A hero of our time is all about the work. We need an analysis of the chapter "Bela" from the work "Hero of Our Time" thanks in advance

" - "Bela", "Maksim Maksimych", "Taman", "Princess Mary" and "Fatalist" - are arranged so that the events described in the second part precede those that Lermontov described in the first. If we were to arrange the stories in chronological order and restore the order in which the events took place in the hero’s life, then the book would look like this:

1. On his way to the Caucasus, to his destination, Pechorin stopped in Taman (“Taman”).

2. After participating in military expedition Pechorin goes to Vody, lives in Pyatigorsk and Kislovodsk, kills Grushnitsky (“Princess Mary”) in a duel.

3. For this duel, Pechorin is sent to the “line”, to the fortress on the left flank, under the command of Maxim Maksimych (“Bela”).

4. Pechorin leaves the fortress for two weeks to the Cossack village, where he makes a bet with Vulich (“Fatalist”).

5. Five years after this, Pechorin, who retired, on his way to Persia, meets Maxim Maksimych (“Maksim Maksimych”) in Vladikavkaz.

6. On the way back from Persia, Pechorin dies (“Preface to Pechorin’s Journal”).

However, Lermontov preferred a different arrangement of stories and first described Pechorin “from the outside”, and then “from the inside”, first as he was perceived by a person of a different social circle - Maxim Maksimych, then - from the point of view of a traveling officer retelling the story of Bela. And only after this the reader learns about Pechorin’s death and gets acquainted with his “Journal”, that is, with his own judgments about himself. Thus, a cycle of stories connected by the image of a hero turned into the first psychological novel in Russian literature.

Lermontov. Hero of our time. Bela, Maxim Maksimych, Taman. Feature Film

The fragmentary nature of the novel freed Lermontov from the need to tell the biography of the hero and allowed him to limit himself to hints. “My ambition is suppressed by circumstances,” writes Pechorin. And it is not difficult for the reader to guess: this is a hint of a link. “We are no longer capable,” he says, “of great sacrifices... for the good of humanity,” meaning by “the good of humanity” freedom. In the struggle with himself, he exhausted the heat of the soul and the constancy of the will, “necessary for real life” - for life - action, for struggle. “I became incapable of noble impulses,” he writes. Pechorin despises himself, complains that his life “is becoming emptier - day by day.” That is why he plays the “pathetic role of the executioner” of Princess Mary and Grushnitsky in the “comedy” that he started, because he does not know how to satisfy his longing for real life, kill forces worthy of the present cause.

“When you read the lines,” Belinsky noted, “you also read between the lines; understanding clearly everything said by the author, you also understand what he did not want to say for fear of being verbose.” In response to the attempts of some journalists to discredit the author and belittle the significance of Lermontov’s novel, Belinsky, analyzing the character of Pechorin, wrote: “An egoist, a villain, a monster, an immoral person!..” - perhaps strict moralists will shout in unison. Your truth, gentlemen; but what are you fussing about? Why are you angry?.. You anathematize him not for his vices - you have more of them and in you they are blacker and more shameful - but for that bold freedom, for the bilious frankness with which he speaks about them... Yes, this man has fortitude and willpower that you don’t have; in his very vices something great glimmers... He has a different purpose, a different path than you. His passions are storms that purify the sphere of the spirit; his delusions, no matter how terrible they are, are acute illnesses in a young body, strengthening him for a long and healthy life...”

The novel “A Hero of Our Time” is a unique phenomenon of Russian culture. Based on the literary trends of the 30s–40s of the 19th century, Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov became an innovator in many ways. He created the first realistic novel in prose in Russian, creatively rethought the cyclization method, expanded functionality compositions and gave the world the epoch-making image of Pechorin - extra person who fell out of the cycle of his rebellious time.

“Hero of Our Time” was written by Lermontov at the age of 25, a year before tragic death in a duel. The year was 1840. In world literature, there is a tendency to depict the “son of the century” - a typical representative of a particular era, country, social class. “Confession” by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “The Sorrows of Young Werther” by Johann Goethe, “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” by George Byron, “Confession of a Son of the Century” by Alfred Musset have already been published.

In Russia, this trend was supported by Karamzin with his “Knight of Our Time”, Venevitinov with “Vladimir Perensky”, Stankevich with “A Few Moments of Count Z”. And in the 20s, the masterpieces “Woe from Wit” by Griboyedov and “Eugene Onegin” by Pushkin were released.

The essence and summary of the work

Set of styles
“A Hero of Our Time” organically intertwines psychological, adventurous, social, confessional novels, the best features of bygone romanticism and developing realism. In literary circles, debates still continue regarding the definition of the genre of a work - it does not fit into the narrow framework of any of them.

The versatility of the novel's problems (moral, philosophical, socio-psychological) determines its psychologism and deep immersion into the nature of the main character. Real historical events are described here conditionally; first of all, the author is occupied with the history of the human soul, and it is “almost more curious and not more useful than history a whole people."

The first publication of “Hero…” took place in 1840 in the St. Petersburg publishing house of Ilya Glazunov.

Features of the composition: cyclization, anachronism

The novel consists of individual stories, travel sketches, short stories, and diary entries. It is noteworthy that the real chronology of events is broken; for the reader, the chapters of the story are arranged in the following sequence:

1. Preface to "Pechorin's Journal";
2. "Taman";
3. "Princess Mary";
4. "Fatalist".

If events were located in chronological order, then first there should have been “Taman” (an adventurous story about smugglers), followed by “Princess Mary” (Pechorin’s stay in a Caucasian sanatorium), then “Bela” (Pechorin’s exile to a military fortress because of a duel with Grushnitsky), “Fatalist "(mystical story in a Cossack village), "Maksim Maksimych" ( chance meeting Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin 5 years after parting in the Caucasus), preface to Pechorin’s Journal.

Lermontov used the technique of anachronism not by chance. Historical reality was not of primary importance to the author. The main task of the novel is to reveal the image of the central character. That is why the author mixes up the chapters, sets his own intra-novel time and arranges the stories so that they reveal the image of Pechorin most vividly and in detail.

Among other things, the composition of “Hero...” is complicated by the change of narrators. There are three of them in the novel - the traveling officer, Maxim Maksimych and Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin himself. Thus, the image of the main character is revealed from different angles - an outside observer, a friend who personally knows him, and the hero himself write about him. Exploring the novel, the reader goes deeper into Pechorin's psychology, overcoming first the superficial, then more detailed and, finally, the deepest level of psychoanalysis - introspection.

The story “Bela” is a story by Maxim Maksimych (commandant of a guard fortress in the Caucasus), retold by a certain traveling officer. The events take place in a remote Caucasian fortress, where the brilliant imperial officer Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, exiled to this wilderness for some secular offense, is languishing in boredom (later the reader learns that this is a duel with Grushnitsky). Having become accustomed to the whistling of bullets, Pechorin craves new thrills and steals the daughter of a mountain princeling, and his favorite horse from the daredevil Kazbich.

The captive's name is Bela. Her exotic beauty attracts the young officer, he is ready to do anything to possess her. Little by little, Bela gets used to it and falls in love with her former kidnapper. The couple experiences wonderful days of boundless happiness, after which Pechorin’s ardor weakens. Bela's beauty does not hide the lively mind and education that Pechorin so needs. He soon simply gets tired of the beautiful savage. Severely tormented by the coldness of her beloved, Bela dies at the hands of Kazbich, who stabbed her to death out of revenge for a stolen horse.

Bela becomes Pechorin's first innocent victim. In the future, their list will be expanded. Wherever this brilliant officer appears, grief, disappointment, tears and death invariably follow him.

IN a little story, which was witnessed by the same traveling officer, there is no action-packed plot. Two old acquaintances met, exchanged a couple of stock phrases, shook hands and went their separate ways. Nothing remarkable. Such meetings happen every day.

The drama of the moment will become clear only to those who are already familiar with the story of Grigory Andreevich Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych. After a five-year separation, the old man was ready to throw himself on the neck of his comrade, with whom he served in a lonely fortress in the Caucasus. However, Pechorin only coldly shakes hands and speaks to the old man as if those years of service did not exist, Bella and Kazbich did not exist.

Maxim Maksimych is Pechorin’s second victim. And although the former commandant does not literally die, something in his soul has broken since then. The kind staff captain became grouchy and withdrawn.

"Taman"

Frustrated, Maxim Maksimych gives the officer diary entries Pechorin, which he had previously carefully kept. Now the reader has the opportunity to penetrate to the very essence contradictory nature Main character.

The events described occurred even before Pechorin’s exile to the Caucasus. On duty, unsuccessful St. Petersburg student Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin comes to Taman (“the worst little town of all the coastal cities of Russia”). There he accidentally finds himself in the center of an adventurous story, leads to clean water a gang of smugglers and almost dies during a night skirmish with criminals.

Fearing that the military will inform on them, the smugglers Ondine and Yanko sail away from Taman forever, leaving the blind boy who helped them to the mercy of fate. And again Pechorin, having burst into the calm world of “honest smugglers,” destroys their usual way of life - dooms Ondine and Janus to new wanderings, and the wretched boy to hunger and loneliness.

In the chapter “Princess Mary” Pechorin goes to the healing waters in Pyatigorsk. High season. A secular society has gathered here, coming here year after year. The list of Pechorin’s victims becomes even more impressive: the recent cadet Grushnitsky dies at his hand and suffers bitterly ex-lover Faith knows sorrow unrequited love and the cruelty of the lies of young Mary Ligovskaya, whom the officer shamelessly fell in love with.

The worst thing is that Pechorin’s actions do not bring him any benefit. It's just a cruel game. He's juggling human lives boredom. If the amorous story with Bela began with sincere attraction, then Pechorin felt nothing more than sympathy for Mary. He was attracted by the youth, spontaneity of the young princess, he wanted to annoy the arrogant Grushnitsky, who was in love with Ligovskaya, wanted to amuse his own vanity, to once again feel like a conqueror.

Echo past life When Pechorin was able to sincerely love, Vera appears, arriving at the waters together with her legal, but not beloved, husband. One of the final scenes of the story is noteworthy, when Pechorin chases a cart on a lathered horse, carrying Vera to the city. An impulsive attempt to fix everything, to start living again, ends in defeat. Pechorin is doomed to misfortune, causing pain to others is his fate.

"Fatalist"

In the final part of the novel, the image of Pechorin is presented in a demonic light. Now he does not need to do anything - just say the word, and the person is doomed to death.

In the poems of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, both examples of romantic poetics and realistic moments are combined. This combination creates a unique “incompleteness” of his works.

Biography of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov - Russian poet, prose writer, playwright, artist, whose work successfully combines civil, philosophical and personal motives.

Having seen the “seal of death” on the face of Lieutenant Vulich, Pechorin predicts the military man’s imminent death. A random bullet did not kill him, but appeared in the face of a drunken village resident with a saber. What is this - a decree of fate or a destructive poison that Pechorin is squandering? If he had not started an argument, Vulich would have stayed playing cards until the morning, would have returned to the apartment with his comrades and would not have met the drunken Cossack.

The image of Pechorin is the connecting basis of “A Hero of Our Time”. All the events that occur in the novel serve to reveal it more fully.

The image of the main character has been dissected in hundreds of research papers. Some call him a renegade of his time, an extra person, while others, on the contrary, consider Pechorin a typical representative of the Russian nobility. His trouble is the disease of the century. Grigory Alexandrovich is both a victim and a villain, an ordinary person who cannot find his place in life, and a formidable demon called upon to bring grief and disappointment.

Despite Pechorin’s negative actions and the impressive list of his victims, the author and the reader like him. Lermontov, however, is categorical - the Pechorins have no place in modern world, they are doomed. The hero of his time dies unknown during one of his travels. Under what circumstances? Doesn't matter. It couldn't be any other way.

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov’s novel “Hero of Our Time”: analysis of the work

The history of the creation of the novel “A Hero of Our Time”

The novel “A Hero of Our Time” by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov cannot be considered in isolation from the processes that took place in Russian and world literature in the late 30s and early 40s of the 19th century. One of major events V European literature The end of the 18th and the first third of the 19th century was the birth of the realistic method, prepared by all the previous development of world literature, including the achievements of classicism, sentimentalism, and especially romanticism. During this period, both in Western European and Russian literature, one of the most important tasks The task was to create a narrative about a hero of his time, about a leading young man of the era, about the attitude of this hero to the society that gave birth to him. This task, posed by writers of the Enlightenment era, and then deepened by sentimentalists and romantics, became significantly more complicated during the years of the emergence of realism, acquired new aspects and required new efforts and new solutions.

Among the great creations of European literature, which form, as it were, a single chain of narratives about the development of the image of advanced young man modern times, one should certainly name “Confession” by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “The Sorrows of Young Werther” by I.-V. Goethe, Senancourt's novel "Obermann", the psychological novel in prose "Adolphe" by Benjamin Constant, "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" by J.-G. Byron.

Russian literature responds to the problem of the “hero of time” with some delay, but already in 1802-1803 N.M. Karamzin, following Rousseau’s discoveries in the field of analysis of the emerging mental world of a child, begins to create the narrative “A Knight of Our Time,” which he never finished. This work does not go beyond sentimental aesthetics, but in many ways anticipates further development Russian psychological novel. After 20 years, young Pushkin begins to write the first realistic novel in verse, “Eugene Onegin,” and at the very end of the 30s, Lermontov creates the first Russian realistic novel in prose, “Hero of Our Time.”

At the end of the 30s of the 19th century, romanticism for Western European and Russian literature was over, although a very fruitful stage. Having absorbed the artistic experience of his predecessors, greatly complicating and enriching the traditions accumulated in European literature, Lermontov created his novel along the main paths of development of the European realistic novel.

Problems and plot of the novel “A Hero of Our Time”

The novel organically combines socio-psychological and moral-philosophical issues, a sharp plot and the hero’s merciless self-analysis, the outline of individual descriptions and the novelistic swiftness of turns in the development of events, philosophical reflections and unusual experiments of the hero; his love, social and other adventures turn into the tragedy of the fate of an extraordinary person that did not fully materialize. Thus, the novel, despite its extraordinary conciseness, is distinguished by its exceptional richness of content, diversity of issues, and organic unity of the main artistic idea that develops in the main character, Pechorin. It is the hero who is the basis of the work. The revelation of the hero is the goal of the entire system of stories; it also determines the construction of the plot.

Composition of the novel “A Hero of Our Time”

The novel “A Hero of Our Time” is the first psychological novel in Russian literature, and one of the perfect examples of this genre. Psychological analysis The character of the main character is carried out in the complex compositional structure of the novel, the composition of which is bizarre in 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 his history inner life, because "story human soul, - as the author states in the Preface to Pechorin’s Journal, - at least the most petty soul, is almost more curious and useful than the history of an entire people, especially... when it... is written without a vain desire to arouse participation 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”, “Maksim Maksimych”, Preface to “Pechorin’s Journal”. Lermontov breaks the order of events and talks about them not in chronological order: “Bela”, “Maksim Maksimych”, Preface to “Pechorin’s Journal”, “Taman”, “Princess Mary”, “Fatalist”. This arrangement of parts of the novel, violating the chronological order, increases the plot tension, makes it possible to maximally interest the reader in Pechorin and his fate, gradually revealing his character in all its inconsistency and complexity.

The narration is told on behalf of three narrators: a certain traveling officer, staff captain Maxim Maksimych and, finally, Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin himself. The author resorted to this technique to highlight the events and character of the main character from different points of view, and as fully as possible. Lermontov has not just three narrators, but three types of narrator: an outside observer of what is happening, minor character and a 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 not just three points of view, but three levels of comprehension of character, psychological revelation of the nature of the “hero of the time”, three measures of comprehension of the complex inner world extraordinary individuality. The presence of three types of narrators, their location during the narrative is closely linked to overall composition the novel, 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 guy, I dare to assure you; just a little strange. After all, for example, in the rain, in the cold, hunting all day; everyone will be cold and tired, but nothing to him. And another time he sits in his room, smells the wind, assures him that he has a cold; the shutter knocks, he shudders and turns pale; and with me he went to hunt wild boar one on one; It happened that you wouldn’t get a word for hours at a time, but sometimes, as soon as he started talking, his stomach would rip from 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.

Central to the story “Bela” is the story of Maxim Maksimych, included in the notes of a traveling officer. By putting the story of Pechorin and Bela into the mouth of the old Caucasian Maxim Maksimych, Lermontov highlighted the tragic devastation of Pechorin and at the same time contrasted him with the integral character of the Russian man.

In the next story "Maksim Maksimych" the staff captain turns into actor. The narration continues on behalf of the author of the novel. Here is the only time in the entire book that the author meets the hero, Pechorin. This is necessary in order to realistically motivate detailed psychological picture Pechorin, included in the second story. The introduction of a second narrator into the fabric of the novel adjusts the focus of the image. If Maxim Maksimych views events as if through inverted binoculars, so that everything is in his field of vision, but everything is too general, then the officer-narrator zooms in on the image, transfers it from a general plan to a more enlarged one. However, as a storyteller, 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 reading the beginning of the novel: Pechorin is too indifferent to people, otherwise with his coldness he would not have offended Maxim Maksimych, who was so devoted to his friendship.

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 of all, they didn't laugh when he laughed! Have you ever noticed such strangeness in some people?.. This is a sign - or evil temper, or deep constant sadness. Because of the half-lowered eyelashes, they shone with some kind of phosphorescent shine, so to speak. It was not a reflection of the heat of the soul or the playing imagination: it was a shine, like the shine of smooth steel, dazzling, but cold; his gaze, short, but penetrating and heavy, left an unpleasant impression of an immodest question and could have seemed impudent if he 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 finds out how Pechorin’s notes fell into the hands of the author.

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

In the Preface to Pechorin's Journal, the author reports something that Pechorin himself could not report: Pechorin died while returning from a trip to Persia. This is how the author’s right to publish “Pechorin’s Journal”, consisting of three stories: “Taman”, “Princess Mary” and “Fatalist” is justified.

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

The second story, included in Pechorin’s Journal, “Princess Mary,” develops the theme of the hero of time surrounded by the “water society,” surrounded by and in conflict with which Pechorin is shown.

In the story “Princess Mary” Pechorin appears to the reader not only as a memoirist-storyteller, 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 climax of the story and the entire novel - the duel between Pechorin and Grushnitsky. For a duel with Grushnitsky, Pechorin ends up in the fortress of 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 narration of these few days makes it possible for Lermontov to reveal with exceptional depth and completeness the contradictory image of Pechorin from the inside.

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

Pechorin's past within the framework of "A Hero of Our Time" is of little interest to Lermontov. The author is almost not occupied 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 focused on revealing 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 spiritual world and the spiritual appearance of those with whom he meets. 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 his interlocutor. Pechorin is not only smart, but also observant and sensitive. This explains his ability to understand people well. Portrait characteristics in “Pechorin's Journal” amaze with 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 human condition, and sometimes contrastively emphasizes the discrepancy between the hero’s experiences and the surrounding environment.

Pechorin’s first meeting with 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 him, gray wisps of clouds curled and crawled like snakes, detained in their quest and as if caught in his thorny bushes. The air was filled with electricity" .

Pechorin’s contradictory state before the duel is characterized by the duality of images and colors of the morning landscape of the outskirts of Kislovodsk: “I don’t remember a more blue and fresh morning! The sun barely appeared from behind the green peaks, and the merging of the first warmth of its rays with the dying coolness of the night brought a kind of sweet languor to all the senses.” .

The same technique of contrasting lighting is used in the description mountain landscape, surrounding the duelists who climbed to the top of the cliff: “All around, lost in the golden fog of the morning, the tops of the mountains crowded like a countless herd, and Elbrus in the south stood up like a white thunder, closing the chain of icy peaks, between which fibrous clouds that had rushed from the east were already wandering, and approached the edge of the site and looked down, my head felt a little dizzy; there, below, it seemed dark and cold, as if in a coffin: the mossy teeth of rocks, thrown down by thunder and time, were awaiting their prey.” .

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

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

In this story, the question of fate and predestination is posed by Lermontov on completely real, even everyday material. In an idealistic philosophical literature, in stories, tales and novels of the 20s and especially the 30s, during the period of intensified European reaction, this issue was given great attention. The key to the ideological plan of “Fatalist” is Pechorin’s monologue, which combines the first part of the novella with its second part, in which we're talking about about the death of Vulich. Pechorin’s reflections in this monologue seem to 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 the alternately gloomy and rosy images that my restless and greedy imagination painted for me. But what does this leave me with? only fatigue, as after a night battle with ghosts, and a vague memory filled with regrets. In this vain struggle I exhausted both the heat of my soul and the constancy of will necessary for real life; I entered this life having already experienced it mentally, and I felt bored and disgusted, like someone who reads a bad imitation of a book he has long known.”

The system of characters in the novel “A Hero of Our Time”

No less important for understanding the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is the system of characters who illuminate the central character from different sides and from different angles. They highlight the character of the main character (by contrast and similarity), therefore they have important functions in the novel.

Let's take a closer look at the characters of the novel in the system of interaction with the main character Pechorin.

In the original description Kazbich, which Maxim Maksimych gives him, there is neither elation nor deliberate depression: “He, you know, was not exactly peaceful, not exactly non-peaceful. There was a lot of suspicion against him, although he was not involved in any prank.” Then mention is made of such an everyday activity of a mountaineer as selling rams; it talks about his unsightly outfit, although attention is drawn to his passion for rich weapons and his horse. Subsequently, the image of Kazbich is revealed in acute plot situations, showing his effective, strong-willed, impetuous nature. But these personal traits Lermontov substantiates them in a largely realistic manner, linking them with customs and morals real life Highlanders

Bela- Circassian princess, daughter of a peaceful prince and sister of young Azamat, who kidnaps her for Pechorin. In the name of Bela, as main character, the title of the first story of the novel. The simple-minded Maxim Maksimych talks about Bel, but his perception is constantly corrected by Pechorin’s words given in the story. Bela - mountain woman; she retained the natural simplicity of feelings, spontaneity of love, a living desire for freedom, and inner dignity. Insulted by the kidnapping, she withdrew, not responding to signs of attention from Pechorin. However, love awakens in her and, like a whole nature, Bela gives herself to her with all the power of passion. When Bela became bored with Pechorin, and he was satisfied with the love of the “savage,” she resigns herself to her fate and dreams only of freedom, proudly saying: “I will leave myself, I am not his slave, I am a princess, a prince’s daughter!” Traditional situation romantic poem- the “flight” of the intellectual hero into a “simple” society alien to him - Lermontov turns it upside down: the uncivilized heroine is forcibly placed in an environment alien to her and experiences the influence of the intellectual hero. Love brings them happiness for a short time, but ultimately ends in the death of the heroine.

The love story is built on contradictions: the ardent Pechorin - the indifferent Bela, the bored and cooled Pechorin - the passionately loving Bela. Thus, the difference in cultural and historical structures is equally catastrophic for both the intellectual hero, who finds himself in a “natural” society native to the heroine, and for “ savage”, transferred to a civilized society where an intellectual hero lives. Everywhere the collision of two dissimilar worlds ends dramatically or tragically. A person endowed with a more developed consciousness imposes his will, but his victory turns into a moral defeat. In the end, he gives in to the integrity of “simple” nature and is forced to admit his moral guilt. The healing of his sick soul, initially perceived as a rebirth, turns out to be imaginary and fundamentally impossible.

In creating images of the Circassians, the author departs from the romantic tradition of depicting them as “children of nature.” Bela, Kazbich, Azamat - complex, contradictory characters. Drawing their clearly expressed universal human qualities, the strength of passions, the integrity of nature, Lermontov also shows their limitations, due to the patriarchal underdevelopment of life. Their harmony with the environment, which Pechorin lacks so much, is based on the strength of customs and foundations, and not on a developed consciousness, which is one of the reasons for its fragility in a collision with “civilization.”

The images of the mountaineers are in many ways opposed to the deeply realistic at their core artistic type Maxim Maksimych, an elderly staff captain.

Maxim Maksimych has a heart of gold and kind soul, he values ​​peace of mind and avoids adventures; duty comes first for him, but he doesn’t mess around with his subordinates and behaves in a friendly manner. The commander and chief gain the upper hand in him in war and only when his subordinates, in his opinion, commit bad deeds. Maxim Maksimych himself firmly believes in friendship and is ready to show respect and love to any person. His role as a character and narrator is to remove the aura of romantic exoticism from the image of the Caucasus and look at it through the eyes of a “simple” observer, not endowed with special intelligence.

Deprived of personal introspection, as if not isolated from the “natural” world, Maxim Maksimych perceives Pechorin as a “strange” person. It is unclear to him why Pechorin is bored, but he knows for sure that he acted badly and ignoblely towards Bela. Maksim Maksimych’s pride is even more wounded by the cold meeting that Pechorin “rewarded” him after a long separation. According to the old staff captain, people who served together become almost family. Meanwhile, Pechorin did not want to offend Maxim Maksimych at all, he simply had nothing to talk about with a person whom he did not consider his friend.

Maxim Maksimych- an extremely capacious artistic image. On the one hand, this is a clearly defined concrete historical and social type, on the other hand, it is one of the indigenous national characters. By its “independence and purely Russian spirit,” Belinsky put this image on a par with artistic images of world literature. But the critic also drew attention to other aspects of Maxim Maksimych’s character - inertia, the limitations of his mental horizons and views. Unlike Pechorin, Maxim Maksimych is almost devoid of personal self-awareness, a critical attitude towards reality, which he accepts as it is, without reasoning, fulfilling his “duty”. The character of Maxim Maksimych is not as harmonious and complete as it seems at first glance; he is unconsciously dramatic. On the one hand, this image is the embodiment of the best national qualities of the Russian people, and on the other, its historical limitations and the strength of centuries-old traditions.

Thanks to Maxim Maksimych, both strong and weak sides Pechorinsky type - a break with the patriarchal-national consciousness, loneliness, loss of the young generation of intellectuals. But the staff captain himself also turns out to be lonely and doomed. His world is limited and devoid of complex harmony, and the integrity of his character is “secured” by the underdevelopment of his sense of personality. The meaning of the collision between Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin is not in the predominance and superiority of the personal principle over the patriarchal-folk, or the patriarchal-folk over the personal, but in their dramatic break, in the desirability of rapprochement and movement towards agreement.

There is a lot that connects Pechorin and the staff captain in the novel; each highly values ​​the other in their own way, and at the same time they are antipodes. In both, much is close to the author, but not one of them separately expresses Lermontov’s ideal; Moreover, something in each of them is unacceptable for the author (Pechorin’s selfishness, Maxim Maksimych’s narrow-mindedness, etc.). The dramatic relations between the advanced Russian intelligentsia and the people, their unity and disunity, found a unique embodiment of these principles in the novel. Both the Pechorin truth of a free, critically thinking person, and the truth of the immediate, patriarchal-people's consciousness of Maxim Maksimych are far from completeness and harmonious integrity. For Lermontov, the fullness of truth does not lie in the predominance of one of them, but in their convergence. True, Pechorina and Maxim Maksimych are constantly being tested and tested by other life positions, which are in a complex state of mutual repulsion and rapprochement. The ability to see the relativity and at the same time the certainty of individual truths - to extract from their collision the highest truth of developing life - is one of the main philosophical and ethical principles underlying “A Hero of Our Time”.

Undine- This is how Pechorin romantically called the smuggler girl. The hero intervenes simple life"honest smugglers." He was attracted by the mysterious circumstances of the night: a blind boy and a girl were waiting for a boat with the smuggler Yanko. Pechorin was impatient to find out what they did at night. The girl seemed to be interested in Pechorin herself and behaved ambiguously: “she was spinning around my apartment: singing and jumping did not stop for a minute.” Pechorin saw a “wonderfully tender gaze” and perceived it as ordinary female coquetry, i.e. in his imagination, the gaze of the “ondine” was compared with the gaze of some secular beauty who excited his feelings, and the hero felt within himself the previous outbursts of passion. To top it all off, there followed a “wet, fiery kiss,” an appointed date and a declaration of love. The hero sensed danger, but was still deceived: it was not love that was the reason for the demonstrative tenderness and ardor, but Pechorin’s threat to inform the commandant. The girl was faithful to another, Yanko, and her cunning only served as a pretext for reprisals against Pechorin. Brave, naively cunning and clever, she lured Pechorin into the sea and almost drowned him.

Pechorin’s soul longs to find among the “honest smugglers” the fullness of life, beauty and happiness that the hero so lacks. And his deep, sober mind realizes the impossibility of this. Pechorin understands the recklessness of his actions, the whole story with the “undine” and other smugglers from the very beginning. But this is precisely the peculiarity of his character, that, despite the extremely common sense inherent in him, he never completely submits to it - for him there is a higher level of well-being in life than everyday well-being.

The constant oscillation between the “real” and the “ideal” contained in its depths is felt in almost all the images of “Taman”, but especially vividly in the girl smuggler. Pechorin’s perception of her changes from enchanted surprise and admiration to emphasized prosaicness and everyday life. This is also due to the girl’s character, built on transitions and contrasts. She is as changeable as her life, lawlessly free.

In “Tamani” there is an image that is completely designed in realistic tones. Its meaning is to create a real-life background for the story. The image of an orderly Pechorina. This character appears at the most intensely romantic moments and with his real appearance holds back the romantic narrative. Moreover, with his passivity he sets off Pechorin’s restless nature. But the self-irony of the protagonist also determines the change of romantic and realistic plans, their subtle interpenetration.

Grushnitsky- a cadet posing as a demoted officer, first playing the role of the first lover in the love triangle (Grushnitsky-Mary-Pechorin), but then relegated to the position of an unlucky rival. The ending is tragic: Grushnitsky is killed, Mary is immersed in a spiritual drama, and Pechorin is at a crossroads and does not triumph at all. In a sense, Grushnitsky represents not only the antihero and antipode of Pechorin, but also his “distorting mirror.”

Grushnitsky is one of the most realistically objectified images. It depicts a type of romantic not by internal make-up, but by following fashion. His self-isolation is emphasized by his organic inability for genuine spiritual communication. Grushnitsky is stupid and narcissistic, lives by fashionable ideas and habits (a mask of mysterious tragedy), “fits in” with the stereotypical behavior of the “society”; finally, he is a weak nature that is easy to expose, which is what Pechorin does. Grushnitsky cannot accept defeat; he becomes close to a dubious company and, with its help, intends to take revenge on the offenders. Although the closer Grushnitsky is to death, the less romantic coquetry there is in him, although he overcomes his dependence on the dragoon captain and his gang, he is unable to completely overcome the conventions of secular etiquette and defeat self-esteem.

The doctor represents a different type Werner, a friend of Pechorin, a person, in his opinion, wonderful for many reasons. Living and serving in a privileged environment, he is internally close to ordinary people. He is mocking and often secretly mocks his rich patients, but Pechorin saw him cry over a dying soldier.

Werner is a unique variety of the “Pechorin” type, essential both for understanding the entire novel and for shading the image of Pechorin. Like Pechorin, Werner is a skeptic, an egoist and a “poet” who has studied “all the living strings of the human heart.” He has a low opinion of humanity and the people of his time, but the ideal principle in him has not died out, he has not lost interest in the suffering of people, he vividly feels their decency and good inclinations. He has inner, spiritual beauty, and he appreciates it in others.

Werner is short, thin and weak, like a child; one of his legs was shorter than the other, like Byron; in comparison with his body, his head seemed huge. In this respect, Werner is the antipode of Pechorin. Everything in him is disharmonious: a sense of beauty and bodily ugliness, ugliness. The visible predominance of the spirit over the body gives an idea of ​​the unusualness and strangeness of the doctor, as does his nickname: Russian, he wears German surname. Kind by nature, he earned the nickname Mephistopheles because he has critical vision and with an evil tongue, penetrating into the essence hidden behind a decent shell. Werner is endowed with the gift of consideration and foresight. He, not yet knowing what intrigue Pechorin has in mind, already has a presentiment that Grushnitsky will fall victim to his friend. The philosophical and metaphysical conversations of Pechorin and Werner resemble a verbal duel, where both opponents are worthy of each other.

But in the sphere of behavioral equality there is no and cannot be. Unlike Pechorin, Werner is a contemplator. He does not take a single step to change his fate and overcome skepticism, which is much less “suffering” than the skepticism of Pechorin, who treats with contempt not only the whole world, but also himself. Cold decency is Werner’s “rule of life.” The doctor's morality does not extend beyond this. He warns Pechorin about the rumors spread by Grushnitsky, about the conspiracy, about the impending crime (they will “forget” to put a bullet in Pechorin’s pistol during the duel), but he avoids and is afraid of personal responsibility: after the death of Grushnitsky, he steps aside, as if he had no indirect connection to it relationship, and silently places all the blame on Pechorin, without shaking hands with him when visiting. (He regards the doctor’s behavior as treason and moral cowardice).

Mary- the heroine of the story of the same name “Princess Mary”. The name Mary is formed, as stated in the novel, in the English manner. The character of Princess Mary in the novel is described in detail and written out carefully. Mary in the novel is a suffering person: it is over her that Pechorin stages his cruel experiment of exposing Grushnitsky. It is not for Mary’s sake that this experiment is carried out, but she is drawn into it by Pechorin’s play, since she had the misfortune to turn an interested gaze on the false romantic and false hero. At the same time, the problem of love - real and imaginary - is connected with the image of Mary in the novel.

Mary is a secular girl, somewhat romantically inclined, and not devoid of spiritual needs. There is a lot of naive, immature and externality in her romanticism. The plot of the story is based on a love triangle. Getting rid of Grushnitsky's love, Mary falls in love with Pechorin, but both feelings turn out to be illusory. Grushnitsky's falling in love is nothing more than red tape, although he is sincerely convinced that he loves Mary. Pechorin's love is imaginary from the very beginning.

Mary's feeling, left without reciprocity, develops into its opposite - hatred, insulted love. Her “double” love defeat is predetermined, for she lives in an artificial, conditional, fragile world, she is threatened not only by Pechorin, but also by “ water society" So, a certain fat lady feels offended by Mary, and her gentleman, a dragoon captain, undertakes to fulfill this. Pechorin destroys the plans and saves Mary from the captain’s slander. In the same way, a small episode at a dance (an invitation from a drunk gentleman in a tailcoat) reveals all the instability of Princess Mary’s seemingly strong social position in the world and in the world in general. Mary's trouble is that, feeling the difference between a direct emotional impulse and social etiquette, she does not distinguish a mask from a face.

Faith- secular lady. She plays a prominent role in the plot of the story. On the one hand, thanks to Pechorin’s relationship with Vera and her thoughts, it is explained why Pechorin, “without trying,” is able to invincibly dominate a woman’s heart, and on the other hand, Vera represents a different type compared to Mary secular woman. Faith is sick. Thus, in the novel, the young princess Mary and Vera are presented as different poles of life - flourishing and fading.

A new meeting between Vera and Pechorin takes place against the backdrop of nature and in the homes of people of the world who came to the waters. Here natural life and civilized life, tribal and social life collide. Vera's husband is a distant relative of Princess Ligovskaya, lame, rich and burdened with illnesses. Marrying him not out of love, she sacrificed herself for the sake of her son and values ​​her reputation - again, not because of herself. Persuading Pechorin to meet the Ligovskys in order to see him more often, Vera is unaware of the intrigue with Mary planned by the hero, and when she finds out, she is tormented by jealousy.

Pechorin's relationship with Vera serves as a reason for the heroes to think about female logic, about female nature, about the attractiveness of evil. At other moments, Pechorin feels the power of Vera’s love, who again carelessly entrusted herself to him, and he himself is ready to respond to her selfless affection. It seems to him that Vera is “the only woman in the world” whom he “would not be able to deceive.” But for the most part, even hugging Vera and covering her face with kisses, he makes her suffer, believing that the evil he caused Vera is the reason for her love. Pechorin brought Vera more than just suffering: always wanting to be loved and never achieving the fullness of love, he gives women an infinity of feeling, against the background of which the love of “other men” seems petty, mundane and dull. Therefore, Vera is doomed to love Pechorin and suffer. Tragic, suffering and selfless love is her lot.

Perhaps Vera initially hoped for family happiness with Pechorin. Pechorin, with his restless character, searching life goal everyone was less inclined to create a family home. Only after losing Vera, Pechorin realizes that it was she who carried within herself the love that he greedily sought, and this love died, because he drained Vera’s soul without filling it with his feelings.

"Water Society" given by Lermontov in the most characteristic socio-psychological signs, which record more details of morals and everyday life than the individual characteristics of character types. The realistic tendency to create a life background echoes the romantic principles of depicting heroes opposed to society. But even in this case, expressive life details and specific individual characteristics give the characters and types realistic credibility.

Vulich- the lieutenant whom Pechorin met in the Cossack village. Having drawn a romantic-psychological portrait of a man with a supposedly unusual past, with deep passions carefully hidden under external calm, the author deepens this characterization of Vulich: “there was only one passion that he did not hide: the passion for the game . The passion for the game, the failure, the stubbornness with which he started all over again every time with the hope of winning, reveals in Vulich something akin to Pechorin, with his passionate game of both his own and other people's lives.

In the exhibition of the story, along with a portrait of Vulich, there is a story about his card game at the start of the shootout and his repayment of debt under bullets, which gives him a preliminary characterization as a person capable of being selflessly carried away and at the same time able to control himself, cold-blooded and despising death.

The mystery and mystery of Vulich’s image are due not only to the real-life romantic character, but also to the complex philosophical problem- about the role of predestination in human destiny.

Vulich is reserved and desperately brave; a passionate gambler for whom cards are only a symbol of man's fatal game with death, a game devoid of meaning and purpose. When a dispute arises among officers about whether there is predestination, i.e. Whether people are subject to some higher power that controls their destinies, or they themselves control their lives, Vulich, unlike Pechorin, recognizes predestination, volunteers to test the truth of the thesis on himself. The pistol is pressed to the forehead: the misfire, preserving Vulich’s life, seems to serve as evidence in favor of fatalism (especially since Pechorin predicted Vulich’s death “today”). Vulich has no doubts. His life is as meaningless as his death is absurd and accidental. Pechorin’s “fatalism” is simpler, more primitive and banal, but it is based on real knowledge that excludes “a deception of feelings or a lapse of reason”, - “nothing worse will happen than death - and you cannot escape death!” .

Thanks to a complex system of images, the image of the main character is shaded in a very versatile way. Against the background of the “water society” with its vulgarity, petty interests, calculations, selfishness, and intrigues, Pechorin appears as a noble, highly cultured person suffering from his social uselessness. In "Bel", bored and torn internal contradictions Pechorin is contrasted with the Caucasians with their ardor, integrity, and constancy. The meeting with Maxim Maksymych shows Pechorin in sharp contrast with an ordinary person of the same era. Pechorin's mental imbalance and social disorder stand out sharply in comparison with Doctor Werner, for whom the skepticism that brings him closer to the hero of the novel does not prevent him from fulfilling his duty.

The secondary characters of the novel, playing a service role in relation to the main character, also have independent significance. Almost each of them is a bright typical figure.

Thus , Pechorin Grigory Alexandrovich an extraordinary person. The problem of morality is connected with the image of Pechorin in the novel. In all the short stories that Lermontov combines in the novel, Pechorin appears before us as a destroyer of the lives and destinies of other people: because of him, the Circassian Bela loses her home and dies, Maxim Maksimych is disappointed in his friendship with him, Mary and Vera suffer, and die by his hand Grushnitsky, forced to leave native home“honest smugglers,” the young officer Vulich dies. The hero of the novel himself realizes: “Like an instrument of execution, I fell on the heads of the doomed victims, often without malice, always without regret...” Sun His life is a constant experiment, a game with fate, and Pechorin allows himself to risk not only his life, but also the lives of those who are nearby. He is characterized by unbelief and individualism. Pechorin, in fact, considers himself a superman who managed to rise above ordinary morality. However, he does not want either good or evil, but only wants to understand what it is. All this cannot but repel the reader. And Lermontov does not idealize his hero.

Pechorin's character is complex and contradictory. The hero of the novel says about himself: “There are two people in me: one lives in in every sense of this word, another thinks and judges it..." . What are the reasons for this dichotomy? “I told the truth - they didn’t believe me: I began to deceive; Having learned well the light and springs of society, I have become skilled in the science of life...”- Pechorin admits. He learned to be secretive, vindictive, bilious, ambitious, and became, in his words, a moral cripple. Pechorin is an egoist.

And yet Pechorin is a richly gifted nature. He has analytical mind, his assessments of people and actions are very accurate; he has a critical attitude not only towards others, but also towards himself. His diary is nothing more than self-exposure. He is endowed with a warm heart, capable of feeling deeply (the death of Bela, a date with Vera) and worries greatly, although he tries to hide soul feelings under the mask of indifference. Indifference, callousness is a mask of self-defense. Pechorin is, after all, a strong-willed, strong, active person, “lives of strength” lie dormant in his chest, he is capable of action. But all his actions carry not a positive, but a negative charge; all his activities are aimed not at creation, but at destruction. In this, Pechorin is similar to the hero of the poem “Demon”. Indeed, in his appearance (especially at the beginning of the novel) there is something demonic, unsolved. Strong will and the thirst for activity gave way to disappointment and powerlessness, and even high egoism gradually began to turn into petty selfishness. Traits strong personality remain only in the form of a renegade, who, however, belongs to his generation.

Conclusion about the meaning of the novel

Thus, after analyzing the novel, we can conclude that “A Hero of Our Time” is the first novel in Russian literature, the center of which is not the biography of a person, but rather the personality of a person - his spiritual and mental life as a process. It is no coincidence that the work is a cycle of stories concentrated around one hero. The chronology of the hero’s life is disrupted, but the chronology of the narrative is clearly built: the reader gradually comprehends the world of the main character of the novel, Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, from the initial characterization given by Maxim Maksimych, through the author’s description to the confession in “Pechorin’s Journal”. Minor characters are also needed primarily in order to more fully reveal Pechorin’s character. So, the main task of M. Yu. Lermontov in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is to tell the “story of the human soul,” seeing in it the signs of the era. In the preface to “Pechorin’s Journal,” the author emphasized that in the image of the hero, a portrait is given not of one person, but of an artistic type that absorbed the features of a whole generation of young people at the beginning of the century.

“A Hero of Our Time” is a closed type of novel (i.e. intense), because focuses on the life of one person, one conflict, one situation. The novel depicts life as a process, the plot is not completed, so “A Hero of Our Time” has an open ending.

Lermontov's novel “A Hero of Our Time” has firmly entered the history of Russian realistic prose and was recognized by our writers and critics as one of the most perfect creations in the history of classical literature.

Literature

1. Lermontov M.Yu. Hero of our time. Princess Ligovskaya / M.: Bustard, 2007. - P.54, 13, 49, 50, 66, 84, 85, 132, 136, 139, 152, 153, 45, 38, 46.
2. V.V. Vinogradov. Analysis of the language and style of “A Hero of Our Time”, 1941, vol. 43 - 44. pp. 517 - 628.
3. Life and work of M.Yu. Lermontov. Sat.1, M., Goslitizdat, 1941. P. 310 - 355.
4. Manuilov V.A. Mikhail Yurjevich Lermontov. A manual for students. Ed. 2nd. L., “Enlightenment”, 1976. pp. 134 - 146.
5. Hero of Our Time: Novel/Introductory Art. M. Dunaeva; - M.: Det. lit., 2000. - P. 5 - 27.
6. Manuilov V.A. Roman M.Yu. Lermontov "Hero of Our Time". A comment. Ed. 2nd, add. L., “Enlightenment”, 1975. P. 3 - 58.

Lesson summary on Russian literature

On the topic of:

Analysis of the story "Bela"

Topic: Analysis of the story “Bela”

Goals:

1 ) Educational:in the course of analyzing the story and observing the hero’s behavior, identify Pechorin’s character traits, show the narrator’s assessment of the hero’s image, the role of the landscape in creating character;

2) Developmental: develop text analysis skills;

3) Educational:develop respect for the culture of other people.

Equipment : portrait of a writer.

Methodical techniques:text analysis, teacher's commentary, commented reading.

During the classes

I. Organizing time.

II. Review questions.

1. Tell us about the history of the creation of M. Yu. Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time.”

2. What does M. Yu. Lermontov write about in his “Preface” to the novel? (About the purpose of writing your work.)

3. What main feature of the main character does the writer note in the “Preface”? (“... this is a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development.”)

5. What did M. Yu. Lermontov point out to the reader with his novel? (On the moral illnesses of his contemporary society.)

III. Teacher's opening speech.

“Bela” is the first story in the novel “A Hero of Our Time.” It is a story within a story." The narrator, who begins the story, soon gives the floor to the staff captain he met on the road. Maksim Maksimych, an officer of about 50 years old, has seen a lot in his life, but the most memorable event for him was not the military actions with the “mountain thugs”, but the story of the young man Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, expelled from St. Petersburg for some offense and served under him.

V. Analysis of the story.

1) Briefly retell the plot of the story “Bela” (development of coherent oral speech).

2) From what person is the story narrated? (On behalf of Staff Captain Maxim Maksimych.)

3) How did Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin appear when he first met Maxim Maximych?(<...>so new that I immediately guessed that he was onWe recently arrived in the Caucasus,”)

4) What attracted Pechorin toBela? (Beauty, novelty of impressions,)

5) Give detailed description Bela to from following criteria:

Education (highlander family);

The role of traditions in her life is (great);

Appearance (extraordinarily beautiful);

Character (savage);

Attitude towards Pechorin (fell in love with Pechorin).

6) Describe the life of the mountain people. (The role of traditions is strong, proud people, prone to military raids, reverence for parents, etc.)

7) How did Kazbich and Azamat differ from Pechorin? (Pechorin is a secular person, without a specific way of life, Kazbich and Azamat are people of the mountains, living according to the laws of the mountaineers)

8) Why did Pechorin stop loving Bela? ("Love di karki little better than love noble lady”, “I’m bored with her.”)

9) What trait in Pechorin’s character did Maxim Maksimych pay attention to? (“Only a little strange,”)

10) How did Pechorin perceive the death of Bela? Why didn't he ever talk about her again? (Pechorin takes Bela’s death hard; for him, the girl’s death is an unhealed wound.)

Analysis of Pechorin's autocharacteristics(reading a fragment of the story from the words: “Listen, Maxim Maksimych,” he answered, “I have an unhappy character...”).

Questions to consider

1. Choose words that convey Pechorin's disappointment in life. Please comment on them.
2. What is the reason for Pechorin’s boredom and disappointment, in his opinion?
3. What are the similarities and differences between Pechorin and Onegin?
4. Why can't Pechorin be happy in his environment?

In his monologue, Pechorin seems to reveal his inner biography: the pleasures of life, love, reading - nothing brought satisfaction. Pechorin's boredom directly echoes the blues of Evgenia Onegin. But, unlike Onegin, Lermontov’s hero is characterized by an insatiable thirst for something new, a “restless imagination”, “an insatiable heart”. When preparing to travel, he is looking not for peace, but for “storms and bad roads.”

The role of landscape in the story.

Find the most striking landscape sketches. What pictures of nature does Lermontov choose for his description? What is the connection between landscape sketches and the image of the main character and the event outline of the story?

The majestic pictures of mountain nature are imbued with lyrism, a sense of the beauty and poetry of the world. Against the background of harmony in nature, Pechorin’s discord with life and anxiety are clearly highlighted.

In addition, the rebellion and majesty of the Caucasian landscapes emphasize and strengthen the rebellion of Lermontov’s hero, his proud spirit.

IV. Generalization.

In the first story that begins the novel, the main character Pechorin appears as a man who embodies contradictory qualities. Pechorin's character remains a mystery, because the motives of his actions are hidden from the reader. The hero is described through the perception of the narrator - a middle-aged staff captain, who, for a number of reasons, is not able to explain the character and actions of Pechorin.

Lermontov uses a number of techniques to outline the image of the hero:

Characterization of Pechorin by the narrator;

Actions and deeds of Pechorin;

Autocharacteristics of the hero;

Comparison of Pechorin with other characters in the story;

Scenery.

V. Homework.

VI. Summing up the lesson. Assessing student work.

Mikhail Lermontov combined rare talents: masterly versification and skill as a prose writer. His novel is known no less than his lyrics and drama, and maybe even more, because in “A Hero of Our Time” the author reflected the illness of an entire generation, historical features of his era and the psychologism of the romantic hero, who became the voice of his time and an original manifestation of Russian romanticism.

The creation of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is shrouded in mystery. There is no documentary evidence exact date started writing this work. In his notes and letters the writer is silent about this. It is generally accepted that the completion of work on the book dates back to 1838.

The first were “Bela” and “Taman”. The date of publication of these chapters is 1839. They, as independent stories, were published in the literary magazine Otechestvennye zapiski and were in great demand among readers. In February 1840, “Fatalist” appears, at the end of which the editors promise the imminent release of Lermontov’s entire book. The author completed the chapters “Maksim Maksimych” and “Princess Mary” and in May of the same year published the novel “A Hero of Our Time”. Later, he published his work again, but with a “preface”, in which he gave a kind of rebuff to criticism.

Initially M.Yu. Lermontov did not conceive this text as something holistic. These were a kind of travel notes, with their own history, which were inspired by the Caucasus. Only after the success of the stories in " Domestic notes“The writer added 2 more chapters and connected all the parts with a common plot. It should be noted that the writer visited the Caucasus very often, since his health was poor since childhood, and his grandmother, fearing the death of her grandson, often brought him to the mountains.

Meaning of the name

The title already brings the reader up to date, revealing the true intentions of the artist. Lermontov foresaw from the very beginning that critics would consider his work a personal revelation or banal fiction. Therefore, he decided to immediately outline the essence of the book. The meaning of the title of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is to state the theme of the work - the image of a typical representative of the 30s of the 19th century. The work is dedicated not to the personal drama of some fictional character, but to what an entire generation felt. Grigory Pechorin absorbed all the subtle, but authentic for young people of that era, characteristics that make it possible to understand the atmosphere and tragedy of the personality of that time.

What is this book about

In the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov tells the story of the life of Grigory Pechorin. He is a nobleman and an officer, we first learn about him “from the lips” of Maxim Maksimych in the chapter “Bela”. The old soldier told the reader about the eccentricity of his young friend: he always achieves his goals, no matter what the cost, but is not afraid of public condemnation and even more serious consequences. Having kidnapped a beautiful mountain girl, he thirsted for her love, which over time arose in Bela’s heart; another question is that Gregory no longer needed this. With his reckless act, he immediately signed the girl’s death warrant, because later Kazbich, in a fit of jealousy, decides to take the beauty away from the kidnapper, and when he realizes that he cannot leave with the woman in his hands, he mortally wounds her.

The chapter “Maxim Maksimych” reveals Gregory’s coldness and sensual barrier, which he is not ready to cross. Pechorin very restrainedly greets his old friend - the staff captain - which greatly upsets the old man.

The chapter “Taman” lifts the veil of the hero’s conscience. Grigory sincerely repents that he got involved in the affairs of “honest smugglers.” The strong-willed strength of character is also shown in this fragment at the moment of the fight in the boat with Ondine. Our hero is inquisitive and does not want to remain ignorant of the affairs happening around him, which is why he follows a blind boy in the middle of the night, interrogating a girl about the nightly activities of her badna.

The truly mysteries of Pechorin’s soul are revealed in the part “Princess Mary”. Here he, like Onegin, who “dragged” the ladies out of boredom, begins to play the ardent lover. The hero’s ingenuity and sense of justice at the time of the duel with Grushnitsky amaze the reader, because pity also lives in a cold soul; Grigory gave his comrade a chance to repent, but he missed it. The main line in this chapter is love. We see the hero as loving, yet he knows how to feel. Faith melted all the “ice,” causing old feelings to burn even brighter in the heart of the chosen one. But his life is not created for a family; his way of thinking and love of freedom indirectly influence the outcome of his relationship with his beloved. All his life Pechorin broke the hearts of young ladies, and now he receives a “boomerang” from fate. She did not prepare family happiness and the warmth of home for the social dandy.

The chapter “Fatalist” discusses the destiny of human life. Pechorin again shows courage, entering the house of the Cossack, who hacked Vulich to death with a saber. Here we are presented with Gregory's thoughts on fate, predestination and death.

Main themes

An extra person. Grigory Pechorin is a smart, intelligent young man. He does not show emotion, no matter how much he himself wants it. Coldness, prudence, cynicism, the ability to analyze all his actions - these qualities distinguish the young officer from all the characters in the novel. He is always surrounded by some kind of society, but he is always a “stranger” there. And the point is not that the hero is not accepted by high society, far from it, he becomes the object of everyone’s attention. But he moves himself away from his environment, and the reason lies in his development, which has gone beyond “this age.” A penchant for analysis and sober reasoning is what truly reveals Gregory’s personality, and, therefore, the explanation for his failures in the “social” sphere. We will never like people who see more than we want to show.

Pechorin himself admits that he is spoiled by high society, and this is also the reason for his satiety. After being freed from the care of his parents, Gregory, like many young people of any time, begins to explore the pleasures of life that are available for money. But our hero quickly becomes bored with these entertainments, his mind is gnawed by boredom. After all, he makes Princess Mary fall in love with him for fun, he didn’t need it. Out of boredom, Pechorin begins to play big “games,” unwittingly destroying the destinies of the people around him. So, Mary stays with broken hearted, Grushnitsky is killed, Bela becomes a victim of Kazbich, Maxim Maksimych is “disarmed” by the coldness of the hero, “honest” smugglers have to leave their beloved shore and leave the blind boy to the will of fate.

Fate of a generation

The novel was written during a period of “timelessness.” Then the bright ideals of active and active people who dreamed of changing the country for the better lost their meaning. The state, in response, violated these good intentions and demonstrably punished the Decembrists, so after them came a lost generation, disillusioned with serving the homeland and satiated with secular amusements. They could not be satisfied with their innate privileges, but they saw perfectly well that all other classes were vegetating in ignorance and poverty. But the nobles could not help them; their opinion was not taken into account. And in the person of his hero Grigory Pechorin M.Yu. Lermontov collects the vices of that apathetic and idle era; it is no coincidence that the novel is called “A Hero of Our Time.”

Boys and girls received proper upbringing and education, but it was impossible to realize their potential. Because of this, their youth is spent not in satisfying ambitions by achieving goals, but in constant fun, and this is where satiety begins. But Lermontov does not reproach his hero for his actions, the task of the work is different - the writer tries to show how Grigory came to this state of affairs, he tries to show the psychological motives for which the character acts in one way or another. Of course, the answer to the question is the era. After the failures of the Decembrists, the executions of the best representatives of society, young people, before whose eyes this was happening, did not believe anyone. They were accustomed to coldness of mind and feelings, to doubt everything. People live, looking around, but at the same time, without showing it. These qualities were absorbed by the hero of the novel M.Yu. Lermontov - Pechorin.

What's the point?

When the reader first meets Pechorin, he develops antipathy towards the hero. In the future, this hostility decreases, new facets of Gregory’s soul are revealed to us. His actions are assessed not by the author, but by the narrators, but they do not judge the young officer. Why? The answer to this question lies the meaning of the novel “A Hero of Our Time.” M.Yu. Lermontov, with his work, fights back against Nicholas’s time, and through the image of the superfluous person shows what “the country of slaves, the country of masters” leads a person to.

In addition, in the work the author described in detail the romantic hero in Russian realities. At that time, this trend was popular in our country, so many word artists tried to embody fresh trends in art and philosophical trends in literature. Distinctive feature The innovative motive was psychologism, for which the novel became famous. For Lermontov, the image of Pechorin and the depth of his image became an extraordinary creative success. We can say that the idea of ​​the book is a psychoanalysis of his generation, fascinated and inspired by romanticism (the article “” will tell you more about this).

Characteristics of the main characters

1. Princess Mary is a girl not lacking in beauty, an enviable bride, she loves male attention, although she does not show this desire, she is moderately proud. Arrives with his mother in Pyatigorsk, where he meets Pechorin. Falls in love with Gregory, but unrequitedly.
2. Bela is a Circassian, the daughter of a prince. Her beauty is not like the beauty of high society girls, it is something unbridled and wild. Pechorin notices the beautiful Bela at the prince's wedding and secretly steals her from the house. She is proud, but after Gregory's long courtship, her heart thawed, allowing love to take over him. But he was no longer interested in her, because only the forbidden fruit is truly sweet. He dies at the hands of Kazbich. we described in the essay.
3. Vera is the only person who loves Pechorin for who he is, with all his shortcomings and oddities. Grigory once loved her in St. Petersburg, and having met her again in Pyatigorsk, he again feels warm and strong feelings. She also has a son and has been married twice. In a fit of emotion against the background of Pechorin’s duel with Grushnitsky, she tells her second husband about her connection with Grigory. The husband takes Vera away, and the lover burns out in fruitless attempts to catch up with his beloved.
4. Pechorin is a young officer, a nobleman. Gregory was given an excellent education and upbringing. He is selfish, cold in heart and mind, analyzes every action, smart, handsome and rich. He trusts only himself, he is disappointed in friendship and marriage. Unhappy. It is discussed in more detail in an essay on this topic.
5. Grushnitsky - a young cadet; emotional, passionate, touchy, stupid, vain. His acquaintance with Pechorin takes place in the Caucasus; the details of this are kept silent in the novel. In Pyatigorsk he again runs into an old friend, this time the young people have one narrow road from which someone will have to get off. The reason for Grushnitsky's hatred of Gregory was Princess Mary. Even a vile plan with an unloaded pistol does not help the cadet get rid of his opponent, and he dies himself.
6. Maxim Maksimych - staff captain; very kind, open and smart. He met Pechorin while serving in the Caucasus and sincerely fell in love with Gregory, although he did not understand his oddities. He is 50 years old, single.

Double heroes in the novel

The novel “A Hero of Our Time” presents 3 doubles of the main character - Grigory Pechorin - Vulich, Werner, Grushnitsky.

The author introduces us to Grushnitsky at the beginning of the chapter “Princess Mary”. This character is always in the game of a “tragic performance”. For every question he always has a prepared beautiful speech, accompanied by gestures and life-affirming poses. Oddly enough, this is precisely what makes him Pechorin’s double. But the cadet’s behavior is rather a parody of Gregory’s behavior rather than his exact copy.

In the same episode, the reader meets Werner. He is a doctor, his views on life are very cynical, but they are based not on internal philosophy, like Pechorin’s, but on medical practice, which clearly speaks of the mortality of any person. The thoughts of the young officer and the doctor are similar, which sparks friendship between them. The doctor, like Gregory, is a skeptic, and his skepticism is much stronger than Pechorinsky. The same cannot be said about his cynicism, which is only “in words.” The hero treats people quite coldly, he lives by the principle “what if you die tomorrow,” and in communicating with those around him he acts as a patron. He often has in his hands the “cards” of a person, the layout of which is done by him, because he is responsible for the patient’s life. In the same way, Gregory plays with the destinies of people, but also puts his life on the line.

Problems

• The problem of finding the meaning of life. Throughout the entire novel, Grigory Pechorin seeks answers to the questions of existence. The hero feels that he has not achieved something high, but the question is, what? He tries to fill his life with interesting moments and intriguing acquaintances, to experience the full range of his capabilities, and in these strivings for self-knowledge he ruins other people, and therefore loses value own existence and wastes the allotted time.
• The problem of happiness. Pechorin will write in his journal that pleasure and a real feeling of happiness are intense pride. He does not accept easy accessibility. Despite the fact that he has all the aspects to satiate his pride, he is unhappy, so the hero embarks on all sorts of adventures, hoping at least this time to amuse his pride enough to become happy. But he becomes only satisfied, and then not for long. True harmony and joy elude him, since Gregory is cut off from creative activity by circumstances and does not see the value in life, as well as the opportunity to prove himself and bring benefit to society.
• The problem of immorality. Grigory Pechorin was too zealous a cynic and an egoist to stop himself from playing with human lives. We see the hero’s constant thoughts, he analyzes every action. But he finds that he is incapable of either love happiness or strong long-term friendship. His soul is filled with mistrust, nihilism and fatigue.
• Social issues. For example, the problem of an unjust political system is obvious. Through his hero M.Yu. Lermontov conveys an important message to his descendants: personality does not develop under conditions of constant restrictions and harsh despotic power. The writer does not judge Pechorin, his goal is to show that he became such under the influence of the time in which he was born. In a country with a huge amount of unresolved social issues, such phenomena are not uncommon.

Composition

The stories in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” are not arranged in chronological order. This was done in order to more deeply reveal the image of Grigory Pechorin.

So, in “Bel” the story is told on behalf of Maxim Maksimych, the staff captain gives his assessment of the young officer, describes their relationship, events in the Caucasus, revealing one part of his friend’s soul. In “Maksim Maksimych” the narrator is an officer, in a conversation with whom the old soldier remembered Bela. Here we receive descriptions of the hero’s appearance, since we see him through the eyes of a stranger, who, naturally, first encounters the “shell”. In “Taman”, “Princess Mary” and “Fatalist” Gregory himself talks about himself - these are his travel notes. These chapters describe in detail his mental upheavals, his thoughts, feelings and desires, we see why and how he comes to certain actions.

It is interesting that the novel begins with a story about events in the Caucasus and ends there - ring composition. The author first shows us the assessment of the hero through the eyes of others, and then reveals the features of the structure of the soul and mind, found as a result of introspection. The stories are arranged not in chronological, but in psychological order.

Psychologism

Lermontov opens readers' eyes to the inner components of the human soul, masterfully analyzing personality. Unusual composition, by changing the narrator, with double heroes, the author reveals the mysteries of the hero’s innermost inner world. This is called psychologism: the narrative is aimed at depicting a person, not an event or phenomenon. The emphasis shifts from the action to the one who performs it and to why and why he does it.

Lermontov considered the timid silence of people frightened by the consequences of the Decembrist uprising to be a misfortune of the early 19th century. Many were dissatisfied, but they endured more than one insult. Some suffered patiently, while others were not even aware of their misfortunes. In Grigory Pechorin, the writer embodied the tragedy of the soul: the lack of realization of one’s ambitions and the unwillingness to fight for it. The new generation became disillusioned with the state, with society, with themselves, but did not even try to change anything for the better.

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