Two bright characters Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov's novel “A Hero of Our Time” is the cadet Grushnitsky and the officer Grigory Pechorin.
Our heroes are young men. Grigory Pechorin in the novel is about twenty-five, and Grushnitsky looked older than his years. He was given twenty-five years old, but in fact he was only twenty-first.
Both heroes are young and handsome men. Grushnitsky is dark and black-haired, and he is well built. And Pechorina is told that he is very handsome.
Grushnitsky has a very expressive face, while Pechorin’s face expresses absolutely nothing. Even when he lay in a fever, it could not be determined by the expression on his face.
Grushnitsky is a cadet who later becomes an officer. Pechorin is an officer (ensign) who used to be a cadet. Moreover, Pechorin himself believes that the best part There was precisely that period in his life when he held the rank of cadet.
Both characters are nobles. But Pechorin is rich, he is called the St. Petersburg winner, and Grushnitsky is not very rich and comes from the provinces, his father has his own village.
Pechorin has an extraordinary mind, while Grushnitsky cannot be called smart. Pechorin is restrained in the manifestation of his feelings and passions, and Grushnitsky, on the contrary, is uncontrollable in the manifestation of his emotions.
If Pechorin is a very brave man and knows how to take responsibility for his actions and actions, then Grushnitsky in the work manifests himself as a cowardly little man.
Pechorin does not like to talk much; in conversation he is mostly silent. In his opinion, being silent is not as tiring as talking. In addition, this deprives you of the opportunity to spill the beans and inadvertently give away your or someone else’s secret. And this character really doesn’t like to reveal his secrets. And for him, silence in a conversation is a great opportunity to find out someone’s secret. Grushnitsky, on the contrary, loves to cook. He speaks at length and tastefully, using pre-prepared long and ornate phrases in his speech. Moreover, he shares his secrets with almost everyone.
Pechorin is very arrogant and often speaks impudently to people. And Grushnitsky is a modest guy, he feels awkward if he has to ask for it, even if this is customary among people living in the area.
Pechorin is very insightful, he sees people through and knows them. Grushnitsky does not know people, does not know how to find an approach to them and touch the secret strings of their souls.
The heroes have a lot of different things, but they also have a lot in common. They are both nobles, both well-bred and received a decent education. They are both military and both serve in the Caucasus. As for their character, both heroes are proud, proud and vengeful.
Grushnitsky absorbed everything negative qualities Pechorin, without taking anything from the main character of the novel positive traits character. Therefore, Grushnitsky sets off Pechorin very favorably, because in comparison with Grushnitsky, Pechorin seems much better than he really is.
Comparative characteristics of Grushnitsky and Pechorin
In Lermontov’s work “A Hero of Our Time,” or rather, in one of its parts, there are two heroes, one of whom is the most important, and exists throughout the entire novel. This person is Pechorin.
Grigory Pechorin is a person who is not subject to anyone. No one was able to figure out this man, or understand him completely. After all, Pechorin is very original and mysterious, since he never really had friends and did not share his innermost thoughts with anyone.
Pechorin never fell in love and did not truly love. He destroyed all those who did not risk loving him. He took advantage of people very successfully, and often despised them, since by his nature he was arrogant and even arrogant. But at the same time, he was handsome, and there was a sense of breed in him, something that distinguished him from other people.
Pechorin is a man who does not need the shackles of marriage, as he called it. He always wanted to remain free in his actions. He also did not tolerate boasting in people, as he considered it the highest stupidity and worthlessness. That is why he did not tolerate Grushnitsky, who had these qualities in abundance. Pechorin is the one who remained in the hearts of many as someone clearly unusual, cold, even a little arrogant, and at the same time so mysterious and so brave. Not everyone liked this character, but still this personality is worthy of admiration to some extent.
Grushnitsky is precisely the type of person who despises everyone who is below him, and respects or simply flatters everyone who is even slightly higher in position and rank than him, while he scolds and envyes them behind his back. He did not see Pechorin as superior to himself, although somewhere on a subconscious level he was wary of him, because he understood that Pechorin could not possibly be inferior to him in everything, although he did not want to believe that he was superior. That is why he hated Pechorin, although outwardly they had a very friendly relationship.
Grushnitsky is a person who loves to brag and show himself to everyone - how good, smart and handsome he is. This is exactly what let him down - excessive pride never leads to good ending. He did not see himself from the outside, and did not know how to think things through too far ahead. And he never paid attention to others, especially to their feelings. Although he was very handsome, and even an officer, he could only in the first impression interest him with his appearance and shoulder straps, as well as his dapperness, but nothing more. When, like Pechorin, he interested everyone from the moment they met and beyond.
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“Hero of Our Time” M.Yu. Lermontov was published as a separate publication in St. Petersburg in the spring of 1940. The novel has become one of the extraordinary phenomena in Russian literature. This book has been the subject of numerous debates and studies for over a century and a half, and has not lost any of its vital relevance even today. Belinsky wrote about it: “Here is a book that is destined to never grow old, because, at its very birth, it was injected living water poetry."
The main character of the novel, Pechorin, lived in the thirties of the nineteenth century. This time can be characterized as the years of gloomy reaction that came after the defeat of the Decembrist 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 consciousness younger generation. They rejected the ideals of their fathers from the cradle, and at the same time they doubted moral values as such. That's why V.G. Belinsky said that “Pechorin suffers deeply,” finding no use for the immense powers of his soul.
Creating “A Hero of Our Time,” Lermontov depicted life as it really was. And he found new ones artistic means, which neither Russian nor Western literature has yet 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, “building” them, revealing one character through the perceptions of another.
Let's take a closer look at the two heroes of the novel - Pechorin and Grushnitsky.
Pechorin was an aristocrat by birth and received a secular upbringing. Having left the care of his relatives, he “went into big light" and "began to enjoy wildly all the pleasures." He soon became disgusted with the frivolous life of an aristocrat and became bored with reading books. After the “notorious story in St. Petersburg,” Pechorin was exiled to the Caucasus. Drawing the appearance of his hero, the author with a few strokes indicates not his aristocratic origin: “pale”, “noble forehead”, “small aristocratic hand”, “dazzlingly clean linen”. Pechorin is a physically strong and resilient person. He is endowed with an extraordinary mind, critically assessing the world. He reflects on the problems of good and evil, love and friendship, on the meaning human life. In the assessment of his contemporaries, he is self-critical: “We are no longer capable of great sacrifices, either for the good of humanity, or even for our own happiness.” He has a great understanding of people, is not satisfied with the sleepy life of the “water society” and gives destructive characteristics to the capital’s aristocrats. Most fully and deeply inner world Pechorin is revealed in the story “Princess Mary”, where his meeting with Grushnitsky takes place.
Grushnitsky is a cadet, he is the most ordinary young man, dreaming of love, “stars” on his uniform. Making an impact is his passion. In a new officer's uniform, dressed up, smelling of perfume, he goes to Mary. He is mediocrity, he has one weakness that is quite forgivable at his age - “draping himself into extraordinary feelings”, “passion for declaiming”. He seems to be striving to play the role of a disappointed hero, fashionable at that time, “a creature doomed to some kind of secret suffering.” Grushnitsky is a completely successful parody of Pechorin. That is why the young cadet is so unpleasant to him.
With his pitiful behavior, Grushnitsky, on the one hand, emphasizes the nobility of Pechorin, and on the other, as if erasing any differences between them. After all, Pechorin himself spied on him and Princess Mary, which, of course, was not a noble act. And he never loved the princess, but simply used her gullibility and love to fight Grushnitsky.
Grushnitsky, as a narrow-minded person, at first does not understand Pechorin’s attitude towards him. Grushnitsky seems to himself to be a self-confident, very insightful and significant person: “I feel sorry for you, Pechorin,” he says condescendingly. But events are developing imperceptibly according to Pechorin’s plans. And now the cadet, overwhelmed by passion, jealousy and indignation, appears before us in a different light. He turns out to be not so harmless, capable of revenge, dishonesty and meanness. The one who just recently played at being noble is today capable of shooting at an unarmed person. The duel scene reveals the essence of Grushnitsky, shoot, I despise myself, and I hate you. If you don’t kill me, I’ll stab you at night from around the corner. There is no place for the two of us on earth... Grushnitsky rejects reconciliation Pechorin shoots him in cold blood. The situation becomes irreversible. Grushnitsky dies after drinking the cup of shame, repentance and hatred to the end.
On the eve of the duel, remembering his life, Pechorin thinks about the question: why did he live? for what purpose was he born? And then he himself answers: “Oh, it’s true, she existed, and, it’s true, I had a high purpose, because I feel immense strength in my soul.” And then Pechorin realizes that he has long been playing “the role of an ax in the hands of fate.” “The immense powers of the soul” - and small, unworthy actions of Pechorin; he strives to “love the whole world” - and brings people only evil and misfortune; the presence of noble, high aspirations - and small feelings that dominate the soul; a thirst for the fullness of life - and complete hopelessness, awareness of one’s doom. Pechorin is lonely, his situation is tragic, he really “ extra person" Lermontov called Pechorin “a hero of his time,” thereby protesting against the romanticism of the idealized idea of a contemporary, portraying the image of Grushnitsky as a parody of romanticism. For the author, a hero is not a role model, but a portrait made up of the vices of an entire generation in their full development.
So, the image of Grushnitsky helps to reveal the main thing in central hero novel. Grushnitsky - false mirror Pechorin - highlights the truth and significance of the experiences of this “suffering egoist”, the depth and exclusivity of his nature. But in the situation with Grushnitsky, the whole danger lurking in the depths of this is revealed with particular force. human type, a destructive force that is inherent in the individualistic philosophy inherent in romanticism. Lermontov did not seek to pass a moral verdict. He's only with enormous power showed all the abysses human soul devoid of faith, filled with skepticism and disappointment. Pechorinism was a typical disease of the time. And wasn’t it about these people that the generation of the 30s of the last century said M.Yu. Lermontov in the famous Duma:
“... We will pass over the world without noise or a trace, leaving not a fertile thought for the centuries, not for the geniuses of the work that has begun.”
Throughout the entire story, only the image of Pechorin lasts until the very end. The supporting characters were given by the author specifically to highlight the various facets of the character of the main character. actor. This is their main compositional role. Despite this, they are interesting to the reader in themselves, since they reflect public life people, foundations, morals of society.
Grushnitsky appears as such a character in the work.
Belinsky assures that this image denotes a whole category of people of this type. According to Lermontov, they wear on their faces a fashionable mask of a person disappointed in life. Pechorin himself accurately characterizes Grushnitsky, saying that he is simply a poser trying to pass himself off as a romantic hero. He expresses himself in pathetic phrases, surrounds himself with sublime feelings, exceptional passions and even suffering. the main objective Grushnitsky - to produce a certain effect on society. In fact, his soul is devoid of any poetry; this hero emanates self-confidence, selfishness, and complacency a mile away.
He never listens to his interlocutor, does not enter into dialogue with him, because he is intoxicated only with his speech, he is only interested in himself, and not other people.
However, Grushnitsky is not just a person in love with himself, he is capable of baseness and meanness. It is he who becomes the source of gossip about Pechorin and Mary. He agrees to a duel with a completely unarmed opponent. In a duel, all the lowest character traits of this character are revealed.
Pechorin’s personality stands out especially clearly against the background of young people, to whom Grushnitsky belongs.
In the story “Princess Mary” Grushnitsky is shown to be mediocre, loving pathos and loud words person. This character has prepared pompous phrases for any situation, which he drapes and decorates with some special feelings, romantic suffering, passions. Thus, Grushnitsky plays a fashionable youthful role - a hero disappointed in himself and in life. Producing the desired effect is his main goal, his main pleasure. He deliberately wears a shabby soldier’s overcoat and tries to convincingly play the role of a sufferer who was demoted for some brave but daring act. But this is only a parody of Pechorin, which is why Grushnitsky hates him so much. He himself is not very smart, and therefore cannot understand, see how much Pechorin is taller than him. Grushnitsky is in a state of love, he likes Princess Mary. She also gives him first Special attention, but soon falls in love with Pechorin. The forgotten Grushnitsky is angry, jealous, his injured pride makes him dangerous. He gathers a group to mock Mary. These same people deliberately do not load Pechorin’s pistol when he challenges Grushnitsky to a duel, accusing him of slander. This outright meanness amazes the main character. Pechorin cannot forgive this, and, having reloaded the pistol, kills Grushnitsky.
Grushnitsky is the main character of the novel “Hero of Our Time” by M.Yu. Lermontov, written by the author in 1838-1840. This is a young man, a cadet, who at twenty-one has already been awarded the St. George Cross. Grushnitsky is a funny guy, sometimes too trusting, he is easily confused by false ideas about honor and dignity. But in death he achieves true exclusivity. It’s not for nothing that I. Annensky, in his article “Lermontov’s Humor,” calls his death beautiful. Grushnitsky shouted heated phrases at his opponent, standing at gunpoint, sincerely believing at that moment that Pyatigorsk was the whole world in which the two of them were cramped and had no place. Undoubtedly, with age, this hero would get mad, become more flexible, wiser, but his time is limited by being on leave due to injury.
Pechorin shows us that Grushnitsky is overly fanatical in terms of romance. And yet, this fanaticism becomes even more obvious in the presence of Pechorin. This happens because the young man is flattered by the attention of a socialite from St. Petersburg, wants to become like him, imitate him, but, in fact, he only copies the mask. Grushnitsky is like a participant in a masquerade organized by Pechorin. It was in this masquerade that the young man had the opportunity to play a certain role in society for the first and last time.
Updated: 2011-05-09
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In the spring of 1940 it came out separate edition works "Hero of Our Time", written by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. This novel became one of the most interesting and extraordinary phenomena in Russian literature. This book has been the subject of numerous studies and debates for more than a century and a half. It does not lose any of its sharpness and relevance these days. Belinsky also wrote about this book that it was never destined to grow old. We also decided to contact her and write our own essay. Grushnitsky and Pechorin are very interesting characters.
Generation Feature
Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin, main character of the novel in question, lived during the time of Lermontov, that is, approximately in the thirties of the nineteenth century. This time was a period of gloomy reaction, which followed in 1825 and its defeat. A man of advanced thinking could not find use for his talents and strengths at that time. Doubt, disbelief, denial were features of the consciousness of the young generation of those years. The ideals of their fathers were rejected by them “from the cradle,” and then these people began to doubt moral norms and values as such. Therefore, V. G. Belinsky wrote that “Pechorin suffers deeply” because he cannot use the mighty powers of his soul.
New artistic media
Lermontov, creating his work, depicted life as it really is. This required new ones and he found them. Neither Western nor Russian literature knew these means, and to this day they evoke our admiration due to the combination of a broad and free depiction of characters with the ability to objectively show them, to reveal one character through the prism of the perception of another.
Let's take a closer look at the two main characters of this novel. These are Pechorin and Grushnitsky.
Image of Pechorin
Pechorin was an aristocrat by birth and received a standard secular upbringing. Having left parental care, he went “to the big world” in order to enjoy all the pleasures. However, he soon became tired of such a frivolous life, and the hero also became bored with reading books. Pechorin, after some story that made a splash in St. Petersburg, is exiled to the Caucasus.
Depicting the hero’s appearance, the author indicates with a few strokes his origin: “noble forehead”, “pale”, “small” hand. This character is tough and physically strong man. He is endowed with a mind that critically evaluates the world around him.
The character of Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin
Pechorin thinks about the problems of good and evil, friendship and love, about the meaning of our lives. He is self-critical in his assessment of his contemporaries, saying that his generation is incapable of making sacrifices not only for the good of humanity, but also for their personal happiness. The hero has a good understanding of people, he is not satisfied with the sluggish life of the “water society”, he evaluates the capital’s aristocrats, giving them destructive characteristics. Pechorin is revealed most deeply and fully in the insert story “Princess Mary”, during a meeting with Grushnitsky. and Grushnitsky in their confrontation - an example of deep psychological analysis Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov.
Grushnitsky
The author of the work “Hero of Our Time” did not give a name and patronymic to this character, calling him simply by his last name - Grushnitsky. This is an ordinary young man, a cadet, dreaming of Great love and stars on their shoulder straps. His passion is to make an impact. Grushnitsky goes to Princess Mary in a new uniform, smelling of perfume, dressed up. This hero is a mediocrity, which is characterized by weakness, forgivable, however, at his age - a “passion to recite” and “drape” into some extraordinary feelings. Grushnitsky strives to play the role of a disappointed hero, fashionable at that time, posing as a being endowed with " secret suffering". This hero is a parody of Pechorin, and a completely successful one, because it’s not for nothing that the young cadet is so unpleasant to the latter.
Confrontation: Pechorin and Grushnitsky
Grushnitsky, with his behavior, emphasizes the nobility of Grigory Alexandrovich, but, on the other hand, seems to erase all differences between them. After all, Pechorin himself spied on Princess Mary and Grushnitsky, which, of course, is not a noble act. It must be said that he never loved the princess, but only used her love and gullibility to fight his enemy, Grushnitsky.
The latter, as a narrow-minded person, does not at first understand Pechorin’s attitude towards himself. He seems to himself to be a self-confident person, very significant and insightful. Grushnitsky says condescendingly: “I feel sorry for you, Pechorin.” However, events are not developing according to Grigory Alexandrovich’s plans. Now, overwhelmed by jealousy, indignation and passion, the cadet appears before the reader in a completely different light, turning out to be far from so harmless. He is capable of meanness, dishonesty and revenge. The hero who recently played the role of nobility is now capable of firing a bullet at an unarmed person. The duel between Grushnitsky and Pechorin reveals the true nature of the former, who rejects reconciliation, and Grigory Alexandrovich shoots and kills him in cold blood. The hero dies, having drunk the cup of hatred and shame and repentance to the end. This is, in brief, the confrontation waged by the two main characters - Pechorin and Grushnitsky. their images form the basis of the entire work.
Reflections of Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin
Before going to the duel (Pechorina with Grushnitsky), Grigory Alexandrovich, remembering his life, asks questions about why he lived, why he was born. And he answers it himself that he feels a “high purpose”, immense strength within himself. Then Grigory Alexandrovich understands that he has long been only an “axe” in the hands of fate. A contrast arises between spiritual strength and small actions unworthy of a hero. He wants to “love the whole world,” but only brings misfortune and evil to people. High, noble aspirations degenerate into petty feelings, and the desire to live life to the fullest- into hopelessness and consciousness of doom. The situation of this hero is tragic, he is lonely. The duel between Pechorin and Grushnitsky clearly showed this.
Lermontov named his novel this way because for him the hero is not a role model, but only a portrait made up of vices contemporary author generations in their full development.
Conclusion
The character of Grushnitsky, thus, helps to reveal in Pechorin the main qualities of his nature. This is a distorting mirror of Grigory Aleksandrovich, highlighting the significance and truth of the experiences of the “suffering egoist”, the exclusivity and depth of his personality. With particular force in the situation with Grushnitsky, all the danger lurking in the depths of this type, the destructive force inherent in the individualistic philosophy that is inherent in romanticism, is revealed. Lermontov showed all the abysses of the human soul, without trying to pass a moral verdict. Pechorin and Grushnitsky, therefore, are not positive and Pechorin’s psychology is by no means unambiguous, just as some positive qualities can be found in Grushnitsky’s character.
- a young cadet, shortly before the events of the novel, promoted to officer. Throughout the novel, we do not learn the character's name, content with only the surname. Outwardly pleasant by nature, as the author puts it: He is well built, dark and black-haired; he looks twenty-five years old, although he is hardly twenty-one years old.” Grushnitsky pays special attention to manners, speaking pretentiously and hastily:
He speaks quickly and pretentiously: he is one of those people who have ready-made pompous phrases for all occasions, who are not touched by simply beautiful things and who are solemnly draped in extraordinary feelings, sublime passions and exceptional suffering.
Grushnitsky was not rich, smart or witty. According to the expression, it was impossible to argue with him, since the cadet was deaf to his interlocutor and used the break in his opponent’s speech to continue his own words. His goal - to become the hero of a novel - is quite far from reality, which, however, does not prevent him from believing in it. However, up to a certain point it fits perfectly into general atmosphere provincial society, straining to copy high society.
Due to his youth, lack of worldly experience and natural intelligence, Grushnitsky often looks funny in the eyes of Pechorin, who does not miss the opportunity to escape from boredom, putting the cadet in an uncomfortable position. Despite the ostentatious bravado, Grushnitsky is not a brave man, which later turns out to be disastrous for him. Almost everything in Grushnitsky is false. Due to his early age and lack of significant personal merit, the cadet is engaged in opposition.
Grushnitsky fits perfectly into the scale of the provincial city that Pyatigorsk was. The soldier's overcoat and meaningless conversations delighted the provincial ladies, and he enjoyed success. Until I was nearby similar person, but of a different, metropolitan, caliber. Possessing thoughts similar to Pechorin’s, Grushnitsky was unable to form a worthy rebuff to him. Having gotten involved in an unequal dispute, he was doomed.
Grushnitsky is a “provincial” reflection of Pechorin, a rival in whom the main character sees his own traits, vices and virtues.
Grushnitsky's tragedy lies in the realization that, despite all his attempts, he is inferior to Pechorin in the qualities that he values in himself. He is not included in the upper strata of St. Petersburg like Pechorin, he is not as rich, and successful with women. He understands that Pechorin is an unattainable peak for him, and a feeling of powerlessness, selfishness, mixed with jealousy and blind resentment pushes the cadet to a low act, to meanness in a duel, which turns out to be bad for him.
Only in a duel does Grushnitsky realize the seriousness of the situation. Without having behind life experience, and driven by pompous self-importance, he gave the opportunity to other people to bring themselves to the fatal line. Crushed by disappointment from losing to Pechorin, suffocated by anger, he does not listen to the arguments of reason, putting his life on the line; in a fit of anger, first of all, towards himself, he signs his own:
- Shoot! - he answered, “I despise myself, but I hate you.” If you don't kill me, I'll stab you at night from around the corner. There is no place for the two of us on earth...
