Why is Pechorin “an extra person”? Pechorin - "an extra person" (based on the novel "A Hero of Our Time") The ability to manage and lead.

Why do we attribute Pechorin to the superfluous people of his time ??? and got the best answer

Answer from Maxim Yu. Volkov[guru]
A Hero of Our Time is the first Russian realistic psychological novel in prose. The novel raises a topical problem: why do smart and energetic people not find use for their remarkable abilities and “wither without a fight” at the very beginning of their career? Lermontov answers this question with the life story of Pechorin, a young man belonging to the generation of the 1930s. In the image of Pechorin, the author presented an artistic type that absorbed the features of a whole generation of young people at the beginning of the century.
In the preface to Pechorin’s Journal, Lermontov writes: “The history of the human soul, even the smallest soul, is perhaps more curious and more useful than the history of an entire people ...”
Such an ideological task of the author determined the peculiar construction of the novel. Its peculiarity is the violation of the chronological sequence of events.
The novel consists of five parts, five stories, each with its own genre, its own plot and its own title. Only the main character unites all these stories into something whole, into a single novel.
A special place in the novel is occupied by the last three stories - this is the story of Pechorin's life, written by himself. This story is presented in the form of a diary (“Princess Mary”), as well as in the form of notes that the hero compiled some time later.
Lermontov emphasizes that Pechorin's confession is quite sincere, that he was a strict judge to himself and "mercilessly exposed his own weaknesses and vices."
Pechorin - "an extra person." His behavior is incomprehensible to others, because they have a common point of view on life, common in a noble society. With all the difference in appearance and differences in characters, Onegin from the novel by A.S. Pushkin, and the hero of the comedy A.S. Griboedov's "Woe from Wit" - Chatsky, and Lermontov's Pechorin belong to the type of "superfluous people", that is, people for whom there was no place or business in the society around them. Belinsky said about Pechorin: “This is the Onegin of our time, the hero of our time. Their dissimilarity among themselves is much less than the distance between Onega and Pechora. Herzen also called Pechorin "Onegin's younger brother".
What is the similarity between Pechorin and Onegin? Both of them are representatives of high secular society. There is much in common in the history of their youth: at the beginning, the same pursuit of secular pleasures, then the same disappointment in them, the same boredom that owns them. Just like Onegin, Pechorin stands on an intellectual level above the surrounding nobility. Both of them are typical representatives of thinking people of their time, critical of life and people.
But that's where the similarities end. Pechorin is a person different from Onegin in his spiritual make-up, he lives in other socio-political conditions.
Onegin lived in the 1920s, before the Decembrist uprising, at the time of socio-political revival. Pechorin is a man of the 30s, a time of rampant reaction, when the Decembrists were defeated, and the revolutionary democrats as a social force had not yet declared themselves.
Onegin could go to the Decembrists (which Pushkin thought to show in the tenth chapter of the novel), Pechorin was deprived of such an opportunity. That is why Belinsky said that "Onegin is bored, Pechorin suffers deeply." Pechorin's position is all the more tragic because he is by nature more gifted and deeper than Onegin.
This talent is manifested in Pechorin's deep mind, strong passions and steel will, allows him to correctly judge people, about life, and to be critical of himself. The characteristics given by him to people are accurate and marks. Pechorin's heart is able to feel deeply and strongly, although outwardly he keeps calm, for "the fullness and depth of feelings and thoughts does not allow frantic impulses."
Pechorin is a strong, strong-willed nature, thirsty for activity. But for all his giftedness and wealth of spiritual strength, he, by his own just definition, is a "moral cripple." His character and all his behavior are extremely contradictory.
This inconsistency is clearly reflected in his appearance, which, like all people, reflects the external

"A Hero of Our Time" - a novel by M.Yu. Lermontov - is unusual in that it consists of five parts, each of which can exist independently, but at the same time they are all united by the image of the main character - Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin. The author himself in the preface of the novel says that his image is collective: “The hero of our time, my gracious sovereigns, is like a portrait, but not of one person: it is a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development.”

Lermontov draws the main character for us as a man of average height, slender, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, with small hands, blond hair. But he emphasizes a number of details: firstly, he does not swing his arms when walking, which indicates secrecy, and secondly, the author draws our attention to his eyes. “They didn’t laugh when he laughed! This is a sign of either an evil disposition, or a deep constant sadness.

Pechorin does not see a goal in life for himself, and this is his main tragedy. This is how he describes the formation of his character: “Everyone read on my face the signs of bad qualities that were not there; but they were supposed - and they were born. I was modest - I was accused of slyness: I became secretive. I deeply felt good and evil; no one caressed me, everyone insulted me: I became vindictive; I was gloomy - other children are cheerful and talkative; I felt myself superior to them - I was placed below. I became envious. I was ready to love the whole world - no one understood me: and I learned to hate. My colorless youth passed in the struggle with myself and the light; my best feelings, fearing ridicule, I buried in the depths of my heart: they died there. I spoke the truth - they did not believe me: I began to deceive; knowing well the light and springs of society, I became skilled in the science of life and saw how others without art are happy, enjoying the gift of those benefits that I tirelessly sought. And then despair was born in my chest - not that despair that is cured at the muzzle of a pistol, but cold, powerless despair, hidden behind courtesy and a good-natured smile. I became a moral cripple: one half of my soul did not exist, it dried up, evaporated, died, I cut it off and threw it away, while the other moved and lived at the service of everyone, and no one noticed this, because no one knew about the existence of her deceased half."

Pechorin suffers from loneliness. He regrets that there is no person on earth who could understand him. Making entries in his diary, he himself tries to understand himself, mercilessly describing all his shortcomings. He does not deceive himself, which is no longer so easy for a person.

The protagonist is quickly fed up with everything, both hobbies and people. He makes many women unhappy, ruthlessly ruining their lives. He is aware of this, but he cannot change it in any way: “I run through my memory of all my past and ask myself involuntarily: why did I live? For what purpose was I born?.. But, it’s true, it existed, and it’s true, I had a high purpose, because I feel immense forces in my soul ... But I didn’t guess this purpose, I was carried away by the lures of empty and ungrateful passions ; from their furnace I came out hard and cold as iron, but I lost forever the ardor of noble aspirations - the best color of life. And since then, how many times have I played the role of an ax in the hands of fate! As an instrument of execution, I fell on the heads of doomed victims, often without malice, always without regret... My love brought happiness to no one, because I did not sacrifice anything for those whom I loved: I loved for myself, for my own pleasure; I only satisfied the strange need of the heart, greedily absorbing their feelings, their tenderness, their joys and sufferings - and could never get enough.

Vera is the only one of all his women with whom he did not get bored. He still loves her dearly and suffers when she leaves.

In some ways, he can be compared with Onegin: he is also overcome by constant melancholy, he is also tired of social life. But if Onegin changes by the end of the novel, transforms, then Pechorin remains a prisoner of his boredom.

Pechorin is tired not of life, but of its absence: “In my soul is spoiled by light, my imagination is restless, my heart is insatiable; everything is not enough for me ... ”This is the main difference between Pechorin and Onegin. He mistakenly believed that he had already experienced everything, and he needed nothing more than peace and solitude.

Pechorin is a strong, whole, self-sufficient nature. He is a man of enormous spiritual strength, and the fact that he spends them on the abduction of Bela, an affair with Princess Mary, single combat with Grushnitsky, and not on long service to officials, is the most important feat of a hero of our time.

A Hero of Our Time is the first realistic socio-psychological novel in Russian literature, in which the author's attention is focused on revealing the hero's inner world, on the dialectics of his soul, on an in-depth psychological analysis of his feelings and experiences, on the "history of the human soul".

The novel by M. Yu. Lermontov consists of five stories, each of which has its own name, its own complete plot, but they are all united by the image of the main character - Pechorin.

The protagonist of the novel lives in the thirties of the XIX century,

During the period of the most severe political reaction that occurred in the country after the defeat of the December speech of 1825. At this time, a person of advanced thought could not find an application for his strength. Disbelief, doubt, denial have become features of the consciousness of the younger generation. Lermontov summarized the character traits of this generation in the image of Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, explaining that the “Hero of Our Time” is a portrait made up of the vices of the entire ... generation, in their full development, ”the generation of the thirties of the XIX century.

Pechorin is a nobleman-intellectual of the Nikolaev era, its product and victim rolled into one. He

He received a typical education and upbringing for the youth of that time. Leaving the care of his relatives, he began to madly pursue pleasures and pleasures that could be obtained for money. The author resorts to his favorite form of narration - confession. From Pechorin's magazine, the reader learns about his life in the big world, about how he fell in love with secular beauties and was loved. We can judge the appearance of the hero from the story of a passing officer in the chapter "Maxim Maksimych". In terms of its cultural level, the narrator is close to Pechorin, which affected his perception of the character of the hero of the novel. In his description, he pays special attention to Pechorin's eyes: “... they did not laugh when he laughed. This is a sign - or an evil disposition, or a deep constant sadness. Because of half-lowered eyelashes, they shone with some kind of phosphorescent brilliance ... It was not a reflection of the heat of the soul or a playful imagination: it was a brilliance like the brilliance of smooth steel, dazzling, but cold ... "

There is an image of a man who has experienced a lot and is devastated. This portrait outlined the contradictions both in the external and in the inner world of Pechorin. They partially opened the veil of the secret of the character of the hero, outlined in the chapter "Bel", in which the portrait of the hero is given through the eyes of Maxim Maksimych, for whom Pechorin is a mystery. For the first time in Russian literature, the author gives a deep psychological portrait of his hero. He is presented in the story "Princess Mary". The character of the protagonist is revealed through the system of characters in this story.

However, the author's desire to reveal the inner world of the hero was reflected in the composition of the novel. The culmination of the whole work is Pechorin's understanding of his destiny in life a few hours before his possible death, before the duel: “... why did I live? For what purpose was I born? And, it’s true, it existed, and, it’s true, I had a high appointment, because I feel immense forces in my soul ... ”But the hero cannot find his place in life.

The main contradiction of Pechorin's nature is in the ability to act and in the insignificance of actions. Therein lies his tragedy.

The character of the hero is extremely contradictory. One of its main features is, according to V. G. Belinsky, “reflection”. Pechorin made himself an object for observation, he constantly analyzes his every act, thought, feeling (“If I am the cause of the misfortune of others, then I myself am no less unhappy”). It is as if two people live in it: "one acts, and the other judges his actions."

He quickly got bored with social life. He had already experienced everything, he knew everything, he was fed up with everything and was disappointed. Pechorin realizes that "the ignorant are happy, and fame is luck." In this sense, Pechorin's understanding of life is akin to the worldview of the lyrical hero of the poem "Duma" (1838):

And we hate, and we love by chance,

Sacrificing nothing to either malice or love,

And some kind of secret cold reigns in the soul,

When the fire burns in the blood.

The hero tries to do science, reads books, but he soon gets bored with everything and gets bored:

Dreams of poetry, creation of art

Sweet delight does not stir our minds.

He is aware that in the society where he is, he will never find friends for himself, that he will remain misunderstood:

We dried up the mind with fruitless science,

Taya enviously from neighbors and friends

Unbelief ridiculed passions.

The hero of the novel admits: "In my soul is corrupted by the light." Once in the Caucasus, he hopes that "boredom does not live under Chechen bullets." But he quickly gets used to the whistle of bullets. He remains misunderstood in the water society of Pyatigorsk. But the hero strives to "love the whole world", but it turns out to be lonely.

Pechorin's situation is tragic. He's really "an extra person". He becomes such, because in his development he goes further than the majority, developing into a personality doomed to live in the "land of slaves, the land of masters."

Having created the image of Pechorin, Lermontov destroyed the romantic ideal of a contemporary, but the actions of the hero are not indicators of either his merits or shortcomings. The author tried to explain to the reader the reasons that influenced the formation of Pechorin's character. To all the people with whom the fate of the hero collides, he brings misfortune, violating the moral laws of society. He cannot find a place anywhere for himself, an application for his remarkable strengths and abilities, therefore Pechorin is superfluous wherever fate throws him.

The concept of "extra person" appears in the literature of the 19th century. The superfluous is not just a person rejected by society, these are people who do not find a place for themselves in the surrounding reality. Why is Pechorin "an extra person"? The answer lies deep in the content of the classic.

Cause of individuality

Gregory is distinguished by a selfish nature. Pechorin explains this state of inner emptiness. Why did the young man begin to look at people from the side, as if they were actors on stage performances? The boy's life was empty and monotonous. All actions were interpreted, according to Gregory, incorrectly, at their own discretion. He was analyzed by the same empty people, corrupted by laziness and prosperity. The boy wanted to be modest, they tried to convict him of something, he began to hide his feelings and thoughts.

Without receiving affection and sincere care, he becomes angry and cruel. The young man believed in love and waited for it, but because of misunderstanding he began to hate women and men. Gradually, Gregory moves away from the noble society, does not find real friends among the military. He begins to feel like a "superfluous person." Watching what is happening from the side, conducting constant experiments, where human relations are at the center, he becomes an insightful cynic who knows in advance the result of his actions.

Versatile interests

Pechorin cannot be considered superfluous due to the inability to find one's destiny due to a lack of intelligence. Gregory is smart and developed. He could give society a lot of useful things, but seeing the essence of the noble disunity, interest is lost in everything. Pechorin is fond of literature, cools down to it, becomes a regular in the capital's evenings, but the usual entertainment of youth becomes difficult and boring for him. Pechorin begins to wander around the country. Gregory is trying everywhere to find an application for his strengths and interests, but his "selfish nature" causes grief to people who get in his way. Bela, Undine, Mary - women suffering from the actions of Pechorin. It's a pity for the blind boy left with a beggar old woman with no means of subsistence. The theme of superfluous people resonates with the development of new youth.

Ability to manage and lead

Pechorin seeks to find thrills in life in order to understand the meaning and feel new bright moments. He is not afraid of Chechen bullets, goes to a duel, knowing about the unloaded pistol, enters the house of the killer Vulich. Bullets cease to frighten him, he leads the duel to a tragic result for Grushnitsky, the drunken Cossack cannot cope with Pechorin. Gregory understands that he himself is in charge of his own destiny and is able to play the fate of others. He admits that "I had a high destiny."

Pechorin feels “immense forces in himself”, but does not find application for them. The hero of his time, if we proceed from the title of the story "A Hero of Our Time", becomes an extra person. How and why is this possible?

This is a sign of the times. People who are smart, active and energetic leave society, become unsociable or cruel, they cannot change their own beliefs, but they cannot change the environment either. The hero of time is the "sad soul" of the era, according to V. Belinsky, a type of people who have turned away from society.

The result of the life of superfluous people

Pechorin dies. The author tries to convey to the reader several important truths. A person must have a goal. Senseless vegetation leads to physical or moral death. Which is scarier, I don't know. Some people live without benefiting society, but they are not interested in this either. Such people celebrate, have fun, it seems, lead a bright interesting life. In fact, this is the monotony that completes the decomposition of the soul. Pechorin could become the leader of the youth movement for the better, but he takes on the image of being bored in a storm. No resistance, no development. Life stops. Heroes turn into worthless observers, unwilling to help, destroying and slowly dying.

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov was born on October 3, 1814 in Moscow in the family of a captain. Childhood years are spent in the Tarkhany estate of the Penza province. He studied at Moscow University. Lermontov spoke many languages.

At the beginning of the 19th century, works appeared in Russian literature, the main problem of which is the conflict between a person and the society surrounding him. A new image is being created - an "extra person", rejected, spiritually unclaimed by society.

In the novel A Hero of Our Time, Lermontov creates the image of such a person. This way is Pechorin.

Pechorin was born into a wealthy noble family, so from a young age he was in the circles of influential people. However, he soon got bored with the “light” of society with its empty entertainment “that can be obtained for money” - points, festive dinners and, of course, masquerades with their tedious conversations and lack of practical activities. Pechorin was drawn to education and the sciences, but quickly decided for himself that "happiness is more likely to be found in ignorance and wealth," and "he did not want fame." This hero is internally devastated. The reason for his emptiness can be found by learning about his upbringing. From the very beginning of his life, he was doomed to an empty future. Proof of this can be found by reading his diary: “I was modest - I was accused of deceit: I became secretive. I deeply felt good and evil. Nobody caressed me. Everyone insulted me. I became vindictive. I was ready to love the whole world - no one understood me and I learned to hate.

Pechorin is depicted in the novel as a victim of noble people. Thus, from childhood he became a cruel, vindictive and cynical person, he gradually moved away from people, lost faith in life and love.

Throughout the novel, the hero tries to fight his inner emptiness. But all his efforts end in failure. All the things he starts are doomed to failure. He understands this and suffers greatly from it. His suffering is expressed in the constant struggle between humanism and cynicism. Pechorin describes all this in his diary. In the struggle with himself, he "exhausted the heat of the soul and the constancy of the will" necessary for an active life. All this makes Pechorin an "extra person" in public terms.

He is also weak psychologically. Pechorin does not want to make new acquaintances, communicate with smart people. He is weighed down by spiritual and emotional intimacy. He has no friends and he doesn't love anyone. He explains this by the fact that friendship is never based on equality, and by the fear of losing personal freedom.

From this we can deduce that this hero values ​​​​only his independence. He is so freedom-loving that he strongly expresses the desire to subordinate everything and everything, even love, to his will.

Pechorin's closest people are only Dr. Werner and Vera. With Dr. Werner, he shares a feeling of loneliness. They are also united by mental disorder, as well as a similar mindset.

We can say about Vera that she is "the only woman in the world." He loves her selflessly and disinterestedly. However, in these relations there are problems that are difficult for him to solve.

Pechorin is constantly fighting fiery passion and cold indifference.

Thus, the extreme selfishness of Pechorin shows his uselessness in all respects. Focusing on his own problems and aspirations, the hero does no good to anyone and does not bring happiness, we can conclude that he is closed in on himself.

Even he himself admits that he "became a moral coward."