The meeting between Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin is brief. Essay “The last meeting of Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych

In the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov “A Hero of Our Time,” the events are presented in violation of the chronological sequence, so the reader learns about the main character first from the memoirs of Maxim Maksimych, and later from the diary entries of Pechorin himself.

Several years passed after the hero left the fortress, where he served together with Maxim Maksimych. Pechorin has already retired and lived in St. Petersburg, but boredom forces him to hit the road again. On the way to Persia, fate unexpectedly prepared for him a meeting (in Vladikavkaz) with a former colleague,

Maxim Maksimych, but not only is he not in a hurry to this meeting, but he could well leave without seeing each other. And there is an explanation for this.

Life in the fortress, where Pechorin was sent after the duel with Grushnitsky, was painful for him, too secluded and monotonous. Pechorin did not want to remember this life, and especially the story with Bela, whose tragic death was his fault. For certain reasons, the difficulties of everyday life and military life did not bring the young officer closer to his senior comrade, who helped him in everything. And over the past time, Pechorin has moved away even more. Apparently, this was due to the character of an individualist who did not want to experience

Feeling of attachment. He lacks such qualities as sociability, friendliness, affability, the desire for mutual assistance and mutual assistance. This is a closed, selfish person who did not allow anyone to “open the secrets of his soul.” He could be cold, mocking or even cruel so as not to get close to anyone.

Maxim Maksimych does not understand how one can not consider a former colleague as a friend, with whom he lived side by side for some time and shared the difficulties of military service. The old soldier, whose interests are focused on the honest performance of military duties, lives simply and modestly. This is a kind, sincere person, his heart is open to people, he is ready to pity and love those who, by the will of fate, find themselves next to him. Maxim Maksimych becomes attached to Pechorin, takes care of him and Bela, deeply worries about the death of the young mountain girl, and he cannot forget the past, everything that connects him with Pechorin. Therefore, he does not understand the behavior of a fellow employee, who seems not to be happy about the meeting and would like to avoid it.

In fact, everything is clear here. And not only because these heroes are very different. We must not forget that Pechorin is still a “suffering egoist.” When meeting after a certain period of time, it is more pleasant to remember good deeds or any good events. And what should Pechorin remember? How did he once again commit a selfish and thoughtless act? Or how did he perform “the role of an ax in the hands of fate”?

Over the years, Pechorin learned to distance himself from people: he did not make friends with anyone, he did not feel love for anyone. He is not only a disappointed, but also an indifferent person: he yawns when Maxim Maksimych tries to call him for a conversation; he is not interested in the fate of his own diary; he doesn’t ask his former colleague about anything, he doesn’t even ask about his health.
Pechorin offended Maxim Maksimych due to his callousness and indifference, but his behavior is also explained by many subjective reasons and objective circumstances.

The question also arises: why is Pechorin completely indifferent to the fate of his diary?
Every reader, like every critic, sees the character of the hero of the times in his own way.
Pechorin’s diary was introduced by Lermontov as a compositional device in order to show a person’s personality from the inside, since the hero’s entries are “a consequence of observations of a mature mind on itself. without any vain desire to excite participation or surprise.”

What does the diary reflect? First of all, a tendency to reflection, that is, to introspection and comprehension of one’s actions, sensations, desires, and feelings. Why does Pechorin need this self-analysis if he is not going to change, to follow the path of personal self-improvement? There is only one answer: there is no definite goal, as in everything and always in the life of this person. He doesn’t know why he was born, why he studied, why he lives. “But I probably had a high purpose?” But life is wasted: he didn’t find a calling in the service, didn’t make friends, no love, no family, doesn’t feel his need. Complete disappointment in everything. Pechorin considers even his tears over the unexpected separation from Vera to be a consequence of an empty stomach or poor sleep. Although this episode is similar to the whim of a spoiled child because of a toy that he was suddenly deprived of.

Pechorin does not show off when he talks about cooling of feelings, disappointment, loss of interest in life and its complete aimlessness. This state of mind requires intense sensations, and he recklessly plays with fate, emphasizing that he does not value life. This is observed in the episode with the smugglers, and in the duel with Grushnitsky, and in the fight with the drunken Cossack.
Pechorin is indifferent to his future. How can he be not indifferent to the fate of his diary?

Maxim Maksimych, who found this abandoned confession, asks his former colleague what to do with the diary. And Pechorin answers: “Whatever you want.” By this time, he feels complete indifference to everyone and everything. He no longer wants to analyze his life, and the past is not interesting to him, just like the future. Everything loses its meaning, loses its value: people and life are not dear, old thoughts and feelings are not dear.

Essays on topics:

1. Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych are two completely different people, not only in age, but also in psychology. Maksim...
2. After some time, the narrator and Maxim Maksimych met again at the inn. Their attention was attracted by the empty carriage of a dandy...
3. The image of Maxim Maksimych is depicted with deep sympathy in the novel. This is an honest and faithful soldier-servant, a simple, kind, sympathetic Russian man....
4. What is Pechorin's tragedy? Pechorin's personality is ambiguous and can be perceived from different points of view. But in any case, it cannot be denied...
5. Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is a complex collective image of the society of his time - the thirties of the nineteenth century. Pechorin is lonely and not...
6. Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is the main character of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time.” He is young, “thin, white,” slender, of average height...
7. Pechorin is a hero of his time. In the 30s, such a person does not find a place where he can put his strength, and therefore...

The composition of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov's “Hero of Our Time” is such that in the first chapter we learn about Pechorin only from the words of Maxim Maksimych, an elderly officer who served for many years in the Caucasus. In the second chapter, which is called “Maksim Maksimych,” we see Pechorin through the eyes of the author, on whose behalf the story is told. The meeting of the heroes occurs by chance: while waiting at the hotel, Maxim Maxim learns that the owner of the dandy carriage and the spoiled lackey is none other than Pechorin. They cannot meet right away: Pechorin has already left to have dinner and spend the night with the colonel. Having asked the footman to tell Pechorin that Maxim Maksimych is here and waiting for him, the old man is sure that Pechorin will “come running now.” He has to wait until tomorrow morning. Using the technique of secret psychology, the author reveals to the reader the state of mind of the staff captain, through external manifestations and through actions, depicting his internal experiences. Maxim Maksimych strives not to show his disappointment and resentment to a random fellow traveler, but he waits tensely, and the drama of this expectation increases: he sits outside the gate until late in the evening, refusing even a quiet tea party, he does not sleep for a long time - he coughs, tosses and turns, sighs... So as not to explaining his condition to a stranger, he gets away with the question of whether bedbugs bite him with the answer that yes, they do, but it is clear that this is not why he cannot sleep.

Pechorin appears in the morning, in the old man's absence. He might not have waited for Maxim Maksimych, but the narrator reminded him of his former colleague. Maxim Mksimych runs to Pechorin across the square, presenting a pitiful sight: sweaty, out of breath, exhausted. Pechorin is friendly, but that’s all. The old man greedily rushes to Pechorin, he is so excited that he cannot speak - Pechorin replies that he has to go. Maxim Maksimych is overwhelmed with memories - “Pechorin “turned a little pale and turned away”: it was apparently unpleasant for him to remember Bel and the past. He is on his way to Persia, and he doesn’t even need the papers left by the staff captain: Maxim Maksimych is worried about what to do with them, - Pechorin waves him off: “Whatever you want!” Such an antithesis in the behavior of the heroes helps the author to reveal the author more clearly and serves as the next step to Pechorin’s diary entries - the self-disclosure of the hero’s character.

Composition.

Two meetings of Pechorin with Maxim Maksimych (based on the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov “A Hero of Our Time”).

Completed by a student of 9th grade

Ivanov Xenophon

Time…. Time has become an insurmountable wall between the twenties and thirties of the last century. Time has thrown back noisy debates about the future of Russia, dreams, joy in anticipation of future changes. Everything remained there, beyond the thirtieth of July 1826, the terrible day of the execution of the Decembrists. You will no longer hear the word “freedom”, and “youth languishes amid empty storms” of Lermontov and his peers. At the age of fifteen, Lermontov, who had his whole life ahead of him, wrote:

Why deep knowledge, thirst for glory,

Talent and ardent love of freedom,

When can we not use them?

“Unwashed Russia, country of slaves, country of masters” - Lermontov’s suffering and pain. In this Russia, Pechorin also turned out to be an “extra” person.

When you open “A Hero of Our Time,” you forget that the book was written more than a hundred years ago. From the very first pages you are immersed in a world where such different people live - Maxim Maksimych, who, according to Belinsky, has “a wonderful soul, a heart of gold,” and Pechorin.

Two chapters - two meetings. Only then will we learn about the hero’s past, about how fate threw him into wild lands, only then will Pechorin’s soul be completely revealed to us. In the meantime...

In a small fortress in the Caucasus, the old staff captain Maxim Maksimych serves quietly and peacefully. And a whole event in his life was the arrival of a new person. “His name was... Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin,” Maxim Maksimych tells his fellow traveler about the arriving officer, a little slowly, drawlingly, as if the name itself gives him pleasure. Only the memory of him makes the staff captain talk. “He was so thin, white, his uniform was so new,” - this is how Maxim Maksimych tells the author about his first meeting, who carefully, word for word, writes down the captain’s story. These words contain all the affection, all the kindness of an old man, ready to give Pechorin all his unspent youth. Even now, speaking to a stranger about Grigory Alexandrovich, Maxim Maksimych is worried, as if reliving his best moments. One can imagine how he opened up to this “thin” officer. “You will be a little bored... well, you and I will live as friends. Yes, please, just call me Maksim Maksimych,” he immediately, without any ceremony, offers Pechorin. And Pechorin? Only formality sounds in his answer to all questions: “That’s right, Mr. Staff Captain.” And Maxim Maksimych himself notices the strangeness of Pechorin, his dissimilarity from others and classifies him as one of the people who “are written in their nature that various extraordinary things should happen to them.” However, for himself, Maxim Maksimych more simply explained Pechorin’s eccentricities with wealth. Simple, good-natured Maxim Maksimych fell in love with the new officer. And although he feels sorry for the deceased Bela, although in his heart he blames Pechorin for her death, still for him the young man is a “poor thing.” “Pechorin was not healthy for a long time, he lost weight, poor thing,” he says to a fellow traveler. In just one sentence, Lermontov conveys all the grief experienced by Pechorin, and Maxim Maksimych’s never-quenched love for him.

And only one p from my soul. “My soul is spoiled by light, my imagination is restless, my heart is insatiable,” he confesses to Maxim Maksimych. It’s painful and scary for a person for whom “the cup of cold life is bitter and nothing brings joy to the soul.” “I am alone, no one understands me,” Lermontov writes in one of his poems. Pechorin could have said the same thing. Maxim Maksimych did not understand his confession. And how can an old serviceman, who spent his whole life in this lost fortress, who knows only his duties and fulfills them regularly, understand a person who “asks for a storm.” No, Bela’s love, the whole story with Kazbich and Azamat is not a “storm”. All this has passed. And again boredom, boredom, boredom...

Five years have passed. We already see the second meeting through the eyes of the author himself. What changed? Maxim Maksimych is still the same. It is not for the sake of meeting Pechorin that he gives up “for the first time in his life... the work of his service”, forgetting about his years, runs to him. And suddenly... “How glad I am, dear Maxim Maksimych! Well, how are you doing?” - he hears. Polite phrase. But only. Maxim Maksimych immediately felt this in his heart, but “he wanted to throw himself on Pechorin’s neck.” Tears choke him, the friendly “you” has to be replaced with “you”. What a shame! Maxim Maksimych received a heavy blow from fate; there is nothing to “replace in the years” his “hopes and dreams.” "Forget! “I haven’t forgotten anything,” his words sound like a reproach to Pechorin. But is it worth reproaching? Were they "buddies"? Maxim Maksimych took wishful thinking. Pechorin cannot be his friend, these people stand at different poles.

Perhaps it is Pechorin who is truly unhappy. Full of strength, intelligence, energy, he rushes around the world. Where should he put his “immense forces”? what awaits him? Melancholy, death. "Poor old man." But Pechorin is “poorer” than him.

The novel is closed, but two more meetings remain in my memory. Two meetings - and the whole time of Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych stood before us. How many people, smart and talented, died simply because they did not want to be content with an empty life! Anger fills the heart - that’s how Russia was. To live, to live a full, wonderful life, to feel not “superfluous” - this is what Pechorin wanted. This is what Lermontov wanted. Only two meetings... But their role is enormous both for the ideological disclosure of the content of the novel and for the knowledge of Pechorin himself. Again you wonder how and why Pechorin turned out to be a stranger to Maxim Maksimych. Rather, you open the next chapters, trying to find the answer. And the questions that Lermontov raised in his work, the eternal questions of friendship and love, still concern us.

P.S. Factual material has been skillfully selected, on the basis of which smart and bitter conclusions are drawn, and behind them stands a personal attitude towards the characters, one’s own understanding of the work, adequate to its objective meaning.

Reading the story "" from the novel "" we do not notice anything special in it. The plot without any extreme actions, without a threat to the life of the main character - a normal narration of events. But it seems so only at first glance. In fact, it is in this story that Pechorin’s true character and his attitude to life are revealed.

The meeting of old friends did not take place as Maxim Maksimych wanted. After the old man finds out about the arrival of his old friend, he abandons all official business and runs to Pechorin. He is ready to throw himself on his neck and hug Gregory in a friendly manner. But Pechorin only extends his hand to the staff captain as a sign of greeting. This gesture of the protagonist touches the elderly man to the core. After all, he saw his friend in Gregory.

Before meeting Pechorin, he was devoted to his military cause. He didn’t know or see anything other than service. Acquaintance and friendship with Pechorin breathed new life into him. Of course, Maxim Maksimych could not always understand and explain the antics of the main character due to his spiritual simplicity. But he saw something unusual and interesting in this man. That is why the staff captain became so attached to Gregory. That is why their unexpected meeting aroused so many emotions in the elderly old man and made him fly headlong towards his comrade.

Why didn't he react the same way? Yes, because for him Maxim Maksimych and all the events associated with him were only matters of the past. He treated the old man the same as the rest of those around him; he did not see friendship in their relationship.

The protagonist's conversation with Maxim Maksimych was dry and short. Pechorin did not want to touch on past memories and bring up the next tragic events in his past. Bela's fate did not interest him as much as his old friend. He behaved selfishly and proudly.

This behavior of Pechorin wounded the soul and heart of Maxim Maksimych. He was not ready for such a cold meeting, he was upset and depressed. After all, the person he considered a good friend turned out to be dry and callous. Of course, this reaction of the old man influenced Pechorin, and he was moved for a second and hugged Maxim Maksimych before leaving.

In this episode we see that the main character becomes increasingly withdrawn and constrained in his emotions. He does not recognize old friends, he does not want to stir up the past, he does not want to communicate with others. For one moment it seems that Grigory Alexandrovich is losing his destiny. He has already been disappointed in his life so many times that it is of no interest to him.

It is in the episode of the story “Maksim Maksimych” that we see the real Pechorin, with a detailed description of his appearance, clothes, and gestures. It is this episode that creates a new understanding of the main character, who was created by the great author M.Yu. Lermontov.

Concept.

A lesson devoted to the analysis of the second part of the novel, the central task is the definition reasons for the alienation of the “common man” Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin. A situation emphasizing Maxim Maksimych’s impatient anticipation of a meeting with Pechorin, accuses the hero in advance, and the students, as a rule, speak with indignation about his cruelty and coldness towards the devoted staff captain. Let's try, with the help of compositional analysis and expressive reading of the dialogue between Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych, to overcome the one-sidedness of the reader's assessment. The students are concerned with the question: why didn’t Pechorin stay with Maxim Maksimych? After all, he was in no hurry and, only after learning that Maxim Maksimych wanted to continue the conversation, he hastily got ready for the road.

In order to imagine why Pechorin left, we pay attention to the meeting of Maxim Maksimych with the officer-narrator. After all, in this short story there are not one, but two meetings. The first of them opens differently than the second. There is nothing like Pechorin’s coldness in the officer: “We met like old friends.” However, the result of this meeting is comical and sad at the same time: “... I must admit that without him I would have had to remain on dry eating... We were silent. What did we have to talk about? He already told me everything that was interesting about himself, but I had nothing to tell.”

The generally significant content of the staff captain’s life comes down to his relationship with Pechorin (perhaps involuntarily feeling this, that’s why Maxim Maksimych values ​​them so much). The narrator, although his suitcase is full of travel notes, does not tell the staff captain about them, apparently not hoping for understanding. So, it’s not about the first hug, which Pechorin didn’t start with (he ended the conversation by hugging Maxim Maksimych in a friendly manner). The point is the separation of the “common man” and the noble intellectual, that tragic abyss that Lermontov recognizes as one of the “caustic truths.”

How does Maxim Maksimych explain Pechorin’s reluctance to stay? Does the author agree with him?

We re-read the scene of Pechorin’s meeting with Maxim Maksimych and compile a “score of feelings” for their dialogue. Did Pechorin want to offend Maxim Maksimych? Is he indifferent to the fate and grief of the staff captain? Pechorin's portrait testifies to his fatigue and coldness. It was as if the feelings had left his face, leaving their traces on it and the impression of unspent strength. Pechorin is indifferent to his fate, to his past. To Maxim Maksimych’s question about what to do with the “papers”, Pechorin’s journal, he answers: "What do you want!" But even in this state of alienation from everything and from himself, Pechorin tries to soften his coldness "a friendly smile" and kind words: “I’m so glad, dear Maxim Maksimych! Well, how are you doing?” Pechorin’s refusal to stay is given in an impersonal form, as if it is not his will, but something more powerful that dictates this decision to him: “I have to go,” was the answer.” To Maxim Maksimych’s passionate questions (“Well! Retired?.. how?.. what did you do?”) Pechorin answered, “smiling,” in monosyllables: “I missed you!”

This smile, directly opposite to the meaning of the words, is often perceived by students as a mockery of the staff captain. But Pechorin is more likely to be ironic at himself, at the hopelessness of his situation, when all attempts to invade life end in bitter results. Back in “Bel” the author warned us that today those who are truly bored the most are trying to hide this misfortune as a vice.” For For Maxim Maksimych, everything that happened was sweet, for Pechorin it was painful.: “Do you remember our life in the fortress?.. A glorious country for hunting!.. After all, you were a passionate hunter to shoot... And Bela?..” Pechorin turned slightly pale and turned away...

· Yes I remember! - he said, almost immediately yawning forcefully..."

The staff captain does not notice the involuntary irony of his words: "passionate hunter to shoot" Pechorin "shot" Bela (after all, his pursuit and shot prompted Kazbich to grab a knife). And Pechorin, it seems indifferent to everything in the world, he cannot calmly endure this reproach that he has not forgiven himself, just as he cannot calmly, epically remember the story with Bela in a conversation over pheasant and Kakhetian with Maxim Maksimych. Not hoping for Maxim Maksimych’s understanding, avoiding pain, Pechorin refuses to continue the meeting and, as best he can, tries to soften his refusal: “Really, I have nothing to tell, dear Maxim Maksimych... However, goodbye, I have to go... I’m in a hurry... Thank you for not forgetting... - he added, taking him by the hand,” and, seeing the old man’s annoyance, he added: “Well, that’s enough, that’s enough! - said Pechorin, hugging him in a friendly manner - am I really not the same?.. What to do?.. to each his own way.

Pechorin does not condemn the staff captain for being unable to understand him, does not blame anyone for his loneliness, but bitterly admits that they have different roads. He knows that a meeting with Maxim Maksimych will not dispel his boredom, and will only intensify his bitterness, and therefore avoids vain explanations. Once upon a time, Pechorin tried to open himself (confession in “Bel”), understand the position of the staff captain (conversation at the end of “Fatalist”) and behaved without any arrogance.

“Returning to the fortress, I told Maxim Maksimych everything that happened to me and what I witnessed, and wanted to know his opinion about predestination. At first he did not understand this word, but I explained it as best I could, and then he said, shaking his head significantly: “Yes! Of course, sir - this is a rather tricky thing! However, these Asian triggers often misfire if they are poorly lubricated, or if you press your finger firmly with dissatisfaction...” And then the staff captain willingly discusses the qualities of the Circassian weapons. In the end, Maxim Maksimych discovers that fatalism is characteristic of him: “Yes, it’s a pity for the poor fellow... The devil pulled him to talk to a drunk at night! However, apparently, it was written in his family!” I couldn’t get anything else out of him: he doesn’t like metaphysical debates at all.”

The kindness of Maxim Maksimych is powerless because it lacks an understanding of the general meaning of things. And therefore the staff captain is submissive to the circumstances, while Pechorin is trying to overcome them. For Lermontov, the confrontation between these heroes is so important that he ends the novel with a dialogue between Pechorin and the staff captain.. The short story “Maksim Maksimych” ends even more bitterly. In his offense, the staff captain is ready to confuse Pechorin with his proud lackey. Not understanding Pechorin, Maxim Maksimych accuses him of class arrogance: “What does he need in me? I’m not rich, I’m not an official, and I’m not his age at all... Look, what a dandy he has become, how he visited St. Petersburg again...”The staff captain's wounded pride pushes him to revenge. Having just considered himself a friend of Pechorin, Maxim Maksimych calls him “a flighty man”, “with contempt” throws his notebooks to the ground, ready to expose Pechorin to everyone: “at least print it in the newspapers!” What do I care!.. What, am I some kind of friend or relative?”

The change in Maxim Maksimych is so striking that it seems unthinkable or prompted by momentary anger. But the author will not allow us to be mistaken. Good turned to evil, and this is not a moment, but the final result of the life of the staff captain: “We said goodbye rather dryly. Good Maxim became a stubborn, grumpy staff captain! And why? Because Pechorin, absent-minded or for another reason (the author revealed it to us in the remarks to the dialogue - V.-M.) extended his hand to him when he wanted to throw himself on his neck! It's sad to see when a young man loses his best hopes and dreams... although there is hope that he will replace old misconceptions with new ones... But how to replace them in the years of Maxim Maksimych? Involuntarily, the heart will harden and the soul will close... I left alone.”The divergence between the “common man”, in whom there is a heart, but there is no understanding of people of another circle, the general circumstances of life, and the “hero of the time”, and with him the author of the novel, turned out to be inevitable.

With all the spiritual merits of Maxim Maksimych, he is not able to resist evil either in the private, human, or in the general, social sense.

At home, we give the students a plan to answer the topic “Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych” and, after reading the textbook article under the same title, think about whether they agree with all its provisions, justifying their point of view with the text of the novel.

Retelling and analysis of the story “Maksim Maksimych” or reading by role. Questions you can use:

1) What is your impression of what you read?

2) What are the features of Pechorin’s portrait? How does it differ from the portrait given by Maxim Maksimych in the story “Bela”?

3) What is the role of the narrator in the story?

4) How is Lermontov’s ideological plan manifested?

5) Analyze the episode of Pechorin’s meeting with the staff captain. Can Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych be called friends?

6) How do you explain Pechorin’s coldness? Why didn't he stay to dine with the staff captain?

7) What character traits of Pechorin were revealed in the last meeting with Maxim Maksimych?

8) Which character do you sympathize with?

9) What do you think their meeting should be like?

10) What is the place and significance of the story “Maksim Maksimych” in the novel?

(The compositional role of the story “Maksim Maksimych” is great. It is like a connecting link between “Bela” and “Pechorin’s Journal”. It explains how the magazine came to the author, a visiting officer.

The plot of the story is also simple. But the meeting between Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych is sad. The coldness, indifference and selfishness of the main character have increased. Travel is the last attempt to somehow fill your life with something useful, new experiences.)

The most important means of characterizing Pechorin in this story is a psychological portrait (features of appearance, reflection of complex emotional experiences in it, psychologism of the portrait).

Homework.

1. The story “Taman”. Reading, retelling the plot. What is the meaning of Pechorin’s clash with the smugglers?

2. Analysis of the episodes “The Boat Scene” and “Yanko’s Farewell to the Blind Boy.” What new did you learn about the main character?

3. Observations on the composition “Tamani”, description of nature, speech of the characters.