Pechorin and the “water society” in the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "Hero of Our Time".
Pyatigorsk, Elisaveta spring, where it gathers " water society". Walking along the boulevard, Pechorin meets "most of the family of steppe landowners", who followed him with their gazes "with tender curiosity", but, "recognizing the army epaulettes ... turned away indignantly." Local ladies are more favorable, they are "accustomed to meeting under a numbered button, an ardent heart and an educated mind under a white cap. These ladies are very nice; and sweet for a long time!"
Pechorin overtakes a crowd of men who “form a special class of people among those who are waiting for the movement of water. They drink - but not water, they walk a little, they dangle only in passing; they play and complain about boredom. They are dandies: lowering their braided glass into a well of sour sulfur water, they take academic poses..."
Lermontov described these snobs extremely accurately and sarcastically. And it was no coincidence that he assembled a real “hospital” on the waters: Mary is being treated for something, Grushnitsky and Werner are lame, the smuggler girl behaves like crazy, the boy is blind, Vera is terminally ill... Among With them, Pechorin becomes a “moral cripple”, devoid of ordinary human feelings.
Criticism greeted the new work ambiguously: a heated controversy ensued. Along with the stormy enthusiasm of Belinsky, who called Lermontov’s novel a work of “a completely new world of art,” who saw in it “a deep knowledge of the human heart and modern society“, “richness of content and originality,” the press heard the voices of critics who absolutely did not accept the novel. One of Lermontov’s most ardent opponents, a certain A.S. Burachok, argued that the image of the novel’s protagonist is “aesthetic and psychological absurdity,” and in the work itself “there are no traces of Russian folk philosophy or religiosity.” But no matter how we evaluate the novel, one cannot fail to note the skill with which Lermontov wrote out his main character. Throughout the entire work, the author strives to reveal it as fully as possible. inner world Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin. The compositional complexity of the novel is inextricably linked with the psychological complexity of the image of the main character, and the panopticon of the “water society” helps to reveal this image more deeply.
The hero's inner world is revealed most fully and deeply in the chapter "Princess Mary". The plot here is Pechorin’s meeting with Grushnitsky, a familiar cadet. And then Pechorin’s next “experiment” begins. The hero’s whole life is a chain of experiments on himself and other people. Its goal is to comprehend the truth, human nature, evil, good, love. This is exactly what happens in the case of Grushnitsky. Why is the young cadet so unpleasant to Pechorin? As we see, Grushnitsky is by no means a villain worth fighting. This is the most ordinary young man, dreaming of love and stars on his uniform. He is mediocre, but he has one weakness that is quite forgivable at his age - “draping himself into extraordinary feelings”, “passion to recite”. He strives to play the role of the Byronic disappointed hero, fashionable among young men, “a creature doomed to some kind of secret suffering.” Of course, the reader understands that this is a parody of Pechorin! That is why Pechorin hates him so much. Grushnitsky, as a narrow-minded person, does not understand Pechorin’s attitude towards him, does not suspect that he has already started a kind of game. At first, Pechorin even evokes a certain condescending feeling in Grushnitsky, since this young man is self-confident and seems to himself to be very insightful and significant person“I feel sorry for you, Pechorin,” this is how he speaks at the beginning of the novel. But events develop the way Pechorin wants it; Mary falls in love with him, forgetting about Grushnitsky. Overwhelmed by jealousy, indignation, and then hatred, the cadet suddenly reveals himself to us from a completely different side. He turns out to be not so harmless. He becomes vindictive, and then dishonest. , vile One who recently dressed up as nobility is today capable of shooting at an unarmed person. Pechorin’s experiment was a success.” Here the “demonic” property of his nature to “sow evil” manifested itself with full force greatest art During the duel, Pechorin again tests fate, calmly standing face to face with death. Then he offers Grushnitsky reconciliation. But the situation is already irreversible, and Grushnitsky dies, having drunk the cup of shame, repentance and hatred to the end.
Pechorin and the “water society” in M.Yu. Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time.”
You lose your self-esteem when you see deserved people around you; loneliness instills arrogance. Young people
arrogant because they are surrounded by their own kind, who are all nothing but would like to have
great importance.
(F. Nietzsche.)
Lermontov was only 24 years old when he worked on the novel “A Hero of Our Time,” but how deeply and how subtly he
I already felt life. Lermontov finds a new compositional solution for his work, he does not adhere to
chronological sequence for him important task is to reveal the image of the hero, his psychology, as well as
reasons contributing to the formation of Pechorin’s personality. In the first part of the novel we see only the actions of the hero, but we do not see
their motives, so the hero becomes more and more mysterious. With each story the hero gets closer to us, the author leads us to the solution, and
Only in the second part does the fog begin to clear.
The second part of the novel begins with the story “Princess Mary”, based on the diary entries of the main character. Tenth of May
Pechorin arrives in Pyatigorsk. The action begins with a description of a beautiful landscape that conveys feelings, thoughts, and
the spiritual world of the hero, and with this the author seems to intensify events. We see a hero who is quite cheerful, sensitive
the beauty of nature. “However, it’s time,” says Pechorin, and with him the author returns us to “real” events. Hero
goes to the Elisabeth spring, where the “water society” gathers. Pechorin is already skeptical, he
notices all the little details of the attire of passers-by and immediately gives an accurate description of those he meets. He sees several "sad
groups" also belonging to the "water society", who indignantly turned away from him as soon as they saw the army
Epaulets. Pechorin meets another group of men, but already part of a different class (military class), who dream of
capital's living rooms. Pechorin does not consider himself to be in this class!
he symbolically overtakes them, although in essence there is something of them in him, but he does not set such low goals for himself,
he strives for the best, he considers himself above everyone. Pechorin quite briefly described the first meeting with the “water society”,
however, it is very meaningful and sufficient to understand his attitude; although the features of society are outlined by him very
conclusively, but still completely agree with him - means to be “stunned” by his eloquent speech and completely not
understand what the “water society” is, what is the meaning of life of its representatives, what place does it occupy?
Pechorin is among them, and, in general, is he as far from this society as it seems to us. We learn that the "water society"
made up mainly of landowner families and military personnel. They lead a normal life, a little boring, monotonous,
vague and inexpressive, which is why the hero called this society water, because of the similarity of properties.
Pechorin meets Grushnitsky, an old friend of his, and immediately gives him an accurate portrait, slightly ironically, and then completely
ready to reveal all his vulgar traits, and the most important thing is that he already knows his future, he knows all the “weak strings”
people and skillfully uses them, unlike Dr. Werner, which increasingly emphasizes his individualism and selfishness.
Grushnitsky conducts a quite sensible dialogue with the hero, which hurts Pechorin’s pride: Grushnitsky speaks almost in his words,
then Pechorin easily enters into his “role” (of course, this role is not the essence of his life, but how often does he have to play it
resort out of envy or contempt) and grins at him, teases him, describing Princess Mary, and immediately imitates
Grushnitsky, imitating his tone. But this is not enough for him, he is not satisfied with himself, for him this is a rare opportunity to calm down his
boredom. By his actions, he simply wastes his strength and brings suffering to other people. But we know that he
he himself suffers deeply. Pechorin is very self-critical oh!
treats himself, which elevates him in the eyes of the reader. The character of the hero is not so much complex as contradictory and
ambiguous: sad is funny to him, funny is sad. Pechorin does not want to bother himself with memories, he does not want
to live in the past, he lives in the present, but when he learns about Vera’s arrival, a second Pechorin appears before us. His feelings
are struggling with reason (this is evidenced by the internal monologue that the hero conducts, feeling terrible sadness), but this
just a spiritual impulse. And yet, finding himself in the next conditions of existence, Pechorin plays his own game, with participants
which they become: Grushnitsky, Mary, Princess Ligovskaya, Vera and her husband Semyon Vasilyevich - those same representatives
“water society”, who became “victims” of Pechorin. Although Grushnitsky is not ideal, he is attractive and sympathetic to us
while he wears a soldier's overcoat, while he is not yet completely overcome by pride. He believes in his happiness with Mary, thereby he
more like romance, but the means by which he!
is going to achieve his goal, they only humiliate him, and he becomes insignificant. He is promoted to officer and merges with
a crowd, a crowd of fans of the princess, so little by little the society grows more and more and attracts more and more
others, but it is not this fact that is terrible, but the fact that this “faceless” society simply and aimlessly exists. New on Grushnitsky
uniform, new epaulettes and this makes him arrogant. Mary is not stupid, young, pretty, she, of course, is not calculating
and doesn’t really understand people, but that doesn’t make her any less romantic and attractive. She has a feeling
compassion for all the unfortunate and sees his happiness in the happiness of his beloved. Yes, she is capable of "deep"
feeling and this sets her apart from others, but if you think further, I am sure you will agree that she is just a child
this society. Having achieved her goal, she will immediately merge with this society.
Pechorin is also unhappy and he personally speaks about this in his confession to Mary: “Everyone read on my face the signs of bad things.”
properties - and they were born. I was modest - I was accused of guile: I became secretive. I felt good and evil deeply;
no one caressed me, everyone insulted me: I felt superior to them - they put me lower. I became envious. I was ready
to love the whole world, my youth passed in a struggle with myself and the world... I became a moral cripple: one half of my soul
did not exist, it dried up, deteriorated, died, I cut it off and threw it away... another lived at the service of everyone.” Pechorin takes
power over Mary, uses her simply as a weapon against Grushnitsky, but with this he also pursues another goal - to him
he needs Vera, whom he still loves. Pechorin sees food in the suffering of others, he cannot live differently, he does not
capable of sacrificing himself, he does not intend to bow to anyone, his Vital energy does not find application
in this life, among this society, and why!
hurts those around him. Grushnitsky dies in a duel with him. For Pechorin, this is just an experiment, while he
completely indifferent to his life... Mary’s hopes for love fail: Pechorin explains himself rather coldly to her and
leaves, and Mary’s tragedy is the same tragedy for the princess. Pechorin interferes in Vera's life and, perhaps, destroyed
would have been her if she had not left. He controls the destinies of people, he crosses the boundaries of good and evil.
The author does not give his assessment of either Pechorin or the “water society”. “The disease is indicated, but how to cure it is God’s
knows,” Lermontov will say in the preface, which was written after the entire novel. And what if Pechorin - “this is a portrait,
made up of the vices of our generation,” then perhaps “water society” is a portrait made up of our
ideas about happy life? Then we need to change our outlook on life; “many are stubborn about times
the chosen path, few - in relation to the goal." So Pechorin is always in action, he is looking for the meaning of life, his energy is not
finds applications, he is overwhelmed with ideas, and “the one in whose head more ideas were born, he acts more than others...”. A
The “water society” is inactive. Let us remember the words of Lermontov (“Duma”):
Crowd gloomy and soon forgotten
We will pass over the world without noise or trace,
Without giving up the centuries a single fertile thought,
Not the genius of the work begun...
Pyatigorsk, Elisavetinsky spring, where the “water society” gathers. Walking along the boulevard, Pechorin meets “most of the family of steppe landowners,” who followed him with their gazes “with tender curiosity,” but “on recognizing the army epaulettes... they turned away indignantly.” Local ladies are more favorable, they “are accustomed in the Caucasus to meet an ardent heart under a numbered button and an educated mind under a white cap. These ladies are very nice; and have been sweet for a long time!”
Pechorin overtakes a crowd of men who “constitute a special class of people among those who expect the movement of water. They drink - but not water, they walk a little, they drag around only in passing; they play and complain about boredom. They are dandies: lowering their braided glass into a well of sour sulfur water, they assume academic poses...”
Lermontov's description of these snobs is extremely apt and caustic. And it is no coincidence that he assembles a real “hospital” on the waters: Mary is being treated for something, Grushnitsky and Werner are lame, the smuggler girl behaves like crazy, the boy is blind, Vera is terminally ill... Among them, Pechorin becomes a “moral cripple” devoid of ordinary human feelings.
Criticism greeted the new work ambiguously: a heated controversy ensued. Along with the stormy enthusiasm of Belinsky, who called Lermontov’s novel a work that represents “absolutely new world art”, who saw in it “a deep knowledge of the human heart and modern society”, “richness of content and originality”, the voices of critics were heard in the press who absolutely did not accept the novel. One of Lermontov’s most ardent opponents, a certain A. S. Burachok, argued that the image of the main character of the novel is “aesthetic and psychological absurdity,” and in the work itself there are “no traces of philosophy, Russian folk religiosity.” But no matter how we evaluate the novel, one cannot fail to note the skill with which Lermontov wrote his main character. Throughout the entire work, the author strives to reveal the inner world of his hero, Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, as fully as possible. The compositional complexity of the novel is inextricably linked with the psychological complexity of the image of the main character, and the panopticon of the “water society” helps to reveal this image more deeply.
The hero’s inner world is revealed most fully and deeply in the chapter “Princess Mary”. The plot here is Pechorin’s meeting with Grushnitsky, a familiar cadet. And then Pechorin’s next “experiment” begins. The hero's entire life is a chain of experiments on himself and other people. Its goal is to comprehend the truth, human nature, evil, good, love. This is exactly what happens in the case of Grushnitsky. Why is the young cadet so unpleasant to Pechorin?
As we see, Grushnitsky is by no means a villain worth fighting. This is the most ordinary young man, dreaming of love and stars on his uniform. He is mediocre, but he has one weakness that is quite forgivable at his age - “draping himself into extraordinary feelings”, “passion to recite”. He strives to play the role of the Byronic disappointed hero, fashionable among young men, “a creature doomed to some kind of secret suffering.” Of course, the reader understands that this is a parody of Pechorin! That is why Pechorin hates him so much. Grushnitsky, as a narrow-minded person, does not understand Pechorin’s attitude towards him, does not suspect that he has already started a kind of game. At first, Pechorin even evokes a certain condescending feeling in Grushnitsky, since this young man is self-confident and seems to himself to be a very insightful and significant person. “I feel sorry for you, Pechorin” - this is how he talks at the beginning of the novel. But events are developing the way Pechorin wants them. Mary falls in love with him, forgetting about Grushnitsky. Overwhelmed by jealousy, indignation, and then hatred, the cadet suddenly reveals himself to us from a completely different side. He turns out to be not so harmless at all. He is capable of being vindictive, and then dishonest and vile. Someone who recently dressed up as nobility is today capable of shooting at an unarmed person. Pechorin's experiment was a success! Here the “demonic” properties of his nature manifested themselves in full force: “sowing evil” with the greatest skill. During the duel, Pechorin again tempts fate, calmly standing face to face with death. Then he offers Grushnitsky reconciliation. But the situation is already irreversible, and Grushnitsky dies, having drunk the cup of shame, repentance and hatred to the end.
Roman M.Yu. Lermontov “Hero of Our Time” is one of best works Russian literature. This novel is on a par with such masterpieces as “Woe from Wit”, “Eugene Onegin”, “The Inspector General”. The novel was written in the era following the December uprising. At the center of the novel is a man who is superior in development to the society around him, but who does not know how to find use for his abilities. The author accurately brought out the image young man, personified in the work by Pechorin. This is a smart, well-educated young officer who serves in the Caucasus. He was tired of the social life that spoiled him. The hero suffers from his restlessness, in despair he asks himself the question: “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born? Pechorin is a typical hero of the time, the best representative of his era, but the price for this is his loneliness. In the first chapter of the novel, we see Pechorin through the eyes of Maksim Maksimych, an old officer: “He was a nice guy, just a little strange.” Maxim Maksimych himself is unable to understand the complex character of the hero whom he loves and considers his friend. In “Bela” the hero’s inconsistency is manifested. His character is complex. The hero himself says about himself: “There are two people in me: one lives in the literal sense of the word, and the other thinks and judges him...” In his words he hides the essence of his
character: his soul is “spoiled by light.” By nature, Pechorin is an egoist, we learn about this from the first story of the novel. This quality is manifested in love for Bela, as well as in the relationship with Mary. In the story “Maksim Maksimych” the author gives a portrait of Pechorin. Describing the hero's appearance, the author emphasizes his aristocratic origin. Pechorin is a representative secular society and lives by its laws. If in
Pechorin's first story is described by Maxim Maksimych, but here the narrator changes. “Itinerant officer: a subtle and observant man, draws psychological picture hero, notes the main thing about him: he is entirely woven from contradictions and contrasts. “His figure and broad shoulders proved his strong build,” and there was something childish in his smile, some kind of nervous weakness”; "despite White color his hair, mustache and eyebrows were black.” Special attention is given to the description of the hero’s eyes: ...they didn’t laugh when he laughed! Because of their half-lowered eyelashes, they shone with some kind of phosphorescent shine: it was a shine similar to the shine of smooth steel, dazzling, but cold.”
In “Princess Mary” we meet a person capable of introspection. Here Pechorin characterizes himself, he explains how his bad qualities were formed: ... this has been my fate since childhood! Everyone read on my face signs of bad qualities that were not there; but they were assumed - and they were born... I became secretive... I became vindictive..., I became envious, I learned to hate, I began to deceive, I became a moral cripple. He realizes that he has lived an empty and aimless life: “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born?” The hero does not see the meaning of life. This understanding of one’s purpose in life a few hours before possible death is the culmination of not only the story “Princess Mary”, but the entire novel.
Pechorin is a brave man, which was demonstrated in the duel. TO positive traits The hero can also be attributed to his ability to understand and feel people. Pechorin is an honest, decent person. Despite the unpleasant story of Princess Mary, Pechorin decides to tell the truth, although it was not easy. And in this episode his willpower was demonstrated. V.G. Belinsky compared Pechorin’s soul to heat-dried earth, which, after blessed rains, could give birth to beautiful flowers. The novel by M.Yu. Lermontov poses one of the problems - the inability of the people of this time to act, generated by their
own environment. Pechorin is a hero of his time. I think this is an honorary “title”, because the very word “hero” implies unusualness, exclusivity. In his novel, Lermontov managed to show not only the image of the hero, but also reveal the history of the human soul.”
The novel by M.Yu. Lermontov “The Hero of Our Time is an integral work, all parts of which are united by one hero, and his character is revealed from part to part gradually, revealed from external to internal, from effect to cause, from epic - through psychological - to philosophical . The novel was immediately ranked among the masterpieces of Russian literature.
“Hero of Our Time” was conceived by Lermontov as a work of acute social and psychological orientation.
But he could not help but touch upon the theme of society, which makes the novel social.
The “superfluous man” as a product of his era
Pechorin is included by many literary scholars in the category “ extra people", like Evgeny Onegin. The composition of the book was built in accordance with the goal that Lermontov tried to achieve - to understand the problems of the individual.
In the psychological chapter “Princess Mary,” the character of Grigory Pechorin comes into conflict with the “water society.” In this story we see how he relates specifically to this society and the whole world in general.
"Water Society" has become collectively typical representatives of the aristocratic circle of nobles. Their actions and their entire lives reflect the characteristics of that era. The struggle of the individual against the social environment is revealed not only in Pechorin’s character traits, but also in pictures of the life of the “water society”, in its specifics, in the description of its members.
Grigory contemptuously and demonstratively does not join society. From the outside it is easy for him to see how angry aristocrats are towards each other, how they envy, gossip, and commit meanness. All the life and customs that have developed among the inhabitants mineral resort, are built on the basis of history and traditions accepted in that circle.
"Water Society" - a mirror of that time
Almost all visitors to the resort are opposed to the main character, but there are also people there who are somewhat akin to him.
Grushnitsky was a distorted image of Pechorin. What is innate in Grigory, part of his character, in Grushnitsky became just posing, designed to attract attention and amaze others. With his desire for romance, he achieves the opposite effect - he becomes simply a caricature, a parody of the romantic hero.
Werner in this chapter became the only character comparable to Gregory. They are similar in their skeptical attitude towards people, similar in their intelligence. However, they have many differences. Werner has a passive attitude towards life, while Pechorin tries to experience all the pleasures and passions. Before the fight with Grushnitsky, Grigory calmly admires the landscape, and Werner is interested in whether he left a will.
All female images, drawn by Lermontov on the pages of his book, help to further reveal the character of the main character and show how he relates to love.
Separately, it is necessary to consider male characters in the “water society” - civilian and military. A special group consists of young people mineral waters. Before us appear people whose images were already depicted in their works by Pushkin and Griboedov. All the same passions are boiling here - the desire to achieve rank, admiration for money and titles, the same boring dance evenings, empty chatter, boredom and gossip.
Here it doesn’t even look like vices, but like a normal pastime. The only difference with Pushkin and Griboyedov is that Lermontov does not show elite capital, but provincial nobles who are trying with all their might to show that they are the same capital elite. The author skillfully uses irony, creating images of his characters and their surroundings.
The Water Society is not just a random backdrop for the main character. Questions of existence, problems of struggle and friendship of the individual, her relationships with other people became the author’s priority goal. He strives to show not a static individual, but a dynamically moving hero experiencing turbulent events.