The spiritual biography of Pechorin
The writer himself, offering the readers his work, indicated that he wants to show them the modern person as he is. The history of Pechorin’s soul as a moral confession of the hero writer creates a new genre of a psychological-oriented novel, in which he considers the history of the human soul. And first of all, Lermontov invites readers to consider the life story of the protagonist of his work.
The image of the protagonist of his novel - Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin - is attractive and at the same time deeply contradictory. Pechorin is smart and educated, he is not devoid of noble intentions, however, his soul is selfish and subject to vices. Pechorin is the reason for the misfortunes of the people around him: he kills the Grushnitsky duel, contributes to the abduction of Bela, mocks the feelings of the young princess Mary Ligovskaya, agrees to the fatal bet with Wulich, which partly pushes the last into the arms of death, refutes all the highest human feelings.
The hero himself calls himself "an ax in the hands of fate", justifying his behavior. Pechorin deprives all the people with whom he had a chance to meet. It is a mysterious person who cannot be remembered. The surrounders see in it outstanding in nature, but having touched with Pechorin, they either feel a sense of regret about him as Maxim Maksimovich, or a feeling of mourning unrequited love like Bela, or a feeling of hatred as Kazbich, or jealousy as Grushnitsky, or a feeling of deep humiliation as a measure of Ligovskaya.
In his diary, the hero admits his secret aspirations and thoughts. Pechorin himself realizes that he lived his life “empty and worthless”, but this awareness only increases his state of longing. On the other hand, the writer emphasizes that there are positive features in Pechorin: for example, he experiences feelings of passionate love for a secular married lady Vera.
The hero is ready to run to the ends of the world for his beloved, but she cannot share his fate with Pechorin, because he is afraid of condemnation from the people of her circle. Pechorin subtly feels the pristine beauty, in the rare moments of his life he admires the excellent sunset, the grandeur of the Caucasus Mountains, etc. Even when he goes to a duel with Grushnitsky, thoughts about how beautiful the world of his nature surrounds comes to his mind.
Even in a minute of death, the hero sincerely grieves because of the loss of his proud and beautiful lover. The history of the interaction with each other of the heroes of the novel in the novel “Hero of our time” The history of the human soul is shown from all sides. First of all, the author tells us about the internal experiences of his main character, but we see the exact psychological portraits and other actors of the novel.
As a brilliant artist, Lermontov draws before us portraits of his heroes. Here is a thin sensitive soul proud white, and the kind soul of the experienced officer Maxim Maksimovich, who loved Pechorin as his own son, and the passionate strong nature of the princess measures and the shed and disappointed soul of Dr. Werner. It should be noted that all the characters of the novel are in relation to each other in different positions, allowing to see in more detail the features of their inner world, their characters.
The couple “Pechorin and the Grushnitsky who died from his bullet” helps readers see the self -love and pride of the first and the incontinence and passion of the second. Grushnitsky is generally a parody of Pechorin. He has the ambitions of the main character of the novel, but he is deprived of his mind, will and spiritual depth. The pair of Pechorin - Dr. Werner emphasizes both the insight and the mind of one and the other, and disappointment in life.
Moreover, Dr. Werner is more tired of people and their society, whose vocation is to help people overcome their illnesses, but it is an example of a tired cynic and self -lover. The pair of Pechorin - Maxim Maksimovich helps to see those qualities that Pechorin lacks to gain mental balance. Maxim Maksimovich is a simple and kind person, he is a faithful servant who gave his whole life to the Fatherland.
He is modest and capable of showing sincere sympathy for people. It does not have excessive pride and selfishness. No wonder this hero is considered by many literary scholars as almost the only positive character of the novel. It is known that the image of Maxim Maksimovich really liked Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, who, according to his contemporaries, was sincerely surprised why Mr.
Lermontov depicted as the protagonist of his novel “Neurasthenik Pechorin”, and not such a good officer as Maxim Maksimovich. However, Maxim Maksimovich does not have such abilities, such a breadth of perception of the world as Pechorin, so the hero is content with his modest role in the world of people. The pair of Pechorin - Wulich shows how much each of the heroes is a fatalist, that is, a person who believes in fate.
Compared to Pechorin, Wulich is the type of fatalist who is ready to defeat the evil rock, chasing him, even at the cost of his life.Pechorin is a more terrible and exquisite type of fatalistically -minded person: he seeks to play with fate to win or die. As you know from the plot of the novel, to outwit fate, Pechorin still failed. The Pechorin -Bela pair allows you to see the differences that exist between an “artificial man” - Pechorin and the wild beauty of the Black Circassian - “a natural man”.
Despite the lack of education and knowledge of the life of light, Bely is more honest and moral than Pechorin. Acquaintance with this hero leads a young girl to death, because Bela cannot plunge to the end in the environment in which her lover lives. The Pechorin -Mary pair allows you to make out the spiritual vices of the heroes: as for Pechorin, here we are talking about the pride and the desire to have the soul of the object of their attention for no reason, the literary critics compare Pechorin in this love story with the hero of Lermontov’s poem “Demon”; Mary emphasizes her sense of superiority over others, which receives a cruel blow due to the fact that Pechorin, after the recognition of Mary in love, rejects the feeling of a bold girl.
Thus, the theme of the soul in the “Hero of our time” occupies a key position. The author’s deep attention to this topic allows you to reveal the spiritual experiences of the heroes, which contributes to the creation of a new psychological-oriented genre of the Russian classic novel. The arguments presented in this article will be relevant especially for grades 9 in preparing an essay on the topic “History of the human soul in the novel“ Hero of our time ”.
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