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Portrait of Pechorin description of the hero of our time. Psychological portrait of Pechorin

Portrait of Pechorin description of the hero of our time. Psychological portrait of Pechorin

06.04.2019

Why Pechorin is a "hero of our time"

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

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

Characteristics of Pechorin

deeds

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

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

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

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

Appearance

A traveling author was a witness to the meeting between Maksim Maksimych and Pechorin. And from him we learn what Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin looked like. There was contradiction in his whole appearance. At first glance, he was no more than 23 years old, but the next minute it seemed that he was 30. His gait was careless and lazy, but he did not wave his arms, which usually indicates a secrecy of character. When he sat down on the bench, his straight frame bent, limp, as if there was not a single bone left in his body. There were traces of wrinkles on the forehead of this young man. But the author was especially struck by his eyes: they did not laugh when he laughed.

Character traits

The external characteristic of Pechorin in "A Hero of Our Time" reflects his internal state. “For a long time I have been living not with my heart, but with my head,” he says about himself. Indeed, all his actions are characterized by cold rationality, but the feelings are no-no and break out. He fearlessly goes alone to the wild boar, but shudders from the knock of the shutters, he can spend the whole day hunting on a rainy day and is terribly afraid of a draft.

Pechorin forbade himself to feel, because his real impulses of the soul did not find a response in those around him: “Everyone read signs of bad feelings on my face that 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 superior to them—I was placed inferior. I became envious. I was ready to love the whole world - no one understood me: and I learned to hate.

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

Attitude towards love

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

In a completely different way, he treats other women who meet on his way. There is no longer a place for emotions - one calculation. For him, they are just a way to dispel boredom, at the same time showing their selfish power over them. He studies their behavior like guinea pigs, coming up with new twists in the game. But even this does not save him - often he knows in advance how his victim will behave, and he becomes even more sad.

Attitude towards death

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

My attitude to Pechorin

How does this person deserve to be treated? Condemnation or sympathy? The author called his novel so with some irony. "Hero of our time" - of course, not a role model. But he is a typical representative of his generation, forced to waste the best years aimlessly. “I am a fool or a villain, I do not know; but it is true that I am also very pitiable, ”Pechorin says about himself and names the reason:“ In me, the soul is corrupted by light. He sees the last consolation for himself in traveling and hopes: "Maybe I'll die somewhere along the way." You can treat it differently. One thing is certain: this is an unfortunate person who has not found his place in life. If the society of his day had been organized differently, he would have manifested himself in a completely different way.

Artwork test

“There are two people in me: one lives in full
sense of the word, the other thinks and judges him;

“A Hero of Our Time” is the first psychological novel in Russian literature, a work. The main character of the novel, Pechorin, seemed to me the most interesting, and I would like to focus on him. As for the other characters in the novel, all of them, it seems to me, are only help to fully develop 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 the inner world of 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's Onegin, does not go with the flow, but seeks his own path in life, he "chases life furiously" and constantly argues with fate. He gets bored very quickly: new places, friends, women and hobbies are forgotten by him very quickly.

Lermontov gives a very detailed description of Pechorin's appearance, which allows him 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. Maxim Maksimych is a 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 from him in their spiritual development; they did not seek in life what he was looking for. .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 person." 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 many 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 a brave and courageous person, which manifested itself during the duel. Despite his egoism, he knows how to truly love: he has quite sincere feelings for Vera. Contrary to his own statements, Pechorin can love, but his love is very complex. So, the feeling for Vera awakens with renewed vigor when there is a danger of forever losing 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 neither disinterested love, nor true friendship, nor 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 from different points of view, cause hostility 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 maintained warm relations 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 choosing a life path and for his actions. In my opinion, no one before Lermontov in Russian literature gave such a description of the human psyche.

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Psychological portrait of Pechorin (based on the novel by Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time")

Introduction

The image of the "hero of time", embodied in the lyrical element of Lermontov's poetry, in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" (1839) is revealed not only psychologically. Lermontov's novel is his attempt to give an analysis of the state of modern society, to explore the moral atmosphere in which the sprouts of a new life are ripening. Pechorin, the hero of his time, differs from all other characters in the novel in that he is the only one who knows how to take on the full burden of responsibility to judge not only the society around him, but also to be critical of himself. Lermontov provides the reader with the opportunity to study various aspects of life in their relationship with the fate of an individual, and consider the fate of a person against the backdrop of socio-historical circumstances.

Lermontov, a psychologist, explores the processes of spiritual distortion of the personality by the environment, paying attention to the decisive, turning points in the life of the heroes of the event. This also applies to the images of simple, natural people - Kazbich, Bela, Maxim Maksimych, and "honest smugglers", and people of the Pechorin circle - Grushnitsky, Werner, Mary. Creating a psychological portrait of Pechorin, drawing the process of the hero’s internal hardening, Lermontov simultaneously creates the image of a “common man” - Maxim Maksimych - kind, sincere, devoted to Pechorin with all his heart. The reader unfolds the tragedy of a man who, by his behavior, justifies the immoral acts of Pechorin.

The study of Pechorin's personality in the "diary" chapters of the novel is built on the principle of mutual characteristics of characters. Grushnitsky and Werner are not only heroes with their own destiny and character, but also a kind of "mirror" reflection of Pechorin's personality. Lermontovsky Pechorin cognizes himself by studying and learning the personality of other people.

The image of Pechorin is revealed not only in action, deeds, but also in the characterization of the appearance of the hero. Lermontov creates a portrait of Pechorin's appearance, surprisingly rich in psychological drawing. The portrait of the hero is created not only by expressive, but also by visual means. In the description of the plasticity of Pechorin's movements, his figure, the expression of his eyes, one can feel the look of Lermontov, an artist who perfectly mastered the painter's brush.

The composition of the novel plays an important role in the formation of Lermontov's artistic conception. The character of Pechorin in the first chapters of the novel is revealed from the outside, his personality is manifested in actions, in relation to him by other characters. In Pechorin's diary, we have a hero's confession, which explains many of his actions. The chronological sequence of events in the plot of the novel is replaced by the psychological sequence of "recognition" of the hero by the reader. The novel A Hero of Our Time combined a deep psychological analysis of the intense spiritual life of an individual with an analytical depiction of the era of the late 1930s, a period of moral loss and social disappointment.

Psichological portrait of Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin

The fate of an individual, presented in Lermontov's novel, depicted in all its specific socio-historical, national conditionality and at the same time in the individual uniqueness of a sovereign, spiritually free tribal being, at the same time acquired a universal meaning.

Pechorin, it is said in the preface to the novel, is the type of "modern man", how the author "understands him" and how he "met him too often." At the same time, this is not a “mass-like” type, but a “typical exception”, a kind of “strange person”. Calling Pechorin the Onegin of his time, Belinsky paid tribute to the unsurpassed artistry of Pushkin's image: "Pechorin is the Onegin of our time", but at the same time he believed that "Pechorin is higher than Onegin in theory, however, this advantage belongs to our time, not Lermontov" .

Without justifying or accusing Pechorin, Belinsky notes that the “instinct of truth” is very strong in him, but that, due to the duality of his character, he does not stop at slandering himself and society. After weighing the merits and demerits of Pechorin’s character, Belinsky concludes: “But the court does not belong to us: for each person, the court is in his affairs and their consequences”

The validity of this thought of Belinsky is confirmed by the merciless trial of himself, which Pechorin conducts, weighing and evaluating his life in vain: “... It was true that I had a high appointment ... But I didn’t guess my destination ...” In these words, Pechorin is the key to understand the causes of the tragedy of his generation of “smart useless things”, the tragedy of the Russian people of the post-Decembrist period.

Starting from the second half of the 19th century, the definition of “extra person” was established for Pechorin, although neither Lermontov himself nor Belinsky gave him such a definition, primarily because such a term did not exist in their time. For them, Pechorin is "a hero of the time, a modern person, a strange person." The typological essence of the image of the “superfluous person” in Russian literature is interpreted very contradictory.

Herzen most accurately defined the meaning and specificity of the type of "superfluous person" for Russian society and Russian literature of the Nikolaev era. “The sad fate of a superfluous man, a lost man, only because he developed into a man, then appeared not only in poems and novels, but on the streets and in drawing rooms, in villages and cities. Our literary flankers are now poking fun at these weak dreamers who broke down without a fight, over these idle people who did not know how to find themselves in the environment in which they lived.

According to Herzen, Pechorin becomes “superfluous” because in his development he goes further than the majority, developing into a person, and to be exact, into a personality, which, in the conditions of the impersonal reality of Nicholas Russia, was, according to Herzen, “one of the most tragic situations in the world."

According to Lermontov, the tragedy of his time is not only that "people suffer patiently", but also that "the majority suffer without realizing it." In this sense, Pechorin captures an act of intensive development of public and personal self-consciousness in Russia in the 1930s. Belinsky wrote: “By introducing society to itself, that is, by developing self-consciousness in it, it satisfies its most important and most important need at the present moment.”

Lermontov's concept of personality expanded and deepened the possibilities of artistic typification. Pechorin is a typical character, but of a special kind. On the one hand, he is the product of certain social circumstances, the environment, and in this sense he is a firmly defined social type of a “hero of his time”, on the other hand, as a personality with its extra-class value, he goes beyond the circumstances that gave rise to him, social roles, that is, beyond the limits of the social type generated by a certain era and a specific environment, acquiring universal significance. Pechorin's personality is wider, more holistic and redundant than the life content that contains his social roles, his social status as a whole. The combination of certainty and elusiveness of not closeness in the personality and character of the hero Lermontov gave Belinsky reason to say: “He is hiding from us in the same incomplete and unsolved being as he appears to us at the beginning of the novel”

When the novel “A Hero of Our Time” came out of print, protective criticism, aware of the sharply negative assessment of Nicholas 1, assured readers that there was nothing Russian in the novel, that its “vicious” hero was written off by the author from Western European novelists. It got to the point that shortly after the fatal death of the poet, Baron E. Rosen expressed his "joy" about the fact that Lermontov was killed and would no longer write a "second Pechorin". In the reviews of such "critics" there were many half-hints and direct allusions to the fact that the author portrayed himself in the hero of the novel.

Is the "Hero of Our Time" social - undoubtedly, social - objectively and subjectively. Objectively, because all the actions of Pechorin's psychology are determined by time, the conditions of existence of his generation of the environment; many actions and character traits of Pechorin are dependent - to a greater or lesser extent - on social relations and mores, as he himself admits. Subjectively, because the social question is present in the novel as one of the objects of study. Next to the central figure is placed either the “common man” Maxim Maksimych, or the “children of the mountains,” or the “honest smugglers” - the social-experimental nature of this series of comparisons, it would seem, is undeniable.

And yet they do not exhaust the artistic task of the writer. The depth of the idea of the work lies in the fact that different aspects of social life are placed here in direct dependence on the person himself, as well as the fate of each individual person - on socio-historical circumstances.

Social motivation of mass deviations from humanity. From the highest moral ideals, Lermontov emphasizes with the help of his characteristic compositional technique. Creating a close-up psychological portrait of Pechorin, the writer in monologues and diary retrospectively sketches a picture of the bitterness of the hero’s soul, but at the same time he creates the image of a “simple person”, on the one hand, correcting Pechorin’s behavior, as D.E. Maksimov rightly noted, and on the other - personifying the moral justification of Pechorin with his fate.

In general, "A Hero of Our Time" combined a philosophical concept with a lively analytical depiction of national life as deep moral and psychological contradictions.

The first readers of A Hero of Our Time were struck by the unusual nature of its artistic form. Belinsky was the first of the critics to establish how, from several stories, the reader gets "the impression of a whole novel." He sees the "secret" of this in the fact that Lermontov's novel "is a biography of one person." About the extraordinary artistic integrity of the novel, Belinsky says: “There is not a page, not a word, not a line that would be randomly sketched: here everything follows from one main idea and everything returns to it.” Modern researcher B.T. Udodov writes the following about the composition of the novel: “The composition of A Hero of Our Time is not linear, but concentric. And not only because everything in it gravitates towards one central character. All parts of the novel are not so much separate sides of a single whole as vicious circles containing the essence of the work in its entirety, but not in its entire depth. The imposition of these circles on each other does not so much expand the scope of the narrative as deepen it.

The problem of the artistic method also causes a lot of controversy. This issue has been one of the most controversial for decades.

“In the study of Lermontov’s work,” I.E. Wooseok, the problem of his artistic method is one of the most difficult.” There are different points of view regarding the artistic method. So, B.M. Eikhenbaum, reflecting on the artistic evolution of Lermontov, wrote: “It is customary to speak in general terms that apply equally to Pushkin and Gogol “from romanticism to realism.” This formula is clearly insufficient... It turns out as if realism was the same destination for everyone - you just had to find a way to it, and romanticism was just an inevitable "passage" to this assembly point.

Disputes about the “Hero of Our Time” method flared up especially hotly at the V All-Union Lermontov Conference in 1962, where three reports were devoted to this topic at once. In one of them, the method was interpreted as a realistic work (V.A. Maikov), in another - as a realistic work with elements of romanticism (U.R. Focht), in the third - as a romantic one (K.N. Grigoryan). Later, a work appeared in which an attempt was made to substantiate the fourth point of view on the method of the "Hero of Our Time" as a synthesis of romanticism and realism.

The very fact of the possibility of such heteroglossia and such contrasts, the presence of real, conspicuous disagreements in the work and creative method of Lermontov speak volumes. The real contradictions of reality gave rise to the artistic world of Lermontov.

Conclusion

The central place in the story is occupied by the psychological portrait of Pechorin, which emphasizes the inconsistency in the external and internal world of the hero.

Thus, we can conclude that romantic portraits predominate in Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time", which is due to the writer's creative method. The portrait of the main character Pechorin is psychological, which is due to the genre of the work. It is he who serves as a means of characterizing the hero along with other means of psychological analysis.

List of used literature

1. Belinsky V.G. Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol. Elected. articles. M.: Det. Litra, 1970

2. Dolinina N. Pechorin and our time. L: Det. litera.», 1970

3. History of Russian literature. Ed. E.N. Kupreyanova, L. "Science", v. 2, 1981

4. Lermontov M.Yu. in Russian criticism. Collection of articles / Comp., intro. Art. And note. K.N. Lomunov. - M.: Sov. Russia, 1995

5. Rez Z.Ya. M.Yu. Lermontov at school. L .: Uchpedgiz, 1963

6. Udodov B.T.. Roman M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time". M.: Enlightenment, 1989

The image of Pechorin in "Bel"

In the chapter "Bel" the author shows the hero during the period of a love story. Pechorin appears before us as an ardent and passionate person, because in order to take possession of Bela, he takes a huge risk. At the same time, this lover is very cunning and ruthless, seeking Bela, he does not understand the means. He skillfully manipulates the boy Azamat, organizing the forcible abduction of Bela, and brutally destroys her family. Pechorin is not inclined to force a woman by force, but one cannot deny him prudence. To win over her heart, he uses all means, and in the end causes pity for himself. In moments of happiness, the hero even sincerely believes that he has found solace, salvation from longing and boredom for life.

But when the goal is achieved, Pechorin becomes bored again, Bela ceases to interest him. At the same time, he is a real man, brave, courageous: “I will give my life for her ...” and the worst tormentor, because inside this person is cold. When the goal is achieved, the conquest is complete, Pechorin has nowhere to put his energy. Bela was just a target for him.

Compassion, nevertheless, lives in Pechorin's soul, and to the very end he plays the lover, but Bela's heart can no longer be deceived. The girl dies unhappy, feeling unloved, and Pechorin sincerely suffers. Human feelings are alive in his heart, but self-will takes over in him.

The image of Pechorin in the chapter "Taman"

In the chapter "Taman" Lermontov shows us a dreamy young man who is looking for novelty and adventure. The smuggler girl charms him. Some kind of naive, childish faith in a fairy tale, in something better, unusual, amazing, lives in Pechorin's soul. A strange beauty attracts him, she seems to Pechorin unique, wonderful. Like a child, he is attracted to everything unknown. But, having been cruelly deceived, the hero, who was robbed and almost drowned, abruptly returns to his usual state of a person disappointed in everything. He scolds himself for breaking away from reality and believing in magic.

The image of Pechorin in "Princess Mary"

In the chapel "Princess Mary" we meet in the face of Pechorin, as it were, a bifurcated person. On the one hand, this is a reasonable person who is well aware of what he is doing and what consequences it has. On the other hand, it is as if a demon is sitting in him, forcing him to play a dishonest game. With sophisticated methods, this officer achieves the love of a young girl, while making his comrade unhappy. Pechorin absolutely does not need this love, he is attracted by the game itself, the adventure itself, the achievement of the goal - so that the soul of the innocent and inexperienced Mary opens up to meet him. Pechorin wears masks, changing them with ease, without showing his essence to anyone. When Mary falls in love to such an extent that she is ready to connect her life with him, the hero leaves the stage - the goal is achieved.

Pechorin uses people for temporary satisfaction. At the same time, he perfectly understands what he is doing, condemns himself for it, considers it his curse, but continues in the same spirit. Sometimes remorse breaks through him - such is his impulse to see Vera - the only woman who loves him, having recognized him for who he really is, without masks. But these impulses are short-lived, and the hero, absorbed in himself and his boredom, again does not show any warmth to people.

The image of Pechorin in the chapter "Fatalist"

The last chapter of the novel reveals to us another facet of his personality: the hero does not appreciate the gift of life. Even a possible death for him is just a game, an opportunity to dispel boredom. Pechorin is trying to test himself, risking his life. He is brave, courageous, has nerves of steel, and actually shows heroism in a difficult situation when it is necessary to pacify a desperate killer. Involuntarily, you will think about what feats, what accomplishments this person with such abilities, with such a will, was capable of. But, in fact, it all came down to just a "thrill", a game with life and death.

Lermontov, in the preface to the novel, called Pechorin sick. He meant not literal physical infirmity, but the soul of a hero. The meaning of the image of Pechorin in the fact that the hero does not find application for his outstanding abilities, no one needs the strength of his spirit. He does not know what really heroic, valuable, useful thing he could do. As a result, his strong, rebellious, restless nature brings people nothing but misfortune. This idea, in the course of the novel, is also affirmed in the mind of the hero himself.

The work "A Hero of Our Time", written by M.Yu. Lermontov, is considered the first psychological novel in Russian literature aimed at revealing the human soul, mainly Grigory Pechorin.

Pechorin is an attractive young officer under the age of thirty, of medium height, but strong build: "... He was of medium height; his slender, thin frame and broad shoulders proved a strong build." He has delicate skin, blond hair, but this man has a dark mustache and eyebrows, has an unpleasant, penetrating and heavy look, sometimes impudent, but indifferently calm.This man is mysterious and active, his portrait combines features of strength and weakness, this is a complex nature, so one cannot judge him at first glance.

Pechorin is cruel and selfish. We see this already in the first chapter - he kidnaps Bela just because he liked this girl. Very soon, Pechorin's attitude towards the "poor girl changed." Bela quickly got tired of him, and he began to look for every reason to leave her, at least for a while. Love for Vera was Pechorin's deepest and most lasting affection, but he caused her a lot of suffering: "... you gave me nothing but suffering." Gregory did not know how to truly love. He could only make those who treated him so devotedly and reverently suffer. But the problems of love relationships differed little from friendships. From the words of Pechorin, we can conclude that he is not capable of friendship: "Of two friends, one is always the slave of the other." An example of this is Grushnitsky.

Pechorin, not perceiving friendship as a value, began to mock the cadet. Pretending to help Grushnitsky, he told Mary some moments of the life of a "friend", captured all the girl's attention and made her fall in love with him. Pechorin's hypocrisy destroyed what could be called "friendship" and led to a duel. In this scene, the author showed that in the face of death, the hero of the novel turned out to be as dual as we saw him throughout the entire work.

Pechorin is a person who is distinguished by stubbornness of will. The psychological portrait of the hero is fully revealed. Still, one can treat the hero of the novel differently, condemn him or pity the human soul tormented by society, but one cannot but admire the skill of the great Russian writer who gave us this image, a psychological portrait of the hero of his time.

Updated: 2017-05-12

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