Respect is the desire of writers and poets to create a work about their generation. So it is written "Eugene Onegin", "Doctor Zhivago", "Quiet Don". Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov also managed to convey to his descendants that it was his Pechorin who was the hero of his time.
The composition of this novel was begun by a 24-year-old poet, and completed when he was 26 years old. How little time he needed to become a classic! Lermontov saw the publication of his creation. He had a year left before the fateful duel in Pyatigorsk ...
Lermontov continued the tradition of “heroes of the time”
This novel drew the line of the life searches and disappointments of the gifted poet, its result was the loser Pechorin. “Heroes of the time” is an essay that has become traditional for Russian literature after Pushkin’s Onegin. However, a reasonable question arises: “Why do these heroes so easily allow life circumstances to drive themselves into a corner, make them superfluous in society?”
Why the character Pechorin is in conflict with society
Unhappy love, a heavy character, a broken personality ... For Pechorin (and, therefore, for Lermontov) there were no half-tones, he perceived reality either in white or in black. The latter is proved by the recollections of Prince A. I. Vasilchikov, who told me that Lermontov with the majority of people was “arrogant and fervent” and only with a very narrow circle of closest friends - sincere.
However, having walked a life course similar to the hero of his novel , Mikhail Yuryevich was sure: Grigory Pechorin was a hero of his time. The composition of the plot of the work illustrates this.
Chronological logic of the novel
In it, the author departs from the real chronology of events, which, according to the logic of time, should look like this:
Title of the story | Short storyline |
"Taman" | The young officer Pechorin arrives at the service in the current unit. |
Princess Mary | After the military expedition, the main character of the novel rests in Pyatigorsk. Pechorin is a hero (as he positions himself). Based on this premise, he ignores elementary moral principles. |
Bela | Link to service in the fortress after a duel that ended with the murder of Grushnitsky. |
"Fatalist" | Leaving the main character of the fortress for a couple of weeks. |
"Maxim Maximovich" | Meeting with Maxim Maximovich on the road to Persia. |
Realized in the novel order of events
To understand the personality orientation of Lermontov’s character, we first formulate a well-known eastern idiom that gives, as it seems to us, the key to understanding it: “If I knew who I really am, then I would not live like the one I live I take it as myself. ”
That is his problem! He cannot understand how to come into a state of harmony with the outside world and with people. Restless in life, restless Pechorin is the hero of his time. Lermontov’s work therefore discards the usual course of events and follows its internal logic - the evolution of the personality of Grigory Alexandrovich. The sequence of parts of the novel naturally changes dramatically:
Title of the story | Short storyline |
Bela | The hero, in spite of the stagnation of high society, is trying to wake up for the senses. Pechorin abducts the horny woman Bela in order to satisfy her desires, and then, without thinking about the consequences, leaves. She is dying. |
"Maxim Maximovich" | The hero of his time is depressed, but he does not repent of Bela's death. The reader sees Pechorin in communication with Maxim Maximovich. He is trying to awaken the mental strength of the young officer, but Gregory only wants to end this conversation as soon as possible. |
"Taman" | In this story, an active, dynamic Grigory Alexandrovich worries "honest smugglers." Realizing that he brought misfortune to these people, he reflects. |
Princess Mary | Pechorin in Kislovodsk acts meanly and unethically with the daughter of Princess Ligovskaya: she falls in love with herself, and then announces that she does not love her. In addition, he provokes a conflict with Grushnitsky and kills him in a duel. |
"Fatalist" | All the feelings of the hero are suppressed. He considers himself superior to them and tries to understand something that governs personalities. After Vulich kills himself in the game "Hussar Roulette" after the prediction, the main character wonders if there is any fate. |
The real nature of Pechorin
Lermontov is trying to show that indeed the cynic and egoist Pechorin is a hero of his time. The work of the poet confirms to us: Gregory himself does not know what he is doing. Indulging his desires and amusing himself with people, like a cat with a mouse, he rushes through life like a ball along an inclined plane, gaining critical acceleration and knocking everything in its path. So what is the reason for the tragedy of this person? Could Pechorin stop, ending his disastrous path?
Obviously, yes! The problem is that he, understanding the destructiveness of his egoistic aspirations, does not try to limit them. The result is obvious - degradation. He appears before the readers first as an individualist who wants happiness (Bela), then confused and depressed from his delusions (Maxim Maximovich), then he becomes convinced that, without realizing it, he is causing trouble for people (Taman), then he turns into a monster, bringing evil to people (“Princess Mary”), and finally, he is emasculated by passions and is internally ready to accept, as a gift, meaningless death (“Fatalist”).
And where is the wisdom?
To be honest, Pechorin is hardly the hero of his time. Lermontov’s work simply follows the path of life and the train of thoughts of himself. (Indeed, even during the time of the Nikolaev reaction there were much more people who were in harmony with society.)
And the poet ended his life path is extremely ridiculous ...
For a long time, without restraint, he was pestering the former cavalry guard Martynov with evil and insulting witticisms (the testimonies of the witnesses of this case are unanimous). It was as if the demon had infiltrated Mikhail Yuryevich. Paradoxically, Lermontov himself actually became the initiator of this fateful duel in Pyatigorsk.
Doesn't it smell like metaphysics? A year before his death, the poet "kills" the protagonist of his work, moreover, "written off" from himself! It remains only to ask the question: "Is a terrible storm that erupted over Pyatigorsk at the moment when Lermontov lost his spirit?" (the latter is documented in the police report).
Conclusion
Can it be argued that Pechorin is a hero of transitional time? Lermontov's writing of this novel refutes this idea in itself. He is simply one of many types found in Russia in the first half of the 19th century. Indeed, besides him, there is a sensitive and human Maxim Maksimovich, there is the noble and enthusiastic Princess Mary, there are those engaged in illegal fishing, but nevertheless they are quite humane smugglers. Grigory Alexandrovich as an image in the novel is not typical of them!
In addition, the hero of Lermontov, despite his sharp mind, is "empty from the inside." It does not have a spiritual feedback mechanism harmonizing its relations with people and society. For a Christian country, which was and is Russia, it is simple: humility and repentance. The logic here is clear. Repent sincerely of Pechorin after the stupid things that he had done in the Bela novel, and the novel would turn into the only novel ending with a happy end.
But no ... Having begun to "step on the mop," Pechorin steps on her until she breaks his head ...
Well, what else can I say? "Fools and roads…"