Features of the ring composition in the heroes of our time. What is the originality of the composition of the novel "Fathers and Sons"?

The novel begins with Ilya Ilyich lying all day in a dressing gown on a sofa in a dirty room and bickering with his servant Zakhar.

“On the walls, near the paintings, a cobweb saturated with dust was molded in the form of festoons, mirrors, instead of reflecting objects, could be more likely to write down on them in the dust, some notes for memory ... a rare morning did not stand on the table uncleaned from yesterday dinner, a plate with a salt shaker and a gnawed bone, but there were no bread crumbs lying around. If not for this plate, and not for a pipe just smoked leaning against the bed, or not for the owner himself lying on it, then one would think that no one lives here, everything was so dusty, faded, and generally devoid of traces of human presence. ".

Alarming letters are coming from the village from the headman - the income from the estate is decreasing and decreasing. Ilya Ilyich is making grandiose plans for all sorts of transformations in his estate, but for their implementation you need at least to get out of bed.

“He had already risen from his bed and almost got up, looking at his shoes, he even began to lower one foot from the bed towards them, but immediately picked it up.” Yes, and why get up, there is no paper, the ink has dried up, and the letter from the headman is lost.

A "gallery of types" is also depicted, all these heroes come one after another to Oblomov. They mostly have "talking" surnames. Oblomov has the same type of reaction to everything he hears from them: their aspirations seem to him “vanity”, they are all “unhappy”. Then the position of the hero at the time of the story is described: the relationship with Zakhar, an exposition is given that recreates the earlier stages of Oblomov's life, helping to understand the psychological origins of his current state. "Oblomov's Dream", published separately before the completion of the entire novel, has compositional independence and completeness of thought. The content of the dream can be attributed to him personally, and to all of old noble Russia, the symbol of which is Oblomovka. This dream occupies, in an ideological sense, perhaps a central place in the novel, as it shows what is behind the concept of "Oblomovism" - the key word in the novel.
Part 1 of the novel is dedicated to such one ordinary day of Ilya Ilyich. This life is limited to the room in which Oblomov lies and sleeps. Outwardly, few events take place here, but the picture is full of movement: the state of mind of the hero changes; through household items, the character of Oblomov is guessed.

The first part ends with the appearance of Stolz - this appearance gives the impression of a plot. Such compositional techniques are generally characteristic of the novel: the end of the next part or the beginning of the next is marked by the appearance of a character, apparently changing the whole picture. However, in reality, nothing changes after this, the development of the action does not occur. Such a composition, full of “false moves”, corresponds to the content of the novel: Oblomov constantly talks and thinks about how to start a new life, and even makes attempts in this direction, but they lead nowhere.

The love theme includes several important moments that can only be conditionally called culminating: for example, Oblomov's letter and the subsequent explanation with Olga (the end of the second part), followed by several more meetings and explanations. This is a kind of extended climax, which can hardly even be called a climax - the life of the heroes passes in anticipation of change, they consider themselves a bride and groom, while Oblomov has already met with the widow Pshenitsyna and his mood is gradually changing. Still thinking that he wants to marry Olga, Oblomov feels that the inertia of life is winning, he does not want to make the efforts that Olga requires of him, and the way of life that seems to her ideal is not at all what Oblomov himself dreamed of. . Olga's visit to Oblomov in Chapter VII looks like a kind of climactic explanation, when Oblomov swears his love and firm intentions to be with Olga forever and start a new life. However, this is just another "deceptive move"; Olga herself no longer believes too much that this conversation could turn out to be a turning point in their relationship and a new life would really begin (“Gentle, gentle, gentle,” Olga mentally repeated, but with a sigh, not as it used to be in the park, and plunged into deep thought).
Finally, another meeting with Olga at the end of the third part (Chapter XI) unexpectedly turns out to be the denouement of their love conflict: it becomes clear that they are breaking up, but this denouement is not caused by some climactic events, it is, as it were, slowly prepared by the whole course of Oblomov's life. The beginning of the fourth part looks like an epilogue in relation to the love story that ended before the eyes of the reader: "A year has passed since the illness of Ilya Ilyich." However, it turns out that it is now that a real, turning point in the hero's life is coming - a rapprochement with the widow Pshenitsyna.
Compositionally, it looks like a new plot, but it begins gradually, imperceptibly for the hero himself. The two love stories thus overlap, overlap one another. It is significant that the love line "Oblomov - Pshenitsyna" is drawn by completely different means than the line "Oblomov - Olga". Such important events in the hero's life as an alliance with Agafya Matveevna, and even the birth of a son - are not described in such detail and consistently as meetings and conversations with Olga - the reader will learn about all these changes after the fact. It turns out that after a big plot (where there was youth, study, service, St. Petersburg life, Olga and everything else), Oblomov is now participating in some new, small plot, which is the only one suitable for him. It is this (in contrast to the utopian plans of marriage with Olga) that becomes the beginning of his new life, which is at the same time a continuation of life in Oblomovka.
The phrase “Suddenly it all changed” looks like a string. This is followed by a message about an apoplexy suffered by Ilya Ilyich, after which Agafya Matveevna changed the regime and daily routine in the house.
The arrival of Stolz and his last explanation with Oblomov seems to be the culminating event in this plot. After this meeting, it becomes clear that more changes and events in the life of the hero will not follow. Therefore, the death of Oblomov, which can be considered the denouement of both this new story and the entire novel, although natural, is also not caused by any specific events, but simply his life is going down.
The composition of the novel is thus extremely original and unique in Russian literature.
The composition of the plot looks stretched, non-dynamic, complicated and loaded with parallel storylines and details. Dobrolyubov writes that it is precisely these compositional inserts that slow down the action (for example, Oblomov's Dream) that are of paramount importance in the novel. Perhaps it is this composition, despite the reproaches of some critics, that is more in line with the author's idea, serving the task of expressing it. The composition of "Oblomov" is interesting even for its imperfection, its vagueness, corresponding to the character of the protagonist.

Goncharov, the master of detail, gives a detailed description of the office, I. Oblomov's favorite things: shoes, dressing gown. The comicality of the situation is shown through the details; Oblomov's inner experiences are shown through shoes and a dressing gown - attachment to things, dependence on them. But it cannot be said that the character of the hero is exhausted only by this. Oblomov is not only a comic hero, but deep dramatic beginnings slip through the humorous episodes. Through internal monologues, we learn that Oblomov is a living and complex person.

The antipode of Oblomov is his friend, the Russified German Andrey Stolz. He is stubborn, hardworking, he owes everything he has achieved in life only to himself, strong and reliable, but the writer himself admitted that the image of Stolz is "pale, unreal, not alive, but just an idea." A rational, practical person, prudent, sociable, striving for business connections. Unlike Oblomov, he is an energetic, active person, constantly working. But there are no broad ideals - no, that the practice is aimed at personal success.

It is Stolz who, in the form of a temptation, slips Oblomov - Olga Ilyinskaya in order to raise the couch potato - Oblomov from the bed, to pull him out into the big light. Olga Ilyinskaya is attractive (especially her eyes), well built, smart, reasonable. At the end of the novel, Olga, surrounded by comfort, experiences longing and sadness. Stolz does not understand her.

Issues.

1. Social problems.

2. Moral

3. Philosophical.

The novel is imbued with the "irony of despair". Why, if a person is thin and deep, he is ill-adapted to harsh reality. Why do those who are busy with business have simpler and coarser feelings and perceptions. The novel "Oblomov" is an anti-serfdom novel.

Questions

1. As the character of I.A. Goncharov reflected on his work?

2. What facts of the writer's biography are reflected in his works?

3. What is the peculiarity of Goncharov the artist?

4. What do you see as the historical and philosophical meaning of the novel?

5. What is the peculiarity of the composition of the novel?

6. What details does Goncharov use to reveal the image of Oblomov?

7. What is the compositional meaning of the image of Oblomov's numerous guests? Why does the author make them representatives of different social strata?

8. Was the happiness of Olga and Oblomov possible? Why did she love the hero? And did you love?

9. Are Oblomov and Stolz antipodes?

Critics have defined the genre of A Hero of Our Time as psychological novel. When writing this work, M. Yu. Lermontov aimed to show the "history of the human soul", to reveal the inner world of the protagonist. M. Yu. Lermontov began work on the novel under the impression of his first exile to the Caucasus. First, separate stories were written, which were published as they were written: “Bela”, “Fatalist” were published in the journal “Notes of the Fatherland” in 1839, followed by the story “Taman”. Later, all five stories: "Bela", "Maxim Maksimych", "Taman", "Princess Mary", "Fatalist" - were combined into a novel under the title "Hero of Our Time".

Critics, readers ambiguously perceived the image of the protagonist: some considered Pechorin a caricature of a modern person, and the novel itself was immoral; others - that the image of Pechorin is a portrait of the author himself. M. Yu. Lermontov was forced to write a preface to the second edition, in which he commented on his perception of the hero and explained his creative principles. The author writes that his main principle when writing a novel is following the truth of life and critical evaluation of the hero.

The stories that make up the "Hero of Our Time" are arranged in a certain sequence. This was done with a specific purpose: the author gradually immerses the reader into the inner world of the protagonist, reveals his character.

There are three narrators in the story. In the story "Bela" we see Pechorin through the eyes of Maxim Maksimych, the staff captain, who notes "strangeness" in the behavior of Grigory Alexandrovich, selfishness, mystery. In "Maxim Maksimych" the role of the narrator is given to a wandering officer - a person who is closer in attitude and social status to the hero. He notes in the appearance of Pechorin the features of a strong, but internally lonely personality. In the next three stories - “Taman”, “Princess Mary”, “Fatalist” - Pechorin himself is the narrator, who tells about his adventures in the seaside town, about his stay in Pyatigorsk, about the incident in the Cossack village. The reader learns about the feelings, experiences of the hero from the lips of the hero himself, who impartially analyzes his actions, his behavior, and motives. For the first time in Russian literature, much attention was paid not to events, but to the “dialectics of the soul”, and the form of a diary confession allows to show all the “movements of the soul” of Pechorin. The hero himself admits that his soul knows such feelings as envy, pity, love, hatred. But reason nevertheless prevails over feelings: we see this in the scene of the pursuit of Vera.

The author shows the hero in various life situations, surrounds him with a variety of characters (Pechorin among the highlanders, in the circle of "honest smugglers" and "water society"). I believe that this is an exceptional and at the same time typical hero of that time: he is looking for love, but he himself only bears suffering and even death; this is a person living a complex spiritual life, but absolutely inactive or wasting energy on trifles; conscious of his vices and mercilessly condemning them in other people; a person who, according to V. G. Belinsky, “furiously chases ... after life, looking for it everywhere” and at the same time looking for death.

"A Hero of Our Time": a novel or a collection of short stories?

Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time" was created at the intersection of two artistic methods: romanticism and realism. According to romantic canons, the image of the protagonist is developed deeply and opposes all other characters. The whole system of images is built in such a way that the central character is highlighted from different angles of view. Each character is endowed with a complex character. These are very realistic images.

The very title of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" suggests that the author considers the individual in the context of society and era. "A Hero of Our Time" is a socio-psychological, philosophical novel. The conflict between the individual and society is sharper here than in Eugene Onegin. Pechorin "chases furiously for life," but gets nothing from it. The conflict was embodied not only in a typical display of personality, but also in the depiction of representatives of the "water society", their life, entertainment.

With each hero, Pechorin develops his own relationship. He seeks by any means to break through the outer mask of the heroes, to see their true faces, to understand what each of them is capable of" Pechorin confronts the "water society" that hates him, shoots with Grushnitsky, interferes in the life of "peaceful smugglers", falls in love with young Bela , daughter of a peaceful prince.

The history of the relationship between Pechorin and Werner is full of drama. This is the story of the failed friendship of people who are spiritually and intellectually close.

In relations with Vera, Pechorin is the most controversial; here, those forces that determine all his connections with people are brought to the maximum, to the highest intensity.

The problem of personality is revealed psychologically through a psychological portrait built on antitheses and oxymorons (“... his dusty velvet frock coat made it possible to see dazzlingly clean underwear”, his eyes “did not laugh when he laughed”), through introspection, through internal monologues (“ I sometimes despise myself... isn't that why I despise others too?..", "... why did I live? For what purpose was I born? ...")

Without the philosophical aspect of the novel, it is impossible to understand either the meaning of the era or the essence of the image of the protagonist. "Pechorin's Journal" is filled with thoughts about the meaning of life, about the relationship between the individual and society, about the place of a person in a series of generations, about faith and unbelief, about fate. Compositionally, this theme is completed by the chapter "The Fatalist", saturated with philosophical problems.

The main character trait of Pechorin is reflection. He constantly analyzes his thoughts, actions, desires, tries to reveal the roots of good and evil in one person. But Pechorin's reflection is hypertrophied, it disfigures the soul, distorts the development of the personality, makes both the hero and those with whom fate brings him unhappy.

The peculiarity of the novel is that, despite the fact that the parts differ in terms of genre, the novel does not fall apart and is not a collection of short stories, since all parts are united by one main character; the characters of the heroes are revealed from the external to the internal, from the effect to the cause, from the epic through the psychological to the philosophical.

The novel "A Hero of Our Time" is the first psychological novel in Russian literature, and one of the perfect examples of this genre. The psychological analysis of the character of the protagonist is carried out in the complex compositional construction of the novel, the composition of which is bizarre by the violation of the chronological sequence of its main parts. In the novel A Hero of Our Time, composition and style are subordinated to one task: to reveal the image of the hero of his time as deeply and comprehensively as possible, to trace the history of his inner life, since "the history of the human soul,- as the author states in the Preface to Pechorin's Journal, - even the smallest soul, is perhaps more interesting and useful than the history of an entire people, especially ... when it ... is written without a vain desire to arouse interest or surprise. Consequently, the composition of this novel is one of its most important artistic features.

According to the true chronology, the stories should have been arranged as follows: “Taman”, “Princess Mary”, “Fatalist”, “Bela”, “Maxim Maksimych”, Preface to the “Pechorin Journal”. Lermontov breaks the order of events and tells about them not in chronological order: "Bela", "Maxim Maksimych", Preface to "Pechorin's Journal", "Taman", "Princess Mary", "Fatalist". Such an arrangement of parts of the novel, which breaks the chronological order, increases the plot tension, makes it possible to interest the reader as much as possible in Pechorin and his fate, gradually revealing his character in all the inconsistency and complexity.

The story is told on behalf of three narrators: a certain wandering officer, staff captain Maxim Maksimych, and, finally, Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin himself. The author resorted to this technique to highlight the events and the character of the protagonist from different points of view, and as fully as possible. For Lermontov, these are not just three narrators, but three types of narrator: an outside observer of what is happening, a secondary character and participant in the events, as well as the main character himself. All three are dominated by the creator of the entire work - the author. We are presented with not just three points of view, but three levels of comprehending the character, psychological disclosure of the nature of the “hero of time”, three measures of comprehending the complex inner world of an outstanding individuality. The presence of three types of narrators, their location in the course of the narrative is closely linked to the overall composition of the novel, and determines the chronological rearrangement of events, while at the same time being in a complex dependence on such a rearrangement.

In the story “Bela”, Maxim Maksimych begins the story about Pechorin: “ He was a nice fellow, I dare to assure you; just a little weird. After all, for example, in the rain, in the cold all day hunting; everyone will get cold, tired, but nothing to him. And another time he sits in his room, the wind smells, he assures that he has caught a cold; the shutter will knock, he will shudder and turn pale; and with me he went to the boar one on one; it happened that for whole hours you couldn’t get a word, but sometimes, as soon as he starts talking, his tummies break with laughter ... Yes, sir, he was very strange.

Lermontov avoids local, dialect or Caucasian foreign words, deliberately using general literary vocabulary. The simplicity and accuracy of Lermontov's prose language were developed under the direct influence of Pushkin's prose.

The central story in the story "Bela" is the story of Maxim Maksimych, included in the notes of a wandering officer. Having put the story about the history of Pechorin and Bela into the mouth of the old Caucasian Maxim Maksimych, Lermontov set off the tragic emptiness of Pechorin and at the same time contrasted him with the whole character of the Russian person.

In the next story, "Maxim Maksimych", the staff captain turns into a character. The story continues on behalf of the author of the novel. Here, for the only time in the entire book, the author meets the hero, Pechorin. This is necessary in order to realistically motivate the detailed psychological portrait of Pechorin included in the second story. The introduction of a second narrator into the fabric of the novel corrects the focus of the image. If Maksim Maksimych examines the events as if through inverted binoculars, so that everything is in his field of vision, but everything is too general, then the storyteller officer zooms in on the image, transfers it from a general plan to a larger one. However, as a narrator, he has a drawback in comparison with the staff captain: he knows too little, being content with only passing observations. The second story, therefore, basically confirms the impression made after acquaintance with the beginning of the novel: Pechorin is too indifferent to people, otherwise his coldness would not have offended Maxim Maksimych, who was so devoted to his friendship with him.

Pechorin is indifferent not only to Maxim Maksimych, but also to himself, giving the Journal to the staff captain. The narrator, observing Pechorin's appearance, notes: “... I must say a few more words about his eyes. First, they didn't laugh when he laughed! Have you ever noticed such strangeness in some people? .. This is a sign - either an evil disposition, or a deep constant sadness. Their half-drooped eyelashes shone with a kind of phosphorescent sheen, so to speak. It was not a reflection of the heat of the soul or a playful imagination: it was a brilliance, like the brilliance of smooth steel, dazzling, but cold; his glance - short, but penetrating and heavy, left an unpleasant impression of an indiscreet question and could have seemed impudent if it had not been so indifferently calm. In the second story, the author, as it were, prepares the reader for the further Pechorin's Journal, because he learns how Pechorin's notes fell into the author's hands.

The second story is able to tease the reader's imagination: what is true in Pechorin - is it an evil temper or a deep constant sadness? Only after that, having aroused an inquisitive interest in such an unusual character, forcing the reader, who is looking for an answer, to be attentive to every detail of the further story, the author changes the narrator, giving the floor to the most central character: as a narrator, he has undoubted advantages over his two predecessors, so it’s not easy knows about himself more than others, but is also able to comprehend his actions, motives, emotions, the subtlest movements of the soul - how rarely does anyone know how. In self-analysis - the strength and weakness of Pechorin, hence his superiority over people and this is one of the reasons for his skepticism, disappointment.

In the Preface to Pechorin's Journal, the author reports something that Pechorin himself could not say: Pechorin died on his way back from a trip to Persia. This is how the author's right to publish the Pechorin's Journal, which consists of three stories: "Taman", "Princess Mary" and "The Fatalist", is justified.

"Taman" is an action-packed story. In this story, everything is explained and unleashed in the most ordinary and prosaic way, although Pechorin is initially perceived somewhat romantically and truly poetically, which is not surprising: Pechorin finds himself in an unusual and atypical environment for a noble hero. It seems to him a mystery poor hut with its inhospitable inhabitants on a high cliff near the Black Sea. And Pechorin invades this strange life of smugglers, incomprehensible to him, "like a stone thrown into a smooth spring" And "I almost went down on my own." Pechorin's sadly ironic exclamation sums up the truthful and bitter conclusion to the whole incident: “Yes, and what do I care about the joys and misfortunes of people, to me, a wandering officer, and even with a traveler on official business! ..” .

The second story, included in Pechorin's Journal, "Princess Mary", develops the theme of the hero of time surrounded by a "water society", surrounded by and in a collision with which Pechorin is shown.

In the story “Princess Mary”, Pechorin speaks to the reader not only as a memoirist-narrator, but also as the author of a diary, a journal in which his thoughts and impressions are accurately recorded. This allows Lermontov to reveal the inner world of his hero with great depth. Pechorin's diary opens with an entry made on May 11, the day after his arrival in Pyatigorsk. Detailed descriptions of subsequent events constitute, as it were, the first, “Pyatigorsk” part of the story. The entry dated June 10 opens the second, “Kislovodsk” part of his diary. In the second part, events develop more rapidly, consistently leading to the culmination of the story and the entire novel - to the duel between Pechorin and Grushnitsky. For a duel with Grushnitsky, Pechorin ends up in a fortress with Maxim Maksimych. This is where the story ends. Thus, all the events of "Princess Mary" fit into a period of a little more than a month and a half. But the story of these few days gives Lermontov the opportunity to reveal the contradictory image of Pechorin from within with exceptional depth and completeness.

It is in "Princess Mary" that the hopeless despair, the tragic hopelessness of Pechorin, an intelligent and gifted person, crippled by his environment and upbringing, are most deeply shown.

Pechorin's past within the "Hero of Our Time" is of little interest to Lermontov. The author is almost not busy with the question of the formation of his hero. Lermontov does not even consider it necessary to tell the reader what Pechorin did in St. Petersburg during the five years that passed after his return from the Caucasus and until his reappearance in Vladikavkaz ("Maxim Maksimych") on his way to Persia. All Lermontov's attention is drawn to the disclosure of the inner life of his hero.

Not only in Russian, but also in world literature, Lermontov was one of the first to master the ability to capture and depict the “mental process of the emergence of thoughts,” as Chernyshevsky put it in an article about the early novels and stories of Leo Tolstoy.

Pechorin consistently and convincingly reveals in his diary not only his thoughts and moods, but also the spiritual world and spiritual appearance of those with whom he has to meet. Neither the intonation of the interlocutor's voice, nor the movements of his eyes, nor facial expressions escape his observation. Every word spoken, every gesture reveals to Pechorin the state of mind of the interlocutor. Pechorin is not only smart, but also observant and sensitive. This explains his ability to understand people well. The portrait characteristics in Pechorin's Journal are striking in their depth and accuracy.

Nature and landscape in A Hero of Our Time, especially in Pechorin's Journal, are very often not only a background for human experiences. The landscape directly clarifies the state of a person, and sometimes emphasizes in contrast the discrepancy between the experiences of the hero and the environment.

The very first meeting between Pechorin and Vera is preceded by a thunderous landscape saturated with electricity: “It was getting hot; white shaggy clouds quickly fled from the snowy mountains, promising a thunderstorm; Mashuk's head was smoking like an extinguished torch; around it, gray wisps of clouds curled and crawled like snakes, held back in their striving and seemed to be clinging to its thorny bush. The air was filled with electricity." .

The contradictory state of Pechorin before the duel is characterized by the duality of images and colors of the morning landscape around Kislovodsk: “I don’t remember a bluer and fresher morning! The sun barely emerged from behind the green peaks, and the merging of the first warmth of its rays with the dying coolness of the night brought some kind of sweet languor to all feelings. .

The same method of contrasting lighting is used in the description of the mountain landscape that surrounded the duelists who climbed to the top of the cliff: “All around, lost in the golden mist of the morning, the peaks of the mountains crowded like an innumerable herd, and Elbrus in the south rose in a white bulk, closing the chain of icy peaks, between which fibrous clouds that had come from the east were already wandering, and went to the edge of the platform and looked down, I felt a little dizzy; down there, it seemed dark and cold, as in a coffin: mossy teeth of rocks, thrown down by a thunderstorm and time, were waiting for their prey. .

Pechorin, who knows how to accurately determine his every thought, every state of mind, restrainedly and sparingly reports on his return from the duel in which Grushnitsky was killed. A brief, expressive description of nature reveals to the reader the grave condition of Pechorin: “The sun seemed dim to me, its rays did not warm me” .

The last story of the "Journal of Pechorin" is "The Fatalist". The tragic death of Vulich, as it were, prepares the reader of The Fatalist for the inevitable and imminent death of Pechorin, which the author has already reported in the Preface to Pechorin's Journal.

In this story, the question of fate and predestination is posed by Lermontov on completely real, even everyday material. In the idealistic philosophical literature, in the stories, short stories and novels of the 1920s and especially of the 1930s, during the period of intensified European reaction, much attention was paid to this issue. The key to the ideological concept of "The Fatalist" is Pechorin's monologue, which combines the first part of the short story with its second part, which deals with the death of Vulich. Pechorin's reflections in this monologue, as it were, sum up the entire Pechorin's Journal and even the novel A Hero of Our Time as a whole.

It was in The Fatalist that Pechorin soberly and courageously discerned the source of many of his troubles, saw the cause of evil, but not the nature of temptation: “In my early youth I was a dreamer; I loved to caress alternately now gloomy, now rosy images that my restless and greedy imagination painted for me. But what is left of this for me? only fatigue, as after a night of fighting with ghosts, and a vague memory full of regrets. In this futile struggle, I exhausted both the heat of the soul and the constancy of the will necessary for real life; I entered this life, having already experienced it mentally, and I became bored and disgusted, like someone who reads a bad imitation of a book he has known for a long time.

The novel "A Hero of Our Time", written by M. Yu. Lermontov, is considered the first lyric-psychological novel in Russian literature. Readers of that time believed that the character traits of Lermontov himself were embodied in the image of Pechorin. But the author strove to create a portrait of a contemporary, as he himself admits, “it was just fun to draw a modern person as he understands him, and, unfortunately, I met him and yours too often. It will also be that the disease is indicated, but God knows how to cure it!

Structure of the novel

The composition of the novel is far from classical. The classical structure of a literary work consists of a prologue (preface), an exposition, an outset, main actions, a climax, a denouement, and an epilogue. There is also a chronological order. In the novel "A Hero of Our Time" the composition is multicomponent, that is, it has several plots, expositions, climaxes and denouements. The chronology of events is also broken. There is a prologue in the novel. In it, Lermontov tries to explain the purpose of writing his novel. This is a kind of dialogue with the reader. The novel is divided into 5 parts.

Part one

In the 1st part of the 3rd chapter. The link is the story of the author's trip and his acquaintance with Maxim Maksimych. Along with Pechorin, this is a key figure in helping to understand the image of the protagonist of the novel.

Chapter 1. Bela.

In this part, Lermontov begins the story on his own behalf, tells about a trip along the Georgian Military Highway, about his acquaintance with Staff Captain Maxim Maksimych. This part of the story is the exposition. And then he gives the floor to this old servant, and he tells about his acquaintance with Pechorin and the story of his love with Bela. With the story of Maxim Maksimych about Pechorin, the plot of this chapter and the whole novel begins. The action of the chapter develops from the moment of Bela's abduction and her appearance in Pechorin's house. The culmination is the abduction of Bela by Kazbich, her injury and death. Pechorin experienced the death of a girl, probably blamed himself for what had happened.

Chapter 2

Exposition - the author arrives in Vladikavkaz and learns that he will have to stay here for 3 days, waiting for an opportunity. He decides to record a story about Bela. The plot - the next day a wagon arrives with Maxim Maksimych. The development of the action - Maxim Maksimych learns about the arrival of Pechorin, is waiting for him. The author sees Pechorin, describes his controversial appearance. The climax is the meeting of Maxim Maksimych with Pechorin, resentment. The denouement - the author receives Pechorin's notebooks and leaves on the same day, parting with the distressed Maxim Maksimych.

Pechorin's Journal

Lermontov did not number the chapter "Pechorin's Journal" like the first 2 chapters. Lermontov singled out Pechorin's Notes. Thus, Pechorin's journal is a book within a book. This new book, begun in the first part of the novel, is preceded by a preface in which Lermontov explains the reason for his desire to publish the Pechorin notes. "Pechorin's Journal" begins with the first chapter, which only emphasizes the nesting of one work into another.

In the "Journal" the narration is conducted on behalf of Pechorin. Chronologically, it goes back.

Chapter 1. Taman

The chapter tells about the adventures of the protagonist in Taman. Here fate brought him to the smugglers. The exposition is the arrival of Pechorin in Taman and the search for an apartment. The plot of the plot from the moment of his acquaintance with the Blind. Events begin to develop with the appearance of a girl on the roof. The climax is the moment when the girl lured Pechorin and tried to drown him. But the man was stronger. Overboard was Undine. The child of the sea did not drown. The denouement - Pechorin leaves the town of smugglers - Taman. This is where the first part ends.

Part two

The continuation of Pechorin's journal, or rather, its end, is in the second part of the novel. Part two begins with the second chapter, continuing Pechorin's Journal, which is called Princess Mary.

Princess Mary

This part of the story is full of drama. The story of Princess Mary can be considered the climax of the novel. The main characters of this story: Pechorin, Grushnitsky, Princess Mary. Heroes of the second plan - Vera, Dr. Werner, captain. The heroes of the third plan are Mary's mother, Vera's husband, Mary's admirers, the captain's comrades.

The exposition of the novel is the arrival of Pechorin in Pyatigorsk, and the morning exit to the city. The plot of the plot begins with a meeting with Grushnitsky, who introduces Princess Pechorin and Princess Ligovsky.

Events begin to develop from the moment when Pechorin protects Princess Mary from a drunken captain. The captain is angry with Pechorin and decides to take revenge on him, but to take revenge with the hands of Grushnitsky. The duel, Mary's illness and Vera's confession to her husband are the culmination of the story. The denouement is also filled with drama. Vera leaves, and Pechorin drives his horse, trying to catch up with her. Princess Ligovskaya offers Pechorin to marry his daughter, which he refuses, and confesses to Mary that he never loved her.

The story of Princess Mary was recorded in the fortress, therefore, its events took place before Pechorin met Bela.

Fatalist

And finally, the third chapter of the Fatalist magazine. The events of this narrative also developed before the meeting with Bela, but when Pechorin served with Maxim Maksimych. At the end of the novel, the reader once again meets this wonderful and simple-hearted staff captain. In this story, Pechorin is not the main character. He is in the background, although he is involved in a dispute with Vulich, one of the officers, becomes a witness to his death and then disarms the Cossack. In the foreground in this story are the Serb Vulich and the drunken Cossack. The climax of this chapter of the novel is Vulich's shot and misfire. But the development of the action continues until the arrest of the Cossack who hacked to death the Serb. The denouement is the return of Pechorin to the fortress and a conversation with Maxim Maksimych about predestination.

Conclusion

Thus, the composition of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" has several characteristic features:

• violation of chronology;
• nesting one narrative into another;
• several narrators: the author, Maksim Maksimych, and Pechorin himself.

The composition of the novel is subordinated to the task of the most complete disclosure of the character and inner world of the protagonist. After reading the novel, one cannot but agree with V.G. Belinsky, who believed that "this is not a collection of several stories and short stories, but a novel in which there is one main character and one main idea."

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov began work on his most famous novel, A Hero of Our Time, in 1838, and initially published parts of this work as separate stories. It was not until 1840 that A Hero of Our Time was published as a complete novel.

And it is this novel that can be called the first full-fledged socio-psychological work for Russian literature. This is due not only to the writer's desire to depict the tragic side of the 30s of the XIX century, but also to those artistic, innovative features that Lermontov's novel is rich in and the complexity of the composition.

Features of the novel

A distinctive feature of "A Hero of Our Time" is the unusual composition that the novel presents to readers. (). The narrators change throughout the story, and we see the complex and amazing nature of the protagonist through different eyes.

This allows at a high psychological level to understand the nature and personality of Pechorin, and to unravel his thoughts and the content of his inner world. This artistic feature makes the novel not only instructive and deep, but interesting and exciting.

Also in the "Hero of Our Time" the chronological sequence of events is violated, which cannot but be called a special artistic device of Lermontov. First, the author shows us the later period of Pechorin's life, then the reader learns about his death, and after Lermontov gives the words to Pechorin himself.

The title of the work speaks for itself, it fully reveals the idea of ​​a talented writer. (). Lermontov wanted to create a full-fledged and detailed image of the hero of that time; in the history of one human soul, he included all the typical features, character traits and vices that were inherent in people of the post-Decembrist era.

For this reason, Pechorin's personality is so complex and contradictory, he can be selfish, cold and cruel, but there is no stricter judge for him than himself.

The complex and slightly confusing composition of the novel allows you to delve deeper and deeper into the life of the protagonist and understand his state of mind. And the change of narrators allows you to see his psychological portrait brighter and wider.

After all, the complexity of composition and artistic narration created by Lermontov fully corresponds to the complexity of the character of his hero, who is the key face of the entire novel.

The way the work is artistically constructed embodies Pechorin's logic, this is also the key to understanding his fate and personality.

The versatility of "A Hero of Our Time"

The versatility of the "Hero of Our Time" lies in the fact that, using the example of the controversial and peculiar personality of Pechorin, the author reveals many life-affirming topics.

Pechorin's life, the choices he made, his actions and behavior is a picture of the life of many people of that time, saturated with a wide variety of colors.

And Lermontov's mastery lies in the fact that he does not simply describe reality, he psychologically reveals the causes and consequences of Pechorin's character traits, he raises important and urgent problems of society through the personality of such a peculiar hero.

The theme of individual freedom resounds relentlessly in Pechorin's thoughts, and by his example the author argues that the struggle for freedom must continue regardless of the circumstances.

But Pechorin's contradiction lies in the fact that he continues this tough struggle without any humanistic ideals that could calm and please his heart.

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