“Maxim Maksimych” is the second of five parts of the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov “A Hero of Our Time” (see its summary, brief analysis and full text).
Its content continues the first part ("Bela"). The nameless narrator and the elderly staff captain Maxim Maksimych, having met on a trip to the Caucasus, part for a while on the way, but soon meet again at the same station. Having dined together, they suddenly see from the window how a dandy road carriage drives into the yard, which, apparently, belongs to a rich man. They learn from the footman who arrived with the carriage that its owner is the same Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, about whom Maxim Maksimych spoke in the story "Bela".
In anticipation of a meeting with a long-time comrade, Maxim Maksimych is very happy. The footman says that Pechorin stayed for dinner and spent the night with Colonel N. Having given the footman eight hryvnias for vodka, Maxim Maksimych tells him to go and tell the owner that his friend and colleague is here. The old staff captain is so eager to see Pechorin as soon as possible that he sits down to wait for him at the gate, believing: he "will come running now."
Hero of our time. Maksim Maksimych. Audiobook.
But Pechorin does not come until late in the evening. Annoyed, Maxim Maksimych goes to bed in the same room with the narrator, and he hears the old man tossing and turning all night, unable to sleep.
In the morning, Maxim Maksimych leaves on official business to the commandant, asking a friend: “If Pechorin appears, send for me.” Pechorin soon appears. The narrator sends for the departed staff captain, and he himself looks with interest at Pechorin, who, apparently, without even remembering Maxim Maksimych, is about to leave. Of medium height, healthy build, Pechorin is well and cleanly dressed, has careless, aristocratic manners. However, some nervous weakness is noticeable in his posture. There is something childish in the smile, but traces of early wrinkles are already imprinted on the face. His eyes do not laugh when he himself laughs, and only shine with a strange phosphorescent brilliance.
The narrator approaches Pechorin and reminds him: Maxim Maksimych wanted to see him. Pechorin is only now remembering the old man, who just at that moment appears on the other side of the square and runs with all his might, covered in sweat. Maxim Maksimych tries to hug Pechorin, but he only gives him a hand - friendly, but rather cold. Briefly saying that he was going to Persia, he was going to get into a carriage.
Maxim Maksimych is surprised: can we really part without even talking? He reminds Pechorin about their former common life in the fortress, about the kidnapped mountain girl Bela. Hearing about her, Pechorin turns a little pale - and hurries even more. Maxim Maksimych begs him to stay at least for a couple of hours, but Pechorin, lightly embracing him, gets into the carriage. The old man recalls: “Yes, I have your papers. What to do with them? With the words: "Yes, whatever you want" - Pechorin leaves.
Maxim Maksimych is offended and annoyed. He walks nervously, tears appearing in his eyes. Expresses: “I have always said that there is no use in someone who forgets old friends!” The narrator asks what kind of papers Pechorin left him. The captain replies: “Some notes!” In response to the request of the interlocutor to give them away, he takes out notebooks from the suitcase, saying with contempt: "You can do with them whatever you want."
Everything in the novel is subject main task- as deeply and in detail as possible to show the state of mind of the protagonist, in the image of which a portrait is given not of one person, but artistic type, which absorbed the features of a whole generation of young people of the thirties of the 19th century. The whole system of images in the novel is also subordinated to the main task - the disclosure of Pechorin's personality.
Most readers and critics perceived Pechorin as a negative hero. So did Emperor Nicholas I. Getting acquainted with the first part of the work, he decided that the "hero of our days" would be an unpretentious, honest campaigner Maxim Maksimych.
V.G. Belinsky recognized in Maksim Maksimych "a purely Russian type." He wrote: “... You, dear reader, surely did not dryly part with this old baby, so kind, so sweet, so humane and so inexperienced in everything that went beyond the close horizon of his concepts and experience. And God grant you to meet on the path of your life Maksimov Maksimychi!".
Maxim Maksimych is, according to Belinsky, "a kind simpleton who does not even suspect how deep and rich his nature is, how high and noble he is." The image of Maxim Maksimych is important for understanding the democratic aspirations of Lermontov's work. A similar image was encountered earlier in the works of the poet: it was the image of a mortally wounded soldier, a man of duty in the poem "Testament", brave and noble soldiers and commanders in "Borodino", "Valerika", and, finally, in the essay "Caucasian", where given a generalized image of an officer, a representative of a democratic environment, who for years exposed himself to military danger, and in the future a lonely, unsettled old age awaited him.
Maksim Maksimych is poor, has no high rank and not very educated. His life was difficult, and military service left a certain imprint on his character. He is an ordinary army officer who has seen a lot and has a lot of life experience. Call of duty is above all for him, while Maxim Maksimych is characterized by love of life and the ability to subtly perceive the beauty of the world around him. The staff captain is endowed with a sense of beauty, humane and selfless, he knows how to take care of people.
In relation to Pechorin, Maxim Maksimych is kind and hospitable. The old officer sincerely becomes attached to Grigory Alexandrovich and gives him tenderness and attention.
The kindness of the soul of Maxim Maksimych is also revealed in relation to Bela. He fell in love with a wild Circassian own daughter, deeply worried about her fate when Pechorin lost interest in her. Maxim Maksimych took care of Bela, trying to smooth her feelings. He even tried to talk with Pechorin about the fate of the girl, did not approve of his indifferent attitude towards Bela. Despite his kindness and sincerity, Maksim Maksimych is very lonely. He was unable to create a family and spent all the time in a lost fortress, regularly fulfilling his duties. "For him to live means to serve, and to serve in the Caucasus," wrote Belinsky. Maxim Maksimych knows the life of the highlanders and local customs very well: "These Asians are terrible beasts! I already know them, they won't deceive me."
Maxim Maksimych is a completely different character than main character novel. The staff captain compares favorably with Pechorin in his simplicity and artlessness, reflection is not characteristic of him, he perceives life as it is, without philosophizing or analyzing. Maksim Maksimych is close to surrounding reality. He understands the highlanders with their simple and primitive way of life, with their feelings, which find expression not in long speeches, but in actions. In the life of the highlanders, Maxim Maksimych sees nothing incomprehensible, inexplicable. On the contrary, Pechorin's character and behavior are completely incomprehensible to him. Pechorin in the eyes of Maxim Maksimych is "strange": "... he was very strange." The characteristics that Maxim Maksimych gives Pechorin speak not only of the simplicity and naivety of his soul, but also of the rather limited abilities of his mind, of the inability to understand the complex and seeking inner world the protagonist: "It can be seen that in childhood he was spoiled by his mother." It is significant that the author trusts Maxim Maksimych to tell the story of "Bela", since the hero is too simple to understand Pechorin - basically Maxim Maksimych sets out external events. Maxim Maksimych's affection for Pechorin has been preserved over the years. This can be observed during the meeting of the heroes, five years later. Maxim Maksimych is so happy to meet that he quits "for the first time of his life ... the affairs of the service", forgetting about his years, runs to Pechorin, wants to "throw himself on the neck" from an overabundance of feelings. However, Pechorin meets his friend only with a dry, polite greeting. Maxim Maksimych accuses him of class arrogance: “What is in me for him? I’m not rich, I’m not official, and he’s not at all good for years ...” Maksim Maksimych took wishful thinking, therefore Pechorin’s attitude last meeting turned out to be a heavy blow of fate for the staff captain.
Maxim Maksimych's speech manner is characterized by the use of expressions and phrases from military professional terminology: "a transport with provisions has arrived"; "girls and young guys stand in two lines." At the same time, in Maxim Maksimych's speech, without any special affectation, without pressure, as completely familiar, included in daily use, the most common local, "Caucasian" words and expressions are found: peace prince, kunak, dzhigitovka, saklya, dukhanshchitsa, beshmet, giaour, bride price, etc. Sometimes in the speech of Maxim Maksimych himself, and more often in the direct speech of Kazbich and Azamat transmitted by him, individual words and phrases of the Tatar language sound: "Hey, Azamat, don't blow your head off," I told him: "Yaman will be your head!" But it also happens that Maxim Maksimych in his story seems to find it difficult to recall any local Caucasian expression and replaces it with the corresponding Russian words: "The poor old man strums on a three-stringed ... I forgot how they say ... well, like our balalaika." This originality of Maxim Maksimych's speech manner is a direct expression of his attitude towards people, towards the surrounding life.
In the most tense dramatic moments, Maxim Maksimych's language becomes especially expressive and approaches the style of the author: "He knelt beside the bed, lifted her head from the pillow and pressed her lips to her cold lips; she tightly wrapped her trembling arms around his neck, as if in this I wanted to give him my soul with a kiss ... ".
Belinsky also noted the high artistry of Maxim Maksimych’s speech: “Maxim Maksimych told the story of Bela in his own way, in his own language; but from this she not only lost nothing, but gained infinitely much. Kind Maksim Maksimych, without knowing it, became a poet, so that in each of his words, in each expression lies the endless world of poetry. We don’t know what is more surprising here: whether the poet, forcing Maxim Maksimych to be only a witness to the event he tells, so closely merged his personality with this event, as if Maxim Maksimych himself was his hero, or the fact that he was able to look so poetically, so deeply at the event through the eyes of Maxim Maksimych and tell this event in a simple, rude language, but always picturesque, always touching and amazing even in his very comic?... ".
It is significant how with the help of the word the "otherness" of the characters is set off. The inner world of Maxim Maksimych is revealed through the spoken word - a tale, the inner world of Pechorin - through the "journal" diary that he wrote for himself. Thus, such a character as Maxim Maksimych is very important for revealing the main idea of \u200b\u200bthe work and the character of Pechorin. These heroes are brought together by daring, love for nature, understanding of its greatness and beauty, courage and nobility, spontaneity and sincerity in communication, interest in the world around us, and an effective attitude towards it.
However, the kind and simple staff captain is unable to understand the character and actions of Pechorin, although he sincerely attaches himself to him. Maxim Maksimych perceives life as it is. He is a rather limited and primitive campaigner, faithful to the oath and regularly performing his duties. However, according to Belinsky, he has "a wonderful soul, a heart of gold." Of course, Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych could not become real friends, these people stand at different poles of life.
Every episode, every detail in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" is not accidental. All of them serve the same purpose - to show and reveal to the reader the image of the protagonist as fully as possible.
It is known that at first criticism condemned Pechorin and opposed him to the image of Maxim Maksimych that corresponded to her ideals. Nicholas I really liked this hero with his humility - Maxim Maksimych calmly pulls the strap military service in the Caucasus, does not protest against serfdom, what else is needed? But for Lermontov true hero Pechorin was free in his actions and thoughts.
However, this does not make the image of Maxim Maksimych less important and interesting in the novel.
In the work, we find Maxim Maksimych already an old campaigner, who is about fifty years old. Nothing is told about his past, the story of his life can only be guessed from individual details and hints.
Maxim Maksimych is an ordinary officer in the Caucasus. He is poor and practically uneducated. But most importantly, he knows how to love and care for people. He has seen a lot in his life, but his horizons are narrow, since he communicated only with his colleagues and mountaineers, whose customs and language he studied, despite the fact that they were enemies.
He is an unusually kind and sensitive person - one has only to remember how he met Pechorin. Maksim Maksimych is insanely happy to meet, abandons "for the first time of his life ... the affairs of the service", forgetting about his age, runs to Pechorin, wants to "throw on his neck", and Pechorin meets him only with a dry polite greeting. Maksim 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 he's not at all a match ... ". As you can see, Maxim Maksimych chose the simplest explanation for Pechorin's behavior, and agreed with him, not wanting to "drop" deeper, more seriously to understand the reasons for the coldness of Alexander Grigorievich. Nevertheless, despite Maxim Maksimych's disappointment in the meeting, he remained faithful to this strange friendship to the end.
Military life, of course, left its mark on the vocabulary and manner of speech of the staff captain. His conversation is replete with military professionalism. For example: "a transport with provisions has arrived"; "girls and young guys stand in two lines." But such turns sound from his lips as completely everyday, ordinary. There are also dialectisms in his speech, "Caucasian" words and expressions: "peaceful prince", "kunak", "dzhigitovka", "saklya", "dukhanshchitsa", "beshmet", "giaour", "kalym", etc. .
Sometimes in the speech of Maxim Maksimych himself, and more often in the direct speech of Kazbich and Azamat transmitted by him, individual words and phrases of the Tatar language sound: "Hey, Azamat, don't blow your head off," I told him: "Yaman will be your head!" But it also happens that Maxim Maksimych in his story seems to find it difficult to recall any local Caucasian expression and replaces it with the corresponding Russian words: "The poor old man strums on a three-stringed ... I forgot how they say ... well, like our balalaika."
The negative attitude of Maxim Maksimych towards the highlanders is expressed in his assessment of their customs and rituals. With a feeling of squeamish contempt, he says to Pechorin: "... everything is like this with these Asians: the booze was pulled, and the massacre began." Describing a Caucasian wedding, the hero condemns the custom of "inviting everyone you meet and cross to a wedding." Although, if you think about it, in such a custom you can see elements of the democratic nature of mountain society, when even a person of a simple rank can visit the prince, which was unacceptable at the wedding of a secular nobleman in Russia.
But we notice that the story of Maxim Maksimych is generally characterized by the desire to belittle the life and customs of the highlanders. He also speaks derogatoryly of himself. wedding ceremony in which he sees neither beauty nor manifestation folk spirit. Maxim Maksimych does not see beauty in trick riding either. For him, the highlander, who takes on the role of an entertainer for the audience, appears as "a ruffian, greasy, on a nasty, lame horse, breaks down, clowns, makes an honest company laugh."
But the nature of the hero is not as simple and mundane as it might seem. In the most tense dramatic moments, Maxim Maksimych's language becomes especially expressive and approaches the style of the author: "He knelt beside the bed, lifted her head from the pillow and pressed her lips to her cold lips; she tightly wrapped her trembling arms around his neck, as if in this I wanted to give him my soul with a kiss ... "This, in my opinion, speaks of the nobility of the hero, his ability to see the main thing in life.
As mentioned at the beginning, everything in the novel is not accidental, and the hero's speech, of course, too. If Pechorin reveals his inner world through the written word, that is, through his diary, then Maxim Maksimych reveals it through the spoken word. By his speech we can judge his inner world.
So, Maxim Maksimych is very kind, warmly and joyfully reacts to any manifestation of attention to him. But, despite this, he did not see love and did not create a family. This is probably why Maxim Maksimych fell in love with the Circassian Bela like a father. By the way, the author trusts him to tell the story about Bela, as the closest Russian person to her.
This hero is not inclined to reflection, he is completely simple, pure in the manifestations of his feelings, does not analyze and does not philosophize on life situations. But even his enemies, the highlanders, he perfectly understands. Having spent his whole life in these parts, Maxim Maksimych perfectly learned to understand and accept the highlanders, but Pechorin's impulsiveness, and indeed the character of Pechorin, remained incomprehensible and even "strange" for him: "... he was very strange."
It can be said that the staff captain judges all people from his bell tower. If Pechorin is incomprehensible to him, then "it is clear that in childhood he was spoiled by his mother."
AT research literature the image of Maxim Maksimych is called national type a simple Russian person. By general opinion critics, he embodies best features folk character- kindness, humanity, devotion, sincerity. It is traditionally believed that the image of Maxim Maksimych opposes Pechorin and is the representative of the people on the pages of the novel. Despite the fact that immediately after the release of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" fierce controversy unfolded around him, the image of the staff captain caused enthusiastic assessments. The most surprising, and even paradoxical, was that critics of various ideological trends expressed their sympathy for the old warrior with the Kabardian pipe. The reactionary critics of the so-called "official nationality" camp scolded the novel, Pechorin, Lermontov, but praised Maxim Maksimych. They were opposed by critics of a democratic orientation, who also praised the staff captain. There was an incredible unity of opinion - the image of Maxim Maksimych became a reconciling beginning for ideological opponents. “Of the secondary persons, we, of course, must give the first place to Maxim Maksimovich,” wrote S. Shevyrev, “What an integral character of a native Russian good man, into whom the subtle infection of Western education has not penetrated; who, with the imaginary outward coldness of a warrior who has seen enough of the danger, retained all the ardor, all the life of the soul; who loves nature inwardly, without admiring it, loves the music of a bullet, because his heart beats stronger at the same time ... ".
Staff Captain Belinsky speaks in an even more enthusiastic spirit: “... and you will see what a warm, noble, even tender heart beats in the iron chest of this apparently hardened man; you will see how he understands everything with some kind of instinct. human and takes an ardent part in it; how, contrary to his own consciousness, his soul longs for love and sympathy, - and you will fall in love with the simple, kind, rude in his manners, laconic in the words of Maxim Maksimych ... "The image of Maxim Maksimych plays big role in the novel. He is not only an auxiliary figure - he helps to reveal the image of Pechorin, but also in a completely independent way, traced and disclosed in sufficient detail.
Maxim Maksimych is a positive hero
The characterization of Maxim Maksimych in Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time" gives an answer to the question: was it possible to be different, not like Pechorin, in an era that fell to the lot of both. If the attitude towards the protagonist of the novel both among readers and critics, as a rule, is negative, then Maxim Maksimych causes unequivocal sympathy for everyone. For someone, perhaps it is he who is the real “hero of our time”, who gave the name to the novel.
Character traits of Maxim Maksimych
Responsiveness and kindness
Maxim Maksimych has many positive qualities, which we begin to learn literally from the first lines of the novel. He helps the author, acting as a traveler, deal with the Ossetians, who dishonestly did their job of transporting cargo, and even began to demand vodka from him. Maxim Maksimych, an expert on the character of the highlanders, who had served in the Caucasus for more than one year (“I already know them, they won’t fool me!”) Shouted menacingly at them - and they fled. He knows a person for only a few minutes - and is already ready to help him. More precisely, for him it is so natural that the question of choice - to help or not to help - is not even worth it.
Responsiveness and kindness of Maxim Maksimych in "A Hero of Our Time" will also appear in other episodes. So, with all his heart, like his own daughter, he fell in love " Caucasian captive» Pechorin Belo. He does everything possible to alleviate her plight: he consoles her, takes her for a walk, does not leave her a single step before her death, accompanies her with dignity last way even though she was basically nothing to him. Do not compare with consumer attitude towards poor girl Pechorin, through whose fault she became an orphan and lost her life.
Friendliness
one more positive quality Maksim Maksimych is his ability to make friends. Although Pechorin was strikingly different from himself, he was young, “thin, white”, in a new uniform, who had not really seen the service yet, Maxim Maksimych, who was the commandant of the fortress, immediately accepted him as an equal, without demonstrating his service and age superiority: “I took him by the hand and said: “Very glad, very glad. You will be a little bored ... well, yes, we will live as friends ... Yes, please, just call me Maxim Maksimych, and, please, - what is this long form? Come to me always in a cap. Pechorin will behave differently a few years later at a chance meeting, evoking bitter words from the old man: “What is in me for him? I’m not rich, I’m not official, and in terms of years I’m not at all a match for him ... "
Having learned that an old friend will be passing through the town where he himself stayed, Maxim Maksimych waits all night for Pechorin to return from the guests to see him. For the sake of meeting a friend, for the first time in his life, he gives up important things.
Loyalty to duty
The image of Maxim Maksimych in "A Hero of Our Time" also characterizes his loyalty to his official duty. He honestly fulfills his duties, refused to drink alcohol in order to always be on the alert, and has been under bullets more than once. Because of the service, he was unable to start a family. Unlike Pechorin, boredom did not break him. Although he had to endure the monotony much more. In Chechnya, he "stood for ten years ... in a fortress with a company, at Kamenny Brod."
However, a sense of duty, the need to defend the borders of the Fatherland is what keeps him in this world.
Simplicity
Maxim Maksimych approaches life with his own simple standards. He knows something that the educated Pechorin does not know. Knows how to determine the upcoming weather, is well acquainted with the customs local residents, learned Tatar language. But he does not like "metaphysical debates". When asked by Pechorin what he thinks about predestination, Maxim Maksimych replies: “This is a rather tricky thing,” and then he begins to talk about specific things - the properties of Asian weapons. In the same way, Pechorin's mental turmoil is incomprehensible to him. For him, he is "weird".
The meaning of the image of Maxim Maksimych
Maxim Maksimych in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" is in a certain way opposed to Pechorin. But, obviously, the author did this not in order to divide them into "white" and "black", but in order to show that they are different. And if Maxim Maksimych, with his simple outlook on life, calmly accepts the conditions he finds himself in, then Pechorin, with his fine mental organization and high intelligence cannot be satisfied with such circumstances. He rushes about and in the atmosphere of the “Nikolaev reaction”, when any free action is stopped in the bud, he cannot find a worthy occupation for himself. So to say that Maxim Maksimych is better than Pechorin would be wrong. Although it is possible to find an opportunity to do good deeds and help people like him at any time.
Artwork test
Maxim Maksimych in Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time" has a kind and sympathetic character. This is an impressionable nature, capable of keeping affection for people all his life. This trait of his character is already manifested in the fact that he was very offended by Pechorin's cold and strained behavior at their chance meeting. After all, he loved him like his own son.
And yet Maxim Maksimovich remained faithful to him to the end. And he loved Bela with all his heart and was very sorry that the girl died. But at the same time, Maxim Maksimych was well aware that Pechorin would have left her anyway, and this would have been much worse than death for a free mountain woman. Maksim Maksimych was a broad and open soul. In addition, Maksim Maksimych well understood the customs and traditions of the highlanders, which were completely alien to Russian people, and he believed that if you live among people of another nation, you should know and respect their opinion, their customs and mentality. Therefore, he spoke about the murder of Bella's father by Kazbich: "Of course, in their language - he was absolutely right." So Maksim Maksimovich was a man capable of passionate love and forgiveness. Rare qualities at any time!
Unusually, but a man of many years of separation carried a warm mental attitude to an almost random comrade, and after that she was capable of anything for the sake of friendship. It is these people who still illuminate the lives of those around them with a good, soft heart light, help to figure out what is good and what is bad, to recognize and correct their mistakes in time. There were quite a few such people at all times, they were often ordinary people, had neither wealth nor national fame, rarely held high positions and were noted for outstanding deeds. This is quite understandable, because all they had, all their vital energy they gave to friends just to make it a little easier for them.
Unfortunately, people like Maksim Maksimych live with open soul, so they constantly worry about their friends, but they are no less worried when they are pushed away former friends. Unfortunately, such people are quite easy to mortally offend, and offend unconsciously, and for them this will result in great mental pain and the offended will be more worried than the one who offended him.
On the other hand, as sad as it sounds, people like Maksim Maksimych are very weak. They are weak in relations with people, and I believe that in our cruel time, Maxim Maksimovich constantly suffered from the insults of others and from their misunderstanding. Yes, and in the days of Pechorin, it was not much easier for him.
Maksim Maksimych could tell his friends the unpleasant truth to their faces, and behind their backs he spoke only good things about them. He could scold his friend, looking into his eyes, and at the same time he experienced more than this friend. Maxim Maksimovich never talked about himself, but even so it was clear that, above all, this is a sincere and kind person. He is one of those “first comers” that fate sends us, who are usually so easily dispelled by our anxieties with a simple parable, story or just a word, and they help us a lot!
He is poor, not high in status, and not very educated. But on the other hand, being just an ordinary army officer, he told a lot in his lifetime and has a lot of life experience. Maksim Maksimych is very dedicated to his official duty. Humanity and selflessness are the main features that have become established in him as an officer. For many years, his main social circle was soldiers and Circassians. This explains his rather narrow outlook. But this does not mean that he is far from beautiful, on the contrary, he perceives everything around him quite sensitively. In addition, he is very affectionate, knows how to take care of another person. Despite his rich inner world, Maxim Maksimych was never able to start a family, he was very lonely. And so he poured out all his kindness on Bela, whom he loved like his own daughter. He always tried to support, console her in difficult moments. Even being very devoted to Pechorin, he could not forgive him for the death of the girl.
In the image of Maxim Maksimych, Lermontov expressed a simple man, close to the people, very devoted to service, duties.
The protagonist of the novel M. Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time" - Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin. It is his destiny, destiny" extra person' is at the center of the story. In the first part of the work, we get acquainted with Pechorin thanks to the story of Maxim Maksimych, included in the notes of a wandering officer. Maxim Maksimych is both the hero of the work and the narrator. Lermontov himself gave great importance development of this image, as evidenced by the sketch adjoining the novel, entitled "Caucasian":
The role of Maxim Maksimych in different parts of the novel is different. So, in the story "Bela" he is presented not so much actor how much an attentive witness and a talented storyteller. This is Lermontov's amazing find: Maxim Maksimych is not only a witness to the event he tells, but his personality is united with this event, as if Maxim Maksimych himself is his hero. The writer managed to look at the event through the eyes of an "old Caucasian" and tell this event in a simple, rough language, but always picturesque, always touching and amazing.
Attention should be paid to the features of the speech of Maxim Maksimych, a simple and modest narrator, in which the tradition is noticeable. fairy tale manner, characteristic of the “Tales of Belkin” by A. S. Pushkin (“ Stationmaster"). In his speech, Maxim Maksimych actively uses expressions and phrases from professional military terminology: “a transport with provisions has arrived”, “girls and young guys stand in two lines”. The same feature is also emphasized by the completely familiar, local, "Caucasian" words and expressions that have come into use: peaceful prince, kunak, dzhigitovka, saklya, dukhanshchina, beshmet, giaur, kalym, etc.
Sometimes in my story Maksim Maksimych, as it were, finds it difficult to recall any local Caucasian expression and replaces it with the corresponding Russian words: “The poor old man strums on a three-stringed ... I forgot how they say it ... well, like our balalaika.” This originality of Maxim Maksimych's speech manner is a direct expression of his attitude towards people, towards the surrounding reality. The image of Maxim Maksimych outlined in the story "Bela" is revealed by the author in the story of the same name. Here he himself is a character, and the author tells us about him.
in the story and the behavior of Maxim Maksimych, we see how different his perception of reality is from Pechorin's views and attitude to life. The central event of the story is the capture of a young Circassian woman. Attention is drawn to the fact that Maxim Maksimych at first has a negative attitude towards Pechorin's act, but gradually his attitude is changing. In the sketch “The Caucasian”, Lermontov noted that under the influence of the harsh Caucasian reality, the old officers acquired a sober, prosaic outlook on life: “Cossacks do not tempt him, but at one time he dreamed of a captive Circassian woman, but now he has almost forgotten this one too. pipe dream". In the story of the kidnapping of Bela, told by Maxim Maksimych, Pechorin turns out to be fulfilling the "almost impossible dream" of every "Caucasian", including, perhaps, Maxim Maksimych himself. This is also evidenced by the fact that he sympathizes with Pechorin, to whom long time fails to "tame" the recalcitrant captive,
Maxim Maksimych notes that he is used to her as to his own daughter. His memories are full of sympathy and sadness that Pechorin gradually became disillusioned with his love and began to move away from his beloved. Moreover, knowing the character of Pechorin, Maxim Maksimych tries to distract the girl from her sad thoughts:
cold shine his eye reflected the cold gleam of his soul. We are once again convinced of this in the episode of the meeting between Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin after a five-year separation. Maxim Maksimych is convinced that the sad events of the past, memories of tragic incidents should bring people together, even if they part for a long time, but Pechorin has a different opinion. Perhaps that is why he does not show much joy when he sees his old comrade. Moreover, he seeks to avoid unpleasant memories and unpleasant conversations, and yet the poor old man was in such a hurry to see him that even “for the first time of his life, perhaps, he abandoned the affairs of the service for his own need, speaking in paper language - and how he was awarded !" The final chord of the story, the author's reflections finally place accents in the characters' characters.
