In the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov “A Hero of Our Time”, the events are presented with a violation of chronological sequence, so the reader learns about the main character first from the memoirs of Maxim Maksimych, and later from the diary entries of Pechorin himself.
After the departure of the hero from the fortress, where he served together with Maxim Maksimych, several years passed. Pechorin has already retired, lived in St. Petersburg, but boredom makes him go on the road again. On the way to Persia, fate unexpectedly prepared for him a meeting (in Vladikavkaz) with a former colleague,
Maksim Maksimych, but he is not only in no hurry to this meeting, but he could well leave without seeing him. And there is an explanation for this.
Life in the fortress, where Pechorin was sent after a duel with Grushnitsky, was painful for him, too secluded and monotonous. Pechorin did not want to remember this life, and even more so the story with Bela, in the tragic death of which he was to blame. The difficulties of everyday life and military life, for certain reasons, did not bring the young officer closer to his senior comrade, who helped him in everything. And over the past time, Pechorin has become even more distant. Apparently, the character of an individualist, who did not want to experience
Feeling of affection. He lacks such qualities as sociability, friendliness, friendliness, the desire for mutual assistance and mutual assistance. This is a closed, selfish person who did not allow anyone to "open the secrets of his soul." He could be cold, mocking or even cruel so as not to get close to anyone.
Maxim Maksimych does not understand how one can not consider a friend of a former colleague with whom they lived side by side for some time, shared the difficulties of army service. The old campaigner, whose interests are focused on the honest performance of military duties, lives simply and modestly. This is a kind, sincere person, his heart is open to people, he is ready to pity and love those who, by the will of fate, are next to him. Maxim Maksimych becomes attached to Pechorin, takes care of him and Bela, deeply worries about the death of a young mountain woman, and he cannot forget the past, everything that connects him with Pechorin. Therefore, he does not understand the behavior of a comrade in the service, who seems not to be happy with the meeting and would like to avoid it.
In fact, everything is clear here. And not only because these characters are very different. We must not forget that Pechorin is still a "suffering egoist." When meeting after a certain period of time, it is more pleasant to remember good deeds, some good events. And what to remember Pechorin? How did he once again commit a selfish and thoughtless act? Or how did he perform “the role of an ax in the hands of fate”?
Over the years, Pechorin learned to move away from people: he did not make friends with anyone, he did not feel love for anyone. He is not only disappointed, but also an indifferent person: he yawns when Maxim Maksimych tries to call him for a conversation; he is not interested in the fate of his own diary; he does not ask a former colleague about anything, he does not even ask about his health.
Pechorin offended Maxim Maksimych due to his callousness, indifference, but his behavior is also explained by many subjective reasons and objective circumstances.
The question also arises, why is Pechorin completely indifferent to the fate of his diary?
Every reader, like every critic, sees the character of the hero of time in his own way.
Pechorin's diary was introduced by Lermontov as a compositional device in order to show the personality of a person from the inside, since the hero's notes are “a consequence of the observation of a mature mind over itself. without a vain desire to arouse interest or surprise.”
What does the diary reflect? First of all, the tendency to reflection, that is, to self-observation and comprehension of one's actions, sensations, desires, feelings. Why does Pechorin need this introspection if he is not going to change, to follow the path of self-improvement of the personality? There is only one answer: there is no definite goal, as in everything and always in the life of this person. He does not know why he was born, studied, why he lives. “But, perhaps, I had a high purpose?” But life is wasted: I didn’t find a vocation in the service, I didn’t make friends, I don’t have love, I don’t have a family, I don’t feel my need. Complete disappointment in everything. Pechorin considers even his tears about an unexpected separation from Vera to be the result of an empty stomach or a bad dream. Although this episode resembles the whim of a spoiled child because of the toy that he was suddenly deprived of.
Pechorin is not drawn when he talks about the cooling of feelings, about disappointment, loss of interest in life and its complete aimlessness. This state of mind requires thrills, and he recklessly plays with fate, emphasizing that he does not value life. This is observed in the episode with the smugglers, and in the duel with Grushnitsky, and in the fight with the drunken Cossack.
Pechorin is indifferent to his future. How can he not be indifferent to the fate of his diary?
Maxim Maksimych, who found this abandoned confession, asks a former colleague what to do with the diary. And Pechorin replies: "Whatever you want." By this time, he feels complete indifference to everyone and everything. He no longer wants to analyze his life, and the past is not interesting to him, just like the future. Everything loses its meaning, loses its value: people and life are not dear, former thoughts and feelings are not dear.
Essays on topics:
- Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych are two completely different people, not only in age, but also in psychology. Maksim...
- After some time, the narrator and Maxim Maksimych met again at the inn. Their attention was attracted by an empty traveling carriage of a dandy...
- With deep sympathy, the image of Maxim Maksimych is described in the novel. This is an honest and faithful soldier-servant, a simple, kind, sympathetic Russian person ....
- What is the tragedy of Pechorin? Pechorin's personality is ambiguous and can be perceived from different points of view. But in any case, it can't be denied...
- Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin is a complex collective image of the society of his time - the thirties of the nineteenth century. Pechorin is alone and not ...
- Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is the protagonist of Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov's novel A Hero of Our Time. He is young, “thin, white”, slender, of medium height...
- Pechorin is a hero of his time. In the 30s, such a person does not find a place where he can apply his strength, and therefore ...
Collection of works: The last meeting of Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych (Analysis of an episode from the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time")
When you open Lermontov's novel A Hero of Our Time, you forget that it was written more than a hundred years ago. The writer introduces us to a world in which such different people live: Maxim Maksimych, who, according to Belinsky, has “a wonderful soul, a heart of gold,” and Pechorin.
Two chapters in the novel are devoted to two meetings of the protagonist - Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych - the staff captain in a small distant fortress in the Caucasus. Quietly and measuredly, his life flows away from the noisy light, nothing disturbs the dull monotony of his existence. And the whole event in his life is the arrival of a new officer - Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin.
“He was so thin, white, his uniform was so brand new,” Maxim Maksimych tells the author about his first meeting. These words sound unusual tenderness, which Maxim Maksimych is ready to give to Pechorin; “You will be a little bored ... well, yes, we will live as friends. Yes, please, just call me Maxim Maksimych ... ”, immediately, without any ceremony, he suggests to Pechorin; but only dry formality sounds in his answers to all questions: "That's right, Mr. Staff Captain."
Noticing the strangeness of the new officer, his dissimilarity to others, Maxim Maksimych explains this by his wealth and classifies Pechorin to the category of people who have written in their family that extraordinary events should happen to them.
The good-natured staff captain fell in love with Pechorin, even his name, Aleksandrovich, gives Maxim Maksimych pleasure; telling a stranger about a new officer, Maxim Maksimych worries, as if he is re-experiencing his best moments.
Although Maxim Maksimych feels sorry for the deceased Bela, although in his heart he blames Pechorin for her death, all the same for him the extravagant young man is “poor thing.”
We feel care and tenderness, excitement and sincere friendship from Maxim Maksimych.
Not wanting the participation of strangers, one single time Pechorin lifts the veil from his life. “My soul is corrupted by the light, my imagination, my restless heart is insatiable,” his confession sounded to Maxim Maksimych.
In this confession, one can clearly hear a cry for help from a person who does not understand himself, who needs friendly support, who is very lonely and unnecessary to anyone.
Suffering from his restlessness, in despair he asks himself a painful question: “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born? Pechorin rushes about, he does not understand himself; one involuntarily recalls Pushkin's Onegin, who was called by Belinsky "a suffering egoist", "an unwitting egoist".
Maxim Maksimych failed to understand Pechorin's confession - for him, who lived his whole life in a lost fortress, knowing only his duties and regularly fulfilling them, the torment and contradictions of the new generation, a man who "asks for a storm", were too incomprehensible. Five years have passed.
Tenderly keeps in the heart of Maxim Maksimych his affection for Pechorin. For the first time, he abandons his official duties - in the first place he puts a meeting with a friend. And what?
Instead of friendly hugs, Maxim Maksimych meets a certain alienation, Pechorin utters a cool welcome phrase: “How glad I am, dear Maxim Maksimych! Well, how are you doing? Tears choke the staff captain, the friendly “you” have to be replaced with “you”, Maxim Maksimych is in complete disarray - he is very hurt, his notions of friendship are crumbling, his faith in the memory of a former friend.
“I didn’t forget anything,” Maxim Maksimych’s words reproached Pechorin, but is it worth reproaching here? In my opinion, Grigory Alexandrovich and Maxim Maksimych are too different natures, so a strong friendship could not arise between them, but still I think that for all his restraint, Pechorin warmly treats Maxim Maksimych, appreciates him; he just belongs to the category of people who hide their emotions far into themselves and do not consider it necessary to express their feelings.
Pechorin's inner world is very complex: neither the beautiful "savage" Bela, nor the kind-hearted Maxim Maksimych, who does not understand the depth of the officer's suffering after the death of Bela, is able to comprehend him: “His face did not express anything special, and I became annoyed: I would where he died of grief. And only because Pechorin was unwell and emaciated for a long time, we understand the true power of Grigory Alexandrovich's experiences.
A cool attitude towards a meeting with an old friend led to the fact that Maxim Maksimych became stubborn and grumpy. The officer-narrator guesses that Pechorin's behavior is not a manifestation of spiritual emptiness and selfishness. Particular attention should be paid to the eyes that did not laugh when he laughed. "This is a sign of either an evil right, or a deep permanent sadness." I think it's sadness, of course. Longing for the fact that Grigory Alexandrovich does not find a worthy application for his outstanding abilities.
Undoubtedly, Pechorin is experiencing fear, unfortunately, not groundless, but well-founded fear: he feels lonely in this world, unnecessary and absolutely useless to anyone, I would even say “small”, yes, sometimes he feels exactly “small” from because there is no use of his power.
In principle, Gregory, contrary to his own convictions, is capable of a sincere, great feeling, but his love is very complex, like everything in him. So the feeling for Vera awakens with renewed vigor only when there is a danger of forever losing the only woman who understood him, completely understood him!
“With the opportunity to lose her forever, Vera became dearer to me than anything in the world - dearer than life, honor, happiness!” he admits. Having driven the horse on the way to Pyatigorsk, Pechorin "fell on the grass and cried like a child." Here it is - the power of feelings! His love is high, but tragic for himself and destructive for those who love him.
Therefore, I believe that Maxim Maksimych once again misunderstood Pechorin. Still, one should not be disappointed in the strength and sincerity of friendly relations, it’s just that Grigory Alexandrovich hides his feelings too well, thereby bringing pain and despair to those who love him; in my opinion, this is another problem that negatively affects his life; he understands it.
I agree with Belinsky, who resolutely defends Pechorin: “Are you saying that he is an egoist? But does he not despise and hate himself for it? The answer to this question is given to us by the hero himself: “My colorless youth passed in the struggle with myself and the light; my best feelings, fearing ridicule, I buried in the depths of my heart; they died there…”
In the novel, the question of the meaning of life remains open: “Why did I live? For whom was he born? But, for sure, this goal existed, and, of course, there was his appointment, but he simply did not guess it.
In my opinion, the meeting between Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych also had its own specific meaning. Despite the fact that the staff captain was disappointed in friendship, nevertheless, bright memories of the officer probably remained in his soul.
With his novel, the author wanted to lead the youth on the path of struggle, telling them: “How boring life is when there is no struggle!” To emphasize the typical image of Pechorin for Russia, Lermontov calls his novel "A Hero of Our Time". Many years later, this work has not lost its relevance, since people like Pechorin still live on our land; and I would very much like to see people like Maxim Maksimych more often: with a broad, kind soul, capable of sincere friendship and understanding.
Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time" is an amazing and interesting work. The composition of the novel itself is unusual. Firstly, the work consists of stories, which in itself is extraordinary. Secondly, they are not arranged in chronological order, as is traditionally accepted. All the stories are divided into two parts: a story about Pechorin's life through the eyes of an outsider ("Bela", "Maxim Maksimych", "Preface to Pechorin's Journal") and Pechorin's diary, revealing his inner life ("Taman", "Princess Mary", "Fatalist"). This principle was not chosen by the author by chance. It contributes to the most profound, complete and psychologically subtle analysis of the hero.
There is no single plot in the work. Each story has its own characters and situations. They are connected only by the figure of the main character - Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin. Either we see him while serving in the Caucasus, or he finds himself in the provincial town of Taman, or he rests in Pyatigorsk on mineral waters. Everywhere the hero creates an extreme situation, sometimes with a threat to his life. Pechorin cannot live an ordinary life, he needs situations that reveal his enormous abilities.
The story "Maxim Maksimych" describes the finale of the events depicted in "A Hero of Our Time". For the last time, the figure of a restless hero who does not find a home for himself is shown. The opposition of Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych has a special meaning in this story. There is no extended action here. This story is built like a road episode.
Maxim Maksimych and the narrator learn that Pechorin's carriage has arrived in the yard of their hotel. The elderly staff captain is very excited about this and longs to see his old comrade. He is sure that as soon as Pechorin finds out who is waiting for him, he will immediately come running and will be very glad to meet. Maksim Maksimych even runs out the gate to meet him. But Pechorin is in no hurry to return from the guests. He appears only the next day, to immediately depart for Persia. That is the plot of this episode. But with the help of such uncomplicated events, the author reveals the characters of his heroes.
Pechorin appears after a variety of life events described in the rest of the novel. Petersburg, Pyatigorsk, Taman, and the Caucasus were left behind. The reader has already learned who Pechorin is, but he was shown through the eyes of Maxim Maksimych. Now we see the hero through the eyes of the narrator. Subtle observation of the appearance of Grigory Alexandrovich allows us to sketch his inner portrait. In the character of Pechorin, transmitted through his portrait, there are several features. The author emphasizes through appearance the complexity and inconsistency of Pechorin's personality. His "strong build", "broad shoulders" contradict "something childish" in his smile, "feminine tenderness" of his skin, carelessness and laziness in his gait.
The peculiarity of Pechorin's gait was also that "he did not wave his arms." The author notes that this is "a sure sign of the secrecy of character." Lermontov pays attention to the transmission of the life fatigue of his hero: “When he sat down on the bench, his straight frame bent, as if he had not a single bone in his back; the position of his whole body depicted some kind of nervous weakness ... ". Speaking about the eyes, the mirror of the soul of every person, the author notes: "... they did not laugh when he laughed! ... This is a sign of either an evil disposition, or a deep constant sadness."
Before us is a young man tired of life, with a bright personality and a complex inner world.
In contrast, he is given Maxim Maksimych. This is an open person, completely turned to his neighbor. The old staff captain is wholeheartedly faithful to his past friendship with Pechorin. Upon learning that Grigory Alexandrovich had finally appeared in the courtyard of the hotel, he abandoned all his affairs and ran to meet his old comrade: “In a few minutes he was already near us; he could hardly breathe; sweat rolled down from his face; wet tufts of gray hair ... stuck to the forehead; his knees were shaking...
Seeing his long-awaited friend, Maxim Maksimych wanted to throw himself on his neck, but Pechorin only extended his hand in a friendly way. And this is not surprising, because he did not consider the staff captain his friend or comrade. For Pechorin, this was another person with whom fate brought him together for a while, and nothing more.
We can say that Maxim Maksimych was an accidental witness to his next emotional drama. During a brief conversation, the staff captain reminds Pechorin of Bel. It becomes clear that the young man would not want to remember this: "Pechorin turned a little pale and turned away." This is another heavy burden on his soul, which he would not like to show. Therefore, he speaks of a young Circassian woman, "with a forced yawn."
This person does not allow anyone to penetrate into his soul, to understand what feelings he is experiencing. Pechorin is so self-contained that he loses the ability to feel at least for a short time the excitement, anxiety, requests of the soul of another person. He does not want to give Maxim Maksimych a single extra minute, which greatly offends the old man. And the frowning staff captain says to Pechorin: “That’s not how I thought to meet you ...”. Here friendly feelings wake up in the hero for a second, and he hugs Maxim Maksimych. And then he leaves, making it clear to the staff captain that they are unlikely to ever meet again. Maxim Maksimych is offended in his best feelings.
Thanks to this episode and comparison with the elderly staff captain, you can see the figure of Pechorin more clearly. He cannot think about other people: Pechorin is too closed and focused on himself for this. The kindness and sincere friendly feelings of Maxim Maksimych do not evoke any response in him. The reader sees that over the past time Pechorin has finally fallen ill with incurable boredom and an indifferent attitude not only to others, but also to his own fate. Therefore, after the episode of the last meeting, the author had no choice but to "kill" his hero.
Composition.
Two meetings of Pechorin with Maxim Maksimych (based on the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time").
Completed by a student of 9 "F" class
Ivanov Xenophon
Time…. Time became an insurmountable wall between the twenties and thirties of the last century. Time has thrown back noisy disputes about the future of Russia, dreams, joy in anticipation of future changes. Everything remained there, behind the thirtieth of July, 1826, the terrible day of the execution of the Decembrists. You will not hear the word “freedom” anymore, and “youth languishes amid empty storms” of Lermontov and his peers. At fifteen, Lermontov, who had a whole life ahead of him, wrote:
Why deep knowledge, thirst for glory,
Talent and passionate love of freedom,
When can we not use them?
"Unwashed Russia, a country of slaves, a country of masters" - the suffering and pain of Lermontov. In this Russia, Pechorin also turned out to be an "extra" person.
When you open A Hero of Our Time, you forget that the book was written over a hundred years ago. From the very first pages, you are immersed in a world where such different people live - Maxim Maksimych, who, according to Belinsky, "has a wonderful soul, a heart of gold," and Pechorin.
Two chapters - two meetings. Only then will we learn more about the hero’s past, about how fate threw him into the wild, only then will Pechorin’s soul fully open before us. For now….
In a small fortress in the Caucasus, the old staff captain Maxim Maksimych quietly and peacefully serves. And the whole event in his life is the arrival of a new person. “His name was…. Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, ”Maxim Maksimych tells his fellow traveler about the arrived officer, a little slowly, stretched out, as if the name itself gives him pleasure. Only the memory of him makes the staff captain talk. “He was so thin, white, his uniform was so brand new,” - this is how Maxim Maksimych tells about his first meeting to the author, who in detail, word for word, writes down the captain's story. In these words - all the affection, all the kindness of the old man, ready to give Pechorin all his unspent youth. Even now, speaking to a stranger about Grigory Alexandrovich, Maxim Maksimych is worried, as if he is reliving his best moments anew. One can imagine how he opened up to meet this "thin" officer. “You will be a little bored ... well, yes, we will live as friends. Yes, please, just call me Maxim Maksimych, ”he immediately, without any ceremony, he suggests to Pechorin. And Pechorin? Only officiality sounds in his answer to all questions: "That's right, Mr. Staff Captain." Yes, and Maxim Maksimych himself notices the strangeness of Pechorin, his dissimilarity to others and classifies him as a person who “has written in his family that various unusual things should happen to them.” However, for himself, Maxim Maksimych more simply explained Pechorin's eccentricities by wealth. Simple, good-natured Maksim Maksimych fell in love with the new officer. And although he feels sorry for the deceased Bela, although in his heart he blames Pechorin for her death, all the same for him the young man is “poor thing”. “Pechorin was not healthy for a long time, he was emaciated, poor thing,” he says to his fellow traveler. With only one sentence, Lermontov conveys all the grief experienced by Pechorin, and Maxim Maksimych's love for him that has not cooled down.
And only one p from his soul. “My soul is corrupted by light, my imagination is restless, my heart is insatiable,” he admits to Maxim Maksimych. It is painful and scary for a person to whom "the bitterness of a cold life is a bowl and nothing amuses the soul." “I am alone, no one understands me,” Lermontov writes in one of his poems. So could Pechorin say. Maxim Maksimych did not understand his confession. And how can an old serviceman, who has spent his whole life in this lost fortress, who knows only his duties and regularly performs them, understand a person who “asks for a storm”. No, Bela's love, the whole story with Kazbich and Azamat is not a "storm". All this has passed. And again boredom, boredom, boredom ...
Five years have passed. We already see the second meeting through the eyes of the author himself. What changed? Maxim Maksimych is still the same. Not for the sake of meeting with Pechorin, he abandons "for the first time of his life ... the affairs of the service", forgetting about his years, runs to him. And suddenly ... “How glad I am, dear Maxim Maksimych! Well, how are you doing? he hears. Polite phrase. But only. Maxim Maksimych immediately felt this with his heart, and yet "he wanted to throw himself on Pechorin's neck." Tears choke him, the friendly “you” has to be replaced by “you”. And how embarrassing! Maksim Maksimych received a heavy blow from fate, there is nothing to "replace in summer" his "hopes and dreams." "Forget! I haven’t forgotten anything, ”his words reproach Pechorin. But is it worth it? Were they "buddies"? Maksim Maksimych took wishful thinking. Pechorin cannot be his friend, these people are at different poles.
Perhaps it is Pechorin who is truly unhappy. Full of strength, mind, energy, he rushes around the world. Where to put him "immense forces"? what awaits him? Anguish, death. "Poor old man." But "poorer" than his Pechorin.
The novel is closed, but two more meetings are remembered. Two meetings - and we faced all the time of Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych. How many people, smart and talented, died only because they did not want to be content with an empty life! Anger fills the heart - such was Russia. To live, to live a full, wonderful life, to feel not "superfluous" - this was what Pechorin wanted. This is what Lermontov wanted. Only two meetings... But their role is enormous both for the ideological disclosure of the content of the novel, and for the knowledge of Pechorin himself. Again you wonder how and why Pechorin turned out to be a stranger to Maxim Maksimych. Rather, you open the next chapters, trying to find the answer. And the questions that Lermontov raised in his work, the eternal questions of friendship, love, still worry us.
P.S. Skillfully selected factual material, on the basis of which smart and bitter conclusions are made, and behind them is a personal attitude towards the characters, their own understanding of the work, adequate to its objective meaning.
Concept.
The lesson devoted to the analysis of the second part of the novel, as a central task, puts forward the definition reasons for the alienation of the "simple Man" Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin. A situation emphasizing the impatient expectation by Maxim Maksimych of a meeting with Pechorin, blames the hero in advance, and students, as a rule, speak with indignation about his cruelty and coldness towards a devoted staff captain. Let's try with the help of compositional analysis and expressive reading of the dialogue between Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych to overcome the one-sidedness of the reader's assessment. The students are concerned about the question why Pechorin did not stay with Maxim Maksimych? After all, he was in no hurry anywhere, and only after learning that Maxim Maksimych wanted to continue the conversation, he hastily got ready for the road.
In order to imagine why Pechorin left, we pay attention to the meeting of Maxim Maksimych with the officer-narrator. After all, in this short story, not one, but two meetings. The first of them opens differently than the second. There is nothing like the coldness of Pechorin in the officer: "We met like old friends." However, the outcome of this meeting is comical and sad at the same time: “... I must confess that without him I would have had to stay on dry food ... We were silent. What were we supposed to talk about? He already told me everything that was entertaining about himself, but I had nothing to tell.
The generally significant content of the staff captain's life comes down to his relationship with Pechorin (perhaps involuntarily feeling this, Maxim Maksimych therefore values them greatly). The narrator, although his suitcase is full of travel notes, does not tell the staff captain about them, apparently not hoping for understanding. So, it's not about the first embrace, with which Pechorin did not begin (he ended the conversation by embracing Maxim Maksimych in a friendly way). The point is the separation of the “common man” and the noble intellectual, in that tragic abyss that Lermontov recognizes as one of the “caustic truths”.
And how does Maxim Maksimych explain Pechorin's unwillingness to stay? Does the author agree with him?
We reread the scene of Pechorin's meeting with Maxim Maksimych and compose a "score of feelings" for their dialogue. Did Pechorin want to offend Maxim Maksimych? Is he indifferent to the fate and chagrin of the staff captain? The portrait of Pechorin testifies to his fatigue and coldness. Feelings seemed to have left his face, leaving their traces on him and the impression of unspent strength. Pechorin is indifferent to his fate, to his past. To Maxim Maksimych's question about what to do with the "papers", Pechorin's journal, he replies: "What do you want!" But even in this state of alienation from everything and from himself, Pechorin is trying to soften his coldness. "friendly smile" and kind words: “How glad I am, dear Maksim Maksimych! Well, how are you doing? Pechorin's refusal to remain is given in an impersonal form, as if not his will, but something more powerful dictates this decision to him: "I have to go," was the answer. To the ardent questions of Maxim Maksimych (“Well! Retired? .. how? .. what were you doing?”), Pechorin answered, “smiling”, in monosyllables: “I missed you!”
This smile, which is exactly the opposite of the meaning of the words, is often perceived by students as a mockery of the staff captain. But Pechorin rather sneers at himself, over the hopelessness of his situation, when all attempts to invade life end in a bitter outcome. Back in Bel, the author warned us that today those who really miss the most are trying to hide this misfortune as a vice. For Maxim Maksimych everything that has passed is sweet, for Pechorin it is painful: “Do you remember our life in the fortress? .. A glorious country for hunting! .. After all, you were a passionate hunter to shoot ... And Bela? ..” Pechorin turned a little pale and turned away ...
· Yes I remember! - he said, almost immediately forced a yawn ... "
The staff captain does not notice the involuntary irony of his words: "passionate hunter shoot", Pechorin "shot" Bela (after all, his pursuit and shot prompted Kazbich to draw a knife). And Pechorin, it seems indifferent to everything in the world, he cannot calmly endure this reproach he has not forgiven himself, just as he cannot calmly, epicly recall the story of Bela in a conversation over pheasant and Kakhetian with Maxim Maksimych. Not hoping for an understanding of Maxim Maksimych, avoiding pain, Pechorin refuses to continue the meeting and, as best he can, tries to soften his refusal: “Really, I have nothing to tell, dear Maxim Maksimych ... However, goodbye, I have to go ... I'm in a hurry ... Thank you for not forgetting ... - he added, taking him by the hand, "and, seeing the old man's annoyance, he adds:" Well, that's enough, that's enough! - said Pechorin, embracing him in a friendly way - am I really not the same? .. What to do? .. everyone has his own way.
Pechorin does not condemn the staff captain for being unable to understand him, does not blame anyone for his loneliness, but bitterly admits that they have different roads. He knows that meeting with Maxim Maksimych will not dissipate his boredom, but only intensify his bitterness, and therefore he avoids vain explanations. Once Pechorin tried to open himself (confession in "Bel"), to understand the position of the staff captain (conversation at the end of "Fatalist") and behaved at the same time without any arrogance.
“Returning to the fortress, I told Maxim Maksimych everything that had happened to me and to which I had been a witness, and wished to know his opinion about predestination. At first he did not understand this word, but I explained it as well as I could, and then he said, shaking his head significantly: “Yes! Of course, sir - this is a rather tricky thing! However, these Asian triggers often fail if they are badly lubricated, or if you press your finger hard with displeasure ... ”And then the captain willingly talks about the qualities of the Circassian weapons. In the end, Maxim Maksimych discovers that he is characterized by fatalism: “Yes, sorry for the poor fellow ... The devil pulled him at night with a drunk to talk! However, it is clear that it was written in his family!” I could get nothing more from him: he generally does not like metaphysical debates.
Maksim Maksimych's kindness is powerless, because it lacks an understanding of the general meaning of things. And therefore the staff captain is submissive to circumstances, while Pechorin is trying to overcome them. For Lermontov, the confrontation between these heroes is so important that he ends the novel with a dialogue between Pechorin and the staff captain.. The short story "Maxim Maksimych" ends even more bitterly. In his resentment, the staff captain is ready to confuse Pechorin with his proud lackey. Not understanding Pechorin, Maxim Maksimych accuses him of class arrogance: “What does he have in me? I’m not rich, I’m not official, and in terms of years I’m not at all a match for him ... Look, what a dandy he has become, how he visited St. Petersburg again ... ”The wounded pride of the staff captain pushes him to revenge. Having just considered himself a friend of Pechorin, Maxim Maksimych calls him “windy man”, “with contempt” throws his notebooks on the ground, ready to give Pechorin for public viewing: “at least print in the newspapers! What do I care! .. What, am I really some kind of friend or relative?
The change in Maksim Maksimych is so striking that it seems unthinkable or prompted by momentary anger. But the author will not allow us to be mistaken. Good turned into evil, and this is not an instant, but the final result of the staff captain's life: “We said goodbye rather dryly. Good Maxim has become a stubborn, quarrelsome staff captain! And why? Because Pechorin, in absent-mindedness or for some other reason (the author revealed it to us in the remarks to the dialogue. - V.-M.) held out his hand to him when he wanted to throw himself on his neck! It is sad to see when a young man loses his best hopes and dreams... although there is hope that he will replace old delusions with new ones... But how can they be replaced in the years of Maxim Maksimych? Willy-nilly, the heart will harden and the soul will close ... I left alone.The divergence of the “simple person”, in which there is a heart, but there is no understanding of people of a different circle, the general circumstances of life, and the “hero of time”, and with him the author of the novel, turned out to be inevitable.
With all the spiritual virtues of Maxim Maksimych, he is not able to resist evil either in a private, human, or in a general, social sense.
At home, we give the students a plan for answering the topic “Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych” and, after reading the textbook article under the same title, think about whether they agree with all its provisions, arguing their point of view with the text of the novel.
Retelling-analysis of the story "Maxim Maksimych" or reading by roles. Questions can be used:
1) What is your impression of what you read?
2) What are the features of the portrait of Pechorin? How does it differ from the portrait given by Maxim Maksimych in the story "Bela"?
3) What is the role of the narrator in the story?
4) How is Lermontov's ideological concept manifested?
5) Analyze the episode of Pechorin's meeting with the staff captain. Can Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych be called friends?
6) How do you explain Pechorin's coldness? Why didn't he stay to dine with the staff captain?
7) What character traits of Pechorin were revealed in the last meeting with Maxim Maksimych?
8) Which character do you sympathize with?
9) What, in your opinion, should be their meeting?
10) What is the place and significance of the story "Maxim Maksimych" in the novel?
(The compositional role of the story "Maxim Maksimych" is great. It is, as it were, a link between "Bela" and "Pechorin's Journal". It explains how the journal got to the author, a visiting officer.
The plot of the story is also simple. But the meeting between Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych is sad. The coldness, indifference and selfishness of the protagonist have increased. Travel is the last attempt to somehow fill your life with something useful, new experiences.)
The most important means of characterizing Pechorin in this story is a psychological portrait (features of appearance, reflection of complex emotional experiences in it, psychologism of the portrait).
Homework.
1. The story "Taman". Reading, storytelling. What is the meaning of Pechorin's collision with smugglers?
2. Analysis of the episodes "Scene in the Boat" and "Yanko's Farewell to the Blind Boy". What did you learn about the main character?
3. Observations on the composition of "Taman", the description of nature, the speech of the characters.
