In my opinion, the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is named that way for several reasons. First of all, the main character is inextricably linked with his era, with the life of the nobility, with his attitude to the world. Lermontov shows us a man full of contradictions, but, nevertheless,
In search of truth. But does he find what he is looking for? No, Pechorin, like Onegin, does not see his happiness.
Boredom and selfishness are explained not by the inner emptiness of the hero, but by deeper reasons. Lermontov's "modern man" is not guilty of his uselessness for society. The author, as it were, presents his hero with complete freedom of choice, however, Pechorin's actions imperceptibly demonstrate not only his will, but also the power of circumstances behind them, and most importantly, the influence of modern society.
There were few people like Pechorin in the noble society of Nikolaev Russia. And yet, in this peculiar
Lermontov showed an exceptionally gifted man a typical noble hero of the 1930s.
The hero not only has nothing in common, but is also deeply hostile to the philistine, everyday attitude to reality that prevails in a noble society. The critical view of the intelligent and observant Pechorin on the reality of his time largely coincides with the views of the author himself.
The time of the creation of the novel is rich in significant events in public life. The Russian public began to reach the ideas of Hegel, the writings of the utopians - Fourier, Rousseau and others. At the same time, a noticeable revival of social thought took place in Russia, and a Slavophile ideology was born. It was the time of the emergence of numerous trends, not yet formalized, but already declared themselves. In this era of emerging literary ideas, Lermontov creates a novel that incorporates all the “incompleteness” of the era.
You should also dwell on the word “hero” in the title of the novel. The word itself carries several meanings. The hero is both the main character of the novel and, at the same time, a bright personality of the era, who somehow deserved this title. The question immediately arises: “Can Pechorin be considered a hero, because his actions and actions are not always heroic in nature?” Lermontov's hero is unusual, "strange", and all the events in which he participates are just as unusual and strange.
Pechorin is an established character who finds himself in unexpected situations. He is presented as a historically natural hero of the time. Probably, such an era could not give birth to other heroes.
With his “strangeness”, unlikeness to others, Pechorin, nevertheless, is a typical hero of his time, since not only the main character of the novel, but the whole society as a whole is sick with egoism, inconsistency of character, blues.
Thus, by naming his novel that way, Lermontov wanted to show that Pechorin is the “calling card” of his era. In his image, according to the author's intention, the typicality of such a person in society and its uniqueness were combined, because in other times the fate of the protagonist would have been different.
Essays on topics:
- Analysis of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" by Lermontov According to the original plan of Lermontov. The hero of our time was supposed to appear not as ...
- The novel "A Hero of Our Time" was conceived by Lermontov at the end of 1837. The main work on it unfolded in 1838 and...
- Before us is one of the central works of Russian classics of the 19th century. Its author is a poet and writer, a great creator of his...
- The novel "A Hero of Our Time" is the first realistic novel in the history of Russian literature with a deep philosophical content. In the preface to the novel...
The meaning of the title of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time"
I. Introduction
The title of the novel can be understood in different ways, especially since the author himself gave readers such an opportunity in the preface to Pechorin's journal.
II. main part
- What is a "hero of time"? This expression can be understood in two ways: either this is a character typical of his time, or the best person of his time.
- The time of Pechorin, the 30s is a special era in Russia. It came after the defeat of the Decembrist movement and was characterized primarily by the fact that the society began to revise the old ideals and attempts to develop new ideals. The question arose with particular poignancy: “Why live?” Attempts to answer it in this era were mostly unsuccessful and often led the individual to a skeptical lack of faith in anything, to a denial of the meaning of life. A whole generation was being formed, the exact description of which was given by Lermontov in the poem "Duma".
- In this sense, Pechorin, of course, is the hero of his time, his most complete spokesman. He is tired of life, he is bored with everything, because he knows everything in advance; its highest value is freedom, but without any idea of what this freedom can be applied to. For him, there are no ideals, he does not believe in love or friendship, he enjoys playing with people over whom he feels his undeniable superiority. In general, almost all the characteristics of the generation of the 30s given by Lermontov in the poem "Duma" are quite applicable to Pechorin.
- Is it possible to call Pechorin a hero of his time in another sense and speak of him as the best representative of his generation? At first glance, no, and Lermontov himself in the preface to the novel stated that Pechorin is “a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development.” However, not all so simple. Firstly, on the pages of the novel we do not find a single character who would be better than Pechorin and also arouse our sympathy (Maxim Maksimych does not count, because he is a man of a different generation). Secondly, by committing his "selfish" actions, Pechorin is not just having fun: in acute and often risky situations, he is looking for the meaning of life, testing himself and fate. Finally, he thinks hard, trying to understand what is worth living for. He thinks about his high destiny, which he did not guess, and does not find anything in life worthy of his "immense vultures". All this makes Pechorin a tragic, uncommon character and defiant, despite all the “vices”, respect and sympathy of the reader.
III. Conclusion
The image of Pechorin is contradictory and difficult; the author's attitude to it also cannot be called unambiguous. But the hero of his time, he, no doubt, can be rightfully called.
Searched here:
- the meaning of the name hero of our time
- the meaning of the title of Lermontov's novel a hero of our time
- the meaning of the name is the hero of our time essay
There are several reasons why M. Yu. Lermontov chose such a title for the novel. Firstly, the central character is a bright representative of his time, his views are a reflection of the aspirations and hopes of the era. The author reveals an extremely controversial personality, who is in constant search for the truth. But is Grigory Pechorin able to find her?
Why does Pechorin, as a hero of his time, express the era?
The main character, like Eugene Onegin, does not feel happy, but it was not the inner emptiness that made him a selfish person, this is to blame for completely different reasons. Mikhail Lermontov explains the personal characteristics of the representatives of his generation by the influence of external circumstances and, above all, by the influence of the entire social structure. Grigory Pechorin is endowed with freedom of choice, but his actions reflect not so much his own desires as the power of external forces over his life.
The main character can hardly be called a representative of the majority. In Russia during the time of Nicholas I, there were not so many of them. But it was in the image of Pechorin that the typical features of a nobleman of the 30s were reflected.
His views on the world are far from the philistine, almost philistine views of the nobility. Pechorin has a lively, extraordinary mind that distinguishes him from the majority. A critical approach to reality is often similar to the opinion of the writer himself.
Characteristics of the time described by M.Yu. Lermontov in the novel
During the period when the "Hero of Our Time" was created, important events took place. The works of Hegel, Fourier, Rousseau and other philosophers of the European Enlightenment began to penetrate into Russia.
At the same time, our country began to revive its own socio-philosophical thought, which was expressed in the formation of the ideology of Slavophilism. This is the time when ideas and trends began to emerge, not yet fully realized, but already loudly declaring their existence. Therefore, the work of M. Yu. Lermontov reflects the "incompleteness" of the era.
The word "hero" in the title of the novel and its meaning
This is a polysemantic word, so let's try to figure out what meaning it carries in the title. The hero is the main character of the work, a bright representative of his time, who received such a title for special merits. But does Pechorin really deserve the right to be called a hero, because not all of his actions can be called heroic. He certainly stands out from the crowd, and as a result, the events in which the character is involved are extraordinary.
Pechorin is a complete character, now and then getting into unusual situations. The author presents him as a person whose appearance in this era is quite natural. Probably other heroes could not have arisen at this time.
Yes, he is different from others, but still he is a typical representative of his segment of history. The spleen, inner split and selfishness are characteristic not only of him, but of the whole society.
As a result, it turns out that when choosing the name, Mikhail Lermontov was guided by the desire to present Pechorin as a "calling card" of his time. The image of the protagonist combines typicality and uniqueness. At the same time, we clearly understand that in another era, Pechorin's fate would have been different.
The meaning of the title of the novel "A Hero of Our Time" came from the desire of M.Yu. Lermontov to show a typical representative of his estate, personifying young Russia at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The writer himself repeatedly confessed to his friends and acquaintances in this desire, and therefore proposed such a capacious and original name.
At the same time, in modern literary criticism there are several versions of the origin of the name of the novel and the meaning that the author put into it. Let's look at them briefly.
The classic version of the origin of the novel's title
According to the research of scientists, in particular the works of the famous Lermontov scholar Irakli Andronikov, the author, while creating his work, relied on the novel by the French writer A. Musset "Confession of the son of the century." At that time, the novel was very popular, so its name was on everyone's lips.
Musset's work told about the fate of a young man who, in a confessional form, confessed his vices, shortcomings and spoke about the events of his life that could not command respect from others.
In fact, this novel testified to the decline of the era of romanticism. At the center of the story was a personality, her inner experiences, however, they were neither beautiful nor sublime, but testified to the deep inner trauma of the protagonist and the impossibility for a person to overcome his own shortcomings.
Initially, Lermontov wanted to call his novel One of the Heroes of the Beginning of the Century. But then, most likely, due to the fact that the name seemed too dry to him, he remade the name, referring it to his contemporaries.
The meaning of the title "Hero of Our Time", according to literary critics, contained the essence of the question that the author posed to readers: how ready are they to embody the high ideal of personality in their lives? Don’t they succeed in everything the way Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin did - a smart man, with noble impulses, but selfish and proud, who does not know how to bring happiness to those who love him and whom he himself is in love with.
Lermontov continued the development of Russian realism, opposing it to romanticism, with a belief in the individual, in the purity of her thoughts and aspirations, characteristic of this literary movement.
Other versions of the origin of the title of the novel and the meaning of its title
The meaning of the title "Hero of Our Time" caused numerous controversies on the part of contemporaries. At the same time, part of the educated public of that time categorically did not accept the plot of the work, believing that Lermontov portrayed all the vices of his time in the image of the main character.
Other readers of the novel fell in love with the work because the author was able to convey the tragedy of his generation - the tragedy of unfulfillment and spiritual emptiness.
Among the last readers of the work was the famous Russian critic V.G. Belinsky. He saw in the title of the novel M.Yu. Lermontov's deep truth, understanding of the laws of development of human society and knowledge of the depths of the human psyche. Belinsky highly appreciated the work of the author, believing that he reflected in it the spiritual throwing of his entire generation - educated and intelligent people, not devoid of the rudiments of the best human virtues, but not knowing what to do with themselves, not understanding the laws of life and not being able to comprehend the meaning of their lives .
Belinsky considered the title of the novel quite broadly: as a work about a hero for the whole society, which, in fact, does not exist (after all, Pechorin cannot be a subject for imitation), and as a story about the search for a real hero.
Therefore, the brilliant critic in his article on the novel predicted the work of M.Yu. Lermontov has a bright future, because the problem of finding a hero of his time will always face people of various social epochs.
Thus, there are many versions of the origin of the title of the novel "A Hero of Our Time", but they all ultimately boil down to the fact that this title was very successful. It was it that allowed the author to reflect not only the central problem of his narrative - the search for a person who could become a role model for his compatriots, but also brilliantly convey the life, customs and culture of his time.
Facts and versions about the history of the title of the work published on this page can be used by 9th grade students of their essays on the topic “The meaning of the title of Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time””.
Artwork test
The meaning of the name and the originality of the protagonist of the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time" The prose of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, like his poetry, belongs to the outstanding achievements of Russian classical literature. And its peak - "The Hero of Our Time" - begins the stage of the Russian realistic novel. Here we can make a reservation that Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin", which preceded "A Hero of Our Time", was also a realistic work, but in Pushkin we are dealing with a novel in verse, and this, as the author himself emphasized, is "a diabolical difference." The novel "A Hero of Our Time" struck contemporaries not only with the originality of its content, but also with its unusual form. This is an integral work, but it consists of five separate stories, each of which is completely independent in artistic terms. Three of them (“Bela”, “Taman” and “Fatalist”) were published by the author separately even before they were collected under a common cover. At the same time, these stories are united not only by cross-cutting hero-characters, the main of which is Pechorin, but also by a deeply thought-out composition. Violating the chronological sequence of the action, it allows the reader to understand the essence of the character of the protagonist as objectively as possible. Explaining the author's understanding of the image of Pechorin, Lermontov wrote in the preface to the novel: "The Hero of Our Time ... is like a portrait, but not of one person: it is a portrait made up of the vices of our entire generation, in their full development." What vices are we talking about? This is selfishness, individualism, rejection of the generally accepted rules of the prevailing morality, on the one hand. But on the other hand, which can hardly be attributed to vices, high mental development, the need for constant self-reflection, the ability to objectively evaluate one's actions. But at the same time - the lack of high life goals and the inability to apply their extraordinary strength to socially useful deeds. All these qualities make it possible to attribute Pechorin to the type of so-called "superfluous people." Consistently analyzing the image of Pechorin, Lermontov allows the reader to draw his own conclusions about the character proposed to him, relying both on the objective author's narrative and on the hero's self-esteem. The author is far from direct condemnation of Pechorin, because he sees the essence of his "viciousness" not in the individual characteristics of the individual, but in the social and psychological conditions of a society devoid of a unifying idea and doomed to fatal disunity of worthy people. In order to reveal the image of the hero more deeply, the author first introduces us to the perception of Pechorin by other people. We receive initial information about him from Maxim Maksimych. And only when the reader is intrigued by the eccentricity of the actions of the mysterious character, the author provides us with the opportunity to penetrate into the inner world of this person by reading his diary. And then, comparing the impressions of others with our own, we can draw an independent reader's conclusion based on them. The image of Pechorin is not devoid of romantic features, but in general it is a realistic depiction of the social type of Russian society. This is exactly what the author emphasizes in his preface. The artistic means inherent in realism, which Lermontov uses, is, first of all, deep psychologism, which makes it possible to convey the most complex states and movements of the hero's inner world. In addition, the realistic disclosure of characters in the novel is facilitated by the expressiveness and accuracy of portrait sketches, even the most cursory ones; visible and tangible landscapes, in addition to direct picturesqueness, intended to reveal the state of mind of the characters; already mentioned mastery of composition. And, of course, a language that combines the naturalness of lively colloquial speech with genuine poetry in describing both human feelings and natural phenomena. The pure, transparent, polished and aphoristic language of the novel corresponds to Pushkin's requirements for fiction. Pushkin, as you know, argued that prose requires accuracy, brevity, and most importantly - thoughts and thoughts. We find all these features in Lermontov's novel. Emphasizing the artistic skill of Lermontov the prose writer in the story "Taman", Anton Pavlovich Chekhov wrote: "I do not know the language better than Lermontov's. I would do this: I would take his story and sort it out, as they do it in schools, by sentences, by parts of the sentence. That's how I learned to write." Among Lermontov's contemporaries, the outstanding critic Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky was the first to appreciate the innovative nature of the novel "A Hero of Our Time". He saw in the work a reflection of an entire era of Russian life. And he also pointed out the positive meaning of the image of Pechorin - with his "tedious inactivity in actions, aversion to any business, the absence of any interests in the soul, the uncertainty of desires and aspirations, unaccountable longing, painful daydreaming with an excess of inner life." Belinsky was aware that "this state is as terrible as it is necessary." And the artistic discoveries of Lermontov in this novel were used and developed by future generations of Russian realist writers - from Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy to Chekhov and Bunin.