Characteristics of the undine from the novel the hero of our time. The main characters of the "Hero of Our Time" Several interesting essays

Ondine is one of the minor heroines of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time". She appears in the chapter called "Taman", when the main character, passing through, stops in the city of the same name.

The real name of the heroine in the work is not indicated: “...“ What is your name, my songstress? “Whoever baptized knows…” The text indicates that the heroine is no more than 18 years old. The heroine has penetrating eyes, a regular nose, “loose braids”, “long blond hair”, a “white figure” and, despite the fact that she is far from beautiful, she has “a lot of breed”. She appears before Pechorin in a striped dress with loose hair, which makes her look like a mermaid.

"Undine" is a smuggler. Pechorin finds out about this, watching her meeting on the shore with the boatman Yanko and the already familiar blind boy. Pechorin finds in her a strange and bizarre girl, notes her speech full of riddles, quick mood swings and strange songs that she sometimes begins to sing.

This girl is of interest to Pechorin, he begins to imagine that he has found Goethe's Mignon, and is closely watching her. Ondine attracts the hero, he seeks to learn more about her, to catch, but she constantly eludes him and teases, which only warms Pechorin's curiosity more. She answers all his questions very briefly and ambiguously, misleading the hero. When Undine realizes that he has revealed their secret about smuggling, he tries to seduce Pechorin, although he is visibly worried that the hero sees it too.

On a night date, already in the boat, the hero realizes that danger awaits him. In a match with Undina, Pechorin wins by throwing her into the sea. Later, he watches as Ondine emerges from the water, squeezing "sea foam out of her long hair."

Undine, in excitement and tension, informs the boatman Yanko that they have been discovered, and they set off. Without any regret, they leave the blind boy and the old woman, saving themselves and the goods.

This situation causes painful bewilderment in Pechorin’s soul, he wonders why fate threw him to them: “Like a stone thrown into a smooth source, I disturbed their calmness and, like a stone, I almost went to the bottom!”.

Ondine is a heroine with a strong character and well-defined interests. For her own well-being, and most likely out of love for Yanko, she attempted to drown Pechorin despite the risk to her own life. In order to preserve her small, calm and serene world, she plays with Pechorin, appears before him as an alluring, cheerful and friendly beauty. She is prudent and smart, knows her worth and knows how to use her beauty. Despair pushes her to a cruel act, because at stake is the whole world, albeit not a big one, but so carefully created.

"Taman" is the third story of the "Hero of Our Time" (see its summary and full text chapter by chapter), and the first whose content is borrowed from Pechorin's diaries. (See Pechorin's image, Pechorin's characterization with quotes.)

The author of the novel writes in the preface: having learned that Pechorin, returning from Persia, died, I got the right to print his notes and decided to do it, because I became interested in the merciless sincerity with which the author exposes his own weaknesses and vices in them. The history of the human soul is perhaps more curious and more useful than the history of an entire people, especially when it is the result of the observation of a mature mind over itself and when it is written without a vain desire to arouse interest or surprise.

Being in military service, Pechorin once at night arrived on official business in the seedy town of Taman. The Cossack foreman could not find a hut for him to stay for a long time: everyone was busy. Only one turned out to be free, but the ten's manager cryptically warned that "it's unclean there."

Lermontov. Hero of our time. Maxim Maksimych, Taman. Feature Film

This house was on the edge of the sea. At the knock, the door was not immediately unlocked, but finally a blind boy of about 14 years old came out of the house, with cataracts in both eyes. The hostess was not at home. A blind boy, an orphan, lived with her out of mercy.

Entering the hut, Pechorin and the Cossack servant lay down to sleep on the benches. The Cossack quickly fell asleep, but Pechorin could not close his eyes for a long time - and suddenly he saw a shadow quickly flashing outside the window. He got up, left the hut and saw how a blind boy with some kind of bundle was walking towards the pier, finding the way by touch.

Pechorin quietly followed him. A woman appeared at the seashore next to the blind man. They stood talking until a boat appeared in the distance among the waves.

From snippets of conversation, Pechorin realized that the smuggler Yanko was sailing in the boat. There was a storm at sea, but Yanko, skillfully rowing with oars, happily moored to the shore. Together with the blind man and the woman, they began to pull some bundles out of the boat and take them away somewhere. No longer watching them, Pechorin went to bed.

In the morning the old mistress of the hut returned. To Pechorin's attempts to speak, this old woman pretended to be deaf. In annoyance, he took the blind man by the ear, asking: “Come on, blind imp, tell me where you dragged yourself with a bundle at night!” He only whimpered in response.

Going out to sit by the fence, Pechorin suddenly saw a beautiful girl on the roof of the hut - in all likelihood, the daughter of the hostess. Dressed in a striped dress, with loose braids, she looked like an undine (mermaid) and sang a song about a boat that sails on the sea in a storm, and a “violent little head” rules it. From her voice, Pechorin realized that it was she who stood with the blind man on the shore at night. The girl began, as if playing, to run next to him, looking intently into his eyes. These pranks continued for the rest of the day.

Toward evening, Pechorin stopped the frisky beauty at the door, telling her, without knowing why: “I know that you went ashore last night. What if I thought of reporting this to the commandant? The girl only laughed, and Pechorin did not foresee that these words would have very important consequences for him.

When in the evening he sat down to drink tea, an “undine” suddenly entered, sat down opposite, tenderly looking at him - and suddenly hugged and kissed him on the lips. He wanted to hug her, but the girl deftly slipped out, whispering: "Tonight, when everyone is asleep, go ashore."

Late in the evening Pechorin went to the sea. The girl met him at the water, led him to the boat, got into it with him and pushed off from the shore. In the boat, she began to hug and kiss him, but then unexpectedly leaned over the side - and tried to throw him into the sea.

A desperate struggle broke out between them. The girl pushed Pechorin into the water, repeating: “You saw, you will bring it!” From the last strength, he escaped and threw her into the waves herself. Flashing twice, the "undine" disappeared from sight.

Pechorin rowed to the pier and wandered to the hut, but from a distance he again saw the girl: she had swum to the shore and was now wringing out her wet hair. Soon Yanko swam up on yesterday's boat. The girl told him: “Everything is lost!”.

A blind boy appeared. Yanko announced to him that he would now sail away with the girl, because the two of them could no longer stay here. The blind man asked to sail with them, but Yanko drove the boy away, only throwing him some small coin.

This strange and dangerous incident caused nothing in Pechorin's soul but painful bewilderment. He thought: “Why did fate throw me to them? Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calmness and, like a stone, I almost sank myself!”

In the morning Pechorin left Taman. He never found out what became of the old woman and the blind man. “Yes, and what do I care about human joys and misfortunes!”

Yanko is an episodic hero of the story "Taman" from Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time". A few phrases and actions reveal the features of his personality. There are not many of them, but they are capacious and bright.

Against the backdrop of a raging sea element, a “poor boat” appears before the reader. In it, a hero is heading for the shore, in which romantic prowess and heartless pragmatism have merged. In the meantime, we only know that "Yanko is not afraid of the storm." A brave daring fellow, he is not afraid of either fog, or winds, or coast guards, or the sea. This is how he appears from the words of the blind man. His boat resembled the movement of a bird. She dived like a duck, and then, quickly waving the oars, “jumped out of the abyss among splashes of foam.” The flapping of the oars was like the flapping of wings. What prompted the young man to take such a desperate step? Perhaps a romantic feeling? Alas, the reason is prosaic and even primitive: the transportation of smuggled goods. A heavy load doubled the risk of moving between the "mountains of waves" heaved up by a strong storm.

Here he, deftly maneuvering, directs his boat into a small bay. Contrary to the narrator's fears, she remains unharmed. Janko's actions reveal a confident and resolute nature. We admire his courage, agility and strength. But the appearance is unremarkable: “of medium height, in a Tatar mutton hat”, “cossack haircut, and a large knife behind a belt belt. This lack of expressive details partly dispels the romanticism of the image. There is a feeling of everyday life.

The locals call Yanko and his fellow smugglers "unkind people". Their assessment is confirmed, although initially it is only an assumption. The halo of the romantic hero finally disappears in the face of danger. The words that the old woman "healed", and it's time for her and the honor to know "expose a cold, callous heart. Behind the "reward" the blind sees soulless stinginess. He leaves helpless people on the shore, because they will be a burden to him. Used and thrown out of his life without a twinge of conscience. This is an extra category in his illegal "deeds".

It is obvious that Yanko is a lover of easy money. Behind an outwardly attractive life full of risks is emptiness and lack of spirituality. Money determines everything in it. The fearless battle with the sea took place for the sake of material gain. Life is filled with deception, theft and betrayal of people loyal to him. And it is unlikely that love for the “undine” lives in his heart. Cold calculation is also visible in the words "would pay more."

Lermontov is faithful to the harsh truth of life. The beauty of amazing landscapes contrasts with the absurd emptiness of the souls and lives of the characters. The hero is convinced that his accomplice cannot find such a daredevil as he, apparently considering himself successful. To some extent, this is true, because Janko leaves "rich goods" in the care of the blind man. But this is the success of the primitive human soul. So, the hero is "an unkind person." He does not hesitate to make a decision, and his boat with a white sail disappears into the sea distance. From there, he brought romantic expectations to the reader and carries them away, leaving a feeling of bewilderment and bitter disappointment.

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"Taman"

afraid of no one and nothing. Pechorin sees Yanko’s boat as a black dot in the waves and cannot but exclaim: “The swimmer was brave, who decided on such a night to set off across the strait at a distance of 20 miles!” Janko is not only brave and brave, he is free as a bird. At the end of the story, he will say that he is dear everywhere, where the sea is noisy and the wind is blowing. At his first appearance, the comparison of the boat on which he is sailing with a bird: gives rise to the idea of ​​freedom and will. Like a duck, the boat dives and jumps out of the water, but its oars are like wings. The swiftness of the movement of the boat resembles the flight of a bird.

"daring one". Emphasizing the strength, dexterity, courage and love of Yanko for liberty, the author, as a realist, cannot but mention Yanko’s self-interest (“Yes, tell me, if he paid better for his work, Yanko would not have left him”), about his spiritual callousness. He says to the blind man: . . tell the old woman that, they say, it's time to die, healed, you need to know and honor. To the question of a blind boy, what will happen to him (“And me?”), Yanko replies: “What do I need you for?” But all this cannot destroy the impression caused by the boldness and courage of the smuggler. Poetizing the free way of life and courageous character of Yanko, the author endows the smuggler with a peculiar speech. It is poetic, there are almost no vernacular and many features that bring it closer to the structure of poetic folk speech.

space. The landscape that accompanies Janko is nowhere given in full. Pictures of the sea are drawn sparingly, they seem to be organically merged with the image. It is also interesting that Lermontov does not use epithets at all to describe the image. Yanko is all in action, and, speaking about him, the author most often shows the actions, and not the state of the hero; hence the abundance of verbs. So, drawing the appearance of Yanko on the shore, the author writes that he “came out”, “waved his hand”, all three “began to pull out something”, then “started along the coast”.

Pechorin all the time leaves the role of an observer and becomes a participant in events. It is his intervention in someone else's life that determines the conflict and the ending of the story. The desire to “intervene” in events, to become a participant in them, is evidence of the hero’s activity, his inability to be content with the passive role of a contemplator of life, although he himself verbally limits himself to these limits. Pechorin's activity is manifested in his every act, and it is felt that this is one of the main properties of the hero's character. Everything that Pechorin does, he does not for the sake of any benefit and not for the sake of striving to benefit people. There is no goal - his actions are not pursued, but he cannot not act, because such is his nature. He combines activity and a thirst for action with an attraction to danger, which speaks of courage, and courage gives rise to resourcefulness and self-control. In difficult moments, he knows how not to lose his presence of mind (the scene in the boat).

It is easy to see that in the story "Taman" Pechorin does not seem bored and indifferent. All his actions speak of the interest that strangers aroused in him, he is worried about the mysterious appearance of the girl, he decides at all costs to unravel the meaning of everything that happens, that is, he is not indifferent to the environment, even excited by its unusualness. Everything seen makes a deep impression on Pechorin, and this again confirms the idea that the hero is far from apathy and boredom. The story "Taman" makes it possible to judge the hero's deep love for nature. True, Pechorin still does not speak directly about this anywhere, as in "Princess Mary", but his constant attention to the changing pictures of the sea, the sky, in which he sees either a full moon or broken clouds, shows the hero's interest in nature; he not only describes her, but admires her. Waking up in the morning, before leaving for the commandant, Pechorin looks with pleasure from the window “at the blue sky dotted with torn clouds” and “at the far coast of Crimea, which stretches with a purple stripe and ends with a cliff ...”

such a person! But Pechorin does not seem happy. The same qualities in smugglers are more complete. None of Pechorin's actions, none of the manifestations of his will has a deep big goal. He is active, but neither he nor others need his activity. He seeks action, but finds only a semblance of it and receives neither happiness nor joy. He is smart, resourceful, observant, but all this only brings misfortune to the people he encounters. There is no goal in his life, his actions are random, his activity is fruitless, and Pechorin is unhappy. He regrets that he disturbed the life of "honest smugglers", exclaims excitedly: "Like a stone thrown into a smooth source, I disturbed their calmness." Hidden sadness and dull pain are heard in the hero’s seemingly cynical final words: “Yes, and what do I care about human joys and misfortunes, me, a wandering officer, and even with a road trip!”

But in this story there is still no hopelessness that is felt in the previous one (“Maxim Maksimych”), and Pechorin himself does not yet cause condemnation, but regret that the forces of his rich nature do not find real application. In the story of Maxim Maksimych, he stands out from the background of other characters as a special person, almost a hero, who succeeds in everything he has planned. In the story "Taman" Pechorin talks about himself, he does not hide the details, exposing him by no means in a heroic form. It turns out that he does not know how to swim, is inferior in dexterity to a girl, does not understand the real reasons for the interest shown in him by the “undine”, etc. In the end, he even turned out to be a “victim”: they stole a box, there is nothing left but to come to terms with what happened, because, indeed, “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?” Such an ironic attitude towards oneself is characteristic of Pechorin.

The story of Bela

Pechorin brings misfortune and suffering to Maxim Maksimovich, Bela. He is not understood by them.

He tries to sincerely love, respect, be friends, but does not find in his soul the strength for a long, constant feeling.

Love is replaced by disappointment and cooling.

In place of a friendly disposition - irritation and fatigue from constant guardianship.

How do the characters interact?

A tender relationship between the characters continued for four months, and then Pechorin's attitude towards Bela changes. He began to leave the house for a long time, thought, was sad.

“I was mistaken again: the love of a savage woman is little better than the love of a noble lady, the ignorance and simple-heartedness of one are just as annoying as the coquetry of another.”

Pechorin is attracted by the integrity, strength and naturalness of the feelings of the mountain "savage", the Circassian. Love for Bela is not a whim or a whim on the part of Pechorin, but an attempt to return to the world of sincere feelings.

An attempt to approach a person of a different faith, a different way of life, to get to know Bela better, to find some kind of harmonious balance in relations with her ends tragically. Pechorin is a man who lives "out of curiosity", he says: "my whole life was only a chain of sad and unsuccessful contradictions of heart or mind."

The story "Maxim Maksimych"

1. Attitude to the past that connected the heroes

2. Why do the good staff captain and Pechorin not find understanding?

The story "Taman"

Pechorin and "honest" smugglers: Pechorin is young, inexperienced, his feelings are ardent and impetuous, impressionable and romantic, looking for adventure, ready to take risks.

Pechorin's attitude to the characters of the story:

The story "Princess Mary"

The Tale of the Fatalist