“Taman” is the first short story from “The Diary of Pechorin”, written allegedly by the main character of the work - Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin. It plays a rather important role in the plot and fate of the character, on the one hand, complementing the psychological portrait of the hero, revealing many of his important qualities and character traits, and on the other, helping to compare Pechorin with “natural” people living far from the shackles of civilization and secular conventions - “honest” smugglers.
So, "Taman", a summary. The name itself turns us to a small geographical point called Pechorin (we repeat, Lermontov writes most of the "Caucasian" chapters of the novel on his behalf) a nasty town where he was robbed and almost drowned.
Departing to Pyatigorsk by order, Pechorin was forced to linger in Taman, waiting for transport. The search for an apartment leads him to the city outskirts, where the hero meets a strange boy: he is blind, which is clearly visible through his whitish eyes, and moves along steep winding paths adroitly and boldly, as if he sees everything perfectly. The blind man speaks stupidly enough, interfering with Russian words and Little Russian dialect, and in general, makes a not very pleasant impression. The entire novel "Taman", a brief summary of it, in many respects resembles a detective work. The master of intrigue, Lermontov from the very beginning interested the reader and kept him in suspense throughout the whole story.
And the adventures of Pechorin continue. The hut, where he had to lodge, without an icon in the
red corner, and, as the hero himself writes in the diary, is clearly a "unclean" place. But on the roof of the barn, he sees a girl
in a striped dress, who sings a mysterious song. “Undine” is remarkably beautiful, and therefore Pechorin is trying to make acquaintance with her. And the hero overhears a conversation between a blind man and a girl, more like a secret conversation between two accomplices.
Further, “Taman,” a summary of the story, becomes more and more intriguing. Pechorin is thirsty for adventure, and here fate itself takes care that he will not be bored. The hero tracks down secret paths along which at night a boy and an undine make their way to the seashore. It turns out that they are smugglers, and are engaged in criminal fishing. On the one hand, Pechorin’s curiosity is satisfied, on the other, he wants to penetrate the riddle to the end. He himself is courageous no less smugglers, adventurous streak is in the character of the hero. And therefore, he simply cannot miss the chance to at least somewhat diversify his boring existence.
Of course, it is better to read the entire "Taman" - a brief summary cannot betray the plot fully. However, it is clear that the short story does not end on a major note. The smuggler girl almost drowned the young officer. The blind boy stole from him a box of money and a saber. But he disturbed the peace of these people, living according to their own laws. As a result, the Undine and Yanko left those places, leaving the unfortunate blind beggar and starving, as well as his grandmother, a lonely old woman. Pechorin heard how desperate the boy was talking about his fate, and how the indundant beauty answered him indifferently and heartlessly, throwing miserable pennies for his services. And for us, for readers, this episode makes a painful impression. And Pechorin is no longer glad that he got involved in
this adventure. We understand this by reading even a brief summary - “Taman” ends with the sad conclusion of the hero that he had to play the role of an ax in the hands of fate, destroying the fate of those with whom his life faces. And it is very accurate to compare Pechorin himself with a lone brig plowing the open sea - a brig that is set free of the wind and waves and wanders aimlessly on the horizon.
For Lermontov, in general, the novel “The Hero of Our Time”, “Taman”, the brief content of which we recalled, in particular, is an important work that occupies a central place in the work. In it, the author tried to draw a portrait of his generation - people of the 30s-40s of the 19th century, smart, educated, talented, but never claimed by either their country or era.
Without any life goals, high aspirations, and deep spiritual thoughts, people like Pechorin are wasting their time in vain for nothing and, in the end, they become “superfluous,” “self-willed selfishly,” self-loathing.