Knowledge of Pechorin people. Grigory Pechorin from M. Yu. Lermontov’s novel “Hero of Our Time”: characteristics, image, description, portrait. Pechorin is a controversial personality

In 1840, Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov wrote the novel “A Hero of Our Time.” What is the essence of this work, which is a classic of Russian literature? The image of the main character Pechorin Grigory Alexandrovich.

External characteristics of Pechorin. Reflection of the soul in details

To convey the appearance of the main character, the narrator in this novel describes his view of Pechorin. The image of a selfish person is always emphasized with a special gloss and careless body movements. The hero of our novel, Pechorin, was a fairly tall and stately young man. He was strongly built. His beautiful broad shoulders were very favorably emphasized by his thin and prominent figure. Athletic figure. For the most part, single people are very particular about their appearance. Judging by his physical characteristics, it is noticeable that Pechorin is adapted to changes in time zones and climate. The writer was surprised by his thin and pale hands. Their owner had the thin fingers of an aristocrat. They were decorated with perfectly tailored gloves of high quality workmanship. His back curved like a snake's body when he sat alone. A smile with snow-white teeth. Velvet light skin. Wavy curly blond hair gave a childish spontaneity. In contrast to this, traces of wrinkles were visible on the forehead. All the lightness of his image is favorably emphasized by his brown eyes and the black color of his eyebrows and mustache. He had a slightly upturned nose and an unusually caustic, piercing gaze. His eyes were frozen even as he laughed. As the author who described him from the outside noted, Pechorin’s eyes shone with a phosphorescent brilliance, dazzling, but icy.

Pechorin tried to emphasize his superiority in everything. Dressed in the St. Petersburg style - a velvet frock coat, carelessly buttoned with the last two buttons. Rarely in the Caucasus do you meet a person in absolutely snow-white underwear that shows through. The ladies paid attention to him. His gait reflected independence, self-confidence and uniqueness.

The image of Pechorin at the second meeting with Maxim Maksimych

The main character of the novel does not see the expediency of friendship. The few who wanted to be friends with him were amazed by his indifference and lack of friendly feelings. After five years of parting with his friend Maxim Maksimych, Pechorin reacted casually to the meeting with the elderly staff captain. In vain Maxim Maksimych clung to his old friend, who he considered Pechorin to be. After all, they lived together for about a year and he helped him survive the tragedy with Bela. Maxim Maksimych could not believe that Grigory would say goodbye to him so laconicly, so dryly, without even talking for ten minutes. He was very sad that a person important to him did not value their long-standing friendship.

Characteristics of Pechorin through his relationships with women

Petersburger - G.A. Pechorin has a great understanding of female nature. Magnificently, exactly according to the instructions, he makes Bela fall in love with him. Then he cools off towards her. Afterwards, the death of the “Maiden of the Mountains” does not bring much suffering to Pechorin’s life. It is so empty that there is not a single tear. He is even somewhat annoyed that he is to blame for the death of the Circassian woman.

Miss Mary. Pechorin falls in love with the Moscow princess's daughter. Did he want mutual love, by no means. His pride wanted to amuse himself at the expense of Grushnitsky. Pechorin needs other people's suffering, he feeds on it. At the end of his diary, he compares a woman to a blooming flower. And he tears it up to drink all the strength and juices and throw it on the road for someone to pick up. A merciless executioner of women's souls, not thinking about the consequences of his actions and games.

Faith, which he so deeply and truly loved, once again became a toy in the hands of this mentally depressed and unbalanced man. Despite his feelings for this woman, he deliberately makes her jealous for the sake of intimacy. He doesn’t even want to think about how much she suffers; sometimes he just feels sorry for her. And when she leaves, Pechorin sobs like a little child over the loss of the only woman who at least somehow worried his cold heart.

Pechorin, through each hero with whom the events happened, is revealed from different sides. They are like a mirror reflection of his inner emptiness. The novel is built by reflecting the internal contradictions of the main character, through relationships with each person described in it. Lermontov does not criticize or analyze the image of G.A. Pechorin. With its help, the author reflects the post-Decembrist reality of that time, with all its vices and shortcomings.

Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is the main character of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time.” This is a young, “thin, white”, slender, average-height young man. Grigory Aleksandrovich is a retired officer (at the time of the action in the chapter “Maxim Maksimovich”), in a velvet frock coat, clean linen and brand new elegant gloves. Pechorin has blond hair, black mustache and eyebrows, an upturned nose, brown eyes and white teeth. Grigory Alexandrovich is a very rich man and has many expensive things. He does not need any special education or any useful occupation. He believes that there is no happiness, no glory, no pleasure from them. This person loves to be in the center of general interest, tries to subjugate everyone, and therefore does not like girls with character. In general, it seems that Pechorin loves only himself, and even if sometimes he loves someone else, he does not sacrifice anything for this. Grigory Alexandrovich himself cannot be friends, and others do not particularly want to fit into his circle of friends.

From the very beginning of the work, we see Pechorin as a caring, at times inquisitive person who wants to get a lot from life. His actions surprise, even amaze the reader. He steals a girl without realizing what this act will entail. He is sure that his love for this girl will open the way to a new life. Then he still understands that he hastened to act, but nothing can be corrected.

In the course of a futile struggle with society, Pechorin loses his ardor, becomes cold and indifferent. We've seen something similar. reading the novel "Eugene Onegin". Only the departure of Vera, his beloved woman, could briefly rekindle the fire in him and return the desire for a new, better life. But this again was just a passing hobby, the passion for this woman disappeared. Or, in any case, Pechorin tried to convince himself of this.

A man is disappointed in himself and in life. He can only while away his life traveling. He will never return home.

Pechorin is a "superfluous man." His ideas, thoughts, opinions and perceptions are very different from the generally accepted ones. Throughout the entire novel, we never once saw him engaged in any official business. Is it possible that in the chapter “Fatalist” Pechorin manages to deceive and arrest a Cossack killer (although this, strictly speaking, is not his business). But this person sets specific goals and questions.

One of them is understanding the capabilities and psychology of people. This is precisely what can explain his various “experiments” on himself and others.

Lermontov experiences Pechorin with two feelings: love and friendship. He couldn't stand any of them. Grigory Alexandrovich became disillusioned with love. He cannot be friends, because he believes that one of the friends must necessarily be a slave for the other.

Pechorin is a man who, because of his principles, his vision of life, always brings grief to people. Even with all his desires to be reborn, his true nature does not allow this. He is doomed to loneliness.

“Hero of Our Time” is the most famous prose work of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. It owes its popularity largely to the originality of the composition and plot and the contradictory image of the main character. We’ll try to figure out what makes Pechorin’s characterization so unique.

History of creation

The novel was not the writer's first prose work. Back in 1836, Lermontov began a novel about the life of St. Petersburg high society - “Princess Ligovskaya”, where the image of Pechorin first appears. But due to the poet’s exile, the work was not completed. Already in the Caucasus, Lermontov again took up prose, leaving the same hero, but changing the location of the novel and the title. This work was called “Hero of Our Time.”

Publication of the novel begins in 1839 in separate chapters. The first to go into print are “Bela”, “Fatalist”, “Taman”. The work received many negative responses from critics. They were primarily associated with the image of Pechorin, which was perceived as slander “on an entire generation.” In response, Lermontov puts forward his own characterization of Pechorin, in which he calls the hero a collection of all the vices of the society contemporary to the author.

Genre originality

The genre of the work is a novel that reveals the psychological, philosophical and social problems of Nicholas's times. This period, which came immediately after the defeat of the Decembrists, is characterized by the absence of significant social or philosophical ideas that could inspire and unite the advanced society of Russia. Hence the feeling of uselessness and impossibility of finding one’s place in life, from which the younger generation suffered.

The social side of the novel is already evident in the title, which is imbued with Lermontov’s irony. Pechorin, despite his originality, does not fit the role of a hero; it is not for nothing that he is often called an anti-hero in criticism.

The psychological component of the novel lies in the enormous attention that the author pays to the character’s inner experiences. With the help of various artistic techniques, the author's characterization of Pechorin turns into a complex psychological portrait, which reflects all the ambiguity of the character's personality.

And the philosophical in the novel is represented by a number of eternal human questions: why does a person exist, what is he like, what is the meaning of his life, etc.

What is a romantic hero?

Romanticism as a literary movement arose in the 18th century. His hero is, first of all, an extraordinary and unique personality, who is always opposed to society. A romantic character is always lonely and cannot be understood by others. He has no place in the ordinary world. Romanticism is active, it strives for accomplishments, adventures and unusual scenery. That is why Pechorin’s characterization is replete with descriptions of unusual stories and no less unusual actions of the hero.

Portrait of Pechorin

Initially, Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is an attempt to typify young people of Lermontov’s generation. How did this character turn out?

A brief description of Pechorin begins with a description of his social status. So, this is an officer who was demoted and exiled to the Caucasus because of some unpleasant story. He is from an aristocratic family, educated, cold and calculating, ironic, endowed with an extraordinary mind, and prone to philosophical reasoning. But he doesn’t know where to use his abilities and often wastes money on trifles. Pechorin is indifferent to others and himself, even if something captures him, he quickly cools down, as was the case with Bela.

But the fault that such an extraordinary personality cannot find a place for himself in the world lies not with Pechorin, but with the entire society, since he is a typical “hero of his time.” The social situation gave birth to people like him.

Quoted description of Pechorin

Two characters speak about Pechorin in the novel: Maxim Maksimovich and the author himself. Also here we can mention the hero himself, who writes about his thoughts and experiences in his diary.

Maxim Maksimych, a simple-minded and kind man, describes Pechorin this way: “A nice fellow... just a little strange.” Pechorin is all about this strangeness. He does illogical things: he hunts in bad weather and sits at home on clear days; goes to the wild boar alone, not valuing his life; He can be silent and gloomy, or he can become the life of the party and tell funny and very interesting stories. Maxim Maksimovich compares his behavior with the behavior of a spoiled child who is used to always getting what he wants. This characteristic reflected mental tossing, worries, and inability to cope with one’s feelings and emotions.

The author’s quotation description of Pechorin is very critical and even ironic: “When he sat down on the bench, his figure bent... the position of his whole body depicted some kind of nervous weakness: he sat as Balzac’s thirty-year-old coquette sits on her downy chairs... There was something childish in his smile...” Lermontov does not at all idealize his hero, seeing his shortcomings and vices.

Attitude towards love

Pechorin made Bela, Princess Mary, Vera, and the “undine” his beloved. The characterization of the hero would be incomplete without a description of his love stories.

Seeing Bela, Pechorin believes that he has finally fallen in love, and this is what will help brighten up his loneliness and save him from suffering. However, time passes, and the hero realizes that he was mistaken - the girl only entertained him for a short time. Pechorin's indifference to the princess revealed all the egoism of this hero, his inability to think about others and sacrifice something for them.

The next victim of the character's troubled soul is Princess Mary. This proud girl decides to step over social inequality and is the first to confess her love. However, Pechorin is afraid of family life, which will bring peace. The hero doesn’t need this, he craves new experiences.

A brief description of Pechorin in connection with his attitude towards love can boil down to the fact that the hero appears as a cruel person, incapable of constant and deep feelings. He only causes pain and suffering to both the girls and himself.

Duel between Pechorin and Grushnitsky

The main character appears as a contradictory, ambiguous and unpredictable personality. The characterization of Pechorin and Grushnitsky points to another striking feature of the character - the desire to have fun, to play with the destinies of other people.

The duel in the novel was Pechorin’s attempt not only to laugh at Grushnitsky, but also to conduct a kind of psychological experiment. The main character gives his opponent the opportunity to do the right thing and show his best qualities.

The comparative characteristics of Pechorin and Grushnitsky in this scene are not on the side of the latter. Since it was his meanness and desire to humiliate the main character that led to the tragedy. Pechorin, knowing about the conspiracy, is trying to give Grushnitsky an opportunity to justify himself and retreat from his plan.

What is the tragedy of Lermontov's hero

Historical reality dooms all Pechorin’s attempts to find at least some useful use for himself. Even in love he could not find a place for himself. This hero is completely alone; it is difficult for him to get close to people, to open up to them, to let them into his life. Sucking melancholy, loneliness and the desire to find a place for oneself in the world - these are the characteristics of Pechorin. “A Hero of Our Time” has become a novel that personifies the greatest tragedy of man - the inability to find oneself.

Pechorin is endowed with nobility and honor, which was demonstrated during the duel with Grushnitsky, but at the same time, selfishness and indifference dominate in him. Throughout the entire narrative, the hero remains static - he does not evolve, nothing can change him. Lermontov seems to be trying to show by this that Pechorin is practically half a corpse. His fate is sealed; he is no longer alive, although he is not completely dead yet. This is why the main character does not care about his safety; he fearlessly rushes forward because he has nothing to lose.

Pechorin's tragedy lies not only in the social situation, which did not allow him to find a use for himself, but also in his inability to simply live. Introspection and constant attempts to comprehend what is happening around us led to wandering, constant doubts and uncertainty.

Conclusion

The characterization of Pechorin is interesting, ambiguous and very contradictory. “A Hero of Our Time” became Lermontov’s iconic work precisely because of such a complex hero. Having absorbed the features of romanticism, social changes of the Nicholas era and philosophical problems, Pechorin’s personality turned out to be timeless. His thoughts and problems are close to today’s youth.

The image of Pechorin, depicted by Mikhail Lermontov, is, first of all, the personality of a young man who suffers from his restlessness and is constantly captivated by questions: “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born?

What kind of hero is he, the 19th century?

Pechorin is not at all like his peers; he does not have the slightest desire to move along the beaten path of secular youth of that time. The young officer serves, but does not seek to curry favor. He is not interested in music, philosophy, and does not want to go into the intricacies of studying military craft. But it immediately becomes clear to the reader that the image of Pechorin is the image of a man who is head and shoulders above the people around him. He is quite smart, educated and talented, distinguished by energy and courage. Nevertheless, Pechorin’s indifference to other people, the selfishness of his nature, and the inability to empathize, friendship and love are repulsive. The contradictory image of Pechorin is complemented by his other qualities: the thirst to live to the fullest, the ability to critically evaluate one’s actions, the desire for the best. The “pathetic actions” of the character, the senseless waste of energy, his actions that cause pain to others - all this does not show the hero in the best light. However, at the same time, the officer himself is experiencing deep suffering.

The complexity and inconsistency of the main character of the famous novel is especially clearly represented by his words that two people live in him at the same time: one of them lives in the full sense of the word, and the second thinks and judges the actions of the first. It also talks about the reasons that laid the foundation for this “divination”: “I told the truth - they didn’t believe me: I began to deceive...” A young and hopeful young man in just a couple of years turned into a callous, vindictive, bilious and ambitious person; as he himself put it, “a moral cripple.” The image of Pechorin in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” echoes the image of Onegin created by A. S. Pushkin: he is a “reluctant egoist”, disappointed in life, prone to pessimism, experiencing constant internal conflict.

30s The 19th century did not allow Pechorin to find and reveal himself. He repeatedly makes attempts to lose himself in petty adventures, love, exposes himself to the bullets of the Chechens... However, all this does not bring him the desired relief and remains only an attempt to distract himself.

Nevertheless, the image of Pechorin is an image of a richly gifted nature. After all, he has a sharp analytical mind; he evaluates people and the actions they perform with unusual accuracy. He developed a critical attitude not only towards others, but also towards himself. In his diary, the officer exposes himself: a hot heart beats in his chest, capable of feeling deeply (the death of Bela, meeting Vera) and experiencing extremely strongly, although it is hidden under a mask of indifference. However, this indifference is nothing more than self-defense.

“A Hero of Our Time,” in which the image of Pechorin is the basis of the narrative, allows you to see the same person from completely different sides, to look into different corners of her soul. At the same time with all of the above, in the guise of an officer we see a strong-willed, strong and active person in whom “vital forces” lie dormant. He's ready to act. Unfortunately, almost all of his actions ultimately cause pain to both Pechorin himself and those around him; his activities are not creative, but destructive.

The image of Pechorin strongly resonates with Lermontov’s “Demon,” especially at the beginning of the novel, when something demonic and unsolved remains in the hero. The young man, by the will of fate, becomes the destroyer of other people's lives: it is he who is to blame for the death of Bela, for the fact that Maxim Maksimovich was completely disillusioned with friendship, for how much Vera and Mary suffered. Grushnitsky, in turn, dies at the hands of Pechorin. Pechorin played a role in how another young officer, Vulich, died, as well as in how “honest smugglers” were forced to leave their homes.

Conclusion

Pechorin is a man who no longer has a past left and only has hope for something better in the future. In the present, he remains a perfect ghost - this is how Belinsky characterized this contradictory image.

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, a poet and prose writer, is often compared to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. Is this comparison coincidental? Not at all, these two lights marked the golden age of Russian poetry with their creativity. They were both worried about the question: “Who are they: heroes of our time?” A brief analysis, you will agree, will not be able to answer this conceptual question, which the classics tried to thoroughly understand.

Unfortunately, the lives of these most talented people were cut short early by a bullet. Fate? Both of them were representatives of their time, divided into two parts: before and after. Moreover, as you know, critics compare Pushkin’s Onegin and Lermontov’s Pechorin, presenting readers with a comparative analysis of the heroes. “A Hero of Our Time,” however, was written after

Image of Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin

Analysis of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” clearly defines its main character, who forms the entire composition of the book. Mikhail Yuryevich portrayed in him an educated young nobleman of the post-Decembrist era - a personality struck by unbelief - who does not carry goodness within himself, does not believe in anything, his eyes do not glow with happiness. Fate carries Pechorin, like water an autumn leaf, along a disastrous trajectory. He stubbornly “chases… after life”, looking for it “everywhere”. However, his noble concept of honor is more likely associated with selfishness, but not with decency.

Pechorin would be glad to find faith by going to the Caucasus to fight. He has natural spiritual strength. Belinsky, characterizing this hero, writes that he is no longer young, but has not yet acquired a mature attitude towards life. He rushes from one adventure to another, painfully wanting to find an “inner core,” but he fails. Dramas always happen around him, people die. And he rushes on, like the Eternal Jew, Agasfer. If for Pushkin the key word is “boredom”, then for understanding the image of Lermontov’s Pechorin the key word is “suffering”.

Composition of the novel

At first, the plot of the novel brings together the author, an officer sent to serve in the Caucasus, with a veteran, former quartermaster and now quartermaster Maxim Maksimovich. Wise in life, scorched in battle, this man, worthy of all respect, is the first, according to Lermontov’s plan, to begin analyzing the heroes. The hero of our time is his acquaintance. To the author of the novel (on whose behalf the story is told), Maxim Maksimovich tells the story of the “nice little” twenty-five-year-old ensign Grigory Alekseevich Pechorin, a former colleague of the narrator. The first is the story of “Bela”.

Pechorin, resorting to the help of the brother of the mountain princess Azamat, steals this girl from her father. Then she became bored with him, who was experienced in women. He settles with Azamat with the hot horse of the horseman Kazbich, who, getting angry, kills the poor girl. The scam turns into a tragedy.

Maxim Maksimovich, remembering the past, became agitated and handed over to his interlocutor the camp diary left by Pechorin. The following chapters of the novel represent individual episodes of Pechorin's life.

The short story “Taman” brings Pechorin together with smugglers: a girl as flexible as a cat, a pseudo-blind boy and the “smuggling getter” sailor Yanko. Lermontov presented here a romantic and artistically complete analysis of the heroes. “A Hero of Our Time” introduces us to a simple smuggling trade: Yanko crosses the sea with cargo, and the girl sells beads, brocade, and ribbons. Fearing that Gregory will reveal them to the police, the girl first tries to drown him by throwing him off the boat. But when she fails, she and Yanko swim away. The boy is left to beg without a livelihood.

The next fragment of the diary is the story “Princess Mary”. A bored Pechorin is being treated after being wounded in Pyatigorsk. Here he is friends with cadet Grushnitsky, Doctor Werner. Bored, Gregory finds an object of sympathy - Princess Mary. She is resting here with her mother, Princess Ligovskaya. But the unexpected happens - Pechorin’s long-time crush, the married lady Vera, comes to Pyatigorsk along with her aging husband. Vera and Gregory decide to meet on a date. They succeed because, fortunately for them, the whole city is at the performance of a visiting magician.

But cadet Grushnitsky, wanting to compromise both Pechorin and Princess Mary, believing that she will be the one on the date, follows the main character of the novel, enlisting the company of a dragoon officer. Having caught no one, the cadets and dragoons spread gossip. Pechorin, “according to noble standards,” challenges Grushnitsky to a duel, where he kills him with the second shot.

Lermontov's analysis introduces us to pseudo-decency among officers and upsets Grushnitsky's vile plan. Initially, the pistol handed to Pechorin was unloaded. In addition, having chosen the condition - to shoot from six steps, the cadet was sure that he would shoot Grigory Alexandrovich. But his excitement prevented him. By the way, Pechorin offered his opponent to save his life, but he began to demand a shot.

Vera’s husband guesses what’s going on and leaves Pyatigorsk with his wife. And Princess Ligovskaya blesses his marriage to Mary, but Pechorin does not even think about the wedding.

The action-packed short story “Fatalist” brings Pechorin together with Lieutenant Vulich in the company of other officers. He is confident in his luck and, on a bet, fueled by philosophical argument and wine, plays “hussar roulette.” Moreover, the pistol does not fire. However, Pechorin claims that he has already noticed a “sign of death” on the lieutenant’s face. He really dies senselessly, returning to his quarters.

Conclusion

Where did the “Pechorins” come from in 19th century Russia? Where has the idealism of youth gone?

The answer is simple. The 30s marked an era of fear, an era of suppression of everything progressive by the III (political) gendarmerie police department. Born of Nicholas I’s fear of the possibility of a remake of the Decembrist uprising, it “reported on all matters”, was engaged in censorship, censorship, and had the broadest powers.

Hopes for the development of the political system of society became sedition. Dreamers came to be called "troublemakers." Active people aroused suspicion, meetings - repression. The time has come for denunciations and arrests. People began to be afraid to have friends, to trust them with their thoughts and dreams. They became individualists and, like Pechorin, painfully tried to gain faith in themselves.