The plot plan is the hero of our time. Thesis plan "hero of our time"

Plan:

1) Why did I choose the topic “Pechorin as a hero of our time”?

2) The history of the creation of the "Hero of Our Time".

3) The attraction of evil.

i) "Bela".

ii) "Maxim Maksimych".

iii) "Taman".

iv) "Princess Mary".

v) "Fatalist".

4) Conclusion:

i) Is evil so attractive?

ii) Why is Pechorin a hero of that time?

5) List of used literature.

Here is a book that is destined to never grow old, because, at its very birth, it was sprinkled with the living water of poetry! This old book will always be new...

Re-reading “A Hero of Our Time” again, you involuntarily wonder how everything in it is simple, easy, ordinary and at the same time so imbued with life, thought, so broad, deep, sublime ...

V. G. Belinsky

Why did I choose the topic “Pechorin as a Hero of His Time”?

Reading the novel "A Hero of Our Time", for the first time I did something that I had never done before. I underlined and highlighted smart ideas in the text. By the end of reading, almost the entire book turned out to be streaked with horizontal stripes. When Lermontov wrote this novel, Pechorin reflected the "spot" of society, he reflected a strong, intelligent person who opposes society, but, unfortunately, as a result of this confrontation, becomes "such an attractive evil." If earlier such people, capable of resisting the rest of humanity, were rare, and they were not loved, now there are practically no such people at all, but they have become especially valuable.

“Pechorin is the hero of our time” - it seems to me that this phrase can be uttered in thirty or fifty years, but it will remain relevant. Pechorin was constantly in search of himself, constantly asking himself the question: “Who am I?”, But he died without finding an answer. Is it good or bad? I think it is good. If he got an answer to his question, he would grow old and die in boredom. Despite the fact that in order to solve his question, Pechorin plays with other people's destinies, intervenes in other people's lives, he can be forgiven for this. But how, how can a person be forgiven for the decision of someone's fate in his own salvation? Pechorin did not save himself, he saved society. Saved from rotting and destruction, saved from uniformity, saved from melancholy, in the end. I really liked this novel. In it, on the example of several main characters, one can trace the destinies of the majority of mankind. After all, we still meet the vile, deceitful Grushnitskys, and the magnanimous, open-hearted Maxim Maksimychi, the wise Doctors Werners, and the seemingly impregnable Princess Mary ...

How was the "Hero of Our Time" created?

In 1836, Lermontov conceived the idea of ​​writing a novel from St. Petersburg high society life. The year 1837 came and for the poem "The Death of a Poet" dedicated to Pushkin, Lermontov was exiled to the Caucasus. Work on the novel was interrupted, and Mikhail Yuryevich had a new idea for the novel. Lermontov visited Pyatigorsk and Kislovodsk, Cossack villages on the Terek, traveled along the line of hostilities, and almost died in the town of Taman, on the Black Sea coast. All this enriched Lermontov with many vivid impressions. But some observations and assumptions regarding the design and writing of the "Hero of Our Time" can be made by analyzing their appearance. Even before the release of the novel as a separate edition, the three stories included in it were published in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski. "Bela" -1839, magazine No. 3, "Fatalist" -1839, magazine No. 11, "Taman" -1840, magazine No. 2. Moreover, the head of "Bel" appeared under the heading "From the notes of an officer about the Caucasus." The possibility of continuing was confirmed by the ending of the story, where the author parted ways with Maxim Maksimych in Kobe: “We did not hope to meet again, however, we met, and if you want, I will tell you someday: this is a whole story.” After a long break, The Fatalist was published, to which the editors made a note: “With particular pleasure, we take this opportunity to inform you that M.Yu. Lermontov will soon publish a collection of his stories, both printed and unprinted. It will be a new, wonderful gift to literature.” As for "Taman", she appeared in the magazine with an editorial note: "Another excerpt from the notes of Pechorin, the main person in the story "Bela", published in the third book of "Notes of the Fatherland" in 1839." From all this it follows

that the order in which these three things appeared in print was the order in which they were written. In the earliest edition of the novel itself, the first of its constituent stories was "Bela"; "Maxim Maksimych" and "Princess Mary" followed her. "Bela" and "Maxim Maksimych", subtitled "From an Officer's Notes", constituted the first part of the novel, "Princess Mary" - its second, main part, containing the confessional self-disclosure of the hero. Most likely, in August-September 1839, Lermontov rewrote all the "chapters" of the novel (with the exception of "Bela", which by that time had been published) from drafts into a special notebook, making some corrections in the process of rewriting. At this stage of work, the chapter "The Fatalist" entered the novel. According to biographer Lermontov P.A. Viskovatova, the “fatalist” is “decommissioned from the incident that took place in the village of Chervlenaya with A.A. Khastatov", Lermontov's uncle: "at least the episode where Pechorin throws himself into the hut of a drunken, furious Cossack happened to Khastatov"

In this edition, the novel was called "1 of the heroes of the beginning of the century"; now it consisted of "Bela", "Maxim Maksimych", "Fatalist", "Princess Mary". As before, the novel was divided into two parts: the first was the notes of the officer-narrator, the second - the notes of the hero. With the inclusion of The Fatalist, the second part and the novel as a whole became deeper, more philosophical, complete. By the middle of 1840, Lermontov created the final edition of the novel, including "Taman" in it and finally determining its composition. Having put "Taman" first in Pechorin's notes, Lermontov moved the chapter "Fatalist" to the end, which to the greatest extent corresponded to its final philosophical meaning. In this edition, the name of the hero's notes appeared - "Pechorin's Journal". Having crossed out the ending of "Maxim Maksimych", which prepared the transition to "notes", Lermontov wrote a special preface to Pechorin's Journal. Thus, the novel has grown to six chapters, including here and the "Preface" to the "Journal". The final name appeared - "Hero of Our Time". When Lermontov wrote his novel, he came close to the most difficult task: to show in a real setting the characteristic hero of that time - a gifted and thinking person, but crippled by secular education and cut off from the life of his country and his people. Talking about the fate of Pechorin, Lermontov came close to the question: "who is to blame?". Who is to blame for the fact that in the conditions of autocratic-feudal Russia, intelligent and thirsty for activity people are doomed to forced inactivity, crippled by upbringing, cut off from the people?

Two plans are offered: short and detailed.

Brief plan

Maxim Maksimych tells the story of who served in his fortress.

The prince invited them to the wedding of his eldest daughter, where Pechorin liked the youngest daughter.

At the wedding, Maxim Maksimych hears that the prince's son wants to buy a horse, but he refuses.

Pechorin, in exchange for Bela, steals Kazbich's horse for Azamat.

Bela eventually accepts Pechorin, but he begins to miss her, disappears on the hunt.

Bela is sad, Maxim Maksimych takes her for a walk to the rampart, from which they see Kazbich teasing them.

Pechorin tells Maxim Maksimych that he is unhappy because of boredom, he asks Pechorin to be more careful and talks about Kazbich.

During the hunt for Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych, Kazbich kidnaps and injures Bela.

Bela dies in agony. Pechorin soon leaves the fortress.

detailed plan

The action of the chapter begins with a description of the author's passage through the mountains of the Caucasus, during which he meets Staff Captain Maxim Maksimych.

During bad weather, they stop in a sakla and Maxim Maksimych tells a story about Pechorin, emphasizing his unusualness.

Pechorin was transferred to serve in his fortress. The son of the local peaceful prince Azamat, 15 years old, often came to the fortress and spent time with Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych.

One day, the local prince invited them to the wedding of his eldest daughter. There, Pechorin liked the youngest daughter of the prince, aged 16, Bela. In addition to Pechorin, the princess also admired Kazbich, an acquaintance of Maxim Maksimych.

There Maxim Maksimych hears Azamat trying to persuade Kazbich to sell him his beautiful horse, but Kazbich refuses. Karagoz, who saved the life of the rider, is more precious to him than any payment. Maxim Maksimych retells this conversation to Pechorin.

For three weeks, Pechorin teased Azamat with conversations, and then promised him to steal Kazbich's horse if the boy kidnapped Bela for him. At night, Pechorin takes Bela, and the next day the horse, Azamat, leaves for Karagez. Kazbich cries after losing his horse.

Pechorin persuades Bela to accept him for a long time. In the end, she relents and they live happily for four months. But soon Pechorin gets tired of Bela, he begins to disappear on the hunt.

Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych tell Bela about the death of her father, who was killed by Kazbich.

When Pechorin disappears hunting for the second day, Maxim Maksimych takes Bela for a walk on the shaft, from where they see Kazbich spinning on the horse of the late prince below.

Maxim Maksimych reprimands Pechorin about his attitude towards Bela, asks him to be more careful and talks about Kazbich. He replies that he himself is unhappy. He has a terrible temper and is always bored.

Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych leave to hunt. On the way back, they notice Kazbich taking Bela away. They give chase - Kazbich wounds Bela in the back and runs away.

Bela dies in agony. Pechorin is not very worried, and soon he is transferred from the fortress. The author parted ways with Maxim Maksimych.

The narrative in any work of art is always subject to the author's intention. In Lermontov's novel, both the plot, the characters of the characters, and the events are aimed at revealing the "history of the human soul." That is why, when getting acquainted with the work "A Hero of Our Time", the analysis of the novel seems necessary. It is important for us, readers, to understand why Pechorin is what he is, why, causing so little sympathy at the beginning of the story, does it interest us more and more sharply as we get to know him?

It is possible to answer these questions by considering Pechorin's actions and thoughts step by step, following chapter by chapter following the author's intention.

Head of "Bela"

It is no coincidence that Lermontov chooses the form of a “story within a story” for the story - namely, the narrator, “instigated by curiosity” and thirsting for interesting stories about an unusual region, where “all around are wild, curious people; every day there is danger, there are wonderful cases, ”prepares us for the appearance of the main character. Staff Captain Maksim Maksimych, a casual companion of the author of travel notes, tells us about the "strange" young man with whom he had to serve.

“The simplicity and artlessness of this story are inexpressible, and every word in it is so in its place, so rich in meaning,” wrote the critic Belinsky, and the analysis of the chapter “Bel” fully confirms what he said.

The main character intrigues us from the first chapter. His character and behavior are contradictory and unpredictable. The ingenuous Maksim Maksimych believes that Pechorin is one of those people “who have it written in their family that various unusual things should happen to them!” One of these “extraordinary things” is the story of Bela.

We listen to the events, follow the characters with whom Gregory is connected - each of them seems to set off, “shows” the features of his nature. On the one hand, Pechorin is, without a doubt, strong, courageous, people obey his charm. But the other side of the character is undeniable: he is so busy with himself that he goes through people's lives, breaking them. At a fleeting whim, she pulls Bela out of her native element; playing on the weak sides, makes Azamat betray his own family; deprives Kazbich of what is dear to him. By his own admission, he has “a restless imagination, an insatiable heart; everything is not enough for me: I get used to sadness just as easily as to pleasure, and my life becomes emptier day by day.

We, as well as the ingenuous Maxim Maksimych, who tells the story, do not understand the motives of Pechorin's actions.

And, although the hero of the novel does not yet cause sympathy, the strokes that stand out from the portrait that we, the readers, have already drawn, attract attention. Why "he raised his head and laughed so" that the staff captain "ran a chill over his skin", why "he was unwell for a long time, grew thin" after Bela's death?

The story "Maxim Maksimych"

Next time we will hear about the main character from the author of travel notes, a young officer, and this is no coincidence. Unlike the staff captain, who is sincerely attached to Pechorin, but due to social status and difference of views (after all, they are from different eras!) He cannot explain the reasons for Grigory's actions, the narrator is about the same age as him and clearly from the same environment. The attentive look of the young officer does not miss a single detail in the portrait of Pechorin, and this portrait is primarily psychological. We again note the inconsistency of the image, the incomprehensible interweaving of traits of either strength or weakness.

A strong build not defeated by life - and a sudden "nervous weakness of the camp" when Pechorin sat down, a careless, lazy gait - and a clear sign of secrecy - "did not wave his arms", dazzlingly clean underwear - and soiled gloves, feminine tenderness of the skin - and traces of wrinkles. And the main thing in the appearance is the eyes: “they did not laugh when he laughed”, “they shone with some kind of phosphorescent brilliance, it was a brilliance ... dazzling, but cold”; and the look was "indifferently calm."

The way Pechorin behaves during a meeting with Maxim Maksimych is discouraging. If you listen only to remarks, then all the rules of communication with a good old acquaintance are observed: “How glad I am. Well, how are you?”, “Thank you for not forgetting.” But coldness during conversation, monosyllabic answers, forced yawning show that Pechorin is a burden to meet, he does not want to remember the past. The indifference and selfishness of this person hurt Maxim Maksimovich, are unpleasant for the narrator, and repel the reader. All the time after the story with Bela, Gregory was "bored", now he is going to Persia - and again the hero is incomprehensible and strange to us, deeply immersed in his thoughts, pushing away his past, the person who is attached to him. Is there anything in this world that is dear to him?

Pechorin's Journal

In the first two parts of the work, we see the "hero of time" through the eyes of the staff captain. Between “worthy of respect”, but simple Maksim Maksimych and “decent”, i.e., according to the meaning of the word in the time of Lermontov, belonging to the aristocrats Pechorin, there is an abyss - both in origin, and in convictions, and in age, therefore we cannot to understand what the character of Gregory really is. The author of the notes is much closer to the main character: they are of the same generation and, apparently, of origin, but even he, talking about Pechorin, cannot explain the motives of his actions.

An analysis of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" at this stage of acquaintance with the work suggests that Pechorin's character is ambiguous. To figure out what drives him, what he really is, only an impartial look will help - and we will find it in Pechorin's diary. The diary is a personal entry, not intended for someone else's view, the author always writes for himself and therefore is frank. Now the hero speaks for himself, and the narrative is more objective, honest and deeper than any other can be - he explores his own actions and beliefs.

"What do I care about the joys and misfortunes of men."
“Taman” was considered “a wonderful story” by A.P. Chekhov, “what a charm of Taman!”, I. Turgenev assessed it like that.

Before us is another Pechorin, unknown to us so far: he is still inexperienced and very young, his feelings are alive and bright, he is interested in people, their life and aspirations, he boldly goes into the unknown. The narrator of the magazine is sensitive to nature - the night landscape looks like a painting by an artist, so everything in it is precise and romantic. He is attracted by the mystery of the blind boy, the mystery of the "unclean" place in which he found himself, the soul longs for the fullness of life, happiness and beauty.

“Firmly deciding to get the key of the riddle”, having intervened during the life of “honest smugglers” in his passionate desire to enter their world, Grigory is disappointed with the solution.

Undine, in whom "everything was charming" and whose "eyes seemed to be endowed with magnetic power," loses its attractiveness in the eyes of the hero, insidiously trapping and deceiving his hope for love. The brave and strong Yanko, who struck the imagination of a young man, opens up to him from the other side. The romantic idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe “violent little head” dissipates when Pechorin hears how the smuggler talks about payment for labor, how stingy he is in remunerating the boy, sees how he leaves the old woman and the blind to the mercy of fate, having learned about the threat of exposure. Before our hero is real life, and it turns out to be not only attractive and exciting, but prosaically harsh. “I became sad. And why did fate throw me into the peaceful circle of honest smugglers? “I disturbed their calmness and, like a stone, I almost went to the bottom!”

The "Hero of Time" behaves boldly and decisively, but his actions are aimless. There is no field for serious activity, for which he is ready, which he is looking for, and Pechorin invades other people's affairs and lives, wasting his strength in vain. V. Belinsky gives a very accurate description of the hero, saying “You see a man with a strong will, brave, not blanching any danger, asking for storms and anxieties in order to occupy himself with something and fill the bottomless emptiness of his spirit, even if with activity without any goals".

The experience gained in Taman is bitter, and Grigory tries to replace his feelings with indifference and alienation to the people with whom his fate has fleetingly brought him together. “What do I care about human joys and misfortunes,” is the result of the searches and aspirations of the author of the magazine.

Pechorin and the "water society"

Following the pages of Pechorin's magazine, we see the hero among people of the same circle with him. In the story "Princess Mary" the character of the "hero of time" and his psychology are revealed in various ways.

A “pleasant” feeling appears in Grigory’s soul when he observes nature, breathes in fresh air, being in Pyatigorsk: “why are there passions, desires, regrets?”. The more contrasting are the events happening to the main character. The society in which Pechorin rotates is not close to him, people evoke irony with their desire to “appear”, an external gloss without internal content. But the “water society” itself does not accept a young officer who is too different from everyone else.

Among others, our attention is attracted by Grushnitsky, an old acquaintance of Pechorin: the hero is too implacable in relation to him, and sometimes he behaves like a young officer. The characters are similar but opposite at the same time. One of them strives for ostentatious activity, the second does not find worthy for himself, one is helpless and weak - the other is omnipotent in the power of subordinating others to his power. Pechorin is in conflict with society, and it is Grushnitsky who is part of this society. Weakness of character is not a vice until it leads to meanness. The slander, loosened by an old acquaintance, hurts Grigory, but the meanness of the act of a man ready to be deceived in a duel makes him cruel. “I decided to give all the benefits to Grushnitsky; I wanted to experience it; a spark of generosity could wake up in his soul, ”but “vanity and weakness of character” triumphed, turned out to be stronger than honesty. Grushnitsky dies, but Pechorin does not have the triumph of the winner, only bitterness and emptiness.

Throughout the events of "Princess Mary" next to the main character is another character that helps us to see deeper and more fully the character of Pechorin. Dr. Werner, at first glance, is very similar to Grigory himself. Having become friends, “reading each other in the soul,” these two people never became close. Pechorin's reflections on the impossibility of friendship pushes us to understand the reason: friendly relations cannot arise where indifference and selfishness predominate, where there is a habit "to look at the suffering and joys of others only in relation to oneself."

We discover the individualism of the hero in every act, in any action: the rapture from the consciousness of power over the Faith, the ingenuity with which Grigory tries to capture the heart of the naive princess, the “game” with Grushnitsky. Does the hero understand the motives of his actions and impulses, does he evaluate them correctly? “I weigh, analyze my own passions and actions with strict curiosity, but without participation. There are two people in me: one lives in the full sense of the word, the other thinks and judges him. Only a person who is aware of the slightest movements of his soul can write like this, which means that the individualistic essence of his own character is not a secret for Pechorin. Moreover, the view “on the suffering and joy of others only in relation to oneself, as food that supports my spiritual strength ...” is the basis of his worldview.

But because Pechorin and the "hero of the time", which is part of the era, he is characterized by a constant split in spirit, subtle introspection. Following the principle of individualism, Gregory creates his own theory of happiness. “My first pleasure is to subordinate everything that surrounds me to my will; arouse a feeling of love, devotion and fear for oneself ... To be the cause of suffering and joy for someone, without having any positive right to do so - is this not the sweetest food of our pride? And what is happiness? Intense pride." But even she cannot make the hero happy, there is no feeling of superiority and power in his soul. Moreover, thinking about the emptiness of being, about the boredom that does not let go, Pechorin comes to the conclusion about the purpose for which he was born and which he could not comprehend: “it’s true, I had a high appointment, because I feel immense strength in my soul.”

Seeing the main character through the eyes of Maksim Maksimych, the officer-narrator, reading the pages of the magazine, we seem to learn so much about him that we comprehended the "history of the human soul."

"I like to doubt everything"

Can the final chapter of the novel add new touches to the image of the hero? Pechorin and Lieutenant Vulich, who made a bet on whether a person can arbitrarily dispose of his life, or whether a fateful minute is predetermined for everyone, are very similar. Both of them are closed, easily subjugate people, they are worried about the inevitability of fate. “There is no predestination,” is the opinion of Gregory. Vulich, a man of passions, is convinced of something else.

Having believed for a moment in predestination after the lieutenant’s shot, “the evidence was striking”, “I stopped myself in time on this dangerous path and, having the rule not to reject anything resolutely and not trust anything blindly, I threw metaphysics aside ...”, - narrates the author of the magazine. Experiencing fate, Pechorin is bold and decisive, risking his life. And in his diary he ironically remarks: “After all this, how would it seem not to become a fatalist? But who knows for sure whether he is convinced of what, or not? .. and how often we take for conviction a deception of the senses or a mistake of reason! .. "

Only now do we see Pechorin’s true conviction: “I like to doubt everything: this disposition of mind does not interfere with the decisiveness of character - on the contrary, as far as I am concerned, I always go forward more boldly when I don’t know what awaits me.” And here Pechorin is true to his time - he is ready to revise the answers to the questions that life puts before him. Pechorin does not follow the "wise people", rejects their faith. Comparing the ancestors and descendants to which he refers himself, he comes to the conclusion that he is incapable of "greater sacrifices for the good of mankind." There is no faith, but there is also nothing that could be found in return. One thing remains: a person is the creator of his own destiny, he can only rely on his own “I”. Pechorin's individualism originates in disbelief, he is the desire to answer questions about the meaning of life, the purpose of man.

An analysis of Lermontov’s work “A Hero of Our Time” allows you to delve deeper and penetrate into the “history of the human soul”, understand the nature and singularity of the image of Pechorin and the reader himself to think about the eternal questions of being.

Artwork test

HISTORY OF CREATION OF THE WORK

The pinnacle of creativity Lermontov-prose writer. Of course, Lermontov, first of all, is a poet. His prose works are not numerous and appeared during the period of domination of poetic genres in Russian literature.

The first prose work is the unfinished historical novel "Vadim" about the era of the Pugachev rebellion. This was followed by the novel "Princess of Lithuania" (1836) - another important stage in the development of Lermontov as a writer. If “Vadim” is an attempt to create an exclusively romantic novel, then in the subsequent work, the main character Georges Pechorin is a completely full-fledged type characteristic of realistic prose.

It is in "Princess Ligovskaya" that the name of Pechorin first appears. In the same novel, the main features of his character are laid, as well as the author's style is developed and Lermontov's psychologism is born.

However, "A Hero of Our Time" is not a continuation of the novel "Princess of Lithuania". An important feature of the work is that the entire period of Pechorin's life in St. Petersburg is hidden from the reader. His capital past is mentioned only in a few places with vague hints, which creates an atmosphere of mystery and mystery around the figure of the main character. The only work completed and published during the author's lifetime.

A Hero of Our Time is a book that Lermontov worked on from 1837 to 1840, although many literary critics believe that work on the work continued until the author's death. It is believed that the first completed episode of the novel was the story "Taman", written in the autumn of 1837. Then "The Fatalist" was written, and the idea of ​​combining the stories into one work arose only in 1838.

In the first edition of the novel there was the following sequence of episodes: "Bela", "Maxim Maksimych", "Princess Mary". In August - September 1839, in the second intermediate edition of the novel, the sequence of episodes changed: "Bela", "Maxim Maksimych", "Fatalist", "Princess Mary". Then the novel was called "One of the heroes of the beginning of the century."

By the end of the same year, Lermontov created the final version of the work, including the story "Taman" in it and arranging the episodes in the usual order for us. Pechorin's Journal, a preface to it, and the final title of the novel appeared.

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COMPOSITION

The plot of the novel (the sequence of events in the work) and its plot (the chronological sequence of events) do not match. The composition of the novel, as conceived by the author, is as follows: "Bela", "Maxim Maksimych", "Taman", "Princess Mary", "Fatalist". The chronological order of events in the novel is different: "Taman", "Princess Mary", "Bela", "Fatalist", "Maxim Maksimych". Five years pass between the events described in the story "Bela" and Pechorin's meeting with Maxim Maksimych in Vladikavkaz.

The most recent entry is the narrator's preface to Pechorin's journal, where he writes that he learned about his death. It is noteworthy that not only the chronology of events is violated in the work, but there are also several narrators.

The story begins with a mysterious storyteller who does not give his name, but in the preface to the magazine he indicates that he "took the opportunity to put his name on someone else's work."

Then the whole story of Bela is told by Maxim Maksimych in the first person. The narrator returns again, who sees with his own eyes the first and only appearance of the "live" Pechorin throughout the entire novel. Finally, in the last three parts, the main character himself narrates in his own name.

The composition is complicated by a technique called a novel in a novel: Pechorin's notes are part of someone else's work - a novel that the narrator writes. All other stories were written by him, one of them is stated from the words of the staff captain.

Such a complex multi-level composition serves to deeply reveal the image of the main character. First, the reader sees him through the eyes of a biased staff captain who clearly sympathizes with Pechorin, then through the objective gaze of the narrator, and finally, the reader gets to know Pechorin “personally” by reading his diary. It was not expected that Pechorin's notes would be seen by someone else, so his story is completely sincere.

With the gradual and closer acquaintance with the main character, the reader's attitude towards him is formed. The author tries to make the text as objective as possible, devoid of his own obsessive position - one where only the reader will have to give answers to the questions that have arisen and form their own opinion about Pechorin's personality.

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The complex composition of the work determined its genre. Lermontov chose the most unconventional option - mixing them both in form and content.

Small stories, short stories, essays were combined into one single work, turning small prose forms into a full-fledged big novel. Each story of the "Hero of Our Time" can act as an independent work: each has a complete plot, plot and denouement, its own system of characters.

What, in fact, unites them into a novel is the central character, officer Pechorin. Each of the stories is a reflection of a certain genre literary tradition and style, as well as its author's processing. "Bela" is a typical romantic novel about the love of a European man for a savage woman.

This popular plot, which can be easily found both in Byron and Pushkin in the southern poems, and in a huge number of authors of that time, Lermontov transforms it with the help of a narrative form. Everything that happens is passed through the prism of perception of the kind, simple and even too straightforward Maxim Maksimych.

The love story takes on new meanings and is perceived differently by the reader. In Tamani, a typical plot of an adventure novel is revealed: the main character accidentally falls into the lair of smugglers, but still remains unharmed. The adventure line prevails here, in contrast to the novel "The Fatalist". It also has a very exciting plot, but it serves to reveal the semantic concept.

"The Fatalist" is a philosophical parable with an admixture of a romantic motif: the characters talk about fate, fate and predestination - the cornerstone values ​​of this literary movement.

"Princess Mary" - the author's vision of the genre of "secular" story. Pechorin's entire journal refers to a well-known problem raised by many authors - Lermontov's predecessors and contemporaries. It is no coincidence that the author himself in the preface recalls the work of J.-J. Rousseau "Confession". The image of Pechorin, of course, had prototypes in the works of Russian classical literature, the most significant of which were "Woe from Wit" by A. S. Griboyedov and "Eugene Onegin" by A. S. Pushkin.

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Portrait. Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin - an officer of “medium height: his slender, thin frame and broad shoulders proved a strong build, able to endure all the difficulties of nomadic life and climate change, not defeated either by the debauchery of metropolitan life, nor by spiritual storms; his dusty velvet frock coat, fastened only with the bottom two buttons, made it possible to discern the dazzlingly clean linen, which exposed the habits of a decent person.

His gait was careless and lazy, but I noticed that he did not swing his arms, a sure sign of a certain secretiveness of character. At first glance at his face, I would not have given him more than twenty-three years, although after that I was ready to give him thirty. There was something childlike in his smile.

His blond hair, curly by nature, so picturesquely outlined his pale, noble forehead, on which, only after a long observation, one could notice traces of wrinkles crossing one another. Despite the light color of his hair, his mustache and eyebrows were black - a sign of breed in a person, he had a slightly upturned nose, teeth of dazzling whiteness and brown eyes ... ".

Hero of our time.

The title of the work certainly alludes to the central character. The whole novel is written about Pechorin, and his image continues the galaxy of heroes, revealing the literary theme of "an extra person."

“I am a fool or a villain, I do not know; but it is true that I am also very pitiful, in me the soul is corrupted by the light, the imagination is restless, the heart is insatiable; everything is not enough for me: I get used to sadness just as easily as to pleasure, and my life becomes emptier day by day; I have only one means left: to travel” - these words strike Maxim Maksimych to the depths of his soul.

A man who is still so young and has his whole life ahead of him has already known light, and love, and war - and he has had time to get tired of all this. However, Lermontov's character differs both from foreign prototypes and from domestic literary brethren in misfortune.

Pechorin is a bright extraordinary personality, he does contradictory things, but he cannot be called an inactive idler. The character combines not only the features of an "extra person", but also a romantic hero, capable of exploits, able to risk his life and appreciating freedom above all blessings.

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GRUSHNITSKY

Portrait. “Grushnitsky is a cadet. He is only a year in the service, wears, in a special kind of foppery, a thick soldier's overcoat. He has a St. George soldier's cross. He is well built, swarthy and black-haired; he looks to be twenty-five years old, although he is hardly twenty-one years old.

He throws his head back when he speaks, and continually twists his mustache with his left hand, for with his right he leans on a crutch. He speaks quickly and pretentiously: he is one of those people who have ready-made pompous phrases for all occasions, who are simply not touched by the beautiful and who importantly drape in extraordinary feelings, sublime passions and exceptional suffering.

The portrait of Grushnitsky is given through the eyes of the protagonist. Pechorin mockingly describes the external features and especially the internal properties of Grushnitsky's soul. However, he also sees his pluses, notes in his diary his beauty, wit (“He is rather sharp: his epigrams are often funny, but there are never marks and evil: he will not kill anyone with one word ...”), courage and goodwill (“in those moments when he throws off his tragic mantle, Grushnitsky is quite sweet and funny").

Reflection Pechorin. Gregory writes about his friend: “I understood him, and he does not love me for this. I don’t like him either: I feel that someday we will collide with him on a narrow road, and one of us will be unhappy. Grushnitsky irritates Pechorin with his theatricality and posturing. In the descriptions of the officer, the junker looks like a typical hero of a romantic novel. However, the features of Pechorin himself are easily guessed in the image of the opponent.

The protagonist sees his degraded and somewhat distorted, but still reflection. That is why Grushnitsky causes so much hostility in him and a desire to put him in his place. Pechorin's egoism, as well as narcissism (let us pay attention to his words about Grushnitsky: "He does not know people and their weak strings, because he has been occupied with himself all his life") - features also inherent in his antagonist, ultimately lead both characters to tragic events.

It is no coincidence that the protagonist in the end does not experience triumph when he sees the bloody body of a man who wanted not only to laugh at him, but also to harm him in a vile way, if not kill him. Pechorin sees in the fate of the deceased Grushnitsky and his own future.

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MAXIM MAKSIMYCH

The hero has many positive traits; he immediately wins over the reader. This is a simple person, "does not like metaphysical debate at all", but at the same time very friendly and observant.

The cold, almost rude behavior of Pechorin at their last meeting deeply hurts the hero. Maxim Maksimych is the only unambiguously positive hero. It evokes sympathy and sympathy not only from the narrator, but also from the reader. However, this character is in many ways opposed to Pechorin.

If Pechorin is young, smart and well educated, has a complex mental organization, then Maxim Maksimych, on the contrary, is a representative of the older generation, a simple and sometimes narrow-minded person who is not inclined to dramatize life and complicate relations between people. But it is worth paying attention to the main difference between the characters.

The captain is kind and sincere, while Pechorin is always secretive and has malicious intent, which follows from the confessions in his diary entries. Maxim Maksimych is a character that helps to reveal the essence and complexity of the nature of the protagonist.

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Werner is ugly, his natural ugliness is especially emphasized by Pechorin. In the appearance of Werner there is a resemblance to the devil, and ugliness always attracts even more than beauty. The Doctor is Pechorin's only friend in the novel.

“Werner is a wonderful person for many reasons. He is a skeptic and a materialist, like almost all doctors, and at the same time a poet, and in earnest - a poet in deed, always and often in words, although in his life he did not write two verses. He studied all the living strings of the human heart, as one studies the veins of a corpse, but he never knew how to use his knowledge.

Usually Werner surreptitiously mocked his patients; but I once saw how he wept over a dying soldier ... ". In conversations between Werner and Pechorin, one can feel how close their views on life are. Werner perfectly understands the nature of a friend. The doctor, like Grushnitsky, is a reflection of Pechorin, but he is a true friend (he learns that ill-wishers want to load one pistol, settles things after a duel).

But Werner was disappointed in Pechorin: "There is no evidence against you, and you can sleep peacefully ... if you can."

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FEMALE IMAGES

In all short stories of the novel, except for the part "Maxim Maksimych", there are female characters. The two largest stories in terms of volume are named by female names - "Bela" and "Princess Mary". All the women in the novel are beautiful, interesting and smart in their own way, and all, one way or another, are unhappy because of Pechorin.

The work presents several female images: Bela - a Circassian girl, Vera - a married lady, Pechorin's old love, Princess Mary and her mother, Princess Ligovskaya, a smuggler from Taman, beloved Yanko. All women in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" are bright personalities. But none of them could keep Pechorin close to him for a long time, tie him to himself, make him better. He accidentally or deliberately hurt them, brought serious misfortunes into their lives.

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Portrait. “A girl of about sixteen, tall, thin, her eyes are black, like those of a mountain chamois, and looked into your soul.” A young Circassian, the daughter of a local prince, is an amazingly beautiful, young and exotic girl.

role in the novel. Bela is almost the wife of Pechorin, who is so afraid to link fate forever with a woman. As a child, a fortune-teller predicted his death from an evil wife, and this impressed him very much. Bela is the last beloved of the hero, judging by the chronology and the facts that appear before the reader. Her fate is the most tragic.

The girl dies at the hands of a robber, from whom Pechorin helped to steal a horse. However, the death of his beloved is perceived by him with some relief. Bela quickly got bored with him, turned out to be no better than the capital's secular beauties. Her death made Pechorin free again, which is the highest value for him.

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Princess Mary

Portrait. The princess is young and slender, always tastefully dressed. Pechorin says this about her: “This Princess Mary is very pretty. She has such velvet eyes - velvet indeed: the lower and upper eyelashes are so long that the rays of the sun are not reflected in her pupils. I love these eyes without shine: they are so soft, they seem to be stroking you ... ".

role in the novel. The young princess becomes a deliberate victim of Pechorin. To spite Grushnitsky, who is in love with her, and in order to be able to see his mistress and relative of the princess more often, the main character plans to fall in love with Mary. He does this easily and without a twinge of conscience. However, from the very beginning, he did not even think about marrying the princess. “... I often, running through the past with my thoughts, ask myself: why did I not want to set foot on this path, opened to me by fate, where quiet joys and peace of mind awaited me? No, I would not get along with this share! - here is Pechorin's confession after describing the last meeting with the princess.

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Portrait. Werner, in a conversation with Pechorin, mentions a woman whom he saw at the Ligovskys, "a relative of the princess by her husband." The doctor describes her like this: “she is very pretty, but she seems to be very sick ... She is of medium height, blonde, with regular features, consumptive complexion, and a mole on her right cheek: her face struck me with its expressiveness.”

role in the novel. Vera is the only woman Pechorin says he loves. He understands that she loved him more than other women. He rushes to her at full speed to see her for the last time, but his horse dies, and they never have time to meet.

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PSYCHOLOGISM IN THE NOVEL

A Hero of Our Time is the first psychological novel in Russian literature. An increased interest in the personality, the inner world of the character, the image of his soul in order to reveal the essence of human nature - these are the tasks that Lermontov faced.

Self-analysis in Pechorin's journal. The notes made by the protagonist are a transition to a direct psychological portrayal. There are no more barriers between Pechorin and the reader, now it is an open dialogue between them. Confession to the interlocutor. In remarks addressed to Werner and Princess Mary, Pechorin sincerely confesses his feelings and thoughts.

Retrospective assessment. Pechorin recalls previously committed actions and analyzes them. For the first time, this method of introspection appears at the end of "Taman", where the hero talks about his role in the fate of other people, in particular "honest smugglers". Psychological experiment. Pechorin checks on his own experience the reaction of other people and himself. Thus he manifests himself as a man of action and as a man with deep analytical abilities.

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On the way from Tiflis, the narrator meets a staff captain named Maksim Maksimych. They make part of the journey together. In the evenings, Maxim Maksimych shares interesting stories about life in the Caucasus and talks about the customs of the locals. One of these stories begins at the wedding of the daughter of a local prince.

A young officer, Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin, served under the command of the staff captain. Maxim Maksimych became friends with him. They were invited to a wedding in the village. The youngest daughter of the prince, Bela, approached Pechorin at the celebration and "sang to him like a compliment." Pechorin also liked the pretty princess. The local robber Kazbich was also at the celebration. Maxim Maksimych knew him, because he often brought sheep to the fortress and sold them cheaply. There were various rumors about Kazbich, but everyone admired his horse, the best in Kabarda.

That same evening, Maxim Maksimych accidentally witnessed a conversation between Kazbich and Azamat, Bela's brother. The young man begged to sell him a beautiful horse. He was even ready to steal his sister for him, because he knew that Kazbich liked Bela. However, the wayward robber was adamant. Azamat got angry, a fight broke out. Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin returned to the fortress.

The captain told his friend about the overheard conversation and the quarrel between two men. Some time later, someone stole Kazbich's horse. It happened like this. Kazbich brought sheep to the fortress for sale. Maxim Maksimych invited him to tea. The friends were talking, when suddenly Kazbich changed his face, rushed into the street, but saw only the dust from the hooves of the horse on which Azamat was running away. Kazbich's grief was so great that he "lay face down like a dead man", "he lay like that until late at night."

Kazbich went to the village to Azamat's father, but did not find him. The prince left somewhere, and, thanks to his absence, Azamat managed to steal his sister for Pechorin. Such was the agreement: Pechorin helped steal Kazbich's horse in exchange for Bela. The officer secretly settled the girl at his place. He showered her with gifts, hired servants for her, but Bela got used to it very slowly. Once Grigory could not stand it and said that if she was so disgusted with him and she could not love him, then he would immediately leave wherever his eyes looked. But Bela threw herself on Pechorin's neck and begged to stay. The officer achieved his goal - he won the heart of an adamant girl.

At first everything was fine, but soon Pechorin got bored with a happy life, he realized that he no longer loved Bela. More and more often, the officer went into the forest to hunt for long hours, and sometimes for whole days. Meanwhile, Maxim Maksimych became friends with the prince's daughter.

Bela often complained to him about Gregory. Once the staff captain decided to talk with Pechorin. Grigory told his friend about his unfortunate character: sooner or later he gets bored with everything. He lived in the capital, but pleasures, high society, and even studies - everything was disgusting to him. And so Pechorin went to the Caucasus in the hope that "boredom does not live under Chechen bullets." But even after a month they ceased to excite the hero. Finally, he met Bela and fell in love, but quickly realized that "the love of a savage woman is little better than the love of a noble lady."

Once Pechorin persuaded Maxim Maksimych to go hunting with him. They took people, left early in the morning, found a wild boar by noon, started shooting, but the beast left. The unfortunate hunters went back. Already at the very fortress there was a shot. Everyone rushed towards the sound. Soldiers gathered on the rampart and pointed to the field. And a rider was flying along it, holding something white on the saddle.

Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin rushed to catch up with the fugitive. It was Kazbich who had stolen Bela to avenge his loss. Having caught up with the rider, Grigory fired, Kazbich's horse fell. Then Maxim Maksimych fired, and when the smoke cleared, everyone saw a girl and Kazbich running away next to the wounded horse. The robber stabbed the girl in the back.

Bela lived for two more days, dying in terrible agony. Pechorin did not close his eyes and sat by her bed all the time. On the second day, Bela asked for water, she seemed to feel better, but after three minutes she died. Maxim Maksimych led Pechorin out of the room, his own heart breaking with grief, but the officer's face was calm and expressionless. This indifference struck Maxim Maksimych.

Bela was buried behind the fortress, by the river, near the place where Kazbich abducted her. Pechorin was unwell for a long time, lost weight, and three months later he was transferred to another regiment, and he left for Georgia. What happened to Kazbich, the staff captain did not know.

While Maksim Maksimych had been recounting this story to the narrator for several days, the time had come for their parting. Due to the heavy luggage, the staff captain could not follow quickly; On this, the heroes said goodbye. But the narrator was lucky enough to meet the staff captain again.

After parting with Maxim Maksimych, the narrator quickly reached Vladikavkaz. But there he had to stay for three days in anticipation of an opportunity - a cover accompanying the carts. Already on the second day Maxim Maksimych arrived there. The staff captain prepared an excellent dinner for two, but the conversation did not fit - the men saw each other not so long ago. The narrator, who had already begun to sketch his own story about Bel and Pechorin, believed that he would not hear anything more interesting from Maxim Maksimych.

Several wagons drove into the yard. Among them was a wonderful, nifty travel carriage. The heroes took the new arrivals as an expected opportunity. But it turned out that this carriage belonged to the same Pechorin who served with Maxim Maksimych. The captain wanted to see him right away. But the servant announced that his master had stayed to supper and spend the night with a colonel he knew.

Maxim Maksimych asked the servant to tell Pechorin what was waiting for him. The elderly military man could not find a place for himself and did not go to bed, thinking that Pechorin was about to come. The narrator was very curious to meet a man about whom he had already heard so much. Early in the morning the staff captain went on official business. Pechorin appeared at the inn, he ordered to collect things and lay the horses.

The narrator recognized Pechorin and sent for Maxim Maksimych. He ran as fast as he could to see an old friend. But Pechorin was cold, spoke little, said only that he was going to Persia, and did not want to stay even for dinner. When the carriage started, the captain remembered that he had Pechorin's papers in his hands, which he wanted to return to him at the meeting. But Gregory did not take them away and left.

The clatter of the wheels of Pechorin's carriage had long ceased, and the old man still stood in thought, and tears now and then welled up in his eyes. He complained about the youth, scolded his old friend for his arrogance, and still could not calm down. The narrator asked what kind of papers Pechorin had left with Maxim Maksimych.

These were personal notes, which the now vexed staff captain was about to throw away. Delighted by such luck, the narrator asked to give Pechorin's papers to him. The men parted rather dryly, the angry staff captain became stubborn and quarrelsome.

The narrator got Pechorin's papers: it was an officer's diary. In the preface, he writes about what he learned about the death of Gregory in Persia. This fact gave, according to the narrator, the right to publish Pechorin's notes. However, the narrator assigned his own name to someone else's work. Why did he decide to publish someone else's diary?

“Rereading these notes, I was convinced of the sincerity of the one who so mercilessly exposed his own weaknesses and vices. The history of the human soul, even the smallest soul, is almost more interesting and useful than the history of a whole 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.

So, one desire for usefulness made me print excerpts from a magazine that I got by chance. Although I have changed all my proper names, but those of whom it speaks will probably recognize themselves, and perhaps they will find justification for the actions of which until now they have accused a person who no longer has anything in common with this world: we are almost we always excuse what we understand.”

The narrator writes that he placed in this book only those materials that related to Pechorin's stay in the Caucasus. But he mentions that he still had a thick notebook in his hands, which describes the whole life of an officer. The narrator promises that someday she will appear for the judgment of the readers.

With a stay in Taman, Pechorin's diary begins for the reader. The officer arrived in this "bad little town" late at night. Pechorin was obliged to allocate a service apartment, but all the huts were occupied. The officer's patience was coming to an end, he was tired on the road, it was cold at night. The ten's manager offered the only option: “There is one more fater, only your nobility will not like it; it's unclean!" Without going into the meaning of this phrase, Pechorin ordered to take him there. It was a small house on the very shore of the sea. The door was opened by a blind boy of about fourteen. The owner was not in the house. Pechorin, together with the Cossack batman, settled down in the room.

The Cossack instantly fell asleep, but the officer could not sleep. About three hours later, Pechorin noticed a flashing shadow, then another. He got dressed and quietly left the house. A blind boy walked towards him. The man hid himself so that he would not be noticed, and followed the blind man.

Some time later, the blind man stopped on the shore. Pechorin followed him. A girl appeared. Very quietly, they began to discuss whether another of their comrades would come. Soon, despite the storm and the darkness, a boat arrived. A man brought something in a boat. Each took a bundle, and they all left.

The next morning, Pechorin found out that he would not be able to leave for Gelendzhik today. The officer returned to the hut, where not only the Cossack was waiting for him, but also the old housewife with the girl. The girl began to flirt with Pechorin. He told her what he saw at night, but achieved nothing. Later in the evening the girl came, threw herself on Grigory's neck and kissed him. She also told me to come ashore at night when everyone was asleep.

He did just that. The girl led him to the boat and offered to sit in it. The hero did not have time to come to his senses, as they were already swimming. The girl deftly and nimbly rowed away from the shore. Then she threw his gun into the sea and tried to throw the officer himself into the water. However
the man was stronger and he threw her overboard. Somehow, with the help of the remains of an old oar, Pechorin moored to the pier.

On the shore, the officer saw a girl, he hid in the bushes and waited for what would happen next. The same man arrived on the boat as the previous night. From snatches of an overheard conversation, Pechorin realized that they were smugglers. The chief of them, named Yanko, left this place, taking the girl with him. The blind man was left with almost no money in Taman.

Returning to the hut, Pechorin discovered that a poor boy had stolen all his things. There was no one to complain to, and the next day the officer managed to leave the ill-fated town. He did not know what had become of the old woman and the blind man.

Part two
(End of Pechorin's journal)

The events described in this part of Pechorin's journal cover about a month and take place in Pyatigorsk, Kislovodsk and the surrounding area. On the very first day of his stay on the waters, Pechorin meets his acquaintance Junker Grushnitsky. Both do not like each other, but pretend to be great friends.

They are discussing the local society, when suddenly two ladies walk past the men. They were Princess Ligovskaya with her daughter Mary. Grushnitsky really liked the young princess, and he tried to get to know her. From the first meeting, the princess began to dislike the impudent Pechorin and showed curiosity and goodwill towards Grushnitsky.

Pechorin had another friend in the city - Dr. Werner. He was a very intelligent and sharp-tongued man who really aroused Pechorin's sympathy. Once Werner went to visit the officer. During the conversation, it turned out that Pechorin intended to mock
over the ardent Grushnitsky and hit on the princess. In addition, Werner reports a newcomer woman, a distant relative of the princess. In the description of the woman, Pechorin recognizes his old love - Vera.

One day Pechorin meets Vera at the well. She is a married woman, but their feelings are still strong. They develop a dating plan: Pechorin should become a regular guest of the Ligovskys' house, and so that they are not suspected, look after Mary. A good chance at the ball contributes to the fact that Pechorin is invited to the house of the Ligovskys. He thinks over a system of actions to make the princess fall in love with him.

Deliberately did not pay due attention to her, he always moved away when Grushnitsky appeared. But, as was to be expected, the Junker quickly bored Mary, and Pechorin aroused more and more interest. One day the whole society went for a horseback ride. At some point in the journey, Pechorin tells Mary that as a child he was underestimated and not loved, so from an early age he became gloomy, heartless and became a "moral cripple." This made a strong impression on the young sensitive girl.

At the next ball, Mary danced with Pechorin and completely lost interest in Grushnitsky. Vera left with her husband for Kislovodsk and asked Grigory to follow her. Pechorin leaves for Kislovodsk. After a few days, the whole society also moves there. The heroes go on a short excursion to watch the sunset. Pechorin helped the princess's horse cross the mountain river. Mary felt dizzy, and the officer grabbed her by the waist to keep her in the saddle.

He kissed her furtively on the cheek. By the reaction of Princess Pechorin, he realized that she was in love with him. Returning home that evening
the hero accidentally overheard a conversation in a tavern. Grushnitsky and his friends organized a conspiracy against him: he wanted to challenge him to a duel without loading his pistols. The next morning, Pechorin met the princess at the well and admitted that he did not love her. Soon he received a note from
Faith with an invitation. Her husband was away for a few days and she made sure to stay in the house alone. Pechorin arrived at the appointed time.

However, when he left, he was ambushed by conspirators. A fight took place, but Pechorin managed to escape. On the morning of the next day, Grushnitsky, who did not notice Pechorin, began to tell that they had caught him under the windows of the princess. After that, Grushnitsky was called to a duel. Werner was chosen as a second. He returned an hour later and told what he could hear in the house of the rivals. They changed the plan: now only Grushnitsky's pistol should be loaded. Pechorin has his own plan, which he does not tell Werner about.

The heroes meet early in the morning in a quiet gorge. Pechorin offers to resolve everything peacefully, but is refused. Then he says that he wants to shoot, as agreed, at six paces, but on a small platform above the abyss. Even a slight wound will be enough for the enemy to fall into the abyss. The mutilated corpse will be proof of the accident, and Dr. Werner will prudently remove the bullet. Everyone agrees. Grushnitsky is the first to shoot by lot. He easily wounds the enemy in the leg. Pechorin manages to stay over the abyss. He should shoot next. Pechorin asks if Grushnitsky wants to ask
forgiveness. After receiving a negative answer, he asks to load his gun, because he noticed that there was no bullet in it. It all ends with the fact that Pechorin shoots at the enemy, he falls off the cliff and dies.

Returning home, Pechorin receives a note from Vera. She says goodbye to him forever. The hero tries to make it to the last meeting, but on the way his horse dies. He visits the princess. She is grateful that Grigory protected her daughter from slander, and is sure that Pechorin wants to marry her, the Princess has nothing against the wedding, despite the position of the hero. He asks to see Mary. The officer forces the princess, offended by his previous confession, to tell her mother that she hates him.

This is an episode from the life of Pechorin when he lived in a Cossack village. In the evening, a dispute ensues among the officers about whether there is fate and predestination. Serb Vulich, a hot player, enters the dispute. “He was brave, spoke little, but sharply; did not confide his spiritual and family secrets to anyone; I hardly drank wine at all, I never followed young Cossack women.

Vulich offers to test for himself whether a person can manage his own life. Pechorin jokingly offers a bet. He says that he does not believe in predestination, and poured all the contents of his pockets onto the table - about two dozen chervonets. The Serbian agrees. Moving into another room, Vulich sat down at the table, the others followed him.

Pechorin for some reason told him that he would die today. Vulich asked one of his comrades if the pistol was loaded. He didn't remember exactly. Vulich asked Pechorin to get and toss a playing card. As soon as she touched the table, he pulled “the trigger of the pistol put to his temple. I There was a misfire. Then the Serb immediately shot at the cap hanging over the window and shot it through. Pechorin, like everyone else, was so amazed by what happened that he believed in predestination and gave the money.

Soon everyone dispersed. On the way home, Pechorin stumbled over the corpse of a chopped pig. Then I met two Cossacks who were looking for a drunken, raging neighbor. Pechorin went to bed, but was awakened at dawn. Vulich was killed. Pechorin followed his colleagues.

3.8 / 5. 66

In fiction, a type of antithesis narration has developed, based on a dialogue-dispute, on a comparison of different points of view. In this case, the author's thought develops in theses and antitheses, in arguments for and against, so that events, pictures, and images obey this rule. In the logic of connections, the ratio of parts and segments of the text, the reproduced pictures are evidential. The real functioning of artistic thinking is connected with the analytical, logical thinking of the writer. In this case, we have in mind not just the arrangement of chapters, but their connection, collision, interaction. The analysis of relationships, connections of parts, chapters, segments of the text is the analysis of the logical foundations of the text (the level of the author's consciousness).

Antithesis structures in their very nature are close to the dialogue of ancient authors, philosophers, and writers. In the philosophical conversations of Socrates (Socratic dialogues), the search for truth was based on the logic of contradictions, as a result of checking all the arguments for and against. Socratic dialogue has an internal logic of self-disclosure. Not an argument for the sake of an argument (sport), not an argument-game and an argument-exercise (among the sophists), but an argument-research. In the course of the dispute, doubt may arise, which is important in itself. Socrates keeps himself "questioning" all the time. The main tendency of his conversations was to cause confusion among the interlocutors, the belief in the falsity of the arguments presented. Socrates' interlocutors came to the conclusion that what we knew was refuted.

The very method of research is thus proof; the essence lies in the method itself. In theses and antitheses, analysis, search and achievement of truth are expressed. Philosophers, writers, scientists turned to the dialogic form, and it was honed by them as an image of the collision of different points of view, helping not only to enrich the argument, but also to use it as a secret writing style. Writers who held controversial opinions used to use the most ingenious arguments, set forth with various ambiguities, resorted to irony. This is a plastic manner in which the question and answer are not random in relation to the goal. Such a dialogue can be fully called poetic art.

The discursive method (a method of reasoning, conclusions and evaluations) entered fiction as a result of the active intrusion of the author's principle. This very process, based on the development of logical links, of which each subsequent one depends on the previous one, is the process of comprehending the art of inferential knowledge. Here, of course, we mean not the cognitive process as such, but an artistic act in participation in rational thinking. On this basis, all sorts of paradoxes of thinking, a yes-no position, a thesis-antithesis relationship, can be presented. The scheme "thesis-antithesis" means the movement of the author's thought in the interruption of voices, points of view, positions. Chapters, parts, segments of the text may be in opposition to different opinions, statements.

The antithesis system of narration is stable and developed on the basis of the activation of the author's value judgments; typical forms of artistic, journalistic and philosophical understanding of the world and man are associated with this system of narration.

The dialogical form of narration is characteristic primarily for works with a pronounced subjective beginning, when the author acts as an active narrator, includes a narrator or a number of narrators. This form of narration is typical, first of all, for Russian literature, which has always sharply answered the questions of the time, actively involved in the struggle of ideas (ethical, philosophical, revolutionary) and declared its self-expression.

In this area, writers who inherited the civilian trend in world literary practice were quite well prepared. The philosophical dialogues of Socrates aroused Herzen's admiration for the wisdom of the "technique" of proof. He had before him images of the "strict logical harmony of historical thinking" of the Greeks. "Their endless disputes - these are bloodless tournaments, where there is as much grace as strength - were youthful prancing in the strict arena of philosophy." Pushkin and Gogol revealed the everyday and social processes of interaction between the individual and the environment. But even then, the civil literature of Radishchev and the Decembrists put forward the idea of ​​a heroic thinking person, able to control the mind and the laws of history. In these depths, the socio-philosophical prose of Herzen and Lermontov takes shape.

Not a personality in itself, as self-sufficient in its exclusivity (this is how romantics like “lubomudry” and members of Stankevich’s circle viewed it), but a creative person who is entrusted with the mission of rebuilding life according to his own mind — such questions worried Belinsky and Herzen. Human activity in cognition of the world, they believed, is due to the interest in using the results of cognition in transforming the world.

A kind of verification of the "fatalistic" process of the development of life finds its expression in the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time" (1839 - 1840). The solution to the problem of fatalism as a right or lack of rights, will or fate, as well as a person and the environment, a person and society - in this setting, the thoughts of the author and the hero are presented in the novel. It was a kind of dispute both with the romantics and with the spirit of the Schellian time in Europe and in Russia.

Lermontov thought about whether a person can arbitrarily dispose of his life, or each of us is assigned a fateful minute in advance. Lermontov switches the private dispute about fatalism to the plane of understanding the human right to reasonable, controlled action. It leads the reader to the realization of human intervention in the very course of events.

Hence the polemical resolution of Pushkin's idea of ​​the character of the hero, attempts to overcome the unambiguity of determinism. The hero's exit into the world of social harmony on the basis of the efforts of the person himself is quite indicated. That is why Lermontov was enthusiastically received by Belinsky and Herzen, and since the publication of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” and the appearance of Belinsky’s article about him in “Notes of the Fatherland”, sharp disputes have unfolded related to understanding the urgent questions about the thinking and active personality of the hero of the 40s. . Belinsky noted that there are places in Pechorin’s notes when “he blurts out and contradicts himself, destroying all the previous ones with a page. In fact, the author's thought unfolds in the direction of resolving opposing statements. Lermontov, as it were, evades a direct answer to the resolutely posed question: “And if there is definitely predestination, then why are we given will, reason?” But the pictures and images unfold with turns now in one direction, then in the other, if we also take into account that the two main episodes in the chapter "The Fatalist" in a certain sense oppose each other: in the episode with Vulich, Vulich's death is a thesis, in the episode with Pechorin the risk and luck in the scene with the drunken Cossack is the antithesis. "After all this (the murder of Vulich by a drunken Cossack - A.B.) how not to become a fatalist?" (Thesis). “But who knows for sure whether he is convinced of what, or not? .. and how often we take for conviction a deception of the senses or a mistake of reason!” (Antithesis). The last statement continues the argument, now relegated to the realm of judgmental action: “I am always bolder when I do not know what awaits me. After all, nothing worse than death will happen - and death cannot be avoided!

Lermontov proceeds from the romantic notion of the exclusivity, mystery and chosenness of the individual, and in antitheses questions this notion that has developed in literature and philosophy. In the novel, the motives for and against the motives of exclusivity, the choice of the hero are constantly confronted in theses for and against, and right there the “landing” of his actions and actions. In the novel itself there is a confession on this score: “Since the time I live and act, 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 the necessary face of the fifth act; involuntarily I play the pitiful role of an executioner or a traitor. What purpose did fate have for this?.. Haven’t I been appointed by her to be the writers of petty-bourgeois tragedies and family novels, or to the staff of the supplier of stories, for example, for the “Library for Reading?” ..

Each of the romantic situations finds its logical conclusion and is resolved (as in ancient tragedy) by a moral verdict, inevitable retribution. The inner plan of the novel is reduced to the clash of such psychological layers as self-expression, the will of the hero in actions and deeds and his analytical self-confessions. So Pechorin evaluates his actions and pronounces a sentence on himself: “I weigh and analyze my own passions and actions with strict curiosity, but without participation. There are two people in me: one lives in the full sense of the word, the other thinks and judges him. In such an arrangement of the events of the novel, it is not just a polemic, but the very principle of artistic thinking, the dialogue of the narrative.

In the chapter "Bela", which opens the novel, Pechorin knows no obstacles in achieving his selfish goals. By all means, he wants to subdue Bela, who for him is just a victim of passion and selfishness: “She is mine, because she will not belong to anyone but me.” Bela's resistance methodically and calculated breaks ("The devil, not a woman!" - he answered: "Only I give you my word of honor that she will be mine").

The location of the characters in the chapter "Bel" is maintained according to the principle of antithesis, during which the actions and deeds of the "romantic villain" are refuted (and rejected). Pechorin's victims in the story of Bela's abduction are her brother Azamat, who disappeared without a trace after he managed to take possession (with the help of Pechorin) of Kazbich's horse, and then a chain of other tragic events: the death (at the hands of Kazbich) of Bela's father, the death of Bela at the hands of Kazbich, revenge for his love for her and for his broken life. "Bela" is "the first link in a long chain of stories in which the hero experiments to test the" thirst for power ".

In the chapter "Maxim Maksimych" an antithesis parallel is deployed: Pechorin - Maxim Maksimych. These two images are given in contrast, as an argument and a counter-argument, primarily in an underlined social opposition. The poor staff captain Maxim Maksimych, offended by the cold reception (cold meeting) with Pechorin, says: “What is in me for him? I’m not rich, I’m not official, and besides, he’s not at all a match for his years ... Look, what a dandy he has become, how he was again in Petersburg ... What a carriage! .. How much luggage! .. And such a proud footman! ."

In the chapter "Taman" an act of will, arbitrariness, uninvited interference in the life of smugglers and the consequence of this - the broken, ruined life of the heroes also collided. “And why did fate 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 almost sank by itself! Having learned the secret of the smugglers, the girl, her fiancé Yanko and the blind boy who was their liaison, Pechorin involuntarily turned out to be the culprit of the discord of these people, the breaking of their nest, the orphanhood of the blind boy, left to the mercy of fate (“the blind boy was crying, and for a long, long time. ..").

Cause - effect - cause - such is the cycle of life's trials and psychological experiments of Pechorin. Every time the slightest failure makes him want to torment others. It is as if called upon to "destroy other people's hopes." Out of boredom, Pechorin captivates Mary, achieves her love in order to say cruel words: “Princess,” I said: “You know, I laughed at you! .. You must despise me.” In his confessions, he is frank and merciless. His monologues are full of bold statements: “I feel this insatiable greed in me, devouring everything that comes my way; I look at the sufferings and joys of others only in relation to myself, as food that supports my spiritual strength.

It seems that in all chapters, from beginning to end, the power of fate, the law of predestination, operates. The blows of fate are, as it were, natural and in all cases inevitable. In the chronological plan of events, the chapter of "Bel" should be the last. After Bela, Pechorin's life ends. His death is, as it were, an inevitable retribution, a moral retribution. But in this course of events, all the issues of the novel have not yet been resolved. The following problem is also posed here: “... can a person arbitrarily dispose of his life, or is each of us pre-assigned a fateful minute ...” In such a formulation of the question, Lermontov goes beyond romantic ideas about the predestination of fate.

There are two narrative plans in the novel: plot (chronological) and plot-compositional. At the same time, two aspects of the perception of events are opposed to each other according to the principle of thesis-antithesis. The last chapter "The Fatalist" in the composition of the novel is the beginning of new events, new searches for the hero, the assertion of the right to act in the name of the good of people. In the chronology of events, the theme of fate and fate is considered as a consequence of the fatal influence of life circumstances to which the hero blindly submits (chapters "Taman", "Princess Mary", "Fatalist", "Bela", "Maxim Maksimych"). The “fatalist” opposes this formula, and the events in it are turned towards the condemnation of blind passions in blind submission to life circumstances: “... we are no longer capable of great sacrifices, either for the good of mankind, or even for our own happiness, because we know it impossibility, and indifferently we pass from doubt to doubt, as our ancestors rushed from one error to another, having, like them, neither hope, nor even that indefinite, although true pleasure that the soul meets in any struggle with people, or with fate ...".

In this case, one aspect is explicit, and the other is hidden. This is the secret of inverted composition. In the first part of the novel ("Bela", "Maxim Maksimych", "Taman") - the mystery of the hero, in the second part (Princess Mary, Fatalist) - the desire to understand oneself, overcome selfishness, disunity, disunity with people, declare a fundamental program life behavior. Lermontov conducts an experiment to test the spiritual freedom of a person and discovers "the failure of individualistic skepticism as a general worldview, as a philosophy of life."

Therefore, reasoning about a person, his nature, his character, upbringing, the environment and social factors of being are natural and logical in the novel. Here we are faced, on the one hand, with the desire to destroy the philosophy of voluntarism and, on the other hand, to overcome the notion of the exclusive dependence of the individual on the environment and circumstances.

Pechorin is trying to explain and justify all his actions by the circumstances of his upbringing, to blame secular society with its prejudices for everything. But the hero constantly contradicts himself, goes astray in his judgments, so that his reasonings are sometimes antinomic in nature. The question is put like this: "I have an unhappy character: did my upbringing make me like this, did God create me like that ...". And the answer is well-known: "... my soul is corrupted by the light." In the reflective reasoning of the hero, the usual logic of inferential judgment is maintained on the basis of the opposition of two members of the proof: “I was gloomy, other children are cheerful and talkative; I felt superior to them (1) - I was placed below (2). I became envious //. I was ready to love the whole world (1) - no one understood me (2): and I learned to hate //. My colorless youth flowed in the struggle with myself and the light; my best feelings, fearing ridicule, I buried in the depths of my heart; they died there. I told the truth (1) - they did not believe me (2): I began to deceive" //.

The point of disagreement in the inferential judgment is that the judgment takes the formula "either-or", one excludes the other. In Pechorin's syllogisms, one position is replaced by another. The idea put forward in the thesis is refuted by the second member of the proof, and this is the point of disagreement and the means of substantiating some other truth in the irony of the author's dispute with the hero of the novel. In comparison with the enlightenment idea of ​​a “pure person” and the well-known dominant of the unconditional power of the environment, Lermontov approaches the problem ambiguously. In the dialectic of the author's searches, social and natural motives do not exclude one another. In any case, in a collision with people, Pechorin is not a victim, not a suffering person, but on the contrary, others are dependent on him and suffer and die through his fault. He is a victim of his own imperfection, his own temper, lust for power and self-will.

In search of an answer to the riddles of human nature, it is natural to talk about “passions”, about natural inclinations, about the stages of “self-knowledge” and “strict accountability” in the process of self-knowledge, about the “highest state” of improvement: “... the soul, suffering and enjoying , gives a strict account of everything and is convinced that it should be so; she is imbued with her own life, she cherishes and punishes herself like a beloved child. Only in this highest state of self-knowledge can a person appreciate the justice of God.

Belinsky in the article “A Hero of Our Time” developed this idea in detail in relation to Lermontov’s hero due to the cyclical nature of a person’s life, his movement to a higher state of “mind”, “spirit”, “thought”, following, like Lermontov, Hegel’s concept of the spirit of knowledge and improvement, about the "transitional state of mind" (Belinsky). But at the same time, Belinsky concretizes (realizes) the conclusion about the improvement of the spirit and mind, based on Pechorin’s position in Russian society: “His spirit is ripe for new feelings and new thoughts, the heart requires a new attachment: reality is the essence and character of all this new.”

For Lermontov, there is a need to look for a way out for his hero on the basis of a reasonable application of forces to "real life", to recognize his duty to sacrifice himself "for the good of mankind", and this is a moral feat, a feat of life. The chapter "The Fatalist" is a refutation of the fatalism of Pechorin, who blindly obeyed the power of circumstances. Opposite motifs constantly collide in the dialectic of his searches: the executioner and the victim, the emptiness of life and the craving for achievement, the meaninglessness of being and the pursuit of perfection, selfishness, lust for power and the desire to merge with people, to overcome the gap with them.

In the episode with Vulich, to whom Pechorin predicted death, the death of Vulich at the hands of a drunken Cossack is a thesis. In the episode with Pechorin, who risked his life to protect people from a criminal, risk and luck are the antithesis: “I like to doubt everything: this disposition of mind does not interfere with the decisiveness of character - on the contrary, as far as I am concerned, I always go forward when I don't know what awaits me." In the chapter “The Fatalist”, the events narrated in it are the crown of this “highest state” of the spirit: “I grabbed his hands; the Cossacks burst in, and three minutes had not passed before the criminal was tied up and taken away under escort. The people dispersed. The officers congratulated me - and for sure, it was with what!

So in "A Hero of Our Time" just before the beginning of the 1940s, new spheres of portraying the positive hero were outlined. The problem of humanism within the dream of some supreme duty to people and society is the most important historical and literary problem, in connection with which it is only possible to study the work of Lermontov as a writer who has gone through a short but difficult path of his development. After Pushkin, who discovered man in a social environment, Lermontov's idea of ​​the supra-social world will find its development in the artistic structure of the narration of writers with pronounced polemical tendentiousness: Herzen - Turgenev; Chernyshevsky - Turgenev, Dobrolyubov; Chernyshevsky - Dostoevsky; Chernyshevsky - Tolstoy.

Lermontov's internal dialogue, a dispute with the hero, with the concept of the fatal influence of the environment and circumstances, is expressed in the author's "Preface" to the novel and in the "Preface" to Pechorin's Journal. This is already a new link in the composition of the novel, its final conclusion. “You will tell me again that a person cannot be so bad, but I will tell you that if you believed the possibility of the existence of all tragic and romantic villains, why do you not believe in the reality of Pechorin?” ("Foreword" to the novel). And: “Rereading these notes, I became convinced of the sincerity of the one who so mercilessly exposed his own weaknesses and vices. The history of the human soul, even the smallest soul, is perhaps more curious and more useful than the history of a whole people ... ”(“ Preface ”to“ Pechorin’s Journal ”).

For all the complexity of the problem, Lermontov stops before the mysteries of human nature itself. Thus, an exit to Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov is planned. The dialogical nature of artistic thinking characteristically distinguishes writers engaged in the search for ideas, the resolution of philosophical disputes, and the formulation of ethical problems. The style of free composition, internally concentrated and purposeful, arguments for and against, forming the author's evidentiary text - in such a system of author's narration, Lermontov's novel is a natural link in Russian literature. Hegel argued that all reality is saturated with opposites, the struggle between which is the driving force of its development. Kant's antinomies, which retain the right of an unresolved statement, Hegel's triad (the synthesis of the thesis and antithesis) corresponded to the spirit of the era, its searches and progress. The aesthetic and philosophical principle of the polarity of human nature, which took shape in romanticism, finds its way out in the analytical system of Lermontov to a realistic knowledge of the world and man.