Taman, the refuge of honest smugglers. Comparison of Pechorin and the smugglers
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The meeting of Pechorin, the protagonist of Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time", with "honest smugglers" is depicted in the story "Taman", the first in the "Pechorin Journal". The composition of the novel is unusual: it consists of separate stories with their own complete plot, united by a common main character. Lermontov adheres not to the chronology of events, but to the logic of the gradual disclosure of the character of the protagonist. Related to this is the presence of three storytellers. First, Maksim Maksimych tells about Pechorin's organization of the abduction of Bela, his cooling to her and the death of the girl, then the narrator, wandering around the Caucasus, conveys the impressions of the meeting he saw between Pechorin and Maksim Maksimych. Having received Pechorin's notes at his disposal and having learned about his death, the narrator allegedly publishes his diaries ("Pechorin's Journal") with the aim (as he says in the preface) to show the "history of the soul" of a person called the hero of the time and described as a portrait made up of vices modern young generation.
From the story "Taman" the reader learns that immediately upon arrival in the Caucasus from St. Petersburg "out of state necessity," and not of his own free will, Pechorin ended up in the "nasty town" of Taman. There is no detailed description of the town, only a passing mention of dirty alleys and dilapidated fences is mentioned, but this is not why it is called "nasty". The epithet reflects, rather, the attitude of Pechorin to the events taking place in this place. Summing up everything that happened, Pechorin will write in his diary: "... a blind boy robbed me, and an eighteen-year-old girl almost drowned me." Thus, ironically about what happened, the hero names two main participants in the drama that took place.
Creating "Taman", Lermontov relied on the literary tradition of the genre of a robber story, romantic in nature, depicting heroes and circumstances. At first, one gets the impression that the author does not deviate from this genre. The plot of events - "vater", where "unclean", a blind man who is "not as blind as it seems", a lunar landscape, a storm on the sea, a mysterious white figure, a brave swimmer - all this arouses Pechorin's interest, makes him stay awake at night, secretly monitor what is happening on the seashore. However, all this does not bother him and captures him so much that he would forget about what happened in the recent past: the monotonous noise of the sea reminds him of the “murmur of a falling asleep city” and brings about sad memories. At the same time, the night adventure is not so important that, wanting to find out the outcome, Pechorin postponed his departure to Gelendzhik. Learning that the ship will not be for another three or four days, he returns from the commandant "sullen and angry."
Subsequently, Pechorin will say that for a long time he has been living not with his heart, but with his head. Going on a date with the "undine", he does not forget to take a pistol with him and warn the Cossack batman so that he, having heard the shot, ran to the shore. The beauty, apparently, naively thought that, having charmed Pechorin, she would become the mistress of the situation. However, Pechorin is not like that and knows the value of female coquetry. And yet he is embarrassed, really worried, he gets dizzy when a girl kisses him. On the one hand, he calls her behavior "comedy", on the other, he succumbs to her charm. He is able to deeply feel and worry, but does not stop analyzing for a minute.
The climactic scene is a desperate struggle in a boat. Previously, Pechorin compared the girl with a romantic mermaid, admiring the long flowing hair, unusually flexible body, golden tint of the skin, the correct nose, comparing her to "a bird scared out of the bush." As an educated aristocrat, he casually talked about "little leg" and "Goethe's Minion." Now he has to fight for his life, and the girl - for hers. And it is not at all strange that now he says about her: "... like a cat clung to my clothes ... her serpentine nature survived this torture." However, it should be noted that, having got to the shore, Pechorin "was almost delighted", recognizing in the white figure on the shore "his mermaid."
The end is not romantic at all. All the heroes are alive, but the "peaceful circle of honest smugglers" is disturbed, a half-deaf old woman, a blind boy, is abandoned to the mercy of fate. Pechorin sympathetically tells how long, for a long time the poor blind man cried, but immediately notes that "thank God, in the morning there was an opportunity to go." In the finale, he once again recalls the abandoned blind man and the old woman, but philosophically remarks: "... what do I care about the joys and disasters of men ...". But he is really indifferent to them or is trying to convince himself of this, the reader must understand himself, pondering what he read and comparing what he learned about the hero in different parts of the novel.
The critic V.G. Belinsky assessed Pechorin as a man of "strong will, courageous, not pale in any danger, asking for storms and alarms." This is how we know Pechorin from the stories of Maxim Maksimych, and now, in "Taman", he told about one of such cases himself. Yes, he is active, courageous, resourceful, decisive, smart, educated, but he is driven only by idle curiosity. "Smugglers" still win against its background. They are also brave (Yanko) and resourceful (undine), and also evoke sympathy, pity (old woman, boy); they are fighting for life, and Pechorin plays with it, however, not only his own. The consequences of his interference in other people's fates are sad, and he understands this, comparing himself to a stone that disturbed the smooth surface of the source, and then, in Princess Mary, with an ax in the hands of fate. Pechorin, according to Maxim Maksimych, feels no less unhappy than those to whom he, willingly or unwillingly, does evil. In "Taman" this is indirectly confirmed.
In this part of the novel, Pechorin does not utter a single large monologue, his thoughts and feelings are still largely hidden from the reader, but they are already of great interest, thanks to omissions and omissions.
"Taman" was highly appreciated by Belinsky and Turgenev, Tolstoy and Chekhov for some special flavor, harmony, wonderful language.
"And what do I care about the joy and calamities of men?"
M.Yu. Lermontov
In Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time" a burning problem is solved: why people, intelligent and energetic, do not find use for their remarkable abilities and wither without struggle at the very beginning of their life? Lermontov answers this question with the life story of Pechorin, a young man belonging to the generation of the 30s. Composition, plot of the work and the entire system of images are subordinated to the task of comprehensive and deep disclosure of the hero's personality and the environment that brought him up.
The story set out in Taman has a vital basis. Lermontov was in Taman in 1837. He had to linger while waiting for the ship. The old Cossack woman Tsaritsykh mistook Lermontov for a secret spy who wants to find the smugglers. Tsaritsykh's neighbor was a beautiful Tatar woman whose husband had dealings with smugglers. And the blind boy Yashka was. All facts of life appear before us in a different form.
The story "Taman" is an independent work of fiction and at the same time is a part of the novel. It is written in the form of a diary, and this is no coincidence. If at the beginning of the novel the author seeks to show the contradictory actions of Pechorin, then later on the pages of the diary the secret and obvious motives of the hero's actions are revealed, their reasons are analyzed.
It should be noted that in "Taman" the romantic elevation of the narrative is harmoniously combined with a realistic depiction of the characters and life of free smugglers. For example, take the description of Yanko's portrait: “A man in a Tatar hat came out of the boat, but he had a Cossack haircut, and a large knife was sticking out from his belt belt”. And this detail (knife) reminds of the dangerous profession of a smuggler. It is somehow very simple to talk about Yanko's daring. “What, blind man,” said the woman’s gloss, “the storm is strong. Yanko won't be there. " “Yanko is not afraid of the storm,” he answered. Following this dialogue, Lermontov draws a raging sea. "Slowly climbing the ridges of the waves, quickly descending from them, a boat approached the shore." The description of the raging elements serves as a means of revealing the prowess of Yanko, for whom “the road is everywhere, where only the wind blows and the sea makes noise”. Not for the sake of love, he goes to the feat, but for the sake of profit. His stinginess is striking: a blind boy receives a small coin as a reward. And Yanko asks the old woman to convey "that, they say, it's time to die, healed, you need to know and honor." Fate does not bring Pechorin and this "honest" smuggler directly, but nevertheless Yanko is forced to leave the "habitable lands" because of him. The heroes of the story are engaged in a dangerous business - smuggling. Lermontov deliberately does not specify what exactly they are transporting through the strait and what they are taking overseas. “Rich goods”, “the load was great” - we don't know anything else. It is important for Lermontov to create in the reader a sense of a dangerous, unusual life, full of anxiety.
Let's trace the relationship between Pechorin and the smugglers. Having settled in a hut where it is "unclean", Pechorin does not even think to be afraid, one might even say that he behaves thoughtlessly. On the very first night he "got up, put on a beshmet ... quietly left the hut, seeing a shadow flash past the window." Why does he need this someone else's life? The answer is very simple. He is interested in everything, it is important, he needs to "touch" everything, perhaps this is what attracts Pechorin's character. He is young, looking for love. But a mysterious girl lured him into the boat, he “felt her fiery breath on his face” - and at that very moment the “mermaid” threw his pistol into the water. There is no “undine” anymore, there is an enemy with whom we must fight.
To top it all off, the blind boy robbed Pechorin with the knowledge of the girl, and this finally destroys those dreams in which our hero was. Yes, Pechorin is largely to blame: inexperience, inability to understand people. And what are the consequences of the phrase: "What if, for example, I decided to inform the commandant?" And the old woman, and the blind boy, and the girl could not explain Pechorin's actions otherwise than by the desire to "convey to the commandant." After all, he walks, looks out, threatens. They do not understand that he is simply interested in these people, their lives. And this curiosity turned into the fact that Pechorin destroyed the life of the smugglers and, moreover, almost died himself. And when the blind boy cried, when the girl left for good with Yanko, then Pechorin was horrified by what he had done: “And why would fate have thrown me into the peaceful circle of honest smugglers? Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calmness, and, like a stone, I almost sank myself. "
As for the artistic side of the story "Taman", it is simply impossible to overestimate it. But I would still like to define more specifically what the work is based on. These are "three pillars": precision, imagery, expressiveness. And what a selection of "speaking details"! For example, Pechorin writes in his travel log: "... two benches and a table ... not a single image on the wall is a bad sign!" Looking at this poor environment, we can say that people live here temporarily, they are ready to leave their uncomfortable haven at any moment.
Or in the scene of a conversation between a girl and a blind man, we learn that the storm is strong, the fog thickens. It would seem, what of that? But this is important for smugglers: it is not possible to go "on business" in all weather conditions.
The antithesis technique is interesting in the story. This is how the blind boy imagines the image of Yanko: "Yanko is not afraid of the sea or the wind." A sort of fairytale hero, a fearless hero. But Pechorin sees Yanko differently: out of the boat "came out a man of average height, in a Tatar ram hat", an ordinary man, not at all heroic in appearance.
Also interesting is the method of combining the sublime and the low in the story. Here romance coexists with the prose of life. The mysterious girl reminds Pechorin of a romantic heroine. But the "mermaid" sings her beautiful free song, standing on the roof of a pitiful hut. The girl's words addressed to Pechorin are mysterious, but the lamentations of the blind boy are pitiful: “Where did I go? ... With a knot? Yaky knot! "
If we talk about the plot, then it vaguely resembles the plot of Bela. A Russian young man meets a local "savage" girl and falls in love with her. The plot is typical for the literature of the Lermontov era. But in "Taman" everything is unconventional. The girl was supposed to fall in love with the newcomer. But everything turns out to be a trick. Landscape sketches give the story a romantic flavor and, in contrast to the wretchedness of the "unclean place", open up to the reader a fascinating world of beauty and bliss.
The composition of the story is unique. The work opens and ends with the hero's judgments, testifying to the bitterness of the experience gained in this event, about an attempt to be indifferent to the people with whom fate confronts him.
A.P. Chekhov, for all the severity of his assessments, said: "I don't know the language better than Lermontov's ...".
On my own I would like to add that sometimes it becomes sad when, in the modern book variety, it is very difficult to choose reading for the soul. All this market "reading" that surrounds us everywhere, screams and creeps into our eyes, just annoying. And, honestly, one little story "Taman" from "A Hero of Our Time" is already worth all this "bookish disgrace".
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The chapter "Taman" was included in the "Pechorin Journal". Restoring the chronological sequence of events from the life of Pechorin, one should start reading the novel "A Hero of Our Time" with the story "Taman", where Pechorin tells about the incident that happened to him when he first arrived from St. Petersburg to the Caucasus. Then follows the story "Princess Mary", where Pechorin talks about the events in which he participated, having arrived on the waters in Pyatigorsk. Then the story "Bela", the events of which take place in the fortress, where Pechorin was exiled for a duel with Grushnitsky.
From the fortress Pechorin left for some time to the Cossack village and witnessed the story with the officer Wylich, described in the novel "Fatalist". Then five years pass. Pechorin, having retired, lives in Petersburg and, bored again, goes to Persia. On the way, he meets with Maxim Maksimych. Their meeting is described in the story "Maxim Maksimych". From a short preface to the "Pechorin's Journal" we learn that, returning from Persia, Pechorin died. Lermontov deviated from such a chronology and built the composition of the novel in such a way that first we learn about Pechorin from the stories about him by Maxim Maksimych and a passing officer, and then from the diary "Pechorin's Journal". Thus, the character of Pechorin is revealed in various situations, in a collision with other characters in the novel. And every time some new facet of the complex and rich nature of Pechorin opens.
"Taman" is the third story in order. With his problematic and character of the environment, the hero, as it were, continues “Belu” and represents a record of an episode from the past. The story is told in the first person (Pechorina). Describing an episode from the life of the smugglers, Pechorin says nothing about his thoughts and experiences. His attention is focused on showing the events themselves, their participants, and the setting. The landscape helps to create a mysterious and romantic mood of the story. With amazing skill, Lermontov describes the restless sea, the moon, clouds. “The coast descended like a cliff to the sea almost at the very walls of it, and below with an incessant roar, dark blue waves splashed. The moon quietly looked at the restless, but submissive to her element, and I could discern in its light, far from the coast, two ships ", writes Pechorin. There is an atmosphere of mystery and obscurity around him. Night, a reed roof and white walls of a new dwelling, a meeting with a blind boy - all this so strikes Pechorin's imagination that he cannot sleep in a new place for a long time. Much in the boy's behavior seems incomprehensible and mysterious: how a blind man so easily descends a narrow steep path, how he feels a person's gaze. An unpleasant impression on Pechorin is made by his barely perceptible smile. Pechorin's curiosity is also spurred on by the boy's actions. Alone, in the middle of the night, with some kind of knot, he descends to the sea. Pechorin began to watch him, hiding behind a protruding rock. He saw a white female figure come up to him and speak to him. From the conversation it became clear that they were waiting for Yanko, who should sail by boat on the stormy sea, bypassing the coastal guards. He delivered some kind of cargo by boat. Taking each of them a bundle, they set off along the shore and disappeared from sight.
What kind of people live on the shore? What are the mysteries of their unusual behavior? These questions haunt Pechorin, and he boldly invades the unknown, boldly rushes towards danger. Pechorin meets an old woman and her daughter. Hearing the song, Pechorin raised his eyes and on the rooftop saw a girl in a striped dress, with loose braids, a real mermaid. Subsequently, he called her Undine. She was unusually good-looking: "The extraordinary flexibility of the camp, the special, only characteristic tilt of the head, long blond hair, some kind of golden tint of her slightly tanned skin on the neck and shoulders and especially the correct nose - all this was fascinating to me." After talking to this girl, Pechorin told about the night scene on the shore, which he witnessed, and threatened to report everything to the commandant. It was a great carelessness on his part, and he soon repented. A poetic girl - "undine", "a real mermaid" - cunningly lures Pechorin into a trap, hinting at love: “She jumped up, wrapped her arms around my neck, and a wet, fiery kiss sounded on my lips. My eyes darkened, my head started spinning, I squeezed her in my arms with all the strength of youthful passion ... ”Ondine made Pechorin a date on the shore at night. Forgetting about caution, Pechorin gets into the boat. Having sailed from the coast for some distance, the girl hugged Pechorin, unfastened the pistol and threw it overboard. Pechorin realized that he could die, because he could not swim. This gave him strength, and the short fight ended with him throwing her into the waves. The hope for love turned out to be deceived, the date ended in a fierce struggle for life. All this causes the anger of Pechorin, who suffered because of his naivety and gullibility. But, in spite of everything, he managed to reveal the secret of "peaceful smugglers". This brings disappointment to the hero: “And why was fate to throw me into a peaceful circle of honest smugglers? Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calmness and, like a stone, I almost sank myself. " Returning, Pechorin discovers that the blind man took his things to the shore in a sack - a box, a saber with a silver frame, a Dagestan dagger - a gift from a friend. "Wouldn't it be ridiculous to complain to the authorities that a blind boy robbed me, and an eighteen-year-old girl almost drowned me?" In the morning Pechorin leaves for Gelendzhik.
Pechorin realizes that he made a mistake by invading the lives of these people, and blames himself for intruding into their circle, which disrupted their lives. Yanko and the girl leave, leaving the boy and the old woman with no means of livelihood. Pechorin admits: “I don’t know what happened to the old woman and the poor blind man. And what does it matter to me to the joys and disasters of men, to me, a wandering officer, and even with a road trip due to the state's need. "
"Taman" strikes with a masterful depiction of the characters' characters. The image of a smuggler girl is truly romantic. This girl is characterized by bizarre mood swings, "rapid transitions from the greatest anxiety to complete immobility." Her speeches are enigmatic and close in form to popular proverbs and sayings; her songs, reminiscent of folk, speak of her desire for violent will. She has a lot of vitality, courage, determination, poetry of "wild freedom". A rich, peculiar nature, full of mystery, she, as it were, by nature itself was created for a free, full risk of the life she leads. No less colorful is the image of the smuggler Yanko, written out in sparse but bright strokes. He is determined and fearless, not afraid of the storm. Having learned about the danger threatening him, he leaves his native place to look for fishing in another place: "... and everywhere I go, where only the wind blows and the sea is noisy!" But at the same time, Yanko shows cruelty and stinginess, leaving the blind boy on the shore with several coins. Pechorin's personality is complemented by such qualities that are manifested in moments of danger: it is courage, determination, willingness to take risks, willpower.
At the end of the story, Pechorin peers into the white sail, which flashed between the dark waves in the light of the moon. This symbolic image reminds of one of the most amazingly beautiful and deepest in thought Lermontov's poems - "A lonely sail is whitening ...". The life of the main character, Pechorin, was just as rebellious, hectic.
Details
Analysis of the chapter "Taman" of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time"
Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is one of the most mysterious figures in Russian classical literature. Roman M.Yu. Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time" retains the best features of his romantic works and stands at the origins of Russian psychological realism. Setting as his task the image of a hero of the time with a strong will and a powerful soul, but with a tragic fate, the study of the negative and positive sides of his generation, the author creates an amazing work. “The history of the human soul is almost more curious and not more useful than the history of an entire people,” writes Lermontov. The composition of the work, based on the violation of chronology, is subordinated to the logic of psychological analysis. We learn about Pechorin from the lips of a simple and naive Maksim Maksimych, get acquainted with his psychological portrait, which is created by the author-storyteller himself, but introspection, presented in Pechorin's journal, becomes the leading way of organizing the story of the hero of the time.
Pechorin's magazine opens with the short story "Taman", from which the hero's "self-disclosure" begins. The beginning of the novel, at first glance, does not foreshadow the romantic world that will be created later: “Taman is the nastiest town of all the coastal cities of Russia. I almost died of hunger there, and in addition they wanted to drown me. " However, the landscape of the first pages of the novella is distinguished by its romanticism: “A full month shone on the reed roof ... The cliff sloped down to the sea ... The moon quietly looked at the restless but submissive element ...” With the help of personification, the author creates a lyrical picture. The poetics of the novel is contrasted: romantic landscapes are replaced by an accurate recreation of everyday life, the depiction of the exotic world of "honest smugglers" is an expression of the author's position.
Let's enter the hut together with the hero. "... two benches and a table and a huge chest near the stove made up all of her furniture." This everyday sketch is interrupted by a completely romantic phrase: “The sea wind burst into the broken glass window”. In fact, this phrase contains the hero's latent desire to plunge into the romance of adventure, and he will be satisfied.
Everything in the life of the people with whom Pechorin stayed alarms him. He has a "prejudice" against cripples, and a blind boy lives here. In the hut "there is not a single image on the wall - a bad sign." However, Pechorin seems to be acting in spite of. He is already ready to plunge into the mysterious life of smugglers, instead of moving away from a world alien to him, and even glad of the opportunity given to him by fate. And the world of "honest smugglers" is not at all alien to the hero. It is no accident that, going down the path for the blind, Pechorin suddenly comes to mind the phrase of the Gospel: "On that day the dumb will cry out and the blind will see." The situation in the novel is romantic, and the hero has a certain elation. His soul, rebellious, passionate, is related to the sea element, he is ready for danger and longs for the storms of life.
In the short story, Pechorin (after all, it was he who was the author of the text, according to Lermontov) creates an amazing image of an undine, a mermaid. In reality, the heroine of the novel is a simple poor girl. But Pechorin, constantly looking for a hidden meaning behind the phenomena of the world, sees in her an image inspired by romantic German poetry. “Unusual flexibility of the camp”, “long blond hair”, “something wild and suspicious” in her looks, “mysterious speeches”, “strange songs” - these are the components of the image of Pechorin's undine. He remembers the mermaid's song "from word to word," because it is about free people, people of risk, people of action. Such people are close to our hero!
True, during their duel in a boat, the undine turns into a completely real and dangerous enemy: "she grabbed my clothes like a cat, and suddenly a strong jolt almost threw me into the sea." Pechorin even realizes that he is inferior to her in agility, but he is grateful for the joy of the duel. In this fight, attention is drawn to a detail that seems to discredit the strong Pechorin - he cannot swim! But we are already prepared by the previous narrative for the oddities and contradictions of the hero's nature.
The symbolic images of the Taman chapter: the sea, the sail - continue the romantic theme of the work. These poetic images embody the idea of freedom, liberty, to which the hero seeks. Play, pretense, posturing that reign in secular society are alien to him, he is looking for a lofty ideal. That is why the rebellious Yanko is close to him, to whom, in his own words, “there is a road everywhere, where only the wind blows and the sea makes noise”. Yanko lives a free life in harmony with the world, and this is what Pechorin lacks. But freedom-loving Yanko leaves under a white sail together with a beautiful undine. The final scene of "Taman" is symbolic: the ideal to which Pechorin's soul strives so much is elusive and unattainable. Reality destroys the romantic world again. Returning to the hut, Pechorin discovers that the "honest smugglers" have robbed him banally. Perhaps that is why the last phrase of "Taman" sounds disappointed and ironic: "And what does it matter to me to the joys and disasters of men, to me, a wandering officer, and even on the way to the state's needs."
The first part of Pechorin's magazine reveals to the reader precisely the romantic side of his nature. Before us appears a rebellious hero, an outstanding personality, thirsty for storms and anxieties, a man of reckless courage, looking for his ideal. At the same time, we see how reality, everyday life, destroys the romantic world created by the hero in his imagination. This eternal conflict of romantic poetry!
In artistic terms, "Taman" is an example of high art. The laconicism, accuracy and simplicity of the narration, the richness of the language make the novel an unsurpassed example of romantic prose. V.G. Belinsky compared the story with a lyric poem. A.P. Chekhov admitted that he was in love with these Lermontov pages. And how not to admire the poetic skill with which Lermontov's prose work was written! “I wrapped myself in a cloak and sat down on a stone by the fence, looking into the distance; the agitated sea stretched in front of me like a night storm, and its monotonous noise, like the murmur of a falling asleep city, reminded me of the old years, transferred my thoughts to the north, to our cold capital. Excited by the recollections, I forgot ... "We will forget too, reading the lovely lines of Lermontov and enjoying the Word ...
Works on literature: Pechorin and the smugglers. Analysis of the chapter "Taman"
"And what do I care about the joy and calamities of men?"
In Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time" a burning problem is solved: why people, intelligent and energetic, do not find use for their remarkable abilities and wither without struggle at the very beginning of their life? Lermontov answers this question with the life story of Pechorin, a young man belonging to the generation of the 30s. Composition, plot of the work and the entire system of images are subordinated to the task of comprehensive and deep disclosure of the hero's personality and the environment that brought him up.
The story set out in Taman has a vital basis. Lermontov was in Taman in 1837. He had to linger while waiting for the ship. The old Cossack woman Tsaritsykh mistook Lermontov for a secret spy who wants to find the smugglers. Tsaritsykh's neighbor was a beautiful Tatar woman whose husband had dealings with smugglers. And the blind boy Yashka was. All facts of life appear before us in a different form.
The story "Taman" is an independent work of fiction and at the same time is a part of the novel. It is written in the form of a diary, and this is no coincidence. If at the beginning of the novel the author seeks to show the contradictory actions of Pechorin, then later on the pages of the diary the secret and obvious motives of the hero's actions are revealed, their reasons are analyzed.
It should be noted that in "Taman" the romantic elevation of the narrative is harmoniously combined with a realistic depiction of the characters and life of free smugglers. For example, take the description of Yanko's portrait: “A man in a Tatar hat came out of the boat, but he had a Cossack haircut, and a large knife was sticking out from his belt belt”. And this detail (knife) reminds of the dangerous profession of a smuggler. It is somehow very simple to talk about Yanko's daring. “What, blind man,” said the woman’s gloss, “the storm is strong. Yanko won't be there. " “Yanko is not afraid of the storm,” he answered. Following this dialogue, Lermontov draws a raging sea. "Slowly climbing the ridges of the waves, quickly descending from them, a boat approached the shore." The description of the raging elements serves as a means of revealing the prowess of Yanko, for whom “the road is everywhere, where only the wind blows and the sea makes noise”. Not for the sake of love, he goes to the feat, but for the sake of profit. His stinginess is striking: a blind boy receives a small coin as a reward. And Yanko asks the old woman to convey "that, they say, it's time to die, healed, you need to know and honor." Fate does not bring Pechorin and this "honest" smuggler directly, but nevertheless Yanko is forced to leave the "habitable lands" because of him. The heroes of the story are engaged in a dangerous business - smuggling. Lermontov deliberately does not specify what exactly they are transporting through the strait and what they are taking overseas. “Rich goods”, “the load was great” - we don't know anything else. It is important for Lermontov to create in the reader a sense of a dangerous, unusual life, full of anxiety.
Let's trace the relationship between Pechorin and the smugglers. Having settled in a hut where it is "unclean", Pechorin does not even think to be afraid, one might even say that he behaves thoughtlessly. On the very first night he "got up, put on a beshmet ... quietly left the hut, seeing a shadow flash past the window." Why does he need this someone else's life? The answer is very simple. He is interested in everything, it is important, he needs to "touch" everything, perhaps this is what attracts Pechorin's character. He is young, looking for love. But a mysterious girl lured him into the boat, he “felt her fiery breath on his face” - and at that very moment the “mermaid” threw his pistol into the water. There is no “undine” anymore, there is an enemy with whom we must fight.
To top it all off, the blind boy robbed Pechorin with the knowledge of the girl, and this finally destroys those dreams in which our hero was. Yes, Pechorin is largely to blame: inexperience, inability to understand people. And what are the consequences of the phrase: "What if, for example, I decided to inform the commandant?" And the old woman, and the blind boy, and the girl could not explain Pechorin's actions otherwise than by the desire to "convey to the commandant." After all, he walks, looks out, threatens. They do not understand that he is simply interested in these people, their lives. And this curiosity turned into the fact that Pechorin destroyed the life of the smugglers and, moreover, almost died himself. And when the blind boy cried, when the girl left for good with Yanko, then Pechorin was horrified by what he had done: “And why would fate have thrown me into the peaceful circle of honest smugglers? Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calmness, and, like a stone, I almost sank myself. "
As for the artistic side of the story "Taman", it is simply impossible to overestimate it. But I would still like to define more specifically what the work is based on. These are "three pillars": precision, imagery, expressiveness. And what a selection of "speaking details"! For example, Pechorin writes in his travel log: "... two benches and a table ... not a single image on the wall is a bad sign!" Looking at this poor environment, we can say that people live here temporarily, they are ready to leave their uncomfortable haven at any moment.
Or in the scene of a conversation between a girl and a blind man, we learn that the storm is strong, the fog thickens. It would seem, what of that? But this is important for smugglers: it is not possible to go "on business" in all weather conditions.
The antithesis technique is interesting in the story. This is how the blind boy imagines the image of Yanko: "Yanko is not afraid of the sea or the wind." A sort of fairytale hero, a fearless hero. But Pechorin sees Yanko differently: out of the boat "came out a man of average height, in a Tatar ram hat", an ordinary man, not at all heroic in appearance.
Also interesting is the method of combining the sublime and the low in the story. Here romance coexists with the prose of life. The mysterious girl reminds Pechorin of a romantic heroine. But the "mermaid" sings her beautiful free song, standing on the roof of a pitiful hut. The girl's words addressed to Pechorin are mysterious, but the lamentations of the blind boy are pitiful: “Where did I go? ... With a knot? Yaky knot! "
If we talk about the plot, then it vaguely resembles the plot of Bela. A Russian young man meets a local "savage" girl and falls in love with her. The plot is typical for the literature of the Lermontov era. But in "Taman" everything is unconventional. The girl was supposed to fall in love with the newcomer. But everything turns out to be a trick. Landscape sketches give the story a romantic flavor and, in contrast to the wretchedness of the "unclean place", open up to the reader a fascinating world of beauty and bliss.
The composition of the story is unique. The work opens and ends with the hero's judgments, testifying to the bitterness of the experience gained in this event, about an attempt to be indifferent to the people with whom fate confronts him.
A. P. Chekhov, for all the severity of his assessments, said: "I don't know the language better than Lermontov's ...".
On my own I would like to add that sometimes it becomes sad when, in the modern book variety, it is very difficult to choose reading for the soul. All this market "reading" that surrounds us everywhere, screams and creeps into our eyes, just annoying. And, honestly, one little story "Taman" from "A Hero of Our Time" is already worth all this "bookish disgrace".