Research on the psychologism of the novel Hero of Our Time. "Hero of Our Time" - the first Russian socio-psychological novel
Between 1839 and February 1840 in the magazine " Domestic notes"three new ones were printed Ella Lermontov: “Bela”, “Fatalist”, “Taman”. The entire novel with the general title “A Hero of Our Time” was published in 1840 and consisted of five novellas and short stories. They were arranged in this order: “Bela”, “Maksim Maksimych”, “Taman”, “Princess Mary” and “Fatalist”. This construction of Lermontov's novel is one of its features. The fact is that the events do not actually unfold in the order they are presented by the author. Based on chronology, the stories should be arranged in this way: “Taman”, “Princess Mary”, “Fatalist”, “Bela”, “Maksim Maksimych”. By disrupting the chronology of events, Lermontov thereby achieved a great literary effect. In "Bela" main character appears as some kind of mysterious, unsolved creature. This impression intensifies after the story “Maksim Maksimych”, slightly reveals itself in “Taman”, is fully revealed in “Princess Mary”, and a unique point in the revelation of Pechorin’s character is the short story “Fatalist”.
A special feature of the novel is that the hero is represented by three different persons, thereby achieving the most objective assessment of Pechorin. At the beginning, Maxim Maksimych talks about him, then he introduces himself through the eyes of the author, and then Pechorin reveals himself through diary entries.
It is worth especially noting the language of the work. Before “A Hero of Our Time,” Russian fiction did not know such a bright, brilliant prose language as Lermontov demonstrated. Belinsky said about this: “The whole story is thoroughly imbued with poetry, filled with the highest interest. Every word in it is so deeply significant, every position is so interesting, so vividly depicted! The syllable of the story is now the flash of lightning, now the strike of a sword, now pearls scattering on velvet.”
Lermontov's novel was also the first psychological work in Russian literature. L. Tolstoy once put it: “If Lermontov were alive, neither I nor Dostoevsky would be needed,” thereby recognizing that their origins of realistic and psychological image characters go back to the work of Lermontov.
The psychologism of the novel is manifested in the complex and contradictory actions of the main character, in his dialogues with other characters, in the description of his behavior, in his thoughts about his fate, purpose, aspirations, feelings, etc. Literally every action, every gesture, every phrase has an author's commentary that conveys their true meaning, in what psychological state a word is spoken, a gesture is made, an action is made.
Often the author, in gesture, in facial expressions, in action, reveals to the reader the hidden world of the characters’ inner feelings and experiences. We are not told what they are experiencing, but the intonations of the voice, the external signs of the experience are so expressive that we understand everything that is happening in the souls of the characters. Lermontov creates conditions so that the reader can guess what he thinks, how a person experiences this or that event.
Belinsky rightly pointed to the story “Princess Mary” as the main one in the novel. It's not just that she takes central place in the composition of the work. In this story, Pechorin talks about himself, reveals his soul. And it is not without reason that in the preface to “Pechorin’s Journal” it is said that in it the history of the “human soul” will appear before our eyes. Here the features of “A Hero of Our Time” as a psychological novel are most clearly manifested.
In Pechorin's diary we find his sincere confession, in which he reveals his thoughts and feelings, mercilessly castigating his weaknesses and vices. Here is given both a clue to his character and an explanation of his actions.
Emphasizing the social nature of the tragedy of the generation to which Pechorin belonged, Chernyshevsky wrote: “Lermontov understands and presents his Pechorin as an example of what the best, strongest, noblest people become under the influence of the social situation of their circle.”
Pechorin is perceived by readers as a victim of his time. But does Lermontov justify his actions, his mood? On a sleepless night, on the eve of a duel with Grushnitsky, the hero of the novel seems to sum up the results of his life. “I run through my past in my memory and involuntarily ask myself: why did I live? For what purpose was I born? - Pechorin reflects. - And it’s true, it existed, and it’s true that I had a high purpose, because I feel immense strength in my soul; but I did not guess this destination, I was carried away by the lures of passions, empty and ungrateful; I came out of their furnace hard and cold, like iron, but I lost forever the ardor of noble aspirations, the best color of life.”
What bitter confessions! What we learn about Pechorin from his diary, from the stories of others characters, evokes an ambivalent feeling towards him. We cannot help but condemn Pechorin for his attitude towards Bela, towards Princess Mary, towards Vera, towards the good Maxim Maximovich. But we cannot help but sympathize with him when he caustically ridicules the aristocratic “water society” and smashes the machinations of Grushnitsky and his friends. We cannot help but see that Pechorin is head and shoulders above the people around him, that he is smart, educated, talented, brave, and energetic. We are repelled by Pechorin's indifference to people, his inability for true love, for friendship, his individualism and selfishness. But Pechorin captivates us with his thirst for life, desire for the best, and ability to critically evaluate his actions. He is deeply unsympathetic to us due to the “pity of his actions”, those actions by which he brings suffering to other people. But we see that he himself suffers deeply.
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? “My colorless youth passed in a struggle with myself and the light; Fearing ridicule, I buried my best feelings in the depths of my heart; they died there. I told the truth - they didn’t believe me: I began to deceive; Having learned well the light and springs of society, I became skilled in the science of life...” admits Pechorin. He learned to be secretive, became vindictive, bilious, envious, ambitious, and became, in his words, a moral cripple.
Pechorin is an egoist. But Belinsky also called Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin a suffering egoist against his will. The same can be said about Pechorin. According to Belinsky, “this is the Onegin of our time - the Hero of our time. Dissimilarity they are much smaller than the distance between Onega and Pechora.”
M. Yu. Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time” was published in 1840. The writer composed the main work of his life over the course of two years, publishing it on the pages of the popular magazine Otechestvennye zapiski. This work became iconic not only in his work, but also in Russian literature in general, because this book became the first bold and at the same time successful experiment in detailed psychological analysis main character. The composition of the story itself, which turned out to be torn, was also unusual. All these features of the work attracted the attention of critics and readers to it, and also made it a standard in its genre.
Concept
Lermontov's novel did not appear on empty space. The author relied on both foreign and domestic sources, which inspired him to create an ambiguous character and an unusual plot. Mikhail Yuryevich’s book, in its concept, is very similar to Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin,” although it is written in a more dramatic style. In addition, the writer relied on foreign experience in creating the hero’s inner world. The psychological novel was already known in Europe. "A Hero of Our Time" can be defined as a psychological novel due to the author's close attention to Pechorin's behavior and mood.
Such features were especially evident in the works of the French enlightener Rousseau. It is also possible to draw parallels between the author’s work and the works of Byron and Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. When creating his original work, the author was guided primarily by the realities of his time, which is reflected in the title. According to the writer himself, he sought to create a general portrait of his generation - young intelligent people who cannot occupy themselves with anything and waste their energy on useless activities that harm both themselves and others.
Features of the composition
Lermontov's novel has an unusual structure compared to other works of a similar kind. Firstly, the chronological sequence of events occurring in it is disrupted; secondly, the narrative is told from several characters, including the main character himself. This technique was not chosen by the author by chance. He deliberately started the story from the middle of Pechorin's life. The reader gets an idea about him from the words of an outsider, his former colleague Maxim Maksimych. Then the writer shows him through the eyes of the narrator, who saw him briefly, but nevertheless managed to form a generally correct idea about him.
Hero image
Since a psychological novel involves a detailed analysis of the character’s inner world, the last two parts are written on behalf of Pechorin himself in the form diary entries. Thus, the reader sees the character at different moments of his life, which outwardly seem to be in no way connected with each other. This is how Lermontov achieved the effect of time being broken, trying to show the purposelessness of the existence of his character, who in different periods in his life he does not show himself from the best sides.
Comparison with Onegin
The genre of the work “A Hero of Our Time” is a novel of a psychological nature. This work, as mentioned above, became the first experience in Russian literature in creating a new type of character - the so-called extra person. However, even before Lermontov, some writers created a character who did not fit into the established socio-political framework of Russian reality in the first half of the 19th century. Most shining example- Evgeny Onegin, who, like Pechorin, was a nobleman and just as unsuccessfully tried to find at least some use for his strengths and abilities. However, if Pushkin portrayed his character with good-natured humor, Lermontov emphasized the dramatic component. The psychological novel by Mikhail Yuryevich became one of the most significant works that time.
Features of the image of Pechorin
Through the lips of his hero, he angrily criticizes the vices of his contemporary society, and bitterly ridicules the shortcomings of the world around him. This is characteristic feature the image of Pechorin - he does not spend idle time, like Onegin in the village, his attitude to life is quite active, he not only criticizes the negative aspects of the society in which he moves, but also acts, subjecting those around him to peculiar psychological tests.
First part
The genre of the work “A Hero of Our Time” also determined the structure of the text of the novel. The author set out to break the tradition of Russian literature, laid down by Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, which involved an adventurous plot and a dynamic narrative. Lermontov emphasized detailed analysis internal state your hero. First of all, he was interested in explaining the reasons for Pechorin’s strange, unusual, contradictory behavior. The first attempt to explain the character of the young officer was made by Maxim Maksimych, the commander of the Caucasian fortress where Pechorin served.
The good captain sincerely tried to give at least some explanation for the eccentric actions of his colleague: the kidnapping of Bela, his love for her and fast cooling feelings, his visible, seeming indifference to her terrible death. However, Maxim Maksimych, a very simple and ingenuous man, was never able to understand the reason for Pechorin’s mental tossing. He only tells the narrator that the latter seemed to him a very strange person, since with his appearance a whole chain of strange and tragic events followed.
Portrait
On school lessons in literature, it is very important that students understand the genre of the work “A Hero of Our Time.” This book is psychological picture Pechorin, which, in turn, is a collective portrait contemporary writer younger generation. The second part of the work is interesting because in it the reader sees Pechorin through the eyes of a person like him social status, age, education and upbringing. Therefore, the description given by the narrator to this character deserves special attention, because, despite the fluency of the inspection and the brevity of the meeting, it is more true than the captain’s explanations. What is important is the fact that the narrator describes not only the appearance, but also tries to guess state of mind Pechorin, and he partially succeeds. This is precisely what explains the fact why the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is called psychological. The narrator notices such traits in Pechorin’s character as thoughtfulness, relaxation and fatigue. Moreover, he notes that it was not a physical, but a mental decline. Special attention The author pays attention to the expression of his eyes, which shone with some kind of phosphorescent light and did not smile when he himself laughed.
Meeting
The culmination of this part is the description of Pechorin’s meeting with the staff captain. The latter longed for this meeting, he hurried to the young officer as to an old friend, but met a rather cool reception. The old captain was very offended. However, the author, who subsequently published Pechorin’s diary entries, noted that after reading them he understood a lot about the character of the character, who analyzed in detail his own actions and shortcomings. This is precisely what makes it possible to understand why the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is called psychological. However, in the scene of the meeting with Maxim Maksimych, the reader may be surprised and even reproach the character for such indifference. In this episode, sympathy is entirely on the side of the old captain.
The story "Taman"
This work opens the beginning of Pechorin's diary entries. In it, a young officer not only narrates an eccentric adventure in a small maritime town, but also analyzes his behavior. He himself is surprised at his irrepressible thirst for life, noting that he intervened aimlessly and pointlessly in the lives of smugglers.
The character’s desire to participate in the lives of the people around him, even against their will, is in in this case main theme. "A Hero of Our Time" is a novel that focuses not so much on the description of external events, but on detailed analysis the internal state of the characters. In the second part, Pechorin witnesses the machinations of smugglers and rather carelessly reveals his secret. As a result, he was almost drowned, and the gang was forced to flee their home. Thus, Pechorin’s attempt to understand his own inappropriate behavior is the main theme in the second part. “A Hero of Our Time” is interesting because it consistently reveals the character’s image from a variety of different and unexpected sides.
"Princess Mary"
This is perhaps the most important and interesting part in the work. It is in this part that the character is fully revealed. The action takes place on the healing waters of the Caucasus.
A young officer, in order to tease his friend Grushnitsky, makes the young Princess Mary fall in love with him. Despite the fact that he himself is not indifferent to her, he is nevertheless unable to truly love her. Pechorin in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” shows himself from the most unfavorable side in this story. He not only deceives the girl, but also kills Grushnitsky in a duel. At the same time, it is in this part that Grigory Alexandrovich most mercilessly exposes his shortcomings. Here he explains his character: according to him, aimless pastime, lack of friends, sympathy and understanding led to the fact that he became bilious, angry and unsociable. At the same time, he concludes that “the human heart in general is strange.” He relates his statement not only to others, but also to himself.
Pechorin in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is fully revealed in this story. The most interesting is his recording of his thoughts on the eve of the duel with Grushnitsky, in which he sums up his life. The young officer claims that his life undoubtedly had meaning, but that he was never able to understand it.
Love line
His relationships with women help us better understand the hero. The novel contains three love plots, each of which reveals the personality of the young officer from different sides. The first of them is associated with the Bela line. By nature, she was a freedom-loving girl, as she grew up in the mountains among the Caucasian tribes.
Therefore, Pechorin’s rapid cooling towards her actually killed her. Novel "Hero of Our Time" female heroes which allows us to better understand the psychological portrait of the character, is devoted to a detailed explanation of the behavior of the young officer. In the second part there is also a love line, but it is rather superficial.
Nevertheless, it was this plot that served as the basis for the intrigue in the second story. The hero himself does not know how to evaluate his own actions: “Am I a fool or a villain, I don’t know,” he says about himself. The reader sees that Pechorin is well versed in the psychology of the people around him: he immediately guesses the character of the stranger. At the same time, he is prone to adventurous adventures, which he himself admits, which led to a strange outcome.
The work “Hero of Our Time,” whose female heroes are interesting because they somehow influenced the fate of Pechorin, ends with the last love line officer and princess. The latter became interested in Pechorin’s original character, but was unable to fully understand him. The same story contains a description of Grigory Alexandrovich’s relationship with Princess Vera, who understood his character better than anyone else. So first psychological novel V Russian literature became the work “Hero of Our Time”. Quotes from the main character show him as a complex and ambiguous person.
“A Hero of Our Time” first saw the light in the magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski”, where it was published in chapters. Literary critic Belinsky highly appreciated the novel; he was the first to understand that these were not separate stories, but single work, the intent of which becomes clear only when the reader becomes familiar with all the stories.
The novel's stories as a portrait of Pechorin
The chapter “Princess Mary” is the main one, since it most clearly reveals specific features Pechorin’s character, for which reason the novel can be called a psychological work. Here the hero writes about himself, which allows him to most fully express his emotional emotions. It is not without reason that the author pointed out in the preface to Pechorin’s Journal that here the reader is confronted with the history of the human soul.
Diary entries allow the hero to talk about what he feels and thinks, as well as blame himself for his sins. These lines contain clues to his character and an explanation for the strangeness of his behavior.
Ambiguous personality of the main character
It is impossible to say that Grigory Pechorin is only black or only white. His character is multifaceted and ambiguous. Reading about relationships with Bela or Maxim Maksimych, we see an egoist in front of us, but he is an intelligent, educated, brave egoist. He does not know how to make friends or love, but he perceives himself critically, without whitewashing his actions.
Gregory feels that his personality consists of two people, and one condemns the other for bad deeds. Egocentrism is combined with sober self-criticism, skepticism towards universal human values - with a strong mind, energy - with an aimless existence.
Coldness of feelings as a product of the era
The book shows us Pechorin's relationships in love and friendship. Sometimes this is passionate love, next hand in hand with death, pursuit, war, deception (“Bela”), sometimes romantic and mysterious (“Taman”), sometimes tragic (“Princess Mary”). Friendship is shown with peers - for example, with Grushnitsky, or with an old officer. But every story shows him not being up to par.
Gregory is not flawed, he is just a product of his era, the result of upbringing in that suffocating social and psychological climate of the surrounding society. Here people are raised who do not know how to value the feelings of others, who do not know what living life. Lermontov does not condemn the main character, Grigory himself does this.
Social and psychological topicality of the novel
Chernyshevsky said that this book is directed against the vices of society - it shows how wonderful people under the pressure of the environment they turn into nonentities.
Senseless, deceitful, stupid - this is how the society of aristocrats appears according to Pechorin’s descriptions. Not a single living thing will survive here and sincere feeling, here ignorance and anger, arrogance and rudeness of the noble circle burn out life itself. Heroes cannot be born here, and those that exist eventually become indistinguishable from other members of society - without feelings, aspirations, goals, love and attachments.
The author shows that even the smartest individuals are devastated in this rotten environment. Pechorin's attempt to distance himself from society turns him into a melancholy, restless individualist, with increased egoism, from which not only those around him suffer, but also himself. Lermontov skillfully draws a psychological portrait of a representative of that era, realistically depicts society and castigates its vices, creating a deep work of socio-psychological orientation.
"Hero of Our Time" - moral and psychological novel
"A Hero of Our Time" is the first lyrical and psychological novel in Russian prose. Lyrical because the author and the hero have “the same soul, the same torment.” Psychological because the ideological and plot center is not events, but the personality of a person, his spiritual life. Therefore, the psychological wealth of the novel lies primarily in the image of the “hero of the time.” Through the complexity and inconsistency of Pechorin, Lermontov affirms the idea that everything cannot be fully explained: in life there is always something high and secret that deeper than words, ideas.
Hence, one of the features of the composition is the increasing revelation of the secret. Lermontov leads the reader from Pechorin's actions (in the first three stories) to their motives (in stories 4 and 5), that is, from riddle to solution. At the same time, we understand that the secret is not Pechorin’s actions, but his inner world, psychology. The author uses the principle of chronological inversion (refusal of sequential images). This disillusioned position corresponds exactly to the person's "disappointed", contradictory personality.
In the first three stories ("Bela", "Maksim Maksimych", "Taman") only the actions of the hero are presented. Lermontov demonstrates examples of Pechorin's indifference and cruelty towards the people around him, shown either as victims of his passions (Bela) or as victims of his cold calculation (poor smugglers). The conclusion involuntarily suggests itself that Pechorin’s psychological nerve is power and egoism: “What do I, a traveling officer, care about the joys and misfortunes of men?” But it's not that simple. The hero is not at all of the same type. Before us is at the same time a conscientious, vulnerable and deeply suffering person. In "Princess Mary" Pechorin's sober report sounds. He understands the hidden mechanism of his psychology: “There are two people in me: one lives in the full sense of the word, the other thinks and judges him.” And later, Grigory Alexandrovich openly formulates his life credo: “I look at suffering to the joy of others only in relation to myself, as food that supports my spiritual strength...” Based on this rule, Pechorin develops a whole theory of happiness: “To be for someone is "something the cause of suffering and joy, without having any positive right to do so - isn't this the sweetest food of our pride? And what is happiness? Saturated pride." It would seem that the smart Pechorin, who knows what happiness consists of, should be happy, because he is constantly and tirelessly trying to satiate his pride. But for some reason there is no happiness, and instead of it there is fatigue and boredom...
Why is the hero's fate so tragic? The answer to this question is last story"Fatalist". Here the problems being solved are not so much psychological as philosophical and moral. The story begins with a philosophical dispute between Pechorin and Vulich about predestination human life. Vulich is a supporter of fatalism. Pechorin asks the question: “If there are definitely predestination, then why were we given will, reason?” This dispute is tested by three examples, three mortal battles with fate. Firstly, Vulich’s attempt to kill himself with a shot to the temple, which ended in failure; secondly, the accidental murder of Vulich on the street by a drunken Cossack; thirdly, Pechorin’s brave attack on the Cossack killer. Without denying the very idea of fatalism, Lermontov leads to the idea that one cannot resign oneself, be submissive to fate. With such a turn philosophical theme the author saved the novel from a gloomy ending. Pechorin, whose death is unexpectedly announced in the middle of the story, in this last story not only escapes from certain death, but also for the first time commits an act that benefits people. And instead of a funeral march, at the end of the novel there are congratulations on the victory over death: “the officers congratulated me - and there was definitely something to it.”
The hero has an ambivalent attitude towards the fatalism of his ancestors: on the one hand, he ignores their naive faith in the heavenly bodies, on the other hand, he openly envies their faith, since he understands that any faith is good. But, rejecting the naive former faith, he realizes that in his time, the 30s, there was nothing to replace the lost ideals. Pechorin’s misfortune is that he doubts not only the necessity of goodness in general; For him, not only do shrines not exist, he laughs “at everything in the world”... And unbelief gives rise to either inaction or empty activity, which are torture for an intelligent and energetic person.
Showing the courage of his hero, Lermontov simultaneously affirmed the need to fight for personal freedom. Grigory Alexandrovich values his freedom very much: “I am ready for all sacrifices except this one: I will put my life on the line twenty times, but I will not sell my freedom.” But such freedom without humanistic ideals is due to the fact that Pechorin is constantly trying to suppress the voice of his heart: “I have long been living not with my heart, but with my head.” However, Pechorin is not a smug cynic. Playing “the role of an executioner or an ax in the hands of fate,” he himself suffers from this no less than his victims; the entire novel is a hymn to a courageous personality free from prejudice and at the same time a requiem to a gifted, or maybe genius man who could not “guess his high purpose.”
And it’s boring and sad, and there’s no one to give a hand to
In a moment of spiritual adversity...
Desires! What good is there to wish for in vain and forever?..
And the years pass - everything best years!
M.Yu. Lermontov
In the novel “A Hero of Our Time,” Lermontov poses to the reader a question that worries everyone: why do the most worthy, intelligent and energetic people of his time not find use for their remarkable abilities and wither at the very beginning of life’s impulse without a fight? The writer answers this question with the life story of the main character Pechorin. Lermontov masterfully paints the image young man, which belongs to the generation of the 30s of the XIX century and in which the vices of this generation are generalized.
The era of reaction in Russia left its mark on people's behavior. Tragic fate hero is the tragedy of an entire generation, generation unrealized opportunities. The young nobleman had to either lead the life of a social slacker, or be bored and wait for death. Pechorin's character is revealed in his relationships with by different people: mountaineers, smugglers, Maxim Maksimych, “water society”.
In clashes with the mountaineers, the “oddities” of the protagonist’s character are revealed. Pechorin has many things in common with the people of the Caucasus. Like the mountaineers, he is determined and brave. His strong will knows no barriers. The goal he sets is achieved by any means, at any cost. “That’s the kind of man he was, God knows!” - Maxim Maksimych says about him. But Pechorin’s goals themselves are petty, often meaningless, always selfish. On Wednesday ordinary people Living according to the customs of their ancestors, he brings evil: he pushes Kazbich and Azamat onto the path of crimes, mercilessly destroys the mountain woman Bela only because she had the misfortune of liking him.
In the story “Bela,” Pechorin’s character still remains a mystery. True, Lermontov slightly reveals the secret of his behavior. Pechorin admits to Maxim Maksimych that his “soul is spoiled by the light.” We begin to guess that Pechorin’s egoism is the result of influence secular society, to which he belongs from birth.
In the story “Taman” Pechorin again interferes in the lives of strangers. The mysterious behavior of the smugglers promised an exciting adventure. And Pechorin embarked on a dangerous adventure with the sole purpose of “getting the key to this riddle.” Dormant forces awoke, will, composure, courage and determination emerged. But when the secret was revealed, the aimlessness of Pechorin’s decisive actions was revealed.
And again boredom, complete indifference to the people around me. “Yes, and I don’t care about human joys and misfortunes, I, a traveling officer, and even on the road for official reasons!” - Pechorin thinks with bitter irony.
Pechorin's inconsistency and duality appear even more clearly when he is compared with Maxim Maksimych. The staff captain lives for others, Pechorin lives only for himself. One is instinctively drawn to people, the other is closed in on himself, indifferent to the fate of those around him. And it is not surprising that their friendship ends dramatically. Pechorin's cruelty towards the old man is an external manifestation of his character, and underneath this external lies a bitter doom for loneliness.
The social and psychological motivation for Pechorin’s actions clearly appears in the story “Princess Mary”. Here we see Pechorin in a circle of officers and nobles. “ Water Society” - that social environment, to which the hero belongs.
Pechorin is bored in the company of petty envious people, insignificant intriguers, devoid of noble aspirations and basic decency. A disgust for these people, among whom he is forced to stay, is brewing in his soul.
Lermontov shows how a person’s character is influenced social conditions, the environment in which he lives. Pechorin was not born a “moral cripple.” Nature gave him a deep, sharp mind, a kind, sympathetic heart, and strong will. However, in all life's encounters, good, noble impulses ultimately give way to cruelty. Pechorin learned to be guided only by personal desires and aspirations.
Who is to blame for the fact that Pechorin’s wonderful talents perished? Why did he become a “moral cripple”? Society is to blame, the social conditions in which the young man was brought up and lived are to blame. “My colorless youth passed in a struggle with myself and the light,” he admits, “my best qualities, fearing ridicule, I kept in the depths of my heart; they died there.”
But Pechorin is an extraordinary person. This person rises above those around him. “Yes, this man has fortitude and willpower that you don’t have,” Belinsky wrote, addressing critics of Lermontov’s Pechorin. - In his very vices, something magnificent flashes through, like lightning in black clouds, and he is beautiful, full of poetry even in those moments when human feeling rebels against him: he has a different destination, a different path than you. His passions are storms that cleanse the sphere of spirit...”
When creating “A Hero of Our Time,” unlike his previous works, Lermontov no longer imagined life, but painted it as it really was. Before us realistic novel. The writer found new ones artistic media images of persons and events. Lermontov demonstrates the ability to structure action in such a way that one character is revealed through the perception of another.
Yes, author travel notes, in which we guess the features of Lermontov himself, tells us the story of Bela from the words of Maxim Maksimych, and he, in turn, conveys Pechorin’s monologues. And in “Pechorin’s journal” we see the hero in a new light - the way he was alone with himself, the way he could appear in his diary, but would never open up in public.
Only once do we see Pechorin as the author sees him. The brilliant pages of “Maxim Maksimych” leave a deep imprint on the reader’s heart. This story evokes deep sympathy for the deceived captain and at the same time indignation towards the brilliant Pechorin.
The illness of the duality of the protagonist makes us think about the nature of the time in which he lives and which nourishes him. Pechorin himself admits that two people live in his soul: one commits actions, and the other judges him. The tragedy of the suffering egoist is that his mind and his strength do not find worthy use. Pechorin’s indifference to everything and everyone is not so much his fault as a heavy cross. “The tragedy of Pechorin,” wrote Belinsky. “First of all, in the contradiction between the loftiness of nature and the pitifulness of actions.”
It must be said that the novel “A Hero of Our Time” has the properties of high poetry. Accuracy, capacity, brilliance of descriptions, comparisons, metaphors distinguish this work. The writer's style is distinguished by the brevity and sharpness of his aphorisms. This syllable is brought in the novel to high degree perfection.
The descriptions of nature in the novel are unusually flexible. Depicting Pyatigorsk at night, Lermontov first describes what the eye notices in the darkness, and then the ear hears: “The city was asleep, only lights flickered in some windows. On three sides there were black crests of cliffs, the branches of Mashuk, on the top of which lay an ominous cloud; the moon was rising in the east; In the distance, snowy mountains sparkled like silver fringes. The shouts of the sentries were interspersed with the noise of hot springs being released for the night. Sometimes the sonorous clatter of a horse could be heard along the street, accompanied by the creaking of a Nagai cart and a mournful Tatar chorus.”
Lermontov, having written the novel “Hero of Our Time,” entered the world literature like a master realistic prose. The young genius revealed the complex nature of his contemporary. He created a truthful, typical image that reflected the essential features of an entire generation. “Admire what the heroes of our time are like!” - the content of the book tells everyone.
The novel “A Hero of Our Time” became a mirror of the life of Russia in the 30s, the first Russian socio-psychological novel.
