M. Yu. Lermontov was not only great poet, but also a prose writer, whose work reflected the darkness of reaction and changes in the psychology of people. The main goal of the young genius was the desire to deeply reveal the complex nature of his contemporary. The novel “A Hero of Our Time” became a mirror of the life of Russia in the 30s of the 20th century, the first Russian socio-psychological novel.
The author's intention determined the unique construction of the novel. Lermontov deliberately violated chronological sequence so that the reader’s attention shifts from events to the inner world of the characters, to the world of feelings and experiences.
The main attention in the novel is paid to Pechorin. Lermontov first gives the opportunity to find out other people’s opinions about Pechorin, and then what this young nobleman thinks about himself. Belinsky said about the hero of the novel: “This is the Onegin of our time, the hero of our time.” Pechorin was a representative of his era, his fate is more tragic than the fate of Onegin. Pechorin lives in a different time. The young nobleman had to either lead the life of a social slacker, or be bored and wait for death. The era of reaction left its mark on people's behavior. Tragic fate The hero is the tragedy of an entire generation, a generation of unrealized possibilities.
The influence of light was reflected in Pechorin's behavior. An extraordinary personality, he soon became convinced that in this society a person could achieve neither happiness nor fame. Life has become devalued in his eyes (he is overcome by melancholy and boredom - faithful companions of disappointment. The hero is suffocating in the stuffy atmosphere of the Nicholas regime. Pechorin himself says: “The soul in me is spoiled by light.” These are the words of a man of the 30s of the 20th century, a hero of his time .
Pechorin is a gifted person. He has a deep mind, capable of analysis, a steely will, and a strong character. The hero is endowed with self-esteem. Lermontov speaks of his “strong build, capable of enduring all the difficulties of nomadic life.” However, the author notes the strangeness and inconsistency of the character of the hero. His eyes, which “did not laugh when he laughed,” suggest how deeply the hero has lost faith in all the seductions of the world, with what hopelessness he looks at his own life prospects.
This doom developed in him during his life in the capital. The result of complete disappointment in everything was “nervous weakness.” The fearless Pechorin was frightened by the knocking of the shutters, although he was hunting a wild boar alone and was terrified of catching a cold. This inconsistency characterizes the “disease” of an entire generation. In Pechorin, it’s as if two people live, rationality and feeling, mind and heart are fighting. The hero states: “I have long lived not with my heart, but with my head.” I weigh and examine my own passions and actions with strict curiosity, but without participation.”
The hero's attitude towards Vera shows Pechorin as a person capable of strong feelings. But Pechorin brings misfortune to both Vera and Mary and the Circassian Bela. The tragedy of the hero is that he wants to do good, but only brings evil to people. Pechorin dreams of the fate of a person capable of great deeds, and commits actions that diverge from ideas about high aspirations.
Pechorin longs for the fullness of life, looking for an ideal that was unattainable at that time. And it is not the hero’s fault, but his misfortune, that his life was fruitless, his strength was wasted. “My colorless youth passed in a struggle with myself and the light; Fearing ridicule, I buried my best feelings in the depths of my heart: they died there,” Pechorin says bitterly.
In the novel, the main character is contrasted with all other characters. Good Maxim Maksimych is noble, honest and decent, but he cannot understand Pechorin’s soul due to his lack of education. Against the backdrop of the scoundrel Grushnitsky, the richness of Pechorin’s nature and the strength of character of the protagonist are revealed even more strongly. Only Doctor Werner is somewhat similar to Pechorin. But the doctor is not completely consistent, he does not have the courage that distinguishes Pechorin. Supporting the hero before the duel with Grushnitsky, Werner did not even shake hands with Pechorin after the duel, he refused friendship with the one who “had the courage to take on the full burden of responsibility.”
Pechorin is a person who is distinguished by tenacity of will. The psychological portrait of the hero is fully revealed in the novel, reflecting the socio-political conditions that shape the “hero of the time.” Lermontov is little interested in the everyday, external side of people’s lives, but worries them inner world, psychology of the actions of the characters in the novel.
“A Hero of Our Time” was the predecessor of Dostoevsky’s psychological novels, and Pechorin became a logical link in the series “ extra people", "Onegin's younger brother." You can have different attitudes towards the hero of the novel, condemn him or feel sorry for the woman tormented by society human soul, but one cannot help but admire the skill of the great Russian writer who gave us this image, psychological picture hero of his time.
Roman M.Yu. Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time" is considered the first Russian socio-psychological and philosophical novel. Due to the author’s desire to reveal the “history of the human soul,” Lermontov’s novel turned out to be rich in deep psychological analysis. The author explores the “soul” of not only the main character, but also everyone else characters. Lermontov's psychologism is specific in that it acts not as a form of self-expression of the writer, but as an object artistic image. The appearance of the hero, his customs, his actions, and his feelings are analyzed. Lermontov is attentive to the nuances of experiences, a person’s condition, his gestures and postures. The author's style can be called psychological-analytical.
Pechorin's self-analysis is very deep, all sorts of things state of mind written out in detail and in detail, one’s own behavior and psychological reasons, motives and intentions of actions are analyzed. Pechorin admits to Dr. Werner: “There are two people in me: one lives in the full sense of the word, the other thinks and judges him...” Behind the visible in the work the essential is revealed, behind the external - the internal. Psychologism here serves as a way of discovering and cognizing what at first perception seems mysterious, mysterious and strange. An important place in the novel, where the action takes place in different geographical points (by the sea, in the mountains, in the steppe, in Cossack village), occupies the landscape. The perception of nature in a work helps to reveal the hero’s inner world, his state, his sensitivity to beauty. “I remember,” Pechorin writes in his journal, “this time more than ever before, I loved nature.” The hero of the novel is close to nature with all its diversity, and it affects his inner world. Pechorin is convinced that the soul depends on nature and its forces. The landscape of each part of the novel is subordinated to the idea that is realized in it. Thus, in “Bel” Caucasian nature is sketched (rocks, cliffs, Aragva, snowy mountain peaks), which is contrasted with northern nature and a disharmoniously structured society.
The beautiful and majestic nature contrasts with the petty, unchanging interests of people and their suffering. The restless, capricious element of the sea contributes to the romance in which the smugglers from the chapter “Taman” appear before us. The morning landscape, full of freshness, including golden clouds, makes up the exposition of the chapter “Maksim Maksimych”. Nature in “Princess Mary” becomes a psychological means of revealing Pechorin’s character. Before the duel - in contrast - a radiance is introduced sunlight, and after the fight the sun will seem dim to the hero, and its rays no longer warm him. In "Fatalist" the cold light of shining stars on a dark blue vault leads Pechorin to philosophical reflections on predestination and fate.
In general, this work is a socio-psychological and philosophical novel, akin to a travel novel, close to travel notes. Genre psychological novel demanded the creation of a new novel structure and a special psychological plot, where Lermontov separated the author from the hero and arranged the stories in a special sequence. "Bela" is a work that combines a travel essay and a short story about the love of a European for a savage.
"Maksim Maksimych" is a story with a central episode shown in close-up.
"Taman" is a synthesis of a short story and a travelogue with an unexpected ending.
"Princess Mary" - "secular story" psychological nature with the hero's diary and a satirical sketch of the mores of the "water society".
"Fatalist" - philosophical story, combined with a “mystical story” about a fatal shot and a “mysterious incident.”
But all these genre forms, individual narratives became parts of a single whole for Lermontov - research spiritual world a modern hero whose personality and fate unite the entire narrative. Pechorin's background is deliberately excluded, which gives his biography an air of mystery.
It is interesting to know what the second person in Pechorin is like, thinking and condemning himself first of all. In "Pechorin's Journal" the character of the hero is revealed as if "from the inside", it reveals the motives of his strange actions, his attitude towards himself, and self-esteem.
For Lermontov, not only a person’s actions were always important, but their motivation, which for one reason or another could not be realized.
Pechorin compares favorably with other characters in that he is concerned about questions of conscious human existence - about the purpose and meaning of human life, about his purpose. He is worried that his only purpose is to destroy other people's hopes. He is even indifferent to his own life. Only curiosity, the expectation of something new excites him.
However, asserting his human dignity, Pechorin actively acts and resists circumstances throughout the novel. Pechorin judges and executes himself, and this right of his is emphasized by the composition in which the last narrator is Pechorin. Everything important that was hidden from the people around him, who lived next to him, who loved him, was conveyed by Pechorin himself.
With the creation of the novel “A Hero of Our Time,” Lermontov made a huge contribution to the development of Russian literature, continuing Pushkin’s realistic traditions. Like his great predecessor, Lermontov summarized in the image of Pechorin typical features younger generation of his era, creating bright image man of the 30s XIX century. The main problem The novel was the fate of an extraordinary human personality in an era of timelessness, the hopelessness of the situation of gifted, intelligent, educated young nobles.
The main idea of Lermontov's novel is connected with its central image - Pechorin; everything is subordinated to the task of comprehensively and deeply revealing the character of this hero. Belinsky very accurately noticed the originality of the author’s description of Pechorin. Lermontov, in the critic’s words, portrayed “the inner man,” acting as a profound psychologist and realist artist. This means that Lermontov, for the first time in Russian literature, used psychological analysis as a means to reveal the character of the hero, his inner world. Deep penetration into Pechorin's psychology helps to better understand the joke social problems posed in the novel. This gave Belinsky grounds to call Lermontov “a solver of important contemporary issues.”
The unusual composition of the novel is noteworthy. It consists of individual works, in which there is no single plot, no permanent characters, no narrator. These five stories are united only by the image of the main character - Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin. They are arranged in such a way that the chronology of the hero’s life is clearly disrupted. IN in this case it was important for the author to show Pechorin in different settings in communication with the most different people, choose to describe the most important, significant episodes of his life. In each story, the author places his hero in a new environment, where he encounters people of a different social status and mental make-up: mountaineers, smugglers, officers, the noble “water society.” And each time Pechorin reveals himself to the reader from a new side, revealing new facets of character.
Let us remember that in the first story “Bela” we are introduced to Pechorin by a man who served with Grigory Alexandrovich in the fortress and was an involuntary witness to the story of Bela’s kidnapping. The elderly officer is sincerely attached to Pechorin and takes his actions to heart. He pays attention to the external oddities of the character of the “thin ensign” and cannot understand how a person who easily endures both rain and cold, who went one-on-one with a wild boar, can shudder and turn pale from the random knock of a shutter. In the story with Bela, Pechorin’s character seems unusual and mysterious. The old officer cannot comprehend the motives of his behavior, since he is not able to comprehend the depths of his experiences.
The next meeting with the hero takes place in the story “Maksim Maksimych”, where we see him through the eyes of the author-narrator. He no longer acts as the hero of some story, he says a few nothing meaningful phrases, but we have the opportunity to take a close look at Pechorin’s bright, original appearance. The author's keen, penetrating gaze notes the contradictions of his appearance: the combination of blond hair and black mustache and eyebrows, broad shoulders and pale, thin fingers. The narrator's attention is attracted by his gaze, the strangeness of which is manifested in the fact that his eyes did not laugh when he laughed. “This is a sign of either an evil disposition or deep, constant sadness,” notes the author, revealing the complexity and inconsistency of the hero’s character.
Pechorin's diary, which unites the last three stories of the novel, helps to understand this extraordinary nature. The hero writes about himself sincerely and fearlessly, not afraid to expose his weaknesses and vices. In the preface to Pechorin's Journal, the author notes that the history of the human soul is almost more useful and not more curious than history a whole people. In the first story, “Taman,” which tells about the hero’s accidental encounter with “peaceful smugglers,” the complexities and contradictions of Pechorin’s nature seem to be relegated to the background. We see an energetic, courageous, determined person who is full of interest in the people around him, thirsts for action, and tries to unravel the mystery of the people with whom fate accidentally encounters him. But the ending of the story is banal. Pechorin's curiosity destroyed the established life of the “honest smugglers,” dooming the blind boy and old woman to a miserable existence. Pechorin himself writes with regret in his diary: “Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calm.” In these words one can hear pain and sadness from the consciousness that all of Pechorin’s actions are petty and insignificant, devoid of high goal, do not correspond to the rich possibilities of his nature.
The originality and originality of Pechorin’s personality, in my opinion, is most clearly manifested in the story “Princess Mary”. It is enough to read his apt, precise characteristics given to representatives of the noble “water society” of Pyatigorsk, his original judgments, amazing landscape sketches to understand that he stands out from the people around him by his strength and independence of character, deep analytical mind, high culture, erudition, developed aesthetic sense. Pechorin's speech is full of aphorisms and paradoxes. For example, he writes: "After all worse than death nothing will happen, but you won’t escape death.”
But what does Pechorin waste his spiritual wealth, his immense strength on? For love affairs, intrigues, clashes with Grushnitsky and dragoon captains. Yes, he always comes out victorious, as in the story with Grushnitsky and Mary. But this brings him neither joy nor satisfaction. Pechorin feels and understands the inconsistency of his actions with high, noble aspirations. This leads the hero to a split personality. He becomes isolated in his own actions and experiences. Nowhere in his diary will we find even a mention of his homeland, people, political problems modern reality. Pechorin is only interested in his own inner world. Constant attempts to understand the motives of his actions, eternal merciless introspection, constant doubts lead to the fact that he loses the ability to simply live, to feel joy, fullness and strength of feeling. He made himself an object for observation. He is no longer able to experience anxiety, because, as soon as he feels it, he immediately begins to think about the fact that he is still capable of worry. This means that a merciless analysis of his own thoughts and actions kills Pechorin’s spontaneity of perception of life, plunges him into a painful contradiction with himself.
Pechorin in the novel is completely alone, since he himself pushes away those who are able to love and understand him. But still, some entries in his diary indicate that he needed close person that he was tired of being alone. Lermontov's novel leads to the conclusion that the tragic discord in the hero's soul is caused by the fact that the rich powers of his soul have not found worthy use, that the life of this original, extraordinary nature is wasted on trifles and is completely devastated.
Thus, the story of Pechorin’s soul helps to better understand the tragedy of the fate of the younger generation of the 30s of the 19th century, makes us think about the causes of this “disease of the century” and try to find a way out of the moral impasse into which the reaction led Russia.
The hero of our time represents several frames nested in one large frame, which consists of the title of the novel and the unity of the heroes.
V. Belinsky Everyone literary hero(if we are talking about great literature) is always the favorite creation of its author. Any writer puts a piece of his soul, his views, beliefs, and ideals into his hero. And each literary hero invariably bears the features of his era and his environment: he lives in harmony with his own kind or “breaks out” from generally accepted patterns social behavior. Thus, in Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin” a young man of the 20s lives and acts: smart, educated, belonging to the highest aristocracy, but dissatisfied with the existing reality, having spent best years of your life into a meaningless and aimless existence. The appearance of such a hero caused a whole storm of passions in society and literary circles of the twenties. Before they had time to subside, he was born new hero, but already a hero of the thirties of the 19th century - Grigory Pechorin from the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "Hero of Our Time".
Why is it that debates about Onegin and Pechorin are still very topical, although the way of life is currently completely different. Everything is different: ideals, goals, thoughts, dreams. In my opinion, the answer to this question is very simple: the meaning human existence worries everyone, no matter what time we live in, what we think and dream about.
The central part of the novel, “Pechorin’s Diary,” is characterized by especially in-depth psychological analysis. For the first time in Russian literature such a merciless exposure of the hero’s personality appears. The hero’s experiences are analyzed by him with “the rigor of a judge and a citizen.” Pechorin says: “I am still trying to explain to myself what kind of feelings are boiling in my chest.” The habit of self-analysis is complemented by the skills of constant observation of others. In essence, all of Pechorin’s relationships with people are a kind of psychological experiments that interest the hero with their complexity and temporarily entertain him with luck. This is the story with Bela, the story of the victory over Mary. The psychological “game” with Grushnitsky was similar, whom Pechorin fools, declaring that Mary is not indifferent to him, in order to later prove his deplorable mistake. Pechorin argues that “ambition is nothing more than a thirst for power, and happiness is just pompous pride.”
If A.S. Pushkin is considered to be the creator of the first realistic novel in verse about modernity, while Lermontov is the author of the first socio-psychological novel in prose. His novel is distinguished by its depth of analysis of the psychological perception of the world. Depicting his era, Lermontov subjects it to deep critical analysis without succumbing to any illusions or seductions. Lermontov shows all the most weak sides of his generation: coldness of hearts, selfishness, fruitlessness of activity.
The realism of "A Hero of Our Time" is in many ways different from the realism of Pushkin's novel. Moving aside everyday elements and the life history of the heroes, Lermontov focuses on their inner world, revealing in detail the motives that prompted this or that hero to take any action. The author depicts all kinds of overflows of feelings with such depth, penetration and detail, which the literature of his time has not yet known.
Pechorin's rebellious nature refuses joys and peace of mind. This hero is always "asking for a storm." His nature is too rich in passions and thoughts, too free to be content with little and not demand great feelings, events, and sensations from the world. Self-analysis is necessary for a modern person in order to correctly correlate his destiny and purpose with real life to understand your place in this world. Lack of convictions is a real tragedy for the hero and his generation. Pechorin's Diary reveals a living, complex, rich, analytical work of the mind. This proves to us not only that main character- a typical figure, but also that in Russia there are young people who are tragically lonely. Pechorin considers himself among the pitiful descendants who wander the earth without convictions. He says: “We are no longer capable of making great sacrifices, either for the good of humanity, or even for our own happiness.” The same idea is repeated by Lermontov in the poem “Duma”:
We are rich, barely out of the cradle,
By the mistakes of our fathers and their late minds,
And life already torments us, like a smooth path without a goal,
Like a feast at someone else's holiday.
Every truly Russian person feels uneasy at the thought that M.Yu. Lermontov died so early. Deciding moral problem goals of life, the main character of his work, Grigory Pechorin, could not find use for his abilities. “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born... But, it’s true, I had a high purpose, since I feel immense powers in my soul,” he writes. This dissatisfaction with oneself lies the origins of Pechorin’s attitude towards the people around him. He is indifferent to their experiences, therefore, without hesitation, he distorts other people's destinies. Pushkin wrote about such young people: “There are millions of two-legged creatures, for them there is only one name.”
Using Pushkin’s words, one can say about Pechorin that his views on life “reflect the century, and modern man is depicted quite correctly, with his immoral soul, selfish and dry.” This is how Lermontov saw his generation.
17.3.Why is the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov's “Hero of Our Time” is called socio-psychological in criticism? (based on the novel “A Hero of Our Time”)
“A Hero of Our Time” is the first socio-psychological novel in Russian literature. It's also saturated genre originality. So, in the main character, Pechorin, traits appear romantic hero, although it is generally accepted literary direction"A Hero of Our Time" - realism.
The novel combines multiple features of realism, such as the conscious separation of oneself from the hero, the desire for maximum objectivity of the narrative, with a rich description of the hero’s inner world, which is characteristic of romanticism. However, many literary critics emphasized that Lermontov and Pushkin and Gogol differed from the romantics in that for them the inner world of the individual serves for research, and not for authorial self-expression.
In the preface to the novel, Lermontov compares himself to a doctor who makes a diagnosis modern society. He considers Pechorin as an example. The main character is a typical representative of his time. He is endowed with the traits of a man of his era and his social circle. He is characterized by coldness, rebellion, passion of nature and opposition to society.
What else allows us to call the novel socio-psychological? Definitely a feature of the composition. Its specificity is manifested in the fact that the chapters are not located in chronological order. Thus, the author wanted to gradually reveal to us the character and essence of the main character. First, Pechorin is shown to us through the prism of other heroes (“Bela”, “Maksim Maksimych”). According to Maxim Maksimych, Pechorin was “a nice fellow... just a little strange.” Then the narrator finds “Pechorin’s journal,” where the character’s personality is revealed from his side. In these notes the author finds many interesting situations, which the main character managed to visit. With each story we dive deeper into the “essence of the soul” of Pechorin. In each chapter we see many actions of Grigory Alexandrovich, which he tries to analyze on his own. And as a result, we find a reasonable explanation for them. Yes, oddly enough, all his actions, no matter how terrible and inhumane they may be, are logically justified. To test Pechorin, Lermontov pits him against “ordinary” people. It would seem that only Pechorin stands out for his cruelty in the novel. But no, everyone around him is also cruel: Bela, who did not notice the affection of the staff captain, Mary, who rejected Grushnitsky, who was in love with her, the smugglers who abandoned the poor, blind boy to his fate. This is exactly how Lermontov wanted to portray the cruel generation of people, one of the brightest representatives of which is Pechorin.
Thus, the novel can reasonably be classified as a socio-psychological novel, because in it the author examines the inner world of a person, analyzes his actions and gives them an explanation.
Updated: 2018-03-02
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"Hero of Our Time" as a socio-psychological and philosophical novel
The question of destiny, fate (fate), man's struggle with fate is the main philosophical aspect of the novel. The final chapter “Fatalist” is completely devoted to this problem, in which Pechorin tries to create a kind of “model of fate.”
Whether there is predestination or not; if it exists, then what are the limits of individual independence - all this is not a subject of abstract speculation for Pechorin, but the most pressing question. For the answer to it will give the key to the solution to life and human nature, and will finally be able to explain to Pechorin his own soul and destiny. The chapter “Fatalist” again returns the narrative to the “fortress beyond the Terek”, in which the story with Bela began, which opened the novel “A Hero of Our Time”. Thus, the novel acquires a “circular” composition, characteristic of Lermontov’s works: this “return to square one” emphasizes the infinity of the protagonist’s philosophical quest and his doom in his fate.
The very title of the novel, “A Hero of Our Time,” indicates that the author considers personality in the context of society and the era, and reveals the sometimes hidden but powerful influence of everything that surrounds him on the formation of a person. Romanticism opened literature human personality as the main subject of the image. But romanticism understands personality as a certain given, perceiving and depicting it statically, without development. A romantic writer is interested in the already formed personality of a strong, extraordinary hero and his confrontation with the world. Lermontov was the first to speak about interest not in personality as such, but in “the history of the human soul,” that is, he understands personality not as something unchangeable. For Lermontov, a person is interesting in his dynamics spiritual development, for the soul and character of a person are formed throughout his life in constant struggle: on the one hand, according to his own desires and beliefs, on the other - society and era. This is the “history of the human soul,” which, according to Lermontov, “is almost more interesting and useful than the history of an entire people.” The image of Pechorin is deep and voluminous precisely because the author explores the psychology of his hero and considers him as social phenomenon. Not only Pechorin’s confession constitutes the “grain of the image,” but also his relationship with the other characters.
Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time" was created as if "at the junction" of two artistic methods: romanticism and realism. According to romantic canons, the image of the main character is developed as deeply and fully as possible and is opposed to all other characters. That is, the entire system of images in the novel is constructed in such a way as to illuminate central character. But this does not mean at all that minor characters Dont Have independent meaning. Each hero is endowed with a complex character, determined by his psychology, nationality, social affiliation, age, and fate. This is already quite realistic images, and their clash with Pechorin is necessary to characterize the main character: he discovers something new in their souls, his figure deepens and enriches their images.
One of the most important characters in the novel is Staff Captain Maxim Maksimych. He and Pechorin form, as it were, the structural and artistic poles of the novel. Despite their mutual sincere affection, they do not understand and will never understand each other. Their spiritual disunity is not accidental. Criticism rightly evaluates the complexity of the relationships between these heroes as a peculiar reflection of the dramatic disunity of the advanced Russian intelligentsia and the people. The relationship of these characters in Lermontov’s novel confirms Belinsky’s deep thought: “A personality outside the people is a ghost, but the people outside the personality are also a ghost... Just like Pechorin’s truth of a free, critically thinking personality, so the truth of the immediate patriarchal-folk consciousness of Maxim Maksimych is far from complete and harmonious integrity. For Lermontov, the fullness of truth is not in the predominance of one of them, but in their convergence..."
Pechorin establishes his own special relationship with each hero of the novel. Relationships with him are not similar to the relationships of the heroes with each other, because Pechorin strives by any means to “break through” the external mask of the heroes, to see them true faces, understand what each of them is capable of. In an effort to get to the essence of a person, Pechorin does not always behave humanely. And this increases tension, forcing others to react sharply and sharply to him.
In addition, the “portrait of a generation” is revealed to the reader not only in the image of Pechorin, composed, as stated in the preface, from the vices of his time. Each character in the novel, in his interaction with the main character, manifests himself as a representative of time .
Grushnitsky is perceived as one of the typical “heroes of the time”. Why does he provoke Pechorin’s sharp, initially unjustifiably hostile ridicule? Remember, there is nothing unpleasant about the young cadet. Pechorin in the magazine recalls his cowardice: “... I saw him in action: he waves a saber, shouts and rushes forward, closing his eyes. This is something not Russian courage!..” But there is no shame in overcoming fear, on the contrary - well done boy! Why is Pechorin so offended by Grushnitsky’s posturing, his love of pompous phrases and his dream of becoming the hero of a novel? We will also see these traits in Grushnitsky, but they are quite natural for a romantically inclined young man and do not cross certain boundaries. Let's remember the conversation between Maxim Maksimych and the traveler-officer from the chapter of "Bela". The kindest captain was shocked and horrified by Pechorin’s words about the emptiness of life, about the boredom and indifference that tormented him. The traveler, the same age as Pechorin, was not at all horrified: “I answered that there are many people who say the same thing; that there are probably those who tell the truth, and that today those who... are really bored, they try to hide this misfortune as a vice." This scene is one of the most important for understanding Pechorin’s attitude towards Grushnitsky. The fact is that Pechorin diligently hides his painful melancholy, while Grushnitsky, who is cheerful by nature and does not know true boredom, plays a role - his, Pechorin’s, role! This profanation of his tragedy infuriates Pechorin and makes him hate Grushnitsky.
Grushnitsky's desire to play someone else's role, unusual for him, turns into a real tragedy: it leads him to betrayal, to a dirty game (a duel with one loaded pistol) and, finally, to death.
This is how society, by writing roles and drawing fashionable masks, takes people away from themselves and cripples their souls. And if Pechorin grieves: “... my high destiny was true,” then why not assume a high destiny for Grushnitsky? After all, “the history of the human soul” is not limited to interest in Napoleons: the history of “even the smallest soul...” is unique.
The relationship between Pechorin and Doctor Werner is full of drama. This is the story of a failed true friendship between people who are spiritually and intellectually close. If the spiritual community of Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych was out of the question, then Pechorin has a lot in common with Dr. Werner. Unfortunately, they are brought together not only by spiritual quests and philosophical reflections, but also by participation in the general “masquerade.” Grushnitsky plays the role of a disappointed romantic, dreaming of becoming the hero of a novel. Pechorin and Werner hide their tormenting melancholy under a mask of ease; defending themselves from the century, they hide the ability to love and compassion; By preventing such possible betrayal, they learn indifference and selfishness. And a tragedy occurs: “decently pulled masks” grow to faces and disfigure souls. Both Pechorin and Werner are panicky afraid of their normal human feelings. Remember the scene they played before the duel: how intensely and diligently they hide their true feelings - fear, regret, friendly affection. How pointedly carelessly they talk about trifles, what cynical pompous phrases they exchange a few minutes before the possible death of one of them! Both heroes are children of their time, both bear the cross of their era - a terrible era that suppresses everything human in people, an era in which the manifestation of true and normal feelings is unnatural.
In relations with Vera, Pechorin is most contradictory, because here the forces that determine all his connections with people are brought to the highest intensity. Pechorin’s passionate, deep, thirsty nature cannot isolate itself in the world of the family. The properties that make him a “hero of the time” do not allow him to limit his life to his “home circle”: this would mean stopping. Pechorin cannot create a House: this is a type of wandering hero. Creation is possible only when a person has found himself, relying on unshakable moral values. In a world of distorted moral guidelines and trampled spiritual ideals, the search for oneself for people like Pechorin becomes endless.
And here we come close to an aspect of the novel, without which it is impossible to understand either the meaning of the era or the essence of the image of the main character: the problem of fate, fate, that is, philosophical issues novel.
Pechorin’s reflections in “Fatalist” about faith and unbelief relate not only to the tragedy of loneliness modern man in the world. Man, having lost God, has lost the main thing - moral guidelines, a solid and definite system moral values. The system of moral prohibitions proposed by religion has nothing in common with the chain on which someone put a person. They forbade stealing and killing, they threatened with hell - and the person does not steal or kill, he sits quietly. But then they took off the chain and said: there is no hell, no one will punish you. And the individual, whooping and whistling, rushed off to rob, kill and rape. Is there value in this understanding of religion? Not the slightest.
The idea of God is not a chain or a whip to pacify instincts, it is the idea of the spiritual need of man himself to rise above them, defeating them in himself. This is the highest idea of spiritual equality - for every person is the image and likeness of God, regardless of whether he is Napoleon or a titular councilor. There is one most important moral law, true at all times: respect for the world and people begins with self-respect. Not from self-aggrandizement, but from self-respect. This may be expressed as respect for the divine essence of man, or it may be expressed in another way. But regardless of the way of expression and awareness of this moral law, it is central, morality begins with it. A person who humiliates others does not respect himself. His need to humiliate someone is explained precisely by the fact that only by triumphing over the weak does he feel strong: he takes out his own grievances against the world on someone else. A feeling of inner inferiority, spiritual inferiority - this is what brings about a lack of self-respect. This is the psychology of a slave, the psychology of spiritual slavery. It is from this slavery that man flees to permissiveness and strives for destruction, for creation is impossible without inner freedom.
“A Hero of Our Time” first saw the light in the magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski”, where it was published in chapters. Literary critic Belinsky highly appreciated the novel; he was the first to understand that these were not separate stories, but a single work, the intent of which becomes clear only when the reader becomes familiar with all the stories.
The novel's stories as a portrait of Pechorin
The chapter “Princess Mary” is the main one, since it most clearly reveals specific features character of Pechorin, for which reason the novel can be called psychological work. Here the hero writes about himself, which allows him to most fully express his emotional emotions. It is not without reason that the author pointed out in the preface to Pechorin’s Journal that here the reader is confronted with the history of the human soul.
Diary entries allow the hero to talk about what he feels and thinks, as well as blame himself for his sins. These lines contain clues to his character and an explanation for the strangeness of his behavior.
Ambiguous personality of the main character
It is impossible to say that Grigory Pechorin is only black or only white. His character is multifaceted and ambiguous. Reading about relationships with Bela or Maxim Maksimych, we see an egoist in front of us, but he is an intelligent, educated, brave egoist. He does not know how to make friends or love, but he perceives himself critically, without whitewashing his actions.
Gregory feels that his personality consists of two people, and one condemns the other for bad deeds. Egocentrism is combined with sober self-criticism, skepticism towards universal human values- with a strong mind, energy - with an aimless existence.
Coldness of feelings as a product of the era
The book shows us Pechorin's relationships in love and friendship. Sometimes this is passionate love, next hand in hand with death, pursuit, war, deception (“Bela”), sometimes romantic and mysterious (“Taman”), sometimes tragic (“Princess Mary”). Friendship is shown with peers - for example, with Grushnitsky, or with an old officer. But every story shows him not being up to par.
Gregory is not flawed, he is just a product of his era, the result of upbringing in that suffocating social and psychological climate of the surrounding society. Here people are raised who do not know how to value the feelings of others, who do not know what it is living life. Lermontov does not condemn the main character, Grigory himself does this.
Social and psychological topicality of the novel
Chernyshevsky said that this book is directed against the vices of society - it shows how wonderful people under the pressure of the environment they turn into nonentities.
Senseless, deceitful, stupid - this is how the society of aristocrats appears according to Pechorin’s descriptions. Not a single living thing will survive here and sincere feeling, here ignorance and anger, arrogance and rudeness of the noble circle burn out life itself. Heroes cannot be born here, and those that exist eventually become indistinguishable from other members of society - without feelings, aspirations, goals, love and attachments.
The author shows that even the smartest individuals are devastated in this rotten environment. Pechorin's attempt to distance himself from society turns him into a melancholy, restless individualist, with increased egoism, from which not only those around him suffer, but also himself. Lermontov skillfully draws a psychological portrait of a representative of that era, realistically depicts society and castigates its vices, creating a deep work of socio-psychological orientation.