Composition is the arrangement and structure of a work.
The novel “A Hero of Our Time” consists of several stories that can be perceived as separate literary works. Nevertheless, each of the components is an integral part of the whole.
The peculiarity of the composition is that individual stories are not located in chronological order(i.e. according to the plot), but completely differently. The plot, that is, the set of events in their compositional sequence, does not coincide with the plot. Lermontov was one of the first in literature to use a similar technique. For what purpose did he do this?
A plot that does not coincide with the plot helps to switch the reader’s attention from the eventual, external side to inner side, from detective to spiritual.
“Hero of Our Time” recreates the “summit composition” characteristic of romantic poem. The reader sees the hero only in tense, dramatic moments of his life. The gaps between them turn out to be unfilled. We meet the hero in the fortress and in the last scene we also see him in the fortress - this creates the effect of a ring composition.
IN various parts In the novel we see the main character from the point of view of different characters: the narrator, Maxim Maksimych, Pechorin himself. Thus, the reader sees Pechorin from the perspective different people.
You can talk about the role of each story in the novel from different points of view: you can focus on compositional role, you can - on the significance in revealing Pechorin’s character, on his ability to act in various situations. We will focus on the content of individual stories.
“Bela”: Pechorin fulfills the romantic stereotype of “natural love for a savage.” Lermontov realistically debunks the accepted point of view that such love can be fruitful. Pechorin is shown through the eyes of the ingenuous Maxim Maksimych.
“Maxim Maksimych”: Pechorin is depicted in his relationship with his old colleague Maxim Maksimych as a witness to his past: most likely, he was dry with Maksim Maksimych and hastened to part with him, since he did not want to awaken memories of the departed. The narrator tells about Pechorin - a young educated officer who has already heard the story about Bel.
“Pechorin’s Journal”: Pechorin himself talks about himself.
“Taman”: Pechorin works out the romantic situation of falling in love with an “honest smuggler,” which ends disastrously for him. The peculiarity of the story is that there are no fragments of introspection in it, but there is a narrative close to colloquial speech(this is how Pechorin could tell his comrades about what happened to him).
“Princess Mary”: the genre basis is a secular story, the events in which, as a rule, are associated with a love affair in secular society and the idea of rivalry between two men. “Tamani” differs from the conversational narrative style detailed descriptions environment and detailed introspection (reflection), similar to the sharpness of the plot. Represents diary entries.
Contains a view of Pechorin from Werner's side, includes remarks from other characters (Vera, Mary, Grushnitsky), describing various manifestations of Pechorin's character.
“Fatalist”: again we have the style of oral narration (as in “Taman”), the content of the story is an attempt to understand the driving forces of the world (fate, fate or the conscious will of man).
Epic novel " Quiet Don"can be considered the pinnacle of M.A. Sholokhov’s creativity. It covers a large period of time, describes the events of the First World War, two revolutions and Civil War, therefore, to understand this work big role need to pay attention to composition.
At the center of the novel is the story of the Melekhov family. Through the prism personal life For each of its members, Sholokhov conveys the mood of the Don Cossacks in different historical periods.
This technique helps the reader to acutely feel the tragedy of those events and also find out how simple people coped with the difficulties that suddenly befell them.
A special place in the novel is occupied by lyrical digressions. M.A. Sholokhov follows the tradition of the genre and describes the landscape surrounding the heroes in all colors and details. In the writer’s work, the natural world is inseparable from the human world; the Cossacks sincerely love their native land, live in harmony with her and thank her for her generous gifts, which give them the opportunity to exist peacefully. Through nature, the feelings of the heroes seem to materialize. For example, state of mind Aksinya, after the break with Gregory, is compared to the deserted and wild steppe, where cattle once grazed.
And Gregory himself, after the funeral of his beloved, saw above him “a dazzling black disk of the sun.” This technique helps the writer to better convey the psychologism of the characters, their emotional condition, which is difficult to describe in words.
An important feature of the composition of “Quiet Don” is the use of antithesis. The entire novel is built on it: Sholokhov constantly compares war and peace, life and death. And accordingly, uncertainty and doubt characterize Grigory Melekhov as the main character. He rushes between whites and reds, between Aksinya and Natalya, between feelings and duty. Constant search truth, one’s place in life is the main motive of “Quiet Don”.
This character trait determines not only an individual person, but also an entire era. The space of the novel is constantly narrowing and expanding. From the events taking place in the Tatarsky farm, the writer moves on to large-scale events, covering big cities and exciting the whole country. Sholokhov includes real historical figures and documents in the narrative, and thus “Quiet Don” becomes a kind of chronicle, and Grigory Melekhov becomes a socio-psychological type characterizing society as a whole. And the problem of the work expands - it becomes nationwide.
The florid, fickle plot of “Quiet Don” ends in the Melekhovo courtyard, where it began. Gregory, after long wanderings, returns to his native kuren with his little son. The hero now has the opportunity to start all over again: restore the household, arrange his life, raise a child. The ring composition depicts the cycle of good and evil. And this reveals another important motif of the work - the motif of the transience of time. Peaceful life is disrupted by turmoil and destruction, but then returns to normal again. It's natural historical process. The earth is gradually healing its wounds. Humanity also heals its wounds. Only memory remains. And Sholokhov expresses this idea at the end of his novel.
Updated: 2018-03-17
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Essay COMPOSITIONAL FEATURES OF THE NOVEL “A HERO OF OUR TIME”.
“Wishes? What benefit is there to wish for in vain and forever?
And the years pass - all the best years.”
M. Yu. Lermontov
“A Hero of Our Time” is one of the first attempts to create a psychological realistic novel in Russian literature. The goal, the plan of M.Yu. Lermontov - to show the man of his time, his psychology, as the author himself notes, “ a portrait made up of the vices of our generation, in their full development".
In order to realize his plan, to reveal the character of the hero most fully, objectively, the writer uses the unusual compositional structure novel: the chronological sequence of events is disrupted here. It is not only the composition of the novel that is unusual. This work is a unique genre fusion - a combination of various genres already mastered by Russian prose: travel notes, a secular story, and the confessional diary, beloved by romantics, are used here.
Lermontov's novel is socio-psychological and moral-philosophical. " The main idea of the novel lies in an important modern question O inner man» , writes Belinsky. The author’s desire to achieve maximum objectivity and versatility in the portrayal of the main character forces him to resort to a non-standard narrative structure: the author, as it were, entrusts the story about his hero to either a traveling officer, or Maxim Maksimych, or Pechorin himself.
If we want to restore the chronology of the events described in the novel, then we should start with the incident in Taman, through which the hero’s path to the Caucasus passes. Pechorin will stay in Pyatigorsk and Kislovodsk for about a month (“Princess Mary”), from where he will be exiled to the fortress for a duel with Grushnitsky. Pechorin leaves the fortress for the Cossack village (“Fatalist”). Upon his return to the fortress, the story of Bela’s abduction plays out. Then the reader’s last meeting takes place with Pechorin, no longer a military man, but a secular man leaving for Persia (“Maksim Maksimych”). And from the preface of the officer-narrator we learn about the death of the hero. These are the events of the life of Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin in their chronological sequence. But Lermontov determined the order of the parts following each other outside of chronology real events, because each of the stories played its own special significant role in the system of the entire work.
Reading the story “Maksim Maksimych”, we get acquainted with the portrait of Pechorin, so psychologically subtly and deeply written by an educated officer-narrator familiar with writing. He notices the whiteness of Pechorin’s skin, and his unlaughing eyes, full of sadness, and his “noble forehead,” and his “thoroughbred” beauty, and Pechorin’s coldness. All this simultaneously attracts and repels the reader. A direct look at the portrait of the hero makes him incomparably closer to the reader than the system of narrators through which we get to know Pechorin in the chapter “Bela”. Maxim Maksimych tells the story to the traveler-officer, who takes travel notes, and from them the reader learns about everything.
Then the author opens to us the confessional pages of Pechorin's Journal. We see the hero again from a new perspective - the way he was alone with himself, the way he could only appear in his diary, but would never open up to people. This is confirmed by the words from the preface to Pechorin’s Journal, from which it is clearly clear that it was not intended for the eyes of others, much less for publication. It was “the consequence of the observation of a mature mind over itself,” and it was written “without a vain desire to excite, participation or surprise.” Thus, Lermontov, using a similar “arrangement” of the chapters of his novel, brings the main character as close as possible to the reader, allowing him to look into the very depths of his inner world.
Carefully turning over the pages of “Taman”, “Princess Mary” and “Fatalist”, we finally comprehend Pechorin’s character in its inevitable duality. And, learning the causes of this “disease,” we delve into the “history of the human soul” and think about the nature of time. The novel ends with “Fatalist”; this story plays the role of an epilogue. And it’s so wonderful that Lermontov structured his novel this way! It ends on an optimistic note. The reader learns about Pechorin's death in the middle of the novel and by the conclusion manages to get rid of the painful feeling of death or the end. This feature in the composition of the novel made it possible for the author to end the work with a “major intonation”: “the novel ends with a perspective into the future - the hero’s emergence from the tragic state of inactive doom. Instead of a funeral march, congratulations are heard on the victory over death.”
Creating the novel “Hero of Our Time,” M. Yu. Lermontov found new artistic media, which literature has never known and which delight us to this day with the combination of a free and broad depiction of faces and characters with the ability to show them objectively, revealing one character through the perception of another.
The novel by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov is a socio-psychological novel. Lermontov wanted to reveal all the secrets in the novel "Hero of Our Time" human soul. The novel was written at a time when a person could not express his opinion without getting hurt. The novel is written and consists of many stories collected into one work.
The stories are written in different chronological order, but this does not lose its meaning. Each of them can exist separately, because they describe various events that happened in Pechorin’s life. Throughout the novel, a man tries to find himself, but does not know what he really wants to be.
Mikhail Yuryevich took as a basis the disclosure of the character of the main character Pechorin. Lermontov changed the order of chapters more than once; he always wanted to create an ideal order in his novel. Mikhail Yuryevich wanted to build a philosophical order so that the reader could understand what he was talking about.
Lermontov's novel consists of five stories, but they are arranged in a chaotic order. First, the stories that end Pechorin’s life are presented, and then the events that happened to the main character earlier. The Russian officer in each of the stories wants to find a place for himself in this world, but cannot decide. He gets bored with girls very quickly and doesn't like anyone.
The novel begins with the fact that Pechorin becomes interested in the girl Bela and decides to steal her from her lover, but at that moment he does not know that he will quickly get bored with her. He imprisons the girl in the fortress where he himself is, but after some time Pechorin becomes bored and does not understand why he stole her because he could not love her. Pechorin wants freedom so much and does not like it when they try to shackle him in his actions. The officer is trying to escape from the fortress somewhere in the distance to find himself and his place. In the last final story, Pechorin nevertheless returns to the fortress from which he escaped.
In the first story "Bela" the reader gets to know Pechorin from the words of his friend Maxim Maksimych. He describes that the officer is a romantic and stole the girl because he fell in love with her. In another story, the name of which is “Maksim Maksimych,” the image of Pechorin is revealed from the words of the narrator. It is in it that it is described appearance Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin and the myth and its romance are destroyed. In the remaining parts of the novel, stage by stage, the kind and bright image of Pechorin is destroyed.
In the final part of the novel “Fatalist,” Mikhail Yuryevich writes that Pechorin should draw conclusions about his life. Pechorin believes that not everything is so simple and he should think about how he behaved throughout the entire time. He made certain conclusions about his life and would really like to correct some points. Grigory Alexandrovich is ready to fight fate, but the reader understands that this will lead to the quick death of Pechorin. Lermontov wanted to reveal the whole essence of the human soul, namely Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin. Mikhail Yuryevich highlighted a realistic characterization of a Russian officer who was looking for himself in life and made many mistakes.
Roman M.Yu. Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time" was published in 1840. The work is written in five parts. Unites five separate stories main character- Pechorin Grigory Alexandrovich. The very construction of the novel (its composition) does not have a clear chronology. The arrangement of the stories in the existing order is intended to solve certain artistic problems.
The first part of the novel consists of two stories: “Bela” and “Maksim Maksimych”. The narration comes on behalf of Maxim Maksimovich. He talks about Pechorin to a third party, who in the following chapters will himself narrate on behalf of the author. “Bela” describes the tragedy of a young Circassian girl. The hero of the novel, languishing with boredom, steals first the horse, and then Bela. Disregard for the traditions of the mountaineers leads to a terrible ending. The beautiful Bela and her father die at the hands of the robber Kazbich. Pechorin's associate, Azamat, is forced to leave his family forever.
Describing Pechorin in “Maksim Maksimych,” Lermontov also characterizes Maksimych himself. Showing two types of people, two different characters, the author contrasts them with each other. Two heroes met. But in general there is nothing to talk to them about. Maxim Maksimovich, no matter how hard he tried, was unable to comprehend inner world Pechorina.
In Taman, the hero of the novel is shown as brave and decisive. A chance encounter with smugglers could lead to his death. Comparisons with the smugglers of Grigory Pechorin are not in his favor. Reckless bravery and cruelty are justified by the lifestyle they are forced to lead. Pechorin has no motivation for such actions.
The apotheosis of the novel’s plot concept is “Princess Mary.” Here the hero finds himself in his familiar environment - in the society of aristocrats. For these people, behind the external gloss, farce and intrigue, meanness and lies, gossip and hypocrisy quite coexist. Pechorin is an inseparable part of this little world. The lack of a moral principle does not give him a chance to be happy in love. Getting ready for a duel with Grushnitsky, Grigory Alexandrovich thought about the meaning own life. But I didn't find him.
The novel “Fatalist” concludes. Reflecting on his past life, Pechorin believes that “fate” is to blame for all misadventures. The thought that a person himself chooses between Good and Evil does not occur to him.
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Critics defined the genre "Hero of our time" How psychological novel . When writing this work, M. Yu. Lermontov set out to show “the history of the human soul”, to reveal the inner world of the main character. M. Yu. Lermontov began work on the novel under the impression of his first exile to the Caucasus. At first, separate stories were written, which were published as they were written: “Bela”, “Fatalist” were published in the journal “Otechestvennye zapiski” in 1839, followed by the story “Taman”. Later, all five stories: “Bela”, “Maksim Maksimych”, “Taman”, “Princess Mary”, “Fatalist” - were combined into a novel entitled “Hero of Our Time”.
Critics and readers had mixed reactions to the image of the main character: some considered Pechorin a caricature of modern man, and the novel itself is immoral; others - that the image of Pechorin is a portrait of the author himself. M. Yu. Lermontov was forced to write a preface to the second edition, in which he commented on his perception of the hero and explained his creative principles. The author writes that his main principle when writing a novel is following the truth of life and critical assessment of the hero.
The stories from which “A Hero of Our Time” is composed are arranged in a certain sequence. This was done for a specific purpose: the author gradually immerses the reader into the inner world of the main character, revealing his character.
The work has three narrators. In the story “Bela” we see Pechorin through the eyes of Maxim Maksimych, a staff captain, who notes the “oddities” in Grigory Alexandrovich’s behavior, selfishness, and mystery. In “Maxim Maksimych” the role of the narrator is given to a traveling officer - a person closer in attitude and social status to the hero. He notes in Pechorin’s appearance the features of a strong, but internally lonely personality. In the next three stories - “Taman”, “Princess Mary”, “Fatalist” - Pechorin himself plays the role of narrator, who tells about his adventures in the seaside town, about his stay in Pyatigorsk, about the incident in Cossack village. The reader learns about the hero’s feelings and experiences from the lips of the hero himself, who impartially analyzes his actions, his behavior, and motives. For the first time in Russian literature, much attention was paid not to events, but specifically to the “dialectics of the soul,” and the form of a diary confession allows one to show all the “movements of the soul” of Pechorin. The hero himself admits that his soul is familiar with such feelings as envy, pity, love, hatred. But reason still prevails over feelings: we see this in the scene of the pursuit of Vera.
The author shows the hero in various life situations, surrounds him with a variety of characters (Pechorin among the mountaineers, in the circle of “honest smugglers” and the “water society”). I believe that this is an exceptional and at the same time typical hero of that time: he is looking for love, but he himself only brings suffering and even death; this is a person who lives a complex spiritual life, but is absolutely inactive or wastes energy on trifles; aware of his own vices and mercilessly condemning them in other people; a person who, according to V. G. Belinsky, “frantically chases... life, looking for it everywhere” and at the same time seeks death.
