The main characters of “A Hero of Our Time. The main characters of “A Hero of Our Time” Several interesting essays

“Taman” is the third story of “A Hero of Our Time” (see its summary and full text by chapter), and the first whose content is borrowed from “Pechorin’s diaries”. (See Image of Pechorin, Characteristics of Pechorin with quotes.)

The author of the novel writes in the preface: having learned that Pechorin died while returning from Persia, I received the right to publish his notes and decided to do this, because I became interested in the merciless sincerity with which the author exposes his own weaknesses and vices in them. The history of the human soul is perhaps more curious and useful than the history of an entire people, especially when it is the result of observations of a mature mind on itself and when it is written without a vain desire to arouse participation or surprise.

While in military service, Pechorin once came at night on official business to the seedy town of Taman. For a long time the Cossack foreman could not find him a house to stay: everyone was busy. Only one was free, but the foreman mysteriously warned that “it’s unclean there.”

Lermontov. Hero of our time. Maxim Maksimych, Taman. Feature film

This hut stood on a cliff of the sea. When they knocked, the door was not immediately opened, but finally a blind boy of about 14, with spots in both eyes, came out of the house. The owner was not at home. A blind boy, an orphan, lived with her out of mercy.

Entering the hut, Pechorin and his Cossack servant went to sleep on the benches. The Cossack quickly fell asleep, but Pechorin could not close his eyes for a long time - and suddenly he saw a shadow quickly flashing outside the window. He got up, left the hut and saw a blind boy with some kind of package walking towards the pier, finding his way by touch.

Pechorin quietly followed him. U seashore a woman appeared next to the blind man. They stood talking until a boat appeared in the distance among the waves.

From snippets of conversation, Pechorin realized that the smuggler Yanko was sailing in the boat. There was a storm at sea, but Yanko, skillfully rowing with oars, happily moored to the shore. The three of them, the blind man and the woman, began to pull some bundles out of the boat and take them somewhere. Without further monitoring them, Pechorin went to bed.

In the morning the old mistress of the hut returned. In response to Pechorin’s attempts to speak, this old woman pretended to be deaf. In annoyance, he took the blind man by the ear, asking: “Come on, blind little devil, tell me where you were dragging your bundle at night!” He only whimpered in response.

Having gone out to sit by the fence, Pechorin suddenly saw a hut on the roof beautiful girl- in all likelihood, the daughter of the owner. Dressed in a striped dress, with loose braids, she looked like an undine (mermaid) and sang a song about a boat that floats on the sea in a storm, and is ruled by a “wild little head.” Pechorin realized from her voice that it was she who stood with the blind man on the shore at night. The girl began to run next to him, as if playing, looking intently into his eyes. These pranks of hers continued until the end of the day.

Towards evening, Pechorin stopped the playful beauty at the door, telling her, without knowing why: “I know that last night you went to the shore. What if I decided to report this to the commandant? The girl just laughed, and Pechorin did not foresee that these words would have very important consequences for him.

When he sat down to drink tea in the evening, an “undine” suddenly came in, sat down opposite him, looking at him tenderly - and suddenly hugged him and kissed him on the lips. He wanted to hug her, but the girl deftly slipped out, whispering: “Tonight, when everyone is asleep, go ashore.”

Late in the evening Pechorin went to the sea. The girl met him by the water, led him to the boat, got into it with him and pushed off from the shore. In the boat, she began to hug and kiss him, but then suddenly she bent him over the side and tried to throw him into the sea.

A desperate struggle began between them. The girl pushed Pechorin into the water, repeating: “You saw it, you’ll get it!” From last bit of strength he broke free and threw her into the waves. Having flashed twice, the “undine” disappeared from sight.

Pechorin rowed to the pier and wandered towards the hut, but from afar he saw the girl again: she had swam to the shore and was now wringing out her wet hair. Soon Yanko sailed up on yesterday's boat. The girl told him: “Everything is gone!”

A blind boy appeared. Yanko announced to him that he would now sail away with the girl, because the two of them could no longer stay here. The blind man asked to swim with them, but Yanko drove the boy away by only throwing him some small coin.

This strange and dangerous incident did not cause anything in Pechorin’s soul except painful bewilderment. He thought: “Why did fate throw me to them? Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calm and, like a stone, I almost sank to the bottom!”

In the morning Pechorin left Taman. He never found out what happened to the old woman and the blind man. “And what do I care about human joys and misfortunes!”

Lermontov's novel “A Hero of Our Time” is an amazing and interesting work. The composition of the novel itself is unusual. Firstly, the work consists of stories, which in itself is unusual. Secondly, these parts are not arranged chronologically, as is traditionally customary. They are divided into two parts: a story about Pechorin’s life through the eyes of an outsider (“Bela”, “Maksim Maksimych”, “Preface to Pechorin’s Journal”) and the diary of Pechorin himself, revealing his inner life (“Taman”, “Princess Mary”, “ Fatalist"). This principle was not chosen by the author by chance. It contributes to the most profound, complete and psychologically subtle analysis of the hero.

There is no single plot in the work. Each story has its own characters and situations. They are connected only by the figure of the main character - Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin. Either we see him during his service in the Caucasus, then he finds himself in the provincial town of Taman, then he is relaxing in Pyatigorsk on mineral waters. Everywhere the hero creates an extreme situation, sometimes threatening his life. Pechorin cannot live an ordinary life; he needs situations that reveal his enormous abilities.

“Taman” is the first chapter of Pechorin’s diary. It is from this part that we begin to see inner world hero. At the beginning of the story, Pechorin briefly describes to us the contents of the chapter: “Taman is the worst little town of all the coastal cities of Russia. I almost died of hunger there, and on top of that they wanted to drown me.” The plot of the chapter is quite simple. Pechorin comes to Taman on official business and stays with strange people. A mysterious undine girl and a blind boy live here. Seeing some kind of mystery in their behavior, Pechorin tries to solve it. To do this, at night he arranges surveillance of the heroes. As a result, he finds out that the girl and the blind boy are connected with smugglers. Having penetrated their secret, Pechorin almost paid for it with his life: the undine tried to drown him.

In this chapter, Pechorin’s inner appearance begins to emerge. Here are outlines of those qualities that will be revealed in more detail in other parts of the diary. From "Taman" we still cannot get an idea of life philosophy Pechorin, but we are already beginning to understand what kind of character he is. This chapter reveals the hero’s need for vivid life experiences and unusual situations. Nothing forced him to follow the undine and the blind boy, and only the possibility of an interesting event, the promise of a riddle, forced Pechorin to get involved in this situation.
Pechorin embarked on a dangerous adventure with only one goal - “to get the key to this riddle.” In connection with this, many of his positive qualities: dormant strength, will, composure, courage and determination. But he wastes these qualities completely aimlessly, using them in the wrong places: “The boat rocked, but I managed, and a desperate struggle began between us; rage gave me strength, but I soon noticed that I was inferior to my opponent in dexterity... I rested my knee on the bottom, grabbed her by the braid with one hand, by the throat with the other, she let go of my clothes, and I instantly threw her into the waves.”
Pechorin does not think about others at all. He cares only about his own interests and entertainment. Therefore, the hero often distorts or even breaks the destinies of other people, interfering in them out of curiosity. He himself discusses this at the end of the story: “I felt sad. And why did fate throw me into the peaceful circle of honest smugglers? Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calm and, like a stone, I almost sank to the bottom!”

When the secret of these people was revealed, the aimlessness of Pechorin's decisive actions was revealed. And again boredom, indifference, disappointment... “And what do I care about human joys and misfortunes, me, a traveling officer, and even traveling for official reasons!..” - Pechorin thinks with bitter irony.

In “Tamani” we observe the interweaving of a romantic narrative with a realistic one. Lermontov romantically describes the landscape, for example, the raging sea: “Slowly rising to the ridges of the waves, quickly descending from them, the boat was approaching the shore. The swimmer was brave, who decided to set off across the strait on such a night...” Here the description of the elements helps to reveal the romantic image of Yanko, for whom “everywhere there is a road, where only the wind blows and the sea rustles.” A realistic depiction of the characters and life of free smugglers is given. This is how Yanko’s portrait is given: “a man in a Tatar hat came out of the boat, but he had a Cossack haircut, and a large knife was sticking out of his belt.”

The environment in which they live also corresponds to the way of life of the smugglers: “I went into a hut - two benches and a table, and a huge chest near the stove made up all the furniture. Not a single image on the wall is a bad sign! The sea wind blew through the broken glass.” This description combines realistic and romantic features.

In the description of smugglers, romanticism is associated with their free lifestyle, their strength, dexterity, and courage. But realistically shows their meager spiritual world. It turns out that money determines the relationships of these people. Yanko and Undine become cruel when they begin to share stolen goods. The blind man receives only a copper coin from them. And Yanko orders the old woman to convey, “that, they say, it’s time to die, she’s healed, she needs to know and honor.”

“Taman,” among other stories in the novel, is distinguished by laconicism and precision of language. Inner experiences and complex psychological situations are revealed in a very simple and accessible language. The story is quite short, but very capacious in content. Thus, “Taman” is an important part of the novel “A Hero of Our Time”; it begins a deep disclosure of the internal characteristics of the hero and the entire generation of young nobles of the 30s of the 19th century.

Already at the first acquaintance with Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time,” the characteristics of the heroes and the analysis of their images become necessary for understanding the work.

Pechorin is the central image of the novel

The main character of the novel is Grigory Pechorin, an extraordinary personality, the author painted “a modern man as he understands him, and has met him too often.” Pechorin is full of seeming and real contradictions in relation to love, friendship, seeks the true meaning of life, solves for himself questions of human destiny, choice of path.

Sometimes main character is unattractive to us - he makes people suffer, destroys their lives, but there is a force of attraction in him that forces those around him to obey his will, sincerely love him and sympathize with the lack of purpose and meaning in his life.

Each part of the novel is a separate story from Pechorin’s life, each has its own characters, and all of them, from one side or another, reveal the secret of the soul of the “hero of the time,” making him a living person. Who are those characters, which help us see “a portrait made up of the vices of an entire generation, in their full development”?

Maxim Maksimych

Maxim Maksimych, “a man worthy of respect,” as the young officer-narrator says about him, open, kind, largely naive, happy with life. We listen to his story about Bela’s story, watch how he strives to meet Gregory, whom he considers an old friend and to whom he is sincerely attached, we clearly see why he suddenly “became stubborn, grumpy.” Sympathizing with the staff captain, we involuntarily begin to dislike Pechorin.

At the same time, for all his simple-minded charm, Maxim Maksimych is a limited man, he has no idea what motivates the young officer, and he doesn’t even think about it. The coldness of his friend at the last meeting, which offended to the core, will also be incomprehensible to the staff captain. “What does he need in me? I’m not rich, I’m not an official, and I’m not his age at all.” The heroes have completely different characters, views on life, worldviews, they are people of different eras and different origins.

Like the other main characters of Lermontov’s “Hero of Our Time,” the image of Maxim Maksimych pushes us to think about the reason for Pechorin’s selfishness, indifference and coldness.

Grushnitsky and Werner

The images of the heroes are completely different, but both of them are a reflection of Pechorin, his “doubles”.

Very young Junker Grushnitsky- an ordinary person, he wants to stand out, make an impression. He belongs to that type of people who “have ready-made pompous phrases for all occasions, who are not touched by simply beautiful things and who are solemnly draped in extraordinary feelings, sublime passions and exceptional suffering. Making an effect is their pleasure.”

This is the opposite double of the main character. Everything that Pechorin experienced sincerely and through suffering - discord with the world, lack of faith, loneliness - in Grushnitsky is just a pose, bravado and following the fashion of the time. The image of a hero is not just a comparison of true and false, but also a definition of their boundaries: in his desire to stand out and have weight in the eyes of society, Grushnitsky goes too far and becomes capable of meanness. At the same time, he turns out to be “more noble than his comrades,” his words “I despise myself” before Pechorin’s shot are an echo of the very disease of the era that Pechorin himself is struck by.

Dr. Werner At first it seems to us very similar to Pechorin, and this is true. He is a skeptic, insightful and observant, “studied all the living strings of the human heart” and has a low opinion of people, “an evil tongue”, under the guise of ridicule and irony he hides his true feelings, your ability to compassion. The main similarity that Pechorin notes when talking about his friend is that “we are quite indifferent to everything except ourselves.”

The difference becomes obvious when we compare the descriptions of the heroes. Werner turns out to be a cynic more in words, he is passive in his protest against society, limiting himself to ridicule and caustic remarks; he can be called a contemplative. The hero's egoism is completely conscious, internal activity is alien to him.

His dispassionate decency betrays Werner: the doctor is not looking for changes either in the world, or even less in himself. He warns his friend about the rumors and conspiracy, but does not shake hands with Pechorin after the duel, not wanting to take on his own share of responsibility for what happened.

The character of these heroes is like a unity of opposites, both Werner and Grushnitsky set off the image of Pechorin and are important for our understanding of the entire novel.

Female images of the novel

On the pages of the novel we see the women with whom Gregory’s life brings him. Bela, Undine, Princess Mary, Vera. They are all completely different, each with their own character and charm. They are the main characters in the three parts of the novel, telling about Pechorin’s attitude to love, about his desire to love and be loved and the impossibility of this.

Bela

Circassian Bela, “nice girl,” as Maxim Maksimych calls her, opens a gallery female images. The mountain woman was brought up on folk traditions and customs. The impetuosity, passion, and ardor of a “wild” girl living in harmony with the world around her attract Pechorin, finding a response in his soul. Over time, love awakens in Bel, and she surrenders to it with all the power of natural openness of feelings and spontaneity. Happiness does not last long, and the girl, resigning herself to her fate, dreams only of freedom. “I’ll leave myself, I’m not his slave, I’m a princess, a prince’s daughter!” Strength of character, attraction to freedom, inner dignity do not leave Bela. Even when he grieves before his death that he will never meet more soul her and Pechorin, when asked to accept another faith, replies that “she will die in the faith in which she was born.”

Mary

Image Mary Ligovskaya, a princess from high society, is written out, perhaps, in the most detail of all the heroines. Belinsky’s quote about Mary is very accurate: “This girl is not stupid, but she is not empty either. Her direction is somewhat ideal, in the childish sense of the word: it is not enough for her to love a person to whom her feelings would attract her; it is imperative that he be unhappy and wear a thick, gray soldier’s overcoat.” The princess seems to live in an imaginary world, naive, romantic and fragile. And, although she feels and perceives the world subtly, she cannot distinguish between secular play and genuine spiritual impulses. Mary is a representative of her time, environment and social status. At first, paying attention to Grushnitsky, he then succumbs to Pechorin’s game, falls in love with him - and receives a cruel lesson. The author leaves Mary without telling whether she is broken by the experiment for the sake of exposing Grushnitsky, or, having survived the lesson, she will be able not to lose faith in love.

Faith

The author talks a lot about Mary in detail, I believe We, the readers, see only love for Pechorin. “She is the only woman in the world whom the hero would not be able to deceive,” the one who understood him “perfectly, with all his minor weaknesses and bad passions.” “My love has grown together with my soul: it has darkened, but has not faded away.” Faith is love itself, accepting a person as he is, she is sincere in her feelings, and perhaps such a deep and open feeling could change Pechorin. But love, like friendship, requires dedication, for the sake of it you have to sacrifice something in life. Pechorin is not ready, he is too individualistic.

The main character of the novel reveals the motives of his actions and motives largely thanks to the images of Mary and Vera - in the story “Princess Mary” you can consider in more detail psychological portrait Gregory.

Conclusion

In various stories of the novel “A Hero of Our Time,” the characters not only help us understand the most different traits Pechorin and, as a result, allow one to penetrate into the author’s plan, follow the “history of the human soul,” and see the “portrait of a hero of the time.” The main characters of Lermontov's work represent different types of human characters and therefore paint the appearance of the time that created Grigory Pechorin.

Work test

Yanko is an episodic hero of the story “Taman” from Lermontov’s “Hero of Our Time”. Several phrases and actions reveal the characteristics of his personality. There are few of them, but they are capacious and bright.

Against the backdrop of the raging elements of the sea, a “poor boat” appears before the reader. In it, a hero heads to the shore, in whom romantic daring and heartless pragmatism merge. In the meantime, we only know that “Yanko is not afraid of the storm.” A brave daredevil, he is not afraid of fog, winds, coast guards, or the sea. This is how he appears from the words of the blind man. His boat resembled the movement of a bird. She dived like a duck, and then, quickly swinging her oars, “jumped out of the abyss among the spray of foam.” The flapping of the oars resembled the flapping of wings. What prompted the young man to take such a desperate step? Perhaps a romantic feeling? Alas, the reason is prosaic and even primitive: the transportation of contraband goods. A heavy load doubled the risk of moving between the “mountains of waves” whipped up by a strong storm.

Here he is, deftly maneuvering, guiding his boat into a small bay. Despite the narrator's fears, she remains unharmed. Yanko's actions reveal a confident and decisive nature. We admire his courage, agility and strength. But his appearance is unremarkable: “of average height, wearing a Tatar lamb’s hat,” “has a Cossack-style haircut, and a large knife in his belt. This lack of expressive details partly dispels the romanticism of the image. A feeling of ordinariness arises.

Local residents call Yanko and his fellow smugglers "bad people." Their assessment is confirmed, although initially it was only an assumption. The halo of the romantic hero finally disappears in the face of danger. The words that the old woman has “healed” and it’s time for her to know the honor” expose a cold, callous heart. Behind the “reward” the blind man can see soulless stinginess. He abandons helpless people on the shore, because they will be a burden to him. Used him and threw him out of his life without a twinge of conscience. This is an extra category in his illegal “deeds”.

It is obvious that Yanko is a lover of easy money. Behind an outwardly attractive life full of risk is emptiness and lack of spirituality. Money determines everything in her. The fearless battle with the sea took place for the sake of material gain. Life is filled with deception, theft and betrayal of people loyal to him. And it is unlikely that love for the “ondine” lives in his heart. Cold calculation is also visible in the words “I would pay more.”

Lermontov is faithful to the harsh truth of life. The beauty of the amazing landscapes contrasts with the absurd emptiness of the souls and lives of the heroes. The hero is convinced that his accomplice will not find such a daredevil like him, apparently considering himself successful. To some extent this is true, because Yanko leaves “rich goods” in the care of the blind man. But this is the success of the primitive human soul. So, the hero is an “unkind person.” He does not hesitate to make a decision, and his boat with a white sail disappears into the sea. From there he brought romantic expectations to the reader and takes them away, leaving a feeling of bewilderment and bitter disappointment.

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The story "Bela"

Pechorin brings misfortune and suffering to Maxim Maximovich and Bela. They don't understand him:

He tries to sincerely love, respect, be friends, but does not find the strength in his soul for a long, constant feeling.

Love is replaced by disappointment and cooling.

The friendly disposition is replaced by irritation and fatigue from constant care.

How do the characters' relationships develop?

The tender relationship between the heroes continued for four months, and then Pechorin’s attitude towards Bela changes. He began to leave home for a long time, became thoughtful and sad.

“I was wrong again: the love of a savage is few better than love a noble lady, the ignorance and simple-heartedness of one are just as annoying as the coquetry of the other.”

Pechorin is attracted by the integrity, strength and naturalness of the feelings of the mountain “savage”, the Circassian woman. Love for Bela is not a whim or whim on the part of Pechorin, but an attempt to return to the world of sincere feelings.

An attempt to get closer to a person of a different faith, a different way of life, to get to know Bela better, to find some kind of harmonious balance in relations with her ends tragically. Pechorin is a man who lives “out of curiosity,” he says: “my whole life was just a chain of sad and unsuccessful contradictions to my heart or mind.”

The story "Maksim Maksimych"

1. Attitude to the past that connected the heroes

2. Why don’t the good staff captain and Pechorin find understanding?

The story "Taman"

Pechorin and the “honest” smugglers: Pechorin is young, inexperienced, his feelings are ardent and impetuous, impressionable and romantic, looking for adventure, ready to take risks.

Pechorin’s attitude towards the characters in the story:

The story "Princess Mary"

The story "Fatalist"