Why Pechorin can be called a contradictory nature. The character of Grigory Pechorin in the novel "Hero of Our Time": positive and negative features, pros and cons

In the preface to the novel A Hero of Our Time, Lermontov noted with regret that the Russian reader was still naive and too simple-minded, so he often had to explain the goals and intent of his works. The writer expressed such a remark for a reason, because at first such a misunderstanding arose in relation to the main character of the novel, Pechorin, who was immediately accused of immorality by his contemporaries.

But critics and literary critics, quite sophisticated in matters of Russian and world literature, immediately started talking about a new artistic type of hero - young man with ambiguous, contradictory nature, and for this reason unable to find his place in life.

From the very beginning, Pechorin appears to readers as “ a strange man". Here is how the good-natured Maksim Maksimych speaks of him: “He was a nice fellow, I dare to assure you; only a little strange ... Yes, sir, I was very strange. " The strangeness in the external and internal appearance of Pechorin is also emphasized by other characters in the novel (a wandering officer, Princess Mary).

But Pechorin does not achieve this feature due to his social origin or a privileged position in society, which at that time was sometimes enough to impress and intrigue people. Pechorin makes other heroes talk about himself, and afterwards the readers themselves, thanks to his inner qualities and depth of character. The complex inner world of Pechorin - this is the main one that develops vital energy the nerve affected the world, with all its positive and negative sides.

Even his close friends, such as Maxim Maksimych, Werner, Vera and others, cannot understand and explain many of Pechorin's actions. But at the same time, they do not dare to accuse their friend of immorality. Perhaps because in the actions of Pechorin, the natural movements of the hero's soul were always felt.

Lermontov brings to the readers' judgment the entire genealogy of the complexity, ambiguity of the character and behavior of Pechorin: The hero himself in frank conversation with Maksim Maksimych he explains his “strangeness” as follows: “Whether my upbringing made me this way, whether God created me that way, I don’t know; I only know that if I am the cause of the misfortune of others, then I myself am no less unhappy. " Indeed, the most surprising thing for Pechorin and for those people with whom fate brings him together is the unhappy ending for all the participants. When the young officer saw Pechorin, he was struck by the eyes of this man. The steel glitter that they reflected could only speak of one thing - either of an evil disposition, or of a deep, constant sadness.

But the most important thing is that Pechorin was able to feel and realize all his contradictions, but at the same time he could not take the next step - to overcome them. Thus, the hero sincerely confessed: “My soul is spoiled by light, my imagination is restless, my heart is insatiable; everything is not enough for me: I just as easily get used to sadness as to pleasure, and my life becomes empty day by day ... ".

Pechorin really has many enviable qualities - he is smart, physically developed, outwardly attractive, courageous and self-confident. But at the same time, he still lacks an important link, that life-giving force that could unite and direct the dignity of Pechorin and the right channel... In this regard, the hero says the key phrase: "If everyone loved me, I would find in myself endless sources of love." Pechorin, probably, forgot the old wisdom, which says: from the good is not looking for good. Through obstacles and all adversities a person is led only by an all-consuming, and not selfish love.

However, throughout the entire novel, Pechorin was more puzzled by personal problems than by the fate of other heroes. In one of his own reasoning, without fully realizing it, the hero passes judgment on himself, he says: “Evil begets evil; the first suffering gives the concept of the pleasure of torturing another. " Thus, Pechorin chooses the path of evil, not love. But by calling his novel "A Hero of Our Time," Lermontov seems to complicate the problem, taking it beyond the scope of a personal decision. In fact, maybe this time gave rise to such heroes?

Indeed, the modernity of Pechorin - the 30s of the XIX century - is a turning point in the life of society, when the era of romanticism ends. At one time, romantics talked and reflected a lot about the ideals and bright aspirations of a person, but reality remained unknown to them, cold and merciless towards a person. Therefore, society is seriously beginning to think about how to reconcile dreams and reality, to close the gap between them. And this step will not be able to be taken right away, many more people will fall into a bottomless abyss, through which the cherished bridge has not yet been laid - just as it happened in Pechorin's life.

The contradiction in the character of Pechorin based on the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time"
A cruel time makes people cruel. Proof of this - the main character Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time" by Grigory Pechorin, in which the author reproduced, in his words, "a portrait, but not one face: this is a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation in their full development." Pechorin is an image of a nobleman of the 30s, the era of the "gloomy decade", the Nikolaev reaction that followed the defeat of the Decembrist uprising, when any free thought was persecuted and every living feeling was suppressed. Pechorin is the bitter truth about the era of timelessness, into which all the best people of Russia, instead of directing their minds, energy and extraordinary forces to achieve a high goal, they became "moral cripples", since they simply did not have any goal: time did not allow it to arise.
The offspring of his age, a cold egoist, causing only suffering to everyone - this is Pechorin, and meanwhile we see how brilliant mind, extraordinary willpower, talent and energy this person possesses. Pechorin is an outstanding personality, one of the best people of his time, and what: refusing to serve the society, in the possibility of which he completely lost faith, not finding use for his powers, Lermontov's hero wastes his life aimlessly. Pechorin is too deep and original nature to become only a reflective intellectual. Distinguished by independence of mind and strength of character, he cannot stand vulgarity and routine and is definitely above the environment. He wants nothing - no ranks, no titles, no benefits - and he does nothing to achieve success. Already by this he stands undoubtedly above his surroundings. And besides, his independence was the only possible form of expression of disagreement with the structure of life. In this position, a protest is hidden. Pechorin should not be blamed for inaction, since it is from unwillingness to serve "the tsar and the fatherland." The tsar is a tyrant who does not tolerate the manifestation of thought and hates freedom, the fatherland is officials who are mired in slander, envy, careerism, idly spending time, pretending to care for the good of the fatherland, but in fact indifferent to it.
In his youth, Pechorin was overwhelmed by ideas, hobbies and aspirations. He was sure that he was born for a reason, that some important mission was destined for him, that with his life he would make a significant contribution to the development of the fatherland. But very quickly this confidence passed, over the years it dissipated and last hopes, and by the age of thirty, there was "only fatigue, as after a night battle with a ghost, and a vague recollection filled with regrets ...". The hero lives without a goal, without hope, without love. His heart is empty and cold. Life is of no value, he despises it, as well as himself: “Perhaps, somewhere I will die on the road! Well? Die so die. The loss to the world is small; and I myself am already quite bored. " These words contain the tragedy of a senselessly flowing life and the bitterness of hopelessness.
Pechorin is smart, resourceful, perceptive, but these qualities bring only misfortune to people with whom fate brings him. He took away from Kazbich the most precious thing that he had - a horse, made a homeless abrek Azamat, he was guilty of the death of Bela and her father, he disturbed the peace in the soul of Maxim Maksimych, he disturbed peaceful life"Honest smugglers". He is selfish, but he himself suffers from this. His behavior deserves condemnation, but it is impossible not to feel sympathy for him; in the society where he lives, the forces of his rich nature do not find real use. Pechorin seems now a cold egoist, now a deeply suffering person, by some evil will deprived of a decent life, possibilities of action. The discord with reality leads the hero to apathy.
Speaking about the tragedy of outstanding personalities, about the impossibility of finding an application for their powers, the author also shows how detrimental to them is the withdrawal into themselves, distance from people.
A strong will and a brilliant mind do not prevent Pechorin from becoming, as he himself puts it, "a moral cripple." Taking for myself such life principles like individualism and egoism, Lermontov's hero gradually lost all the best in his character. In the story "Maxim Maksimych" Pechorin is not at all what he was in the first stories, in the first days of his appearance in the Caucasus. Now he lacks attention and friendliness, indifference to everything has seized him, there is no previous activity, no desire for sincere impulses, no readiness to open in himself “endless sources of love”. His rich nature is completely empty.
Pechorin is a contradictory personality. This is manifested in character, and in behavior, and in relation to life. He is a skeptic, a disillusioned person who lives "out of curiosity" and yet he longs for life and work. And his attitude to women - isn't the contradictory nature of his nature manifested here? He explains his attention to women only by the need for ambition, which “is nothing but a thirst for power, and my first pleasure is to subordinate everything that surrounds me to my will: arouse feelings of love, devotion and fear to myself - is this not the first sign and the greatest triumph of power? " last letter from Vera, he aspires to Pyatigorsk like a madman, says that she is for him “dearer than anything in the world, - dearer than life, honor, happiness! " Having lost his horse, he even "fell on the wet grass and, like a child, wept."
Lermontov's hero is inherent in the highest degree of introspection. But this is excruciating for him. Since Pechorin made himself an object for observation, he almost lost the ability to surrender to direct feeling, to fully feel the joy of living life. When subjected to analysis, the feeling weakens or fades away altogether. Pechorin himself admits that two people live in his soul: one commits acts, and the other judges him. This strict judgment on himself does not allow Pechorin to be content with little, deprives him of peace, does not allow him to come to terms with the life that is determined by social conditions for him.
"The tragedy of Pechorin, - wrote V. G. Belinsky, - primarily in the contradiction between the lofty nature and the pitiful actions." Who is to blame for her? Pechorin himself answers this question as follows: “My soul is spoiled by light,” that is, the environment, the society in which he happened to live.

The central character of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time" - Pechorin - difficult and deep man, whose inner world is contradictory and unpredictable. Having described him in actions and views from the outside, the author endowed his hero with those qualities that were inherent in a person of that time, making him a product of his era. The character turned out to be bright and deep in his tragedy, which caused a lot of gossip and condemnation, many called Pecherin immoral and selfish, but does he really appear that way?

Being a collective image, a kind of bright representative of the time in which he was born, Pecherin is ambiguous. His behavior can be interpreted in different ways, but in all the actions and words of the hero, a certain duality is read. Delving deeper into his inner world, it becomes obvious that Pecherin is not spiteful and, to some extent, even good person, but his actions and words are painful to others, and for some heroes are even fatal. At the same time, he shows detachment and dispassion to everything that happens to him in life, and the next moment he lives greedily and insatiably. Pecherin himself calls himself now a moral cripple, now a man bored at the ball, now, and at all, he recognizes the duality of nature. He speaks of the combination of two people in one body, one of whom does acts, and the other only contemplates and condemns the first.

It would seem that incompatible things are combined in Pecherin: a fatalist who understands the uselessness of everything in life and a person who lives with an enviable thirst and determination, who gets what he wants, despite the obstacles and not counting the loss. But this is the tragedy of the image - he did not think about the life and feelings of others, he was too deep in himself. Being engaged in self-digging and searching for meaning to questions that did not have answers, Pecherin did not notice the number of people around and did not try to make someone happy.

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Pechorin's character is complex and contradictory. The hero of the novel says about himself: “There are two people in me: one lives in the full sense of the word, the other thinks and judges him ...” What are the reasons for this duality? “I spoke the truth - they did not believe me: I began to deceive; having learned well the light and springs of society, I became skilled in the science of life ... ”- Pechorin admits. He learned to be secretive, vindictive, bilious, ambitious, became, in his words, a moral cripple. Pechorin is an egoist. Even Pushkin's Onegin, Belinsky called "suffering egoist" and "selfish reluctance." The same can be said about Pechorin. The novel "A Hero of Our Time" was a continuation of the theme " extra people”.

It was the era of reaction that began in Russia after the uprising of the Decembrists that gave birth to people like Pechorin. The hero “feels immense strength in his soul,” but does not find an opportunity to realize his “high purpose” in life, therefore he spends himself in pursuit of “empty passions”, quenches his thirst for life in senseless risk and constant introspection that eats away at him from the inside. Reflection, the transfer of vigorous activity to isolation in his own inner world, M. Yu. Lermontov considers one of the most important features of his generation.

The novel by M. Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time" is the first novel in Russian literature, in the center of which is presented not the biography of a person, but precisely the person's personality - his mental and mental life as a process. It is no coincidence that the work is a cycle of stories centered around one hero. The chronology of the hero's life is broken, but the chronology of the narrative is clearly built: the reader gradually comprehends the world of the main character of the novel, Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin, from the initial characterization given by Maksim Maksimych, through the author’s characterization to the confession in the Pechorin Journal. Minor heroes are also needed primarily in order to more fully reveal the character of Pechorin. So, the main task M. Yu. Lermontov in the novel "Hero of Our Time" - to tell the "story of the human soul", seeing in it the signs of the era. In the preface to the Pechorin Journal, the author emphasized that the character of the hero is not a portrait of one person, but an artistic type that has absorbed the features of a whole generation of young people at the beginning of the century.

Already in the first story, it is emphasized that Pechorin is an outstanding person. “After all, there are, really, some kind of people who are written in their family that different unusual things should happen to them,” says Maksim Maksimych. The hero's unusualness is also manifested in his portrait. His eyes, the author notes, “did not laugh when he laughed!”. Is this a sign of “bad temper or deep, constant sadness”?

The genius of M. Yu. Lermontov was expressed primarily in the fact that he created immortal image a hero who embodied all the contradictions of his era. It is no coincidence that V.G.Belinsky saw in the character of Pechorin “a transitional

A state of mind in which for a person everything old has been destroyed, but there is still no new, and in which a person is only the possibility of something real in the future and a perfect ghost in the present ”.

Works on literature: The controversial nature of Pechorin

And yet Pechorin is a richly gifted nature. He has an analytical mind, his assessments of people and actions are very accurate; he has a critical attitude not only towards others, but also towards himself. His diary is nothing more than self-exposure. He is endowed with a warm heart, capable of deeply feeling (Bela's death, a date with Vera) and deeply worrying, although he tries to hide his emotional experiences under the guise of indifference. Indifference, callousness is a mask of self-defense. Pechorin, after all, is a strong-willed, strong, active person, “life of power” slumbers in his chest, he is capable of action. But all his actions carry not a positive, but a negative charge, all his activities are aimed not at creation, but at destruction. In this Pechorin is similar to the hero of the poem "The Demon". Indeed, in his appearance (especially at the beginning of the novel) there is something demonic, unsolved. But this demonic personality has become part of the "current tribe" and has become a caricature of herself. Strong will and thirst for activity were replaced by disappointment and powerlessness, and even high selfishness gradually began to turn into petty selfishness. Traits strong personality remain only in the form of a renegade, who, however, belongs to his generation.

The character of Pechorin was formed in an environment of high society, which makes him related to the hero of the novel "Eugene Onegin". But the bustle and immorality of society with the "decency of pulled off masks" bored the hero. Pechorin is an officer. He serves, but does not curry favor, does not study music, does not study philosophy or military science, that is, does not seek to impress with the means available to ordinary people. M. Yu. Lermontov hints at the political nature of Pechorin's link to the Caucasus, some remarks in the text allow us to speak of his closeness to the ideology of Decembrism. So in the novel the theme of personal heroism arises in the tragic interpretation that it receives in the 30s of the XIX century.

The image of Pechorin

(Based on the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time")

Sadly I look at our generation,

His future is either empty, or dark.

M. Lermontov

"A Hero of Our Time" is a work created in the post-Decembrist era. The novel raises the question of fate outstanding personality in an era of timelessness, about the hopelessness of the situation of the best young people from the nobility. In the image of Pechorin, Lermontov embodied typical features inherent young generation that time. According to the author himself, “this is a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development”. Pechorin is a strong, bright and at the same time contradictory and tragic personality.

The rich powers of Pechorin cannot find use for themselves. In the diary, the hero writes: “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born? Indeed, it existed, and, it is true, it was a great purpose for me, because I feel immense strength in my soul ... But I did not guess this purpose, I was carried away by the lures of empty and ungrateful passions, from their crucible I came out hard and cold, like iron, but lost forever the ardor of noble aspirations, - best light life ". Pechorin did not see the goal, did not find an application for himself. The old was alien to him, and the new was unknown. Having lost the meaning in life, the hero hardened, became callous, selfish. This inconsistency of Pechorin is revealed in the novel, revealing, according to Lermontov's definition, the "illness" of the generation of his time.

The construction of the novel is peculiar. Lermontov deliberately violated chronological sequence to shift the reader's attention from events to inner peace heroes, to the world of feelings and experiences. The writer first gives an opportunity to find out the opinion of other people about Pechorin, and then what this young nobleman himself thinks of himself.

The character of Pechorin and all his behavior is extremely contradictory. This is clearly reflected in his appearance, which reflects, according to Lermontov, the inner appearance of a person. Drawing a portrait of Pechorin, the author emphasizes the strangeness of his hero. Pechorin's eyes "Did not laugh when he laughed"... Gait "Was careless and lazy, but I noticed that he did not wave his arms - a sure sign of some secrecy of character"... On the one hand, Pechorin has a "strong build," and on the other, "nervous weakness." Pechorin is about 30 years old, and "there is something childish in his smile."

Maxim Maksimych was also amazed at Pechorin's oddities: “In the rain, in the cold, hunting all day; everyone will be chilled, tired, but he has nothing. And another time he sits in his room, smells of the wind, assures that he has a cold; he knocks with the shutter, he shudders and turns pale, and when I was there he went to the wild boar one-on-one ... ”. The story with Bela also remains incomprehensible to Maksim Maksimych - Pechorin's indifference, it seemed, with such a strong recent love. Pechorin steals a girl he likes, not thinking about the actions that may follow this act. He truly believes that he is in love with "Maiden of the mountains" that this love will become a saving bridge, along which the hero can pass into a new life for him, full of meaning: “When I saw Bela in my house, when for the first time, holding her on my knees, I kissed her black locks, I, a fool, thought that she was an angel sent to me by a compassionate fate ...” But soon Grigory Alexandrovich realizes the futility of hopes: “I was wrong again: love is wild to few better than love noble young lady ", - he confesses to Maxim Maksimych.

While still young, Pechorin acutely feels his doom, which is probably why the fearless Pechorin is afraid of knocking shutters, although one was hunting a wild boar, he is terrified of a cold. Doom developed in Pechorin during his life in the capital. The consequence of complete disappointment in everything was "nervous weakness" ... Life in the Caucasus did not give him spiritual satisfaction, did not help him find the meaning of life. Pechorin lives without a goal, without hope, without love. He was tired of everything, the world became boring, he despises even himself: “ Maybe I'll die somewhere on the road. Well, die so die. The loss to the world is small; and I myself am already quite bored. "(What a hopelessness emanates from these words, what a tragedy is felt from a wasted life.) He travels hoping to somehow pass the age or find his untimely end. To Maxim Maksimych's question: "When will you return?" - Pechorin made a sign with his hand, which could be translated as follows: hardly! And why? .. " The bitter outcome of life.

The contradictions in Pechorin's nature are also reflected in his attitude towards women. He himself explains his attention to women, the desire to achieve their love by the need for his ambition, which, according to his definition, “... is nothing more than a thirst for power, and my first pleasure, he says further, is to subjugate everything that surrounds me to my will: to arouse feelings of love, devotion and fear to myself - isn't this the first sign and the greatest triumph of power? "

But Pechorin is not such a heartless egoist. He is capable of emotional outbursts... This is evidenced by his attitude towards Vera. Having received her last letter, Pechorin, like a madman, jumped out onto the porch, jumped on his Circassian ... and set off with all his might, on the way to Pyatigorsk ... “With the opportunity to lose her forever,” he writes, “Vera has become dearer to me than anything in the world, - dearer than life, honor, happiness!” Left without a horse in the steppe, he "fell on the wet grass and, like a child, wept."

On the one hand, Pechorin is a skeptic, a disappointed man who lives "out of curiosity", on the other hand, he has a huge thirst for life and activity. But the most terrible contradiction: "the immense powers of the soul" - and small, unworthy of Pechorin's actions. According to Belinsky, “he is frantically chasing life,” but it all boils down to petty and insignificant goals: to find out the secret of the smugglers, to make Princess Mary and Bela love himself, to defeat Grushnitsky. Thus, in the hands of fate, Pechorin turns into an instrument of evil: the smugglers flee to another place, leaving the old woman and the poor blind boy to their own devices; Bela's father and Bela herself are killed; takes the path of crime Azamat; kills innocent people Kazbich; Grushnitsky dies; Princess Mary's heart is "broken"; offended Maxim Maksimych. Pechorin seeks to "love the whole world" - and brings people only evil and misfortune. However, this does not make him happy, from the hero's diary it is clear that we are faced with a man with a suffering soul.

Pechorin is self-critical. He admits that there are two people in him: one lives in the full sense of the word, the other thinks and judges him. Pechorin himself pronounces a sentence: “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 became a moral cripple ... ”. With a bitter feeling, he regards himself as « moral cripple ", which one "dried up, evaporated, died" the better half of the soul. Pechorin, not sparing himself, reveals the reasons for his egoism: “How many times have I already played the role of an ax in the hands of fate! As an instrument of execution, I fell on the head of doomed victims ... My love did not bring happiness to anyone, because I did not sacrifice anything for those whom I loved ... " Pechorin comprehends and condemns his actions. He fights not only with others, but above all with himself. But this inner struggle also contains the strength of Pechorin's personality, without it he would not have been such an extraordinary character, the struggle is the need of his nature.

Pechorin is a richly gifted and bright person. He strives for action, constantly feeling the need to find a sphere of application for his forces, but does not find it. And wherever he appears, he brings people one grief: Who is to blame for the fact that Pechorin has become a "superfluous person"? Pechorin himself answers this question as follows: "My soul is tainted by the light", that is, those secular society, according to whose laws he lived and from which he could not get away. A product of society, Pechorin is at the same time a renegade, a seeker, devoid of soil, therefore he is not subject to either tradition or moral standards the environment from which he came out, and the one into which he falls. What he is looking for is not there. Placing the hero in different conditions, in different environments, Lermontov wants to show that they are alien to Pechorin, that he has no place in life, no matter what setting he finds himself in. He, like Lermontov's "Parus", is attracted to unusual anxieties and dangers, since he is full of effective energy. But the "wonderful world of troubles and battles", to which another Lermontov hero Mtsyri was striving so much, does not lie in the everyday life of the "water society", where Pechorin falls, he is not there. (chapter "Princess Mary")

Among the many problems of the novel, there is one such as the relationship between "natural" and "civilized" people. The contrast between Pechorin and the highlanders helps us understand some of his character traits. Highlanders (Bela, Kazbich) are solid natures, as if monolithic and by this they attract Pechorin. Unlike them, he is torn apart by passions and contradictions, although with the indomitability of his energy he looks like "children of nature."

Does Pechorin have a goal? Yes, he is looking for happiness, meaning by it "rich pride." He probably means fame, that is, the recognition by society of his value and the value of his actions. But his deeds are small, and his goals are random and insignificant.

So, Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is an extremely contradictory personality. We are repulsed by Pechorin's indifference to people, his inability to true love, to friendship, his individualism and selfishness. But we cannot but see that Pechorin is head and shoulders above the people around him, that he is smart, educated, talented, brave, energetic. Pechorin captivates us with the thirst for life, the desire for the best, the ability to critically assess our actions. He is deeply unsympathetic to us by the "pitiful actions", the waste of his strength, the actions with which he brings suffering to other people, but we see that he himself is deeply suffering. Pechorin does not follow the beaten path of secular young people, he serves, but does not curry favor, but, unfortunately, becomes a natural link in the ranks of "superfluous people." You can treat the hero of the novel in different ways, condemn him or feel sorry for the tormented society human soul, but one cannot help but admire the skill of the great Russian writer who gave us this image, psychological picture a hero of his time.