Pechorin's description of himself. What character traits do Pechorin exhibit in the chapter "Bella"
Exemplaryplanto the image of Pechorin:
I. Pechorin is the central image of the novel “A Hero of Our Time.” A variety of means to characterize it.
II. The tragedy of Pechorin's fate and life.
1. The story of the hero.
2. The discrepancy between Pechorin’s life and his internal capabilities and needs:
1) extraordinary wealth of interests, complexity of the spiritual world, critical mindset;
2) a thirst for action and a constant search for the use of one’s strengths as a distinctive feature of Pechorin;
3) his inconsistency and discord with himself;
4) the increase in selfishness, individualism and indifference in the character of the hero.
3. Pechorin - one of the representatives of the advanced noble intelligentsia of the 30s:
1) his proximity the best people 30s and Lermontov;
2) features that make Pechorin similar to the heroes of the Duma.
III. Causes of Pechorin's death:
1. Social and political situation in Russia in the 30s.
2. Lack of public demands and a sense of homeland.
3. Education and influence of light.
IV. Similarities and differences between Onegin and Pechorin.
V. The significance of the image of Pechorin in the social and literary struggle of the 30s and 40s.
The leading theme of “A Hero of Our Time” is the depiction of a socially typical personality of the noble class of the 30s of the 19th century, that is, after the defeat of the Decembrist uprising. The main idea of the novel is the condemnation of this personality and the social environment that gave birth to it.
N. G. Chernyshevsky correctly noted that Lermontov “presents his Pechorin as an example of what the best, strongest, noblest people become under the influence of the social situation.”
Nikolaev reality deprived Pechorin of a high goal and thought in life, the hero is bored, he constantly “feels his uselessness.” Life confronts Pechorin with the most different people. He does not wish harm to anyone, but still causes it. For the hero, the people around him are only a means to satisfy curiosity, relieve boredom, or experience new adventures. He's selfish. “In the first place for him,” writes Belinsky, “he always himself, his desires.”
Pechorin's character and behavior are extremely contradictory.
But for what purpose did he live? “Oh, it’s true, it existed, and, it’s true, I had a high purpose, because I feel immense strength in my soul,” Pechorin reflects.
Lermontov also writes about positive qualities your hero. He notes Pechorin’s deep mind, enormous thirst for life, activity, strong will, courage, perseverance in achieving goals, and most importantly, the desire for self-knowledge. Unable to realize himself, he directs all the forces of his soul to self-knowledge, and his energy to petty and unworthy deeds and actions. “...I was carried away by the lures of empty and ungrateful passions,...I lost forever the ardor of noble aspirations,” says the hero.
In the 30s, progressive people understood “noble aspirations” as serving their homeland and people. Therefore, Pechorin criticizes himself that, “despising his contemporaries for the pettiness of their existence, he himself did not serve high goals» (N.I. Gromov).
V. G. Belinsky about the novel “Hero of Our Time.”
“A deep sense of reality,” Belinsky wrote, “a true instinct for truth, simplicity, artistic depiction of characters, richness of content, irresistible charm of presentation, poetic language, deep knowledge of the human heart and modern society, broadness and boldness of the brush, strength and power of spirit, luxurious fantasy , the inexhaustible abundance of aesthetic life, originality and originality - these are the qualities of this work, which represents a completely new world art" (V. G. Belinsky).
). As its title itself shows, Lermontov depicted in this work typical an image that characterizes his contemporary generation. We know how little the poet valued this generation (“I look sadly...”)—he takes the same point of view in his novel. In the “preface” Lermontov says that his hero is “a portrait made up of the vices” of people of that time “in their full development.” [Cm. also articles The image of Pechorin in the novel “A Hero of Our Time”, Pechorin and Women.]
However, Lermontov hastens to say that, speaking about the shortcomings of his time, he does not undertake to read moral teachings to his contemporaries - he simply draws a “history of the soul” modern man, as he understands it and, to his and the misfortune of others, has met it too often. It will also be that the disease is indicated, but God knows how to cure it!
Lermontov. Hero of our time. Bela, Maxim Maksimych, Taman. Feature Film
So, the author does not idealize his hero: just as Pushkin executes his Aleko in “Gypsies,” so Lermontov in his Pechorin brings down from the pedestal the image of a disappointed Byronist, an image that was once close to his heart.
Pechorin speaks about himself more than once in his notes and conversations. He talks about how disappointments haunted him since childhood:
“Everyone read on my face signs of bad qualities that were not there; but they were anticipated - and they were born. I was modest - I was accused of guile: I became secretive. I felt good and evil deeply; no one caressed me, everyone insulted me: I became vindictive; I was gloomy, - other children were cheerful and talkative; I felt superior to them - they put me lower. I became envious. I was ready to love the whole world, but no one understood me: and I learned to hate. My colorless youth passed in a struggle with myself and the world; 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 and saw how others were happy without art, freely enjoying the benefits that I so tirelessly sought. And then despair was born in my chest - not the despair that is treated with the barrel of a pistol, but cold, powerless despair, covered with courtesy and a good-natured smile. I have become a moral cripple."
He became a “moral cripple” because people “distorted” him; They not understood him when he was a child, when he became a youth and an adult... They imposed on his soul duality,- and he began to live two halves of life, one for show, for people, the other for himself.
“I have an unhappy character,” says Pechorin. “Whether my upbringing created me this way, whether God created me this way, I don’t know.”
Lermontov. Hero of our time. Princess Mary. Feature film, 1955
Insulted by the vulgarity and mistrust of people, Pechorin withdrew into himself; he despises people and cannot live by their interests - he has experienced everything: like Onegin, he enjoyed both the vain joys of the world and the love of numerous fans. He also occupied himself with books and searched for strong impressions in the war, - but admitted that all this is nonsense, - and “under Chechen bullets” is as boring as reading books. He thought of filling his life with love for Bela, but, just as Aleko was mistaken in Zemfira, he was unable to live one life with a primitive woman, unspoiled by culture.
“Am I a fool or a villain, I don’t know; but it is true that I am also very worthy of regret,” he says, “perhaps more than she: my soul is spoiled by light, my imagination is restless, my heart is insatiable; Everything is not enough for me: I get used to sadness just as easily as to pleasure, and my life becomes emptier day by day; I have only one remedy left: travel.”
In these words, an extraordinary person is outlined in full size, with a strong soul, but without the ability to apply his abilities to anything. Life is small and insignificant, but there is a lot of strength in his soul; their meaning is unclear, since there is nowhere to put them. Pechorin is the same Demon who was tangled with his wide, loose wings and dressed in an army uniform. If the Demon's moods expressed the main features of Lermontov's soul - his inner world, then in the image of Pechorin he portrayed himself in the sphere of that vulgar reality, which pressed him like lead to the earth, to people... It’s not for nothing that Lermontov-Pechorin is drawn to the stars - more than once he admires the night sky - it’s not for nothing that free nature he cares here on earth...
“Thin, white,” but strongly built, dressed like a “dandy,” with all the manners of an aristocrat, with sleek hands, he made a strange impression: in him strength was combined with some kind of nervous weakness.” On his pale, noble forehead there are traces of premature wrinkles. His beautiful eyes“they didn’t laugh when he laughed.” - “This is a sign of either an evil disposition or a deep, constant sadness" In these eyes “there was no reflection of the heat of the soul or the playful imagination - it was a shine, like the shine of smooth steel, dazzling, but cold; his gaze is short, but penetrating and heavy.” In this description, Lermontov borrowed some features from his own appearance.
Treating people and their opinions with contempt, Pechorin, however, always, out of habit, broke down. Lermontov says that even he “sat like Balzac’s thirty-year-old coquette sits on her downy chairs after a tiring ball.”
Having accustomed himself not to respect others, not to take into account the world of others, he sacrifices the whole world to his own. selfishness. When Maxim Maksimych tries to hurt Pechorin’s conscience with careful hints about the immorality of Bela’s kidnapping, Pechorin calmly answers with the question: “When do I like her?” Without regret, he “executes” Grushnitsky not so much for his meanness, but because he, Grushnitsky, dared to try to fool him, Pechorin!.. Self-love was indignant. To make fun of Grushnitsky (“the world would be very boring without fools!”), he captivates Princess Mary; a cold egoist, he, in order to please his desire to “have fun,” brings a whole drama into Mary’s heart. He ruins the reputation of Vera and her family happiness all out of the same immense egoism.
“What do I care about human joys and misfortunes!” - he exclaims. But it’s not just cold indifference that evokes these words from him. Although he says that “the sad is funny, the funny is sad, and, in general, to be honest, we are quite indifferent to everything except ourselves” - this is just a phrase: Pechorin is not indifferent to people - he is takes revenge, evil and merciless.
He admits to himself both “minor weaknesses and bad passions.” He is ready to explain his power over women by the fact that “evil is attractive.” He himself finds in his soul a “bad but invincible feeling” - and he explains this feeling to us in the words:
“There is immense pleasure in possessing a young, barely blossoming soul! She is like a flower whose best scent evaporates towards the first ray of the sun; it must be picked at this moment and, after breathing it to your heart’s content, thrown along the road: maybe someone will pick it up!”
He himself is aware of the presence of almost all the “seven deadly sins” in himself: he has “insatiable greed”, which absorbs everything, which looks at the sufferings and joys of others only as food that supports mental strength. He has mad ambition and a thirst for power. He sees “happiness” in “saturated pride.” “Evil begets evil: the first suffering gives the concept of pleasure to torment another,” says Princess Mary and, half-jokingly, half-seriously, tells him that he is “worse than a murderer.” He himself admits that “there are moments” when he understands “Vampire.” All this indicates that Pechorin does not have complete “indifference” to people. Like the “Demon,” he has a large supply of malice - and he can do this evil either “indifferently” or with passion (the Demon’s feelings at the sight of an angel).
“I love enemies,” says Pechorin, “although not in a Christian way. They amuse me, they stir my blood. To be always on guard, to catch every glance, the meaning of every word, to guess the intention, to destroy conspiracies, to pretend to be deceived and suddenly, with one push, to overturn the entire huge and laborious edifice of tricks and plans - that’s what I call life».
Of course, this is again a “phrase”: not all of Pechorin’s life was spent in such a struggle with vulgar people, there is a better world in him, which often makes him condemn himself. At times he is “sad,” realizing that he is playing the “pathetic role of an executioner or a traitor.” He despises himself,” he is burdened by the emptiness of his soul.
“Why did I live? For what purpose was I born?.. And, it’s true, it existed and, it’s true, 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 crucible hard and cold as iron, but I lost forever the ardor of noble aspirations - the best color of life. And since then, how many times have I played the role of an ax in the hands of fate. Like an instrument of execution, I fell on the heads of the doomed victims, often without malice, always without regret. My love did not bring happiness to anyone, because I did not sacrifice anything for those I loved; I loved for myself, for my own pleasure; I satisfied the strange need of my heart, greedily absorbing their feelings, their tenderness, their joys and sufferings - and could never get enough.” The result is “double hunger and despair.”
“I am like a sailor,” he says, born and raised on the deck of a robber brig: his soul has become accustomed to storms and battles, and, thrown ashore, he is bored and languishing, no matter how the shady grove beckons him, no matter how the peaceful sun shines on him ; he walks all day along the coastal sand, listens to the monotonous murmur of the oncoming waves and peers into the foggy distance: will the desired sail flash there, on the pale line separating the blue abyss from the gray clouds.” (Cf. Lermontov’s poem “ Sail»).
He is burdened by life, is ready to die and is not afraid of death, and if he does not agree to commit suicide, it is only because he still “lives out of curiosity,” in search of a soul that would understand him: “maybe I will die tomorrow!” And there will not be a single creature left on earth who would understand me completely!”
“A Hero of Our Time” is a classic of Russian literature. This work touches on the theme of the vices of society, which are revealed through the image of an “extra” person. The main character of Lermontov's work is a handsome, intelligent officer who has a strong, purposeful personality and invariably.
However, despite all his advantages, he cannot find his place, rushes in different directions, thereby, at times, destroying the fates of the people around him and the women who love him. It is described so vividly and realistically that it evokes sincere emotions.
Portrait of Pechorin in the chapter “Bela”
We get the first impression of the main character through the eyes of Maxim Maksimych; it is he who helps us see how Pechorin appears before us in the chapter “Bela”. Grigory Pechorin is ardent here, passionate man, who achieves his beloved Bela, using rather risky and not always honest methods. He destroys the girl’s family, steals her away by deception, showing his prudence and some cruelty. At a certain moment, he sincerely believes that this is what will save him from the eternal boredom of life. However, he not only takes the girl to him, but also, although he himself subsequently loses his feelings for her.
Bela becomes a kind of goal for Pechorin, and having achieved it, he cools down. Until the girl’s death, he tries to surround her with his feelings, but the heart cannot be deceived, and poor Bela dies with a heavy heart, feeling unloved and unhappy. At the same time, sincere human emotions still live in Gregory, because he really suffers, though not for very long.
The image of Pechorin in the chapter “Maksim Maksimych”
This story, according to chronology, should complete the novel, but it, of course, takes its right place, because the way Pechorin appears before us in the chapter “Maksim Maksimych” shows how much the events that will occur further have influenced his personality. through the description of the hero himself.
Gregory's character noticeably hardens, he becomes rude, harsh and completely indifferent. When meeting someone whom he has not seen for so long, he does not show any feelings, as if he despises all sentimentality.
The character of the main character in the chapter “Taman”
The way Pechorin appears before us in the chapter “Taman” is sharply different from his usual state of boredom and disappointment. Having met an unusual beauty smuggler, he, like a child, is drawn to this unusual and seemingly to a fairytale man. He turns into a dreamer young man who is looking for adventure and something completely new.
However, after he was deceived, robbed and almost killed, Gregory reproaches himself for this weakness, and the image already familiar to the reader returns to us.
Portrait of Gregory in the chapter “Princess Mary”
Looking at the hero with a superficial glance, it is quite difficult to understand how Pechorin appears before us in the chapter “Princess Mary”. Only when we are completely immersed in the story do we begin to notice that two people seem to live in Gregory. different people, which interfere with each other’s lives, leading to disastrous consequences.
The passionate, calculating and narcissistic half of the hero makes him fall in love with the pure and innocent Princess Mary. As in the case of Bela, this is just a goal for him, having achieved which, he loses all interest in the girl. He is attracted to the game, in which he constantly changes masks, without ever letting him know his true essence. Having captured the girl’s heart, Pechorin breaks it and leaves the game, because from the very beginning he did not need this relationship at all.
But the reasonable, living half of the hero, like conscience, awakens in him sincere feelings compassion, feelings. It is they who encourage him to meet Lera, the only woman who knew him for who he really is, and at the same time loves him with all her heart. When she leaves, we manage to see Gregory’s real emotions, perhaps the only ones in the entire chapter.
The image of the main character in the chapter “Fatalist”
Another facet of the hero’s personality is vividly revealed to us in the way Pechorin appears to us in the chapter “Fatalist.” As we know, life is a game for him, but only at the end do we see that Gregory is able to take aim at the game with death.
He commits for real to defuse dangerous killer, but he does this not with good intentions, but in order to once again feel the thrill, to test his destiny. He risks his life without giving it any value.
Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin has strong spirit and extraordinary abilities, the use of which he never manages to find. As the novel progresses, he comes to realize that his strong, restless nature brings only misfortune to the people around him. And just think about what accomplishments a person with such intelligence, physical abilities and a rich soul was capable of if he could find his place in life.
Even in the preface, Lermontov says that his image is collective and belongs not to one person, but to an entire society, which makes the reader think about his own fate.
The novel “A Hero of Our Time” was a continuation of the theme of “extra people”. This theme became central to the novel in verse by A. S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”. Herzen named Pechorin younger brother Onegin. In the preface to the novel, the author shows his attitude towards his hero. Just like Pushkin in Eugene Onegin (“I am always glad to notice the difference between Onegin and me”), Lermontov ridiculed attempts to equate the author of the novel with his main character.
Lermontov did not consider Pechorin positive hero, from which we should take an example. The author emphasized that in the image of Pechorin a portrait is given of not just one person, but artistic type, which absorbed the features of a whole generation of young people at the beginning of the century. Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time” shows a young man suffering from his restlessness, in despair asking himself a painful question: “Why did I live. For what purpose was I born? He does not have the slightest inclination to follow the beaten path of secular young people. Pechorin is an officer. He serves, but is not cured. Pechorin does not study music, does not study philosophy or military affairs. But 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 to true love, to friendship, his individualism and selfishness.
But Pechorin captivates us with his thirst for life, the desire for the best, and the ability to critically evaluate his actions. He is deeply unsympathetic to us because of his “pathetic actions,” the waste of his strength, and the actions by which he brings suffering to other people. But we see that he himself suffers deeply. 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 duality? “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, vindictive, bilious, ambitious, and became, in his words, a moral cripple. Pechorin is an egoist. More Pushkin's Onegin Belinsky called him a “suffering egoist” and a “reluctant egoist.” The same can be said about Pechorin. Pechorin is characterized by disappointment in life and pessimism. He experiences constant duality of spirit. In the socio-political conditions of the 30s of the 19th century, Pechorin could not find a use for himself. He is wasted on petty adventures, exposes his forehead to Chechen bullets, and seeks oblivion in love. But all this is just a search for some way out, just an attempt to unwind.
He is haunted by boredom and the consciousness that such a life is not worth living. Throughout the novel, Pechorin shows himself as a person accustomed to looking “at the suffering and joys of others only in relation to himself” - as “food” that supports his mental strength; it is on this path that he seeks consolation from the boredom that haunts him, tries to fill the emptiness of your existence. And yet Pechorin is a richly gifted nature. He has analytical mind, his assessments of people and their 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 still 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 “The Demon”. Indeed, in his appearance (especially at the beginning of the novel) there is something demonic, unsolved. In all the short stories that Lermontov combined 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 Maksimovich is disappointed in friendship, Mary and Vera suffer, Grushnitsky dies at his hand, forced to leave native home « honest smugglers", the young officer Vulich dies. Belinsky saw in Pechorin’s character “a transitional state of spirit, in which for a person everything old is destroyed, but the new is not yet there, and in which a person is only the possibility of something real in the future and a perfect ghost in the present.”
Pechorin was of average height, slender, of strong build. Quite honest man, about thirty years old. Despite his strong build, he had a “small aristocratic hand.” His gait was careless and lazy. He had a hidden character. “His skin had a kind of feminine tenderness; his blond hair, naturally curly, so picturesquely outlined his pale, noble forehead, on which, only after long observation, one could notice traces of wrinkles. Despite light color hair, his mustache and beard were black."
he had a slightly upturned nose, dazzling white teeth and brown eyes. His eyes did not laugh when he laughed. Their shine was like the shine of “smooth steel,” dazzling and cold. He was very good-looking and had one of those “original faces that are especially popular with secular women.” Pechorin – “ inner man" His personality is dominated by inherent in heroes Lermontov's romantic complex, dissatisfaction with reality, high anxiety and a hidden desire for better life. Poeticizing these qualities of Pechorin, his sharp critical thought, rebellious will and ability to fight, revealing his tragically forced loneliness, Lermontov also notes the sharply negative, frank manifestations of Pechorin’s individualism, without separating them from the hero’s personality as a whole. The novel clearly expresses Pechorin's selfish individualism.
The moral inconsistency of Pechorin’s behavior towards Bela, Mary and Maxim Maksimovich. Lermontov highlights the destructive processes occurring in Pechorin: his melancholy, fruitless tossing, and fragmentation of interests. Comparing the “hero” of Pechorin’s era with those who could not at all claim this title - with the “natural man” Bela and with “ a simple person“Maxim Maksimovich, deprived of Pechorin’s intellect and his vigilance, we see not only intellectual superiority, but also the spiritual ill-being and incompleteness of the main character. Pechorin's personality in its egoistic manifestations, arising primarily from the conditions of the era, is not exempt from its individual responsibility, the judgment of conscience.
Pechorin treats people cruelly. So, for example: first he kidnaps Bela and tries to please her. But when Bela falls in love with Pechorin, he leaves her. Even after Bela’s death, his face does not change and he laughs in response to Maxim Maksimovich’s consolations.
After a long separation, a cold meeting with Maxim Maksimovich, who considers Pechorin his best friend, and is very upset by this attitude towards himself.
With Princess Mary he acts almost the same way as with Bela. Just to have fun, he begins to court Mary. Seeing this, Grushnitsky challenges Pechorin to a duel, they shoot, and Pechorin kills Grushnitsky. After this, Mary confesses her love to Pechorin and asks to stay, but he coldly says: “I don’t love you.”
And the trial leading to retribution is carried out on Pechorin, in which evil, breaking away largely from its “good” sources, destroys not only what it is aimed at, but also his own personality, which is naturally noble and therefore cannot withstand its internal evil. Retribution falls on Pechorin from the people.
// The image of Pechorin in Lermontov’s novel “Hero of Our Time”
"" is perhaps one of the most outstanding works Mikhail Lermontov. The author has long been concerned about the fate of young and educated people during the "Dark Decade". At that time, any manifestation of dissent or expression of new ideas was persecuted and severely punished. Lermontov writes his novel with deliberate violation chronological order. This allows the reader to pay attention to the internal experiences of the main characters, and not to the external world. In fact, “A Hero of Our Time” can confidently be called a psychological novel.
The main character of Lermontov's novel “A Hero of Our Time” is the young nobleman Grigory Pechorin.
Pechorin was a man who lived without love, without aspiration, he had no goal in life, he was bored with the world. The main character even treats himself with contempt. He says that if he dies, it will not be a great loss either for the world or for himself. These words, according to Pechorin, reflect his life lived in vain. The main character often wonders why he was born, what is his purpose, what is his mission? He feels that he was created for something high, something necessary, but, following the lead of worldly passions, he has lost his purpose.
It must be said that Grigory Alexandrovich was not always such a gloomy and disillusioned person in life. In my younger years main character was filled with ardent hopes and passions. He was ready for action, to accomplish a feat. His inner ideals pushed him to move, to bring them to life. Therefore, young Pechorin decided to fight for them. But soon it broke. There was only “one feeling of fatigue, as after a night battle with a ghost, and a vague memory filled with regrets...”. The world around him did not accept him. Pechorin was alien to the old, but, unfortunately, he did not know the new. This conflict between the internal and external world causes apathy in Pechorin, with youth he is doomed to wither and grow old. The main character finally loses the meaning of life. Having withdrawn into himself, he becomes angry at the world, becomes selfish. Pechorin becomes an instrument of evil in the hands of fate. He begins to chase life, but this only leads to tragic consequences for the people around him. So, the smugglers are forced to flee to another place, leaving behind the old woman and the blind boy; dies and; stays with broken hearted, and - offended.
But still, Pechorin remains a strong, strong-willed and gifted person. He will note to himself that he is a “moral cripple.” Pechorin was very contradictory nature. This can be seen both in his appearance and in his actions. Showing us the appearance of his main character, Lermontov writes that Pechorin’s eyes “did not laugh when he laughed”, his gait “was careless and lazy, but I noticed that he did not wave his arms - a sure sign of some secrecy of character.” Although Pechorin was about thirty years old, his smile remained childish.
The strangeness and inconsistency of the protagonist’s character was also noticed by Maxim Maksimych. He noted that, while hunting in the pouring rain, Pechorin felt good, while others were freezing and chilly, and while at home, he was afraid of drafts and knocking windows, although he had previously hunted wild boar alone.
In this contradictory character of Pechorin, Lermontov sees the illness of the then younger generation. Pechorin himself would later say that his life consisted of such contradictions, a struggle of heart and mind.
The inconsistency of the protagonist’s character also manifests itself in relationships with the opposite sex. Pechorin sought the favor of women, forced them to love himself only for the sake of satisfying his ambition. But at the same time, the main character is capable of a sharp impulse, a manifestation of his own feelings. When Grigory Alexandrovich receives last letter from Vera, he immediately decides to go to Pyatigorsk. “With the possibility of losing her forever,” he writes, “Faith became dearer to me than anything in the world,” more valuable than life, honor, happiness!
It is this inconsistency of character that does not allow Pechorin to live to the fullest. This is what makes him a “moral cripple.”
The tragedy of the main character was emphasized by the fact that two people lived in his soul. The first one commits actions, and the second one condemns them for them. Because he cannot find application for his knowledge, skills and ideas.
Why did Pechorin, being an educated young nobleman, become a “superfluous” person? The main character answered this question like this: “My soul is spoiled by light.” Thus, Pechorin became a hostage to his environment, its laws and customs from which he could not get rid of.
Pechorin became another “superfluous” person in Russian literature and in Russian society of the 19th century, standing on a par with Chatsky and Onegin.
