The writing

With the creation of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" Lermontov made a huge contribution to the development of Russian literature, continuing Pushkin's realistic traditions. Like his great predecessor, Lermontov generalized in the image of Pechorin the typical features of the younger generation of his era, creating a vivid image of a man of the 30s of the XIX century. The main problem of the novel was the fate of an outstanding human personality in an era of stagnation, the hopelessness of the situation of gifted, intelligent, educated young nobles.

The main idea of ​​Lermontov's novel is connected with its central image - Pechorin; everything is subordinated to the task of a comprehensive and deep disclosure of the character of this hero. Belinsky very accurately noticed the originality of the description by the author of Pechorin. Lermontov, but in the words of the critic, portrayed the "inner man", speaking as a deep psychologist and realist artist. This means that Lermontov, for the first time in Russian literature, used psychological analysis as a means to reveal the character of the hero, his inner world. Deep penetration into the psychology of Pechorin helps to better understand the severity of the social problems posed in the novel. This gave Belinsky reason to call Lermontov "the solver of important contemporary issues."

The unusual composition of the novel draws attention. It consists of separate works in which there is not a single plot, no permanent characters, not a single narrator. These five stories are united only by the image of the main character - Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin. They are located in such a way that the chronology of the hero's life is clearly violated. In this case, it was important for the author to show Pechorin in different situations in communication with a variety of people, to choose the most important, significant episodes of his life for description. In each story, the author places his hero in a new environment, where he encounters people of a different social status and mentality: highlanders, smugglers, officers, noble "water society". And each time Pechorin opens up to the reader from a new side, revealing new facets of character.

Recall that in the first story "Bela" we are introduced to Pechorin by a man who served with Grigory Alexandrovich in the fortress and was an involuntary witness to the story of Bela's abduction. The elderly officer is sincerely attached to Pechorin, takes his actions to heart. He draws attention to the external oddities of the character of the "thin ensign" and cannot understand how a person who easily endures both rain and cold, who went one on one against a wild boar, can shudder and turn pale from the accidental knock of a shutter. In the story with Bela, the character of Pechorin seems unusual and mysterious. The old officer cannot comprehend the motives of his behavior, as he is unable to comprehend the depths of his experiences.

The next meeting with the hero takes place in the story "Maxim Maksimych", where we see him through the eyes of the narrator. He no longer acts as the hero of some story, utters a few meaningless phrases, but we have the opportunity to look closely at the bright, original appearance of Pechorin. The sharp, penetrating look of the author notes the contradictions of his appearance: a combination of blond hair and black mustaches and eyebrows, broad shoulders and pale thin fingers. The attention of the narrator is captured by his gaze, the strangeness of which is manifested in the fact that his eyes did not laugh when he laughed. "This is a sign of either an evil disposition, or a deep constant sadness," the author notes, revealing the complexity and inconsistency of the hero's character.

Pechorin's diary, which combines the last three stories of the novel, helps to understand this extraordinary nature. The hero writes about himself sincerely and fearlessly, not being afraid to expose his weaknesses and vices. In the preface to Pechorin's Journal, the author notes that the history of the human soul is almost more useful and no more interesting than the history of a whole people. In the first story "Taman", which tells about the hero's accidental encounter with "peaceful smugglers", the complexities and contradictions of Pechorin's nature seem to be relegated to the background. We see an energetic, courageous, resolute person who is full of interest in the people around him, craves action, tries to unravel the mystery of the people with whom his fate accidentally confronts. But the ending of the story is banal. Pechorin's curiosity destroyed the well-established life of "honest smugglers", dooming a blind boy and an old woman to a beggarly existence. Pechorin himself writes with regret in his diary: "Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calmness." In these words, pain and sadness are heard from the realization that all Pechorin's actions are petty and insignificant, devoid of a lofty goal, do not correspond to the rich possibilities of his nature.

The uncommonness, originality of Pechorin's personality, in my opinion, is most clearly manifested in the story "Princess Mary". It is enough to read his well-aimed, accurate characteristics given to representatives of the noble "water society" of Pyatigorsk, his original judgments, amazing landscape sketches, to understand that he stands out from the people around him with the strength and independence of character, deep analytical mind, high culture, erudition, developed aesthetic feeling. Pechorin's speech is full of aphorisms and paradoxes. For example, he writes: "After all, nothing worse than death will happen - and death cannot be avoided."

But what does Pechorin waste his spiritual wealth, his immense strength on? For love affairs, intrigues, skirmishes with Grushnitsky and dragoon captains. Yes, he always comes out the winner, as in the story with Grushnitsky and Mary. But this does not bring him any joy or satisfaction. Pechorin feels and understands the discrepancy between his actions and high, noble aspirations. This leads the hero to a split personality. He focuses on his own actions and experiences. Nowhere in his diary will we find even a mention of his homeland, people, political problems of modern reality. Pechorin is only interested in his own inner world. Constant attempts to understand the motives of his actions, eternal merciless introspection, constant doubts lead to the fact that he loses the ability to simply live, feel joy, fullness and strength of feeling. From himself he made an object for observation. He is no longer able to experience excitement, because, as soon as he feels it, he immediately begins to think that he is still capable of worrying. This means that a merciless analysis of one's own thoughts and actions kills the immediacy of perception of life in Pechorin, plunges him into a painful contradiction with himself.

Pechorin is completely alone in the novel, since he himself repels those who are able to love and understand him. But still, some entries in his diary say that he needs a loved one, that he is tired of being alone. Lermontov's novel leads to the conclusion that the tragic discord in the hero's soul is caused by the fact that the rich forces of his soul did not find a worthy application, that the life of this original, extraordinary nature was wasted and completely devastated.

Thus, the story of Pechorin's soul helps to better understand the tragedy of the fate of the young generation of the 30s of the 19th century, makes us think about the causes of this "disease of the century" and try to find a way out of the moral impasse into which the reaction led Russia.

"A Hero of Our Time" by M.Yu. Lermontov as a psychological novel

The novel by M.Yu. Lermontov “A Hero of Our Time” is the first “analytical” novel in Russian literature, in the center of which is not the biography of a person, but his personality, that is, spiritual and mental life as a process. This artistic psychologism can be considered a consequence of the era, since the time when Lermontov lived was a time of deep social upheaval and disappointment caused by the failed Decembrist uprising and the era of reactions that followed it. Lermontov emphasizes that the time of heroic figures has passed, a person seeks to withdraw into his own world and plunges into introspection. And since introspection becomes a sign of the times, then literature should also turn to the consideration of the inner world of people.

In the preface to the novel, the main character - Pechorin - is characterized as "a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation in their full development." Thus, the author was able to trace how the environment affects the formation of personality, to give a portrait of the entire generation of young people of that time. But the author does not relieve the hero of responsibility for his actions. Lermontov pointed to the "disease" of the century, the treatment of which is to overcome individualism, struck by unbelief, bringing deep suffering to Pechorin and destructive to those around him. Everything in the novel is subordinated to the main task - to show the state of the hero's soul as deeply and in detail as possible. The chronology of his life is broken, but the chronology of the narrative is strictly built. We comprehend the world of the hero from the initial characterization that Maxim Maksimovich gives through the author's characterization to the confession in Pechorin's Journal.

Pechorin is a romantic in character and behavior, a man of exceptional abilities, an outstanding mind, strong will, high aspirations for social activities and an indestructible desire for freedom. His assessments of people and their actions are very accurate; he has a critical attitude not only to others, but also to himself. His diary is a self-disclosure “I have two people in me: one lives in the full sense of the word, the other thinks and judges him,” says Pechorin. What are the reasons for this split, he himself answers: “I told the truth - they did not believe me: I began to deceive; knowing well the light and springs of society, I became skilled in the science of life ... ". So he learned to be secretive, vindictive, bilious, ambitious, he became, in his words, a moral cripple.

But Pechorin is not devoid of good impulses, endowed with a warm heart capable of deeply feeling (for example: Bela's death, a meeting with Vera and the last meeting with Mary). Risking his life, he is the first to rush into the hut of the killer Vulich. Pechorin does not hide his sympathy for the oppressed, it is about the Decembrists exiled to the Caucasus that he says that “an ardent heart is hidden under a numbered button and an educated mind is hidden under a white cap,” but Pechorin’s trouble is that he hides spiritual impulses under a mask of indifference. This is self-defense. He is a strong man, but all his forces carry not a positive, but a negative charge. All activities are aimed not at creation, but at destruction. The spiritual emptiness of high society, the socio-political reaction distorted and drowned out the possibilities of Pechorin. That is why Belinsky called the novel "a cry of suffering" and "a sad thought."

Almost all the secondary characters of the work become victims of the hero. Because of him, Bela loses her home and dies, Maxim Maksimovich is disappointed in friendship, Mary and Vera suffer, Grushnitsky dies at his hands, smugglers are forced to leave their home. Indirectly, he is guilty of the death of Vulich. Grushnitsky helps the author to save Pechorin from the ridicule of readers and parodies, because he is his reflection in a crooked mirror.

Pechorin realized that under the conditions of autocracy, meaningful activity in the name of the common good is impossible. This led to his characteristic skepticism and pessimism, the conviction that "life is boring and disgusting." Doubts devastated him to the point that he had only two convictions left: birth is a misfortune, and death is inevitable. Dissatisfied with his aimless life, longing for an ideal, but not seeing it, Pechorin asks: “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born?

The "Napoleonic problem" is the central moral and psychological problem of the novel, it is a problem of extreme individualism and egoism. A person who refuses to judge himself according to the same laws by which he judges others loses moral guidelines, loses the criteria of good and evil.

Saturated pride - this is how Pechorin defines human happiness. He perceives the suffering and joy of others as food that supports his spiritual strength. In the chapter "The Fatalist" Pechorin reflects on faith and unbelief. Man, having lost God, has lost the main thing - the system of moral values, morality, the idea of ​​spiritual equality. Respect for the world and people begins with self-respect, humiliating others, he elevates himself; triumphing over others, he feels stronger. Evil begets evil. The first suffering gives the concept of the pleasure of torturing another, Pechorin himself argues. The tragedy of Pechorin is that he accuses the world, people and time of his spiritual slavery and does not see the reasons for the inferiority of his soul. He does not know the true freedom, he is looking for it in solitude, in wanderings. That is, in external signs, so it turns out to be superfluous everywhere.

Lermontov, conquering with psychological truth, vividly showed a historically specific hero with a clear motivation for his behavior. It seems to me that he was the first in Russian literature to be able to accurately reveal all the contradictions, complexities and the whole depth of the human soul.

M. Yu. Lermontov was not only a great poet, but also a prose writer, in whose work the darkness of reaction, changes in the psychology of people were reflected. The main goal of the young genius was the desire to deeply reveal the complex nature of his contemporary. The novel "A Hero of Our Time" became a mirror of the life of Russia in the 30s of the XX century, the first Russian socio-psychological novel.

The author's intention determined the peculiar construction of the novel. Lermontov deliberately broke the chronological sequence so that the reader's attention shifted from the events to the inner world of the characters, to the world of feelings and experiences.

The main attention in the novel is given to Pechorin. Lermontov first makes it possible to find out the opinion of other people about Pechorin, and then what this young nobleman thinks about himself. Belinsky said about the hero of the novel: "This is the Onegin of our time, the hero of our time." Pechorin was a representative of his era, his fate is more tragic than the fate of Onegin. Pechorin lives in a different time. The young nobleman had to either lead the life of a secular idler, or be bored and wait for death. The era of reaction left its mark on people's behavior. The tragic fate of a hero is the tragedy of an entire generation, a generation of unrealized opportunities.

The influence of light was reflected in Pechorin's behavior. An outstanding personality, he soon became convinced that in this society a person cannot achieve either happiness or fame. Life has depreciated in his eyes (he was seized by longing and boredom - the faithful companions of disappointment. The hero suffocates in the stuffy atmosphere of the Nikolaev regime. Pechorin himself says: “My soul is corrupted by light.” These are the words of a man of the 30s reptiles of the 20th century, a hero of his time .

Pechorin is a gifted person. He has a deep mind capable of analyzing, a steel will, a strong character. The hero is endowed with self-esteem. Lermontov speaks of his "strong build, capable of enduring all the hardships of a nomadic life." However, the author notes the strangeness, inconsistency of the character of the hero. His eyes, which “did not laugh when he laughed,” suggest how deeply the hero has lost faith in all the seductions of the world, with what hopelessness he looks at his own life prospects.

This doom developed in him during his life in the capital. The result of complete disappointment in everything was "nervous weakness." The fearless Pechorin was frightened by the clatter of the shutters, although one hunted a wild boar, he was terribly afraid of a cold. This inconsistency characterizes the “disease” of an entire generation. It is as if two people live in Pechorin, rationality and feeling, mind and heart are fighting. The hero claims: “For a long time I have been living not with my heart, but with my head.” I weigh, analyze my own passions and actions with strict curiosity, but without participation.

The attitude of the hero towards Vera shows Pechorin as a person capable of a strong feeling. But both Vera, and Mary, and the Circassian Bela Pechorin bring misfortune. The tragedy of the hero is that he wants to do good, but brings only evil to people. Pechorin dreams of the fate of a person capable of great deeds, and does things that are at odds with ideas about high aspirations.

Pechorin longs for the fullness of life, looking for an ideal that was unattainable at that time. And it’s not the hero’s fault, but his misfortune that life was fruitless, his forces were wasted. “My colorless youth passed in the struggle with myself and the light; my best feelings, fearing ridicule, I buried in the depths of my heart: they died there, ”Pechorin says bitterly.

In the novel, the main character is opposed to all the other characters. The good Maksim Maksimych is noble, honest and decent, but he cannot understand Pechorin's soul because of his lack of education. Against the backdrop of the scoundrel Grushnitsky, the wealth of Pechorin's nature, the strength of the protagonist's character, is even more pronounced. Only Dr. Werner is somewhat similar to Pechorin. But the doctor is not completely consistent, he does not have the courage that distinguishes Pechorin. Supporting the hero before the duel with Grushnitsky, after the duel Werner did not even shake hands with Pechorin, he refused friendship with someone who "had the courage to take on all the burden of responsibility."

Pechorin is a person who is distinguished by stubbornness of will. The psychological portrait of the hero is fully revealed in the novel, reflecting the socio-political conditions that form the "hero of the time". Lermontov is little interested in the everyday, external side of people's lives, but is concerned about their inner world, the psychology of the actions of the characters in the novel.

"A Hero of Our Time" was the forerunner of Dostoevsky's psychological novels, and Pechorin became a natural link in the series of "superfluous people", "Onegin's younger brother". One can treat the hero of the novel differently, condemn him or pity the human soul tormented by society, but one cannot but admire the skill of the great Russian writer, who gave us this image, a psychological portrait of the hero of his time.

"A Hero of Our Time" by M. Lermontov as a psychological novel

The novel by M. Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time" (1841) is considered the first Russian socio-psychological and philosophical novel.

The main character of this work is Grigory Pechorin, in whose image Lermontov summarized the typical features of a young nobleman of his time.

Penetration into the character of the protagonist, into the motives of his behavior, into the very mental warehouse of his personality allows a deeper understanding of the acuteness of the social problems posed by the author in the novel.

Pechorin is a man of outstanding mind and strong will, possessing exceptional abilities. He rises above the people of his circle thanks to his versatile education and erudition. He sees the disadvantage of his generation in his inability "to make great sacrifices for the good of mankind."

But the good aspirations of the hero did not develop. The emptiness and soullessness of contemporary society stifled the possibilities of the hero, disfigured his moral character. Belinsky called Lermontov's novel "a cry of suffering" and "a sad thought" about that time.

Being an intelligent person, Pechorin understands that no useful activity is possible in the conditions in which he has to live. This led to his skepticism and pessimism. Deprived of good goals, he turned into a cold, cruel egoist. He perceives the sufferings and joys of others only when they concern him. It brings troubles and misfortunes to the people around. So, for example, for the sake of a momentary whim, Pechorin pulled Bela out of his usual environment. Without hesitation, he offended Maxim Maksimych. For the sake of empty curiosity, he violated the usual way of life of "honest smugglers." He took Vera's peace and offended Mary's dignity.

Pechorin, not knowing where to go and put his strength, squanders them on petty and insignificant deeds. The position and fate of the hero are tragic. His trouble lies in the fact that he is not satisfied with either the surrounding reality or his inherent individualism, Lermontov pays special attention to the psychological world, to the “history of the soul” of the protagonist and all other actors. What Pushkin outlined in Eugene Onegin, Lermontov developed into a system of complexly detailed socio-psychological characteristics. For the first time in Russian literature, he endowed characters with the ability for deep introspection.

Lermontov shows Pechorin from different points of view, gradually bringing him closer to the reader, telling the story on behalf of Maxim Maksimych, the "publisher" and, finally, through the diary of Grigory Alexandrovich himself. In each narrative episode, a new side of the spiritual image of the hero of the novel is revealed to us. Lermontov, introducing new heroes, as if compares them with Pechorin and shows their attitude towards him.

Drawing Pechorin in military service, Lermontov contrasted him with Maxim Maksimych, a simple staff captain closely associated with the soldier's environment. He is a kind and honest man who devoted his whole life to serving the Fatherland. He has a wonderful soul and a heart of gold. Maxim Maksimych is sincerely attached to the main character, takes his actions to heart. He draws attention to the external oddities of Pechorin's character and cannot understand the motives for his behavior.

What is valuable and dear to Maxim Maksimych: loyalty, devotion in friendship, mutual assistance, military duty - all this means nothing to the cold and indifferent Pechorin. The war for Pechorin was a cure for boredom. He wanted to tickle his nerves, to test his character, and not to protect the interests of the state. That's why they didn't become friends.

But Grushnitsky personifies the disappointment in the outside world that was then fashionable in society. It would seem that he suffers just as much as Pechorin. But it soon becomes clear that he only seeks to produce an effect: he wears “a special kind of foppery, a thick soldier’s overcoat”, “he has ready-made lush phrases for all occasions”, he speaks in a “tragic voice”. Pechorin understood the true content of Grushnitsky without a romantic mask. He is a careerist (“Oh epaulettes, epaulettes! your stars, guiding stars ...”), a stupid person, because he does not understand the true attitude of Princess Mary, Pechorin’s irony, his funny appearance. The meanness, selfishness and cowardice of Grushnitsky manifested itself in the story of the conspiracy against Pechorin and in the behavior in the duel.

However, the introspection that corrodes Pechorin is also characteristic of Grushnitsky. This led to a difficult struggle with himself in the last minutes of his life, which manifested itself in confusion, depression, and finally, in direct recognition of his wrongness in relation to Pechorin. He passes away with the words: "I despise myself."

If Grushnitsky contrasts with the main character, then Dr. Werner is close to him in many ways. He is the only person in the novel with whom Pechorin can seriously talk, from whom he does not hide his emptiness. In it, he recognizes both kindness, and intelligence, and taste, and decency, Werner, like Pechorin, is a skeptic and materialist. Both of them are educated, insightful, they know life and people, they sneer at the "water society" with undisguised mockery. For a critical mind and a penchant for introspection, young people called Werner Mephistopheles - the spirit of doubt and denial.

Werner “acts”, that is, he heals the sick, he has many friends, while Pechorin believes that in friendship one person is always the slave of another. The image of Werner sets off the essential aspects of Pechorin's personality.

Lermontov also succeeded in the female images in the novel. These are the images of the savage Bela, the loving and deeply suffering Vera, the smart and attractive Mary. Of all the women, Pechorin chooses only Vera - the only person who understood his suffering, the inconsistency of his character. “No one can be as truly unhappy as you, because no one tries so hard to convince himself otherwise,” Vera says.

Mary fell in love with Pechorin, but did not understand his rebellious and contradictory soul. Here Pechorin is both a cruel tormentor and a deeply suffering person. Mary (as well as Bela) for the protagonist is another obstacle, test, challenge. “I have never become a slave to the woman I love; on the contrary, I have always gained invincible power over their will and heart ... ”Having won their love, Pechorin again becomes cold and indifferent. “The love of a savage woman is little better than the love of a noble lady,” he says coldly.

The mastery of the external characteristics, embodying the inner essence of the image, is manifested with particular force in the portrait of Pechorin. The appearance of the protagonist is drawn with such psychological depth that Russian literature has not yet known. The phosphorescent, dazzling, but cold gleam of his eyes, a penetrating and heavy look, a noble forehead with traces of wrinkles crossing it, pale, thin fingers - all these external signs testify to the psychological complexity and inconsistency of Pechorin's nature. Pechorin's eyes do not laugh when he laughs. This is a sign of either an evil disposition, or deep permanent sadness. His indifferently calm look, in which "there was no reflection of the heat of the soul," speaks of disappointment, inner emptiness and indifference to others.

Speaking about the psychological side of "A Hero of Our Time", one cannot but mention the importance of landscape sketches in it. Their role is different. Often the landscape serves to depict the state of the heroes. The restless element of the sea undoubtedly enhances the charm of the smugglers ("Taman"). The picture of an unsettling and gloomy nature that precedes Pechorin's first meeting with Vera portends their future misfortune.

The description of the psychological originality of Pechorin and other heroes of the novel is skillfully completed by the original construction of the work. The plot of "A Hero of Our Time" is built in the form of independent short stories, united by the personality of Pechorin and the unity of thought.

A variety of unusual events, a motley collection of faces reveal various facets of the character of the protagonist of the novel. The writer violates the chronological sequence in order to increase the intensity of the development of the action, to strengthen the impression of the tragedy of the image of Pechorin and to show his hackneyed possibilities more clearly. In each chapter, the author places his hero in a new environment: he confronts the highlanders, smugglers, officers, and the noble “water society”. And each time Pechorin opens up to the reader with a new facet of his character.

Pechorin is shown as a brave and energetic person, he stands out among the people around him with his deep analytical mind, culture and erudition. But the hero wastes his strength on useless adventures and intrigues. In the words of the hero, pain and sadness are heard because his actions are too small and bring misfortune to people. In his diary, the hero boldly talks about his weaknesses and vices. So, for example, Pechorin writes with regret that he violated the peaceful course of life of “honest smugglers”, depriving the old woman and the blind boy of a piece of bread. Nowhere in the diary do we find serious reflections on the fate of the motherland or people. The hero is busy only with his inner world. He is trying to figure out the motives for his actions. This introspection plunges Pechorin into a painful discord with himself.

Pechorin's main problem is that he sees no way out of this situation.

"A Hero of Our Time" is a complex work associated with the genres of travel novel, confession, and essay. But in its leading trend it is a socio-psychological and philosophical novel. The story of Pechorin's soul helps to better understand the tragedy of the fate of the young generation of the 30s of the XIX century, to think about the meaning of life. A person is a whole world, and understanding the mysteries and secrets of his soul is a necessary condition for finding harmony in the relationships of people in this world.

How cunningly in a simple-hearted maiden I revolted the dreams of the heart! She indulged in involuntary, disinterested love Innocently... Why is my chest now full of Longing and hateful boredom?... A.S. Pushkin

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