Is evil really that attractive? To answer this question from Pechorin, we must first understand what evil means, and whether this concept can even carry something positive.
S. I. Ozhegov in his explanatory dictionary gives the following definitions of the word “evil”:
1. Something bad, harmful, the opposite of good.
2. Trouble, misfortune, trouble.
3. Annoyance, anger.
It is difficult to find anything attractive in these definitions. But does this mean that the answer to the question has been found? It is actually very difficult to challenge these definitions. But good and evil are very controversial concepts. And many philosophers, both ancient and modern, tried to solve the riddle of good and evil.
Anton Sandor LaVey wrote in one of his works: “It is high time for people to realize that without opposition, vitality fades away. However opposite has long been synonymous bad. Despite the abundance of sayings like “Variety is the spice of life,” “Everything is needed...”, “The grass is always greener on the other side...”, many people automatically view opposites as “evil.” (Not entirely correct translation from English language may obscure the meaning of the quote a little, but the essence should be clear.)
He wanted to say that evil in human understanding is not necessarily something harmful and bad; people often mistake for evil something that they do not understand, something unusual. The theory of relativity can be extended to the concepts of evil and good. For each human community, and perhaps for each human individual, these concepts can vary greatly. For example: in the Middle Ages, during the Inquisition, Christians carried out numerous bloody Crusades against pagan lands. With the goal of converting the “infidels” to Christianity or destroying them. And these atrocities, in a sense, were justified because paganism was evil for Christians. And Christians, in turn, were the most terrible evil for the pagans themselves.
And so, evil is something unusual and incomprehensible. Could it be attractive? Of course yes! Riddles have always attracted people. If we weren’t attracted to the unknown, we would still be living in caves like animals.
But can this interpretation of evil be applied to the work of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov “Hero of Our Time”?
Pechorin can undoubtedly be called an unusual person. He has a non-standard worldview. Pechorin calls himself a villain several times in his diary. He was very prudent in his relationships with friends and lovers. Cold-bloodedly and selfishly sorting all your own and other people's thoughts and feelings. He left no chance for true emotions to come out. “When I met a woman, I always unmistakably guessed whether she would love me or not...”
Having arrived to serve for the Terek, Pechorin meets Maxim Maximovich. This is an old staff captain, an honest and kind man, who has accumulated over the years a significant life experience. Maxim Maksimovich (one might say) sets him up with Bela. Bela is attracted to Pechorin by the integrity and naturalness of his nature. In “the love of a savage” he tries to find oblivion from his melancholy, but his insatiable heart could not live long with one feeling. Therefore, having stolen Bela, he exposes her to eternal suffering due to the death of her father. He soon became bored with her, like everything else at that time. He, unwillingly, makes her die. Pechorin brings suffering to all the people around him. And for this reason, he can also quite rightly call himself a villain.
He did not allow himself to fall in love because he was afraid that they might cheat on him and cause unbearable pain. And thus he deceived all women.
In the story with Mary, Pechorin, starting an intrigue, does not pursue any goal. Mary is young, proud, and trusting. But the fear of losing freedom forces the hero to suppress the nascent feeling.
Vera had a deep and long-standing feeling for Pechorin. "She the only woman in the world, which I am unable to deceive." Vera, better than anyone else, "penetrated all the secrets" of his soul. About Vera, Pechorin said: “Why does she love me so much, I really don’t know! ... Is evil really so attractive?..” It is because of her that he asks himself this question. I think that Vera loved him precisely for his “evil,” that is, for his unusualness. There is a type of woman like Vera, they are certainly attracted. men with whom they will never be happy. Relationships with these men are clearly evil for them. Having experienced the bitterness of disappointment, these women next time choose the same intensity of feelings, and, although short-lived, love with an unusual person is more attractive to them than measured ones. an established relationship with a reliable man.
Evil can actually be very attractive. But it can also be the other way around: sometimes people are afraid of what is unknown and incomprehensible to them, and fear, in turn, causes hostility or even hatred. This happened in Pechorin’s relationship with Grushnitsky. Pechorin spoke about Grushnitsky like this: “His goal is to become the hero of a novel. He tried so often to convince others that he was a being not created for the world, doomed to some kind of secret suffering, that he himself was almost convinced of it. ... I understood him, and he doesn’t love me for that, although outwardly we are on the most friendly terms. ... I don’t like him either: I feel that we will someday collide with him on a narrow road, and one of us will be in trouble.” They do not like each other, precisely because they cannot understand each other. Each sees the other as a rival. They have different life principles, and if one of them understood and agreed with the other’s worldview, perhaps they would become true friends.
To help 11th grade graduates
Sample of a final essay-reasoning on the topic “Is evil really so attractive?” (Based on one or more works by M.Yu. Lermontov)
“Is evil really so attractive?” Many heroes of the works of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov could utter these words. But the exclamation belongs to Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, the main character of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "Hero of Our Time". Some will agree with Pechorin’s opinion, others will refute it. What is evil in in a broad sense this word? Evil is something bad, harmful, the opposite of good. “Then how can it be attractive?” - you ask. It turns out, maybe, in the words of Pechorin himself. I'll try to prove my point.
Mentally turning over the pages of the novel, I come to the conclusion that evil, in some way, is Pechorin’s state of mind. It’s very cruel to the hero, but I think it’s true, because he really is a hero of his time. This is a “caustic truth”, according to the writer who pointed out the “disease” of the century. Why did this “disease” eat away at Pechorin’s soul? And why did evil become more attractive to him than virtue? It's very simple. Pechorin lived without faith, without purpose, without love. Although he once sincerely loved Vera, he brought her nothing but suffering. Vera was the only woman in his life who understood him completely, seeing “minor weaknesses” and “bad passions.” Pechorin was tormented by the question: why did she love him so much? “Is evil really so attractive?..” No! Pechorin understood well that “evil begets evil,” that he loves only himself, that he did not sacrifice anything for the sake of love, that he is vindictive and envious. He took pleasure in making others suffer, and suffered from this himself, calling this state of his soul “life.” He was incapable of noble impulses, was afraid of seeming ridiculous, was afraid of losing his freedom, and felt an insurmountable aversion to marriage. One day an old woman told fortunes to his mother and predicted his death from his EVIL wife. He was afraid of women and sometimes despised himself for this. Because of him, Bela died, he broke the heart of Princess Mary. A feeling of anger and offended pride guided him when he shot at Grushnitsky. He made everyone around him unhappy. He even offended the kind Maxim Maksimych. He had a stone on his heart. That is why critics of the time called him a “suffering egoist.” Why did he live? For what purpose was he born?
Faith in your farewell letter she confessed to him that she would not love anyone as much as he did, because there was something special, mysterious in him, that “in no one is evil so attractive, and no one can be so truly unhappy.” Faith penetrated all the secrets of his soul! Pechorin sincerely loved her for this, but he couldn’t find the strength in himself to fight for love! And why? His soul was filled with anger and sadness, he became a “moral cripple.”
It turns out that evil is not at all attractive! It makes a person deeply unhappy and leads to mental and physical death, which is what happened to Pechorin. Evil only breeds evil and does not lead to virtue. Which means it cannot be “attractive.” That is why Pechorin was a “superfluous man” in the gallery of images of Russian literature of the 19th century. I think so. I hope I answered the question posed.
On the topic: methodological developments, presentations and notes
Generalization of experience. G(I)A - 9th grade. Preparation for an essay-reasoning on a linguistic topic.
IN this material a description is given of the experience of teaching 9th grade students to write an essay-reasoning on a linguistic topic....
To help 11th grade graduates ( educational materials in preparation for the Unified State Exam in Russian)...
Essay on the topic “Is evil really so attractive?”
M. Yu. Lermontov was the first to speak publicly about the image of evil in Russian literature. Before him, dark forces could only be encountered in creativity foreign writers. However, even comparing M. Lermontov’s texts with foreign ones, one gets the feeling that he is not at all scolding evil, but rather justifying and even extolling it.
Turning to the images of Lermontov’s creativity, which display negative features, we still discover the author’s sympathy and sympathy for negative characters. This is Pechorin from the novel “A Hero of Our Time,” who sometimes commits base acts. But even more expressive in this regard is the image of the Demon from the poem of the same name. Why does the author take this position?
The answer lies in the author’s intention of the writer. The embodiment of evil for him was not at all as attractive as it might seem at first glance. On the contrary, Lermontov mourns the fallen angel, he is saddened by fate " extra person" He sincerely sympathizes with his heroes, despite the fact that society will inevitably condemn both the Demon and Pechorin.
The demon is the embodiment dark force. However, his behavior differs from that described in the Christian canons. Lermontov's hero is capable of love. It is love, according to the author, that can save humanity and snatch a soul in love from hell itself. The author sympathizes with the Demon, because he is inevitably lonely and will never be able to comprehend joy mutual love. He strives for beauty and goodness and cannot cope with the evil nature that already lives in him. By creating the image of the Spirit of Evil, which evokes sympathy, Lermontov thereby proved the power of beauty and the magnificence of a high ideal.
The image of Pechorin is very controversial. The author continually creates double situations around him. Intuitively wanting to find the features of a “hero” in his image, the reader is increasingly faced with his base actions: betrayal and meanness. But it is precisely these traits that make Pechorin a hero of his time. Lermontov sympathizes with his loneliness, his inability to truly love, to rejoice in the gifts that fate gives him. All this makes him superfluous in relation to his contemporary society.
Thus, endowing our negative heroes positive qualities, Lermontov is trying to convey to the reader that all evil is defeated, and one must strive to do good deeds. His heroes, quite in the spirit of romanticism, prove the beauty of good from the opposite. And in this - great power mastery of M. Yu. Lermontov.
Is evil really that attractive? To answer this question from Pechorin, we must first understand what evil means, and whether this concept can even carry something positive.
S. I. Ozhegov in his explanatory dictionary gives the following definitions of the word “evil”:
1. Something bad, harmful, the opposite of good.
2. Trouble, misfortune, trouble.
3. Annoyance, anger.
It is difficult to find anything attractive in these definitions. But does this mean that the answer to the question has been found? It is actually very difficult to challenge these definitions. But good and evil are very controversial concepts. And many philosophers, both ancient and modern, tried to solve the riddle of good and evil.
Anton Sandor LaVey wrote in one of his works: “It is high time for people to realize that without opposition, vitality fades away. However opposite has long been synonymous bad. Despite the abundance of sayings like “Variety is the spice of life”, “Everything is needed...”, “The grass is always greener on the other side...”, many people automatically view opposites as “evil.” (A not entirely correct translation from English may slightly obscure the meaning of the quote, but the essence should be clear.)
He wanted to say that evil in human understanding is not necessarily something harmful and bad; people often mistake for evil something that they do not understand, something unusual. The theory of relativity can be extended to the concepts of evil and good. For each human community, and perhaps for each human individual, these concepts can vary greatly. For example: in the Middle Ages, during the Inquisition, Christians carried out numerous bloody Crusades against pagan lands. With the goal of converting the “infidels” to Christianity or destroying them. And these atrocities, in a sense, were justified because paganism was evil for Christians. And Christians, in turn, were the most terrible evil for the pagans themselves.
And so, evil is something unusual and incomprehensible. Could it be attractive? Of course yes! Riddles have always attracted people. If we weren’t attracted to the unknown, we would still be living in caves like animals.
But can this interpretation of evil be applied to the work of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov “Hero of Our Time”?
Pechorin can undoubtedly be called an unusual person. He has a non-standard worldview. Pechorin calls himself a villain several times in his diary. He was very prudent in his relationships with friends and lovers. Cold-bloodedly and selfishly sorting all your own and other people's thoughts and feelings. He left no chance for true emotions to come out. “When I met a woman, I always unmistakably guessed whether she would love me or not...”
Having arrived to serve for the Terek, Pechorin meets Maxim Maximovich. This is an old staff captain, an honest and kind man who has accumulated significant life experience over the years. Maxim Maksimovich (one might say) sets him up with Bela. Bela is attracted to Pechorin by the integrity and naturalness of his nature. In “the love of a savage” he tries to find oblivion from his melancholy, but his insatiable heart could not live long with one feeling. Therefore, having stolen Bela, he exposes her to eternal suffering due to the death of her father. He soon became bored with her, like everything else at that time. He, unwillingly, makes her die. Pechorin brings suffering to all the people around him. And for this reason, he can also quite rightly call himself a villain.
He did not allow himself to fall in love because he was afraid that they might cheat on him and cause unbearable pain. And thus he deceived all women.
In the story with Mary, Pechorin, starting an intrigue, does not pursue any goal. Mary is young, proud, and trusting. But the fear of losing freedom forces the hero to suppress the nascent feeling.
Vera had a deep and long-standing feeling for Pechorin. “She is the only woman in the world whom I cannot deceive.” Faith, better than anyone else, “penetrated all the secrets” of his soul. About Vera Pechorin said: “Why does she love me so much, I really don’t know! ... Is evil really so attractive?..” It is because of her that he asks himself this question. I think that Vera loved him precisely for his “evil,” that is, for his unusualness. There is a type of woman like Vera; they are certainly attracted to men with whom they will never be happy. Relationships with these men are clearly evil for them. Having experienced the bitterness of disappointment, these women choose the same man next time. The brightness of feelings, and although short-lived love with an unusual person, is more attractive to them than a measured, established relationship with a reliable man.
Evil can actually be very attractive. But it can also be the other way around: sometimes people are afraid of what is unknown and incomprehensible to them, and fear, in turn, causes hostility or even hatred. This happened in Pechorin’s relationship with Grushnitsky. Pechorin spoke about Grushnitsky like this: “His goal is to become the hero of a novel. He tried so often to convince others that he was a being not created for the world, doomed to some kind of secret suffering, that he himself was almost convinced of it. ... I understood him, and he doesn’t love me for this, although outwardly we are on the most friendly terms. ... I don’t like him either: I feel that we will someday collide with him on a narrow road, and one of us will be in trouble.” They do not like each other, precisely because they cannot understand each other. Each sees the other as a rival. They have different life principles, and if one of them understood and agreed with the other’s worldview, perhaps they would become true friends.
To answer this question, we must first understand what evil means, and whether this concept can even carry something positive.
S. I. Ozhegov in his explanatory dictionary gives the following definitions of the word “evil”:
1. Something bad, harmful, the opposite of good.
2. Trouble, misfortune, trouble.
3. Annoyance, anger.
It is difficult to find anything attractive in these definitions. But does this mean that the answer to the question has been found? It is actually very difficult to challenge these definitions. But good and evil are very controversial concepts. And many philosophers, both ancient and modern, tried to solve the riddle of good and evil. But the solution has not been found, so it is impossible to adhere to only one point of view. An important episode for understanding Pechorin is when he returns “home through the empty alleys of the village” and reflects on “wise people” who are convinced of the participation of the heavenly bodies in “insignificant disputes” over a piece of land.” But “what willpower was given to them by the confidence that the whole sky was looking at them with sympathy...”. Pechorin calls himself and his generation “pathetic descendants”, without convictions and pride, pleasure and fear, incapable of “great sacrifices either for the good of humanity, or even for their own happiness.” From all the disputes with other heroes, feelings, and fate, Pechorin emerges devastated, but not surrendered. His atheism is a drama of personality. The complex image of Pechorin depicts historical process the development of social consciousness with all its disruptions and discoveries, ups and downs, intellectual energy and the inability of direct social influence. There is something more in Pechorin that makes him a hero not only of the era when the book was written, but also human race at all. He is self-aware, knows how to analyze actions and admit mistakes, and ask questions about purpose. The duality of character is clearly emphasized by the act when, after reading Vera’s letter, he rushes after her like a madman. Maybe the reason is awakened love? It would be too easy. The hero is not used to losing those who are subordinate to his will. Perhaps the conquest of Mary occurs not in order to annoy Grushnitsky, but in order to “possess a young, barely blossoming soul.” This is “insatiable greed” that consumes everything. The diary of Grigory Alexandrovich is the maximum self-expression and constant introspection of the hero, even if he puts on masks in front of those around him, he admits this to himself. This technique, used by the author, allows the reader to understand Pechorin’s soul as best as possible. Someone can understand him as a person with a black soul, someone, on the contrary, can understand him as a person with high feelings and great intelligence. But it is impossible to say with complete accuracy who Pechorin is. However, he is definitely a hero. But why?