(459 words) Roman M.Yu. Lermontov's “Hero of Our Time” provoked and continues to cause a lot of controversy. Someone speaks enthusiastically about him, someone finds in him a compilation of several works by other authors, someone even says that Pechorin is not Pechorin at all, but “modernized” Onegin. Nevertheless, one cannot but take into account the fact that before M.Yu. Lermontov, none of the Russian writers were able to so subtly reveal the main character through the specificity of the composition of the work.
However, not only the composition allows the reader to understand Pechorin. Mikhail Yurievich reveals his character through a series of human images. The images of women with whom Gregory was associated play a special role in this mission.
The first, of all his women in the book, but far from the first in the life of the hero, we meet Bela. This girl is very far from all the women who are found in the lives of young noblemen. That is why Gregory pays attention to her. He is a curious man, and besides, we understand that he likes to manipulate people's minds, just as much as he does what he wants at all costs. He kidnaps Bela and falls in love with her. He approaches this diligently. He is not without pretense of romance, which wins the heart of a girl. But, alas, Bela dies and even this episode reveals to us Pechorin. He is not a completely insensible person. And he knows that he is responsible for others. He doesn’t always succeed in doing this, yes. But the most important thing for the reader is that the hero is at least aware of this.
Next, a new episode and a story with a new woman opens. Alas, the fate of Princess Mary is not much better than the fate of Bela. Pechorin again conquers an innocent girl, resorting to all possible methods. He even utters a sensual monologue:
“I was ready to love the whole world, - no one understood me: and I learned to hate. I became a moral cripple: one half of my soul did not exist, it dried up, evaporated, died, I cut it off and left it, while the other moved and lived at the services of everyone, and no one noticed, because no one knew about the existence of the deceased its half; but now you recall the memory of her in me, and I read to you her epitaph. ”
However, immediately after this monologue, according to Mary’s reaction and because Pechorin was delighted that the girl was moved, the reader understands that Pechorin is not just a manipulator that is able to put pressure on pity, but also an excellent expert on women who very accurately feels which key you need to pick up to a new heart.
But there was also a key to Gregory’s heart. And Vera owned it. And the hero himself says, “This is one woman who understood me perfectly, with all my petty weaknesses, bad passions,” and the reader sees how Pechorin is worried and at the same time hopes that the mysterious person with a mole on her cheek who came to the Caucasus is it is Vera, his love from the past. His only love, with which he is not destined to be together, but which reveals him as a person who has a soul.
