(314 words) “The Hero of Our Time” is the first psychological novel in Russian prose. But can at least one work of this genre do without a love line? Of course, the main problem in Lermontov’s work is the purpose of the “extra man”. This is exactly the main character, Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin - a young officer, disappointed, but looking for how he can bring himself back to life. The love that periodically arose in the motives of the novel did not help Pechorin, although the controversial nobleman had many chances to correct his desperate situation. Each time, being interested in a girl, he sets a goal - to achieve her, and, achieving this, is again disappointed. Because of this, not only he suffers, but also the heroines, who, unlike him, are really in love with the hero.
The author gives the hero three attempts to escape from boredom with the help of love: Bela, Princess Mary and Vera. However, Pechorin is doomed to lose, because he is not capable of sincerely loving. Having stolen Bela with the help of her brother Azamat, he did not become happy, moreover, he only condemned the girl to death. He understands that he becomes "the cause of the misfortune of others," throughout the novel, he ponders and analyzes his actions a lot, but still does not correct him in any way. Brave Pechorin often causes antipathy than attracts, because, falling in love with girls, he does everything to turn away from him. Gaining the love of Princess Mary through her hatred, Gregory later explains to her that she should despise him, since he laughed at her. And again Pechorin does not respect the feelings of the girl and her suffering, but thinks only of himself. Even the only lady that Pechorin singled out, he also condemned to suffering. We are talking about the hero's former lover, Vera, whom he hopelessly tried to return. Gregory himself admitted that having lost her, he lost, like Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, in other words, he lost everything.
The problem of the “extra person” is closely related to the love line of the novel. Due to disregard for those around him, Pechorin was unlucky in love, although so often all the cards were open to him. However, as usual, he soon got bored.
Thinking traps
