The image of Pechorin based on the novel by Mikhail Lermontov 8220 A hero of our time 8221
Belinsky saw in Pechorin’s character “a transitional state of the spirit, in which for a person everything old has been destroyed, but there is still no new, and in which a person is only the possibility of something real in the future and a perfect ghost in the present.”
The novel "A Hero of Our Time" became a continuation of the theme of "superfluous people". This theme became central in the novel in verse by A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin". Herzen called Pechorin Onegin's younger brother. In the preface to the novel, the author shows his attitude towards his hero.
Like Pushkin in "Eugene Onegin" ("I'm always glad to see the difference between Onegin and me"), Lermontov ridiculed attempts to equate the novel's author and its protagonist. Lermontov did not consider Pechorin a positive hero, from whom one should take an example.
The novel shows a young man suffering from his restlessness, in despair asking himself a painful question: “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born? He has not the slightest inclination to follow the well-trodden path of secular young men. Pechorin is an officer. He serves, but is not served. Does not study music, does not study philosophy or military affairs. But we cannot but see that Pechorin is head and shoulders above the people around him, that he is smart, educated, talented, brave, energetic. We are repelled by Pechorin's indifference to people, his inability to true love, to friendship, his individualism and egoism. But Pechorin captivates us with a thirst for life, a desire for the best, the ability to critically evaluate our actions. He is deeply unsympathetic to us by the "pathetic action", the waste of his strength, by the actions by which he brings suffering to other people. But we see that he himself suffers deeply.
The character of Pechorin is complex and contradictory. The hero of the novel says about himself: “There are two people in me: one lives in the full sense of the word, the other thinks and judges him…”. What are the reasons for this dichotomy? “I spoke the truth - they did not believe me: I began to deceive; knowing well the light and springs of society, I became skilled in the science of life ... ”- admits Pechorin. He learned to be secretive, vindictive, bilious, ambitious, became, in his words, a moral cripple.
Pechorin is an egoist. Belinsky also called Pushkin's Onegin "a suffering egoist" and "an unwilling egoist." The same can be said about Pechorin. Pechorin is characterized by disappointment in life, pessimism. He experiences a constant split spirit. In the socio-political conditions of the 30s of the 19th century, Pechorin cannot find a use for himself. He is wasted on petty adventures, exposes his forehead to Chechen bullets, seeks oblivion in love. But all this is just a search for some way out, just an attempt to unwind. He is haunted by boredom and the consciousness that such a life is not worth living.
Throughout the novel, Pechorin shows himself as a person who is accustomed to looking at “the suffering, joys of others only in relation to himself” - as “food” that supports his spiritual strength, it is on this path that he seeks consolation from the boredom that haunts him, tries to fill the emptiness of your existence. And yet Pechorin is a richly gifted nature. He has an analytical mind, his assessments of people and their actions are very accurate; he has a critical attitude not only to others, but also to himself. His diary is nothing but self-disclosure.
He is endowed with a warm heart, able to feel deeply (Bela's death, a date with Vera) and experience a lot, although he tries to hide emotional experiences under the guise of indifference. Indifference, callousness - a mask of self-defense.
Pechorin is still a strong-willed, strong, active person, “life forces” are dormant in his chest, he is capable of action. But all his actions carry not a positive, but a negative charge, all his activities are aimed not at creation, but at destruction. In this Pechorin is similar to the hero of the poem "Demon". Indeed, in his appearance (especially at the beginning of the novel) there is something demonic, unsolved. In all the short stories that Lermontov combined in the novel, Pechorin appears before us as the destroyer of the lives and destinies of other people: because of him, the Circassian Bela is deprived of shelter and dies, Maxim Maksimovich is disappointed in friendship, Mary and Vera suffer, Grushnitsky dies from his hand, “honest smugglers” are forced to leave their home, a young officer Vulich dies.
The image of Pechorin is the image of a complex, restless person who has not found himself; a person with great potential, but not able, nevertheless, to realize it. Lermontov himself emphasized that in the image of Pechorin, a portrait was given not of one person, but of an artistic type that absorbed the features of a whole generation of young people at the beginning of the century.
Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov did not think of his hero as a role model.
He emphasized that Pechorin is a collective image, and not a specific person.
This is a certain type, reflecting the characteristic features of the younger generation of the beginning of the century before last.
How does the reader see Pechorin?
A Hero of Our Time depicts a young man experiencing mental anguish due to restlessness, in deep loneliness looking for the meaning of his own existence and his destiny. Pechorin does not want to choose the beaten paths characteristic of the youth of high society.
He is an officer who serves, and does not try to curry favor. He does not play music, is not interested in philosophical teachings, does not study military art. At the same time, it is obvious to the reader that he is well educated, not devoid of talents, energetic and courageous.
Pechorin is endowed with such negative qualities as selfishness, indifference to other people, inability to sincerely love and be friends. At the same time, he is attractive in his own way: life boils in him, the hero craves it, strives for the best, objectively, even with a share of healthy self-criticism, evaluates himself. But his actions are petty and insignificant, he brings suffering to everyone around him, which does not arouse the reader's sympathy, but the hero himself suffers from these shortcomings. He is an extremely controversial person.
Pechorin knows how to be closed and ambitious, he remembers the harm done for a long time. He claims to have become a moral cripple. Not only Pushkin's Onegin, but also Lermontov's character can be safely called "an unwilling egoist" (V. G. Belinsky).
Contradictions of the character of the protagonist
Pechorin constantly feels his split. In the social and political situation that prevailed in the first half of the 19th century, he cannot realize himself. He spends his life on meaningless adventures, goes to the Caucasus, tempting his fate by participating in the war, makes attempts to forget about his troubles next to beautiful women. But everything he does does not bring results, becoming only a way to distract from problems.
It is followed inseparably by the blues and the understanding that such a life is not worth anything. Throughout the story, Pechorin considers the suffering and tragedies of those around him as an opportunity to support his own spiritual strength, only this allows him to temporarily forget about the incessant longing, to fill the void of a meaningless life. At the same time, the main character of the work is a richly gifted person.
Pechorin has an analytical mindset, he absolutely correctly evaluates people, their actions and motives; he knows how to critically evaluate not only his environment, but also himself. His diary entries are a real self-exposure.
Pechorin is capable of strong feelings (for example, after the death of Bela or during a meeting with Vera), hides deep emotional upheavals under the guise of indifference and callousness, which he wears as protection. He is able to act, being a strong-willed person, but his decisions and actions bring only destruction.
The similarity of Pechorin with the hero of the poem "Demon"
The destructive nature of Pechorin's actions makes him look like the hero of the poem "The Demon", also written by Lermontov. Even in his appearance, something demonic and mysterious is seen.
Pechorin appears as a true destroyer who plays with the fate of the people around him: the death of the beautiful Circassian Bela, the disappointment of Maxim Maksimovich, the pain of Mary and Vera, the tragic death of Grushnitsky and officer Vulich, even the smugglers leave their home through his fault.
V. G. Belinsky believed that the hero has a “transitional state of mind”, when the old is already completely lost, and the new has not appeared. Man has only the probability of receiving something genuine in the distant future.
M. Yu. Lermontov began work on his work as early as 1838. Two years later, the first publication of the novel came out, in which he no longer fantasized about what life is and what it is like. Mikhail Lermontov described her as he saw in reality.
The main questions posed by the author in the novel
Any work of art is always a lot of problems. The novel by M. Yu. Lermontov is no exception. The poet tries to answer timeless questions that concern people from era to era: what is the meaning of life for a person, happiness, good and evil, dignity and honor, what place does love and friendship take. The themes dictated by the time in which the author and his hero live are very important: the destiny of man, freedom of choice, individualism. All this defines the problematics of the "Hero of Our Time".
How can we, readers, determine the range of the main questions of a brilliant work, which of the characters will surely help us to identify them? Main character. In A Hero of Our Time, the problems of the novel are “highlighted” precisely in the character of Pechorin, simultaneously reflecting both the personality of Lermontov himself and his worldview.
Philosophical problems in the novel "A Hero of Our Time"
"Why did I live? for what purpose was I born? - Pechorin asks this question and cannot find an answer. The futility of existence burdens the hero, vegetating is not suitable for a young man who feels "immense forces in his soul."
Trying to plunge into the fullness of life, Pechorin unwittingly becomes the culprit of the destruction of the destinies of various people. Bela dies, whose fate is broken for the sake of selfishness, the whim of Pechorin. Maxim Maksimych is offended by the callousness of his friend. "Honest smugglers" are forced to hide, the fate of the old woman and the blind man is unknown. “Yes, and what do I care about human joys and misfortunes! ..” - and in this exclamation Pechorin's individualism becomes especially understandable. We, the readers, follow how inventively tempts Grigory Mary, having no serious intentions, how he acts in relation to Grushnitsky, how he enjoys undivided power over Vera ...
“I weigh, analyze my own passions and actions with strict curiosity, but without participation. There are two people in me: one lives in the full sense of the word, the other thinks and judges him ... ”, - reading the lines of the magazine, we understand that individualism is a life program, the main driving force of Pechorin’s character, he is aware of what is happening . Longing for the “high purpose” that he could not “guess”, the protagonist of the novel analyzes his actions, deeds, moods. “I look at the sufferings and joys of others only in relation to myself, as food that supports my spiritual strength.”
The problematics of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" includes both the problem of the predestination of human destiny and the question of the origins of the individualism of the Lermontov generation. Where does Pechorin's individualism originate?
In the bet proposed by Lieutenant Vulich, the question was decided, "can a person arbitrarily dispose of his life." Pechorin, who claims that "there is no predestination," involuntarily changes his mind after the shot - too "the evidence was striking." But he immediately stops himself in this faith, remembering that he has "the rule not to reject anything decisively and not to trust anything blindly." And later, tempting fate and endangering life, he sneers at human beliefs. And, as if challenging blind beliefs that deprive a person of freedom, true, inner freedom, he clearly indicates his true worldview: I know what awaits me…”
The meaning of life, the purpose of man, freedom of choice, individualism - these philosophical problems in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" were for the first time so clearly and precisely formulated by the poet, it is for this reason that Lermontov's work became the first philosophical novel of Russian literature of the 19th century.
The problem of happiness in "A Hero of Our Time"
Pechorin's whole life is in search of a clue to human happiness. With interest, he conducts a conversation with an undine singing his wonderful song, but the ease of relating to happiness is not for Pechorin. “Where it is sung, there one is happy”, “where it will not be better, it will be worse there, and again it is not far from bad to good”, - Gregory does not accept such a philosophy.
“What is happiness? Saturated pride,” he writes in the magazine. It would seem that the hero has everything to satiate his pride: they obey his will and love the people with whom fate brings. Faith loves faithfully, Mary is captivated by his charm and perseverance, is happy to be friends with Grigory Werner, Maxim Maksimych is attached to Pechorin, like a son.
Faced with completely different characters, Pechorin continuously tries to satiate his pride, but there is no happiness, instead of him time after time comes boredom and fatigue from life.
Among philosophical problems, the problem of happiness in A Hero of Our Time occupies an important place.
Moral problems in the novel "A Hero of Our Time"
Not only philosophical, but also moral problems in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" are very significant. Lermontov writes “The History of the Human Soul”, therefore on the pages of the work we observe how Pechorin solves for himself the issues of good and evil, freedom of choice, responsibility, as he reflects on the possibility and place in his own life of love and friendship.
The love that Gregory longs for and strives for is incomprehensible to him. His love “brought happiness to no one”, because he loved “for his own pleasure”, simply absorbing the feelings and sufferings of people, not being saturated with them and giving nothing in return. Stories with Bela and Mary are a vivid confirmation of this.
Analyzing the ability for friendship, Pechorin concludes that he is “incapable of it either: of two friends, one is always the slave of the other,” he does not know how to be a slave, and considers managing others to be tedious work that requires deception. Having become a friend with Dr. Werner, Pechorin will never be able or will not want to let him into his inner world - he does not trust anyone.
In the soul of the protagonist, only fatigue, in his opinion, exhausted and “the heat of the soul, and the constancy of will necessary for real life; I entered this life, having already experienced it mentally, and I became bored and disgusted.
The modernity of the problems of the novel
We, the readers, do not accept much in the character of Pechorin, we simply cannot understand even more. It makes no sense to accuse the hero of selfishness and individualism, that he wasted his life on empty passions and whims. Yes, the main character is like that, but is it an accident or the author's intention?
It is worth re-reading the preface of Lermontov himself to the novel, and finding the lines: “Enough people were fed with sweets ... bitter medicines, caustic truths are needed.” Pechorin is sincere in his skepticism, he does not put himself above everyone else, but genuinely suffers from the fact that he sees no way out, cannot find the ideal. He looked so deeply and explored his own soul that he does not feed on illusions, but courageously sees himself as he is. But without this, development and progress are impossible. Being a man of his time, he reflects the path that his generation had to take - to discard romantic illusions, insincere ideals, to learn a sober look at reality and himself, so that future generations can go further, seeing ideals and goals.
“You will tell me again that a person cannot be so bad, but I will tell you that if you believed the possibility of the existence of all tragic and romantic villains, why do you not believe in the reality of Pechorin? more truth than you would like?" Here it is, bitter medicine - Pechorin, whose worldview turns out to be a cleansing step into the future. The poet is right, morality wins from "caustic truths".
Philosophical and moral - these are the main problems raised in the "Hero of Our Time". They make us, readers, think about our own purpose in life, about the complex relationship between the world and man, they make this work alive, modern at any time and era.
Artwork test
Pechorin is an ambiguous personality
The image of Pechorin in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" by Lermontov is an ambiguous image. It cannot be called positive, but it is not negative either. Many of his actions are worthy of condemnation, but it is also important to understand the motives of his behavior before making an assessment. The author called Pechorin a hero of his time, not because he recommended to be equal to him, and not because he wanted to ridicule him. He simply showed a portrait of a typical representative of that generation - an "extra person" - so that everyone could see what the social structure that disfigures the personality leads to.
Qualities of Pechorin
Knowledge of people
Can such a quality of Pechorin as an understanding of the psychology of people, the motives of their actions, be called bad? Another thing is that he uses it for other purposes. Instead of doing good, helping others, he plays with them, and these games, as a rule, end tragically. This was the end of the story with the mountain girl Bela, whom Pechorin persuaded her brother to steal. Having achieved the love of a freedom-loving girl, he lost interest in her, and soon Bela fell victim to the vengeful Kazbich.
Playing with Princess Mary also did not lead to anything good. Pechorin's intervention in her relationship with Grushnitsky resulted in a broken heart of the princess and death in a duel by Grushnitsky.
Ability to analyze
Pechorin demonstrates a brilliant ability to analyze in a conversation with Dr. Werner (chapter "Princess Mary"). He absolutely logically calculates that Princess Ligovskaya was interested in him, and not her daughter Mary. “You have a great gift for thinking,” Werner notes. However, this gift again does not find a worthy application. Pechorin, perhaps, could make scientific discoveries, but he was disappointed in the study of sciences, because he saw that no one needed knowledge in his society.
Independence from the opinions of others
The description of Pechorin in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" gives many a reason to accuse him of spiritual callousness. It would seem that he acted badly towards his old friend Maxim Maksimych. Upon learning that his colleague, with whom they ate more than one pood of salt together, stopped in the same city, Pechorin did not rush to meet him. Maksim Maksimych was very upset and offended by him. However, Pechorin is to blame, in fact, only for not living up to the old man's expectations. "Am I not the same?" - he reminded, nevertheless embracing Maxim Maksimych in a friendly way. Indeed, Pechorin never tries to portray himself as someone he is not, just to please others. He prefers to be rather than seem, always honest in the manifestation of his feelings, and from this point of view, his behavior deserves all approval. He also does not care what others say about him - Pechorin always does as he sees fit. In modern conditions, such qualities would be invaluable and would help him quickly achieve his goal, to fully realize himself.
Bravery
Courage and fearlessness are character traits due to which one could say “Pechorin is the hero of our time” without any ambiguity. They also appear on the hunt (Maxim Maksimych witnessed how Pechorin “went on a boar one on one”), and in a duel (he was not afraid to shoot with Grushnitsky on conditions that were obviously losing for him), and in a situation where it was necessary to pacify the raging drunken Cossack (chapter "Fatalist"). “... nothing will happen worse than death - and you can’t escape death,” Pechorin believes, and this conviction allows him to move forward more boldly. However, even the mortal danger that he faced daily in the Caucasian War did not help him cope with boredom: he quickly got used to the buzz of Chechen bullets. Obviously, military service was not his vocation, and therefore Pechorin's brilliant abilities in this area did not find further application. He decided to travel in the hope of finding a remedy for boredom "through storms and bad roads."
pride
Pechorin cannot be called conceited, greedy for praise, but he is proud enough. He is very hurt if a woman does not consider him the best and prefers another. And he strives by all means, by any means, to win her attention. This happened in the situation with Princess Mary, who at first liked Grushnitsky. From the analysis of Pechorin, which he himself does in his journal, it follows that it was important for him not so much to achieve the love of this girl as to recapture her from a competitor. “I also confess that an unpleasant, but familiar feeling ran lightly at that moment through my heart; this feeling - it was envy ... it is unlikely that there will be a young man who, having met a pretty woman who riveted his idle attention and suddenly clearly distinguishes another, who is equally unfamiliar to her, I say, there is hardly such a young man (of course, who lived in high society and accustomed to indulge his vanity), who would not be unpleasantly struck by this.
Pechorin loves to achieve victory in everything. He managed to switch Mary's interest to his own person, make the proud Bela his mistress, get a secret date from Vera, and outplay Grushnitsky in a duel. If he had a worthy cause, this desire to be the first would allow him to achieve tremendous success. But he has to give vent to his leadership in such a strange and destructive way.
selfishness
In the essay on the topic “Pechorin - the hero of our time”, one cannot fail to mention such a trait of his character as selfishness. He does not really care about the feelings and fates of other people who have become hostages of his whims, for him only the satisfaction of his own needs matters. Pechorin did not even spare Vera, the only woman whom he believed he really loved. He put her reputation at risk by visiting her at night in the absence of her husband. A vivid illustration of his dismissive, selfish attitude is his beloved horse, driven by him, who did not manage to catch up with the carriage with the departed Vera. On the way to Essentuki, Pechorin saw that “instead of a saddle, two ravens were sitting on his back.” Moreover, Pechorin sometimes enjoys the suffering of others. He imagines how Mary, after his incomprehensible behavior, "will spend the night without sleep and will cry", and this thought gives him "immense pleasure". “There are moments when I understand the Vampire…” he admits.
Pechorin's behavior is the result of the influence of circumstances
But can this bad character trait be called innate? Is Pechorin flawed from the very beginning, or was the living conditions made him so? Here is what he himself told Princess Mary: “... such was my fate from childhood. Everyone read on my face signs of bad feelings, which were not there; but they were supposed - and they were born. I was modest - I was accused of slyness: I became secretive ... I was ready to love the whole world - no one understood me: and I learned to hate ... I spoke the truth - they did not believe me: I began to deceive ... I became a moral cripple.
Finding himself in an environment that does not correspond to his inner essence, Pechorin is forced to break himself, to become what he is not in reality. This is where this internal inconsistency comes from, which left its mark on his appearance. The author of the novel draws a portrait of Pechorin: laughter with non-laughing eyes, a daring and at the same time indifferently calm look, a straight frame, limp, like a Balzac young lady, when he sat down on a bench, and other "inconsistencies".
Pechorin himself realizes that he makes an ambiguous impression: “Some revere me worse, others better than I really am ... Some will say: he was a kind fellow, others a bastard. Both will be false." But the truth is that under the influence of external circumstances, his personality has undergone such complex and ugly deformations that it is no longer possible to separate the bad from the good, the real from the false.
In the novel A Hero of Our Time, the image of Pechorin is a moral, psychological portrait of a whole generation. How many of its representatives, having not found a response in the surrounding “soul to wonderful impulses”, were forced to adapt, become the same as everyone around, or die. The author of the novel, Mikhail Lermontov, whose life ended tragically and prematurely, was one of them.
Artwork test
based on the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time"
Indifference and responsiveness.
Why is indifference dangerous?
Indifference is a feeling that can manifest itself not only in relation to other people, but also to life in general. Pechorin, the central character of The Hero of Our Time, is shown by M.Yu. Lermontov as a person who does not see the joys of life. He is bored all the time, he quickly loses interest in people and places, so the main goal of his life is the search for "adventure". His life is an endless attempt to feel at least something. According to the well-known literary critic Belinsky, Pechorin "is furiously chasing life, looking for it everywhere." His indifference reaches the point of absurdity, turning into indifference to himself. According to Pechorin himself, his life "is becoming emptier day by day." He sacrifices his life in vain, embarks on adventures that do no good to anyone. On the example of this hero, one can see that indifference spreads in the soul of a person, like a dangerous disease. It leads to sad consequences and broken destinies of both those around and the most indifferent person. An indifferent person cannot be happy, because his heart is not capable of loving people.
Purpose and means.
What means can not be used to achieve the goal?
Sometimes, in order to achieve their goals, people forget about the means that they choose on the way to what they want. So, one of the characters in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" Azamat wanted to get a horse that belonged to Kazbich. He was ready to offer everything that he had and what he did not own. The desire to get Karagoz won over all the feelings that were in him. Azamat, in order to achieve his goal, betrayed his family: he sold his sister to get what he wanted, fled from home, fearing punishment. His betrayal resulted in the death of his father and sister. Azamat, despite the consequences, destroyed everything that was dear to him in order to get what he so passionately desired. On his example, you can see that not all means are good for achieving the goal.
The relationship between ends and means.
The ratio of goals and means can be found on the pages of M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time". Trying to achieve the goal, people sometimes do not understand that not all means will help them in this. One of the characters in the novel A Hero of Our Time, Grushnitsky, longed to be recognized. He sincerely believed that the position and money would help him in this. In the service, he was looking for a promotion, believing that this would solve his problems, attract the girl he was in love with. His dreams were not destined to come true, because true respect and recognition are not connected with money. The girl he sought preferred another, because love has nothing to do with social recognition and status.
What are false goals?
When a person sets false goals for himself, their achievement does not bring satisfaction. The central character of the novel A Hero of Our Time, Pechorin, set himself various goals all his life, hoping that their achievement would bring him joy. He falls in love with the women he likes. Using all means, he wins their hearts, but later loses interest. So, becoming interested in Bela, he decides to steal her, and then achieve the location of a wild Circassian. However, having reached the goal, Pechorin begins to get bored, her love does not bring him happiness. In the chapter "Taman" he meets a strange girl and a blind boy who are involved in smuggling. In an effort to find out their secret, he does not sleep for days and watches them. His excitement is fueled by a sense of danger, but on the way to achieving the goal, he changes people's lives. Being exposed, the girl is forced to flee and leave the blind boy and the elderly woman to fend for themselves. Pechorin does not set himself true goals, he only strives to dispel boredom, which not only leads him to disappointment, but also breaks the fate of people who are on his way.
