The novel is the hero of our time. The novel by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time": analysis of the work. comments: Lev Oborin

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Structure of the novel

The novel consists of several parts, the chronological order of which is broken. Such an arrangement serves special artistic tasks: in particular, at first Pechorin is shown through the eyes of Maxim Maksimych, and only then we see him from the inside, according to entries from the diary.

• Foreword
• PART ONE
  • I. Bela
  • II. Maksim Maksimych
• Pechorin's Journal
  • Foreword
  • I. Taman
• PART TWO ( End of Pechorin's journal)
  • II. Princess Mary
  • III. Fatalist

Chronological order of chapters

1. Taman
2. Princess Mary
3. Fatalist
4. Maksim Maksimych
5. Preface to "Pechorin's Journal"

Five years pass between the events of Bela and Pechorin's meeting with Maxim Maksimych in front of the narrator in Maxim Maksimych.

Also, in some scientific publications, "Bela" and "Fatalist" change places.

Plot

"Bela"

It is a nested story: the narration is led by Maxim Maksimych, who tells his story to an unnamed officer who met him in the Caucasus. Pechorin, bored in the wilderness, begins his service by stealing someone else's horse (thanks to the help of Azamat) and kidnapping Bela, the beloved daughter of the local prince (also with the help of Azamat in exchange for Kazbich's horse), which causes a corresponding reaction from the highlanders. But Pechorin does not care about this. A careless act of a young officer is followed by a collapse of dramatic events: Azamat leaves the family forever, Bela and her father die at the hands of Kazbich.

"Maxim Maksimych"

This part is adjacent to "Bela", has no independent novelistic significance, but is entirely important for the composition of the novel. With Pechorin here the reader meets face to face for the only time. The meeting of old friends did not take place: it is rather a fleeting conversation with the desire of one of the interlocutors to finish it as soon as possible.

The narrative is built on the contrast of two opposite characters - Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych. The portrait is given through the eyes of the officer-narrator. In this chapter, an attempt is made to unravel the "inner" Pechorin through the external "talking" features.

"Taman"

The story does not tell about Pechorin's reflection, but shows him from an active, active side. Here Pechorin unexpectedly becomes a witness to gang activity. At first, he thinks that a man who sailed from the other side is risking his life for something really valuable, but in fact he is just a smuggler. Pechorin is very disappointed by this. But still, leaving, he does not regret that he visited this place.

The main meaning in the final words of the hero: “And why did fate throw me into a peaceful circle honest smugglers? Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calmness and, like a stone, I almost sank myself!”

"Princess Mary"

The story is written in the form of a diary. In terms of vital material, “Princess Mary” is closest to the so-called “secular story” of the 1830s, but Lermontov filled it with a different meaning.

The story begins with the arrival of Pechorin in Pyatigorsk to the healing waters, where he meets Princess Ligovskaya and her daughter, called Mary in the English manner. In addition, here he meets his former love Vera and friend Grushnitsky. Junker Grushnitsky, a poseur and secret careerist, acts as a contrasting character to Pechorin.

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 a fortress. There he meets Maxim Maksimych.

"Fatalist"

The case takes place in the Cossack village, where Pechorin arrives. He sits at a party, the company plays cards. They soon get fed up with this and start a conversation about predestination and fatalism, which some believe in, some do not. A dispute ensues between Vulich and Pechorin: Pechorin says that he sees obvious death on Vulich's face. As a result of the dispute, Vulich takes a gun and shoots himself, but a misfire occurs. Everyone goes home. Soon Pechorin learns about the death of Vulich: he was hacked to death with a sword by a drunken Cossack. Then Pechorin decides to try his luck and catch the Cossack. He breaks into his house, the Cossack shoots, but by. Pechorin grabs the Cossack, comes to Maxim Maksimych and tells him everything.

Main actors

Pechorin

Pechorin is a Petersburger. A military man, both in his rank and in his soul. He comes to Pyatigorsk from the capital. His departure to the Caucasus is connected with "some adventures." He ends up in the fortress where the action of "Bela" takes place after a duel with Grushnitsky, at the age of twenty-three. There he is in the rank of ensign. He was probably transferred from the guard to the army infantry or army dragoons.

The meeting with Maxim Maksimych takes place five years after the story with Bela, when Pechorin is already 28.

The surname Pechorin, derived from the name of the river Pechora, has a semantic affinity with Onegin's surname. Pechorin is a natural successor to Onegin, but Lermontov goes further: as r. Pechora north of the river. Onega, and the character of Pechorin is more individualistic than the character of Onegin.

The image of Pechorin

The image of Pechorin is one of the artistic discoveries of Lermontov. The Pechorin type is truly epochal, and above all because it received a concentrated expression of the features of the post-Decembrist era, when on the surface "only losses were visible, a cruel reaction", while inside "great work was being done ... deaf and silent, but active and uninterrupted ..." (Herzen, VII, 209-211). Pechorin is an extraordinary and controversial personality. He can complain about the draft, and after a while, jump with a saber unsheathed at the enemy. The image of Pechorin in the chapter “Maxim Maksimych”: “He was of medium height; his slender, thin frame and broad shoulders proved a strong constitution, capable of enduring all the difficulties of nomadic life and climate change, not defeated either by the debauchery of metropolitan life or spiritual storms ... ".

Publication

The novel appeared in print in parts from 1838. The first complete edition was published in

• "Bela" was written in the city. The first publication was in "Notes of the Fatherland", March, vol. 2, No. 3.
• The Fatalist was first published in Otechestvennye Zapiski in 1839, vol. 6, no. 11.
• "Taman" was first published in "Notes of the Fatherland" in 1840, vol. 8, no. 2.
• "Maxim Maksimych" first appeared in print in the 1st separate edition of the novel in Moscow.
• "Princess Mary" first appeared in the 1st edition of the novel.
• The "Preface" was written in St. Petersburg in the spring of 2009 and first appeared in the second edition of the novel.

Illustrations

The book was repeatedly illustrated by famous artists, including Mikhail Vrubel (1890-1891), Ilya Repin, Evgeny Lansere, Valentin Serov (1891), Leonid Feinberg, Mikhail Zichy (), Pyotr Boklevsky, Dementy Shmarinov (1941), Nikolai Dubovsky (1890 ) and Vladimir Bekhteev (1939).

Origins and predecessors

• Lermontov deliberately overcame the adventurous romantic tradition of novels on the Caucasian theme, set by Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky.
• Alfred de Musset's novel Confessions of a Son of the Century was published in 1836 and also tells about the "illness", meaning "the vices of the generation".
• Rousseau tradition and the development of the motive of European love for the "savage". For example, Byron, as well as Pushkin's "Gypsies" and "Prisoner of the Caucasus".
• Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin", "Prisoner of the Caucasus", "The Captain's Daughter" and so on.

Related works by Lermontov

Geography of the novel

The action of the novel takes place in the Caucasus. The main place is Pyatigorsk. And also some heroes are in Kislovodsk.

Caucasian peoples in the novel

Lermontov, being an officer of the Russian army that fought in the Caucasus, was very familiar with both army life and the life and customs of the local population. When writing the novel, this knowledge was widely used by the writer, the picture of life in the Caucasus in the 1830s was reproduced in great detail, both by describing the traditions of the local population and the relationship between Russians and Caucasians. Already at the beginning of Bela, Maxim Maksimych shows the characteristic look of a Russian officer on the local population, as on "Asian rogues who take money for vodka from those passing by." Kabardians and Chechens are defined by Maxim Maksimych as "robbers and naked, but desperate heads", while they are opposed to the Ossetians, whom the staff captain characterizes as "stupid people, incapable of any education, in which you will not even see a decent dagger on anyone" .

In more detail in "Bel" Lermontov dwells on the life of the Circassians, in fact, almost the entire chapter is devoted to this.

Screen adaptations

The novel by M. Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time" is the story of the life of Grigory Pechorin. The contradictory era created its own characters, difficult to understand. Grigory is an eyewitness of the time when the struggle against the autocracy flared up, the Decembrist uprising was taking place, and stagnation in society was observed.

The novel "A Hero of Our Time" consists of stories of different volume and plot, which take place in the Caucasus. Real life situations formed the basis of the work, so the book is interesting to read. It draws in the reality of the events described. The position of the author is constantly changing: either he is next to the hero, or he moves away, condemning and analyzing. There is no exact interpretation of the behavior of the hero, M. Yu. Lermontov leaves this at the mercy of the reader. Everyone sees his own in him, trying to figure out and understand what kind of character is hidden behind the character. Literature describes not one specific representative, but a whole generation of people of a past era. The construction of a novel is individual, it does not build events in time, according to feelings and characters. Full understanding can be obtained only after reading all the chapters.

The first part of "Bela" tells about a girl. The Circassian beauty liked Pechorin. He decided to find out what it is - the love of a savage. Interest and passion for the girl quickly fade away. Love settles in the soul of a woman, and a man only dreams of parting. Even the death of Bela does not cause regret in Pechorin. He laughs with an impenetrable face, as if rejoicing at this denouement.

The second part of "Maxim Maksimovich", in it the author suggests reading the magazine that Pechorin kept. The chapter "Taman" helps to penetrate deep into the soul of Gregory. The hero follows a blind boy and a mysterious girl. Surveillance almost led Pechorin to death. But he does not think that he can ruin people's lives, he is only concerned about his feelings. He does not feel uncomfortable, realizing that he has broken other people's destinies.

"Princess Mary" is the central part of the novel. Here the reader meets the true love of a literary character. The contradiction of nature in his pettiness, participation in intrigues and trifling showdowns. The text of the chapter is deep and meaningful for understanding the character of the protagonist.

The chapter “The Fatalist” is a story about the possible fatal outcome of any events, the impossibility of changing fate, but the ability of a person to rule his life.

The novel is compared to a mirror in which the writer's contemporaries could see themselves, understand the origins of their disappointments and find the reasons for immoral acts.

This is my favorite work of the author. Here, the author, thanks to a description of the life of the main character Pechorin, shows talented and energetic people that they cannot find a use for themselves in life, although they are capable people. The writer managed to create the image of a young man of the thirties, thereby causing a storm of admiration among progressive people, as they saw the truth in this work. But critics criticized this novel, although Lermontov's answer was immediate, because he says that critics do not believe in the image of the hero, because he is truthful and there is more truth in him than he really would like.

Hero of our time short essay

When you read a work, we see the hero's desire to unravel the meaning of life, but on the other hand, his aimless existence kills. At the same time, even today there are people who live their lives aimlessly, so the work is relevant in our time.

The novel consists of several stories that introduce us to the hero of the work. So in Bell's first story we meet Pechorin for the first time. Here describes the hero Maxim Maksimych. He talks about Pechorin, whose youth was spent in St. Petersburg. Next, we will learn how he is transferred to the Caucasus. Here the hero meets Bella, whose location he is trying to win, and having achieved the girl, he is bored and realizes that this is not him and he made the wrong choice.

In the chapter Maxim Maksimych Pechorin is shown to us exactly as Maxim Maksimych saw him. For him, this is a strange person who even while laughing had a cold look.
In Pechorin's Journal, the protagonist himself writes about himself. This part of the work is like a diary, where the hero tells the story of the smugglers. Having revealed the secret of the activities of Yanko and his girlfriend, Pechorin is disappointed, he is upset by his senseless interference in their lives.

The story of Princess Mary is probably the most important story where Pechorin begins to analyze his actions and his life. He meets Mary here and again tries to get the girl, but not because he fell in love, but because she is passionate about another man. Pechorin enters into a fight with Grushnitsky and this fight leads to a duel in which Grushnitsky dies.

The work of the author ends with the story Fatalist. Here the hero solves an important philosophical question about whether a person decides his own fate and writes it himself or everything depends on fate.
Pechorin appears before us as an active person who is trying to find himself in life, but he does not succeed.

Female images in the hero of our time

In addition to Pechorin, the author also displays female images in his work. So we meet a brave smuggler with her dexterity and cunning. This is a girl who can sincerely love a young man and at the same time be cruel to the elderly and the blind.

We meet Bella, a proud girl with her human dignity, whose fate ends tragically.

There is another girl who managed to comprehend the depths of Pechorin's soul, and that was Vera. She realized who Pechorin really was and her love for him did not cool off. But Vera was married and such love does not bring her to good.

“A Hero of Our Time” is a novel by M. Yu. Lermontov (1814-1842). Written in 1836-1840. The first in the history of Russian literature, where the cycle of stories is united by the figure of the protagonist, and not the narrator or writer. "A Hero of Our Time" is considered the first Russian psychological work in which the author made an in-depth psychological analysis of contemporary man and society.

The main character of the "Hero of Our Time" is officer Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin. The action takes place in the Caucasus, during its conquest by Russia. The novel consists of several stories in which the author shows Pechorin from different angles. At the same time, Lermontov draws in detail the character of Pechorin, conveys his thoughts, impressions, feelings, but passes over in silence his biography, only casually reporting the most necessary

- In the story "Bela" - Pechorin - an egoist, breaking the lives and destinies of the people around him out of boredom, for the sake of satisfying his desires.
- In "Taman" - Pechorin suddenly becomes involved in the activities of smugglers, not contributing to it, but even hindering it, which almost leads to his death. “And why did fate throw me into a peaceful circle of honest smugglers? Like a stone thrown into a smooth spring, I disturbed their calmness and, like a stone, I almost sank myself!” he complains.
- “Maxim Maksimych” is not a story about Pechorin at all. Its main character is an elderly officer Maxim Maksimych, an acquaintance of Pechorin. In "Maxim Maksimych" Lermontov for the first and last time gives a portrait of Pechorin:

“He was of average height; his slender, thin frame and broad shoulders proved a strong build, capable of enduring all the difficulties of nomadic life and climate change ..., his gait was careless and lazy, ... he did not wave his arms, a sure sign of a certain secrecy of character. There was something childlike in his smile. His skin had a kind of feminine tenderness; blond hair, curly by nature, so picturesquely outlined his pale, noble forehead .... Despite the light color of his hair, his mustache and eyebrows were black - a sign of breed in a man, he had a slightly upturned nose, teeth of dazzling whiteness and brown eyes; I must say a few more words about the eyes. First, they didn't laugh when he laughed! ... Because of half-lowered eyelashes, they shone with some kind of phosphorescent brilliance, ... it was a brilliance, like the brilliance of smooth steel, dazzling, but cold; his gaze, short, but penetrating and heavy, left an unpleasant impression of an indiscreet question…”

- "Fatalist" is another episode of Pechorin's biography. The action takes place in a Cossack village, where Pechorin, in the company of cards, gets involved in a dispute with Lieutenant Vulich about fatalism ...
- "Princess Mary" - Pechorin's adventures on the waters, in Pyatigorsk and Kislovodsk, his dishonorable behavior towards Princess Ligovskaya, a duel with Grushnitsky ...

"Hero of our time". Chapter distribution

• "Bela"
• "Maxim Maksimych"
• "Taman" - the first part
• "Princess Mary"
• "Fatalist" the second

However, if we establish the chronological framework of the novel, we get the following

1. On the way from St. Petersburg to the Caucasus, Pechorin stopped in Taman ("Taman")
2. After participating in a military expedition, Pechorin went to the waters in Kislovodsk and Pyatigorsk, where he fell in love with Princess Mary and killed Grushnitsky ("Princess Mary")
3. For this, Pechorin is exiled to a remote fortress, where he met Maxim Maksimych ("Bela")
4. From the Pechorin fortress, he went to the Cossack village for 2 weeks, where he met Vulich
5. Five years after these events, Pechorin, who lived in St. Petersburg, went to Persia and on the way met with Maxim Maksimych "Maxim Maksimych"
6. On the way back from Persia, Pechorin died (preface to Pechorin's Journal)

The history of the creation of the novel "A Hero of Our Time". Briefly

• 1836 - Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov began to write the novel "Princess Ligovskaya", in which the guardsman Pechorin first appeared. The rom was not finished. The image of Pechorin from "Princess Ligovskaya" is more autobiographical. Lermontov denied his resemblance to Pechorin's "Hero of Our Time"
• 1839, first half of March - In the journal "Domestic Notes" signed "M. Lermontov" printed "Bela. From an Officer's Notes on the Caucasus.
• 1839, March 18 - in the "Literary Supplements" to the newspaper "Russian Disabled" a message was placed that Lermontov's story "Bela" was printed in the March book of "Notes of the Fatherland"
• 1839, September 16 - in the "Literary supplements" to the "Russian invalid" it was reported that Lermontov's story "The Fatalist" would be published in the next book of "Notes of the Fatherland"
• 1839, November 5 - The editor and publisher of Otechestvennye Zapiski A. A. Kraevsky writes to the censor A. V. Nikitenko: “A terrible misfortune happened to me. The compositors and typesetter in the printing house, imagining that they had already received a clean proof of the Fatalist from you, on the third day printed the entire sheet in which this story was placed, thus imprinting 3000 copies .... you can imagine all my horror ..., I ask you to allow ... to print this article without your changes ... I would not beg you ... if I did not see that this little article can pass in its original form. Lermontov is also loved by Prince Mikhail Aleksndrovich Dundukov-Korsakov and Minister S. S. Uvarov; right, it can’t be bad here ... "
• 1839, November 10 - in the "Literary supplements" to the "Russian invalid" a message was given that in the November book of "Notes of the Fatherland" Lermontov's poem "Prayer" and the story "Fatalist" were printed
• 1840, the first half of February - in the February book of Notes of the Fatherland, Taman (pp. 144-154) and Cossack lullaby (pp. 245-246), signed "M. Lermontov.
• 1840, first half of April - the first edition of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" was published
• 1840, April 27 - in the "Literary Gazette" - notice of the release of "A Hero of Our Time"
• 1840, May 5 - in the newspaper "Northern Bee" (No. 98) and in a number of subsequent issues - a notice of the publication of "A Hero of Our Time"
• 1840, May 14 - in "Notes of the Fatherland" - an article by Belinsky (without a signature) about Lermontov's novel
• 1840, May 25 - in the "Literary Gazette" again without a signature, a sympathetic review of the literary critic V. G. Belinsky on "A Hero of Our Time" was printed

“Pechorin is our time, the hero of our time. Their dissimilarity among themselves is much less than the distance between Onega and Pechora. Onegin is in the novel a man who was killed by upbringing and social life, to whom everything took a closer look, everything became boring, everything fell in love ... Pechorin is not like that. This man does not indifferently, not apathetically bear his suffering: he is madly chasing after life, looking for it everywhere; he bitterly blames himself for his delusions. Internal questions are incessantly heard in him, disturb him, torment him, and in reflection he seeks their resolution: he watches every movement of his heart, considers his every thought. He made himself the most curious object of his observations and, trying to be as sincere as possible in his confession, not only frankly admits his true shortcomings, but also invents unprecedented or falsely interprets his most natural movements.

• 1840, June 12 - Nicholas I negative review of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" in a letter to the Empress

“I have read the Hero to the end and find the second part disgusting, quite worthy of being in vogue. This is the same exaggerated portrayal of contemptible characters that we find in modern foreign novels. Such novels spoil morals and spoil character. Because, although one reads such a thing with annoyance, it still leaves a painful impression, because in the end one gets used to thinking that the world consists only of such individuals in whom seemingly best actions stem from disgusting and false motives. What should be the consequence? Contempt or hatred for humanity...
... So, I repeat that, in my opinion, this is a pathetic book, showing the great depravity of the author.

• 1840, June 15 - in "Notes of the Fatherland" - the beginning of Belinsky's article about the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov
• 1840, July 14 - in "Notes of the Fatherland" - the end of Belinsky's article on the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov
• 1840, December 16 and 17 - in "In the Northern Bee" in the form of a letter to its editor, writer, journalist, literary critic F. V. Bulgarin, an enthusiastic review of the journalist, literary and theater critic V. S. Mezhevich about "The Hero of Our Time "and about the first edition of" M. Lermontov's Poems ". According to contemporaries, the publisher I. Glazunov asked Bulgarin to do him a favor and write a commendable review so that the public would quickly buy up The Hero of Our Time. He asked Mezhevich ...

Already at the first acquaintance with Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time", the characterization of the characters, the analysis of their images become necessary for understanding the work.

Pechorin - the central image of the novel

The protagonist of the novel Grigory Pechorin, an extraordinary personality, the author painted "a modern man, as he understands him, and met him too often." Pechorin is full of apparent and real contradictions in relation to love, friendship, he is looking for the true meaning of life, he decides for himself the questions of the destiny of a person, the choice of a path.

Sometimes the main character is unattractive for us - he makes people suffer, destroys their lives, but there is a force of attraction in him that makes others 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 the life of Pechorin, each has its own characters, and all of them, from one side or another, reveal the secret of the soul of the “hero of time”, making him a living person. Who are the characters who help us see "a portrait made up of the vices of the entire generation, in their full development"?

Maksim Maksimych

Maksim Maksimych, "a man worthy of respect," as the young officer-narrator says about him, open, kind, in many ways naive, content with life. We listen to his story about the history of Bela, we watch how he strives to meet Grigory, 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 be hostile towards Pechorin.

At the same time, with all his ingenuous charm, Maxim Maksimych is a limited person, he does not know what drives a young officer, and he does not even think about it. It will be incomprehensible for the staff captain and the coldness of his friend at the last meeting, which offended to the depths of his soul. “What does he have in me? I’m not rich, I’m not official, and in terms of years I’m not at all a match for him. ” The characters have completely different characters, views on life, worldview, they are people of different eras and different origins.

Like other main characters of Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time", the image of Maxim Maksimych prompts us to think about the cause of Pechorin's selfishness, indifference and coldness.

Grushnitsky and Werner

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

Very young Junker Grushnitsky- an ordinary person, he wants to stand out, to impress. He belongs to the type of people who “have pompous phrases ready for all occasions, who are simply not touched by the beautiful and who are importantly draped in extraordinary feelings, sublime passions and exceptional suffering. To produce an effect is their delight.”

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

Dr. Werner it seems to us at first 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 mockery and irony hides his true feelings, his ability to sympathize. The main similarity that Pechorin notes, speaking of a friend, is “we are rather indifferent to everything, except ourselves.”

The difference becomes apparent when we compare the descriptions of the characters. 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 egoism of the hero is completely conscious; inner activity is alien to him.

His dispassionate decency betrays Werner: the doctor is not looking for changes in the world, much less in himself. He warns his friend about rumors and conspiracy, but does not shake hands with Pechorin after the duel, not wanting to take 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 women with whom Gregory's life brings. Bela, Undine, Princess Mary, Vera. They are all completely different, each with its own character and charm. It is they who 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, "a nice girl," as Maxim Maksimych calls her, opens a gallery of female images. Goryanka brought up on folk traditions and customs. The impetuosity, passion, ardor of the "wild" girl, living in harmony with the outside world, attract Pechorin, resonating in his soul. Over time, love awakens in Bela, and she gives herself to her with all the power of the natural openness of feelings and spontaneity. Happiness does not last long, and the girl, resigned to her fate, dreams only of freedom. "I myself will leave, I am not his slave - I am a princess, a prince's daughter!" Strength of character, desire for freedom, inner dignity do not leave Bela. Even grieving before her death that her soul would never meet with Pechorin again, she answers the offer to accept another faith that she “will die in the faith in which she was born.”

Mary

Image Mary Ligovskaya, princesses 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 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, it is imperative that he be unhappy and walk in a thick and 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 a secular game and genuine spiritual impulses. Mary is a representative of her time, environment and social status. At first, paying attention to Grushnitsky, then he 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

About Mary, the author tells a lot and in detail, Faith but we, the readers, see only in love for Pechorin. “She is the only woman in the world who would not be able to deceive” the hero, the one who understood him “perfectly, with all the petty weaknesses, bad passions.” “My love has grown together with my soul: it has darkened, but has not died out.” 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 self-giving, 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 examine in more detail the psychological portrait of Gregory.

Conclusion

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

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