, the image of Pechorin is contradictory and ambiguous. On the one hand, one can easily find positive character traits in him, but on the other hand, callousness and selfishness confidently reduce all his positive achievements to “no” - Grigory Aleksandrovich destroys with his recklessness both his fate and the fates of the people around him. He is a destructive force that is difficult to resist.

Psychological portrait of Grigory Pechorin

Lermontov helps to imagine the character's character traits by referring to the hero's appearance and habits. For example, Pechorin is distinguished by a lazy and careless gait, but at the same time the hero’s gestures do not indicate that Pechorin is a secretive person. The young man’s forehead was marred by wrinkles, and when Grigory Alexandrovich sat, it seemed that the hero was tired. When Pechorin's lips laughed, his eyes remained motionless, sad.

Pechorin's fatigue was manifested in the fact that the hero's passion did not linger for long on any object or person. Grigory Alexandrovich said that in life he is guided not by the dictates of his heart, but by the orders of his head. This is coldness, rationality, periodically interrupted by a short-term riot of feelings. Pechorin is characterized by a trait called fatality. The young man is not afraid to go wild and seeks adventure and risk, as if testing fate.

The contradictions in Pechorin’s characterization are manifested in the fact that with the courage described above, the hero is frightened by the slightest cracking of window shutters or the sound of rain. Pechorin is a fatalist, but at the same time convinced of the importance of human willpower. There is a certain predestination in life, expressed at least in the fact that a person will not escape death, so why then are they afraid to die? In the end, Pechorin wants to help society, to be useful by saving people from the Cossack killer.

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, a poet and prose writer, is often compared to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. Is this comparison coincidental? Not at all, these two lights marked the golden age of Russian poetry with their creativity. They were both worried about the question: “Who are they: heroes of our time?” A brief analysis, you will agree, will not be able to answer this conceptual question, which the classics tried to thoroughly understand.

Unfortunately, the lives of these most talented people were cut short early by a bullet. Fate? Both of them were representatives of their time, divided into two parts: before and after. Moreover, as you know, critics compare Pushkin’s Onegin and Lermontov’s Pechorin, presenting readers with a comparative analysis of the heroes. “A Hero of Our Time,” however, was written after

Image of Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin

Analysis of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” clearly defines its main character, who forms the entire composition of the book. Mikhail Yuryevich portrayed in him an educated young nobleman of the post-Decembrist era - a personality struck by unbelief - who does not carry goodness within himself, does not believe in anything, his eyes do not glow with happiness. Fate carries Pechorin, like water an autumn leaf, along a disastrous trajectory. He stubbornly “chases… after life”, looking for it “everywhere”. However, his noble concept of honor is more likely associated with selfishness, but not with decency.

Pechorin would be glad to find faith by going to the Caucasus to fight. He has natural spiritual strength. Belinsky, characterizing this hero, writes that he is no longer young, but has not yet acquired a mature attitude towards life. He rushes from one adventure to another, painfully wanting to find an “inner core,” but he fails. Dramas always happen around him, people die. And he rushes on, like the Eternal Jew, Agasfer. If for Pushkin the key word is “boredom”, then for understanding the image of Lermontov’s Pechorin the key word is “suffering”.

Composition of the novel

At first, the plot of the novel brings together the author, an officer sent to serve in the Caucasus, with a veteran, former quartermaster and now quartermaster Maxim Maksimovich. Wise in life, scorched in battle, this man, worthy of all respect, is the first, according to Lermontov’s plan, to begin analyzing the heroes. The hero of our time is his acquaintance. To the author of the novel (on whose behalf the story is told), Maxim Maksimovich tells the story of the “nice little” twenty-five-year-old ensign Grigory Alekseevich Pechorin, a former colleague of the narrator. The first is the story of “Bela”.

Pechorin, resorting to the help of the brother of the mountain princess Azamat, steals this girl from her father. Then she became bored with him, who was experienced in women. He settles with Azamat with the hot horse of the horseman Kazbich, who, getting angry, kills the poor girl. The scam turns into a tragedy.

Maxim Maksimovich, remembering the past, became agitated and handed over to his interlocutor the camp diary left by Pechorin. The following chapters of the novel represent individual episodes of Pechorin's life.

The short story “Taman” brings Pechorin together with smugglers: a girl as flexible as a cat, a pseudo-blind boy and the “smuggling getter” sailor Yanko. Lermontov presented here a romantic and artistically complete analysis of the heroes. “A Hero of Our Time” introduces us to a simple smuggling trade: Yanko crosses the sea with cargo, and the girl sells beads, brocade, and ribbons. Fearing that Gregory will reveal them to the police, the girl first tries to drown him by throwing him off the boat. But when she fails, she and Yanko swim away. The boy is left to beg without a livelihood.

The next fragment of the diary is the story “Princess Mary”. A bored Pechorin is being treated after being wounded in Pyatigorsk. Here he is friends with cadet Grushnitsky, Doctor Werner. Bored, Gregory finds an object of sympathy - Princess Mary. She is resting here with her mother, Princess Ligovskaya. But the unexpected happens - Pechorin’s long-time crush, the married lady Vera, comes to Pyatigorsk along with her aging husband. Vera and Gregory decide to meet on a date. They succeed because, fortunately for them, the whole city is at the performance of a visiting magician.

But cadet Grushnitsky, wanting to compromise both Pechorin and Princess Mary, believing that she will be the one on the date, follows the main character of the novel, enlisting the company of a dragoon officer. Having caught no one, the cadets and dragoons spread gossip. Pechorin, “according to noble standards,” challenges Grushnitsky to a duel, where he kills him with the second shot.

Lermontov's analysis introduces us to pseudo-decency among officers and upsets Grushnitsky's vile plan. Initially, the pistol handed to Pechorin was unloaded. In addition, having chosen the condition - to shoot from six steps, the cadet was sure that he would shoot Grigory Alexandrovich. But his excitement prevented him. By the way, Pechorin offered his opponent to save his life, but he began to demand a shot.

Vera’s husband guesses what’s going on and leaves Pyatigorsk with his wife. And Princess Ligovskaya blesses his marriage to Mary, but Pechorin does not even think about the wedding.

The action-packed short story “Fatalist” brings Pechorin together with Lieutenant Vulich in the company of other officers. He is confident in his luck and, on a bet, fueled by philosophical argument and wine, plays “hussar roulette.” Moreover, the pistol does not fire. However, Pechorin claims that he has already noticed a “sign of death” on the lieutenant’s face. He really dies senselessly, returning to his quarters.

Conclusion

Where did the “Pechorins” come from in 19th century Russia? Where has the idealism of youth gone?

The answer is simple. The 30s marked an era of fear, an era of suppression of everything progressive by the III (political) gendarmerie police department. Born of Nicholas I’s fear of the possibility of a remake of the Decembrist uprising, it “reported on all matters”, was engaged in censorship, censorship, and had the broadest powers.

Hopes for the development of the political system of society became sedition. Dreamers began to be called "troublemakers." Active people aroused suspicion, meetings - repression. The time has come for denunciations and arrests. People began to be afraid to have friends, to trust them with their thoughts and dreams. They became individualists and, like Pechorin, painfully tried to gain faith in themselves.

Why Pechorin is a “hero of our time”

The novel “A Hero of Our Time” was written by Mikhail Lermontov in the 30s of the 19th century. This was the time of the Nikolaev reaction, which came after the dispersal of the Decembrist uprising in 1825. Many young, educated people did not see a goal in life at that time, did not know what to apply their strength to, how to serve for the benefit of people and the Fatherland. That is why such restless characters as Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin arose. The characterization of Pechorin in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is, in fact, a characteristic of the entire generation contemporary to the author. Boredom is his characteristic feature. “The Hero of Our Time, my dear sirs, is definitely a portrait, but not of one person: it is a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development,” writes Mikhail Lermontov in the preface. “Are all the young people there really like that?” – asks one of the characters in the novel, Maxim Maksimych, who knew Pechorin closely. And the author, who plays the role of a traveler in the work, answers him that “there are many people who say the same thing” and that “nowadays those who... are bored try to hide this misfortune as a vice.”

We can say that all of Pechorin’s actions are motivated by boredom. We begin to be convinced of this almost from the first lines of the novel. It should be noted that compositionally it is built in such a way that the reader can see as best as possible all the character traits of the hero, from different sides. The chronology of events here fades into the background, or rather, it is not here at all. Pieces have been snatched from Pechorin’s life that are connected only by the logic of his image.

Characteristics of Pechorin

Actions

We first learn about this man from Maxim Maksimych, who served with him in the Caucasian fortress. He tells the story of Bel. Pechorin, for the sake of entertainment, persuaded her brother to kidnap a girl - a beautiful young Circassian. While Bela is cold with him, he is interested in her. But as soon as he achieves her love, he immediately cools off. Pechorin doesn’t care that destinies are tragically ruined because of his whim. Bela's father is killed, and then she herself. Somewhere in the depths of his soul he feels sorry for this girl, any memory of her causes him bitterness, but he does not repent of his action. Even before her death, he confesses to a friend: “If you want, I still love her, I am grateful to her for a few rather sweet minutes, I would give my life for her, but I’m bored with her...”. The love of a savage turned out to be little better for him than the love of a noble lady. This psychological experiment, like all the previous ones, did not bring him happiness and satisfaction with life, but left him with disappointment.

In the same way, for the sake of idle interest, he intervened in the life of “honest smugglers” (chapter “Taman”), as a result of which the unfortunate old woman and the blind boy found themselves without a livelihood.

Another amusement for him was Princess Mary, whose feelings he shamelessly played with, giving her hope, and then admitting that he did not love her (chapter “Princess Mary”).

We learn about the last two cases from Pechorin himself, from a journal that he kept with great enthusiasm at one time, wanting to understand himself and... kill boredom. Then he lost interest in this activity too. And his notes - a suitcase of notebooks - remained with Maksim Maksimych. In vain he carried them around with him, wanting to hand them over to the owner on occasion. When such an opportunity presented itself, Pechorin did not need them. Consequently, he kept his diary not for the sake of fame, not for the sake of publication. This is the special value of his notes. The hero describes himself without worrying at all about how he will look in the eyes of others. He does not need to prevaricate, he is sincere with himself - and thanks to this, we can learn about the true reasons for his actions and understand him.

Appearance

The traveling author turned out to be a witness to Maxim Maksimych’s meeting with Pechorin. And from him we learn what Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin looked like. There was a sense of contradiction in his entire appearance. At first glance, he was no more than 23 years old, but the next minute it seemed that he was 30. His gait was careless and lazy, but he did not swing his arms, which usually indicates a secretive character. When he sat down on the bench, his straight waist bent and went limp, as if there was not a single bone left in his body. There were traces of wrinkles on this young man's forehead. But the author was especially struck by his eyes: they did not laugh when he laughed.

Character Traits

The external characteristics of Pechorin in “A Hero of Our Time” reflect his internal state. “I have long lived not with my heart, but with my head,” he says about himself. Indeed, all his actions are characterized by cold rationality, but feelings no, no, break out. He fearlessly goes alone to hunt a wild boar, but shudders at the sound of shutters, can spend the whole day hunting on a rainy day and is terrified of a draft.

Pechorin forbade himself to feel, because his real impulses of the soul did not find a response in those around him: “Everyone read on my face signs of bad feelings that did not exist; but they were anticipated - and they were born. I was modest - I was accused of guile: I became secretive. I felt good and evil deeply; no one caressed me, everyone insulted me: I became vindictive; I was gloomy, - other children were cheerful and talkative; I felt superior to them - they put me lower. I became envious. I was ready to love the whole world, but no one understood me: and I learned to hate.”

He rushes about, not finding his calling, his purpose in life. “It’s true that I had a high purpose, because I feel immense strength within myself.” Secular entertainment, novels are a passed stage. They brought him nothing but inner emptiness. In the study of sciences, which he took up in a desire to benefit, he also did not find any meaning, since he realized that the key to success is in dexterity, and not in knowledge. Boredom overwhelmed Pechorin, and he hoped that at least the Chechen bullets whistling overhead would save him from it. But during the Caucasian War he was again disappointed: “After a month, I got so used to their buzzing and the proximity of death that, really, I paid more attention to mosquitoes, and I became more bored than before.” What could he do with his unspent energy? The consequence of his lack of demand was, on the one hand, unjustified and illogical actions, and on the other, painful vulnerability and deep inner sadness.

Attitude towards love

The fact that Pechorin has not lost the ability to feel is also evidenced by his love for Vera. This is the only woman who understood him completely and accepted him as he is. He does not need to embellish himself in front of her or, conversely, appear unapproachable. He fulfills all the conditions just to be able to see her, and when she leaves, he drives his horse to death in an effort to catch up with his beloved.

He treats other women who meet on his way completely differently. There is no place for emotions here - only calculation. For him, they are just a way to relieve boredom, while at the same time demonstrating his selfish power over them. He studies their behavior like guinea pigs, coming up with new twists in the game. But this doesn’t save him either - he often knows in advance how his victim will behave, and he becomes even sadder.

Attitude towards death

Another important point in Pechorin’s character in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is his attitude towards death. It is demonstrated in its entirety in the chapter “Fatalist”. Although Pechorin recognizes the predetermination of fate, he believes that this should not deprive a person of his will. We must boldly move forward, “after all, nothing worse than death will happen - and you cannot escape death.” This is where we see what noble actions Pechorin is capable of if his energy is directed in the right direction. He bravely throws himself out the window in an effort to neutralize the Cossack killer. His innate desire to act, to help people, finally finds at least some application.

My attitude towards Pechorin

What kind of attitude does this person deserve? Condemnation or sympathy? The author named his novel this way with some irony. “A hero of our time” is, of course, not a role model. But he is a typical representative of his generation, forced to waste their best years aimlessly. “Am I a fool or a villain, I don’t know; but it is true that I am also very worthy of regret,” Pechorin says about himself and gives the reason: “My soul is spoiled by light.” He sees his last consolation in travel and hopes: “Maybe I’ll die somewhere along the way.” You can treat it differently. One thing is certain: this is an unhappy person who has never found his place in life. If his contemporary society had been structured differently, he would have shown himself completely differently.

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