"Indifference - paralysis of the soul, premature death" - said the great writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. This is undeniable. An indifferent person does not live, but exists, because indifference eats a person from the inside, makes him callous and indifferent to the world around him, takes away the craving for life.
Many writers and poets revealed the theme of indifference in their works, for example, Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov in the novel "A Hero of Our Time".
The protagonist of the work - Georgy Alexandrovich Pechorin - an officer of the Russian imperial army, a person with a high status in society, he is charismatic, handsome and smart, appears as an "extra" person. He is indifferent to the people around him, he does not understand the society in which he is located, he is indifferent to his surroundings. He is not inspired by the values of society, he does not pursue wealth. Pechorin is also an egoist and an individualist. He puts himself above others and cannot trust people.
Pechorin indifferently destroys the lives of other people in an attempt to build his own. For example, Bella: he spoiled the fate of a young girl without experiencing happiness.
As soon as he achieved his goal, made the girl fall in love with him, she became boring to him. Or an old woman and a blind boy. Because of Pechorin, they lost their income, and therefore their means of subsistence. Pechorin is a very contradictory nature: he condemns himself for all the evil, but continues to do it. The only thing the protagonist cares about is his personal desires. Pechorin does not live, he exists, and all this is precisely because of his indifference.
I think that people should not be indifferent to each other and the world around them. A person who is indifferent to the world around him will never live a full life.
Updated: 2017-12-03
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Useful material on the topic
Grigory Pechorin is the real “hero of our time” (and of any other), because the questions raised by the author are beyond any era. They were, are and will always arise as long as the human race is alive. What are the problems of the work "A Hero of Our Time"? We read and understand.
moral issues
Any work and fiction as a whole are designed not only to deliver an aesthetic experience, pleasure to the reader, but also to raise questions that are present in every person, to which we either do not have an unambiguous answer, or which we have never thought about at all. M.Yu. Lermontov is, one might say, an innovator of his era. He is the creator of the first novel in Russian literature with a deep philosophical content. “Why did I live, for what purpose was I born?” - this is the main question that the author asks himself and all of us through the mouth of the main character - Pechorin. It hears not only the questions “why”, “what for”, “for what”, but also other problems. The “hero of our time” is trying to understand who he is, what he consists of, what virtues and vices, whether love and friendship can save him from inevitable darkness ...
Philosophical reflections
We continue to talk on the topic "Hero of our time." The problems the novel raises are actually serious. What is Pechorin? Before us is a young man of twenty-five years old, an officer, an aristocrat, who stands out against the background of his contemporaries with his originality, sharp mind, subtle intuition, courage, endurance, and tremendous willpower. It would seem that these are all the components of a happy future. Such people are loved, adored and idolized. All doors are open to them. So it was, but it didn't happen. Why?
Every person has advantages and disadvantages. In everyone there is an irreconcilable struggle between good and evil. And it's natural. It is laid down by nature and God. But besides all this, there is also emptiness. It must be filled with either light or darkness, depending on which path we choose. Or it begins to grow and fill with itself every freed corner of the soul. This is exactly what happened to Pechorin. No matter what he undertook, no matter how far away he went, no matter whom his fate brought him together, this gaping emptiness, viscous meaninglessness, futility and aimlessness of existence followed him in everything.
M.Yu. Lermontov, "A Hero of Our Time": Problems of Love and Friendship
His active soul throughout the novel is looking for dangers, heroic deeds, sincere love and friendship. "Who seeks will always find". She also finds, but in an amazing, simply incomprehensible way, she destroys the creative principle inherent in these things. His love did not bring happiness to any of the women. He could not surrender to this feeling, he was not able to give at all, only to take, and even then superficially. In his soul, as if in a bottomless abyss, both vivid feelings and suffering disappeared without a trace. He did not get enough of them, and he did not try to get enough of them. He didn't care. The tragic stories with Bela and Mary are a perfect confirmation of this.
The same thing happens in Pechorin's friendship with Dr. Werner. Believing that the relationship between two comrades should be reduced to only one thing: one is a slave, and the other is his master, he did not want to be either a slave or one who rules and rules. Both are boring and stupid. But simply, without any “buts”, it is impossible to let another into your world. Vicious circle.
Fatalism - the cause of the problem?
"A Hero of Our Time" is a novel not only about the questions of the meaning of life directly posed by the author. In the last story - "The Fatalist" - another topic emerges that haunts neither the main character nor all of humanity. Is the fate of a person predetermined, or is each new step along the road of life a personal choice? Pechorin is bold and prefers to solve this issue, like other problems. The "hero of our time", Pechorin, independently, from his own experience, checks the truth of this or that judgment. And here, unexpectedly, the fatalist turns to the reader with the other side of his essence. He disarms the drunken Cossack, who has already killed Vulich and is dangerous to those around him. He takes a deliberate risk, but for the first time not far-fetched, not out of "empty passions" and not in order to dispel boredom. And here the author does not give a definite answer. He, like his hero, believes that predestination, if it really exists, works miracles with a person, it makes him more active, bolder. And on the other hand, it turns a person - a higher creature, into a toy in the hands of fate, and this can neither offend nor humiliate.
In this article, we have covered the main problems. "A Hero of Our Time" is a book beyond all time, after reading which, everyone will surely find answers to their questions, which, perhaps, have not been considered today.
Moral problems in M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time"
Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin is the main character of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time". The novel is written in a rather unusual form for the reader. The events that happen to the hero are not described by the author in chronological order, which gives the work some mystery.
It seems to me that in this novel M.Yu. Lermontov tries to reveal to the reader all the secrets of the human soul, thereby revealing the moral side of the human worldview. “The Hero of Our Time” 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. And although the novel was written only in the middle of the nineteenth century, at the present time people like Pechorin can be found anywhere, but it cannot be argued that they are the vast majority. This is not true.
In my opinion, the main goal that M.Yu. Lermontov, when writing the novel, was the disclosure of the meaning of life and the moral problems of the individual. Pechorin was a rather reserved and secretive person, this is what distinguished him from other people. Between Pechorin and his acquaintances there is a barrier that the hero cannot overcome, it is she who separates him from the usual way of life and behavior of other people. Something prevents him from doing the same everyday things that everyone else does, so Pechorin appears to the reader as a lonely, abandoned, superfluous person.
Over time, the hero begins to evaluate the events that he had to endure. The question comes to his mind: “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born? He begins to understand that time is lost, nothing significant has happened in his life and is unlikely to happen. Pechorin bitterly realizes that he has done nothing to be recognized in society and the world around him. Involuntarily, Pechorin thinks about death.
All his reflections on his own actions and their analysis convince Pechorin that a person is responsible for his own destiny. He tries to be responsible for his actions, whatever they may be and whatever result they bring. After all, he, of course, understands how much pain Mary causes, although it is not indifference that makes him commit such an act, he is simply afraid of the ordinary. Pechorin destroys the princess's love for herself, inflicting severe mental trauma on her. But at the same time, he saves her from the misfortune that would await them in the future, from an affair with a low and petty creature.
Having gone through such a life path that leads Pechorin to think about the purpose and meaning of life, only after making many mistakes does he begin to understand where he stumbled. Sometimes he even thinks about the predestination of human destiny, believing that, probably, it would be possible to build life from other matters and actions, first thinking it over, and only then laying the foundation bricks according to a certain scheme, on which his whole future, more saturated with happiness, will be based. , life. But if everything is predetermined, then there is nothing we can do. He became a redundant person. What a pity that in order to understand the essence of life, he had to lose the first and last chance for a happy life.
In addition, it cannot be argued that Pechorin was a perfect egoist, but we cannot talk about showing concern for people on his part. His explanations with Princess Mary tell us about his self-sacrifice, the hero did not want to deceive those whom he respected. Throughout the novel, selfishness and sincerity of feelings towards others, a willingness to put oneself at risk only in order to finally wake up good feelings in a person, struggle in Pechorin. Despite Pechorin's attempt to somehow change his wasted life, add a drop of fun and happiness to it, he cannot stand these moral problems, which are almost insoluble, which results in his departure from Russia with the hope of dying in places that do not remind of the past .
It seems to me that the work of M.Yu. Lermontov is the peak, the peak of magnificent creativity. "A Hero of Our Time" reveals to the reader, who is able to reflect on philosophical topics, the whole essence of the human soul, no matter who it is. "A Hero of Our Time" is my favorite work of all the creations of M.Yu. Lermontov.
Tasks and tests on the topic "Moral problems in the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time""
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RESPONSE PLAN
1. Moral problems of the time.
2. The image of Pechorin is the plot-forming character of the novel and the embodiment of the moral problems of the time.
3. Moral degradation of Pechorin.
4. The tragedy of Pechorin is the tragedy of time.
5. Roman Lermontov - "the history of the human soul."
1. The novel by M. Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time" (1837-1840) is the pinnacle of the writer's work. This is a socio-psychological novel, in which the main task of the author was to create the image of a contemporary person, the study of the human soul. The author was able to trace how the environment affects the formation of personality, to give a portrait of the entire generation of young people of that time. In the preface to the novel, the main character - Pechorin - is characterized as "a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation in their full development." The author, shifting part of the blame on society, on the environment and upbringing, at the same time does not relieve the hero of responsibility for his actions. Lermontov pointed to the "disease" of the century, the treatment of which is to overcome individualism, generated by unbelief, bringing deep suffering to Pechorin and destructive to those around him.
2. The plot-forming character of M. Yu. Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time" is Pechorin. His image runs through the whole novel and connects all its parts. This is a romantic in character and behavior, by nature a person of exceptional abilities, an outstanding mind, strong will, high aspirations for social activities and an indestructible desire for freedom. Pechorin is not without good impulses. At the evening at the Ligovskys, he "felt sorry for Vera." On the last meeting with Mary, compassion seized him with such force that "another minute" - and he would "fall at her feet." Risking his life, he was the first to rush into the hut of the killer Vulich. Pechorin does not hide his sympathy for the oppressed. There can be no doubt about his sympathy for the Decembrists exiled to the Caucasus. After all, it is said about them in his diary that the wives of the Caucasian authorities "are accustomed ... to meet an ardent heart under a numbered button and an educated mind under a white cap." It is they he has in mind when he speaks of Werner's friends - "truly decent people."
But Pechorin's good aspirations did not develop. The unrestrained socio-political reaction that choked all living things, the spiritual emptiness of high society distorted and drowned out Pechorin's possibilities, incredibly disfigured his moral character, and terribly reduced his vital activity. That is why Belinsky called this novel "a cry of suffering" and "a sad thought." Pechorin realized that under the conditions of autocratic despotism, meaningful activity for the sake of the common good was impossible for him and his generation. This led to his characteristic unbridled skepticism and pessimism, the conviction that life is "boring and disgusting." Doubts devastated Pechorin to the point that he had only two convictions left: birth is misfortune, and death is inevitable. Divorced from the environment to which he belongs by birth and upbringing, denouncing her, he creates a cruel judgment on himself. Dissatisfied with his aimless life, passionately longing for an ideal, but not seeing, not finding it, Pechorin asks: “Why did I live? for what purpose was I born?
Morally crippled, Pechorin lost his good goals, turned into a cold, cruel, despotic egoist, frozen in proud loneliness, hated even by himself. According to Belinsky, “hungry for worries and storms”, madly chasing life, “looking for it everywhere”, Pechorin manifests himself primarily as an evil force that brings people only suffering and misfortune. The "Napoleonic problem" is the central moral and psychological problem of Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time", it is a problem of extreme individualism and selfishness. A person who refuses to judge himself according to the same laws by which he judges others loses moral guidelines, loses the criteria of good and evil. Pechorin not only brings misfortune to others, but he himself is unhappy.
3. In the story "Bela" Pechorin appears as a ruthless and callous person. He kidnaps Bela, not thinking that he is tearing her out of her home. Such an act can only be justified by strong love, but Pechorin does not experience it. He says to Maxim Maksimych: "The love of a savage woman is little better than the love of a noble lady ... I'm bored with her." The hero is indifferent to the feelings of others. Bela, Kazbich, Azamat live in harmony with the environment, which Pechorin lacks. If we judge Pechorin by the story "Bela", then this is a monster that, without hesitation, sacrifices both the prince, and Azamat, and Kazbich, and Bela herself. But Lermontov makes the reader look at the hero from the other side, with his own eyes. And if in the story "Bela" the narration is conducted on behalf of Maxim Maksimych, then in "Taman" it goes to Pechorin himself. It is in this short story that a complete and clear psychological portrait of the hero appears. Pechorin is unusually attracted by the freedom that Yanko, the "undine", the blind boy personifies. They live in unity with the elements, with the sea, but outside the law. And Pechorin allows himself, out of curiosity, to interfere in the life of "honest smugglers", makes them flee, leaving the house and the blind boy. Pechorin is a stranger in this world too. He can't find a home anywhere.
The main disclosure of Pechorin's character occurs in the story "Princess Mary". The story about the events is led by the hero himself - this is his confession. Here we see not a simple narrative, but an analysis of the actions performed by the hero. Pechorin intervenes in the romance between Grushnitsky and Mary, destroys it, kills Grushnitsky in a duel, breaks Mary's heart, disrupts Vera's settled life. He writes about the attraction of "possessing the soul" of another person, but does not consider whether he has a right to this possession. Pechorin is alone in this society, and after Vera's departure and an explanation with Mary, nothing connects him with people of this circle. "Intense pride" - this is how he defined human happiness. He perceives the sufferings and joys of others “only in relation to himself” as food that supports his spiritual strength. For the sake of a capricious whim, without much thought, he tore Bela out of his native soil and destroyed her. He is deeply offended by Maxim Maksimych. For the sake of empty curiosity, he ruined the nest of "honest smugglers", violated Vera's family peace, grossly insulted Mary's love and dignity. The novel ends with the chapter "The Fatalist". In it, Pechorin reflects on faith and unbelief. Man, having lost God, has lost the main thing - moral guidelines, a system of moral values, the idea of spiritual equality. Having won the fight with the killer, Pechorin for the first time shows his ability to act for the common good. Thus, the author affirms the possibility of meaningful activity. Another moral law: respect for the world, for people begins with self-respect. A person who humiliates others does not respect himself. Triumphing over the weak, he feels strong. Pechorin, according to Dobrolyubov, not knowing where to go and put his strength, exhausts the heat of his soul into petty passions and insignificant deeds. “Evil begets evil; the first suffering gives the concept of the pleasure of torturing another,” he argues. “Sometimes I despise myself ... Isn’t that why I despise others too?” Pechorin constantly feels his moral inferiority, he "became a moral cripple." He says that "his soul is corrupted by the light", torn into two halves, the best of which "dried up, evaporated, died, while the other is alive at the service of everyone."
"Pechorin's Diary" is the confession of the protagonist. On its pages, Pechorin speaks about everything truly sincerely, but he is full of pessimism, since the vices and boredom developed by society push him to strange acts, and the natural inclinations of his soul remain unclaimed, do not find application in life, therefore, in the character of the hero there is duality. By Pechorin's own admission, two people live in it: one does things, and the other looks from the side and judges him.
4. The tragedy of the hero is that he does not see the reasons for his spiritual inferiority and accuses the world, people and time of his spiritual slavery. Treasuring his freedom, he says: “I am ready for all sacrifices except this one; twenty times my life, I will even put my honor on the line ... But I will not sell my freedom. But true freedom - spiritual freedom - he does not know. He is looking for her in solitude, in endless wanderings, in changing places, that is, only in external signs. But everywhere it turns out to be superfluous.
5. Lermontov in the novel pays special attention to the psychological world, the "history of the soul" not only of the protagonist, but also of all other characters. Lermontov, for the first time in Russian literature, endowed the characters of the novel with the ability of deep introspection. Conquering with psychological truth, he showed a vividly individual, historically specific hero with a clear motivation for his behavior.
Moral issue. Every society has its own immutable moral laws. A person who violated them was already considered an incomplete member of this society. Pechorin violated these foundations many times.
In general, Pechorin is by no means an unambiguous personality. Lermontov himself insists that Pechorin is no longer the romantic hero that the public wanted him to be.
Possessing a completely romantic appearance - “of medium height; his slender, thin frame and broad shoulders proved a strong constitution, capable of enduring all the difficulties of nomadic life and climate change. There was something childlike in his smile. His skin had a kind of feminine tenderness; blond hair, etc. - he lives a very complex spiritual life - this is also a romantic trait.
Lermontov several times draws our attention to the fact that Pechorin is a very real hero. His selfishness, outward contempt for everything around him, cruel and, what is most terrible, well-thought-out, prudent actions are not the hero's virtues, as was the case in the era of romanticism, but not his weaknesses either. Lermontov is trying to reveal to the reader what influenced Pechorin. This is his main difference from Pushkin, who is trying to break the myth of a romantic hero in his poem "Gypsies".
Everything, no matter what Pechorin undertakes, turns into misfortune for the people who are next to him.
In the story "Bela" he destroys the life of Bela herself, her father and Kazbich.
In the story "Maxim Maksimych" Pechorin undermined the old man's faith in the younger generation.
In the story "Taman" his actions lead to an unpleasant change in the lives of smugglers.
In the story "Princess Mary" he kills Grushnitsky and ruins the life of Princess Mary and her mother.
In the story "The Fatalist" Pechorin predicts the death of Vulich, which then actually happens.
Moral problems also arise in Pechorin's relationship with women.
For example, with Princess Mary, from the very beginning, he acted meanly. After all, Pechorin never loved her, but simply used her gullibility and love to fight Grushnitsky.
The savage beauty was another experiment, a whim of Pechorin. He thought that this new wild and exotic love would help him overcome his boredom. But this did not happen, because love treatment was a passed stage for Pechorin.
In relations with the smuggler - Ondina, a rather strange position of Pechorin in relation to a woman can be traced in general. Forgetting that in front of him is a creature that is much weaker than him, Pechorin enters into a real physical fight with a woman. Even an already married woman, Vera, could not save Pechorin from being fed up with life.
Women played the role of a kind of indicator in Pechorin's life.
In moments when he was full of strength and energy, there were no women in his life, and only in moments of boredom or an impending tragedy (as in the chapter “The Fatalist”, when Pechorin, after talking with Vulich, met another girl in the courtyard of the house, which was a bad sign), at such moments women appear in Pechorin's life one after another.
And characteristically, each woman opened some new pages in the character of Pechorin. He did not exhaust himself at all with his ostentatious selfishness and coldness of actions. There was something else in Pechorin that could attract a truly Russian person to him - Maxim Maksimovich, who, in theory, should have hated the arrogant youngster. But this does not happen, because Maxim Maksimovich sees in Pechorin, first of all, his personal qualities. Therefore, the insult inflicted on the old man especially hurt him.
The relationship between Pechorin and Grushnitsky is also interesting.
In general, Grushnitsky is a completely successful parody of Pechorin. With his miserable behavior, on the one hand, he emphasizes the nobility of Pechorin, and on the other, it seems to erase all differences between them. After all, Pechorin himself spied on him and Princess Mary, which, of course, was not a noble act. In addition, it is necessary to pay special attention to the scene of their duel. Since ancient times, a duel has been a defense of honor, but by no means a murder, which in fact was the duel between Grushnitsky and Pechorin. In his diary, Pechorin mentioned that he deliberately chose such a place so that one of them would not return from the duel.
Not only can this act be called premeditated murder, it is also not worthy of a moral person. At the beginning of this chapter, Grushnitsky, by his behavior, as already mentioned, emphasizes the elegance of Pechorin, but closer to the end of the chapter this myth is dispelled by Grushnitsky himself.
Thus, we can say that Pechorin is to some extent an immoral person, especially since he himself speaks of this, calling himself a "moral cripple." Pechorin understands that all the people he meets end up being toys in his hands.
Pechorin does not even think about changing the line of his behavior, although he is well aware that in his life he has only caused evil to people, but this self-criticism does not bring any relief either to him or to the people who encounter him.
