Grigory Pechorin from the novel by M. Yu

Pechorin, Grigory Alexandrovich

Grigory Pechorin - fictional character, main character novels "Hero of Our Time" and "Princess Ligovskaya", written by Mikhail Lermontov. A classic character, the image of a person who has not found a use for himself.

Biography

Born in St. Petersburg. In his words, “He quickly became bored with teaching.” As soon as he got rid of parental care, he immediately began to enjoy all the delights of life, but he quickly became tired of them. After that he joined the army. After some time, he was exiled for a duel to the Caucasus, among the active troops. It is this period of Pechorin’s life that is covered in the novel. He hoped to relieve boredom on the battlefield, but after a month he got used to both the whistling of bullets and the proximity of death. In the first chronological chapter of the novel “Taman,” Pechorin stumbles upon a gang of smugglers and destroys their system. In this chapter, the thought comes to Pechorin that he brings only misfortune to everyone. After this, Pechorin goes to the waters in Kislovodsk, where he meets his friend cadet Grushnitsky, his acquaintance Vera, who is in love with him, and Princess Mary. During his stay in Kislovodsk and Pyatigorsk, Pechorin falls in love with Princess Mary and quarrels with Grushnitsky. He kills Grushnitsky in a duel and refuses Princess Mary. On suspicion of a duel, he is again exiled, this time to the fortress. There he meets Maxim Maksimych.

Character

Pechorin and Onegin

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, describing his hero, was inspired by the hero of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, Evgeny Onegin. He even chose the name according to the same principle, giving his hero a surname after the name of the northern river. In Lermontov's essays, he more than once, having peed himself, called his hero Onegin instead of Pechorin.

Criticism

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See what “Pechorin, Grigory Alexandrovich” is in other dictionaries:

Pechorin, Grigory Alexandrovich ("Hero of Our Time")- See also At first glance, he seemed no more than twenty-three years old. He was of average height; His slender, slender figure and broad shoulders proved a strong build, capable of enduring all the difficulties of nomadic life and climate change, without... ... Dictionary of literary types

Pechorin, Grigory Alexandrovich ("Princess Ligovskaya")- See also Between relatives he was simply called Georges in French. The only son of wealthy parents, a guards officer, twenty-three years old. P.'s appearance was unattractive; he was short, broad-shouldered, generally awkward and... ... Dictionary of literary types

Describes only some episodes from adult life hero when his character was already formed. First impression - Gregory strong personality. He is an officer, a physically healthy man of attractive appearance, active, purposeful, and has a sense of humor. Why not a hero? However, Lermontov himself calls the main character of the novel such a bad person that it is even difficult to believe in his existence.

Pechorin grew up in a wealthy aristocratic family. Since childhood, he has not needed anything. But material abundance also has a downside - the meaning of human life is lost. The desire to strive for something, to grow spiritually, disappears. This happened to the hero of the novel. Pechorin finds no use for his abilities.

He quickly got tired of the capital's life with empty entertainment. The love of secular beauties, although it stroked one’s vanity, did not touch the heartstrings. The thirst for knowledge also did not bring satisfaction: all sciences quickly became boring. Even at a young age, Pechorin realized that neither happiness nor fame depended on science. "The most happy people- ignoramuses, and fame is luck, and to achieve it, you just need to be clever.”.

Our hero tried to write and travel, as many young aristocrats of that time did. But these activities did not fill Gregory’s life with meaning. Therefore, boredom constantly haunted the officer and did not allow him to escape from himself. Although Grigory tried his best to do this. Pechorin is always in search of adventure, testing his fate every day: in war, in pursuit of smugglers, in a duel, breaking into the house of a murderer. He tries in vain to find a place in the world where his keen mind, energy and strength of character could be useful. At the same time, Pechorin does not consider it necessary to listen to his heart. He lives by his mind, guided by cold reason. And it constantly fails.

But the saddest thing is that people close to him suffer from the actions of the hero: Vulich, Bela and her father die tragically, Grushnitsky is killed in a duel, Azamat becomes a criminal, Mary and Vera suffer, Maxim Maksimych is offended and insulted, smugglers flee in fear, leaving them to their own devices. the fate of the blind boy and the old woman.

It seems that in search of new adventures Pechorin cannot stop at anything. He breaks hearts and destroys people's destinies. He is aware of the suffering of those around him, but he does not refuse the pleasure of deliberately tormenting them. The hero calls "sweet food for pride" the opportunity to be the cause of happiness or suffering for someone without having the right to do so.

Pechorin is disappointed in life, in social activities, in people. A feeling of despondency and despair, uselessness and uselessness lives in him. In his diary, Gregory constantly analyzes his actions, thoughts and experiences. He tries to understand himself, exposing real reasons actions. But at the same time he blames society for everything, not himself.

True, episodes of repentance and the desire to look at things adequately are not alien to the hero. Pechorin was able to self-critically call himself "moral cripple" and, in fact, he turned out to be right. And what is the passionate impulse to see and talk to Vera worth? But these minutes are short-lived, and the hero, again absorbed in boredom and introspection, displays spiritual callousness, indifference, and individualism.

In the preface to the novel, Lermontov called the main character a sick person. At the same time, he meant the soul of Gregory. The tragedy is that Pechorin suffers not only because of his vices, but also his positive qualities, feeling how much strength and talent is dying in vain. Having ultimately failed to find the meaning of life, Gregory decides that his only purpose is to destroy people’s hopes.

Pechorin is one of the most controversial characters in Russian literature. In his image, originality, talent, energy, honesty and courage strangely coexist with skepticism, disbelief and contempt for people. According to Maxim Maksimovich, Pechorin’s soul consists of nothing but contradictions. He has a strong physique, but he exhibits unusual weakness. He is about thirty years old, but there is something childish in the hero’s face. When Gregory laughs, his eyes remain sad.

According to Russian tradition, the author experiences Pechorin with two main feelings: love and friendship. However, the hero does not pass any test. Psychological experiments with Mary and Bela show Pechorin as a subtle connoisseur human souls and a cruel cynic. Gregory explains the desire to win the love of women solely by ambition. Gregory is also incapable of friendship.

The death of Pechorin is indicative. He dies on the way, on the way to distant Persia. Lermontov probably believed that a person who brings only suffering to his loved ones is always doomed to loneliness.

• “Hero of Our Time,” a summary of the chapters of Lermontov’s novel
• The image of Bela in Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time”

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A person is always driven by the desire to know his purpose. Should you go with the flow or resist it? What position in society would be correct, should all actions comply with moral standards? These and similar questions often become the main ones for young people who are actively comprehending the world and human essence. Youthful maximalism demands to give for these problematic issues clear answers, but it is not always possible to give an answer.

It is precisely this seeker of answers that M.Yu. tells us about. Lermontov in his novel “Hero of Our Time”. It should be noted that Mikhail Yuryevich was always on good terms when writing prose, and his same position remained until the end of his life - all the prose novels he started were never finished. Lermontov had the courage to bring the matter with “Hero” to its logical conclusion. This is probably why the composition, the manner of presentation of the material and the style of narration look, compared to other novels, quite unusual.

“Hero of Our Time” is a work imbued with the spirit of the era. The characterization of Pechorin - the central figure of Mikhail Lermontov's novel - allows us to better understand the atmosphere of the 1830s - the time the work was written. It is not for nothing that “A Hero of Our Time” is recognized by critics as the most mature and ambitious in philosophical sense novels by Mikhail Lermontov.

The historical context is of great importance for understanding the novel. In the 1830s Russian history was reactive. In 1825, the Decembrist uprising occurred, and subsequent years contributed to the development of a mood of loss. The Nikolaev reaction unsettled many young people: young people did not know which vector of behavior and life to choose, how to make life meaningful.

This caused the emergence of restless individuals, unnecessary people.

Origin of Pechorin

Basically, the novel singles out one hero, who is the central image in the story. It seems that this principle was rejected by Lermontov - based on the events told to the reader, the main character is Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin - a young man, an officer. However, the style of the narration gives the right to doubt - the position in the text of Maxim Maksimovich is also quite weighty.

In fact, this is a misconception - Mikhail Yuryevich has repeatedly emphasized that in his novel the main character is Pechorin, this corresponds to the main purpose of the story - to talk about typical people of the generation, to point out their vices and mistakes.

Lermontov provides rather scant information about childhood, conditions of upbringing and the influence of parents on the process of formation of Pechorin’s positions and preferences. Several fragments of it past life lift this veil - we learn that Grigory Alexandrovich was born in St. Petersburg. His parents, according to existing orders, tried to give their son a proper education, but young Pechorin did not feel the burden of science, he “quickly got bored” with them and he decided to devote himself to military service. Perhaps such an act is not connected with the emerging interest in military affairs, but with the special disposition of society towards military people. The uniform made it possible to brighten up even the most unattractive actions and character traits, because the military was loved for what they were. In society it was difficult to find representatives who did not have a military rank - military service was considered honorable and everyone wanted to “try on” honor and glory along with the uniform.

As it turned out, military affairs did not bring proper satisfaction and Pechorin quickly became disillusioned with it. Grigory Alexandrovich was sent to the Caucasus because he was involved in a duel. The events that happened to the young man in this area form the basis of Lermontov's novel.

Characteristics of Pechorin's actions and deeds

The reader gets his first impressions of the main character of Lermontov’s novel after meeting Maxim Maksimych. The man served with Pechorin in the Caucasus, in a fortress. It was the story of a girl named Bela. Pechorin treated Bela badly: out of boredom, while having fun, the young man kidnapped a Circassian girl. Bela is a beauty, at first cold with Pechorin. Gradually, the young man kindles the flame of love for him in Bela’s heart, but as soon as the Circassian woman fell in love with Pechorin, he immediately lost interest in her.

Pechorin destroys the destinies of other people, makes those around him suffer, but remains indifferent to the consequences of his actions. Bela and the girl's father die. Pechorin remembers the girl, feels sorry for Bela, the past resonates with bitterness in the hero’s soul, but does not cause Pechorin to repent. While Bela was alive, Grigory told his comrade that he still loved the girl, felt gratitude to her, but boredom remained the same, and it was boredom that decided everything.

An attempt to find satisfaction and happiness pushes the young man to experiments that the hero performs on living people. Psychological games, meanwhile, turn out to be useless: the same emptiness remains in the hero’s soul. The same motives accompany Pechorin’s exposure of the “honest smugglers”: the hero’s act does not bring good results, only leaving the blind boy and the old woman on the brink of survival.

The love of a wild Caucasian beauty or a noblewoman - it does not matter for Pechorin. Next time, the hero chooses an aristocrat, Princess Mary, for the experiment. Handsome Gregory plays with the girl, arousing love for him in Mary’s soul, but then leaves the princess, breaking her heart.

The reader learns about the situation with Princess Mary and the smugglers from the diary that the main character kept, wanting to understand himself. In the end, even Pechorin gets tired of his diary: any activity ends in boredom. Grigory Alexandrovich does not complete anything, unable to bear the suffering of losing interest in the subject of his former passion. Pechorin's notes accumulate in a suitcase, which falls into the hands of Maxim Maksimych. The man experiences a strange attachment to Pechorin, perceiving the young man as a friend. Maxim Maksimych keeps Grigory’s notebooks and diaries, hoping to give the suitcase to a friend. But the young man does not care about fame, fame, Pechorin does not want to publish the entries, so the diaries turn out to be unnecessary waste paper. This secular disinterest of Pechorin is the peculiarity and value of Lermontov’s hero.

Pechorin has one important feature - sincerity towards himself. The hero’s actions evoke antipathy and even condemnation in the reader, but one thing must be recognized: Pechorin is open and honest, and the touch of vice comes from weakness of will and the inability to resist the influence of society.

Pechorin and Onegin

After the first publications of Lermontov’s novel, both readers and literary critics began to compare Pechorin from Lermontov's novel and Onegin from Pushkin's work with each other. Both heroes share similar character traits and certain actions. As researchers note, both Pechorin and Onegin were named according to the same principle. The surname of the characters is based on the name of the river - Onega and Pechora, respectively. But the symbolism doesn't end there.

Pechora is a river in the northern part of Russia (modern Komi Republic and Nanets Autonomous Okrug), by its nature it is a typical mountain river. Onega - located in modern Arkhangelsk region and more calm. The nature of the flow has a relationship with the characters of the heroes named after them. Pechorin's life is full of doubts and active searches for his place in society; he, like a seething stream, sweeps away everything without a trace in his path. Onegin is deprived of such a scale of destructive power; complexity and inability to realize himself cause him to feel a state of dull melancholy.

Byronism and the “superfluous man”

In order to holistically perceive the image of Pechorin, understand his character, motives and actions, it is necessary to have knowledge about the Byronic and superfluous hero.

The first concept came to Russian literature from England. J. Baynov in his poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” created a unique image endowed with the desire to actively search for one’s purpose, the characteristics of egocentrism, dissatisfaction and desire for change.

The second is a phenomenon that arose in Russian literature itself and denotes a person who was ahead of his time and therefore alien and incomprehensible to those around him. Or someone who, based on his knowledge and understanding of everyday truths, is higher in development than the rest and, as a result, he is not accepted by society. Such characters become the cause of suffering for female representatives who love them.

Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is a classic representative of romanticism, who combined the concepts of Byronism and the superfluous man. Dejection, boredom and spleen are the product of this combination.

Mikhail Lermontov considered the life story of an individual more interesting than the history of a people. " An extra person“Pechorin is made by circumstances. The hero is talented and smart, but the tragedy of Grigory Alexandrovich lies in the lack of a goal, in the inability to adapt himself, his talents to this world, in the general restlessness of the individual. In this, Pechorin’s personality is an example of a typical decadent.

The strength of a young man goes not to finding a goal, not to realizing himself, but to adventure. Sometimes, literary critics compare the images of Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin and Lermontov’s Grigory Pechorin: Onegin is characterized by boredom, and Pechorin is characterized by suffering.

After the Decembrists were exiled, progressive trends and tendencies also succumbed to persecution. For Pechorin, a progressive-minded person, this meant the onset of a period of stagnation. Onegin has every opportunity to take the side of the people's cause, but refrains from doing so. Pechorin, having the desire to reform society, finds himself deprived of such an opportunity. Grigory Alexandrovich wastes his wealth of spiritual strength on trifles: he hurts girls, Vera and Princess Mary suffer because of the hero, Bela dies...

Pechorin was ruined by society and circumstances. The hero keeps a diary, where he notes that, as a child, he spoke only the truth, but adults did not believe in the boy’s words.

Then Gregory became disillusioned with life and his previous ideals: the place of truth was replaced by lies. As a young man, Pechorin sincerely loved the world. Society laughed at him and this love - Gregory’s kindness turned into anger.

The hero quickly became bored with his secular surroundings and literature. Hobbies were replaced by other passions. Only travel can save you from boredom and disappointment. Mikhail Lermontov unfolds on the pages of the novel the entire evolution of the protagonist’s personality: Pechorin’s characterization is revealed to the reader by all the central episodes in the formation of the hero’s personality.

The character of Grigory Alexandrovich is accompanied by actions, behavior, and decisions that more fully reveal the characteristics of the character’s personality. Pechorin is also appreciated by other heroes of Lermontov’s novel, for example, Maxim Maksimych, who notices the inconsistency of Grigory. Pechorin is a strong young man with a strong body, but sometimes the hero is overcome by strange physical weakness. Grigory Alexandrovich turned 30 years old, but the hero’s face is full of childish features, and the hero looks no more than 23 years old. The hero laughs, but at the same time one can see sadness in Pechorin’s eyes. Opinions about Pechorin expressed different characters novel, allow readers to look at the hero, respectively, from different positions.

Pechorin's death expresses the idea of ​​Mikhail Lermontov: a person who has not found a goal remains superfluous, unnecessary for those around him. Such a person cannot serve for the benefit of humanity and is of no value to society and the fatherland.

In “Hero of Our Time,” the writer described the entire generation of contemporaries - young people who have lost the purpose and meaning of life. Just as Hemingway’s generation is considered lost, so Lermontov’s generation is considered lost, superfluous, restless. These young people are susceptible to boredom, which turns into a vice in the context of the development of their society.

Pechorin's appearance and age

At the beginning of the story, Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is 25 years old. He looks very good, well-groomed, so in some moments it seems that he is much younger than he actually is. There was nothing unusual in his height and build: average height, strong athletic build. He was a man with pleasant features. As the author notes, he had a “unique face,” one that women are madly attracted to. Blonde, naturally curly hair, a “slightly upturned” nose, snow-white teeth and a sweet, childish smile - all this complements his appearance favorably.

His eyes, brown in color, seemed to live a separate life - they never laughed when their owner laughed. Lermontov names two reasons for this phenomenon - either we have in front of us a person of evil disposition, or someone who is in a state of deep depression. Lermontov does not give a direct answer which explanation (or both at once) is applicable to the hero - the reader will have to analyze these facts themselves.

His facial expression is also incapable of expressing any emotion. Pechorin does not restrain himself - he simply lacks the ability to empathize.

This appearance is finally blurred by a heavy, unpleasant look.

As you can see, Grigory Alexandrovich looks like a porcelain doll - his cute face with childish features seems like a frozen mask, and not the face of a real person.

Pechorin's clothes are always neat and clean - this is one of those principles that Grigory Alexandrovich follows impeccably - an aristocrat cannot be an unkempt slob.

While in the Caucasus, Pechorin easily leaves his usual outfit in the closet and dresses in the national men's attire of the Circassians. Many note that these clothes make him look like a true Kabardian - sometimes people who belonged to this nationality do not look so impressive. Pechorin looks more like a Kabardian than the Kabardians themselves. But even in these clothes he is a dandy - the length of the fur, the trim, the color and size of the clothes - everything is chosen with extraordinary care.

Characteristics of character qualities

Pechorin is a classic representative of the aristocracy. He himself comes from a noble family, who received a decent upbringing and education (he knows French and dances well). All his life he lived in abundance, this fact allowed him to begin his journey of searching for his destiny and an activity that would not let him get bored.

At first, the attention shown to him by women pleasantly flattered Grigory Alexandrovich, but soon he was able to study the types of behavior of all women and therefore communication with ladies became boring and predictable for him. The impulse to create his own family is alien to him, and as soon as it comes to hints about a wedding, his ardor for the girl instantly disappears.

Pechorin is not assiduous - science and reading push him even more than secular society, blues. A rare exception in this regard is provided by the works of Walter Scott.

When social life became too burdensome for him, and travel, literary activity and science did not bring the desired result, Pechorin decides to start military career. He, as is customary among the aristocracy, serves in the St. Petersburg Guard. But he doesn’t stay here for long either - participation in a duel dramatically changes his life - for this offense he is exiled to serve in the Caucasus.

If Pechorin were a hero of a folk epic, then his constant epithet would be the word “strange.” All the heroes find something unusual in him, different from other people. This fact is not due to habit, mental or psychological development– here the point is precisely in the ability to express one’s emotions, to adhere to the same position – sometimes Grigory Alexandrovich is very contradictory.

He likes to cause pain and suffering to others, he is aware of this and understands that such behavior does not look good not only on him specifically, but on any person. And yet he doesn’t try to restrain himself. Pechorin compares himself to a vampire - the realization that someone will spend the night in mental anguish is incredibly flattering to him.

Pechorin is persistent and stubborn, this creates many problems for him, because of this he often finds himself in not the most pleasant situations, but here courage and determination come to his rescue.

Grigory Alexandrovich becomes the cause of destruction life paths many people. By his mercy, the blind boy and the old woman are left to the mercy of fate (the episode with the smugglers), Vulich, Bella and her father die, Pechorin’s friend dies in a duel at the hands of Pechorin himself, Azamat becomes a criminal. This list can still be replenished with many names of people to whom the main character insulted and became a reason for resentment and depression. Does Pechorin know and understand the full gravity of the consequences of his actions? Quite, but this fact does not bother him - he does not value his life, let alone the destinies of other people.

Thus, the image of Pechorin is contradictory and ambiguous. On the one hand, it is easy to find positive traits character, but on the other hand, callousness and selfishness confidently reduce all his positive achievements to “no” - Grigory Aleksandrovich destroys with his recklessness both his fate and the fates of the people around him. He - destructive force which is difficult to resist.

Psychological portrait of Grigory Pechorin

Lermontov helps to imagine the character's character traits by referring to the hero's appearance and habits. For example, Pechorin is distinguished by a lazy and careless gait, but at the same time the hero’s gestures do not indicate that Pechorin is a secretive person. The young man’s forehead was marred by wrinkles, and when Grigory Alexandrovich sat, it seemed that the hero was tired. When Pechorin's lips laughed, his eyes remained motionless, sad.

Pechorin's fatigue was manifested in the fact that the hero's passion did not linger for long on any object or person. Grigory Alexandrovich said that in life he is guided not by the dictates of his heart, but by the orders of his head. This is coldness, rationality, periodically interrupted by a short-term riot of feelings. Pechorin is characterized by a trait called fatality. The young man is not afraid to go wild and seeks adventure and risk, as if testing fate.

The contradictions in Pechorin’s characterization are manifested in the fact that with the courage described above, the hero is frightened by the slightest cracking of window shutters or the sound of rain. Pechorin is a fatalist, but at the same time convinced of the importance of human willpower. There is a certain predestination in life, expressed at least in the fact that a person will not escape death, so why then are they afraid to die? In the end, Pechorin wants to help society, to be useful by saving people from the Cossack killer.

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?” Brief Analysis, you see, will not be able to give an answer to 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 is known, critics compare Pushkin’s Onegin and Lermontov’s Pechorin, presenting to readers comparative analysis 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. 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 development political system society has become 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.

Grigory Pechorin - central character M. Yu. Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time,” which appeared in the late 30s and early 40s of the 19th century and caused ambiguous and very diverse reactions among readers. This is the first socio-psychological novel in Russian classical literature and all the plot twists, events and minor characters shown in order to fully reveal Pechorin’s character and personal characteristics.

The novel includes five stories, representing some stages in the development of Pechorin's personality and revealing all the depths of his complex and ambiguous character to the reader.

Characteristics of the hero

Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is a young attractive aristocrat and officer from St. Petersburg, a typical representative of the youth of the 30s of the nineteenth century. He has received proper education and upbringing, is rich and independent, has an attractive appearance and is popular with people of the opposite sex. At the same time, he is dissatisfied with his life and is spoiled by luxury. He quickly gets bored with everything and sees no opportunity for himself to become happy. Pechorin is in perpetual motion and in search of himself: now he is in a Caucasian fortress, now on vacation in Pyatigorsk, now with smugglers in Taman. Even death awaits him when he travels from Persia to his homeland.

With the help of a detailed description of the hero's appearance, the author tries to reveal his character to us. Pechorin is not deprived of masculine attractiveness, he is strong, slender and fit, the military uniform suits him very well. He has curly blond hair, expressive brown eyes, cold and arrogant, they never laugh and it is impossible to read thoughts from their expression. Blonde hair combined with a dark mustache and eyebrows give his appearance individuality and originality.

(Pechorin on horseback, drawing)

Pechorin's soul burns with a thirst for activity, but he does not know where to apply himself and therefore, wherever he appears, he sows evil and sadness around him. Because of a stupid duel, his friend Grushnitsky dies, through his fault the daughter of the Caucasian Circassian prince Bela dies, for the sake of entertainment he falls in love with himself, and then leaves Princess Mary without regret. Because of him, the only woman he loved, Vera, suffers, but he also cannot make her happy and she is doomed to suffer.

The image of the main character

Pechorin is drawn to people, longs for communication, but does not see a response in their souls, because he is not like them, their thoughts, desires and feelings do not coincide at all, which makes him strange and unlike others. Pechorin, like Pushkin’s Evgeny Onegin, is burdened by his calm and measured life, but unlike Pushkin’s hero, he is constantly looking for ways to add spice to his life, and not finding it, he suffers greatly from it. His own whims have always been and will be in first place for him, and he is ready to do anything to satisfy his desires. He likes to manipulate people and subjugate them, he enjoys power over them.

At the same time, Pechorin also has positive qualities and in addition to reproaches and censure, he fully deserves sympathy and sympathy. He is distinguished by a sharp mind and, judging others, is quite self-critical and demanding of himself. Pechorin is no stranger to poetry and lyrical moods; he subtly feels nature and admires its beauty. During a duel, he shows enviable courage and bravery, he is not a coward and does not retreat back, his cold-bloodedness is at its best. Despite his own egoism, Pechorin is capable of real feelings, for example in relation to Vera; it turns out that he can also be sincere and knows how to love.

(M.A. Vrubel "Duel of Pechorin with Grushnitsky" 1890-1891)

Pechorin's personality is so complex and ambiguous that it is impossible to say with certainty what feelings he evokes in readers: sharp condemnation and hostility, or sympathy and understanding. The main features of his character are the inconsistency between his thoughts and actions, opposition to surrounding circumstances and turns of fate. The hero is seething with desires to act, but most often his actions result either in empty and useless actions, or, on the contrary, bring pain and misfortune to his loved ones. Having created the image of Pechorin, a unique hero of his time, whose prototypes Lermontov met at every step, the author wanted to focus on the moral responsibility of each person for his thoughts and actions, for life choices and how they can affect the people around him.