Fate in the work is a hero of our time. Comparison as a way to reveal the character of the main character

May 25 2015

I look sadly at our generation! Its future is either empty or dark, Meanwhile, under the burden of knowledge and doubt, It will grow old in inaction. M. Yu. Lermontov M. Yu. Lermontov “Hero of Our Time” (1840) was created in the era of government reaction, which brought to life a whole gallery of images, long years habitually called by critics “superfluous people.” Pechorin is “Onegin of his time,” argued V. G. Belinsky. But were Onegin and Pechorin really that “superfluous”? Let's try to figure it out. Lermontov's hero - a tragic fate.

He contains “immense powers” ​​in his soul, but there is a lot of evil on his conscience. Pechorin, by his own admission, invariably plays “the role of an ax in the hands of fate,” “the necessary actor every fifth act." How does Lermontov feel about his hero? trying to understand the essence and origins of the tragedy of Pechorin’s fate.

“It will also be that the disease is indicated, but God knows how to cure it!” Pechorin is eagerly looking for applications for his extraordinary abilities, “immense mental strength", but doomed historical reality and the peculiarities of their mental makeup for tragic loneliness and reflection. At the same time, he admits: “I like to doubt everything: this disposition does not interfere with the decisiveness of my character, on the contrary... I always boldly move forward when I don’t know what awaits me. After all, nothing worse can happen than death - and you cannot escape death!

"Pechorin is tragically lonely. The attempt to find the natural, simple love of the mountain woman Bela ends in failure. Pechorin openly admits to Maxim Maksimych: “...The love of a savage is for a few better than love noble lady; the ignorance and simple-heartedness of one are just as annoying as the coquetry of the other.”

The hero is doomed to be misunderstood by those around him (the only exceptions are Werner and Vera), his inner world neither the beautiful “savage” Bela nor the kind-hearted Maxim Maksimych are able to comprehend. Let us remember that at the first meeting with Grigory Aleksandrovich, the staff captain is able to notice only minor features of Pechorin’s appearance and the fact that the “thin” ensign has recently been in the Caucasus. Unfortunately, Maxim Maksimych does not understand the depth of Pechorin’s suffering after Bela’s death: “...his face did not express anything special, and I felt annoyed: if I were in his place, I would have died of grief...

“And only from the casually dropped remark that “Pechorin was unwell for a long time and lost weight,” we guess about the true strength of Grigory Alexandrovich’s experiences. Last meeting Pechorina with Maxim Maksi-mych clearly confirms the idea that “evil begets evil.” Pechorin’s indifference to his old “friend” leads to the fact that “good Maxim Maksimych became a stubborn, grumpy staff captain.” The officer-narrator guesses that Grigory Alexandrovich’s behavior is not a manifestation of spiritual emptiness and selfishness.

Particular attention is drawn to Pechorin’s eyes, which “did not laugh when he laughed... This is a sign of either an evil disposition or a deep constant sadness" What is the reason for such sadness? We find the answer to this question in Pechorin's Journal.

Pechorin's notes are preceded by a message that he died on the way from Persia. The stories “Taman”, “Princess Mary”, “Fatalist” show that Pechorin does not find worthy use of his extraordinary abilities. Of course, the hero is head and shoulders above empty adjutants and pompous dandies who “drink, but not water, walk little, dawdle only in passing...

play and complain about boredom.” Grigory Aleksandrovich perfectly sees the insignificance of Grushnitsky, who dreams of “becoming the hero of a novel.” In Pechorin’s actions one can sense deep intelligence and sober logical calculation. Mary’s entire “seduction” is based on knowledge of the “living strings of the human heart.”

By evoking compassion for himself with a skillful story about his past, Pechorin forces Princess Mary to be the first to confess his love. Maybe we are looking at an empty rake, a seducer of women's hearts? No! This convinces last date hero with Princess Mary. Pechorin's behavior is noble.

He is trying to alleviate all rights reserved 2001-2005 the suffering of the girl who fell in love with him. Pechorin, contrary to his own statements, is capable of sincere, great feelings, but the hero’s love is complex. So, feeling for Vera with new strength awakens when there is a danger of losing the only woman who understood Grigory Alexandrovich completely.

“With the possibility of losing her forever, Faith became dearer to me than anything in the world - more valuable than life, honor, !” - Pechorin admits. Having driven his horse on the way to Pyatigorsk, the hero “fell on the grass and cried like a child.” This is the power of feelings!

Pechorin's love is lofty, but tragic for himself and disastrous for those who love him. The fates of Bela, Princess Mary and Vera prove this. with Grushnitsky - an illustration of the fact that Pechorin’s extraordinary abilities are wasted, on small, insignificant goals. However, in his attitude towards Grushnitsky, Pechorin is noble and honest in his own way. During a duel, he makes every effort to evoke belated repentance in his opponent and awaken his conscience. Useless!

Grushnitsky shoots first. “The bullet grazed my knee,” comments Pechorin. The play of good and evil in the hero’s soul is a great artistic discovery of Lermontov the realist. Before the duel, Grigory Alexandrovich concludes a kind of deal with own conscience. Nobility is combined with mercilessness: “I decided to provide all the benefits to Grushnitsky; I wanted to experience it; a spark of generosity could awaken in his soul...

I wanted to give myself every right not to spare him if fate had mercy on me.” And Pechorin does not spare the enemy. Grushnitsky’s bloody corpse slides into the abyss... But victory does not bring Pechorin joy, the light fades in his eyes: “The sun seemed dim to me, its rays did not warm me.”

Let’s summarize Pechorin’s practical “activities”: because of a trifle, Azamat puts his life in serious danger; the beautiful Bela and her father die at the hands of Kazbich, and Kazbich himself loses his faithful Karagez; the fragile world is collapsing" honest smugglers"; Grushnitsky was shot in a duel; Vera and Princess Mary suffer deeply; Vulich's life ends tragically. What made Pechorin “an ax in the hands of fate”? Lermontov does not introduce us to chronological biography your hero. The plot and composition of the novel are subordinated to one goal - to deepen the socio-psychological and philosophical analysis Pechorina.

The hero appears in different stories cycle is the same, does not change, does not evolve. This is a sign of early “deadness”, the fact that before us is, indeed, a half-corpse, in whom “some kind of secret cold reigns in the soul, when fire boils in the blood.” Many of Lermontov's contemporaries tried to limit all the richness of Pechorin's image to one quality - egoism. Belinsky resolutely defended Pechorin from accusations of lack of high ideals: “Are you saying that he is selfish? But doesn't he despise and hate himself for this? Doesn’t his heart long for pure and selfless love?

No, this is not selfishness...” But what is it? Pechorin himself gives us the answer to the question: “My colorless youth was spent in a struggle with myself and the light; My best feelings, fearing ridicule, I buried in the depths of my heart: they died there...” Ambition, the thirst for power, the desire to subjugate those around him to his will take possession of the soul of Pechorin, who “from the storm of life... brought out only a few ideas - and not a single feeling.” The question of the meaning of life remains open in the novel: “...

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 powers in my soul... But I didn’t guess this purpose, I was carried away by the lures of empty and ungrateful passions; 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.”

It seems to me that the tragedy of Pechorin’s fate is connected not only with social conditions life of the hero (belonging to secular society, political reaction in Russia after the defeat of the Decembrist uprising), but also with the fact that a sophisticated ability for introspection and brilliant analytical thinking, “the burden of knowledge and doubt” lead a person to a loss of simplicity and naturalness. Even the healing power of nature is unable to heal the hero’s restless soul. Pechorin is eternal precisely because it is not limited to the social.

There are Pechorins even now, they are next to us... And I would like to end the essay with lines from the wonderful poem by Ya. P. Polonsky: And the soul of space breaks out from under the power of the Caucasian communities - The bell rings and starts pouring... The horses rush the young man to the north... To the side I hear the croaking of a raven, I make out the corpse of a horse in the darkness - Drive, drive! Pechorin's shadow is catching up with me...

In Russian literature, the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov occupies an important place. Superbly written, it poses and reveals many relevant and currently problems. One of them is common in romantic tradition theme of fate. The predetermination of the human path, the ability to change the circumstances of life, to influence other people occupies the minds of readers.

Each part of the novel shows some aspect of the manifestation of fate. Pechorin's thoughts about himself lead him to the idea that his character and attitude to life are shaped by external conditions. He is a victim of fate, forced to become who he is under the pressure of circumstances. The hero is convinced that “bad feelings” were born in him because those around him assumed them. Modesty, emotionality, openness to the world and at the same time a somewhat gloomy character turned into secrecy, rancor, envy, hatred and misanthropy. In this the hero sees a kind of victory of evil fate, and this explains his life position: “I became an ax in the hands of fate.” In this way, he finds justification for his actions, his desire to interfere in people's lives and influence them. He feels like “a stone disturbing the calm of a smooth source.” But the strength of the inner spirit, the extraordinary character of Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin does not allow him to come to terms with this state of affairs, they form a contradictory desire to resist fate, overcome it, and become the complete master of his life.

This dissonance manifests itself differently in each of the novel's chapters. In the chapter “Maksim Maksimych” he describes the action and resistance of fate, the formation of character under the influence of circumstances and the change in circumstances by the power of character. The incidents described in the chapters “Bela”, “Princess Mary”, “Taman” can be considered a demonstration of the relationship between fate and man. The hero acts both as an instrument of fate and as a person who resists it and changes it. The result is tragic events, the death of characters, their deep mental suffering. There is some irony in the victory of fate, it is represented by a force against which resistance is futile.

This idea is most clearly revealed in the chapter “Fatalist”. The association and metaphor are quite transparent: the players and the dealer are Fate. And the layout and winnings depend on it. The misfire of a pistol in a group while playing “Russian roulette” and the rampage of a drunkard armed with a saber, who eventually killed Vulich, who won the first “round”. Rock rules the world.

Fate plays with people, puts them in certain conditions, but also gives alternatives for the development of events. The problem of choosing a path is a way of interacting with fate. This is exactly what the novel makes the reader think about.

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In "Fatalist" Lermontov pits Pechorin against Vulich. Vulich is a passionate player, taciturn and “doesn’t confide his spiritual secrets to anyone.” We see that even in the heat of battle he does not change his passion and continues to play as if he were sitting at a card table. Pechorin is “ extra person“, this is how literary scholars agreed to call him, this is understandable, he wanders around the world and does not find refuge anywhere. In "Fatalist" his feelings of rejection are most acute. It is not clear who should be considered a fatalist here, Pechorin himself or Vulich, who decided to conduct a terrible experiment and test the correctness of the Muslim belief. In some ways they, these two fatalists, are similar.
At the beginning of the chapter, Pechorin, however, supports Vulich’s bet simply out of curiosity; he does not for a minute believe in any old signs, especially in Muslim beliefs, because he himself is Orthodox. But then came the unexpected death of Vulich. Does she make him repent of his unbelief: “I love to doubt everything: this disposition of mind does not interfere with the decisiveness of character - on the contrary, as for me, I always move forward more boldly when I do not know what awaits me. After all, nothing is worse than death
happens, but you can’t escape death!” - he says after terrible event, and all this after he himself, the evening before, predicted to Vulich imminent death.
What is more fatal to believe in death or not to believe in it? And who is the greater fatalist, Pechorin and Vulich with a pistol to their temple? This is the problem of the stated chapter.
Vulich decides to test himself and death for strength. The expression “what is to be, cannot be avoided” has become firmly established in our difficult reality and has become a saying, and Vulich dared to play dangerous games with life. The author, and with him Pechorin, understands that a person who has already looked into the eyes of death has no place in this world. If he decided to do such an act, it means that there is little that connects him with this world. And this is not even simple courage. In the room where all this was happening, there were many military men, brave officers who had seen death more than once, but not one of them dared to play Russian roulette: “You want proof: I suggest you try on yourself whether a person can arbitrarily dispose of his life, or each of us has a fateful moment assigned in advance... Anyone? - Not for me, not for me! - was heard from all sides, - what an eccentric! will come to mind!..”
There is no need to test this belief to be convinced that a person is mortal, and suddenly mortal. It is no coincidence that the episode includes the case of a pig that accidentally died from a sword from a drunken officer. What a life! Anyone can just die like this poor animal, and die suddenly, in the prime of life. This is what happens that same evening with Vulich. He sought death, and he got it.
Let us now turn to Pechorin, who, as has already become clear, is also a fatalist. He, of course, does not believe in fairy tales, but fate also weighs on him. We know from the novel that he fought, and he fought not because he was convinced that it was necessary, but simply out of boredom, because he had nothing else to do, we remember his duel with Grushnitsky, then he was also on the verge of from death, why then does he believe, along with everyone else, that Vulich’s trick is just a whim? Yes, Pechorin himself constantly lives with a pistol to his temple. Significant in this sense are his thoughts on the way home after the incident to pick up the cards. He walks the lunar path and, reflecting, turns to the stars, as if only they can understand him: “we, their pitiful descendants, wandering the earth without convictions and pride, without pleasure and fear, except for that involuntary fear that squeezes the heart at the thought about the inevitable end, we are no longer capable of great sacrifices, either for the good of humanity, or even for our own happiness, therefore we know its impossibility and indifferently move from doubt to doubt, as our ancestors rushed from one error to another, not having, like them, neither hope, nor even that vague, although true, pleasure that the soul encounters in every struggle with people or fate...”
And, really, what has changed in the world because Vulich died? What changed because he died not in a fair fight, but how a common person, hacked to death in a drunken brawl? The world hasn't turned upside down. If Vulich had stayed alive and gone to war, he would have killed many enemies, which means that for some, Vulich’s life would also be fatal. But for Vulich, a drunken officer turned out to be fatal, he did not fall asleep, his pores were washed out by wine, but he began to rage. It turns out that the belief is correct. And now Pechorin, just as Vulich was pointing a pistol at his forehead, climbs into the house where the killer has locked himself. Or does Pechorin think he is immortal? Of course not.
It is important to understand one point here. Vulich and Pechorin do not value their lives, however, Vulich decides to kill himself physically, his game with a pistol cannot be called anything other than suicide, but Pechorin kills himself morally, refusing normal life and "going on the run."
It is interesting to know whether Pechorin himself doomed himself to escape, or was this his predestination? Maybe the heavens really prepared such a fate for him - moral death? Or did he deliberately choose this path for himself? The answers can be found in “Princess Mary,” where Pechorin’s thoughts are described in more detail. Before his duel with Grushnitsky, he says that he is not afraid of death and, perhaps, even longs for it. Who will cry for him? "Friends,
who will forget me tomorrow or, worse, construct God knows what fables about me; women who, hugging another, will laugh at me, so as not to arouse in him jealousy for the deceased - God bless them! From the storm of life I brought only a few ideas - and not a single feeling. For a long time now I have been living not with my heart, but with my head. I weigh and examine my own passions and actions with strict curiosity, but without participation. There are two people in me: one lives in in every sense of this word, another thinks and judges it; the first, perhaps, in an hour will say goodbye to you and the world forever, and the second... the second?” And the second one has long since said goodbye to everyone. Vulich, when he decides to play suicide, acts at the behest of his heart, which only begins to drive the blood harder. Pechorin, consciously renouncing life and preferring spiritual death, acts at the behest of reason. What is more fatal, what is predetermined?
We can draw one very significant conclusion from this. Maybe, of course, something in life is predetermined. This, for example, is the time in which a person lives, a country, a society, but he builds his life himself, and if he decides to die, then nothing will save him. Vulich was internally ready for death, ready to accept it and, accordingly, meets his bullet. Pechorin also longs for death, no one forced him to play with Bela, torment Mary and kill himself from the inside. He does it himself, makes fatal mistakes and ruins the lives of other people. A person himself shapes the circumstances around himself, and in no way vice versa, although it may seem so after reading “The Fatalist”.
The theme of fate runs through the novel "A Hero of Our Time". Lermontov was a romantic author, and romanticism in general is characterized by everything mysterious, sad and tragic. The author himself spent his whole life searching for the romantic ideal that Pechorin is looking for in the novel. Vulich probably wanted to find the same romantic death, but fate decreed otherwise. The writer is in many ways similar to his hero, although in no case can he be identified with Pechorin. The hero finds ideals and through his own fault loses them, but the creator is always searching because he hasn’t found anything yet. Romanticism, apparently, created the last fateful chapter.
It is difficult to say what to do: know your fate and accept it, or know that it is predetermined, but try with all your might to live your life with dignity, because, as Dr. Werner said: “I know that one fine day I will die.” It's hard to disagree with this. Death will equalize everyone, who will then remember how you lived if the inner fire was not reflected on your face.
“After all this, how can one not become a fatalist? But who knows for sure whether he is convinced of something or not?.. and how often do we mistake for conviction a deception of feelings or a blunder of reason!..” Pechorin, with his eternal pragmatism, turns out to be right here too. His prediction to Vulich about his imminent death, isn’t this also a deception of feelings, maybe he imagined the “seal of death” on the face of the brave Serb?
Everyone is free to have their own point of view on the fatality of certain events. We are more interested in the question already outlined at the beginning: who is the greater fatalist, Pechorin or Vulich? I think it’s Pechorin after all. Vulich brought death only to himself, Pechorin, as already mentioned, ruined many lives; he is not a fatalist, he is fate itself, fate, fate. He knew that he would collide with Grushnitsky on a narrow path, he knew that Vulich would die, and in this we again see romantic traits Lermontov's novel. Pechorin is a pragmatist, but at the same time he is a romantic, and feelings are not alien to him. His fatal love for Vera is also a kind of predestination.

The theme of fate in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is one of the fundamental ones. This theme runs through all parts of the novel, starting with the story about Bel and ending with the part “Fatalist”. And this is not surprising, because in its prose work Lermontov continues his thoughts, which he conveyed earlier in many poetic works. In this vein, one can recall the terms from the poem “The Death of a Poet,” in which the author sadly exclaimed:

The poet is dead! - slave of honor -
Fate has reached its conclusion! -

The theme of fate in Lermontov's poems often appears in the image of an evil Fate for a person, which cannot be overcome, and often impossible to come to terms with. The theme of fate in “A Hero of Our Time” is also considered by the author from a tragic point of view. Let's take a closer look at the author's concept of the theme of fate in the novel.

Understanding the theme of fate by Pechorin

In the image of the main character of the novel we can see a deep attention to the theme of fate. Pechorin himself in his diary calls himself “an ax in the hands of fate.” That is, the hero thereby justifies himself and his unseemly actions, believing that, by committing them, he is something like an executioner or, more precisely, a conductor’s baton in the hands of an experienced and all-powerful ruler.

By assigning such a fate to himself, the hero thereby achieves self-affirmation in society, believing that by causing pain to others, he is only justly punishing them for their misdeeds. Thus, Pechorin thinks of himself as a demigod, claiming to be more than a mere mortal man.

Such an understanding of his role by Pechorin brings us closer to the theme of the “superman,” which will become especially relevant for humanity 70 years after the publication of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov. However, the writer, ahead of his time, created for readers the image of such a “future superman”: a hero who is not ashamed of his bad thoughts or his bad deeds and strives to outdo his fate.

As we remember, it is faith in fate and the desire to experience it that makes Pechorin commit immoral acts that are not even interesting to him: imagining himself “an ax in the hands of fate,” he begins to pursue Mary with his barbs, and then makes her fall in love with him, laughs at Grushnitsky, which ultimately leads to a fatal duel for the young man, advises Azamat - Bela's brother - to kidnap his sister for his own amusement, etc.

At the same time, sometimes there come moments in Pechorin’s life when the hero believes that the evil Rock is completely defeating him. Here's how he talks about such life collisions:

“...This has been my lot since childhood. Everyone read on my face signs of bad feelings 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.”

Thus, sometimes Pechorin tries to blame not himself for his bad actions, but his fate, believing that it is she who is the unfortunate culprit of all the troubles that happened to him.
All of Pechorin’s experiences regarding the problem of fate are resolved in the last part of the novel, called “Fatalist” (that is, a person who believes in fate). This part still remains a mystery for literary scholars, because it characterizes not so much Pechorin himself as a fatalist, but helps to understand the problems of human existence that are meaningful to the author.

The story “Fatalist” as a problem of the divinity of the theme of fate

It is in the story “Fatalist” that it is resolved most important aspect the author's understanding of the theme of fate: namely, God or the devil guides the fate of man on earth. To solve this problem, Lermontov chooses the hero Vulich, who is an even greater fatalist than Pechorin. Vulich decided to test his fate by putting the most precious thing on the line - his life. He offered Pechorin a bet, according to which he would shoot himself in the temple with a loaded pistol and see whether he was destined to live or die (the fact is that pistols of that time misfired with a probability of one out of ten). Pechorin, looking into Vulich’s eyes, tells him that he will die tonight. Vulich shoots himself in the temple, and the pistol misfires. He goes to his home, and in the morning Pechorin finds out that he was right: Vulich died that same evening: he was hacked to death with a saber by a drunken Cossack.

According to literary scholars, Lermontov, in his characteristic authorial manner, considers the problem of fate as cruel joke the devil over man. There is a well-known gospel parable about demons who entered a herd of pigs and forced them to rush down into the abyss. In the story “Fatalist,” a devilish desire to tempt fate comes to the mind of the fatalist Vulich. He, too, seems to be possessed by a demon, forcing him to make a fatal bet. And the same demon leads to the fact that Vulich dies that same night at the hands of a bitter drunkard and brawler. It would seem that the forces of evil are triumphant: they showed people an example of their power. The evil Rock – the Demon, already described by Lermontov in one of his poems – won. However, at the end of his story, the writer somewhat softens the tragic sound of the novel’s ending with the words of the kind Maxim Maksimovich that misfires in pistols often happen, and this has nothing to do with the fact that some Cossack decided to go on a rampage that evening.

Such an ending leaves room for Divine Providence, merciful and comprehensive, and also leaves the reader the right to resolve in his own way the conflict that the author described in the last part of his novel.

Understanding the role of fate by the heroes of the novel

The fates of the heroes of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” are, as a rule, tragic. The heroes strive for happiness, but they realize that they cannot have it.

In this novel there is no happy people! Unhappy is the Circassian Bela, kidnapped by her brother and given by him to Pechorin for fun, unhappy is Mary Ligovskaya, the young princess whom Pechorin fell in love with himself in order to laugh at the feelings of the proud beautiful girl Finally, Vera is unhappy - a society lady and Pechorin’s secret lover, who is tormented by secret passion and deeply suffers from the realization of the hopelessness of her situation. The proud and intelligent Doctor Werner cannot find joy in life; the ambitious young man Grushnitsky, in love with Mary, dies in a duel. And even the kindest Maxim Maksimovich cannot be called happy man. Of course, the hero does not torment himself with deep and tragic experiences, like Pechorin, however, he often experiences grief from the events of the world around him.

A special theme of the novel is the theme of the fate of a generation in “A Hero of Our Time.” It is too the most important topic for Lermontov's creativity. All his life, the writer, poet and playwright tried to answer the question: what does his generation represent, what is his calling, the meaning of life?

As a result, Lermontov comes to the sad conclusion that the fate of his generation is difficult because the best people Russia – educated young representatives noble class– cannot find their place in life. They are restless and blame both themselves and the external circumstances of life for this. Lermontov himself wrote about it this way:

“We are no longer capable of great sacrifices, either for the good of humanity, or even for our own happiness, because we know its impossibility and indifferently move from doubt to doubt.”

In fact, the writer recreates the image lost generation in "A Hero of Our Time". This generation does not know where to direct their vital forces, how to serve their Fatherland.

In the novel “Hero of Our Time,” the writer raises the vital problems of human existence. He is concerned with the theme of fate, which he tries to consider in both a mystical and realistic vein. This topic itself attracts the attention of readers, which makes the work more exciting and interesting. This material will be useful for 9th grade students when writing an essay on the topic “The Theme of Fate in the novel “A Hero of Our Time”.”

Work test

Appeared to readers as mirror reflection era and its “vices”, collective image who are represented by the main character - Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin.
Moving directly to the theme of fate in the novel, I consider it necessary to at least briefly outline the central image - Pechorin, with the help of which this semantic line is revealed.
The most complete and specific psychological picture The main character of the work is presented in the chapter “Maksim Maksimych”. paints an extremely ambiguous personality, which harmoniously combines such traits as an extraordinary subtlety of soul, an extraordinary personality, an unusually sharp mind and at the same time, oddly enough, extreme individualism, unhealthy ambition, lack of spiritual simplicity and even “demonism.” It should also be noted that all facets of Pechorin’s character are based not on superficial, but on a true, almost natural character.
Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin contrasts himself, his own opportunity control life by the forces of fate. And it is in this struggle that the theme of fate in the novel is revealed. Pechorin's character traits determine that he categorically refuses to believe in the predetermination of events occurring in life. Being a convinced egocentrist, he is absolutely sure that he decides his own destiny and plans his own life. One of the problems revealed within the theme of fate is Pechorin’s constant willful interference in the lives of the people around him. Such an invasion privacy is a hidden way of self-realization of the main character.
So, for example, in the chapter “Bela”, the price of Pechorin’s whim was not only the life of the “prince’s daughter”, but also the fates of many other heroes, such as Azamat, Kazbich, Bela’s father. It is no coincidence that Bela, before her death, thinks that she will not meet her lover in heaven. The scene of the heroine's death throes reflects Pechorin's helplessness in the face of the forces of fate. He was able to win a tiny victory - to make Bela fall in love with him, but Pechorin could not keep her life, which the girl herself entrusted to him.
In the chapter “Maksim Maksimych,” which is the last in the chronological series of chapters, we see a meeting of two old friends, namely Maxim Maksimych himself and Pechorin, but given the restraint and even some coldness of Grigory Alexandrovich, it is very difficult to characterize their relationship as friendship, although the reaction of the second clearly makes it clear that a person closer and closer to him does not exist. And in Once again Pechorin breaks down someone else's life, but this time because of the feeling of his own loss, the meaninglessness of his own existence.
As for the chapter "Taman", this is perhaps the most mysterious part of the novel "A Hero of Our Time". As you read this chapter, many questions remain. Why did Pechorin follow the blind man? What drew him to the shore at night? And, finally, why does he care about the activities of those around him? But, remembering characteristic features Pechorin mentioned earlier, you quickly find the answers. The simple egoistic curiosity of the hero subsequently destroyed the “peaceful circle” honest smugglers." In this chapter, Pechorin admits for the first time that in in this case he himself was at the mercy of fate, and did not simply act under the influence of circumstances: “Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calm and, like a stone, I almost sank to the bottom!”
In the chapter “Princess Mary” the theme of fate is most fully revealed in the scene of the duel between Pechorin and Grushnitsky. Main character the novel goes into battle not with a person, but with a philosophical and religious conviction. In this case, the price of his extremely stupid self-confidence could be his own life. However, the desire for self-realization makes Pechorin forget about common sense. Once again trying to prove his sole power over his life, he kills a man. But Grushnitsky is far from the only person whose life is cut short by Pechorin in this chapter. Grigory Alexandrovich also becomes a demon for the charming Mary, whom the hero falls in love with for the sake of self-affirmation.
And finally, the last chapter of the novel, but far from the least in importance - “Fatalist”. The title itself suggests that the theme of fate will be the main one for this part. Central image chapter - Lieutenant Vulich - dies due to a meaningless game with death and blind faith in predestination. His courage borders on recklessness, and the instinct of self-preservation seems to be completely absent. But Pechorin in this chapter does not miss the chance to measure his strength with fate when he breaks into the house where an armed Cossack killer is sitting.
So, undoubtedly, the novel contains moments of Pechorin’s triumph over predestination, but victory in the hero’s duel with fate still remains with the second participant in the battle. And clear evidence of this is the death of Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin “somewhere in Persia.”