Reading the story "" from the novel "" we do not notice anything special in it. The plot without any extreme action, without a threat to the life of the protagonist - the usual narrative of events. But, it seems so only at first glance. In fact, it is in this story that the true character of Pechorin and his attitude to life are revealed.
The meeting of old friends did not take place as Maxim Maksimych wanted. After the old man finds out about the arrival of his old friend, he abandons all business affairs and rushes to Pechorin at a run. He is ready to throw himself on his neck and hug Grigory in a friendly way. But, Pechorin only holds out his hand to the staff captain as a sign of greeting. This gesture of the protagonist hurts an elderly person to the core. After all, he saw in Gregory his friend.
Before meeting Pechorin, he was devoted to his military affairs. He did not know anything but the service and did not see it. Acquaintance and friendship with Pechorin breathed new life into him. Of course, Maxim Maksimych could not always understand and explain the antics of the protagonist in his spiritual simplicity. But, he saw something unusual and interesting in this man. That is why the staff captain became so attached to Grigory. That is why, their unexpected meeting caused so many emotions in the elderly old man and made him fly headlong towards his comrade.
Why didn't he react the same way? Yes, because for him Maxim Maksimych and all the events connected with him were only the affairs of the past days. He treated the old man in the same way as the rest of those around him, he did not see friendship in their relationship.
The conversation between the protagonist and Maksim Maksimych was dry and short. Pechorin did not want to touch on past memories and raise the next tragic events in his past. The fate of Bela did not interest him in the same way as an old friend. He acted selfishly and selfishly.
Such behavior of Pechorin wounded the soul and heart of Maxim Maksimych. He was not ready for such a cold meeting, he was upset and depressed. After all, the man whom he considered a good friend turned out to be dry and callous. Of course, such a reaction of the old man influenced Pechorin, and he, for a second, was moved and hugged Maxim Maksimych before leaving.
In this episode, we see that the main character becomes more and more withdrawn and constrained in his emotions. He does not recognize old friends, he does not want to stir up the past, he does not want to communicate with others. For a moment it seems that Grigory Alexandrovich is losing his destiny. He has already been disappointed so many times in his life that it is of no interest to him.
It is in the episode of the story "Maxim Maksimych" that we see the real Pechorin, with a detailed description of his appearance, attire, gestures. It is this episode that creates a new understanding of the main character, which was created by the great author M.Yu. Lermontov.
That striking change that takes place in Maxim Maksimych after Pechorin's departure gives rise to disappointing thoughts in the author. How little a simple person needed to be happy and how easy it was to make him unhappy - such is the author's conclusion. It is obvious that the author does not approve of the destructive side of Pechorin's character, which over the years more and more prevails in him and ultimately leads the hero to self-destruction. In Maxim Maksimych, Pechorin is no longer capable of those spiritual movements that distinguished him before, he is a self-contained, lonely and cold misanthrope, before whom one road is open - to death. Meanwhile, Pechorin's meeting with Maxim Maksimych only spurs the author's interest in his hero, and, if not for this accidental episode, Pechorin's notes would never have ended up in his hands. The story turns out to be a link between the parts of the novel, the episode of the meeting between Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych explains, motivates the further appearance of the Pechorin Journal in the novel.
For what purpose was I born? .. But, it’s true, I had a high appointment, since I feel immense forces in my soul, ”he says. In this uncertainty lie the origins of Pechorin's attitude towards the people around him. He is indifferent to their experiences, therefore, without hesitation, he distorts other people's destinies. Pushkin wrote about such young people: "There are millions of two-legged creatures - for them there is one name." Using Pushkin's words, one can say about Pechorin that in his views on life "the age is reflected, and modern man is depicted quite correctly, with his immoral soul, selfish and dry."
This is how Lermontov saw his generation.
If A. S. Pushkin is considered to be the creator of the first realistic poetic novel about modernity, then Lermontov is probably the author of the first socio-psychological novel in prose. “A Hero of Our Time” is distinguished by the depth of analysis of the psychological perception of the world.
And the meeting with Pechorin opened up a completely different world for him, the world of a person with other values than military duty and following orders. In the life of the old staff captain, poor in vivid impressions (he was even used to the whistle of bullets and the constant threat of death), acquaintance with Pechorin stood apart. Of course, the ingenuous Maksim Maksimych cannot explain the actions of his young friend, but the charm of the Pechorin personality turned out to be much more than a misunderstanding of the true reasons for his “strangeness”. That is why, when he saw Pechorin a few years later, "the poor old man, for the first time in his life, perhaps abandoned the affairs of the service for his own need."
The composition of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time" is such that in the first chapter we learn about Pechorin only from the words of Maxim Maksimych, an elderly officer who served for many years in the Caucasus. In the second chapter, which is called “Maxim Maksimych”, we see Pechorin through the eyes of the author, on whose behalf the narration is being conducted. The meeting of the heroes happens by chance: while waiting at the hotel, Maxim Maxim learns that the owner of the dandy carriage and the spoiled lackey is none other than Pechorin. They cannot meet right away: Pechorin has already left for dinner and spend the night with the colonel. Asking the lackey to tell Pechorin that Maxim Maksimych is here and waiting for him, the old man is sure that Pechorin "will come running now." He has to wait until tomorrow morning. Using the technique of secret psychology, the author reveals to the reader the state of mind of the staff captain, through external manifestations and through actions, drawing his inner experiences. Maxim Maksimych strives not to show his disappointment and resentment to a random fellow traveler, but he waits tensely, and the drama of this expectation grows: he sits outside the gate until late in the evening, refusing even a quiet tea party, he does not sleep for a long time - he coughs, tosses and turns, sighs ... In order not to explaining his condition to a stranger, he gets off on the question of whether the bugs bite him, with the answer that yes, they bite, but it’s clear that this is not why he cannot sleep.
Pechorin appears in the morning, in the absence of the old man. He might not have waited for Maxim Maksimych, but the narrator reminded him of a former colleague. Maksim Mksimych runs across the square to Pechorin, presenting a miserable sight: sweaty, out of breath, exhausted. Pechorin is friendly, but that's all. The old man greedily rushes to Pechorin, he is so excited that he cannot speak, - Pechorin replies that he has to go. Maksim Maksimych is overwhelmed with memories - “Pechorin “turned a little pale and turned away”: it is apparently unpleasant for him to remember Bela and the past. He is on his way to Persia, and he doesn’t even need the papers left by the staff captain: Maxim Maksimych is worried about what to do with them, Pechorin dismisses: “Whatever you want!” Such an antithesis in the behavior of the characters helps the author to reveal the author more clearly and serves as the next step towards Pechorin's diary entries - self-disclosure of the character's character.
Text based on the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov A Hero of Our Time
Why did Pechorin treat Maxim Maksimych so coldly during their last meeting?
The chapter “Maxim Maksimych” describes the scene when, at a crossroads, in Vladikavkaz, on the square near the hotel, an army captain and a man of the chosen environment, the protagonist of the novel, Pechorin, meet.
Maksim Maksimych, by the definition of the critic V.G. Belinsky, is one of the best folk characters. It has kindness, sincerity and bright faith in friendship between people.
And therefore, being a simple-minded person, he is sure that the aristocrat Pechorin will “run in” when he learns that Maxim Maksimych, his comrade in the past, a modest officer in small ranks, has stopped at a local hotel.
But Pechorin coldly meets Maxim Maksimych, citing the fact that each of them has "his own path."
The old man is upset, if not to say, killed by this behavior of Pechorin. He is sincerely convinced that the reason is in himself, in an old man who is “not rich, not official”, and he cannot remain “on an equal footing” with a brilliant Petersburger.
But the reasons for the coldness of Pechorin are also different. The staff captain is a witness and even a participant in the story of the seduction of Bela, a mountain girl, by the capital aristocrat. He also knew the story of the death of her family, and was present at the bedside of the dying Bela.
Outwardly, the romantic story with Bela is the story of Pechorin's crime, which led to the destruction of family foundations, the death of both the family itself and all its members. If Maxim Maksimych "gave the matter a move", then his young friend, selfish and frivolous, would not have escaped severe punishment. That is why Pechorin is still cold with his former comrade-in-arms: who wants to reopen old wounds?
Psychologism in the behavior of the characters is seen in the throwing of the kind Maksim Maksimych, who is impatiently waiting for Grigory Alexandrovich, and in the careless attitude of the protagonist to his comrade-in-arms of previous years. However, as a sensitive person, Pechorin understands the reason for the old man’s resentment and, in his own way, tries to justify himself and reassure the interlocutor.
Searched here:
- why Pechorin met Maxim Maksimych so coldly
- why Pechorin behaves coldly towards Maxim Maksimych
- why Pechorin coldly met Maxim Maksimych
Concept.
The lesson devoted to the analysis of the second part of the novel, as a central task, puts forward the definition reasons for the alienation of the "simple Man" Maxim Maksimych and Pechorin. A situation emphasizing the impatient expectation by Maxim Maksimych of a meeting with Pechorin, blames the hero in advance, and students, as a rule, speak with indignation about his cruelty and coldness towards a devoted staff captain. Let's try with the help of compositional analysis and expressive reading of the dialogue between Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych to overcome the one-sidedness of the reader's assessment. The students are concerned about the question why Pechorin did not stay with Maxim Maksimych? After all, he was in no hurry anywhere, and only after learning that Maxim Maksimych wanted to continue the conversation, he hastily got ready for the road.
In order to imagine why Pechorin left, we pay attention to the meeting of Maxim Maksimych with the officer-narrator. After all, in this short story, not one, but two meetings. The first of them opens differently than the second. There is nothing like the coldness of Pechorin in the officer: "We met like old friends." However, the outcome of this meeting is comical and sad at the same time: “... I must confess that without him I would have had to stay on dry food ... We were silent. What were we supposed to talk about? He already told me everything that was entertaining about himself, but I had nothing to tell.
The generally significant content of the staff captain's life comes down to his relationship with Pechorin (perhaps involuntarily feeling this, Maxim Maksimych therefore values them greatly). The narrator, although his suitcase is full of travel notes, does not tell the staff captain about them, apparently not hoping for understanding. So, it's not about the first embrace, with which Pechorin did not begin (he ended the conversation by embracing Maxim Maksimych in a friendly way). The point is the separation of the “common man” and the noble intellectual, in that tragic abyss that Lermontov recognizes as one of the “caustic truths”.
And how does Maxim Maksimych explain Pechorin's unwillingness to stay? Does the author agree with him?
We reread the scene of Pechorin's meeting with Maxim Maksimych and compose a "score of feelings" for their dialogue. Did Pechorin want to offend Maxim Maksimych? Is he indifferent to the fate and chagrin of the staff captain? The portrait of Pechorin testifies to his fatigue and coldness. Feelings seemed to have left his face, leaving their traces on him and the impression of unspent strength. Pechorin is indifferent to his fate, to his past. To Maxim Maksimych's question about what to do with the "papers", Pechorin's journal, he replies: "What do you want!" But even in this state of alienation from everything and from himself, Pechorin is trying to soften his coldness. "friendly smile" and kind words: “How glad I am, dear Maksim Maksimych! Well, how are you doing? Pechorin's refusal to remain is given in an impersonal form, as if not his will, but something more powerful dictates this decision to him: "I have to go," was the answer. To the ardent questions of Maxim Maksimych (“Well! Retired? .. how? .. what were you doing?”), Pechorin answered, “smiling”, in monosyllables: “I missed you!”
This smile, which is exactly the opposite of the meaning of the words, is often perceived by students as a mockery of the staff captain. But Pechorin rather sneers at himself, over the hopelessness of his situation, when all attempts to invade life end in a bitter outcome. Back in Bel, the author warned us that today those who really miss the most are trying to hide this misfortune as a vice. For Maxim Maksimych everything that has passed is sweet, for Pechorin it is painful: “Do you remember our life in the fortress? .. A glorious country for hunting! .. After all, you were a passionate hunter to shoot ... And Bela? ..” Pechorin turned a little pale and turned away ...
· Yes I remember! - he said, almost immediately forced a yawn ... "
The staff captain does not notice the involuntary irony of his words: "passionate hunter shoot", Pechorin "shot" Bela (after all, his pursuit and shot prompted Kazbich to draw a knife). And Pechorin, it seems indifferent to everything in the world, he cannot calmly endure this reproach he has not forgiven himself, just as he cannot calmly, epicly recall the story of Bela in a conversation with Maxim Maksimych over pheasant and Kakhetian. Not hoping for an understanding of Maxim Maksimych, avoiding pain, Pechorin refuses to continue the meeting and, as best he can, tries to soften his refusal: “Really, I have nothing to tell, dear Maxim Maksimych ... However, goodbye, I have to go ... I'm in a hurry ... Thank you for not forgetting ... - he added, taking his hand, "and, seeing the old man's annoyance, he adds:" Well, that's enough, that's enough! - said Pechorin, embracing him in a friendly way - am I really not the same? .. What to do? .. everyone has his own way.
Pechorin does not condemn the staff captain for being unable to understand him, does not blame anyone for his loneliness, but bitterly admits that they have different roads. He knows that meeting with Maxim Maksimych will not dissipate his boredom, but only intensify his bitterness, and therefore he avoids vain explanations. Once Pechorin tried to open himself (confession in "Bel"), to understand the position of the staff captain (conversation at the end of "Fatalist") and behaved at the same time without any arrogance.
“Returning to the fortress, I told Maxim Maksimych everything that had happened to me and to which I had been a witness, and wished to know his opinion about predestination. At first he did not understand this word, but I explained it as well as I could, and then he said, shaking his head significantly: “Yes! Of course, sir - this is a rather tricky thing! However, these Asian triggers often fail if they are badly lubricated, or if you press your finger hard with displeasure ... ”And then the captain willingly talks about the qualities of the Circassian weapons. In the end, Maxim Maksimych discovers that he is characterized by fatalism: “Yes, sorry for the poor fellow ... The devil pulled him at night with a drunk to talk! However, it is clear that it was written in his family!” I could get nothing more from him: he generally does not like metaphysical debates.
Maksim Maksimych's kindness is powerless, because it lacks an understanding of the general meaning of things. And therefore the staff captain is submissive to circumstances, while Pechorin is trying to overcome them. For Lermontov, the confrontation between these heroes is so important that he ends the novel with a dialogue between Pechorin and the staff captain.. The short story "Maxim Maksimych" ends even more bitterly. In his resentment, the staff captain is ready to confuse Pechorin with his proud lackey. Not understanding Pechorin, Maxim Maksimych accuses him of class arrogance: “What does he have in me? I’m not rich, I’m not official, and he’s not at all a match for his years ... Look, what a dandy he has become, how he visited Petersburg again ... ”The wounded pride of the staff captain pushes him to revenge. Having just considered himself a friend of Pechorin, Maxim Maksimych calls him “windy man”, “with contempt” throws his notebooks on the ground, ready to give Pechorin for public viewing: “at least print in the newspapers! What do I care! .. What, am I really some kind of friend or relative?
The change in Maksim Maksimych is so striking that it seems unthinkable or prompted by momentary anger. But the author will not allow us to be mistaken. Good turned into evil, and this is not an instant, but the final result of the staff captain's life: “We said goodbye rather dryly. Good Maxim has become a stubborn, quarrelsome staff captain! And why? Because Pechorin, in absent-mindedness or for some other reason (the author revealed it to us in the remarks to the dialogue. - V.-M.) held out his hand to him when he wanted to throw himself on his neck! It is sad to see when a young man loses his best hopes and dreams... although there is hope that he will replace old delusions with new ones... But how can they be replaced in the years of Maxim Maksimych? Willy-nilly, the heart will harden and the soul will close ... I left alone.The divergence of the “simple person”, in which there is a heart, but there is no understanding of people of a different circle, the general circumstances of life, and the “hero of time”, and with him the author of the novel, turned out to be inevitable.
With all the spiritual virtues of Maxim Maksimych, he is not able to resist evil either in a private, human, or in a general, social sense.
At home, we give students a plan to answer the topic “Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych” and, after reading the textbook article under the same title, think about whether they agree with all its provisions, arguing their point of view with the text of the novel.
Retelling-analysis of the story "Maxim Maksimych" or reading by roles. Questions can be used:
1) What is your impression of what you read?
2) What are the features of the portrait of Pechorin? How does it differ from the portrait given by Maxim Maksimych in the story "Bela"?
3) What is the role of the narrator in the story?
4) How is Lermontov's ideological concept manifested?
5) Analyze the episode of Pechorin's meeting with the staff captain. Can Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych be called friends?
6) How do you explain Pechorin's coldness? Why didn't he stay to dine with the staff captain?
7) What character traits of Pechorin were revealed in the last meeting with Maxim Maksimych?
8) Which character do you sympathize with?
9) What, in your opinion, should be their meeting?
10) What is the place and significance of the story "Maxim Maksimych" in the novel?
(The compositional role of the story "Maxim Maksimych" is great. It is, as it were, a link between "Bela" and "Pechorin's Journal". It explains how the journal got to the author, a visiting officer.
The plot of the story is also simple. But the meeting between Pechorin and Maxim Maksimych is sad. The coldness, indifference and selfishness of the protagonist have increased. Travel is the last attempt to somehow fill your life with something useful, new experiences.)
The most important means of characterizing Pechorin in this story is a psychological portrait (features of appearance, reflection of complex emotional experiences in it, psychologism of the portrait).
Homework.
1. The story "Taman". Reading, storytelling. What is the meaning of Pechorin's collision with smugglers?
2. Analysis of the episodes "Scene in the Boat" and "Yanko's Farewell to the Blind Boy". What did you learn about the main character?
3. Observations on the composition of "Taman", the description of nature, the speech of the characters.
