The brightest quotes about the character of Pechorin. The character of Grigory Pechorin in the novel "Hero of Our Time": positive and negative traits, pros and cons

The image of Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin in the novel A Hero of Our Time, written by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov in 1838-1840, represents a completely new type of the protagonist.

Who is Pechorin

The protagonist of the novel is a young man, a representative of high society.

Grigory Alexandrovich is educated and smart, courageous, decisive, knows how to make an impression, especially on the ladies, and ... he is tired of life.

Rich and not the happiest life experience leads him to disappointment and loss of interest in something.

Everything in the hero's life becomes boring: earthly pleasures, high society, love of beauties, science - everything, in his opinion, happens according to the same schemes, monotonous and empty.

The hero is definitely a skeptic, but it cannot be said that feelings are alien to him. Grigory Aleksandrovich possesses arrogance and pride (although he is self-critical), has affection for his only comrade, Dr. Werner, and he also enjoys manipulating people and their suffering as a result.

For everyone around him, the hero is incomprehensible, and therefore he is often called strange. Pechorin repeatedly confirms the inconsistency of his character.

This inconsistency is born of the struggle of reason and feelings within him, the most striking example of it is his love for Vera, which Gregory realizes too late. So, let's take a look at this hero in action through a brief description of the chapters.

Characteristics of Pechorin by chapters in the novel

In the first chapter of Bela, the story is told on behalf of an old acquaintance Pechorin, officer Maksim Maksimych.

In this part, the hero manifests himself as an immoral person playing with the fate of others. Pechorin seduces and kidnaps the daughter of a local prince, simultaneously stealing a horse from Kazbich, who is in love with her.

After a while, Bela gets bored with Pechorin, the young man breaks the girl's heart. At the end of the chapter, Kazbich kills her out of revenge, and Azamat, who helps Pechorin in crimes, is forever expelled from the family. Grigory Alexandrovich himself only continues his journey, not feeling guilty for what happened.

The narration of the subsequent chapter "Maksim Maksimych" is led by a certain staff captain. Being acquainted with Maxim Maksimych, the narrator accidentally witnesses his meeting with Pechorin. And again the hero shows his indifference: the young man is completely cold to his old friend, whom he has not seen for many years.

"Taman" is the third story in the novel, which is already a note in the diary of Pechorin himself. In it, by the will of fate, a young man becomes a witness to smuggling activities. The girl involved in the crime flirted with Pechorin in order to "remove" him.

In the episode of the attempt to drown Pechorin, we see his desperate struggle for life, which is still dear to him. However, even in this chapter, the hero is still indifferent to people and their fates, which this time are ruined by his involuntary interference.

In the chapter "Princess Mary" the main character is revealed in more detail and versatile. We see such qualities as cunning and prudence in the construction of plans to seduce Princess Mary and a duel with Grushnitsky.

Pechorin plays with their lives for his own pleasure, breaking them: Mary remains an unhappy girl with a broken heart, and Grushnitsky dies in a duel.

Gregory is cold towards all people in this secular society, except for his old friend Vera.

Once they had a fleeting romance, but when they meet again, their feelings take on a second life. Gregory and Vera secretly meet, but her husband, having learned about the presence of a lover, decides to take her out of the city. This event makes the young man realize that Vera is the love of his life.

Gregory rushes after him, but it is too late. In this episode, the main character is revealed from a completely new side: no matter how cold and cynical the young man is, he is also a person, even this strong feeling cannot be ignored.

In the last part of The Fatalist, the hero is shown to have lost the slightest interest in life and even looking for his own death. In the episode of the dispute with the Cossacks behind the cards, the reader sees a kind of mystical connection between Pechorin and fate: Grigory had foreseen events in people's lives before, but in this cut he predicted the death of Lieutenant Vulich.

One gets a certain impression that the young man has already learned everything in this life, which he now does not feel sorry for. Gregory says the following words about himself: “And maybe I will die tomorrow! ... and there will not be a single creature left on earth who would understand me perfectly ”.

Description of Pechorin's appearance

Grigory Alexandrovich has a rather attractive appearance. The hero has a slender, strong physique with an average height.

Gregory has blond hair, delicate pale aristocratic skin, but a dark mustache and eyebrows. The young man dressed in fashion, looked well-groomed, but walked casually and lazily.

Of the many quotes describing his appearance, the most expressive is about his eyes, which “didn't laugh when he laughed!<…>This is a sign - either of an evil disposition, or of deep constant sadness. "

His gaze always remained calm, only sometimes expressing a certain challenge, arrogance.

How old is Pechorin

At the time of his actions in the chapter "Princess Mary", he is about twenty-five years old. Gregory dies at the age of about thirty, that is, still young.

The origin and social status of Pechorin

The main character of the novel is of noble origin, was born and raised in St. Petersburg.

Throughout his life, Gregory belonged to the upper strata of society, since he was a hereditary wealthy landowner.

Throughout the entire work, the reader can observe that the hero is a soldier and bears the military rank of ensign.

Childhood Pechorin

Having learned about the childhood of the protagonist, his life path becomes clear. As a little boy, the best aspirations of his soul were suppressed in him: firstly, this was required by an aristocratic upbringing, and secondly, he was not understood, the hero was lonely from childhood.

More about how the evolution of a good boy into an immoral social unit took place is shown in the table with a quote from Pechorin himself:

The upbringing of Pechorin

Grigory Alexandrovich received an exclusively secular upbringing.

The young man skillfully speaks French, dances, knows how to behave in society, but he has not read a lot of books, and he soon gets tired of the light.

Parents did not play a big role in his life.

In his youth, the hero went all out: he spent a lot of money on entertainment and pleasure, however, this disappointed him.

Pechorin's formation

Little is known about the education of the protagonist of the novel. The reader is given to understand that he was fond of sciences for some time, but he also lost interest in them, they do not bring happiness. After that, Gregory took up the military business that was popular in society, which also soon bored him.

Death of Pechorin in the novel "A Hero of Our Time"

The reader learns about the death of the hero from the preface to his diary. The cause of death remains undisclosed. It is only known that this happened to him on the way from Persia, when he was about thirty years old.

Conclusion

In this work, we briefly reviewed the image of the main character of the novel "A Hero of Our Time". The character and attitude to the life of the hero remain incomprehensible to the reader until the episode when Pechorin talks about his childhood.

The reason that the hero became a “moral cripple” is his upbringing, the damage from which affected not only his life, but also the fate of the people he hurt.

However, no matter how hard-hearted a person may be, he cannot escape true love. Unfortunately, Pechorin realizes it too late. This disappointment turns into the loss of the last hope for a normal life and happiness for the hero.

The image was created by M. Yu. Lermontov to show the loss of moral guidelines of the generation of the 30s of the nineteenth century.

Describes only some episodes from the adult life of the hero, when his character was already formed. The first impression is that Gregory is a strong personality. He is an officer, a physically healthy man of attractive appearance, active, purposeful, has a sense of humor. What is not a hero? Nevertheless, Lermontov himself calls the main character of the novel such a bad person that it is even difficult to believe in his existence.

Pechorin grew up in a wealthy aristocratic family. He did not need anything from childhood. But material abundance also has a downside - the meaning of a person's life is lost. The desire to strive for something, to grow spiritually disappears. This happened with the hero of the novel. Pechorin finds no use for his abilities.

He quickly got tired of the metropolitan life with empty entertainment. The love of the beauties of the world, although it flattered the pride, did not touch the strings of the heart. The thirst for knowledge also did not bring satisfaction: all sciences quickly got bored. Even at a young age, Pechorin realized that neither happiness nor fame depend on the sciences. "The happiest people are ignoramuses, and fame is good luck, and in order to achieve it, you just need to be dexterous.".

Our hero tried to compose and travel, which was done by many young aristocrats of that time. But these studies did not give meaning to Gregory's life. Therefore, boredom constantly pursued the officer and did not allow him to run away from him. Although Gregory tried his best to do it. Pechorin all the time in search of adventure, daily tests his fate: in the war, in pursuit of smugglers, in a duel, breaking into the house of the murderer. He tries in vain to find a place in the world where his sharp mind, energy and strength of character could be useful. At the same time, Pechorin does not consider it necessary to listen to his heart. He lives with his mind, guided by a cold reason. And it constantly fails.

But the saddest thing is that people close to him suffer from the hero's actions: Vulich, Bela and her father are tragically killed, Grushnitsky is killed in a duel, Azamat becomes a criminal, Mary and Vera suffer, Maxim Maksimych is offended and offended, smugglers run in fright, leaving them to their own devices. the fate of the blind boy and the old woman.

It seems that, in search of new adventures, Pechorin cannot stop at nothing. He breaks hearts and destroys people's destinies. He is aware of the suffering of others, but he does not give up the pleasure of deliberately torturing them. The hero calls "Sweet food for pride" the ability to be the cause of happiness or suffering for someone without having the right to do so.

Pechorin is disappointed in life, in social activities, in people. A feeling of despondency and despair, uselessness and uselessness lives in him. In his diary, Gregory constantly analyzes his actions, thoughts and experiences. He tries to understand himself, revealing the true reasons for his actions. But at the same time he blames society for everything, and not himself.

True, episodes of remorse and a desire to adequately look at things are not alien to the hero. Pechorin was able to self-critically identify himself "Moral cripple" and, in fact, he was right. And what is the passionate impulse to see and explain with Vera. But these minutes are short-lived, and the hero, once again absorbed by boredom and introspection, shows mental callousness, indifference, individualism.

In the preface to the novel, Lermontov called the protagonist a sick person. In doing so, he had in mind the soul of Gregory. The tragedy lies in the fact that Pechorin suffers not only because of his vices, but also because of his positive qualities, feeling how much strength and talents are wasted in him. Not finding the meaning of life in the end, Gregory decides that his only purpose is to destroy the hopes of people.

Pechorin is one of the most controversial characters in Russian literature. In his image, originality, giftedness, energy, honesty and courage in a strange way coexist with skepticism, disbelief and contempt for people. According to Maksim Maksimovich, Pechorin's soul consists of only contradictions. He has a strong physique, but an unusual weakness manifests itself in him. He is thirty years old, but there is something childish in the hero's face. When Gregory laughs, his eyes remain sad.

According to Russian tradition, the author experiences Pechorin with two main feelings: love and friendship. However, the hero does not stand up to a single test. Psychological experiments with Mary and Bela show Pechorin a subtle connoisseur of human souls and a cruel cynic. The desire to win the love of women, Gregory explains exclusively by ambition. Gregory is also incapable of friendship.

The death of Pechorin is indicative. He dies on the way, on the way to distant Persia. Probably, Lermontov believed that a person who brings only suffering to loved ones is always doomed to loneliness.

• "A Hero of Our Time", a summary of the chapters of the novel by Lermontov
• The image of Bela in Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time"

Why Pechorin is a "hero of our time"

The novel "A Hero of Our Time" was written by Mikhail Lermontov in the 1830s. This was the time of the Nikolaev reaction, which came after the dispersal of the Decembrist uprising in 1825. Many young, educated people did not see a goal in life at that time, did not know where to apply their strength, how to serve for the good of people and the Fatherland. Therefore, such restless characters arose as Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin. The characteristic of Pechorin in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" is, in fact, a characteristic of the entire generation of the author today. Boredom is his characteristic. “The Hero of Our Time, my dear sirs, is, for sure, a portrait, but not of one person: this is a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development,” Mikhail Lermontov writes in the preface. "Are the young people there really like that?" - asks one of the characters in the novel Maxim Maksimych, who knew Pechorin closely. And the author, acting in the role of a traveler, answers him that "there are many people who say the same thing" and that "nowadays those who ... are bored try to hide this misfortune as a vice."

We can say that all of Pechorin's actions are motivated by boredom. We begin to be convinced of this practically from the first lines of the novel. It should be noted that compositionally, it is built in such a way that the reader can see as best as possible all the character traits of the hero, from different angles. The chronology of events here fades into the background, or rather, it is not here at all. Pieces have been snatched from Pechorin's life, which are interconnected only by the logic of his image.

Pechorin's characteristic

Deeds

For the first time we learn about this man from Maxim Maksimych, who served with him in the Caucasian fortress. He tells the story of Bela. Pechorin, for the sake of entertainment, persuaded her brother to steal the girl - a beautiful young Circassian woman. While Bela is cold with him, he is interested in her. But as soon as he achieves her love, he immediately grows cold. Pechorin does not care that, because of his whim, destinies are tragically destroyed. Bela's father is killed, and then herself. Somewhere deep in his soul, he is sorry for this girl, any memory of her causes bitterness in him, but he does not repent of his deed. Even before her death, he confesses to his friend: "If you want, I still love her, I am grateful to her for a few rather sweet minutes, I will give my life for her, - only I am bored with her ...". The love of a savage turned out to be little better for him than the love of a noble lady. This psychological experiment, like all the previous ones, did not bring him happiness and satisfaction with life, but left one disappointment.

In the same way, for the sake of idle interest, he intervened in the life of "honest smugglers" (chapter "Taman"), as a result of which the unfortunate old woman and the blind boy were left without a livelihood.

Another fun for him was Princess Mary, with whose feelings he shamelessly played, giving her hope, and then admitting that he did not love her (chapter "Princess Mary").

We learn about the last two cases from Pechorin himself, from a magazine that he kept at one time with great enthusiasm, wanting to understand himself and ... kill boredom. Then he lost interest in this occupation. And his notes - a suitcase of notebooks - remained with Maxim Maksimych. It was in vain that he drove them with him, wanting to hand them over to the owner on occasion. When such an opportunity presented itself, Pechorin did not need them. Consequently, he did not keep his diary for the sake of fame, not for the sake of publication. This is the special value of his notes. The hero describes himself without worrying about how he will look in the eyes of others. He does not need to bend his soul, he is sincere with himself - and thanks to this we can learn about the true reasons for his actions, understand him.

Appearance

A traveling author turned out to be a witness of the meeting between Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin. And from him we learn how Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin looked. In all his appearance, an inconsistency was felt. At first glance, he was no more than 23 years old, but the next minute it seemed that he was 30. His gait was careless and lazy, but at the same time he did not wave his arms, which usually testifies to the secrecy of character. When he sat down on the bench, his straight stance bent, limp, as if not a single bone was left in his body. The young man's forehead showed traces of wrinkles. But the author was especially struck by his eyes: they did not laugh when he laughed.

Traits

The external characteristics of Pechorin in "A Hero of Our Time" reflects his internal state. “I have long been living not with my heart, but with my head,” he says about himself. Indeed, all his actions are characterized by cold rationality, but feelings no-no and break through. He fearlessly walks alone on the wild boar, but flinches from the knock of shutters, he can spend the whole day hunting on a rainy day and is panicky afraid of a draft.

Pechorin forbade himself to feel, because his real impulses of the soul did not find a response in those around him: “Everyone read on my face the signs of bad feelings, which were not there; but they were supposed - and they were born. I was modest - I was accused of cunning: I became secretive. I deeply felt good and evil; no one caressed me, everyone insulted me: I became rancorous; I was gloomy - other children are cheerful and talkative; I felt superior to them - they put me lower. I became envious. I was ready to love the whole world - no one understood me: and I learned to hate. "

He rushes about, not finding his vocation, purpose in life. "It is true that my assignment was high, because I feel immense strength in myself." Secular entertainment, novels - a passed stage. They brought him nothing but inner emptiness. In the study of the sciences, which he engaged in in the desire to be useful, he also did not find any sense, because he realized that the guarantee of good luck is in dexterity, and not in knowledge. Boredom overcame Pechorin, and he hoped that at least the Chechen bullets whistling over his head would save him from her. But in the Caucasian war he was again disappointed: "A month later I got so used to their buzzing and to the proximity of death that, really, I paid more attention to mosquitoes - and I became more bored than before." What was he to direct his unspent energy to? The consequence of his lack of demand was, on the one hand, unjustified and illogical actions, and on the other - painful vulnerability, deep inner sadness.

Attitude to love

The fact that Pechorin did not lose the ability to feel is also evidenced by his love for Vera. This is the only woman who understood him completely and accepted him as he is. He does not need to embellish himself in front of her, or, conversely, to seem unapproachable. He fulfills all the conditions, just to be able to see her, and when she leaves, he drives the horse to death in an effort to catch up with his beloved.

In a completely different way, he treats other women he meets on his way. There is no longer a place for emotions - one calculation. For him, they are just a way to dispel boredom, at the same time showing their selfish power over them. He studies their behavior, like those of guinea pigs, coming up with new twists and turns in the game. But this does not save him either - often he knows in advance how his victim will behave, and he becomes even more melancholy.

Attitude towards death

Another important point in the character of Pechorin in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" is his attitude to death. It is fully demonstrated in the chapter "The Fatalist". Although Pechorin recognizes the predetermination of fate, he believes that this should not deprive a person of will. We must boldly go forward, "after all, nothing worse than death will happen - and death cannot be avoided." It is then that we see what noble actions Pechorin is capable of, if his energy is directed in the right direction. He bravely throws himself out the window in an effort to neutralize the Cossack assassin. His innate desire to act, to help people finally finds at least some application.

My attitude to Pechorin

How does this person deserve to be treated? Condemnation or sympathy? The author called his novel so with some irony. "A Hero of Our Time" is certainly not a role model. But he is a typical representative of his generation, forced to waste the best years aimlessly. “I am a fool or a villain, I don’t know; but it is true that I am also very deserving of regret, "Pechorin says about himself and gives the reason:" My soul is corrupted by the light. " He sees the last consolation for himself in travels and hopes: "Maybe I'll die somewhere along the way." You can treat him in different ways. One thing is certain: this is an unhappy person who never found his place in life. If the society of his day had been arranged differently, he would have manifested himself in a completely different way.

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A person is always driven by the desire to know his destiny. Should you go with the flow or resist it? What position in society will be correct, should all actions comply with moral norms? These and similar questions often become the main ones for young people who actively comprehend the world and the human essence. Youthful maximalism requires clear answers to these problematic questions, but it is not always possible to give an answer.

It is about such a seeker of answers that M.Yu. Lermontov in his novel A Hero of Our Time. It should be noted that with writing prose, Mikhail Yuryevich was always on "you" and his same position remained until the end of his life - all the novels in prose he started were never finished. Lermontov had the courage to bring the case with the "Hero" to a logical conclusion. Perhaps that is why the composition, manner of presentation of the material and style of narration look rather unusual against the background of other novels.

A Hero of Our Time is a work imbued with the spirit of the era. The characterization of Pechorin, the central figure of Mikhail Lermontov's novel, makes it possible to better understand the atmosphere of the 1830s, the time when the work was written. It is not for nothing that the “Hero of Our Time” is recognized by critics as the most mature and large-scale in the philosophical sense of Mikhail Lermontov's novels.

The historical context is of great importance for understanding the novel. In the 1830s, Russian history was reactive. In 1825, the Decembrist uprising took place, and the following years contributed to the development of a mood of loss. The Nikolaev reaction knocked many young people off track: young people did not know which vector of behavior and life to choose, how to make life meaningful.

This was the reason for the emergence of restless personalities, superfluous people.

The origin of Pechorin

Basically in the novel, one character is highlighted, which is the central character in the narrative. It seems that this principle was rejected by Lermontov - based on the events told to the reader, the main character is Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin - a young man, an officer. However, the style of narration gives the right to doubt - the position in the text of Maxim Maksimovich is also quite weighty.

In fact, this is a delusion - Mikhail Yuryevich has repeatedly emphasized that in his novel the main character is Pechorin, this corresponds to the main goal of the narrative - to tell about typical people of the generation, to point out their vices and mistakes.

Lermontov gives rather scant information about childhood, the conditions of upbringing and the influence of parents on the process of forming Pechorin's positions and preferences. Several fragments of his past life slightly open this veil - we learn that Grigory Alexandrovich was born in St. Petersburg. His parents, according to the existing order, tried to give their son a proper education, but the young Pechorin did not feel a burden to the sciences, they "quickly bored him" and he decided to devote himself to military service. Perhaps such an act is connected not with the arisen interest in military affairs, but with the special disposition of society towards military people. The uniform made it possible to brighten up even the most unattractive actions and character traits, because the military was already loved for what they are. In society, it was difficult to find representatives who did not have a military rank - military service was considered honorable and everyone wanted to "try on" honor and glory along with the uniform.

As it turned out, military affairs did not bring the proper satisfaction and Pechorin quickly became disillusioned with it. Grigory Alexandrovich was sent to the Caucasus, as he was involved in a duel. The events that happened to the young man in this area form the basis of Lermontov's novel.

Characteristics of the actions and deeds of Pechorin

The reader gets the first impressions of the main character of Lermontov's novel by meeting Maxim Maksimych. The man served with Pechorin in the Caucasus, in a fortress. It was the story of a girl named Bela. Pechorin acted badly with Bela: out of boredom, having fun, the young man stole a Circassian girl. Bela is a beauty, at first cold with Pechorin. Gradually, the young man kindles in Bela's heart the flame of love for him, but as soon as the Circassian woman fell in love with Pechorin, he immediately lost interest in her.

Pechorin destroys the fate of other people, makes others suffer, but remains indifferent to the consequences of his actions. Bela and the girl's father are killed. Pechorin remembers the girl, regrets Bela, the past echoes in the hero's soul with bitterness, but does not cause remorse in Pechorin. While Bela was alive, Grigory told his comrade that he still loved the girl, felt gratitude to her, but boredom remained the same, and it was boredom that decided everything.

An attempt to find satisfaction, happiness pushes the young man to experiments, which the hero puts on living people. Psychological games, meanwhile, turn out to be useless: the same emptiness remains in the hero's soul. The same motives accompany Pechorin's exposure of "honest smugglers": the hero's act does not bring good results, only leaving the blind boy and old woman on the brink of survival.

The love of a wild Caucasian beauty or a noblewoman - it does not matter for Pechorin. The next time for the experiment, the hero chooses an aristocrat - Princess Mary. Handsome Gregory plays with a girl, causing Mary to love him in her soul, but after that he leaves the princess, breaking her heart.

The reader learns about the situation with Princess Mary and the smugglers from the diary that the main character started, wishing to understand himself. In the end, even the diary bothers Pechorin: any activity ends in boredom. Grigory Alexandrovich does not bring anything to the end, unable to endure the suffering from the loss of interest in the subject of his former passion. Pechorin's notes accumulate in a suitcase, which falls into the hands of Maxim Maksimych. The man experiences a strange affection for Pechorin, perceiving the young man as a friend. Maxim Maksimych keeps Grigory's notebooks and diaries, hoping to give the suitcase to a friend. But the young man is indifferent to fame, fame, Pechorin does not want to publish notes, so the diaries turn out to be unnecessary waste paper. In this secular disinterest of Pechorin is the peculiarity and value of the hero of Lermontov.

Pechorin has one important feature - sincerity towards himself. The hero's actions evoke antipathy and even condemnation in the reader, but one thing must be admitted: Pechorin is open and honest, and a touch of vice comes from weak will and the inability to resist the influence of society.

Pechorin and Onegin

After the first publications of Lermontov's novel, both readers and literary critics began to compare Pechorin from Lermontov's novel and Onegin from Pushkin's work. Both heroes have in common similar character traits, certain actions. As the researchers note, both Pechorin and Onegin were named according to the same principle. The names of the heroes are based on the name of the river - Onega and Pechora, respectively. But the symbolism does not end there.

Pechora is a river in the northern part of Russia (modern Komi Republic and Nanets Autonomous Okrug), by its nature it is a typical mountain river. Onega is located in the modern Arkhangelsk region and is quieter. The nature of the flow has a relationship with the characters of the heroes named after them. Pechorin's life is full of doubts and active searches for his place in society, he, like a seething stream, sweeps away everything without a trace in his path. Onegin is deprived of such a scale of destructive power, complexity and inability to realize oneself cause in him a state of dull melancholy.

Byronism and the "superfluous person"

In order to fully perceive the image of Pechorin, to understand his character, motives and actions, it is necessary to have knowledge of the Byronic and superfluous hero.

The first concept came to Russian literature from England. J. Bynov in his poem "Childe-Harold's Pilgrimage" created a unique image endowed with a desire to actively search for one's destiny, the characteristics of egocentrism, dissatisfaction and desire for change.

The second is a phenomenon that arose in Russian literature itself and denotes a person who was ahead of his time and therefore alien and incomprehensible to those around him. Or one who, based on his knowledge and understanding of everyday truths, is higher in the development of others and, as a result, he is not accepted by society. Such characters become the cause of suffering for female representatives who love them.

Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is a classic representative of romanticism, who combined the concepts of Byronism and the superfluous person. Despondency, boredom and spleen are the product of this combination.

Mikhail Lermontov considered the history of the life of an individual more interesting than the history of the people. Circumstances make Pechorin a "superfluous person". The hero is talented and intelligent, but the tragedy of Grigory Alexandrovich consists in the absence of a goal, in the inability to adapt himself, his talents to this world, in the general restlessness of the personality. In this, Pechorin's personality is an example of a typical decadent.

The strength of a young man is spent not on the search for a goal, not on the realization of oneself, but on adventure. Sometimes, literary critics compare the images of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin and Lermontov's Grigory Pechorin: Onegin is bored, and Pechorin is suffering.

After the Decembrists were exiled, progressive trends and tendencies also succumbed to persecution. For Pechorin, a progressive-minded person, this meant the onset of a period of stagnation. Onegin has every opportunity to take the side of the people's cause, but refrains from doing so. Pechorin, having a desire to reform society, is deprived of such an opportunity. The wealth of spiritual forces Grigory Alexandrovich ruins on trifles: he hurts the girls, Vera and Princess Mary suffer because of the hero, Bela dies ...

Pechorin was ruined by society and circumstances. The hero keeps a diary, where he notes that, as a child, he spoke only the truth, but the adults did not believe in the boy's words.

Then Gregory became disillusioned with life and former ideals: a lie took the place of truth. As a young man, Pechorin sincerely loved the world. Society laughed at him and this love - Gregory's kindness turned into malice.

The secular environment, literature quickly bored the hero. Hobbies were replaced by other passions. Only travel can save you from boredom and disappointment. Mikhail Lermontov unfolds on the pages of the novel the whole evolution of the personality of the protagonist: the characteristic of Pechorin is revealed to the reader by all the central episodes of the formation of the hero's personality.

The character of Grigory Alexandrovich is accompanied by actions, behavior, decisions that more fully reveal the personality traits of the character. Pechorin is also evaluated by other heroes of Lermontov's novel, for example, Maxim Maksimych, who notices the contradictory nature of Grigory. Pechorin is a strong, strong-bodied young man, but sometimes the hero is overcome by a strange physical weakness. Grigory Alexandrovich turned 30 years old, but the hero's face is full of childish features, and in appearance the hero is no more than 23 years old. The hero laughs, but at the same time sadness can be seen in Pechorin's eyes. The opinions about Pechorin, expressed by different characters in the novel, allow readers to look at the hero, respectively, from different positions.

The death of Pechorin expresses the idea of ​​Mikhail Lermontov: a person who has not found a goal remains superfluous, unnecessary for the environment. Such a person cannot serve for the good of mankind, does not represent value for society and the fatherland.

In A Hero of Our Time, the writer described the entire generation of his contemporaries - young people who have lost the purpose and meaning of life. Just as Hemingway's generation is considered lost, so Lermontov's generation is considered lost, superfluous, restless. These young people are prone to boredom, which turns into a vice in the context of the development of the local society.

Pechorin's appearance and age

At the time of the beginning of the story, Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin is 25 years old. He looks very good, well-groomed, so in some moments it seems that he is much younger than he really is. There was nothing unusual about his height and build: medium height, strong athletic build. He was a man with pleasant features. As the author notes, he had a "unique face", one that women are madly in love with. Light, naturally curly hair, a "slightly upturned" nose, snow-white teeth and a cute childish smile - all this complements his appearance.

His eyes, brown in color, seemed to live a separate life - they never laughed when their owner laughed. Lermontov names two reasons for this phenomenon - either we have an evil disposition in front of us, or in a state of deep depression. What kind of explanation (or both at once) are applicable to the hero Lermontov does not give a direct answer - the reader will have to analyze these facts themselves.

The expression on his face is also incapable of expressing any emotion. Pechorin does not restrain himself - he simply lacks the ability to empathize.

The heavy, unpleasant look finally smears this look.

As you can see, Grigory Alexandrovich looks like a porcelain doll - his cute face with childish features seems to be a frozen mask, and not the face of a real person.

Pechorin's clothes are always neat and clean - this is one of those principles that Grigory Alexandrovich follows impeccably - an aristocrat cannot be an untidy slob.

While in the Caucasus, Pechorin easily leaves his usual outfit in the closet and puts on the national male Circassian attire. Many say that this clothing makes him look like a true Kabardian - sometimes people belonging to this nationality do not look so impressive. Pechorin looks more like a Kabardian than the Kabardians themselves. But even in these clothes he is a dandy - the length of the fur, the decoration, the color and size of the clothes - everything is chosen with extraordinary care.

Characteristics of character traits

Pechorin is a classic representative of the aristocracy. He himself comes from a noble family, who received a decent upbringing and education (knows French, dances well). All his life he lived in abundance, this fact allowed him to start his journey of searching for his destiny and such an occupation that would not let him get bored.

At first, the attention given to him by women pleasantly flattered Grigory Alexandrovich, but soon he was able to study the types of behavior of all women and therefore communication with the ladies became boring and predictable for him. The impulses to create his own family are alien to him, and as soon as it comes to hints about a wedding, his ardor for the girl instantly disappears.

Pechorin is not diligent - science and reading catch up with him even more than secular society, blues. A rare exception in this regard is provided by the works of Walter Scott.

When secular life became too painful for him, and travel, literary activity and science did not bring the desired result, Pechorin decides to start a military career. He, as is customary among the aristocracy, serves in the Petersburg Guard. But even here he does not stay long - participation in a duel dramatically changes his life - for this offense he is exiled to serve in the Caucasus.

If Pechorin were a hero of the folk epic, then the word "strange" would be his constant epithet. All heroes find in him something unusual, different from other people. This fact is not related to habits, mental or psychological development - here it is just about the ability to express your emotions, adhere to the same position - sometimes Grigory Aleksandrovich is very contradictory.

He likes to bring pain and suffering to others, he realizes this and understands that such behavior does not paint not only him specifically, but also any person. And yet he does not try to restrain himself. Pechorin, compares himself to a vampire - the realization that someone will spend the night in mental anguish is incredibly flattered to him.

Pechorin is persistent and stubborn, this creates many problems for him, because of this, he often finds himself in not the most pleasant situations, but here courage and determination come to his rescue.

Grigory Alexandrovich becomes the cause of the destruction of the life paths of many people. By his grace, the blind boy and the old woman remain abandoned to their fate (the episode with the smugglers), Vulich, Bella and her father die, Pechorin's friend dies in a duel at the hands of Pechorin himself, Azamat becomes a criminal. This list can still be replenished with many names of people whom the main character insulted, became a reason for resentment and depression. Does Pechorin know and understands the full severity of the consequences of his actions? Quite, but this fact does not bother him - he does not value his life either, not that the fate of other people.

Thus, the image of Pechorin is contradictory and ambiguous. On the one hand, one can easily find positive character traits in him, but on the other hand, callousness and selfishness confidently reduce all his positive achievements to nothing - Grigory Aleksandrovich destroys his own fate and the fate of the people around him with his recklessness. He is a destructive force that is difficult to resist.

Psychological portrait of Grigory Pechorin

The appeal to the appearance and habits of the hero helps Lermontov to represent the character traits of the character. For example, Pechorin is distinguished by a lazy and careless gait, but at the same time the hero's gestures do not mean that Pechorin is a secretive person. The young man's forehead was spoiled with wrinkles, and when Grigory Alexandrovich was sitting, the impression was created that the hero was tired. When Pechorin's lips laughed, his eyes remained motionless, sad.

Pechorin's fatigue was manifested in the fact that the hero's passion did not linger for a long time in any object or person. Grigory Alexandrovich said that in life he is guided not by the dictates of the heart, but by the orders of the head. This is coldness, rationality, periodically interrupted by a short-term riot of feelings. Pechorin is characterized by a feature called fatality. The young man is not afraid to go to the wild boar, looking for adventure and risk, as if tempting fate.

The contradictions in Pechorin's characterization are manifested in the fact that with the courage described above, the hero is frightened by the slightest crackle of window shutters or the sound of rain. Pechorin is a fatalist, but at the same time convinced of the importance of human willpower. There is a certain predetermination in life, expressed at least in the fact that a person will not escape death, so why then are they afraid to die? In the end, Pechorin wants to help society, to be useful, saving people from a Cossack killer.

"A Hero of Our Time" is the first psychological novel in our country in which Lermontov, by analyzing the actions and thoughts of the protagonist, reveals his inner world to his readers. But, despite this, the characteristic of Pechorin is not an easy task. The hero is ambiguous, like his actions, largely due to the fact that Lermontov did not create a typical character, but a real, living person. Let's try to understand this person and understand him.

The portrait characterization of Pechorin contains a very interesting detail: "his eyes did not laugh when he laughed." We can see that the hero is reflected even in his external description. Indeed, Pechorin never feels his life entirely, in his own words, two people always coexist in him, one of whom acts, and the other judges him. He constantly analyzes his own actions, which is "the observation of the mature mind over itself." Perhaps this is what prevents the hero from living a full life and makes him cynical.

The most striking feature of Pechorin's character is his selfishness. His desire at all costs to arrange everything exactly as it occurred to him, and nothing else. By this, he reminds one who does not retreat until he gets what he wants. And, being childishly naive, Pechorin never realizes in advance that people can suffer from his petty selfish aspirations. He puts his whim above the rest and simply does not think about others: "I look at the sufferings and joys of others only in relation to myself." Perhaps it is thanks to this trait that the hero moves away from people and considers himself superior to them.

The characteristic of Pechorin should contain one more important fact. The hero feels the strength of his soul, feels that he was born for a higher goal, but instead of looking for it, he wastes himself on all sorts of little things and momentary aspirations. He constantly rushes about in search of entertainment, not knowing what he wants. So, in pursuit of small joys, his life passes. Having no goal in front of him, Pechorin wastes himself on empty things that bring nothing but short moments of satisfaction.

Since the hero himself does not consider his life to be something valuable, he begins to play with it. His desire to infuriate Grushnitsky or to direct his pistol at himself, as well as the trial of fate in the chapter "The Fatalist," are all manifestations of morbid curiosity born of the hero's boredom and inner emptiness. He does not think about the consequences of his actions, be it even his death or the death of another person. Pechorin is interested in observation and analysis, not the future.

It is thanks to the introspection of the hero that the characterization of Pechorin can be completed, since he himself explains many of his actions. He studied himself well and perceives each of his emotions as an object for observation. He sees himself as if from the outside, which brings him closer to readers and allows us to evaluate Pechorin's actions from his own point of view.

These are the main points that a brief description of Pechorin should contain. In fact, his personality is much more complex and multifaceted. And it is unlikely that a characteristic can help to understand it. You need to find Pechorin inside yourself, to feel what he feels, and then his personality will become clear to the heroes of our time.