Pechorin is a tragic hero. Is Pechorin a tragic hero? Can you agree with statement A?


In the novel A Hero of Our Time, Lermontov introduces the reader to the image of a person who has absorbed the most characteristic qualities of the generation of the 30s of the 19th century. The novel deals with the problem of "an extra person" on the example of the main character, Pechorin.
Pechorin is a very difficult and controversial personality. His life is marked by tragedy. This is both a tragedy of a person rejected by society, and a tragedy of a crippled soul. What is this tragedy and what are its origins and causes?
Pechorin is placed in conditions in which his outstanding personality cannot fully open up and prove himself, and therefore is forced to waste his strength on unnecessary petty intrigues that bring people only misfortune. Pechorin is forced to play the role of an egoist, that is, to be an "egoist involuntarily", and to suffer because of this himself.
This is the tragedy of the hero.
Pechorin stands out from the general mass of people around him. He is smart, straightforward and insightful. Lies and pretense, hypocrisy and cowardice are alien to him. He is not satisfied with an empty and monotonous existence in pursuit of petty, insignificant interests. Pechorin does not want to go with the flow with everyone. With his mind and strength of character, he is capable of the most decisive and courageous actions. If he had directed his activities towards good, lofty goals, he could have achieved a lot. But fate and life decreed otherwise. As a result, Pechorin appears before us as an egoist, living in the world to dispel his boredom at the expense of the misfortunes of others. He lives not with his heart, but with his mind. His soul is half dead. “I became a moral cripple,” Pechorin admits to Princess Mary. Pechorin is full of contempt and hatred for people. He likes to study the psychology of people in various situations, not empathizing and not sympathizing, but completely indifferent. Pechorin brings nothing but misfortune to those around him. Through his fault, smugglers suffer, Bela dies, the lives of Vera and Princess Mary are destroyed, Grushnitsky dies. “I played the role of an ax in the hands of fate,” writes Pechorin in his diary. What motivated the hero to cruel, selfish acts? Most likely the desire to dispel boredom. Pechorin did not think that behind his every unbridled act is a living person who has a soul and a heart, with his own feelings and desires. Pechorin did everything for himself and nothing for others. “I look at the suffering and joys of others only in relation to myself,” Pechorin admits. Here is how he explains his actions in relation to Princess Mary: "... There is an immense pleasure in the possession of a young, barely blossoming soul ... I feel this insatiable greed in myself." No wonder Princess Mary considers Pechorin worse than a murderer.
What made a hero like this? Possessing outstanding qualities, Pechorin from childhood stood out from the crowd of peers, friends and other people. He put himself above others, and society put him below. Society does not tolerate those who are not like everyone else, it cannot come to terms with the existence of an extraordinary, somewhat distinguished personality. And yet people failed to bring Pechorin under their average level, but managed to cripple his soul. Pechorin became secretive, envious, vindictive. “And then despair was born in my chest - not the despair that is treated at the muzzle of a pistol, but cold, powerless despair, covered with courtesy and a good-natured smile.”
Using the example of Pechorin, Lermontov shows the inevitable conflict between a thinking person and society, the confrontation between a strong personality and a gray, faceless crowd, the problem of an “extra person”.
But is it possible to unequivocally call the hero a cruel egoist.
“... If I am the cause of the misfortune of others, then I myself am no less unhappy! .. I ... am very pitiable,” Pechorin believes. Indeed, while torturing others, Pechorin himself suffers no less. If he is an egoist, then he is a suffering egoist. Genuine human feelings have not completely died in him. An example is the attitude towards the Faith. Indeed, his feelings for this woman are genuine. Pechorin is inherently a deeply unhappy person. He is alone and incomprehensible.
People shun him, feeling some kind of evil force in him. Pechorin lives without a goal, without aspirations, wasting himself on empty intrigues, unnecessary passions. But despite this, his heart is still able to love, his soul - to feel, and his eyes - to cry. At the end of the chapter "Princess Mary" we see Pechorin, who is crying like a child. We see an unfortunate, lonely person who has not found his place in life, repenting of his actions, a person who evokes pity and compassion.
The image of Pechorin is a tragic image of a thinking, strong person. Pechorin is a child of his time, in him Lermontov concentrated the main typical vices of his generation, namely: boredom, individualism, contempt. Lermontov portrayed a man who is in a struggle with society and with himself, and the tragedy of this man.


The novel "A Hero of Our Time", authored by M.Yu. Lermontov, in 1840 became the first psychological novel in Russian literature. Throughout the novel, the personality of the protagonist, Grigory Pechorin, is revealed. Lermontov describes in detail the psychological portrait of the protagonist and reveals his complex character, placing him in different life circumstances. But can Pechorin be called a tragic hero?

Grigory Pechorin seeks to know other people and himself.

He conducts experiments on people and on himself, he participates in them, analyzes the actions of people, but this prevents him from surrendering to sincere feelings, since the mind keeps these feelings under control (“I have long been living not with my heart, but with my head”). For example, Pechorin, when he chased after Vera and couldn’t catch up with her because of the horse, he fell and cried, because the upheavals in the duel that had happened before, the frenzied jump brought him to such a state when the mind stopped controlling feelings (“Soul weakened, the mind fell silent). But very quickly his habit of analyzing everything returned to him (“I am pleased, however, that I can cry!”).

Pechorin is alone. His nature is so deep that he cannot be equaled. In friendship, he is unhappy. He did not perceive Maxim Maksimych as a friend, because he was a simple man and could never fully understand him. When he met Werner, he was pleased to spend time with him and even offered him to be a second in a duel with Grushnitsky, but Werner accused him of murder and shifted all the blame to Grigory. Pechorin bitterly exclaims: "They are all like that, even the kindest, most intelligent! ..").

In love, Pechorin is also unhappy. Although he was attached to Vera, but this was not the kind of woman for whom he would agree to lose his freedom. He didn't like Mary. Seeing Bela, he sincerely thought that he would finally acquire the meaning of life, but very soon he became bored with her, because she was uneducated (“I was wrong again: the love of a savage is little better than the love of a noble lady”).

Pechorin cannot find his destiny.

He is also unhappy because he recognizes himself as an ax of fate, which falls on the "head of the doomed victims." He suffers from it himself.

Thus, Pechorin is a tragic hero, because he is lonely, unhappy in friendship and love, lives by reason, not feelings, has not found his destiny, the meaning of life. The feeling that he is not only higher than other people, but also higher than fate and chance still does not make him happy. The reader learns in the middle of the novel that he died somewhere along the way from Persia. We understand that Pechorin never found happiness in this life.

Updated: 2019-07-22

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The protagonist of the novel "" - Grigory Alexandrovich was endowed with an unusually tragic fate. His actions, his actions very often lead to undesirable events not only in his life, but also in the fate of other people. Using examples from the stories of the novel, we can see how cold and selfish Pechorin is.

Or maybe he's just unhappy to the core? Maybe his inner world is in constant turmoil from what is happening around? There is no single answer! But, with all this, the people who were next to Gregory very often experienced suffering and pain.

Friendly relations with Maxim Maksimych at the last meeting turn the good-natured staff captain into an embittered and offended old man. And all this happens because of the dryness and rudeness of the protagonist. Maxim Maksimych with an open soul is waiting for a meeting with Pechorin, and receives only a cold greeting in response. What happens? Evil breeds and causes evil in return! And all because of the behavior of Gregory.

The love relationship of the hero with women can be called unsuccessful and unhappy. All his beloved ladies, after parting, experienced severe mental anguish. Love seemed to Pechorin the same as the feelings of noble ladies. Only now Gregory tried to find something completely different in a woman! Relations with the princess were just a game that Pechorin started in order to teach Grushnitsky a lesson. Feelings for Vera were the most real of all love relationships, but the hero realized this only when he lost his beloved forever.

Friendly ties with him end with his death in a duel with Pechorin. The protagonist gives several opportunities to his comrade in order to apologize and correct the situation. But, the proud and proud officer does not compromise, therefore, in the end, he dies at the hands of Grigory Alexandrovich.

And the episode with Lieutenant Vulich makes us think that Pechorin also has secret prediction abilities. After a fight with fate, the lieutenant remains alive, but Pechorin foresees his imminent death. And so it happens!

So, the protagonist of the novel really had a tragic fate. From the message before Pechorin's Notes, we learn that Grigory is dying on the way from Persia. He was never able to find his happiness, he was never able to find true love, to understand what joy and sincerity are. In addition, he crippled the fate of many people who were with him.

To the question Please help me find an essay on the topic: what is the tragedy of the fate of Pechorin? given by the author Vyacheslav Sautin the best answer is Why did I live? For what purpose was I born? The tragedy of the fate of Grigory Pechorin
The whole life of the protagonist of the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time" can indeed be called a tragedy. Why and who is to blame for this are the topics to which this essay is devoted.
So, Grigory Pechorin, exiled from St. Petersburg for some "story" (obviously for a duel over a woman) to the Caucasus, on the way a few more stories happen to him, he is demoted, goes to the Caucasus again, then travels for some time, and, returning from Persia home, dies. Here is such a fate. But during all this time, he experienced a lot himself and influenced the lives of other people in many ways.
I must say, this influence was not the best - in his life he destroyed many human destinies - Princess Mary Ligovskaya, Vera, Bela, Grushnitsky ... Why, is he really such a villain? Does he do it on purpose or does he do it arbitrarily?
Generally speaking, Pechorin is an extraordinary person, intelligent, educated, strong-willed, brave ... In addition, he is distinguished by a constant desire for action, Pechorin cannot stay in one place, in one environment, surrounded by the same people. Isn't that why he can't be happy with any woman, even with the one he's in love with? After a while, boredom overcomes him and he begins to look for something new. Isn't that why he breaks their destinies? Pechorin writes in his diary: "... the one in whose head more ideas were born, he acts more; from this, the genius, chained to the bureaucratic table, must die or go crazy ...". Pechorin is not attracted by such a fate, and he acts. Acts without regard for the feelings of other people, practically not paying attention to them. Yes, he is selfish. And this is his tragedy. But is Pechorin alone to blame for this?
Not! And Pechorin himself, explaining to Mary, says: "... Such was my fate from childhood. Everyone read signs of bad properties on my face that were not there; but they were assumed - and they were born ...".
So, "all". Who does he mean? Naturally, society. Yes, the same society that interfered with Onegin and Lensky, which hated Chatsky, is now Pechorin. So, Pechorin learned to hate, to lie, became secretive, he "buried his best feelings in the depths of his heart, where they died."
So, on the one hand, an extraordinary, intelligent person, on the other hand, an egoist, breaking hearts and destroying lives, he is an "evil genius" and at the same time a victim of society.
In Pechorin's diary, we read: "... my first pleasure is to subordinate everything that surrounds me to my will; to arouse a feeling of love, devotion and fear for myself - is this not the first sign and the greatest triumph of power." So that's what love is for him - just the satisfaction of his own ambition! But what about his love for Vera - is she the same? In part, yes, there was a barrier between Pechorin and Vera. Vera was married, and this attracted Pechorin, who, like a true fighter, strove to overcome all obstacles, it is not known how Pechorin would have behaved if this barrier had not been ... But this love, love for Vera, however, is more than just a game, Vera was the only woman whom Pechorin truly loved, at the same time, only Vera knew and loved Pechorin not fictional, but real Pechorin, with all his advantages and disadvantages, with all his vices. "I should have hated you ... You gave me nothing but suffering," she says to Pechorin. But she cannot hate him ... However, selfishness takes its toll - all the people around Pechorin turn away from him. In a conversation, he somehow admits to his friend Werner: "Thinking about the near and possible death, I think about myself alone." Here it is, his tragedy, the tragedy of his fate, his life.
I must say that Pechorin admits this in his diaries, analyzing his life, he writes: "... I did not sacrifice anything for those whom I loved: I loved for myself, for my own pleasure ...". And as a result of his loneliness: "... and there will not be a single creature left on earth that would understand me completely

"A Hero of Our Time", written by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, shows us one of the newest images in literature, previously discovered by Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin in "Eugene Onegin". This is the image of an "extra person", shown through the main character, officer Grigory Pechorin. The reader already in the first part of "Bel" sees the tragedy of this character.

Grigory Pechorin is a typical "extra person". He is young, attractive in appearance, talented and smart, but life itself seems boring to him. The new occupation soon begins to bother him, and the hero embarks on a new search for vivid impressions. An example of this can be the same trip to the Caucasus, where Pechorin meets Maxim Maksimych, and then with Azamat and his sister Bela, a beautiful Circassian.

Grigory Pechorin has little desire for hunting in the mountains and communication with the inhabitants of the Caucasus, and he, in love with Bela, kidnaps her with the help of the heroine's brother, wayward and proud Azamat. A young and weak-minded girl falls in love with a Russian officer. It would seem that mutual love - what else does the hero need? But soon he gets bored with it. Pechorin suffers, Bela suffers, offended by the inattention and coldness of her lover, and Maxim Maksimych, who observes all this, also suffers. The disappearance of Bela brought many troubles to the girl's family, as well as to Kazbich, who wanted to marry her.

These events end tragically. Bela dies almost in the hands of Pechorin, and he can only leave those places. From his eternal boredom and searches, people who have nothing to do with the hero suffered. And the "extra person" goes on.

This example alone is enough to understand how Pechorin, because of his boredom, is able to interfere in other people's destinies. He cannot cling to one thing and hold on to it all his life, he needs a change of place, a change of society, a change of occupation. And still he will be bored with reality, and still he will go on. If people are looking for something and, having found a goal, they calm down on this, then Pechorin cannot decide and find his “finish”. If he stops, he will still suffer - from monotony and boredom. Even in the case of Bela, where he had mutual love with a young Circassian woman, a faithful friend in the person of Maxim Maksimych (after all, the old man was ready to help Pechorin) and service, Pechorin still returned to his state of boredom and apathy.

But the hero cannot find his place in society and life, not only because he quickly becomes bored with any occupation. He is indifferent to all people, which can be observed in the part "Maxim Maksimych". People who had not seen each other for five years could not even talk, because Pechorin, with absolute indifference to the interlocutor, is trying to finish the meeting with Maxim Maksimych as soon as possible, who, by the way, managed to miss Grigory.

It is safe to say that Pechorin, as a true hero of our time, is able to be found in each of modern people. Indifference to people and the endless search for oneself will remain the eternal features of the society of any era and country.

Option 2

G. Pechorin is the central character of the work "A Hero of Our Time". Lermontov was accused of portraying a moral monster, an egoist. However, the figure of Pechorin is extremely ambiguous and requires in-depth analysis.

Lermontov did not accidentally call Pechorin a hero of our time. His problem is that from childhood he got into the corrupting world of high society. In a sincere impulse, he tells Princess Mary how he tried to act and act according to truth and conscience. They did not understand him and laughed at him. Gradually, this produced a serious turning point in Pechorin's soul. He begins to act contrary to moral ideals and seeks disposition and favor in a noble society. At the same time, he acts strictly in accordance with his own interests and benefits and becomes an egoist.

Pechorin is constantly oppressed by longing, he is bored in the environment. Moving to the Caucasus only temporarily revives the hero. Soon he gets used to the danger and again begins to get bored.

Pechorin vitally needs a constant change of impressions. Three women appear in his life (Bela, Princess Mary, Vera). All of them become victims of the restless nature of the hero. He himself does not feel much pity for them. He is sure that he always did the right thing. If love has passed or has not even arisen, then he is not to blame for this. His character is to blame.

Pechorin, for all his shortcomings, is an exceptionally truthful image. His tragedy lies in the limitations of the noble society of the Lermontov era. If the majority is trying to hide their shortcomings and unseemly acts, then Pechorin's honesty does not allow him to do this.

The individualism of the protagonist could, under other conditions, help him become an outstanding personality. But he does not find use for his powers and as a result appears to those around him as a soulless and strange person.

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"A Hero of Our Time", written by M. Yu. Lermontov in 1840, became the first psychological novel in Russian literature. The author set himself the goal of showing in detail and versatile the character of the main character, who has fallen out of the cycle of an obsolete era.

It seems to me that the tragedy of the fate of Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin lies in his complex character. Lermontov presented to the reader's judgment a psychological portrait of a contemporary with a dual nature.

Coldness, indifference, selfishness, extravagance

and a tendency to introspection were inherent in many representatives of the "superfluous people", doomed to inaction. A smart, educated hero is bored and dreary from the senselessly changing days, from a series of predictable events.

Pechorin does not trust either friendship or love, therefore he suffers from loneliness. He himself is not capable of deep feelings and brings suffering to others. Gregory feels that two people coexist in him and this explains the duality of behavior. This idea is confirmed by Maxim Maksimovich with a story about Pechorin, who could boldly go hunting for a wild boar alone in bad weather, and

sometimes he looked like a coward - he trembled and turned pale from the sound of the window shutters.

The hero's behavior is contradictory, he quickly cools down to any undertakings, cannot find his destiny. Recall at least his desire to achieve the location of Bela and the rapid cooling of the mountain beauty who fell in love with him. Pechorin's personality emerges from the relationships he enters into with those around him. His actions are worthy of condemnation, but one can also understand the hero, because he belongs to the people of his time, who managed to become disillusioned with life.

Not finding the meaning of life, Pechorin decides to depart on a long journey, which will someday end in death. He himself is unpleasant that he becomes the cause of other people's troubles: Bela and Grushnitsky die because of him, Vera and Princess Mary suffer, Maxim Maksimovich is undeservedly offended. The tragedy of the hero is that he rushes about in search of his place in life, but at the same time he always does as he sees fit.

Thus, the tragedy of the fate of Lermontov's hero lies in himself: in character, in the analysis of any situation. The burden of knowledge made him a cynic, he lost his naturalness and simplicity. As a result, Pechorin has no goals, no obligations, no attachments ... But if the person himself loses interest in life, seeing only boredom in it, then even the healing power of nature is hardly able to heal the soul.


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Sadly, I look at our generation!
His future is either empty or dark,
Meanwhile, under the burden of knowledge and doubt,
It will grow old in inaction.
M. Yu. Lermontov
The novel by M. Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time" was created in the era of government reaction, which brought to life a whole gallery of "superfluous" people. Pechorin is "Onegin of his time" (Belinsky). Lermontov's hero is a man of tragic fate. He contains "immense forces" in his soul, but there is much evil on his conscience. Pechorin, by his own admission, invariably plays "the role of an ax in the hands of fate", "a necessary protagonist of any fifth act." How does Lermontov feel about his hero? The writer is trying to understand the essence and origins of the tragedy of Pechorin's fate. "It will also be that the disease is indicated, but how to cure it - God only knows!"
Pechorin eagerly seeks applications for his extraordinary abilities, "immense spiritual strength", but is doomed by historical reality and the peculiarities of his mental makeup to tragic loneliness. At the same time, he admits: “I like to doubt everything: this disposition does not interfere with the decisiveness of character; on the contrary ... I always boldly go forward when I don’t know what awaits me. After all, nothing worse than death will happen - and you can’t escape death! "
Pechorin is alone. The hero's attempt to find natural, simple happiness in the love of the mountain woman Bela ends in failure. Pechorin frankly admits to Maxim Maksimych: "... the love of a savage woman is little better than the love of a noble lady; the ignorance and simple-heartedness of one are just as annoying as the coquetry of another." The hero is doomed to be misunderstood by those around him (the only exceptions are Werner and Vera), neither the beautiful "savage" Bela, nor the kind-hearted Maxim Maksimych are able to comprehend his inner world. However, let us recall that at the first meeting with Grigory Alexandrovich, the staff captain is able to notice only minor features of Pechorin's appearance and the fact that the "thin" ensign was recently in the Caucasus. Maxim Maksimych does not understand the depth of Pechorin's suffering, being an involuntary witness to Bela's death: "... his face did not express anything special, and I felt annoyed: I would have died of grief in his place ..." And only by a casually dropped remark, that "Pechorin was unwell for a long time, emaciated," we guess about the true strength of the experienced
ii Grigory Alexandrovich.
Pechorin's last meeting with Maxim Maksimych clearly confirms the idea that "evil breeds evil." Pechorin's indifference to the old "friend" leads to the fact that "the good Maxim Maksimych has become a stubborn, grumpy staff captain." The officer-narrator guesses that the behavior of Grigory Alexandrovich is not a manifestation of spiritual emptiness and selfishness. Particular attention is drawn to Pechorin's eyes, which "did not laugh when he laughed ... This is a sign of either an evil disposition, or a deep constant sadness." What is the reason for such sadness? We find the answer to this question in Pechorin's Journal.
Pechorin's notes are preceded by a message that he died on the way from Persia. Pechorin never finds a worthy application for his outstanding abilities. The stories "Taman", "Princess Mary", "Fatalist" confirm this. Of course, the hero is head and shoulders above empty adjutants and pompous dandies who "drink - but not water, walk a little, drag only in passing ... play and complain of boredom." Grigory Alexandrovich sees perfectly well the insignificance of Grushnitsky, who dreams of "becoming the hero of a novel." In the actions of Pechorin, a deep mind and a sober logical calculation are felt. The whole plan of seducing Mary is based on knowledge of the "living strings of the human heart." Calling compassion for himself with a skillful story about his past, Pechorin makes Princess Mary the first to confess her love. Maybe before us is an empty rake, a seducer of women's hearts? Not! This is confirmed by the last meeting of the hero with Princess Mary. Pechorin's behavior is noble. He tries to alleviate the suffering of the girl who fell in love with him.
Pechorin, contrary to his own assertions, is capable of a sincere, great feeling, but the love of a hero is complex. So, the feeling for Vera awakens with renewed vigor when there is a danger of forever losing that only woman who understood Grigory Alexandrovich completely. "With the opportunity to lose her forever, Vera became dearer to me than anything in the world - dearer than life, honor, happiness!" Pechorin admits. Having driven the horse on the way to Pyatigorsk, the hero "fell on the grass and, like a child, wept." Here it is - the power of feelings! Pechorin's love is high, but tragic for himself and disastrous for those who love him. Proof of this is the fate of Bela, Princess Mary and Vera.
The story of Grushnitsky is an illustration of the fact that Pechorin's outstanding abilities are wasted, on small, insignificant goals. However, in his attitude towards Grushnitsky, Pechorin is noble and honest in his own way. During the duel, he makes every effort to cause belated remorse in the enemy, to awaken his conscience! Useless! Grushnitsky shoots first. “The bullet scratched my knee,” Pechorin comments. The play of good and evil in the soul of the hero is a great artistic discovery of Lermontov the realist. Before the duel, Grigory Alexandrovich makes a kind of deal with his own conscience. Nobility is combined with ruthlessness: "I decided to give all the benefits to Grushnitsky; I wanted to test him; a spark of generosity could wake up in his soul ... I wanted to give myself the full right not to spare him if fate had mercy on me." And Pechorin does not spare the enemy. The bloody corpse of Grushnitsky rolls into the abyss ... Victory does not bring joy to Pechorin, the light fades in his eyes: "The sun seemed dim to me, its rays
they warmed it."

Let's sum up Pechorin's "practical activity": because of a trifle, Azamat exposes his life to serious danger; the beautiful Bela and her father perish at the hands of Kazbich, and Kazbich himself loses his faithful Karagez; the fragile little world of "honest smugglers" is collapsing; Grushnitsky was shot dead in a duel; Vera and Princess Mary suffer deeply; Vulich's life ends tragically. What made Pechorin "an ax in the hands of fate"?
Lermontov does not introduce us to the chronological biography of his hero. The plot and composition of the novel are subordinated to one goal - to deepen the socio-psychological and philosophical analysis of the image of Pechorin. The hero appears in different stories of the cycle as the same, does not change, does not evolve. This is a sign of early "deadness", that we really have a half-corpse in front of us, in which "some kind of secret cold reigns in the soul, when the fire boils in the blood." Many of Lermontov's contemporaries tried to limit the richness of the image to one quality - selfishness. Belinsky resolutely defended Pechorin from accusations of a lack of high ideals: “You say that he is an egoist? But doesn’t he despise and hate himself for this? Doesn’t his heart yearn for pure and disinterested love? No, this is not selfishness ... "But what is it? Pechorin himself gives us the answer to the question: "My colorless youth passed in the struggle with myself and the light; fearing ridicule, I buried my best feelings in the depths of my heart; they died there ..." Ambition, thirst for power, but
The desire to subjugate those around him to his will take possession of the soul of Pechorin, who "from the storm of life ... brought out only a few ideas - and not a single feeling." The question of the meaning of life remains open in the novel: “... Why did I live? For what purpose was I born? And, it’s true, it existed, and, it’s true, I had a high purpose, because I feel immense strength in my soul .. But I did not guess this appointment, I was carried away by the baits of passions, empty and ungrateful, from their crucible I came out hard and cold as iron, but I lost forever the ardor of noble aspirations, the best color of life.
Perhaps the tragedy of Pechorin's fate is connected not only with the social conditions of the hero's life (belonging to a secular society, political reaction in Russia after the defeat of the Decembrist uprising), but also with the fact that a sophisticated ability for introspection and brilliant analytical thinking, "the burden of knowledge and doubts" lead a person to the loss of simplicity, naturalness. Even the healing power of nature is not able to heal the hero's restless soul.
The image of Pechorin is eternal precisely because it is not limited to the social. There are Pechorins now, they are next to us ...
And the soul breaks out into space
From under the power of the Caucasian communities -
The bell is ringing...
The young man's horses rush to the north ...
In the distance I hear the cawing of a crow -
I distinguish in the dark the corpse of a horse -
Drive, drive! Shadow of Pechortsna
It's following me...
These are lines from a wonderful poem by Ya. P. Polonsky "On the way from the Caucasus."

School essay

The main theme of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" is the image of a socially typical personality of the noble circle after the defeat of the Decembrists. The main idea is the condemnation of this person and the social environment that gave birth to him. Pechorin is the central figure of the novel, its driving force. He is Onegin's successor - "an extra person". This is a romantic in character and behavior, by nature a person of exceptional abilities, an outstanding mind and strong will.

Lermontov paints a portrait of Pechorin psychologically deep. The phosphorescent-dazzling, but cold gleam of the eyes, a penetrating and heavy look, a noble forehead with traces of intersecting wrinkles, pale, thin fingers, nervous relaxation of the body - all these external features of the portrait testify to the psychological complexity, intellectual talent and strong-willed, evil power of Pechorin. In his "indifferently calm" look "there was no reflection of the heat of the soul", Pechorin was indifferent "to himself and others", disappointed and internally devastated.

He was characterized by the highest aspirations for social activity and a passionate desire for freedom: "I am ready for all sacrifices ... but I will not sell my freedom." Pechorin rises above the people of his environment with a versatile education, wide awareness in literature, sciences, and philosophy. In the inability of his generation "to make great sacrifices for the good of mankind," he sees a woeful shortcoming. Pechorin hates and despises the aristocracy, therefore he becomes close to Werner and Maxim Maksimych, does not hide his sympathy for the oppressed.

But Pechorin's good aspirations did not develop. The unrestrained socio-political reaction that choked all living things, the spiritual emptiness of high society changed and stifled its possibilities, disfigured its moral character, and reduced vitality. Therefore, V. G. Belinsky called the novel a "cry of suffering" and a "sad thought" about that time. Chernyshevsky said that "Lermontov - a deep thinker for his time, a serious thinker - understands and presents his Pechorin as an example of what the best, strongest, noblest people become under the influence of the social situation of their circle."

Pechorin fully felt and understood that under the conditions of autocratic despotism, meaningful activity for the sake of the common good is impossible for him and his generation. This was the reason for his inherent boundless skepticism and pessimism, the belief that life is "boring and disgusting." Doubts devastated Pechorin to such an extent that he had only two convictions left: the birth of a person is a misfortune, and death is inevitable. He broke with the environment to which he belonged by birth and upbringing. Pechorin denounces this environment and cruelly judges himself, in this, according to V. G. Belinsky, "the strength of the spirit and the power of the will" of the hero. He is dissatisfied with his aimless life, passionately searching and cannot find his ideal: "Why did I live? For what purpose was I born? .." Inwardly, Pechorin moved away from the class to which he rightfully belonged by birth and social status, but the new system he did not find a social relationship that would suit him. Therefore, Pechorin does not adopt any laws other than his own.

Pechorin is morally crippled by life, he has lost his good goals and turned into a cold, cruel and despotic egoist who froze in splendid isolation and hates himself.

According to Belinsky, "hungry for worries and storms", tirelessly chasing life, Pechorin manifests himself as an evil, egocentric force that brings people only suffering and misfortune. Human happiness for Pechorin is "saturated pride." He perceives the sufferings and joys of other people "only in relation to himself" as food that supports his spiritual strength. Without much thought, for the sake of a capricious whim, Pechorin tore Bela out of his native hearth and ruined her, offended Maxim Maksimych very much, because of empty red tape he ruined the nest of "honest smugglers", violated Vera's family peace, rudely offended Mary's love and dignity.

Pechorin does not know where to go and what to do, and wastes the strength and heat of his soul on petty passions and insignificant deeds. Pechorin found himself in a tragic situation, with a tragic fate: he is not satisfied with either the surrounding reality or his characteristic individualism and skepticism. The hero lost faith in everything, gloomy doubts corrode him, he longs for meaningful, socially purposeful activity, but does not find it in the circumstances surrounding him. Pechorin, like Onegin, is a suffering egoist, an egoist involuntarily. He became so because of the circumstances that determine his character and actions, therefore, he arouses sympathy for himself.

What is the tragedy of Pechorin's existence? (Based on the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time")

In the novel "A Hero of Our Time" M.Yu. Lermontov created the image of his contemporary, a man of the 1930s, a complex, contradictory, deeply tragic image.

And the very portrait of the hero is unusual. “At first glance at his face, I would not give him more than twenty-three, although after that I was ready to give him thirty,” the narrator notes. He describes the strong physique of Pechorin and at the same time immediately notes the "nervous weakness" of his body. A strange contrast is provided by the childish smile of the hero and his cold, heavy look. Pechorin's eyes "did not laugh when he laughed." “This is a sign - or an evil disposition, or a deep constant sadness,” the narrator notes.

Pechorin is a romantic hero, a man of exceptional abilities, an extraordinary nature, a strong, strong-willed character. He surpasses those around him with his intellect, versatile education, knowledge in the field of literature and philosophy. He is endowed with a deep analytical mind, critically evaluates all social phenomena. So, about his generation, he remarks: "We are no longer capable of great sacrifices, either for the good of mankind, or even for our own happiness." He is not satisfied with the life that modern society offers. Mary Ligovskaya remarks that it is better to fall "under the knife of a murderer in the forest" than to become the object of Pechorin's evil jokes. The hero is bored in the company of empty, petty envious people, gossips, intriguers, devoid of decency, nobility, honor. An aversion to these people appears in his soul, he feels like a stranger in this world. But at the same time, Pechorin is also far from the world of "ordinary people."

Revealing the inconsistency of Pechorin's inner appearance, the writer shows that he is deprived of the immediacy and integrity of feelings characteristic of ordinary people, for "children of nature." Invading the world of the highlanders, he destroys Bela, ruins the nest of "honest smugglers". He offends Maxim Maksimych. At the same time, Pechorin is not without good impulses. At the evening at the Ligovskys, he "felt sorry for Vera." On the last meeting with Mary, compassion seized him with such force that "another minute" - and he would "fall at her feet." Risking his life, he was the first to rush into the hut of the murderer Vulich. The hero sympathizes with the Decembrists exiled to the Caucasus.

However, his good impulses remain impulses. Grigory Alexandrovich always brings his "villainy" to its logical conclusion. He violates Vera's family peace, offends the dignity of Mary. In a duel, he kills Grushnitsky, deliberately choosing such a place for the duel so that one of them would not return. Pechorin manifests himself primarily as an evil, egocentric force that brings people only suffering and misfortune. "Born for a high purpose", he wastes his strength on deeds unworthy of a real person. Instead of active, meaningful activity, Pechorin is fighting with individuals who meet on his way. This struggle is basically petty, aimless. When the hero evaluates his actions, he himself comes to a sad conclusion; “In this futile struggle, I exhausted both the heat of the soul and the constancy of the will necessary for real life.” Passionately longing for an ideal, but having not found it, he asks: “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born? ... And, it is true, it existed, and, it is true, I had a high purpose, because I feel immense powers in my soul; but I did not guess the destination, I was carried away by the lures of empty and ungrateful passions; from their furnace I came out hard and cold as iron, but I have lost forever the ardor of noble aspirations, the best color of life.

The hero reveals his views in his diary. Happiness for him is "saturated pride". He perceives the sufferings and joys of others “only in relation to himself” as food that supports his spiritual strength. Pechorin's life is "boring and disgusting." Doubts devastated him to the point that he had only two convictions left: birth is a misfortune, and death is inevitable. The feeling of love and the need for friendship in the representation of Pechorin have long lost their value. “Of two friends, one is always the slave of the other,” he says. Love for the hero is satisfied ambition, "sweet food .. pride." “To arouse in oneself a feeling of love, devotion and fear - is this not the first sign and triumph of power?” - writes Pechorin.

The position and fate of the hero are tragic. He does not believe in anything, he cannot find a life goal, unity with people. Selfishness, self-will, lack of creativity in life - this is the true tragedy of Pechorin. But the moral image of the hero is formed by his contemporary society. Like Onegin, this is an "extra person", "an unwilling egoist." This is what Lermontov's novel is talking about. “Pechorin’s soul is not rocky soil, but the earth dried up from the heat of a fiery life: let suffering loosen it and irrigate the blessed rain, and it will grow from itself lush, luxurious flowers of heavenly love ...”, wrote V.G. Belinsky. However, the very "suffering" of Pechorin is precisely impossible for him. And this is not only the paradox of this image, but also its tragedy.

Revealing the inner appearance of the hero, the author uses various artistic means. We see a detailed portrait of the hero, we read his diary. Pechorin is depicted against the background of other characters (highlanders, smugglers, "water society"). Pechorin's speech is replete with aphorisms: "Evil breeds evil", "Of two friends, one is the slave of the other", "Women love only those they do not know." The author emphasizes the poetry of the hero, his love for nature with the help of landscapes (description of the early morning in Pyatigorsk, description of the morning before the duel). Revealing the originality of Pechorin's nature, Lermontov uses characteristic epithets: "immense forces", "imagination restless", heart "insatiable", appointment "high".

Creating the image of Pechorin, Lermontov wrote "a portrait made up of the vices of a whole generation." It was both a reproach to the best people of his era, and at the same time a call for vigorous activity. This is the author's position in the novel.

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