Why is Pechorin considered an extra person? Pechorin - “an extra person” (based on the novel “Hero of Our Time”)

At the beginning of the 19th century, works began to appear whose main theme was the conflict between man and society. A modern image appears - a “superfluous person”, rejected, and not only by people.

In the work “Hero of Our Time” this image appears, named Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin. He comes from an influential family of nobles, which is why he has always been surrounded by rich people since childhood. But soon he got tired of the rich society with meaningless fun for money, that is, various balls, dinners, masquerades and so on. Gregory was more interested in science.

Pechorin's inner world was empty, the reason for this was his development. From birth, he was forced to live an empty life and his future was also empty. He wrote in his diary that if he was modest, he was accused of lying; he became secretive because no one gave him affection; he became angry because he was insulted; he was ready to love everyone, but no one understood him and he began to hate everyone.

In the work, Pechorin is shown as a victim of the nobles. As a result of this, from an early age he became a soulless, rude and selfish person, each time he gradually moved away from society.

Throughout the entire work, Pechorin tries to fight the emptiness inside. However, his attempts are unsuccessful. Everything he started was a failure. Pechorin knows this and suffers because of it. His torment is shown in the endless confrontation between humanism and cynicism. He wrote all this suffering in his diary; in his internal struggle, he deprived himself of everything necessary for existence. All these sufferings made him an “extra person” among people.

Pechorin is also exhausted in the moral aspect. He does not want to meet people or talk with interesting interlocutors. Pechorin has no close friends, and he doesn’t like anyone. Pechorin justifies himself by saying that friendship is not based on equality, but on the fear of losing freedom. As a result of this, we can conclude that Pechorin pays attention only to his freedom. He loves freedom so much that he dreams of power and wants to subjugate everything and everyone.

Doctor Werner and Vera are Pechorin's closest people. They are similar to the doctor in their loneliness, mental disorder and mentality. Vera is the first girl in the world whom he loves admiringly and nobly, but soon they encounter obstacles that he is unable to solve. Fiery passion and icy indifference are always fighting in his heart. Pechorin's egoism shows his ineffectiveness in everything, since he does neither good nor evil, paying attention to his aspirations and problems. This suggests that he has withdrawn into himself.

Option 2

Grigory Pechorin is the main character of M.Yu. Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time.” The author put into this hero the image of the entire Russian youth intelligentsia of the 19th century. The image is collective, and Lermontov assigns Grigory Pechorin the status of an “extra” person. It is necessary to understand why exactly this is so.

Pechorin is a representative of the noble intelligentsia. By nature, he is a very active person, possessing enormous vitality and energy. However, the hero cannot find his place in life. Any business that Pechorin would not take on is soon thrown at him. Despite his young age and spiritual strength, Gregory ceases to be interested in what most young people are interested in. He quit his literary studies and was bored with entertainment and social society. Out of the hopelessness of his situation, the hero simply sets off on a journey.

As a business-oriented person, Pechorin could invest time and energy into an important matter. But he cannot find his path in life. Wasting himself in vain, Pechorin becomes disillusioned with life itself, but for him it is just beginning. Unsatisfied with the way he lives, the hero causes pain to other people around him. Because of Pechorin, Bela dies and Grushnitsky dies. Everywhere Grigory Pechorin steps, grief occurs.

However, it cannot be said that Pechorin himself became such. Society is the reason for his spiritual devastation. After all, it was in society that the hero tried to maintain honesty and kindness. However, the soulless and devastated society did not believe and did not understand kindness. Pechorin had to become what he became.

Tossing from one thing to another, from selfishness to unconditional love for others, Pechorin contradicts himself. The burning desire for action and at the same time their insignificance do not give the hero a peaceful life. Every time he analyzes his own actions, which, however, does not bring any positive results. Despite his active work, Pechorin simply becomes unable to positively influence the situation. This makes him redundant and lonely wherever he is. It is not for nothing that the author leads Pechorin to death. After all, such a person has no place in life.

It’s not for nothing that the novel is called “A Hero of Our Time.” Pechorin shows not just one person, but the entire youth of the nineteenth century. With a rich inner world, but with an emptiness of soul and indifference to life.

Several interesting essays

• Essay by Nadenka Lyubetskaya in the novel An Ordinary Story by Goncharov

  It will not be a secret for true admirers of Russian literature that Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov, being a great master of the pen, knew how to describe his characters like no one else. Everyone is remembered - from the main characters to the supporting characters

• Captain Timokhin in Tolstoy's novel War and Peace image, characterization essay

  The full name of the hero is Prokhor Ignatyich Timokhin. He is already an old man. But, despite his age, he was constantly running somewhere, in a hurry. It was always read on his face, as the author writes:

• Essay on the work Three Comrades by Remarque

  E.M. Remarque went down in history with his works on war-related themes. To be precise, thanks to works about the First World War.

• Essay by Dikaya and Kabanikh: similarities and differences

  A.N. Ostrovsky reflects in The Thunderstorm the world of tyranny, tyranny and stupidity. And also the reality of people who do not resist this evil. The literary critic Dobrolyubov called all this “the dark kingdom.” And this concept stuck.

Bashkortostan is a republic lying at the junction of Europe and Asia. The land where mountains, forests and steppes meet.

“A Hero of Our Time” is the first realistic socio-psychological novel in Russian literature, in which the author’s attention is focused on revealing the hero’s inner world, on the dialectics of his soul, on an in-depth psychological analysis of his feelings and experiences, on the “history of the human soul.”

The novel by M. Yu. Lermontov consists of five stories, each of which has its own title, its own complete plot, but they are all united by the image of the main character - Pechorin.

The main character of the novel lives in the thirties of the 19th century,

During the period of the most severe political reaction that occurred in the country after the defeat of the December uprising of 1825. At this time, a man of progressive thought could not find an application for his powers. Disbelief, doubt, denial have become features of the consciousness of the younger generation. Lermontov summarized the character traits of this generation in the image of Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, explaining that “A Hero of Our Time” is a portrait made up of the vices of the entire ... generation, in their full development,” the generation of the thirties of the 19th century.

Pechorin is a nobleman-intellectual of the Nicholas era, its product and victim rolled into one. He

He received a typical education and upbringing for young people of that time. Having left the care of his relatives, he began to madly pursue pleasures and pleasures that could be obtained for money. The author resorts to his favorite form of narration - confession. From Pechorin's journal, the reader learns about his life in the big world, about how he fell in love with secular beauties and was loved. We can judge the hero’s appearance from the story of a passing officer in the chapter “Maksim Maksimych”. In terms of his cultural level, the narrator is close to Pechorin, which affected his perception of the character of the hero of the novel. In his description, he pays special attention to Pechorin’s eyes: “... they did not laugh when he laughed. This is a sign of either an evil disposition or deep, constant sadness. Because of their half-lowered eyelashes, they shone with some kind of phosphorescent shine... It was not a reflection of the heat of the soul or the playing imagination: it was a shine similar to the shine of smooth steel, dazzling, but cold... "

An image appears of a person who has experienced a lot and is devastated. This portrait outlined the contradictions in both the external and internal worlds of Pechorin. They partially lifted the veil of mystery about the character of the hero, outlined in the chapter “Bela,” in which the portrait of the hero is given through the eyes of Maxim Maksimych, for whom Pechorin is a mystery. For the first time in Russian literature, the author gives a deep psychological portrait of his hero. He is presented in the story “Princess Mary”. The character of the main character is revealed through the system of characters in this story.

However, the composition of the novel reflects the author’s desire to reveal the hero’s inner world. The culmination of the entire work is Pechorin’s understanding of his purpose in life a few hours before his possible death, before the duel: “... 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 forces in my soul...” But the hero cannot find his place in life.

The main contradiction in Pechorin’s nature is the ability to act and the insignificance of actions. This is his tragedy.

The character of the hero is extremely contradictory. One of its main features is, according to V. G. Belinsky, “reflection.” Pechorin has made himself an object for observation; he constantly analyzes his every action, thought, feeling (“If I am the cause of the misfortune of others, then I myself am no less unhappy”). It’s as if two people live in it: “one acts, and the other judges his actions.”

He quickly became bored with social life. He had already experienced everything, known everything, was fed up with everything and was disappointed. Pechorin realizes that “the ignorant are happy, and glory is luck.” In this sense, Pechorin’s understanding of life is akin to the worldview of the lyrical hero of the poem “Duma” (1838):

And we hate and we love by chance,

Without sacrificing anything, neither anger nor love,

And some secret cold reigns in the soul,

When fire burns in the blood.

The hero tries to do science, reads books, but he soon gets tired of everything and becomes bored:

Dreams of poetry, creation of art

Sweet delight does not stir our minds.

He is aware that in the society where he is, he will never make friends, that he will remain misunderstood:

We have dried up the mind with fruitless science,

I feel envious from my neighbors and friends

Passions ridiculed by disbelief.

The hero of the novel admits: “My soul is spoiled by light.” Once in the Caucasus, he hopes that “boredom does not live under Chechen bullets.” But he very quickly gets used to the whistling of bullets. He remains misunderstood in the water society of Pyatigorsk. But the hero strives to “love the whole world,” but turns out to be lonely.

Pechorin's situation is tragic. He really is an extra person. He becomes such because in his development he goes further than the majority, developing into a personality doomed to live in “the country of slaves, the country of masters.”

By creating the image of Pechorin, Lermontov destroyed the romantic ideal of his contemporary, but the hero’s actions are not indicators of either his merits or demerits. The author tried to explain to the reader the reasons that influenced the development of Pechorin’s character. He brings misfortune to all the people whom the hero’s fate encounters, violating the moral laws of society. He cannot find a place for himself anywhere, or use his remarkable strengths and abilities, so Pechorin is superfluous wherever fate throws him.

Why do we consider Pechorin one of the superfluous people of his time??? and got the best answer

Answer from Maxim Yu. Volkov[guru]
“A Hero of Our Time” is the first Russian realistic psychological novel in prose. The novel raises a topical problem: why don’t smart and energetic people find use for their remarkable abilities and “wither without a fight” at the very beginning of life? Lermontov answers this question with the life story of Pechorin, a young man belonging to the generation of the 30s of the 19th century. In the image of Pechorin, the author presented an artistic type that absorbed the features of a whole generation of young people at the beginning of the century.
In the preface to the Pechorin Journal, Lermontov writes: “The history of the human soul, even the smallest soul, is perhaps more interesting and useful than the history of an entire people...”
This ideological task of the author also determined the unique construction of the novel. Its peculiarity is the violation of the chronological sequence of events.
The novel consists of five parts, five stories, each with its own genre, its own plot and its own title. Only the main character unites all these stories into something whole, into a single novel.
The last three stories occupy a special place in the novel - this is the life story of Pechorin, written by him. This story is presented in the form of a diary (“Princess Mary”), as well as in the form of notes that the hero compiled some time later.
Lermontov emphasizes that Pechorin’s confession is quite sincere, that he was a strict judge of himself and “mercilessly exposed his own weaknesses and vices.”
Pechorin is an “extra person.” His behavior is incomprehensible to those around him, because they have a common point of view on life, common in noble society. With all the difference in appearance and difference in character, Onegin from the novel by A.S. Pushkin, and the hero of the comedy A.S. Griboyedov's "Woe from Wit" - Chatsky, and Lermontov's Pechorin belong to the type of "superfluous people", that is, those people for whom there was neither place nor business in the society around them. Belinsky said about Pechorin: “This is the Onegin of our time, the hero of our time. Their dissimilarity is much less than the distance between Onega and Pechora.” Herzen also called Pechorin “Onegin’s younger brother.”
What are the similarities between Pechorin and Onegin? Both of them are representatives of high secular society. There is much in common in the history of their youth: at the beginning, the same pursuit of secular pleasures, then the same disappointment in them, the same boredom that possesses them. Just like Onegin, Pechorin is intellectually superior to the nobles surrounding him. Both of them are typical representatives of thinking people of their time, critical of life and people.
But that's where the similarities end. Pechorin is a different person than Onegin in his spiritual make-up; he lives in different socio-political conditions.
Onegin lived in the 20s, before the Decembrist uprising, at a time of socio-political revival. Pechorin is a man of the 30s, a time of rampant reaction, when the Decembrists were defeated, and the revolutionary democrats had not yet declared themselves as a social force.
Onegin could have gone to the Decembrists (which is what Pushkin thought to show in the tenth chapter of the novel), Pechorin was deprived of this opportunity. That is why Belinsky said that “Onegin is bored, Pechorin is deeply suffering.” Pechorin's situation is all the more tragic because he is by nature more gifted and deeper than Onegin.
This talent manifests itself in Pechorin’s deep mind, strong passions and steely will, allowing him to correctly judge people, about life, and be critical of himself. The characteristics he gives to people are accurate and to the point. Pechorin’s heart is capable of feeling deeply and strongly, although outwardly he remains calm, for “the fullness and depth of feelings and thoughts does not allow wild impulses.”
Pechorin is a strong, strong-willed nature, thirsty for activity. But for all his talent and wealth of spiritual powers, he, according to his own fair definition, is a “moral cripple.” His character and all his behavior are extremely contradictory.
This inconsistency is clearly reflected in his appearance, which, like all people, reflects the inner

At the beginning of the 19th century, works appeared in Russian literature, the main problem of which was the conflict between man and the society around him. A new image is being created - a “superfluous person”, rejected, spiritually unclaimed by society.
In the novel A Hero of Our Time, Lermontov creates the image of such a person. This image is Pechorin.
Pechorin was born into a wealthy noble family, so from a young age he was in the circles of influential people. However, he soon became bored with the “light” of society with its empty entertainment, “which can be obtained for money” - balls, festive dinners and, of course, masquerades with their tedious conversations and lack of practical activities. Pechorin was drawn to education and science, but quickly decided for himself that “you are more likely to find happiness in ignorance and wealth,” and “he did not want fame.” This hero is internally devastated. The reason for his emptiness can be found by learning about his upbringing. From the very beginning of his life, he was doomed to an empty future. Proof of this can be found by reading his diary: “I was modest - I was accused of guile: I became secretive. I felt good and evil deeply. Nobody caressed me. Everyone insulted me. I became vindictive. I was ready to love the whole world - no one understood me and I learned to hate.
Pechorin is portrayed in the novel as a victim of noble people. Thus, from childhood he became a cruel, vindictive and cynical person, he gradually moved away from people, lost faith in life and love.
Throughout the novel, the hero tries to fight his inner emptiness. But all his efforts end in failure. All the things he starts are doomed to failure. He understands this and suffers greatly from it. His suffering is expressed in a constant struggle between humanism and cynicism. Pechorin describes all this in his diary. In the struggle with himself, he “exhausted the heat of the soul and the constancy of the will” necessary for an active life. All this makes Pechorin a “superfluous person” in social terms.
He is also weak psychologically. Pechorin does not want to make new acquaintances or communicate with smart people. He is burdened by spiritual and emotional intimacy. He has no friends and doesn't love anyone. He explains this by the fact that friendship is never based on equality, and by the fear of losing personal freedom.
From this we can conclude that this hero values ​​only his independence. He is so freedom-loving that he has a strong desire to subordinate everything and everyone to his will, even love.
The closest people to Pechorin are only Doctor Werner and Vera. He shares a feeling of loneliness with Dr. Werner. They are also united by mental unsettlement, as well as a similar mindset.
About Vera we can say that she is “the only woman in the world.” He loves her selflessly and unselfishly. However, in these relationships problems arise that are difficult for him to solve.
Pechorin constantly battles fiery passion and cold indifference.
Thus, Pechorin's extreme selfishness shows his uselessness in all respects. Focusing on his own problems and aspirations, the hero does no good to anyone and does not bring happiness, we can conclude that he has withdrawn into himself.
Even he himself admits that he “became a moral cracker.”