In the section on the question why Lermontov does not arrange the chapters of the part “heroes of our time” in chronological order? given by the author Ksenia Shelkovnikova the best answer is “A Hero of Our Time” - a work that is complex in concept and solution to the theme. It is usually defined as the first Russian realistic psychological novel in prose. And according to V. G. Belinsky’s definition, this novel “represents several frames nested in one large frame, which consists of the title... and the unity of the hero."
In the preface to Pechorin's Journal, Lermontov writes: “The history of the human soul, even the smallest soul, is perhaps more curious and useful than the history of an entire people...”.
The novel “A Hero of Our Time” consists of five parts, five stories, each with its own genre, its own plot and its own title. Unites all these stories into something whole - main character, Pechorin. If stated storyline novel, maintaining the chronological sequence of Pechorin’s life, then the story of the main character should be told by the author as follows. A former guards officer, Pechorin, who was transferred to the Caucasus for something, is traveling to his destination. On the way he stops in Taman. Here the story that is told in the story “Taman” happens to him. From here he moves to Pyatigorsk (“Princess Mary”). For a duel with Grushnitsky, he was exiled to serve in the fortress. During his service in the fortress, the events told in the stories “Bela” and “Fatalist” take place. Several years pass. Pechorin, who retired, leaves for Persia. On the way there, he meets for the last time with Maxim Maksimovich (“Maksim Maksimych”).
Lermontov violates this order of stories and arranges them in the following order: “Bela”, “Maksim Maksimych”, “Taman”, “Princess Mary” and “Fatalist”.
This compositional solution helps the author solve one of the most important tasks - to reveal Pechorin’s complex nature more widely and deeply. In addition, in each story the author changes narrators. In “Bela,” Pechorin is presented in the perception of Maxim Maksimych, a simple, integral by nature army staff captain who has little understanding of Pechorin’s spiritual complexity. In “Maksim Maksimych” we not only hear the story about Pechorin, we see him. A passing officer, the fictional author of the story, who stands with Pechorin on the same socio-cultural level, tells us about him. He himself draws Pechorin’s appearance; Before our eyes, a meeting between Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych takes place. And the last three stories are included in “Pechorin’s Journal,” which is a diary entry that presents the reader with the hero’s most sincere reflections and story about himself and his life. Pechorin emphasizes that he is his own strict judge and “mercilessly exposes his own weaknesses and vices.”
One of distinctive features novel by M.Yu. Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time" is a violation chronological order narratives.
Indeed, if you trace the plot and plot order, the difference becomes noticeable: according to the plot, the reader already in the preface learns about the death of Pechorin, while the plot logically and step by step leads to the death of the main character.
This structural approach is due to several reasons. Firstly, according to the author’s plan, the narrative line gradually brings the reader closer to a deeper understanding of Pechorin’s personality. The narrative is thus told by three narrators. At first, Maxim Maksimych watches Pechorin. He records his actions, but does not give reasons for them. This is not surprising: there is no deep understanding between the characters; they come from different strata, separated, moreover, by military chain of command (Pechorin is of higher rank). Thus, Maxim Maksimych, being close to Pechorin only due to life circumstances, can tell the reader very little about him.
A large emotional component is inherent in the second plane of the narrative: here the officer is the narrator. Unlike Maxim Maksimych, he is of the same class as Pechorin, and therefore, on an equal footing, he can look at Pechorin and analyze his type and actions. Here for the first time a description of the hero’s appearance appears, as well as the characteristic: “cold, tall, lonely.” Noticing such a radical difference between Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin, the officer even feels sorry for the first, realizing how difficult it must be to exist side by side with coldness like Pechorin’s.
Finally, Pechorin himself becomes the third narrator; his introspection is the maximum revelation of the hero’s personality. Lermontov uses a form of direct psychologism, reveals the deep and hidden, shows what really lies behind the hero’s coldness, and exposes his pain and inner tragedy. The reader feels more involved in the events described in the chapter “Pechorin’s Journal”, since it is written in the first person.
There is another reason for Lermontov’s violation chronological sequence when presenting the events of the novel, this is the intention to “prescribe” Pechorin’s character as mysterious, adventurous, looking for bright turns in his life path. Vivid image requires a bright environment; the reticence that arises during chronological shifts increases interest in the hero. Thus, the author resorts to violating chronology for the sake of entertainment, to attract attention to the image of Pechorin.
Finally, a violation of chronology is the surest way to show the evolution of Pechorin as a complex novel hero. Pechorin's inconsistency is not presented axiomatically, as would be possible with a linear narrative. By connecting the pieces of the mosaic of Pechorin’s life, traveling from one pole of his personality (demonstrative strength and cultivation of will) to the other (secret weakness), the reader independently reveals and explores this inconsistency for himself.
Nikitina Valeria, 11th grade, 2013
M. Yu. Lermontov worked on the novel “A Hero of Our Time” in 1838-1840. The idea to write a novel was born during the writer’s exile in the Caucasus in 1838. The first parts of the novel were published within one year in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski. They aroused interest from readers. Lermontov, seeing the popularity of these works, combined them into one big novel.
In the title, the author sought to justify the relevance of his creation for his contemporaries. The 1841 edition also included a preface by the writer in connection with the questions that arose among readers. We bring to your attention a summary of “A Hero of Our Time” chapter by chapter.
Main characters
Pechorin Grigory Alexandrovich- the central character of the entire story, an officer in the tsarist army, a sensitive and sublime nature, but selfish. Handsome, superbly built, charming and intelligent. He is burdened by his arrogance and individualism, but does not want to overcome either one or the other.
Bela- daughter of a Circassian prince. Treacherously kidnapped by her brother Azamat, she becomes Pechorin's lover. Bela is beautiful and smart, pure and straightforward. She dies from the dagger of the Circassian Kazbich, who is in love with her.
Mary(Princess Ligovskaya) is a noble girl whom Pechorin met by chance and did his best to make her fall in love with him. Educated and smart, proud and generous. The break with Pechorin becomes a deep tragedy for her.
Maxim Maksimych- officer of the tsarist army (with the rank of staff captain). Kind and honest man, Pechorin’s boss and close friend, an involuntary witness to his love affairs and life conflicts.
Narrator- a passing officer who became a casual acquaintance of Maxim Maksimovich and listened and wrote down his story about Pechorin.
Other characters
Azamat- Circassian prince, an unbalanced and selfish young man, Bela’s brother.
Kazbich- a young Circassian who fell in love with Bela and became her killer.
Grushnitsky- a young cadet, a proud and unrestrained man. Pechorin's rival, killed by him in a duel.
Faith- Pechorin's former lover, appears in the novel as a reminder of his past in St. Petersburg.
Undine- a nameless smuggler who amazed Pechorin with her appearance (“undine” is one of the names of mermaids; the reader will never know the girl’s real name).
Yanko- smuggler, friend of Ondine.
Werner- a doctor, an intelligent and educated person, an acquaintance of Pechorin.
Vulich- officer, Serb by nationality, young and gambling person, an acquaintance of Pechorin.
Preface
In the preface, the author addresses the readers. He says that readers were struck by the negative traits of the main character of his work and blame the author for this. However, Lermontov points out that his hero is the embodiment of the vices of his time, therefore he is modern. The author also believes that readers cannot be fed sweet stories and fairy tales all the time; they must see and understand life as it is.
The action of the work takes place in the Caucasus in early XIX century. Partially in this area Russian Empire military operations are underway against the highlanders.
Part one
I. Bela
This part begins with the fact that the narrator-officer meets on his way to the Caucasus the middle-aged staff captain Maxim Maksimych, who makes a positive impression on him. The narrator and the staff captain become friends. Finding themselves in a snowstorm, the heroes begin to remember the events of their lives, and the staff captain talks about a young officer whom he knew about four and a half years ago.
This officer's name was Grigory Pechorin. He was handsome in face, stately and intelligent. However, he had a strange character: he either complained about trifles, like a girl, or fearlessly rode a horse over the rocks. Maxim Maksimych at that time was the commandant of the military fortress, in which this mysterious young officer served under his command.
Soon the sensitive captain noticed that his new subordinate began to feel sad in the wilderness. Being a kind man, he decided to help his officer unwind. At that time he was just invited to a wedding eldest daughter Circassian prince, who lived not far from the fortress and sought to establish good relationship with the royal officers.
At the wedding, Pechorin took a liking to the prince’s youngest daughter, the beautiful and graceful Bela.
Escaping from the stuffiness of the room, Maxim Maksimych went outside and became an involuntary witness to the conversation that took place between Kazbich, a Circassian with the appearance of a robber, and Bela’s brother Azamat. The latter offered Kazbich any price for his magnificent horse, proving that he was even ready to steal his sister for him for the horse. Azamat knew that Kazbich was not indifferent to Bela, but the proud Circassian Kazbich only brushed off the annoying young man.
Maxim Maksimych, having listened to this conversation, inadvertently retold it to Pechorin, not knowing what his young colleague was up to.
It turned out that Pechorin later invited Azamat to steal Bela for him, promising in return that Kazbich’s horse would become his.
Azamat fulfilled the agreement and took his beautiful sister to the fortress to Pechorin. When Kazbich drove the sheep into the fortress, Pechorin distracted him, and at that time Azamat stole his faithful horse Karagez. Kazbich vowed to take revenge on the offender.
Later, news came to the fortress that Kazbich had killed the Circassian prince - own father Bela and Azamat, suspecting him of complicity in the kidnapping of his horse.
Meanwhile, Bela began to live in Pechorin’s fortress. He treated her with unusual care, without offending her either in word or deed. Pechorin hired a Circassian woman who began to serve Bela. Pechorin himself, with affection and pleasant treatment, won the heart of the proud beauty. The girl fell in love with her kidnapper. However, having achieved the beauty’s favor, Pechorin lost interest in her. Bela felt a cooling on the part of her lover and began to be greatly burdened by this.
Maxim Maksimych, having fallen in love with a girl, how my own daughter, tried with all his might to console her. One day, when Pechorin left the fortress, the staff captain invited Bela to take a walk with him outside the walls. From a distance they saw Kazbich riding Bela's father's horse. The girl became afraid for her life.
Some more time passed. Pechorin communicated with Bela less and less, she began to feel sad. One day Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin were not in the fortress, when they returned, they noticed from afar the prince’s horse and Kazbich in the saddle, who was carrying some kind of bag on it. When the officers chased after Kazbich, the Circassian opened the bag and raised a dagger over it. It became clear that he was holding Bela in the bag. Kazbich abandoned his prey and quickly galloped away.
The officers drove up to the mortally wounded girl, carefully lifted her and took her to the fortress. Bela was able to live two more days. In her delirium, she remembered Pechorin, talked about her love for him and regretted that she and Grigory Alexandrovich were in different faiths, therefore, in her opinion, they will not be able to meet in heaven.
When Bela was buried, Maxim Maksimych no longer spoke about her with Pechorin. Then the elderly staff captain came to the conclusion that Bela’s death was the best way out from the current situation. After all, Pechorin would eventually leave her, and she would not be able to survive such a betrayal.
After serving in the fortress under the command of Maxim Maksimych, Pechorin left to continue it in Georgia. He gave no news about himself.
This is where the staff captain's story ended.
II. Maxim Maksimych
The narrator and Maxim Maksimych parted, each went about his own business, but soon they unexpectedly met again. Maxim Maksimych excitedly said that he had met Pechorin completely unexpectedly again. He learned that he had now retired and decided to go to Persia. The elderly staff captain wanted to communicate with an old friend whom he had not seen for about five years, but Pechorin did not at all strive for such communication, which greatly offended the old officer.
Maxim Maksimych could not sleep all night, but in the morning he decided to talk to Pechorin again. But he showed coldness and ostentatious indifference. The staff captain was greatly saddened.
The narrator, having seen Pechorin in person, decided to convey to the readers his impressions of his appearance and demeanor. He was a man of average height with a beautiful and expressive face, which women always liked. He knew how to behave in society and speak. Pechorin dressed well and without provocation, his suit emphasized the slenderness of his body. However, what was striking about his entire appearance was his eyes, which looked at his interlocutor coldly, heavily and penetratingly. Pechorin practically did not use gestures in communication, which was a sign of secrecy and distrust.
He left quickly, leaving only vivid memories of himself.
The narrator informed the readers that Maxim Maksimych, seeing his interest in Pechorin’s personality, gave him his journal, that is, his diary. For some time the diary lay idle with the narrator, but after Pechorin’s death (he died suddenly at the age of twenty-eight: having unexpectedly fallen ill on the way to Persia), the narrator decided to publish some parts of it.
The narrator, addressing the readers, asked them for leniency towards Pechorin’s personality, because he, despite his vices, was at least sincere in his detailed description their.
Pechorin's Journal
I. Taman
In this part, Pechorin talked about what he thought was a funny adventure that happened to him in Taman.
Arriving at this little-known place, he, due to his characteristic suspicion and insight, realized that the blind boy with whom he was staying for the night was hiding something from those around him. Following him, he saw that the blind man was meeting with beautiful girl, which Pechorin himself calls Undine (“mermaid”). The girl and boy were waiting for the man they called Yanko. Yanko soon appeared with some bags.
The next morning, Pechorin, spurred by curiosity, tried to find out from the blind man what kind of bundles his strange friend had brought. The blind boy was silent, pretending that he did not understand his guest. Pechorin met with Ondine, who tried to flirt with him. Pechorin pretended to succumb to her charms.
In the evening, together with a Cossack he knew, he went on a date with a girl on the pier, ordering the Cossack to be on the alert and, if something unexpected happened, to rush to his aid.
Together with Ondine, Pechorin boarded the boat. However, their romantic journey was soon cut short when the girl tried to push her companion into the water, despite the fact that Pechorin did not know how to swim. The motives for Ondine's behavior are understandable. She guessed that Pechorin understood what Yanko, the blind boy and she were doing, and therefore he could inform the police about the smugglers. However, Pechorin managed to defeat the girl and throw her into the water. Ondine knew how to swim quite well, she rushed into the water and swam towards Yanko. He took her aboard his boat, and soon they disappeared into the darkness.
Returning after such a dangerous voyage, Pechorin realized that the blind boy had stolen his things. The adventures of the past day entertained the bored hero, but he was unpleasantly annoyed that he could have died in the waves.
In the morning the hero left Taman forever.
Part two
(end of Pechorin's journal)
II. Princess Mary
Pechorin spoke in his journal about life in the city of Pyatigorsk. He was bored with provincial society. The hero was looking for entertainment and found it.
He met the young cadet Grushnitsky, a hot and ardent young man in love with the beautiful Princess Mary Ligovskaya. Pechorin was amused by the feeling young man. In the presence of Grushnitsky, he began to talk about Mary as if she were not a girl, but a racehorse, with its own advantages and disadvantages.
At first, Pechorin irritated Mary. At the same time, the hero liked to anger the young beauty: either he tried to be the first to buy an expensive carpet that the princess wanted to buy, or he expressed evil hints towards her. Pechorin proved to Grushnitsky that Mary belongs to the breed of those women who will flirt with everyone and marry a worthless man, at the behest of their mother.
Meanwhile, Pechorin met Werner in the city, a local doctor, an intelligent but bilious man. The most ridiculous rumors circulated around him in the city: someone even considered him the local Mephistopheles. Werner liked this exotic fame, and he supported it with all his might. Being an insightful person, the doctor foresaw the future drama that could occur between Pechorin, Mary and the young cadet Grushnitsky. However, he did not elaborate on this topic.
Meanwhile, events took their course, adding new touches to the portrait of the main character. A socialite and relative of Princess Mary, Vera, came to Pyatigorsk. Readers learned that Pechorin was once passionately in love with this woman. She also retained a bright feeling for Grigory Alexandrovich in her heart. Vera and Gregory met. And here we saw a different Pechorin: not a cold and angry cynic, but a man of great passions, who had not forgotten anything and felt suffering and pain. After meeting Vera, who, being married woman, could not connect with the hero who was in love with her, Pechorin jumped into the saddle. He galloped over mountains and valleys, greatly exhausting his horse.
On an exhausted horse, Pechorin accidentally met Mary and frightened her.
Soon Grushnitsky, with ardent feeling, began to prove to Pechorin that after all his antics he would never be received in the princess’s house. Pechorin argued with his friend, proving the opposite.
Pechorin went to the ball with Princess Ligovskaya. Here he began to behave unusually courteously towards Mary: he danced with her like a fine gentleman, protected her from a tipsy officer, and helped her cope with fainting. Mother Mary began to look at Pechorin with different eyes and invited him to her house as a close friend.
Pechorin began to visit the Ligovskys. He became interested in Mary as a woman, but the hero was still attracted to Vera. On one of their rare dates, Vera told Pechorin that she was terminally ill with consumption, so she asked him to spare her reputation. Vera also added that she always understood the soul of Grigory Alexandrovich and accepted him with all his vices.
Pechorin, however, became close to Mary. The girl admitted to him that she was bored with all the fans, including Grushnitsky. Pechorin, using his charm, out of nothing to do, made the princess fall in love with him. He couldn’t even explain to himself why he needed this: either to have fun, or to annoy Grushnitsky, or perhaps to show Vera that someone needed him too and, thereby, to provoke her jealousy.
Gregory succeeded in what he wanted: Mary fell in love with him, but at first she hid her feelings.
Meanwhile, Vera began to worry about this novel. On a secret date, she asked Pechorin never to marry Mary and promised him a night meeting in return.
Pechorin began to get bored in the company of both Mary and Vera. He was tired of Grushnitsky with his passion and boyishness. Pechorin deliberately began to behave provocatively in public, which caused tears from Mary, who was in love with him. People thought he was an immoral madman. However, the young Princess Ligovskaya understood that by doing so he only bewitched her more.
Grushnitsky began to get seriously jealous. He understood that Mary’s heart was given to Pechorin. He was also amused by the fact that Grushnitsky stopped greeting him and began to turn away when he appeared.
The whole city was already talking about the fact that Pechorin would soon propose to Mary. The old princess - the girl's mother - was expecting matchmakers from Grigory Alexandrovich from day to day. But he did not want to propose to Mary, but wanted to wait until the girl herself confessed her love to him. On one of the walks, Pechorin kissed the princess on the cheek, wanting to see her reaction. The next day, Mary confessed her love to Pechorin, but in response he coldly noted that he did not have any loving feelings for her.
Mary felt deeply humiliated by the words of her loved one. She was waiting for anything, but not this. The heroine realized that Pechorin laughed at her out of boredom. She compared herself to a flower that an angry passer-by picked and threw on the dusty road.
Pechorin, describing in his diary the scene of the explanation with Mary, discussed why he acted so basely. He wrote that he did not want to get married because a fortune teller once told his mother that her son would die from an evil wife. In his notes, the hero noted that he values his own freedom above all else, and is afraid to be noble and seem funny to others. And he simply believes that he is not capable of bringing happiness to anyone.
A famous magician has arrived in town. Everyone hurried to his performance. Only Vera and Mary were absent there. Pechorin, driven by passion for Vera, late in the evening went to the Ligovskys’ house, where she lived. In the window he saw the silhouette of Mary. Grushnitsky tracked down Pechorin, believing that he had an appointment with Mary. Despite the fact that Pechorin managed to return to his house, Grushnitsky is full of resentment and jealousy. He challenged Grigory Alexandrovich to a duel. Werner and a dragoon unfamiliar to Pechorin acted as seconds.
Before the duel, Pechorin could not calm down for a long time; he reflected on his life and realized that he had brought good to few people. Fate has prepared for him the role of executioner for many people. He killed some with his words, and others with his deeds. He loved with insatiable love only himself. He was looking for a person who could understand him and forgive him everything, but not a single woman or man could do this.
And so he received a challenge to a duel. Perhaps his rival will kill him. What will remain after him in this life? Nothing. Only empty memories.
The next morning, Werther tried to reconcile Pechorin and his opponent. However, Grushnitsky was adamant. Pechorin wanted to show generosity to his opponent, hoping for his reciprocity. But Grushnitsky was angry and offended. As a result of the duel, Pechorin killed Grushnitsky. To hide the fact of the duel, the seconds and Pechorin testified that the young officer was killed by the Circassians.
However, Vera realized that Grushnitsky died in a duel. She confessed to her husband her feelings for Pechorin. He took her out of town. In an attempt to catch up with Vera, he drove his horse to death.
Returning to the city, he learned that rumors about the duel had leaked into society, so he was assigned a new duty station. He went to say goodbye to Mary and her mother's house. The old princess offered him the hand and heart of her daughter, but Pechorin rejected her proposal.
Left alone with Mary, he humiliated this girl’s pride so much that he himself felt unpleasant.
III. Fatalist
The final part of the novel tells that Pechorin, on business, ended up in the Cossack village. One evening there was a dispute among the officers as to whether there was a fatal confluence of circumstances in a person's life. Is a person free to choose his own life or is his fate “predetermined from above”?
During a heated argument, Serb Vulich took the floor. He stated that by his convictions he is a fatalist, that is, a person who believes in fate. Therefore, he was of the opinion that if it was not given to him to die from above tonight, then death would not take him, no matter how much he himself strived for it.
To prove his words, Vulich offered a bet: he would shoot himself in the temple; if he was right, he would remain alive, and if he was wrong, he would die.
None of those gathered wanted to agree to such strange and terrible terms of the bet. Only Pechorin agreed.
Looking into the eyes of his interlocutor, Pechorin firmly said that he would die today. Then Vulich took a pistol and shot himself in the temple. The gun misfired. Then he fired a second shot to the side. The shot was a combat shot.
Everyone began to loudly discuss what had happened. But Pechorin insisted that Vulich would die today. Nobody understood his persistence. Disgruntled, Vulich left the meeting.
Pechorin walked home through the alleys. He saw a pig lying on the ground, cut in half by a saber. Eyewitnesses told him that one of their Cossacks, who likes to take a drink from a bottle, was doing this kind of weird thing.
In the morning, Pechorin was woken up by officers and told him that Vulich had been hacked to death at night by this same drunken Cossack. Pechorin felt uneasy, but he also wanted to try his luck. Together with other officers, he went to catch the Cossack.
Meanwhile, the Cossack, having sobered up and realized what he had done, was not going to surrender to the mercy of the officers. He locked himself in his hut and threatens to kill anyone who gets in there. At mortal risk, Pechorin volunteered to punish the brawler. He climbed into his hut through the window, but remained alive. The Cossack was tied up by officers who arrived in time.
After such an incident, Pechorin had to become a fatalist. However, he was in no hurry to draw conclusions, believing that everything in life is not as simple as it seems from the outside.
And the kindest Maxim Maksimych, to whom he retold this story, noticed that pistols often misfire, and what is written in one’s family will happen. The elderly staff captain also did not want to become a fatalist.
This is where the novel ends. Reading brief retelling"A Hero of Our Time", do not forget that the work itself is much more interesting than the story about its main episodes. So read this famous work M.Yu. Lermontov and enjoy what you read!
Conclusion
Lermontov’s work “Hero of Our Time” has remained relevant for readers for almost two hundred years. And this is not surprising, because the work touches on the most important life problems of human existence on earth: love, personal destiny, fate, passion and faith in higher powers. This work will not leave anyone indifferent, which is why it is included in the treasury classical works Russian literature.
Novel test
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Retelling rating
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Features of the novel's plot
Any literary work has its own system of events, which reveals not only the characters 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 plan of the entire system of stories, and this plan is to “unfold” step by step the history of the “human soul,” “especially when it is a consequence of observations of a mature mind over itself.”
How exactly does the author construct the plot? Let us listen to the opinion of the Russian critic V. Belinsky: “Mr. Lermontov’s novel is imbued with unity of thought, and therefore... it cannot be read in a manner other than the order in which the author himself arranged it: otherwise you will read two excellent stories and several excellent short stories, but not a novel you will know. There is not a page, not a word, not a line that was thrown by chance; 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 disrupted - chronology is not important for the embodiment of the idea.
First, we learn about Pechorin in the story “Bela,” following the conversation of temporary fellow travelers, and then - the story told by Maxim Maksimych about a young Circassian woman and the role of the main character in her fate. We form the following idea about Pechorin by directly observing how Grigory behaves, how his character manifests itself externally - the narrator describes this in detail in the second chapter of the novel. And finally, from the journal written by the hero himself, we comprehend inner world Pechorin: his thoughts, feelings, aspirations.
With each subsequent story of “A 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 human qualities. Gradually you understand that it was in this order that the author placed the chapters of the work, and was able to consistently reveal the character of the hero in all its complexity, inconsistency and unpredictability. The plot of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is subordinated to this idea.
The relationship between the plot and plot of “A Hero of Our Time”
Reading page by page, we can immediately notice: the temporal sequence of events in the novel differs from the order of the stories that Lermontov determined. “I’m going to the active detachment for official reasons,” Pechorin writes in his magazine in Taman, and chronologically it is this part that opens the story about the main character. It is followed by a story about Gregory’s stay on the waters and the morning after the duel, he received “an order from the highest authorities to go to 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. Continuing to serve 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 died on his way back from Persia”).
Let's compare the chronological and authorial series of stories
In the plot, the stories are arranged in the following sequence: “Bela” - “Maxim Maximovich” - Preface to “Pechorin’s Journal” - “Taman” - Princess Mary - “Fatalist”.
The plot requires a temporal 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” thus do not coincide. Chronology, according to Lermontov, does not guide us towards understanding the character of the main character, and that is why it is not needed. And the construction of the plot not only makes it possible to understand the character of the main character, but at the same time encourages each reader to look into the depths of his own soul. Let us 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 is needed and how can be said.”
Work test
Introduction. The history of the creation of the work, the main idea.
“A Hero of Our Time” can rightfully be called the pearl of Russian literature. Lermontov nurtured the idea of creating a novel for quite a long time and worked on it for a long time. Literary scholars divide the preliminary period into three separate periods of time. Initial stage dates back to 1836, it was then that the young poet Lermontov decided to establish himself on the pedestal modern literature and create something that would absolutely amaze his contemporaries. Even then, he decided that the main character would be a young nobleman, personifying in his image the existing generation of young people. He wanted to reflect all the contradictions raging in the young impetuous soul, to create a rushing personality, which he later succeeded in doing very well. According to Lermontov, he was greatly impressed by reading the novel “Eugene Onegin” by Pushkin. It inspired him and set him up for fruitful fundamental work.
After writing a posthumous epitaph on the death of Pushkin, Lermontov goes into exile in the Caucasus, where he begins to realize his plan to write a novel. Thus began the second stage of creating the novel. This trip, in a sense, came in very handy for the writer, because it was after visiting Taman that Cossack villages and the settlements of the mountaineers, Lermontov understood exactly what he wanted to write about. The circle of characters and the storyline were determined.
- 1839 - “Bela” (when publishing “From the Notes of an Officer in the Caucasus”)
- 1839 - "Fatalist"
- 1840 - "Taman"
- 1840 - "Princess Mary"
- 1840 - Exit full version novel with the author's remarks and the added part "Maxim Maximovich"
The author's main idea was to show the state of affairs in contemporary post-Decembrist Russia, to create living, realistic images of heroes. Main problem the novel is a problem of personality and time, when old ideals were lost and new ones did not yet exist. Pechorin and his contemporaries can rightfully call themselves people of the lost generation; they do not know what they want from life. According to the author, the portrait of Pechorin is “a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development.” It is curious that Lermontov himself never once during the entire narrative process shows his attitude and assessment of Pechorin’s behavior. He does not even say clearly in what sense he applies the characteristic “hero” to him.
Analysis of the work
Storyline, composition features
The main feature of the novel's compositional structure is its chronological inconsistency. The chapters are out of order and the events occurring in them are inconsistent. This is one of the main methods of expressiveness through which the author tried to express the main idea in a similar way. Thus, Lermontov makes us understand that the events around us and their sequence cannot in any way affect our destiny. The only thing that is powerful is what goes on in a person’s soul, his thoughts and actions. Thanks to the arrangement of the chapters, the reader gradually begins to immerse himself in Pechorin’s inner world, understand the motives of his actions and becomes imbued with sympathy and sympathy for him.
As for the genre, “A Hero of Our Time” can be described as a psychological and social novel. There is absolutely no plot or exposition in the construction of the plot, that is, the reader knows absolutely nothing about Pechorin’s life before his arrival in the Caucasus. The culmination is a separate situation in each story. The denouement is the news of Pechorin's death, reflected in the preface to Pechorin's Journal. Moreover, the moment of denouement occurs in the middle of the novel.
Thus, we can notice that, like the idea, the plot and composition of the novel are very complex and serve as elements of expressiveness that gradually reveal the problems of the work and the image of the main character.
Main characters
Grigory Pechorin is a representative of the nobility, a young rake originally from St. Petersburg. In his soul he is an unhappy person who is burdened by his meaningless existence. He is disappointed in love and women, does not believe in the existence of warm friendships and sincere love. He is an extremely extraordinary and bright personality, who, despite his many shortcomings, does not repel the reader, but, on the contrary, attracts him with his experiences, makes him sympathize and empathize with him. From within he is torn apart by many contradictions. We get the most complete picture of the hero’s personality from the lips of Maxim Maksimovich. However, due to his narrow-mindedness, the man presents Pechorin in a somewhat one-sided light. He does not understand what motivates the hero; he cannot find an excuse for his coldness and selfishness.
Grushnitsky
Pechorin's antipodes are Grushnitsky and Werner. Grushnitsky wants mainly to show off and show off best side, despite the fact that there is absolute emptiness in the young man’s soul. Pechorin, while not always acting positively, is in fact a deeply noble and desperately brave person, the last thing he thinks about is the false polish and reputation of an honest person.
Werner at first seems to the reader to be a person close in spirit to Pechorin, because they have many similar character traits, skepticism, cynicism, coldness and harshness. However, Werner turns out to be a typical idle talker, not ready to defend a principled position and put himself in opposition to the whole society. Both of these male type help us better understand Pechorin’s character, as if shading and highlighting his character traits and personality traits.
Princess Mary
All female images, used by Lermontov on the pages of the novel are completely different. The only thing that unites them is an understanding of Pechorin’s innermost desire and main aspiration, which gradually comes to the reader. Namely, this is a desperate desire to love and be loved by one the only woman. Alas, this was never meant to happen.
Conclusion
The novel was received with a bang by Russian readers. He amazed, delighted, excited and could not leave anyone indifferent. So vivid and realistic was the image of Pechorin, so topical was the problem of lost time raised by Lermontov. There are all the elements of prose here: philosophical reflections, a novel, and a lyrical story. “A Hero of Our Time” is a deeply revealing novel that hits the mark. After all, Lermontov does not condemn a hero prone to making mistakes. If you think about it, which of us doesn’t do them? The object of his condemnation is precisely empty and insignificant time, which does not carry any ideals and values, lost generation people who have not been able to find themselves in life.
Critics recognize the similarity of the heroes of the novel with the novel “Eugene Onegin”; this is not accidental, because it was the reading of Pushkin’s masterpiece that inspired Lermontov to create an equally monumental novel. In a sense, Pechorin is the same Onegin, only in the period of the 30s - 40s of the 19th century. It is worth noting that Pechorin is still a more mature person than Onegin. He is an egoist, but an egoist who suffers from his own actions, deeply condemning himself, but not having the opportunity to change. He is capable of deeper self-analysis, humbles himself and bears his actions and sins as a heavy cross.
Analyzing the novel, one can trace the development of the author himself; he gradually moves from the category of youthful prose to something more meaningful and serious. We can note significant creative growth the author, the progress of his ideas and the improved quality of visual and expressive tools.