Contemporary Heroes

Author: (Russian) Lermontov
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-05-01
Features: The noble officer Pyatkin is highly intelligent, energetic, and possesses a resolute will and keen insight. He observes that those who succeed in reality are often illiterate, with their success hinged on cunning manipulation. This leads him to feel disillusioned. He wants to love the world, but no one understands him, so he learns to hate. He speaks the truth, yet others don’t believe him, prompting him to lie. He believes he has a noble mission but doesn’t know how to realize his aspirations, leaving him in confusion. He is filled with boundless energy but doesn’t know where to channel it, so he becomes cynical, seeking thrills everywhere, stirring up trouble, and wasting his extraordinary talent and vibrant energy on base desires. He insatiably tastes others’ warmth, love, joy, and sorrow, using them as fuel to maintain his self-esteem. In the coastal town of Taman, he arbitrarily disrupts the tranquility of smugglers and nearly ends up at the bottom of the sea. During his stay at the thermal spa, he persistently courts the countess Melnikov, playing with her feelings, and clashes with another officer, Grushnitsky, who is also pursuing her. In the duel, Grushnitsky nearly dies. He develops a warm relationship with Vera but refuses to marry her. When Vera leaves, he chases after her on horseback. In the Caucasus, he goes to great lengths to win the beautiful Circassian girl Bella, but "the rustic simplicity of the wild girl is as tiresome as the coquettish charm of the noblewoman," and his insincerity leads to Bella’s tragic death. He hopes the Chechen bullets will drive away his boredom, but the sound of the bullets is no more attention-grabbing than the buzz of mosquitoes. All of these only reveal his contradictory and complex psychology. His selfishness and indifference cause immense suffering to others, yet he doesn’t derive true happiness himself, only deepening his pain and despair.