At the very "heart" of the Hero of Our Time character system is the only hero- Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin, therefore the work of M. Yu. Lermontov belongs to the type of centripetal novels.
Other characters are introduced only in order to maximize the image of Pechorin.
Comparison as a way of revealing the character of the protagonist
During the story, the author compares Grigory Alexandrovich with other characters, creating pairs literary characters. This technique contributes to a more distinct and voluminous disclosure of Pechorin's character, reflects the smallest nuances of this controversial personality. On the pages of the book we meet such pairs of heroes: Pechorin - Maxim Maksimovich (opposition), Pechorin - Vulich (fatalism), Pechorin - Werner (friendship), Pechorin - women ( romantic relationship) and so on.
The tragedy of the relationship between the protagonist and the environment
A combination of innovative literary devices(the discrepancy between the plot and the plot, a confessional device, a comparison of pairs of characters), used by M. Yu. Lermontov, shows us the hero as a tragic, suffering person. Pechorin has an extremely complex and tense inner world, he longs for renewal, strives for it and tirelessly seeks, feeling huge, immense forces in himself, but does not find anything new.
Undoubtedly, Pechorin is a child of the time in which he lives, which is why the skepticism inherent in this period does not allow him to find peace and find the meaning of life. The writer clearly demonstrates to us that the 1830-1840s. do not allow the personality to express itself. Any attempts at self-realization are doomed to failure, hence the antagonism of the relationship between the individual and society is formed.
The conflict of the protagonist with his own estate, his elite, to which he belonged from birth, becomes obvious from the very first pages. He despises a society that turns any person into a moral cripple. And he understands that he himself has long been as crippled as everyone around him. Pechorin even admits this in a conversation with Princess Mary, creating an auto-epitaph for a slowly dying soul.
The wealth of the spiritual world of Pechorin
The superiority of the hero over the environment manifests itself in different ways: he is smarter than many, his spiritual life is brighter and more complex. Awareness of the abyss between himself and society is manifested in the rejection of the world.
As a result, selfishness and individualism became decisive features of his character: Pechorin never loved anyone so that he would be ready to make a sacrifice, he loved only for his own pleasure. But this does not bring him happiness and peace: the inability to empathize with loved ones, to understand their anxieties further cripple the life of the protagonist and those around him.
Pechorin is aware of all his shortcomings, and judges himself in the most severe way, believing that his death will not be a great loss to the world.
The main tragedy of the hero is the lack of meaning in life
Pechorin is the first character in the history of Russian literature who consciously thinks about the meaning of life, tries to understand the highest destiny of man. At night, on the eve of the duel with Grushnitsky, Grigory Alexandrovich thinks about the past, about whether there was any high goal of his existence. He comes to the disappointing conclusion that he could not solve this riddle and realize the meaning of his own existence.
Lack of meaning highest goal- the basis of the tragedy of Pechorin, the reason for his ordeals. That is why his actions are so insignificant, and his ebullient nature, all his activities are fruitless. The hero yearns for the real warmth of relations with another person, his soul strives for good. Despite all the searches, he does not find any peace or shelter in such a disharmonious world, where social and moral slavery reigns. Pechorin finds the only possibility of self-realization - denial, rejection of society, opposition to circumstances.
Many believe that central character works - "an extra person", widely represented in domestic literature. "Extra person"was already familiar to the writer's contemporaries Pushkin's novel"Eugene Onegin". Two heroes are representatives of different historical situations and eras.
The character of the "Hero of Our Time" expresses completely different character traits - the development of self-awareness, the relationship between man and society, constant reflection, the desire to comprehend the sources of one's problems in order to pass on to the next generations, if not great achievements, then at least this analysis.
Pechorin is an extraordinary, intelligent, educated person, strong-willed, brave ... In addition, he is distinguished by a constant desire for action, Pechorin cannot stay in one place, in one setting, surrounded by the same people. Isn't that why he can't be happy with any woman, even with the one he's in love with? After a while, boredom overcomes him, and he begins to look for something new. Isn't that why he breaks their destinies? Pechorin writes in his diary: “... the one in whose head more ideas were born, he acts more; from this, a genius, chained to a bureaucratic table, must die or go crazy ... ". Pechorin is not attracted by such a fate, and he acts. Acts without regard for the feelings of other people, practically not paying attention to them. Yes, he is selfish. And this is his tragedy. But is Pechorin alone to blame for this?
No! And Pechorin himself, explaining himself to Mary, says: “This has been my fate since childhood. Everyone read on my face signs of bad qualities that were not there; but they were supposed - and they were born ... ". So, "all". Who does he mean? Naturally, society. Yes, the same society that interfered with Onegin and Lensky, which hated Chatsky, is now Pechorin. So, Pechorin learned to hate, to lie, became secretive, he "buried his best feelings in the depths of his heart, where they died."
So, on the one hand, extraordinary, clever man, on the other hand, an egoist who breaks hearts and destroys lives, he is an "evil genius" and at the same time a victim of society. In Pechorin's diary we read: “... my first pleasure is to subordinate everything that surrounds me to my will; arouse to oneself a feeling of love, devotion and fear - is this not the first sign and the greatest triumph of power? So that's what love is for him - just the satisfaction of his own ambition! But what about his love for Vera, is she the same? In part, yes, there was a barrier between Pechorin and Vera: Vera was married, and this attracted Pechorin, who, like a true fighter, strove to overcome all obstacles. It is not known how Pechorin would have behaved if this barrier had not existed ... But this love, love for Vera, however, is more than just a game, Vera was the only woman that Pechorin truly loved, at the same time only Vera knew and she loved not the fictional Pechorin, but the real, real Pechorin, with all his virtues and shortcomings, with all his vices. “I should have hated you ... You gave me nothing but suffering,” she says to Pechorin. But she cannot hate him ... However, selfishness takes its toll - all the people around Pechorin turn away from him. In a conversation, he somehow confesses to his friend Werner: “Thinking of a close and possible death, I think of one myself. Here it is, his tragedy, the tragedy of his fate, his life.
It must be said that Pechorin admits this in his diaries; analyzing his life, he writes: "... I did not sacrifice anything for those whom I loved: I loved for myself, for my own pleasure ...". And as a result - his loneliness: "... and there will not be a single creature left on earth who would understand me completely."
The theme of fate in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" is one of the fundamental ones. This theme runs through all parts of the novel, starting with the story of Bel and ending with the part "The Fatalist". And this is not surprising, because in its prose work Lermontov continues his reflections, which he conveyed earlier in many poetic creations. In this vein, we can recall the terms from the poem "The Death of a Poet", in which the author sadly exclaimed:
The poet is dead! - slave of honor -
Fate's verdict has come true! -
The theme of fate in Lermontov's poems often appears in the form of Rock, which is evil for a person, which cannot be overcome, and often it is impossible to come to terms with it. The theme of fate in "A Hero of Our Time" is also considered by the author from a tragic point of view. Let us consider in more detail the author's concept of the theme of fate in the novel.
Understanding the theme of fate by Pechorin
In the image of the protagonist of the novel, we can see a deep attention to the theme of fate. Pechorin himself in his diary calls himself "an ax in the hands of fate." That is, the hero thus justifies himself and his unseemly deeds, believing that he, committing them, is something like an executioner or, more precisely, a conductor's baton in the hands of an experienced and all-powerful ruler.
Assigning such a fate to himself, the hero thereby achieves self-affirmation in society, believing that he, inflicting pain on others, only fairly punishes them for their misdeeds. Thus, Pechorin thinks of himself as a demigod, claiming more than a mere mortal man.
Such an understanding of his role by Pechorin brings us closer to the topic of the “superman”, which will become especially relevant for humanity 70 years after the publication of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov. However, the writer, ahead of his time, created for readers the image of such a “future superman”: a hero who is not ashamed of either his bad thoughts or his bad deeds and strives to replay his fate.
As we remember, it is the belief in fate and the desire to experience it that makes Pechorin commit immoral acts that are not even interesting to him: imagining himself to be “an ax in the hands of fate”, he begins to pursue Mary with his barbs, and then falls in love with her, laughs at Grushnitsky, that as a result, it leads to a duel fatal for the young man, advises Azamat - Bela's brother - to kidnap his sister for his own fun, etc.
At the same time, sometimes in the life of Pechorin there come such moments when the hero believes that the evil Rock completely defeats him. Here is how he talks about such life collisions:
“... Such was my fate from childhood. Everyone read on my face signs of bad feelings, which were not there; but they were supposed - and they were born. I was modest - I was accused of slyness: I became secretive. I deeply felt good and evil; no one caressed me, everyone insulted me: I became vindictive; I was gloomy - other children are cheerful and talkative; I felt myself superior to them - I was placed below. I became envious. I was ready to love the whole world - no one understood me: and I learned to hate "
Thus, sometimes Pechorin tries to blame his bad deeds not on himself, but on his fate, believing that it is she who is the infrequent culprit of all the troubles that happened to him.
All Pechorin's experiences concerning the problem of fate are resolved in the last part of the novel, called "The Fatalist" (that is, a person who believes in fate). This part still remains a mystery to literary critics, because it characterizes not so much Pechorin himself as a fatalist, but helps to understand the life-meaning problems for the author of human existence.The story "The Fatalist" as a problem of the divinity of the theme of fate
It is in the story "The Fatalist" that the most important aspect the author's understanding of the theme of fate: namely, God or the devil controls the fate of man on earth. To solve this problem, Lermontov chooses the hero Vulich, who is even more fatalist than Pechorin. Vulich decided to test his fate by putting on the line the most precious thing - his life. He offered Pechorin a bet, according to which he shoots himself in the temple with a loaded pistol and sees whether his fate is to live or die (the fact is that pistols of that time misfired with a probability of one case in ten). Pechorin, looking into Vulich's eyes, tells him that he will die tonight. Vulich shoots himself in the temple, and the gun misfires. He goes to his home, and in the morning Pechorin finds out that he was right: Vulich died that same evening: he was hacked to death by a drunken Cossack with a saber.
According to literary critics, Lermontov, in his characteristic authorial manner, considers the problem of fate as bad joke devil over man. There is a well-known gospel parable about the demons that moved into the herd of pigs and forced them to rush down into the abyss. In the story "The Fatalist", the devilish desire to try fate comes to the mind of the fatalist Vulich. A demon, as it were, takes possession of him, forcing him to make a fatal bet. And the same demon leads to the fact that Vulich dies on the same night at the hands of a bitter drunkard and a brawler. It would seem that the forces of evil are triumphant: they showed people an example of their power. The evil Rock - Demon, already described by Lermontov in one of his poems, won. However, at the end of his story, the writer somewhat softens the tragic sound of the finale of the novel with the words of the kind Maxim Maksimovich that pistols often misfire, and this has nothing to do with the fact that some Cossack decided to make a fuss that evening.
Such an ending leaves room for Divine Providence, merciful and all-encompassing, and also leaves the reader the right to decide in his own way the collision that the author described in the last part of his novel.
Understanding the role of fate by the heroes of the novel
The fate of the heroes of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" is, as a rule, tragic. Heroes strive for happiness, but they realize that they will not be able to possess it.
This novel has no happy people! Unhappy is the Circassian Bela, kidnapped by her brother and given to them by Pechorin for fun, unhappy is Mary Ligovskaya, the young princess whom Pechorin fell in love with himself in order to laugh at the feelings of a proud beautiful girl Finally, Vera is unhappy - a secular lady and a secret lover Pechorin, who is tormented by a secret passion and deeply suffers from the realization of the hopelessness of her situation. The ambitious and intelligent Dr. Werner cannot find joy in life; the ambitious young man Grushnitsky, who is in love with Mary, dies in a duel. And even the kindest Maxim Maksimovich cannot be called happy man. Of course, the hero does not torment himself with deep and tragic experiences, like Pechorin, however, he often experiences grief from the events of the world around him.
A special theme of the novel is the theme of the fate of a generation in A Hero of Our Time. This is also the most important theme for Lermontov's work. All his life the writer, poet and playwright tried to answer the question: what is his generation, what is his vocation, washed away life?
As a result, Lermontov comes to the sad conclusion that the fate of his generation is difficult, because the best people Russia - educated young representatives of the nobility - cannot find their place in life. They are restless and blame themselves and the external circumstances of life for this. Lermontov himself wrote about it this way:
“We are no longer capable of great sacrifices, either for the good of mankind, or even for our own happiness, because we know its impossibility and indifferently move from doubt to doubt”
In fact, the writer recreates the image lost generation in A Hero of Our Time. This generation does not know where to direct its vitality How to serve your Fatherland.
In the novel "A Hero of Our Time", the writer raises the life-meaning problems of the existence of mankind. He is concerned with the theme of fate, which he tries to consider both in a mystical and realistic way. This theme itself attracts the attention of readers, which makes the work more exciting and interesting. This material will be useful for 9th grade students when writing an essay on the topic “The theme of fate in the novel“ A Hero of Our Time ””.
Artwork test
1. Life in St. Petersburg Little is known about this period of Pechorin's life. Apparently, Pechorin was born and raised in St. Petersburg. All his youth he revolves in secular society. Pechorin is rich and handsome. Living in St. Petersburg, Pechorin falls in love with Vera, a young married lady. But their relationship is interrupted. In St. Petersburg, Pechorin participates in a duel, for which he is sent to serve in the Caucasus. Pechorin at this time is about 25 years old.
2. Taman and smugglers
Pechorin travels to the Caucasus, stopping by Taman on the way. Here Pechorin is fond of the girl "undine", but finds out that she is a smuggler. Having gone on a date with the "undine", Pechorin almost dies. As a result, Pechorin manages to frighten off the smugglers: they move to another place. Pechorin himself soon leaves Taman (head "Taman").
3. Pyatigorsk: Princess Mary and the duel with Grushnitsky
Having completed the assignment for the service, Pechorin arrives in Pyatigorsk for treatment on the waters. Here he meets an old friend Grushnitsky, and also turns the head of the young Princess Mary. Then Pechorin and his acquaintances move to Kislovodsk. Here the duel between Pechorin and Grushnitsky takes place. Grushnitsky (the head of "Princess Mary") dies at the duel.
4. Fortress N
For a duel with Grushnitsky, Pechorin is sent to fortress N. Here Pechorin meets the good officer Maxim Maksimych.
5. Business trip to the Cossack village: the death of Vulich While serving in the fortress N, Pechorin goes on a business trip for 2 weeks to the Cossack village. Here Pechorin meets the strange officer Vulich, who soon dies tragically (chapter "Fatalist").
6. Fortress N and meeting with Bela
Pechorin continues to serve in fortress N under the command of Maxim Maksimych. In total, Pechorin spends 1 year here. During this period, he falls in love with a Circassian Bela and steals her from home. Pechorin and Bela live happily for 4 months, after which Grigory grows cold towards his beloved. Suddenly, the robber Kazbich steals and mortally wounds Bela. Soon she dies (the head of "Bela").
7. A trip to the regiment in Georgia
After the death of Bela, Pechorin leaves fortress N for his e ... regiment in Georgia.
8. Petersburg: resignation Pechorin returns to Petersburg and resigns. This period is not described in the novel.
9. Vladikavkaz: Departure for Persia About 5 years have passed since the events with Bela. Pechorin travels from Petersburg to Persia. On the way, he stops in Vladikavkaz. Here he accidentally meets with Maxim Maksimych (the head of "Maxim Maksimych").
10. Death of Pechorin Pechorin sets out to travel to Persia. On the way from Persia, he dies. The cause of his death or death is unknown. Presumably Pechorin dies at the age of just over 30 years. (see the preface to Pechorin's Journal). I wrote it off the Internet, I say right away
“There are two people in me: one lives in full
sense of the word, the other thinks and judges him;
"Hero of our time" is the first psychological novel in Russian literature, work. I found the most interesting main character novel - Pechorin, and I would like to focus on him. As for the other characters in the novel, all of them, it seems to me, only help to fully reveal the character of the protagonist.
The novel consists of five stories, each of which represents a stage in revealing the image of the protagonist. The desire to reveal inner world Pechorin was reflected in the composition of the novel. It begins, as it were, from the middle and is consistently brought to the end of Pechorin's life. Thus, the reader knows in advance that Pechorin's life is doomed to failure. I think that no one will doubt that it is Pechorin who is the hero of the time.
Pechorin is a typical young man of the 30s of the 19th century, educated, handsome and quite rich, dissatisfied with life and not seeing an opportunity for himself to be happy. Pechorin, unlike Pushkin Onegin, does not go with the flow, but is looking for his own path in life, he “furiously pursues life” and constantly argues with fate. He gets bored very quickly: new places, friends, women and hobbies are forgotten by him very quickly.
Lermontov gives very detailed description Pechorin's appearance, which allows you to reveal his character more deeply. This allows the reader to seem to see the hero in front of him, to look into his cold eyes that never laugh. His dark eyebrows and mustache with blond hair speak of originality and unusualness.
Pechorin is constantly on the road: he is going somewhere, looking for something. Lermontov constantly places his hero in different environments: either in the fortress, where he meets Maxim Maksimych and Bela, or in the environment of the "water society", or in the smugglers' shack. Even Pechorin dies on the way.
How to treat Lermontov to his hero? According to the author, Pechorin is "a portrait made up of the vices of his generation." The hero causes my blue-eyed sympathy, despite the fact that I do not like in him such qualities as selfishness, pride and disdain for others.
Pechorin, finding no other way out for his thirst for activity, plays with the fate of people, but this brings him neither joy nor happiness. Wherever Pechorin appears, he brings grief to people. He kills his friend Grushnitsky in a duel that happened because of stupidity. When he was exiled to the fortress for a duel, he meets Bela, the daughter of the local prince. Pechorin persuades her brother to kidnap his sister in exchange for a stolen horse. . He sincerely wanted to make Bela happy, but he simply cannot experience lasting feelings. They are replaced by boredom - his eternal enemy.
Having achieved the girl's love, he cools off towards her and actually becomes the culprit of her death. The situation is approximately the same with Princess Mary, whom, for the sake of entertainment, he makes her fall in love with him, knowing in advance that he does not need her. Because of him, Vera does not know happiness. He himself says: “How many times have I played the role of an ax in the hands of fate! Like an instrument of execution, I fell on the heads of doomed victims... My love brought happiness to no one, because I did not sacrifice anything for those whom I loved...”
Maxim Maksimych is also offended by him because he was cold when meeting him after a long separation. Maksim Maksimych is very devoted person and he sincerely considered Pechorin his friend.
The hero reaches out to people, but he does not find understanding in them. These people were far away in their spiritual development from him, they did not seek in life what he sought. .The trouble with Pechorin is that his independent self-consciousness and will turns into something more. He does not listen to anyone's opinion, he sees and accepts only his "I". Pechorin is bored with life, he is constantly looking for the thrill of sensations, does not find it and suffers from it. He is willing to risk everything to fulfill his own whim.
From the very beginning, Pechorin appears to readers as " a strange man". This is how the good-natured Maksim Maksimych says about him: “He was a nice fellow, I dare to assure you; only a little strange ... Yes, sir, he was very strange. The strangeness in the external and internal appearance of Pechorin is also emphasized by other characters in the novel. I think this is what attracts women in Pechorin. He is unusual, cheerful, handsome and also rich - the dream of any girl.
To understand the soul of the hero, how much he deserves reproach or worthy of sympathy, you need to carefully re-read this novel more than once. He has a lot good qualities. Firstly, Pechorin is a smart and educated person. . While judging others, he is also critical of himself. In his notes, he admits to such properties of his soul that no one knows about. Secondly, the fact that he has a poetic nature, subtly feeling nature, also has in favor of the hero. “The air is pure and fresh, like the kiss of a child; the sun is bright, the sky is blue - what would seem more? why are there passions, desires, regrets?..”
Secondly, Pechorin is brave and courageous man., which manifested itself during the duel. Despite his egoism, he knows how to truly love: to Vera, he feels completely sincere feelings. Contrary to his own statements, Pechorin can love, but his love is very complex. So, feeling for Vera with new force awakens when there is a danger of forever losing that the only woman who understood him. “With the opportunity to lose her forever, Vera became dearer to me than anything in the world - dearer than life, honor, happiness!” Pechorin admits. Even having lost Faith, he realized that the last ray of light in his life had gone out. But even after that, Pechorin did not break. He continued to consider himself the master of his fate, he wanted to take it into his hands, and this is noticeable in the final part of the novel - "The Fatalist".
Thirdly, nature gave him both a deep, sharp mind and a kind, sympathetic heart. He is capable of noble impulses and humane deeds. Who is to blame for the fact that all these qualities of Pechorin died? It seems to me that the society in which the hero was brought up and lived is to blame.
Pechorin himself said more than once that in the society in which he lives, there is no selfless love, no true friendship, no fair, humane relations between people. That is why Pechorin turned out to be a stranger to Maxim Maksimych.
Pechorin's personality is ambiguous and can be perceived with different points vision, cause dislike or sympathy. I think the main feature of his character is the inconsistency between feeling, thought and deed, opposition to circumstances and fate. His energy is poured into empty action, and actions are most often selfish and cruel. So it happened with Bela, whom he became interested in, kidnapped, and then began to be weary of her. With Maxim Maksimych, with whom he supported warm relationship as long as it was needed. With Mary, whom he forced to fall in love with himself out of pure selfishness. With Grushnitsky, whom he killed as if he had done something ordinary.
Lermontov focuses on the psychological disclosure of the image of his hero, raises the question of the moral responsibility of a person for the choice life path and for your actions. In my opinion, no one before Lermontov in Russian literature gave such a description of the human psyche.
