The story "Princess Mary" (Which story did I like the most and why?) The most voluminous story of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov's large complex novel in every sense "A Hero of Our Time" is "Princess Mary". The most voluminous, both in terms of the sense that fits in it, and physically, and in terms of meaning for the entire novel. It is very complex, just like the character of the protagonist, which is finally revealed in this story. "Princess Mary", in my opinion, is the most interesting part of "A Hero of Our Time", but I want to note that it is interesting in the same way as "Taman" is the most vague, and "Bela" is the strangest. The most subtle and complex moments of Pechorin's character are described here, and are described in the first person (using the form of a diary, the main part of which is also contained in this story), that is, we see what is happening not from the outside, not from the point of view of someone else, but Pechorin himself, the one who experiences and feels what is happening. But how complicated is this process! How interesting to understand and realize it! In this story - Pechorin's difficult relationship with society, and his cruelty in relations with a young girl, Mary, and the disclosure of his ability to feel and love for real, and the strange duality of his soul. There are no accusations and no excuses. Here is the opening of the soul.
The parallel development of Pechorin's relationship with Vera and Mary is interesting. How cruelly he treats a young girl! All his actions - every well-thought-out gesture, every word - are aimed only at commanding her feelings, in order to gain power, and from this - satisfaction: "But there is immense pleasure in the possession of a young, barely blossoming soul! She, like a flower whose best fragrance evaporates towards the first ray of the sun; it must be plucked at this moment and, after breathing it to its fullest, leave it on the road: maybe someone will pick it up! In this one sees some kind of inhuman cruelty, complete insensitivity towards those who suffer, the true deadness of the soul and feelings. But Pechorin is not as impassive as he presents himself, and real love for Mary ... no, does not frighten him, but annoys him; after all, in his opinion, happiness for him is only "saturated pride." But it cannot be said that he thinks too highly of himself, no, not at all! He knows he has sunk very low in his pursuit of other people's suffering, he is like a vampire and he knows it.
However, striving for the highest is not for him. It seems to him that he has not guessed his purpose in life for a long time and missed it, and now he is a useless storehouse of spiritual strength. Useless? No, not at all. And here Pechorin again realizes that he is a kind of blind weapon of fate, a punishing "axe", an instrument of execution. However, in my opinion, Pechorin is slightly mistaken in this. Is there anything to execute "honest smugglers", unfortunate Mary, Bela for? He even ruined Vera's life, causing her to suffer.
And it is difficult to call this blind tool an ax - oh no ... Rather, it is a noose, stuffy, inevitable, poisonous, like a snake. Yes, sometimes people, after such a hard test, began to see clearly - like Mary - she learned to feel how her soul appeared in her, and not the capricious appearance of a secular young lady. But for others it cost their lives, like Bela. And in relations with Mary, Pechorin again sees his bitter role as an instrument of execution.
Playing it like a puppet, playing skillfully, I would say even masterfully, he does not notice that his actions are still too rough, too blind - after all, he never thought about what this game would lead to! But a little time will pass - and we see Pechorin in a completely different way - when he meets Vera, whose even name is symbolic. Her very appearance in the story is very unexpected, interesting. All of a sudden, Pechorin's ability to love and feel is revealed to us. Vera is a woman who has already submitted to the character of Pechorin, who understood him, accepted him as he is and saw in him something beautiful for herself. With her, Pechorin is frank and honest, he is not able to deceive her. He is completely different with her!
Although even here his nature of a "cold thinker" manifests itself - Pechorin uses an intrigue with Mary to spur Vera's feelings: "Perhaps jealousy will do what my requests could not." Sometimes this frivolity, this indifferent constant "maybe" seems strange, but Pechorin does not notice this. And, thus, even Vera did not escape his passion for playing with human feelings ... But here we see that this game bored Pechorin.
He knows people too well to discover something new for himself, to meet an unexpected act; in a word, the excitement from this game, too simple for him, still remained, but basically this excitement for him is like a habit: "I already know all this by heart - that's what's boring!". Only this boredom prevents Pechorin from getting what he calls "fun" from his game to the fullest. Immediately there is a need to find an answer to the question: is it really only the thirst for domination over the soul that made Pechorin mock Mary? It seems to me that natural honesty and kindness would have prevented him from having only this one reason. Or maybe something spurred him on to this, which was contrary to his nature and what he saw surrounded by the princess? Perhaps this role was played by outright falsehood in the relationship between Mary and Grushnitsky? Maybe.
Grushnitsky in general is a striking picture of ignorance, miserable pride, vile baseness, and for this very thing was for Pechorin an object of instinctive contempt. It seems to me that Pechorin, with his talent for destroying houses next to this man, seems much more honest and noble. How well Grushnitsky illustrates the society in which he has to live! With his "drapery in extraordinary feelings, sublime passions and exceptional suffering", behind which, by the way, an insignificant and petty soul is hidden, Pechorin again contradicts the circumstances and exposes all the pomposity of Grushnitsky and his relationship and feelings for Mary. The same Grushnitsky, we note, who recently spoke about how much he is in love with the princess, in the circle of his henchmen friends renounces her, wanting to appear to them more ...
more. And his revenge - at first petty and dirty - the dissolution of rumors, and then - inexpressibly vile and low, completely dishonorable. Pechorin's revenge is of a completely different type ... this shows intelligence, not betrayal. In principle, Grushnitsky can be called the antipode of Pechorin: one is in conflict with society, the other is trying to merge with it, one is honest and smart, the other is mean and stupid, one analyzes his actions and tries to understand something in himself, the other for the sake of insignificant pride and " window dressing" sinks to the very bottom. A completely different type of image of Werner, one of the most interesting in the story. Werner is a controversial and bright personality, like Pechorin. It starts with his name: "his name is Werner, but he is Russian." And the further we go, the more contradictions we meet; he is both a materialist and a poet at the same time, he was in eternal mockery of the sick and wept over a dying soldier, he is not handsome, but he has a beautiful soul ...
There are especially many contradictory features in his portrait. We see his resemblance to Pechorin from his first phrase given in the magazine: "I am convinced of only one thing - that sooner or later, one fine morning, I will die." How expressive this one phrase is for the introduction of a new hero! The relationship between Werner and Pechorin is very interesting; they read in each other's souls, understand each other perfectly and respect each other, but they do not become friends and part easily and suddenly. In him, Pechorin sees the same strong personality as himself, and therefore they do not become friends ... because "of two friends, one is always the slave of the other." But, on the other hand, isn't it also a kind of friendship - the cooperation of two strong personalities, albeit short-term, but lasting? But why is Werner inferior to Pechorin?
He is smart and knows people. But, as it was said, "he studied all the living strings of the human heart, as they study the veins of a corpse; but he never knew how to use his knowledge; so sometimes an excellent anatomist cannot cure fevers." Werner did not learn to "cure for fever". He just did not happen to weave such intrigues or play with human feelings in this way - he did not strengthen himself so long and firmly in secular society, but saw and drew his knowledge only from those patients of the water society whom he had to treat.
This section provides essays on the novel "A Hero of Our Time" as a whole, its individual characters and their relationships.
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Compositions
Pechorin is unhappy, he is bored all the time, even the threat of death eventually ceases to evoke emotions in him. Pechorin's desire to color his life, to become happy, in total with his mind, understanding of psychology and rather low morality, constantly lead him to extraordinary, but, unfortunately, tragic situations.
"A Hero of Our Time" is not just the first psychological novel in Russia, but also a real "history of the human soul." M.Yu. Lermontov in his work repeatedly shows the search for the hero, his experiences, throwing, disappointment. The main character, Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, is very hampered by his own egoism and an incorrect attitude towards life and its values, which leads to boredom.
Of course, both heroes have similar character traits, such as selfishness and narcissism. But, it should be noted that in Pechorin this is real, while in Grushnitsky everything is completely saturated with falsehood. He is only trying to seem like a romantic hero, while Pechorin is one.
The action of the novel takes place around the 1840s of the XIX century, during the years of the Caucasian War. This can be said quite accurately, since the very title of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” clearly indicates that in the collective image of Pechorin, the author, in his own words, collected the vices of his contemporaries.
Grushnitsky is a “provincial” reflection of Pechorin, a rival in which the main character sees his own traits, vices and virtues. The tragedy of Grushnitsky is the realization that, despite all his attempts, he is inferior to Pechorin in terms of those qualities that he appreciates in himself.
With the main character, Grigory Pechorin, my favorite pages of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" are first of all connected: I like to follow how he builds his relationships with different people, how he observes life, how smoothly and at the same time unexpectedly his character, I like to gradually comprehend the essence of his views on life, his worldview.
Lermontov masterfully describes Pechorin: on the pages of the work we, the readers, are a living person, with a search for his place in life, sometimes cold and unapproachable, sometimes vulnerable and sensitive, often even cruel and unpredictable - but all this is the attractiveness of his image for me.
The character of Pechorin on the pages of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" is revealed, unfolds gradually. And if in the first chapters the character and motives of Grigory’s actions are incomprehensible, he sets one against himself with his behavior, you don’t see anything attractive in the image, then, gradually, a lively mind, a thirst for life and actions of the hero of the novel fascinate, and I want the novel not to end.
Favorite character in the novel
The image of Pechorin is truly unusual and interesting, it is he who is my favorite hero of the novel “A Hero of Our Time”. The character of Gregory is revealed in an amazing way.
At the beginning of the story, we, the readers, will learn about him and the story of Bela from Staff Captain Maksim Maksimych. “After all, there are, really, such people who are written in their family that various unusual things should happen to them!” We read, and we are intrigued: what kind of person will we talk about?
But what and how Pechorin does and says does not add sympathy towards him. The “savage” Bela is forcibly cut off from her environment, her life is destroyed, Kazbich loses the most precious thing because of the “game” of Pechorin, “disappeared: it’s true, he stuck to some gang of abreks” Azamat, who destroyed his family. The dear kind staff captain, who wholeheartedly strives to see his old friend, for the sake of meeting for the first time in his life, violated the charter, is offended by the coldness of his idol. The way of life of “honest smugglers” is destroyed, Grushnitsky dies in a duel, Vera suffers, sincerely attached to Grigory, Mary is full of despair, whom Pechorin fell in love with
It seems that everything that this person touches - voluntarily or involuntarily - is collapsing, while remaining detached and indifferent. But if you follow not how the protagonist goes through the fate of people, but listen to him himself, to what really stands behind his coldness and indifference, analyze the shades of his behavior, then the picture appears completely different.
“If I am the cause of the unhappiness of others, then I myself am no less unhappy; of course, this is bad consolation for them, ”he says in response to the reproaches of Maxim Maksimych. “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. These words run counter to what we already know about Gregory, with the opinion that has developed about him, and make us think: maybe we judge the main character too superficially?
Pechorin's magazine - favorite pages
My favorite pages of the "hero of our time" tells himself - in his magazine. Now Pechorin is in front of us from the inside, and he is what he is. How could one, for example, expect from Pechorin, whom we readers know, an entry in a journal about the smell of flowers and a wonderful view from the window? A romantic lives in the soul of Gregory, he is always looking for vigorous activity, the beauty of life, true love, but he does not find all this. He dreams of friendly participation - and does not trust anyone, does not get close to anyone, meets the only woman in his life, Vera, whom he could never deceive, and realizes that he has always "loved for himself, for his own pleasure."
Grigory has a strong character, we observe how Azamat, then Maxim Maksimych, Bela succumb to his influence, Vera loves him, and even we, the readers, look at Grushnitsky, for example, through the eyes of the author of the magazine.
Pechorin often does things without hesitation and brings misfortunes and changes in life to people, he does not know how not to interfere in someone else's life. But Gregory is too individualistic to think about others, first of all he is interested in himself, the motives of actions, purpose, tasks in life. He looks at himself objectively and bitterly: “True, I had a high appointment, because I feel immense strength in my soul ... But I did not guess this appointment, I was carried away by the baits 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 light of life.
Pechorin has no one to compare with. Even his fatalism is not like the generally accepted one. "I will not submit!" the Cossack shouted, prompting Pechorin's decision to try his luck. And, although the main character saves people and risks his life, first of all, he does it for himself, challenging the predestination of fate. “I will not submit” - such is the truth of Pechorin’s fatalism, and it gives him strength without making him a slave to circumstances.
Following my favorite hero, I repeat: “Some will say: he was a kind fellow, others - a bastard. Both will be false." The hero of the time in which Lermontov lived and worked, and could not be different.
Who are they, "heroes of our time"?
Pechorin, like other literary heroes, who are usually called "superfluous people" - Onegin, Chatsky, Rudin - are perceived not only as a response of 19th century writers to the atmosphere of the time, not only as an explanation to their contemporaries of themselves, but also as an opportunity to look into own inner world, think about the eternal questions of love and friendship, duty and honor, human relationships, and this is my attitude to the “heroes of our time”. None of them left indifferent the attentive, thoughtful reader, no matter what time he lived - they are always modern. Here are the pages of the novel "A Hero of Our Time", which tell the "story of the human soul", become loved by new and new generations who get acquainted with a wonderful work.
Artwork test
“My first impression of the protagonist of M. Yu. Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time”
Creative work of a 9th grade student Svetlana Perkhova
The protagonist of the novel, Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin, is a very interesting, unlike other character, who is the complete opposite of the representatives of the nobility of that time. He is a man who has already seen a lot, and nothing surprises him in life. He easily "reads" people, recognizes even their most hidden feelings.
Pechorin at his young age is already so bored with life that he specially arranges "performances" with his own participation. Just for fun, he can pretend and take on completely different guises. This helps him achieve his goals. Being an excellent player on the "field of life", not sparing the "pawns" in this game, he is rapidly moving towards achieving everything he has in mind, to feeling at least some emotions.
It is impossible to characterize Pechorin in one word. He is a bright personality. He is a kind person who has seen the world in all colors, but not understood and not accepted by society. This probably destroyed everything bright and real in him and made him the person he is. "One half of my soul didn't exist, it dried up, evaporated, died, I cut it off and threw it away." Perhaps this phrase was also part of his game, but, as he himself claims, such traits of his character as composure, secrecy, cunning, vindictiveness were developed in him by the society that accused him of this for no reason.
I don’t like how Pechorin “steps over” people, tramples on their feelings. During his life he broke many human destinies. But his talent to "see through people" and manipulate them, the ability to "predict" their actions, his willingness to take risks in order to achieve his goal, cannot but surprise the reader and captivate him.
Yes, perhaps he seemed weak because of his inability to resist society, but all the same, for me he is an interesting person, despite the “light” that died in him, that is, those positive character traits and abilities that could develop in him.
Composition based on the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "Hero of Our Time" student 9 B class Markin Roman
The image of Pechorin in the novel
Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin, the protagonist of the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov, is the hero of the time in which the author himself lived. This is a period of time after the Decembrist uprising, the era of the cruel "Nikolaev" reaction to these events. The main sign of this time is the "lost" youth. They are superfluous people and do not find a place for themselves in society and the use of their abilities. Pechorin himself is a good example of the "lost" generation. He has no meaning in life, although he tries to find it.
Pechorin is a young nobleman, an officer, an ordinary person with his own oddities that make him stand out from the crowd. He is incapable of making friends. As the hero himself says, "one of the friends is always the slave of the other."
For many people, happiness is when someone or you yourself experience joy on a specific occasion. Pechorin, on the other hand, believes that happiness is the highest degree of pride. The more a person is proud of himself, the more pride he has, the more happy he will be.
How do we deal with the suffering and joy of others? We, most likely, will not be indifferent and either help the suffering, or support the rejoicing. And Pechorin looks at the suffering and joys of other people as food for his soul. This can be seen in the story with Bela, in the rivalry with Grushnitsky over Mary, in the case of smugglers in Taman. Analyzing these events, one can easily notice that, carried away by these actions, Pechorin revives, he has at least some interest in life.
In the chapter "The Fatalist" we see his attitude towards fate. He believes that the fate of man is not predetermined and that man himself creates it. He believes that the gift of freedom of choice was not given to man, but was always with him. A person obeys no one, he has the freedom of choice in relation to other people and their destinies. He believes that no matter what he does, he will always be right. This indicates a high degree of development of his egoism.
The tragedy of the fate of both Pechorin and the generation that he personifies lies in the strangeness of his personality, which determines the rejection of such people by society. The oddities of the hero are the contradictions in his character, and, consequently, in his actions. It is clear that he does not notice these contradictions or simply does not want to notice them. He understands only what he wants to understand, which will satisfy his pride and therefore make him happy. He does not see the purpose of his life, and if he does, it is very vague. As he himself says, he does not care about anything, and he is forced to wander around the world until death meets him on some road. And so it turns out…
And who is to blame for the tragedy of Pechorin's fate, for the fact that he became an "extra person"? Guilty is the society that surrounded him and influenced him during the formation of views not on the world and attitudes towards it. He lived in a secular society, where he was not perceived as he wanted. He was not indifferent to others - he was read as selfish, he did not want money - he was considered greedy. Whatever he tried to do, society questioned everything. This misunderstanding led to the fact that Pechorin became what we see him now: an “extra person” with his oddities of character and inconsistency of nature, with brilliant abilities and unrealized opportunities, who “lost” the meaning of his life, looking for and not finding it .
So why do we sympathize and suffer this hero? Because we ourselves are still people, and we are not indifferent to his tragedy. We understand that this is also his fault. He himself understands his vices and the emptiness of life, but he cannot do anything about it.
Review of the book by M. Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time", written as part of the contest "My Favorite Book 2015". Reviewer: Petrochenko Ekaterina.
I really like Lermontov: the theme of loneliness, of course, occupies a special place in his work. Probably, each of us went through this work at school: we analyzed in detail each written word. Someone liked it, someone was incredibly burdensome. But, one way or another, the majority took up reading this work later and enjoyed speaking about the book with great enthusiasm.
To begin with, I can note the fact that the Caucasus, beloved by Lermontov, left a mark and was reflected in this novel: landscapes, descriptions of mountains and mountain people - all this turns from words in a book into an absolutely unique picture in my head. A special flavor of these fabulous places is created. Also, impregnable, majestic mountain peaks are associated with the proud soul of the protagonist, and, consequently, the author himself.
For me, this work is very close to my heart. And this is not surprising, because A Hero of Our Time is the first psychological and philosophical novel in Russian literature, which was formed from separate stories. I really liked the reflections of the protagonist about life, about people. An unusual composition helps to convey all this: first, a view from the outside, and then the protagonist's diary. The reader, as it were, gets acquainted with Pechorin's confession to himself. In the diary, he explains his strange actions, for which there was no justification.
This book is one of those that significantly replenish vocabulary, which is an important plus. For many, it can cause a change in your point of view on some things and phenomena. Everything is here! All aspects of life: love, joy, tears of disappointment, passions and rumors, duels and war. All this made the work dynamic, and the plot multifaceted.
I really liked the way Lermontov put his hero in various settings and situations, in each of which he reveals himself in his own way. And the rest of the characters also complement Pechorin and help to "show" the main character traits. The interesting development of relationships with secondary characters left an indelible mark on my imagination.
The main theme in Lermontov's work - loneliness - was reflected in this work. The hero always remains alone, despite the various, rather close ties with other characters. Here is what he says about friendship:
“I cannot be a slave, and in this case commanding is tedious work.”
The book presents a portrait of the generation of that time. These "heroes" were smart enough, educated, talented, active, but they could not find their calling and could not use their good qualities for the benefit of people, which upsets the reader. However, this work still serves as an edification to every generation.
“I have an unhappy temper; Whether my upbringing made me that way, whether God created me that way, I don’t know; I only know that if I am the cause of the unhappiness of others, then I myself am no less unhappy; Of course, this is bad consolation for them - only the fact is that this is so.
