Essay on the topic: Genre and composition of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "Hero of Our Time" and their features

Plan

1. Compositional features of the novel "A Hero of Our Time".

2. The ratio of plot and plot in the work.

3. The role of breaking the chronological sequence in revealing the image of the central character.

The compositional features of the work of M. Yu. Lermontov lie in the inconsistent presentation of the events that happened to the main character.

Composition as a way to reveal the image

Most researchers come to the conclusion that chronological failures in the narrative are needed in order to focus the reader's attention on a certain confusion of Pechorin's life, his inability to control his fate, to subordinate it to one, the most important goal.

Besides, compositional features novel allow you to see the image of Pechorin from the side, through the eyes of Maxim Maksimovich and the officer-narrator, and only then penetrate into the inner world of the central character through his Personal diary. It is these chapters that reveal the personality of the protagonist as frankly and fully as possible.

Plot and plot

The innovative approach of M. Yu. Lermontov led to the fact that the plot and plot of "A Hero of Our Time" are strikingly different. The result of this technique is that the reader does not focus on outside events in the life of Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin, but penetrates the very essence of his personal experiences. Researchers call such a narrative "tense composition", when the hero appears in moments of difficult life trials.

The original compositional technique used by the author is truly rare in Russian classical literature. M. Yu. Lermontov tells about the most important episodes the fate of the character, revealing his personality traits in the most complex and important points: Pechorin's worries about women, a duel, a quarrel with a tipsy Cossack, a Taman adventure with smugglers full of dangers.

Most researchers of the work of M. Yu. Lermontov believe that compositional solution contributes to the detailed disclosure of the image of the main character.

The Five Parts of the Novel: Moving From the Outer to the Inner

In the story "Bela" the reader sees Pechorin through the eyes of a decent but rustic Maxim Maksimovich, his commander. M. Yu. Lermontov debunks the then popular myth of sublime love between a beautiful savage and a nobleman with good education, the works of other writers were full of such stories. At the same time, Pechorin is not at all like a typical romantic hero.

The second part of "Maxim Maksimovich" shows the reader more complete picture personality of the central character: appearance and the behavior of the hero is described in most detail in the narration of his commander.

Parts "Taman" and "Princess Mary" allow the reader to see the world of the protagonist with his own eyes through diary entries. In them, Pechorin gives quite frank and complete description to myself. In these parts, the author departs from the romantic direction, using elements of literary realism.

In "Taman" Once again the myth about the possibility of romantic feelings between a smuggler and an officer is refuted. There is nothing sublime in Ondine's behavior, the girl is ready to commit murder only because Pechorin witnessed her criminal activities. Central character also reveals himself as an adventurer, ready to risk everything for the sake of satisfying base needs.

The final part of the "Fatalist" touches upon the meaning of life, the predestination of fate or the ability to build it with my own hands. Here the reader sees Pechorin as a person capable of fighting his own destiny, even if this battle leads to a tragic ending.

The role of composition in the work of M. Yu. Lermontov is extremely important. It is the innovative solution that allows the author to create a unique literary genre- a psychologically oriented novel.

Features of the plot of the novel

Any literary work has its own system of events, which reveals not only the characters of the characters, but also the attitude of the author himself to the phenomena and events he depicts, that is, the plot. In the novel A Hero of Our Time, the plot is determined by the idea of ​​the whole system of stories, and this idea is in the “unfolding” step by step of the history of the “human soul”, “especially when it is the result of a mature mind observing itself”.

How exactly does the author build the plot? Let us listen to the opinion of the Russian critic V. Belinsky: “Mr. Lermontov’s novel is imbued with a unity of thought, and therefore ... it cannot be read in the order in which the author himself placed it: otherwise you will read two excellent stories and several excellent stories, but the novel will not you will know. There is not a page, not a word, not a feature that would have been randomly sketched; here everything comes out of one main idea and everything returns to it. That is why the chronological series of events described in the novel is broken - the chronology is not important for the realization of the idea.

First, we learn about Pechorin in the story “Bela”, following the conversation of temporary fellow travelers, and then following the story told by Maxim Maksimych about a young Circassian woman and the role of the protagonist in her fate. We draw up the following idea of ​​​​Pechorin by directly observing how Grigory behaves, how his character manifests itself outwardly - the narrator describes this in detail in the second chapter of the novel. And, finally, from the journal written by the hero, we comprehend the inner world of Pechorin: his thoughts, feelings, aspirations.

With each subsequent story of the “Hero of Our Time”, our interest in the character of the main character increases, because it is unlikely that Lermontov called a hero of the time a person with a vicious attitude towards people and a complete lack of attractive characters. human qualities. Gradually you understand that it was in this order that by placing the chapters of the work, the author was able to consistently reveal the character of the hero in all its complexity, inconsistency and unpredictability. It is this idea that the plot of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" is subordinated to.

Correlation of the plot and plot of the "Hero of Our Time"

Reading page after page, we can immediately notice: the temporal sequence of events in the novel differs from the order of the stories, which was determined by Lermontov. “I’m going to the active detachment on official duty,” writes Pechorin in Taman in the magazine, and chronologically, this part opens the story of the main character. It is followed by a story about Gregory's stay on the waters and the next morning after the duel he received "an order from the higher authorities to go to the fortress N". Pechorin “happened” to leave “this boring fortress” and “live for two weeks in a Cossack village”, here he decides for himself the question of whether the fate of any person is predetermined. Serving further in the fortress, Gregory kidnaps Bela. We trace Pechorin’s last movements by watching his meeting with the staff captain (“I’m going to Persia - and beyond”) and reading the narrator’s preface to Pechorin’s Journal (“I recently learned that Pechorin, returning from Persia, died”).

Let's compare the chronological and authorial series of stories

In the plot, the stories are arranged in the following sequence: "Bela" - "Maxim Maksimovich" - Preface to "Pechorin's Journal" - "Taman" - Princess Mary "-" Fatalist ".

The plot, however, requires a temporary order: "Taman" - "Princess Mary" - "Fatalist" - "Bela" - "Maxim Maksimovich" - Preface to Pechorin's Journal.

The plot and plot of the novel A Hero of Our Time, therefore, do not coincide. Chronology, according to Lermontov, does not direct us to comprehend the character of the protagonist, and therefore is not needed. And the construction of the plot not only makes it possible to understand the character of the protagonist, but at the same time encourages each reader to look into the depths of his own soul. We agree with A.N. Tolstoy: “Lermontov ... in five stories connected by a single internal plot - the disclosure of the image of Pechorin, the hero of the time, the product of the era, reveals to us the perfection of real, wise ... art. You read and feel: everything is here - no more and no less than what you need and how you can say it.

Artwork test

Summary of the lesson in grade 9 on the topic:

“ The novel “A Hero of Our Time.”

Lesson Objectives:

Introduce students to the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time", features of its genre, composition, plot;

Develop analytical and creative thinking, memory, speech;

Cultivate intolerance towards egoism, individualism;

Form a culture of perception artistic text.

Vocabulary work: plot, plot, composition

Equipment: portrait of M.Yu. Lermontov, illustrations for the novel "A Hero of Our Time"

During the classes

Epigraph to the lesson:

"A Hero of Our Time" is by no means a collection of several stories and short stories - it is a novel in which there is one hero and one main idea, artistically developed.

V. G. Belinsky

Organizing time.

Introductory speech of the teacher

(students write in their notebooks)

Lermontov's only completed novel was not originally conceived as whole work. IN " Domestic notes» for 1839 were published "Bela. From the notes of an officer about the Caucasus" and later "Fatalist" with the note that "M. Y. Lermontov in a short time will publish a collection of his stories, both printed and unpublished. In 1840 it was printed there "Taman" and then comes out in two parts-volumes "Hero of Our Time". A problematic aphoristic name was proposed by an experienced journalist A. A. Kraevsky instead of the original author's "One of the heroes of our century." "Collection of stories", united by the image of the protagonist, turned out to be the first in Russian prose socio-psychological and philosophical novel , who also mastered numerous elements of dramatic action, especially in the largest and most significant story - "Princess Mary".

"Hero of Our Time" "History of the Human Soul", one person who embodied in his unique individuality the contradictions of the whole historical period. Pechorin is the only one main character (although "Eugene Onegin" is named after one hero, the image of Tatyana, as well as the Author, is extremely important in it). His loneliness in the novel is fundamentally significant.. Only separate episodes of Pechorin's biography are covered; in the preface to his journal, an officer-traveler reports a thick notebook, "where he tells his whole life", but, in essence, the reader already gets an idea of life path hero from childhood to death. This is history futile attempts extraordinary person to realize himself, to find at least some satisfaction for his needs, attempts that invariably turn into suffering and losses for him and those around him, the story of the loss of his mighty vitality and an absurd, unexpected, but prepared by all the narrated death from nothing to do, from his uselessness to anyone and to himself.

Most readers and critics of the newly published novel perceived Pechorin as a completely negative hero . This level of understanding was shown by the emperor NicholasI. Getting acquainted with the first part of the work, he decided that the “hero of our days” would be an unpretentious, honest (and narrow-minded) campaigner Maxim Maksimych. The content of the second part and the assignment of the title formula to Pechorin caused the emperor (in a letter to his wife) to irritated maxims: "Such novels spoil the morals and harden the character." “What result can this give? Contempt or hatred for humanity!” Lermontov himself succumbed somewhat general mood and in the preface to the second edition of A Hero of Our Time (1841) stated that Pechorin - "this is a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development" . But in the preface to Pechorin's journal, he was named precisely hero time. Another thing is that what is the time, such is the hero. The response to the intended reaction from readers is "Yes, this is an evil irony!" - just a meaningful "I don't know." As in the "Duma", Lermontov does not separate himself from his generation with all the vices characteristic of him. Other accents were made by V. G. Belinsky, who addressed the public even more severely than the author in the general preface. He said about Pechorin: “You anathematize him not for vices - they are greater in you and they are blacker and more shameful in you - but for that bold freedom, for that bilious frankness with which he speaks of them.” Bold freedom in times of lack of freedom and courage - is this not a sign true hero?

Work on the topic of the lesson

Literary theory

-And now let's decide on the genre of the work "A Hero of Our Time". What genre do you think the work "A Hero of Our Time" belongs to?

Psychological novel –epic work, in which attention is focused on the inner world of the hero, the movements of his soul, understanding the reasons for his actions.

-Prove that A Hero of Our Time is a psychological novel.

A.S. Pushkin M.Yu. Lermontov

"Eugene Onegin" "A Hero of Our Time"

"encyclopedia of Russian life" "history of the human soul"

The evolution of the soul of the protagonist Immersion in the soul. Evolution

Features of the composition (work with the table)

Questions:

1. What is the plot of a work of art?

2. What plot elements do you know?

3. What is called the composition of a work of art? What compositional techniques have you met before while studying the works?

4. What is the peculiarity of the composition of the "Hero of Our Time"? Is it possible to highlight the elements of the plot that you know in it? (A feature of the composition is the absence of a single storyline. The novel consists of five parts or stories, each of which has its own genre, its own plot and its own title. But the protagonist combines all these parts into a single novel.)

5. Let's try to imagine the difference between chronological and compositional order.

-How many narrators are in the novel?

First, in the story "Bela" we learn about Pechorin from a simple Russian officer Maksim Maksimych , a kind, honest man, for a long time spent together with Pechorin and benevolent towards him, but completely different from him in spirit and upbringing. He can only note the peculiarities of the behavior of the “strange person”, which remains a mystery to him (and, therefore, to the reader).

In the story "Maxim Maksimych" the narrator changes: this officer, companion and listener Maksim Maksimych in Bel, obviously more close to Pechorin by age, development, social status, and most importantly - similar in spirit and mentality. He makes an attempt to somehow explain the features of this unusual person.

And finally, we get acquainted with the hero’s diaries, his kind of confession, which allows you to see his soul, as it were, “from the inside”, through self-disclosure, thorough analysis and exposure of the underlying causes of the hero’s behavior, his character traits.

To interest the reader as much as possible in the fate of Pechorin;

trace his history inner life;

To reveal the image of Pechorin in two ways: from the point of view of an outside observer and in terms of internal self-disclosure;

As if leaving the hero alive, to show his author's position.

Meaning of the novel's title

1)What does "hero" mean?Choose an option:

A man of exceptional valor;

Main actor works;

A person who is a spokesman for some environment, era

2) Why "our" time, and not "mine", not "your"?

Responses to the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time".

1. S. Burachek: Pechorin is a "monster", "slander on a whole generation."

2. S. Shevyrev: "Pechorin - there is only one ghost thrown at us by the West."

3. V. Belinsky: "Pechorin ... the hero of our time."

4. A. Herzen: “Pechorin is Onegin’s younger brother.”

Questions:

1) Which of the critics is more objective in assessing Pechorin?

2) How does Lermontov himself talk about Pechorin in the preface?

Reading the preface.

(“... The Hero of Our Time, my gracious sirs, is like a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development ...”)

Summing up the lesson.

What is the unusual composition of Lermontov's novel?

- Why is the work "A Hero of Our Time" the first psychological novel in Russian literature?

The novel "A Hero of Our Time" is a unique phenomenon in Russian literature. The author pays the main attention not to the events and adventures of the hero, who has an extraordinary mind and differs from those around him in that he subjects all people to a moral test, but to the history of his soul, the reasons and motives for his behavior. The self-analysis of the characters is subjected in the novel to a thorough analysis of the author or narrator, which suggests that this psychological novel. The author shows and social relations Russians and highlanders, drawing different types Russian officers

armies fighting in the Caucasus. The novel also reflected the Caucasian impressions of Lermontov himself.

Grades for answers, for work in the lesson are received by _______________ (commented grading).

Homework.

1. The story "Bela" (Heroes, content, features of composition and genre, attitude towards Pechorin.)

2. Make a plan for the story "Bela", name the parts.

Lermontov in the novel assimilates artistic experience other writers, especially Pushkin. The typological relationship of these two surnames is obvious (Onega - Pechora). Both characters are "superfluous people".

Key role relationship between story and plot in A Hero of Our Time. The sequence of the described episodes in the life of Pechorin has next view: Pechorin’s arrival from St. Petersburg to the Caucasus (“Pechorin’s Journal”, “Taman”, “Princess Mary”), service in the fortress (“Bela” and “Fatalist”), then five years later a chance meeting on the way to Persia with an old colleague ( "Maxim Maksimych"), the death of the protagonist and the publication of his notes ("Foreword" to his diary), and finally, the preface to the entire novel - the experience of a critical interpretation of his work by the author himself. The author, however, refuses the chronological sequence. He chooses the most significant episodes, paying more attention to psychological reflections than to the description of events. The violation of the chronology is caused by the need to correlate the hero with other characters who should appear in the novel in a certain sequence: “wild Circassian woman”, “good staff captain”, “ honest smugglers», « water society”, “friends - Werner, Vera, Princess Mary”, and then “Madam Fate” herself.

The protagonist is undoubtedly close to the type of "Byronic" wanderers-exiles (he always appears before the reader only in brief moments of stops, almost all of his moves are forced: from St. Petersburg and Pyatigorsk - after the duel, to Persia - after the death of Bela).

The novel repeats composition scheme used by Lermontov in "Mtsyri" : lengthy exposition, at the end of which the main character disappears, the story of the old man about the past young man, the dying confession of a wanderer. It is based on a tragic return, where the path of the soul (the inability to escape from oneself) is paralleled with the roads along which the hero flees from the world in order to eventually find himself at the starting point (two meetings with Maxim Maksimych: in the fortress - "Bela", in a hotel for travelers - "Maxim Maksimych", and again in the fortress - the finale of "Fatalist"; in this case, the title of the last chapter receives a new meaning). The composition of the novel is subordinated to one goal: to comprehensively and deeply reveal the image of the hero of his time, to trace the history of his life.

Narrative organization novel. The change of narrators in the novel allows the reader to see the hero from three points of view.

Bela's story. Pechorin brings misfortune and suffering to Maxim Maksimovich, Bela. He is not understood by them: He tries to sincerely love, respect, be friends, but does not find in his soul the strength for a long, constant feeling. Love is replaced by disappointment and cooling. In place of a friendly disposition - irritation and fatigue from constant guardianship.

Relationships between characters. Bela suffers from a contradiction that lives inside her from the very moment when she becomes a prisoner of Pechorin. On the one hand, she likes Pechorin (“he often dreamed about her in a dream ... and no man had ever made such an impression on her”), and on the other, she cannot love him, since he is a non-believer. What pushes Pechorin to kidnap Bela? Selfishness or a desire to experience a feeling of love that they have already forgotten? Pechorin "dressed her up like a doll, groomed, cherished." Bela was pleased with such attention, she got prettier, felt happy. A tender relationship between the characters continued for four months, and then Pechorin's attitude towards Bela changes. He began to leave the house for a long time, thought, was sad. “I was mistaken again: the love of a savage few better than love noble lady, the ignorance and simple-heartedness of one are just as annoying as the coquetry of the other. Pechorin is attracted by the integrity, strength and naturalness of the feelings of the mountain "savage", the Circassian. Love for Bela is not a whim or a whim on the part of Pechorin, but an attempt to return to the world of sincere feelings.

An attempt to approach a person of a different faith, a different way of life, to get to know Bela better, to find some kind of harmonious balance in relations with her ends tragically. Pechorin is a man who lives "out of curiosity", he says: "my whole life was only a chain of sad and unsuccessful contradictions of heart or mind."

The story "Maxim Maksimych". Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych are connected by a common past. For Pechorin, everything that has passed is painful. He cannot and does not want to calmly remember the past with Maxim Maksimych, especially the story with Bela. The past and the reminder of it causes pain in Pechorin's soul, as he cannot forgive himself for the story that ended with the death of Bela. For Maxim Maksimych, everything that has passed is sweet. Shared memories become the basis for the conversation that the staff captain is looking forward to with such impatience. Memories of the past give Maxim Maksimych some significance: he was a participant in the same events as Pechorin.

In Pechorin unexpected meeting with the "past" did not awaken any feelings, he was indifferent and indifferent to himself, and remains so. Maybe that's why, to the question of Maxim Maksimych: “I still have your papers ... I carry them with me ... What should I do with them?”, Pechorin replies: “What do you want.” Refusal to continue the meeting and conversation: “Really, I have nothing to tell, dear Maxim Maksimych ... But goodbye, I have to go. I'm in a hurry ... thank you for not forgetting ... ". After the meeting, “the good Maksim Maksimych has become a stubborn, grumpy staff captain!”, He contemptuously throws Pechorin’s notebooks on the ground: “Here they are ... I congratulate you on your find ... At least print in the newspapers. What do I care! ..” Misunderstanding and resentment at Pechorin, disappointment: “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 ... Look at what a dandy he has become, how he visited St. Petersburg again ... ”

Maxim Maksimych's meeting with Pechorin brought disappointment to the staff captain. She made the poor old man suffer and doubt the possibility of sincere, friendly relations between people. We find an explanation for this behavior of Pechorin in his own words: “Listen, Maxim Maksimych ... I have an unhappy character: did my upbringing make me like this, did God create me, I don’t know; I only know that if I am the cause of the unhappiness of others, then I myself am no less unhappy. Of course, this is bad consolation for them - the only thing is that this is so.

Taman story. Pechorin is young, inexperienced, his feelings are ardent and impetuous, impressionable and romantic, looking for adventure, ready to take risks.

Pechorin's attitude to the characters of the story. Blind boy: “For a long time I looked at him with involuntary regret, when suddenly a barely perceptible smile ran across his thin lips, and, I don’t know why, it made the most unpleasant impression on me.” The boy's behavior is surprising, arouses curiosity - like a blind boy, he walks everywhere alone, and at the same time he is dexterous and careful. “The blind boy was definitely crying, and for a long, long time ... I felt sad.” The fate of the boy arouses sympathy in the hero, despite the fact that he robbed Pechorin. Ondine: Pechorin's premonition was justified. Undine turned out to be not quite a simple girl. She is endowed not only with an unusual appearance, but also has a strong, decisive, almost masculine character, combined with such qualities as deceit and pretense.

Pechorin's actions in the story "Taman" can be explained by his desire to penetrate all the secrets of the world. As soon as he feels the approach of some mystery, he immediately forgets about caution and moves rapidly towards discoveries. But the feeling of the world as a mystery, interest in life are replaced by indifference and disappointment.

The story "Princess Mary"."Water Society" for Pechorin is a socially close environment, but, nevertheless, the author presents the relationship of the hero with the nobility as a conflict. What is the conflict? Representatives of the "water" society are primitive. They are hypocritical and insincere in the manifestation of feelings, capable of deception. Unable to understand and accept Pechorin as he is. In Pechorin lives "an innate passion to contradict." He is selfish: “To be always on the alert, to catch every glance, the meaning of every word, to guess the intention, to destroy conspiracies, to pretend to be deceived, and suddenly with one push to topple the whole huge and laborious building of cunning and plans - that's what I call life. Attempts to find some kind of harmonious balance in relations with people, unfortunately, end in failure for Pechorin.

Grushnitsky is a caricature of Pechorin. We see Grushnitsky through the eyes of Pechorin, we evaluate his actions through the perception of Pechorin. Grushnitsky came to Pyatigorsk to "become the hero of a novel." He does not know people and their weak strings, because he has been busy with himself all his life. He wears a fashionable mask of disappointed people, speaks in “pompous phrases”, “drapes himself importantly in extraordinary feelings, sublime passions and exceptional suffering. To produce an effect is his delight.” In his soul there is "not a penny of poetry." Capable of meanness and deceit (duel with Pechorin). “I understood him, and for this he doesn’t love me, although we outwardly are on the most friendly terms ... I don’t love him either: I feel that we will someday collide with him on a narrow road, and one of us will be unhappy” . Next to Pechorin, Grushnitsky looks pathetic and ridiculous. Grushnitsky is always trying to imitate someone. Even on the verge of life and death, Grushnitsky's pride turns out to be stronger than honesty.

Vvrner is a friend and "double" of Pechorin. By definition, Pechorin is "a wonderful person." Werner and Pechorin "read each other in the soul." Werner is "a skeptic and a materialist". He is distinguished by a deep and sharp mind, insight and observation, knowledge of people. Him kind heart(“weeping over a dying soldier”). He hides his feelings and moods under the mask of irony and ridicule. Werner and Pechorin cannot be friends, since Pechorin believes that “of two friends, one is always the slave of the other, although often neither of them admits this; I can’t be a slave, and in this case commanding is tedious work, because you have to deceive along with it ... ”

Princess Mary. Stages of development of relations between the princess and Pechorin. Irritation, which is caused by Pechorin's lack of attention to the princess. Hatred caused by several "daring" actions of Pechorin (Pechorin lured away all the princess's gentlemen, bought the carpet, covered his horse with the carpet). Interest born of the desire to find out who he is, this Pechorin. Acquaintance with Pechorin changes not only the attitude of the princess towards the hero, but also the princess herself: she becomes sincere, more natural. Pechorin's confession gives rise to sympathy and empathy in the princess. Changes are taking place in the princess, about which Pechorin remarks: “Where did her liveliness, her coquetry, her whims, her impudent mine, contemptuous smile, absent-minded look go? ..” Awakened by love for Pechorin, feelings turn Princess Mary into a kind, gentle, loving woman, which turns out to be able to forgive Pechorin.

Faith – the only woman, which Pechorin loves. “Why does she love me so, really, I don’t know! Moreover, this is one woman who understood me completely, with all my petty weaknesses, bad passions ... Is evil so attractive? Pechorin brings Vera a lot of suffering. Faith for Pechorin is a guardian angel. She forgives him everything, knows how to feel deeply and strongly. Even after a long separation, Pechorin has the same feelings for Vera, which he admits to himself. “With the opportunity to lose her forever, Vera became dearer to me than anything in the world, dearer than life, honor, happiness. "She is the only woman in the world whom I would not be able to deceive." Faith - only person who understands how lonely and unhappy Pechorin is.

The story of the fatalist. Pechorin is looking for an answer to the question: "Does predestination exist?" The hero is occupied with thoughts about the fate and will of man. It's about about subjects more significant than human feelings, relationships, opposition to one or another circle of society. One of those present remarks: “And if there is definitely predestination, then why are we given reason, why should we give an account of our actions? ..”

Vulich believes in fate, predestination. Onigrok, constantly testing fate. Seeking power over fate. His courage is explained by the fact that he is sure that each person is assigned the hour of his death and it cannot be otherwise: "Each of us is assigned a fateful minute."

Pechorin does not believe in fate, predestination. The hero does not believe that there is high power that controls the movement of people. “And how often do we take for conviction a deception of feelings or a mistake of reason! .. I like to doubt everything: this disposition of the mind does not interfere with the decisiveness of character; on the contrary, as far as I am concerned, I always go forward more boldly when I do not know what awaits me. After all, nothing worse than death will happen - and death cannot be avoided! The question of the limits of individual freedom (Pechorin is stoically looking for an answer to it, trying to guess the dictates of fate and, to the best of his ability, fight with him, mold his life according to his own will).

A person who has faith and a goal turns out to be stronger than a person who does not believe in fate, does not believe in himself. If nothing is more important to a person than own desires, then he inevitably loses his will. Pechorin understands this paradox as follows: “And we, their pitiful descendants, wandering the earth without conviction and pride, without pleasure and fear, except for that involuntary fear that squeezes the heart at the thought of an inevitable end, we are no longer capable of great sacrifices for good mankind, not even for our own happiness, because we know its impossibility and indifferently pass from doubt to doubt...”

Disclosure of the image of the protagonist should have contributed secondary characters. Firstly, they were more individualized by the author, and secondly, they often turned out to be "twins" Pechorin (for example, Dr. Werner and Grushnitsky are respectively a type of cold analyst and a parodic reduced version of a romantic exile, both of them are a kind of embodiment of the two prevailing in psychology central hero elements).

Pechorin's conflict with society and with himself."Why did I live? For what purpose was he born? And, it’s true, it existed, and, it’s true, a high was assigned to me, because I feel immense powers in my soul; but I did not guess this appointment. Pechorin's introspection is aimed at shaping himself as a person.

"Two" Pechorins

Pechorin regards himself as " moral cripple”, whose better half of the soul “dried up, evaporated, died”. Who is to blame for the fact that Pechorin has become a "smart uselessness?" Pechorin himself answers this question as follows: “My colorless youth passed in the struggle with myself and the world; my best feelings, fearing ridicule, I buried in the depths of my heart, they died there”, “Am I a fool or a villain, I don’t know; but it is true that I am also very pitiable.”

Special theme line The novel is made up of love stories - another test of the hero by fate and fate by the hero. The “psychological plot” is constructed as a kind of “ascension of the heart and mind” by Pechorin along the “circles of love”: from the nameless “undine” (“Taman”) through love-duel (his relationship with Vera and Princess Mary) to the final defeat in the fatal game , from which Pechorin could no longer recover, in Bel. home psychological, philosophical, ethical, social novel problem- the problem of personality: what is a person, what drives him, can he be responsible for what has been done, etc. Hence the sometimes feverish interest of ordinary readers and critics in A Hero of Our Time and the enduring significance of this, in Belinsky's words, "forever young book" for many generations of people.

The basis psychological portrait Pechorin, Lermontov laid down the "theory of passions", according to which mental forces that have not found an outlet in a positive deed distort in general good nature man, his character. Pechorin is a hero of a heroless era, the tragedy of his position is that he is doomed to an inactive burning of life. It is from the understanding of these contradictions: between the needs inner world and conditions, requirements of the external world - such definitions of Pechorin arose as "unwillingly selfish", "romantic involuntarily."

The novel was enthusiastically received by contemporary writers: N.V. Gogol, Aksakov and others. Herzen called Pechorin " younger brother Onegin. V. G. Belinsky wrote: “Pechorin is the Onegin of our days”, was formulated the concept of "extra people" in Russian literature. Pechorin - social type post-Decembrist era, extra person”, his image denounces the spiritual emptiness of the Russian society of the Nikolaev time (N.G. Chernyshevsky, N.A. Dobrolyubov).

Similarities between Pechorin and Onegin. They are representatives secular society. What is common in the history of the life of heroes: at first, the pursuit of secular pleasures, then disappointment in them and this way of life. Then an attempt to find an application for his spiritual strength in any occupation: reading books, housekeeping, but disappointment in this too. Heroes are seized by boredom (spleen). They are critical not only of the people around them, but also mercilessly judge themselves and their actions.

How Pechorin differs from Onegin.Pechorin - a man of the 30s (reaction time). A gifted, extraordinary personality that manifests itself in the mind, strong passions, will. His character and behavior are contradictory: rationality struggles with the demands of feeling, mind and heart. Capable of deep love (attitude towards the Faith). typical hero of his time.

Principles psychological analysis included in domestic literature it was thanks to Lermontov's novel that they were perceived by Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Goncharov, Turgenev, Chekhov and others.

Literature

If we keep in mind the chronology of events in "A Hero of Our Time", including the plot, then it should look like this: Pechorin's adventure with the "undine" in Taman ("Taman"); the story of Mary with Grushnitsky, a duel ("Princess Mary"); episode with Vulich ("Fatalist"); the abduction of Bela and the journey of the wandering officer-narrator with Maksim Maksimych ("Bela"); meeting with Maxim Maksimych in Vladikavkaz ("Maxim Maksimych"); the news of Pechorin's death ("Preface to Pechorin's Journal"). The arrangement of parts according to the chronology (plot) of the novel, therefore, is as follows:

"Taman". "Princess Mary". "Fatalist". "Bela". "Maxim Maksimych". "Preface to Pechorin's Journal".

However, the chronology is broken in the novel. There is a different arrangement of stories:

"Bela". "Maxim Maksimych". "Preface to Pechorin's Journal". "Taman". "Princess Mary". "Fatalist".

From a comparison of the chronological sequence with the sequence of stories in the novel, we can conclude that their non-coincidence means a mismatch between the plot and the plot. The plot reflects the order of events in a work of art in their chronological sequence, the plot - the distribution of events in a work of art, built by the author for the purposes he needs.

Let us suppose that the writer has conceived piece of art. He invents events and episodes in which his hero participates. Then he builds these events and episodes into a chain of incidents, but subordinates the order not to chronology, but to some other important goals for him. It turns out that events first follow chronologically, as in life, then they line up according to the will of the author, that is, in accordance with a special artistic assignment.

What was the goal pursued by Lermontov with the composition of the novel (the order of parts, events, episodes in the sequence chosen by the author)?

One of these goals was to take the tension off incidents and adventures, that is, from external events, and switch it to the hero's inner life, increasing the reader's attention to it. For example, the duel between Pechorin and Grushnitsky, if you follow the chronology, takes place earlier how the reader receives news of Pechorin's death. The reader's interest will then be directed to the duel itself, and the tension will be maintained by the question: what will become of Pechorin, will Grushnitsky kill him, or will the hero remain alive? The reader's attention in this case is focused on the event itself. In the novel, Lermontov relieves tension by the fact that before the duel he already reports (in the Preface to Pechorin's Journal) about the death of Pechorin, who was returning from Persia. The reader is informed in advance that Pechorin will live, and the tension for this important episode in the life of the hero is reduced. But on the other hand, tension is increased to the events of Pechorin's inner life, to his reflections, to the analysis of his own experiences.