Genre and compositional features of the hero of our time. "Hero of our time": the formation of the genre. Related works by Lermontov
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Other materials on the work of Lermontov M.Yu.
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And strangely I fell in love with the mist of contradictions And greedily began to look for fatal links.
V.Ya.Bryusov
According to the genre, “A Hero of Our Time” is a novel that reveals the social, psychological and philosophical problems of Russian society in the 30s and 40s of the 19th century. The theme of the work is the image of the social situation during the period of the Nikolaev reaction, which came after the defeat of the Decembrists. This era was characterized by the absence of significant public ideas capable of uniting the progressive people of Russia. The social ideals of the Decembrists had to be rethought by the next generations and clarified in accordance with the new historical circumstances that had developed after the suppression of the uprising on Senate Square. But by the time the Lermontov generation entered active social life (by age they were children or younger brothers of the Decembrists), Russian society had not yet developed new ideals. Because of this, young energetic people of the new generation feel they are useless, that is, they feel “superfluous”, although they are fundamentally different from the “superfluous” young people of the generation of Eugene Onegin.
The social idea of the novel is expressed in the title - "A Hero of Our Time". This name is very ironic, since Pechorin bears little resemblance to the noble literary hero familiar to that time. He is busy with petty adventures (destroys the smugglers' transshipment point in Taman), actively arranges his heart affairs (achieves the love of all the women he likes, and then cruelly plays with their feelings), shoots himself with Grushnitsky, commits acts unimaginable in courage (disarms the Cossack - the murderer of Vulich) . In other words, he spends his extraordinary spiritual strength and talents on trifles, breaks other people's lives without malice, and then compares himself in a romantic spirit with a stopper of fate, but at the same time he is tormented by his uselessness, loneliness, unbelief. Therefore, Pechorin is often called an "anti-hero".
The protagonist of the novel causes bewilderment, even condemnation from the reader. But why? How is he worse than the secondary characters around him? Representatives of the “water society” (Grushnitsky, the dragoon captain and their comrades) also squander their lives: they have fun in restaurants, flirt with ladies, settle small scores among themselves. Small ones, because they are not capable of serious conflicts and principled confrontation. That is, there are no special differences between Pechorin and the people of his circle, but in fact the main character, of course, is head and shoulders above everyone around him: he is hard pressed by his actions, which bring others nothing but trouble, and sometimes even troubles (the death of Bela, Grushnitsky). Consequently, Lermontov described in the novel the "social disease" of his generation, that is, he expressed a serious social content.
"A Hero of Our Time" is a psychological novel, since the author pays the main attention to the depiction of Pechorin's inner life. To do this, Lermontov uses different artistic techniques. In the story "Maxim Maksimovich" there is a psychological portrait of the protagonist. A psychological portrait is an image of the soul, the character of a person through certain details of his appearance. An officer-traveler in Pechorin notes a combination of contrasting features. He had blond hair, but dark eyelashes and a mustache are a sign of breed, according to the narrator. Pechorin had a strong, slender figure (broad shoulders, thin waist), but when he sat at the gate, waiting for Maxim Maksimovich, he bent as if there was not a single bone in his back. He looked to be in his thirties, and there was something childlike in his smile. When he walked, he did not wave his arms - a sign of a secretive disposition. His eyes didn't laugh when he laughed, a sign of constant sadness.
Lermontov often uses a psychological landscape, that is, such a technique when the state of mind of the hero is depicted through his perception of the world around him. Examples of psychological landscapes can be seen in any of the five stories of the novel, but the most striking is the landscape in "Princess Mary", when Pechorin goes to a duel with Grushnitsky and returns back. Pechorin writes in his diary that he remembered the morning before the duel as the most beautiful in his life: a light breeze, gentle early sun, fresh air, brilliant dewdrops on every leaf - everything created a magnificent picture of the awakening summer nature. After two or three hours, Pechorin returned to the city along the same road, but the sun shone dimly for him, his rays did not warm. Why is the same landscape perceived differently by the hero? Because when Pechorin goes to a duel, he fully admits that he can be killed and that this morning is the last in his life. From here, the surrounding nature looks so wonderful for him. Pechorin kills Grushnitsky in a duel, and his painful feelings on this occasion are expressed through a bleak, gloomy perception of the same summer morning.
The author conveys the spiritual movements of the hero through internal monologues from Pechorin's diary. Of course, the diary, strictly speaking, is one big internal monologue, but Pechorin describes cases from his life that are memorable for himself and curious for the reader. In other words, in the last three stories it is possible to separate the action, dialogues, characteristics, landscapes from the actual internal monologues of the author of the diary. A tragic internal monologue is included in the description of the evening before the duel. Assuming that tomorrow he may be killed, Pechorin asks the question: “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born?.. And, it’s true, it was great, because I feel immense strength in my soul ... But I didn’t guess this purpose, I was carried away by the lures of empty and ungrateful passions ... ”(“ Princess Mary ”) . This internal monologue proves that Pechorin suffers from his uselessness, that he is unhappy. In The Fatalist, summing up his dangerous adventure, the hero reflects: “After all this, it seems, how not to become a fatalist? But who knows for sure whether he is convinced of something or not? .. (...) I like to doubt everything ... ”. Here Pechorin claims that, unlike Vulich and Maxim Maksimovich, he needs free will, freedom of activity, and he is ready to answer for his own actions, and not refer to fate.
Three stories out of five ("Taman", "Princess Mary", "Fatalist") are Pechorin's diary, that is, another way to reveal the "story of the soul" of the hero. In the preface to Pechorin's Journal, the author draws the readers' attention to the fact that the diary was written only for the hero himself, who did not intend to read it to his friends, as J.-J. Rousseau once did with his "Confession". This is the author's hint: Pechorin's reasoning from the diary can be trusted, they do not embellish, but they do not denigrate the hero, that is, they are quite honest evidence of Pechorin's thoughts and feelings.
To reveal the character of the protagonist, Lermontov uses an unusual composition of the novel. The stories are in chronological order. The author builds stories, observing gradualness in revealing the character of the hero of his time. In the story “Bela”, Maxim Maksimovich tells about Pechorin, an attentive and kind-hearted person, but in his development and upbringing he is very far from Pechorin. The staff captain cannot explain the character of the protagonist, but he can note the inconsistency of his nature and at the same time his affection for this strange person. In Maxim Maksimovich, Pechorin is observed by a traveling officer who belongs to the same generation and the same social circle as the hero. This officer notices (in a psychological portrait) the inconsistency of Pechorin's character and understands, although does not justify the behavior of the hero in relation to Maxim Maksimovich. In the magazine, Pechorin speaks quite frankly about himself, and the reader learns that the hero is deeply unhappy, that his deeds that are detrimental to those around him do not bring him any joy, that he dreams of another life, meaningful and active, but does not find it. Only in "The Fatalist" does he perform an act that can be assessed as an active good: he disarms a drunken Cossack, preventing the victims that could have been if the constable had ordered the hut to be taken by storm.
The philosophical content of the novel concerns the moral issues of human existence: what is a person, what can he, in addition to fate and God, what should be his relationship with others, what is the purpose and happiness of his life? These moral questions are intertwined with social ones: how do socio-political circumstances affect a person's character, can he be formed despite the circumstances? Lermontov reveals the difficult life position of the hero of his (and not only his) time, who at the beginning of the novel is presented as an unprincipled, cruel person, not even an egoist, but an egocentrist; and at the end of the novel, in the story "The Fatalist", after the arrest of a drunken Cossack, after reasoning about the meaning of life, about fate, he is revealed as a deep, complex person, like a tragic hero in the high sense of the word. Pechorin is haunted by his mind and creativity. In his diary, he admits: “... the one in whose head more ideas were born, he acts more than others” (“Princess Mary”), However, the hero has no serious business in life, so he himself foresees his sad ending: “. .. a genius chained to a bureaucratic table must die or go mad, just as a person with a powerful physique, with a sedentary life and modest behavior, dies of apoplexy ”(ibid.).
Summing up, it should be noted that "A Hero of Our Time" is the first serious socio-psychological novel in Russian literature. V. G. Belinsky in the article ““ A Hero of Our Time ”, a work by M. Lermontov” (1840) argued that the author portrayed himself in the image of the main character. The writer, in the preface to the novel, defiantly separated himself from Pechorin, stood above him. Violation of the temporal sequence of events, the peppy ending of the story "The Fatalist", which is not consistent with the complete spiritual devastation of Pechorin, prove the author, not the critic, to be right. Lermontov reflected his understanding of the era of the Nikolaev “between times” and showed the fate of the generation to which he himself belonged. In this sense, the content of the novel echoes the idea of the poem "Duma" (1838):
Crowd gloomy and soon forgotten
We will pass over the world without noise or trace,
Not throwing for centuries a fruitful thought,
Nor the genius of the work begun.
"A Hero of Our Time" is a highly artistic work, because the author managed to masterfully depict and philosophically comprehend the "story of the soul" of an outstanding representative of his (lost) generation. To do this, Lermontov uses a variety of techniques: a psychological portrait, a psychological landscape, an internal monologue, a diary form, and an unusual composition.
From the novel "A Hero of Our Time" in Russian literature, the tradition of the socio-psychological novel was born, which will continue in the works of I.S. Turgenev, L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky. In other words, a tradition is being born that will become the pride of all Russian literature.
Genre of the novel "A Hero of Our Time"
The image of a lonely, disappointed man at war with society runs through all of Lermontov's work. In the lyrics and in early poems this image is given in a romantic manner, outside the social environment and real life. In "A Hero of Our Time" the problem of a strong personality, who does not know peace and does not find use for his strength, is solved by realistic means of writing.
In romantic works, the reasons for the hero's disappointment were usually not disclosed. The hero carried "fatal secrets" in his soul. Often, a person’s disappointment was explained by the collision of his dreams with reality. So, Mtsyri dreamed of a free life in his homeland, but was forced to languish in a gloomy monastery resembling a prison.
Following Pushkin, who gave examples of realistic works of art, Lermontov showed that a person's character is influenced by social conditions, the environment in which he lives. It is no coincidence that Lermontov portrayed the "water society" of Pyatigorsk, forcing Pechorin to recall the life of St. Petersburg high-society salons. Pechorin was not born a moral cripple. Nature gave him a deep, sharp mind, and a sympathetic heart, And a strong will. He is capable of noble impulses and humane deeds.
After the tragic death of Bela, "Pechorin was unwell for a long time, he lost weight." In the history of the quarrel with Grushnitsky, the positive qualities of his character stand out in particular relief. Here he accidentally learns about the vile plan of the dragoon captain. “If Grushnitsky didn’t agree, I would throw myself on his neck,” Pechorin admits. Before the duel, he is again the first to express his readiness to reconcile with the enemy. Moreover, he provides "all the benefits" to Grushnitsky, in whose soul "a spark of generosity could wake up, and then everything would work out for the better."
Pechorin was deeply touched by the moral torments of Princess Mary. Genuine is his feeling for Vera, who alone understood him "completely with all ... petty weaknesses, bad passions." His hardened heart warmly and passionately responds to the spiritual movements of this woman. At the mere thought that he could lose her forever, Vera became "more precious than anything in the world, more precious than life, honor, and happiness" for him. Like a madman, he rushes on a lathered horse after the departed Vera. When the driven horse "slammed into the ground," Pechorin, who did not flinch at gunpoint, "fell on the wet grass and cried like a child."
Yes, Lermontov's hero is not alien to deep human affections. However, in all life's encounters, good, noble impulses eventually give way to cruelty. “Since I live and act,” Pechorin argues, “fate somehow always led me to the denouement of other people’s dramas, as if without me no one could die or despair. I was a necessary face of the fifth act : involuntarily I played the miserable role of an executioner or a traitor.
Pechorin is guided only by personal desires and aspirations, not at all considering the interests of the people around him. "My first pleasure is to subordinate everything that surrounds me to my will," he says. In Pechorin, the word does not disagree with the deed. He really plays "the role of an ax in the hands of fate." Bela is ruined, the good Maksim Maksimych is offended, the peace of "peaceful" smugglers is disturbed, Grushnitsky is killed, Mary's life is broken!
Who is to blame for the fact that the wonderful makings of Pechorin died? Why did he become a moral cripple? Lermontov answers this question with the whole course of the story. The society is to blame, the social conditions in which the hero was brought up and lived are to blame.
“My colorless youth flowed in the struggle with myself and the world,” he says, “my best feelings, fearing ridicule, I buried in the depths of my heart; they died there.”
“In my first youth ...,” Pechorin tells Maxim Maksimych, “I began to enjoy furiously all the pleasures that money can get, and, of course, these pleasures disgusted me.” Entering the big world, he fell in love with beauties, but his heart "remained empty"; took up the sciences, but soon realized that "neither fame nor happiness depend on them at all, because the happiest people are ignoramuses, and fame is luck, and in order to achieve it, you just need to be clever." “Then I got bored,” Pechorin admits and comes to the conclusion: “... my soul is corrupted by light.” It is hard for a gifted person, like Onegin,
To look at life as a ritual And follow the orderly crowd To go, not sharing with it Neither common opinions nor passions.
Pechorin says more than once that in the society in which he lives, there is neither disinterested love, nor true friendship, nor fair, humane relations between people, nor meaningful social activities.
Disappointed, doubting everything, morally suffering Lermontov's hero is drawn to nature, which calms him down, gives him true aesthetic pleasure. Landscape sketches in Pechorin's Journal help to understand the complex, rebellious nature of the protagonist of the novel. They reinforce the motif of Pechorin's loneliness, deep emptiness and at the same time indicate that in the depths of his consciousness there lives a dream of a wonderful life worthy of a person. Taking a close look at the mountains, Pechorin exclaims: “It’s fun to live in such a land! Some kind of gratifying feeling is poured into all my veins. The air is clean and fresh, like a child’s kiss; Why are there passions, desires, regrets? The description of the morning in which Pechorin's duel with Grushnitsky took place is colored with deep lyricism. “I remember,” remarks Pechorin, “this time, more than ever before, I loved nature.”
Lermontov created a truthful, typical image, which reflected the essential features of a whole generation. In the preface to the novel, the author writes that Pechorin is "a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development." In the image of Pechorin, Lermontov passes judgment on the young generation of the 30s. "Admire, what are the heroes of our time!" - he tells the whole content of the book. They "are no longer capable of great sacrifices, either for the Good of mankind, or even for their own ... happiness." This is both a reproach to the best people of the era, and a call for civic exploits.
Lermontov deeply and comprehensively revealed the inner world of his hero, his psychology, conditioned by time and environment, told "the history of the human soul." "A Hero of Our Time" is a socio-psychological novel.
The question of the genre of "A Hero of Our Time" has always been important for literary critics who dealt with this work, because the novel itself by M.Yu. Lermontov is an innovative work of Russian classical literature.
Consider the genre of the work "A Hero of Our Time" and its main compositional and plot features.
Genre originality of the novel
"A Hero of Our Time" was created by the author as a novel consisting of a series of stories. At the beginning of the century before last, such works were popular. In this series, it is worth paying attention to “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” by N.V. Gogol or Belkin's Tale by A.S. Pushkin.
However, Lermontov somewhat modifies this tradition, combining several stories not in the image of a single narrator (as was the case with Gogol and Pushkin), but with the help of the image of the main character - the young officer G.A. Pechorin. Thanks to this writer's move, the author creates a new genre for Russian literature of the socio-psychological novel, which will later be continued in the work of his followers F.M. Dostoevsky, I.S. Turgenev, L.N. Tolstoy and others.
For the writer, the inner life of his protagonist comes to the fore, while the external circumstances of his life become only a background for the development of the plot.
Compositional features of the work and their influence on the genre of the novel
The genre of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" by Lermontov required the author to abandon the chronological sequence of the plot, which affected the compositional structure of the work.
The novel opens with a story about how Pechorin stole the young Circassian Bela, who later fell in love with him, but this love did not bring her happiness. In this part, readers see Pechorin through the eyes of Maxim Maksimovich, a Russian officer, staff captain, who turned out to be the commander in the fortress in which Pechorin served. Maxim Maksimovich does not fully understand the strange behavior of his young subordinate, however, he talks about Pechorin without condemnation, rather, with sympathy. This is followed by a part called "Maxim Maksimovich", which chronologically should have completed the novel. In it, readers will learn that Pechorin died suddenly on the way to Persia, and the narrator got his journal, in which its author confessed his secret vices and disappointments in life. As a result, Pechorin's diary becomes the next parts of the novel, which tells about the events that happened to him before meeting Bela and meeting Maxim Maksimovich.
The genre features of "A Hero of Our Time" are also manifested in the fact that each of the stories included in the novel has its own focus. The genre and composition of "A Hero of Our Time" allows us to conclude that the stories that make up the novel are a reflection of the themes and plots characteristic of the literature of that time.
The story "Bela" is a classic love story with a tragic and poignant ending. It is somewhat reminiscent of the romantic stories of the Decembrist A.A. Bestuzhev, who published under the pseudonym Marlinsky. The stories "Taman" and "The Fatalist" are action-packed works filled with mystical predestination, secrets, escapes and a love story characteristic of this genre. The story "Princess Mary" in genre is somewhat reminiscent of a novel in verse by A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin". There is also a description of secular society, which is equally alien to both the main character of the work - Princess Ligovskaya, and the main character - G.A. Pechorin. Like Tatyana Larina, Mary falls in love with a man who seems to her the embodiment of her ideal, but she, having confessed her love to him, also receives a refusal from him. The duel between Pechorin and Grushnitsky is close in plot to the duel that took place between Lensky and Onegin. The younger and more ardent hero Grushnitsky dies in this duel (just as Lensky died).
Thus, the features of the genre of "A Hero of Our Time" indicate that Lermontov laid the foundation for a new direction in domestic romance - this direction can be called socio-psychological. Its characteristic features were a deep attention to the world of personal experiences of the characters, an appeal to a realistic description of their actions, the desire to determine the main range of values, as well as the search for the meaningful foundations of human existence on earth.
Artwork test
The image of a lonely, disappointed man at war with society runs through all of Lermontov's work. In the lyrics and in early poems this image is given in a romantic manner, outside the social environment and real life. In "A Hero of Our Time" the problem of a strong personality, who does not know peace and does not find use for his strength, is solved by realistic means of writing.
In romantic works, the reasons for the hero's disappointment were usually not disclosed. The hero carried "fatal secrets" in his soul. Often, a person’s disappointment was explained by the collision of his dreams with reality. So, Mtsyri dreamed of a free life in his homeland, but was forced to languish in a gloomy monastery resembling a prison.
Following Pushkin, who gave examples of realistic works of art, Lermontov showed that a person's character is influenced by social conditions, the environment in which he lives. It is no coincidence that Lermontov portrayed the "water society" of Pyatigorsk, forcing Pechorin to recall the life of St. Petersburg high-society salons. Pechorin was not born a moral cripple. Nature gave him a deep, sharp mind, and a sympathetic heart, And a strong will. He is capable of noble impulses and humane deeds.
After the tragic death of Bela, "Pechorin was unwell for a long time, he lost weight." In the history of the quarrel with Grushnitsky, the positive qualities of his character stand out in particular relief. Here he accidentally learns about the vile plan of the dragoon captain. “If Grushnitsky didn’t agree, I would throw myself on his neck,” Pechorin admits. Before the duel, he is again the first to express his readiness to reconcile with the enemy. Moreover, he provides "all the benefits" to Grushnitsky, in whose soul "a spark of generosity could wake up, and then everything would work out for the better."
Pechorin was deeply touched by the moral torments of Princess Mary. Genuine is his feeling for Vera, who alone understood him "completely with all ... petty weaknesses, bad passions." His hardened heart warmly and passionately responds to the spiritual movements of this woman. At the mere thought that he could lose her forever, Vera became "more precious than anything in the world, more precious than life, honor, and happiness" for him. Like a madman, he rushes on a lathered horse after the departed Vera. When the driven horse "slammed into the ground," Pechorin, who did not flinch at gunpoint, "fell on the wet grass and cried like a child."
Yes, Lermontov's hero is not alien to deep human affections. However, in all life's encounters, good, noble impulses eventually give way to cruelty. “Since I live and act,” Pechorin argues, “fate somehow always led me to the denouement of other people’s dramas, as if without me no one could die or despair. I was a necessary face of the fifth act : involuntarily I played the miserable role of an executioner or a traitor.
Pechorin is guided only by personal desires and aspirations, not at all considering the interests of the people around him. "My first pleasure is to subordinate everything that surrounds me to my will," he says. In Pechorin, the word does not disagree with the deed. He really plays "the role of an ax in the hands of fate." Bela is ruined, the good Maksim Maksimych is offended, the peace of "peaceful" smugglers is disturbed, Grushnitsky is killed, Mary's life is broken!
Who is to blame for the fact that the wonderful makings of Pechorin died? Why did he become a moral cripple? Lermontov answers this question with the whole course of the story. The society is to blame, the social conditions in which the hero was brought up and lived are to blame.
“My colorless youth flowed in the struggle with myself and the world,” he says, “my best feelings, fearing ridicule, I buried in the depths of my heart; they died there.”
“In my first youth ...,” Pechorin tells Maxim Maksimych, “I began to enjoy furiously all the pleasures that money can get, and, of course, these pleasures disgusted me.” Entering the big world, he fell in love with beauties, but his heart "remained empty"; took up the sciences, but soon realized that "neither fame nor happiness depend on them at all, because the happiest people are ignoramuses, and fame is luck, and in order to achieve it, you just need to be clever." “Then I got bored,” Pechorin admits and comes to the conclusion: “... my soul is corrupted by light.” It is hard for a gifted person, like Onegin,
To look at life as a ritual And follow the orderly crowd To go, not sharing with it Neither common opinions nor passions.
Pechorin says more than once that in the society in which he lives, there is neither disinterested love, nor true friendship, nor fair, humane relations between people, nor meaningful social activities.
Disappointed, doubting everything, morally suffering Lermontov's hero is drawn to nature, which calms him down, gives him true aesthetic pleasure. Landscape sketches in Pechorin's Journal help to understand the complex, rebellious nature of the protagonist of the novel. They reinforce the motif of Pechorin's loneliness, deep emptiness and at the same time indicate that in the depths of his consciousness there lives a dream of a wonderful life worthy of a person. Taking a close look at the mountains, Pechorin exclaims: “It’s fun to live in such a land! Some kind of gratifying feeling is poured into all my veins. The air is clean and fresh, like a child’s kiss; Why are there passions, desires, regrets? The description of the morning in which Pechorin's duel with Grushnitsky took place is colored with deep lyricism. “I remember,” remarks Pechorin, “this time, more than ever before, I loved nature.”
Lermontov created a truthful, typical image, which reflected the essential features of a whole generation. In the preface to the novel, the author writes that Pechorin is "a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development." In the image of Pechorin, Lermontov passes judgment on the young generation of the 30s. "Admire, what are the heroes of our time!" - he tells the whole content of the book. They "are no longer capable of great sacrifices, either for the Good of mankind, or even for their own ... happiness." This is both a reproach to the best people of the era, and a call for civic exploits.
Lermontov deeply and comprehensively revealed the inner world of his hero, his psychology, conditioned by time and environment, told "the history of the human soul." "A Hero of Our Time" is a socio-psychological novel.
The image of a lonely, disappointed man at war with society runs through all of Lermontov's work. In the lyrics and in early poems this image is given in a romantic manner, outside the social environment and real life. In "A Hero of Our Time" the problem of a strong personality, who does not know peace and does not find use for his strength, is solved by realistic means of writing.
In romantic works, the reasons for the hero's disappointment were usually not disclosed. The hero carried "fatal secrets" in his soul. Often, a person’s disappointment was explained by the collision of his dreams with reality. So, Mtsyri dreamed of a free life in his homeland, but was forced to languish in a gloomy monastery resembling a prison.
Following Pushkin, who gave examples of realistic works of art, Lermontov showed that a person's character is influenced by social conditions, the environment in which he lives. It is no coincidence that Lermontov portrayed the "water society" of Pyatigorsk, forcing Pechorin to recall the life of St. Petersburg high-society salons. Pechorin was not born a moral cripple. Nature gave him a deep, sharp mind, and a sympathetic heart, And a strong will. He is capable of noble impulses and humane deeds.
After the tragic death of Bela, "Pechorin was unwell for a long time, he lost weight." In the history of the quarrel with Grushnitsky, the positive qualities of his character stand out in particular relief. Here he accidentally learns about the vile plan of the dragoon captain. “If Grushnitsky didn’t agree, I would throw myself on his neck,” Pechorin admits. Before the duel, he is again the first to express his readiness to reconcile with the enemy. Moreover, he provides "all the benefits" to Grushnitsky, in whose soul "a spark of generosity could wake up, and then everything would work out for the better."
Pechorin was deeply touched by the moral torments of Princess Mary. Genuine is his feeling for Vera, who alone understood him "completely with all ... petty weaknesses, bad passions." His hardened heart warmly and passionately responds to the spiritual movements of this woman. At the mere thought that he could lose her forever, Vera became "more precious than anything in the world, more precious than life, honor, and happiness" for him. Like a madman, he rushes on a lathered horse after the departed Vera. When the driven horse "slammed into the ground," Pechorin, who did not flinch at gunpoint, "fell on the wet grass and cried like a child."
Yes, Lermontov's hero is not alien to deep human affections. However, in all life's encounters, good, noble impulses eventually give way to cruelty. “Since I live and act,” Pechorin argues, “fate somehow always led me to the denouement of other people’s dramas, as if without me no one could die or despair. I was a necessary face of the fifth act : involuntarily I played the miserable role of an executioner or a traitor.
Pechorin is guided only by personal desires and aspirations, not at all considering the interests of the people around him. "My first pleasure is to subordinate everything that surrounds me to my will," he says. In Pechorin, the word does not disagree with the deed. He really plays "the role of an ax in the hands of fate." Bela is ruined, the good Maksim Maksimych is offended, the peace of "peaceful" smugglers is disturbed, Grushnitsky is killed, Mary's life is broken!
Who is to blame for the fact that the wonderful makings of Pechorin died? Why did he become a moral cripple? Lermontov answers this question with the whole course of the story. The society is to blame, the social conditions in which the hero was brought up and lived are to blame.
“My colorless youth flowed in the struggle with myself and the world,” he says, “my best feelings, fearing ridicule, I buried in the depths of my heart; they died there.”
“In my first youth ...,” Pechorin tells Maxim Maksimych, “I began to enjoy furiously all the pleasures that money can get, and, of course, these pleasures disgusted me.” Entering the big world, he fell in love with beauties, but his heart "remained empty"; took up the sciences, but soon realized that "neither fame nor happiness depend on them at all, because the happiest people are ignoramuses, and fame is luck, and in order to achieve it, you just need to be clever." “Then I got bored,” Pechorin admits and comes to the conclusion: “... my soul is corrupted by light.” It is hard for a gifted person, like Onegin,
To look at life as a ritual And follow the orderly crowd To go, not sharing with it Neither common opinions nor passions.
Pechorin says more than once that in the society in which he lives, there is neither disinterested love, nor true friendship, nor fair, humane relations between people, nor meaningful social activities.
Disappointed, doubting everything, morally suffering Lermontov's hero is drawn to nature, which calms him down, gives him true aesthetic pleasure. Landscape sketches in Pechorin's Journal help to understand the complex, rebellious nature of the protagonist of the novel. They reinforce the motif of Pechorin's loneliness, deep emptiness and at the same time indicate that in the depths of his consciousness there lives a dream of a wonderful life worthy of a person. Taking a close look at the mountains, Pechorin exclaims: “It’s fun to live in such a land! Some kind of gratifying feeling is poured into all my veins. The air is clean and fresh, like a child’s kiss; Why are there passions, desires, regrets? The description of the morning in which Pechorin's duel with Grushnitsky took place is colored with deep lyricism. “I remember,” remarks Pechorin, “this time, more than ever before, I loved nature.”
Lermontov created a truthful, typical image, which reflected the essential features of a whole generation. In the preface to the novel, the author writes that Pechorin is "a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development." In the image of Pechorin, Lermontov passes judgment on the young generation of the 30s. "Admire, what are the heroes of our time!" - he tells the whole content of the book. They "are no longer capable of great sacrifices, either for the Good of mankind, or even for their own ... happiness." This is both a reproach to the best people of the era, and a call for civic exploits.
Lermontov deeply and comprehensively revealed the inner world of his hero, his psychology, conditioned by time and environment, told "the history of the human soul." "A Hero of Our Time" is a socio-psychological novel.