50 pages • 1 hour read
Mikhail LermontovA Hero Of Our Time
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1838A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaBooks 2-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 2: “Maksim Maksimych”
Book 2 Summary
The narrator stays at an inn in Vladikavkaz while he awaits an infantry convoy called the “Adventure,” which he will join to escort a baggage train through the mountains to Ekaterinograd. He must wait three days, and during that time, he writes down Maksim Maksimych’s story about Pechorin and Bela.
On the second morning of his stay, Maksim Maksimych arrives, and the narrator greets him happily. They eat dinner together and then smoke pipes in silence. An elegant carriage with a well-dressed manservant pulls into the courtyard. The narrator and Maksim Maksimych go to see who it is. The rude servant, who is unloading baggage, says that his master is Pechorin and that he is spending the evening with a Coronel N. Maksim Maksimych is excited and tells the servant to let Pechorin know he is here. He goes outside to wait for Pechorin’s arrival.
An hour later, the narrator invites Maksim Maksimych to have some tea with him; Maksim Maksimych is anxious because the servant has been away for a while and Pechorin has not yet arrived. Maksim Maksimych anticipated that Pechorin would come immediately to see him, so he is somewhat put off.
The next morning, Pechorin arrives, but Maksim Maksimych has gone to visit the Commandant. The narrator describes Pechorin as being expensively dressed and having delicate, aristocratic features, light, curly hair, dark eyes, and a dark mustache. When he sits down on a bench, “The attitude of his whole body was expressive of a certain nervous weakness; he looked, as he sat, like one of Balzac’s thirty-year-old coquettes resting in her downy arm-chair after a fatiguing ball” (43).
Maksim Maksimych comes running back when he hears Pechorin has arrived, but Pechorin greets him coldly; he is departing for Persia immediately and cannot stay. Maksim Maksimych is devastated; he was looking forward to catching up with his old friend, but Pechorin acts like a stranger. Maksim Maksimych has some of Pechorin’s notebooks, which he has been carrying with him since they parted, but Pechorin does not want them: He is not planning to return. When Pechorin’s carriage leaves, the narrator asks for the notebooks, and Maksim Maksimych gives them to him, throwing them on the ground with contempt.
The narrator is sad to see Maksim Maksimych so disappointed. In an hour, he departs with the “Adventure,” and Maksim Maksimych stays behind.
Foreword Summary: “To Books 3, 4, and 5 Concerning Pechorin’s Diary”
Pechorin died on his return from Persia. The narrator takes the opportunity to publish Pechorin’s notebooks listing himself as the author (he is referring to the present volume). Pechorin details his entire life in his notebooks, but the narrator only includes those that deal with his time in the Caucasus. His goal is to shed light on the actions and motivations of someone who was misunderstood during his life: “We almost always excuse that which we understand” (48). He changes the names of individuals mentioned in the notebooks, but he believes they will still be identifiable.
The narrator’s opinion of Pechorin is reflected in the title A Hero of Our Time, but he refuses to state whether or not that title is ironic.
Book 3 Summary: “The First Extract from Pechorin’s Diary Taman”
The following sections are written in Pechorin's first-person, past-tense point of view.
Pechorin arrives in Taman, a small Russian seaport to spend the night. As he is on government business, he “demands official quarters” (49), but the only lodging available is in a small cabin by the sea. His guide describes the place as “uncanny” (49, 53), meaning strange or evil. A blind 14-year-old boy answers the door, and Pechorin notes that he has a strong prejudice against people with disabilities: “I have observed that there is always a certain strange connection between a man’s exterior and his soul; as, if when the body loses a limb, the soul also loses some power of feeling” (50). The boy makes him uncomfortable, especially because he walks around unaided, as if he can see. Pechorin and his Cossack servant settle in for the night, but Pechorin cannot sleep. He sees someone run past the window and decides to follow them.
The blind boy is making his way down the steep rocks that lead to the water’s edge, carrying a bag. Pechorin follows him at a distance. He sees the boy meet with a young woman on the shore. Soon a boat appears on the rough waves and Yanko, a smuggler, meets them. Yanko unloads some heavy bags and the three carry them down the shore and out of sight.
The next day, Pechorin discovers that a ship will not arrive for him for another few days. The old woman who owns the cabin has returned, and Pechorin goes to see her. The boy is there, and Pechorin confronts him about his activities the previous night. The boy denies he went to the shore, and the old woman scolds Pechorin for bothering him.
Soon, Pechorin hears a young woman singing, and discovers that it is the same girl from last night. She is 18 and beautiful, and he calls her a water-nymph. That night, she coaxes him into a boat and tries to throw him overboard, fearing that he will ruin her smuggling operation. Pechorin manages to fight her off, throw her overboard, and row to shore. When he arrives, he hides to see if the boy and Yanko return. Sure enough, they do, and the young woman has swum to shore. Yanko tells the boy that he is leaving; their operation is busted. He and the young woman get into the boat and leave the boy weeping on the shore.
When Pechorin returns to the hut, he finds that the boy has stolen his valuables. The next morning, a ship arrives and Pechorin departs, but he regrets that he inadvertently disrupted the lives of a “peaceful circle of honourable smugglers” (59).
Books 2-3 Analysis
Pechorin’s appearance in Book 2 introduces the theme of The Danger of Moral Indifference. With his arrival, the narrative shows the contrast between Maksim Maksimych’s positive impression of Pechorin and the truth of his character, which is unable to form or maintain sincere friendships. From Maksim Maksimych’s story, the reader has every reason to believe that Pechorin will reciprocate Maksim Maksimych’s enthusiasm upon meeting him again. They shared many experiences in battle, and Maksim Maksimych helped Pechorin through one of the most difficult events of his life. For most people, including Maksim Maksimych, that establishes a bond of friendship and the knowledge that one can rely on the other person.
Pechorin’s cold greeting floors Maksim Maksimych because it is unexpected. It is not only Pechorin's manner that is off-putting; he addresses Maksim Maksimych with the formal “you,” which one reserves for acquaintances. This means that Pechorin is intentionally distancing himself or that he has forgotten the times they shared. In either case, the time he spent with Maksim Maksimych did not leave an impression on him. There is a casual cruelty to Pechorin’s attitude toward Maksim Maksimych because Pechorin, as we will learn, is a keen observer of personality. The effect would be different if he were simply oblivious, but he is not. This, like his laughter after Bela’s death, reveals a dark side of Pechorin’s character that leads to his tragic actions at the end of the novel.
The Forewords and Book 3 form a short introduction to Pechorin’s main activities in the Caucasus. With its mysterious setting and strange cast of characters, it creates an ominous tone that accompanies the rest of the novel. Rather than the town or people having a demonic character, it is Pechorin who proves himself to be a disruptive force. It also provides another example of his indifference; he vaguely regrets having disturbed the lives of the townspeople, but reverts to his former attitude: “[W]hat are the joys and sorrows of mankind to me—me, a travelling officer, and one, moreover, with an order for post-horses on Government business?” (60). Pechorin’s image of himself as someone who is “just passing through” places him apart from those he meets. This does not only apply to the transient nature of his career but also to how he views his life.
These Books also contain deeper critiques of the “superfluous man” and his role—or lack thereof—in Russian society. The narrator christens Pechorin’s published notebooks A Hero of Our Time, refusing to state whether the title is meant to be sincere or ironic. If the title is meant to be ironic, then Pechorin’s behavior, attitude, and cynicism are elements of which the narrator disapproves, with the appellation “hero” sarcastically suggesting that this sort of amorality is what passes for “heroism” in 19th-century Russia.
While the narrator leaves open the possibility that he means the title sincerely, the narrative recounted in the notebooks suggests that there may be an underlying tension between those who accept and even valorize the behavior of men such as Pechorin, and what the damaging effects of such behavior really are. Either way, the ambiguity of the title reflects the ambiguity of the superfluous man’s status in Russian society: He wishes to pursue feats of traditionally masculine derring-do against the rugged landscape of the Caucasus, but ultimately he can find no better outlet for his talents and energies than to wander aimlessly, forging connections and discarding them without a second thought and engaging in meaningless, casual violence.
Irony is also present in Pechorin’s stated regret at having disrupted the activities of a “peaceful circle of honourable smugglers” (59). The adjectives “peaceful” and “honourable” are incongruous when applied to “smugglers,” whose illegal activities and even potential attempts at murder—the young woman tries to throw Pechorin overboard—would usually be deemed anything but honorable. Pechorin’s calm acceptance of the robbery of his valuables, and his assessment of the smugglers as “honourable” despite his dealings with them, once more suggests that Pechorin’s view of the world is marked by cynicism and atypical morality, embodying a deeper malaise at the heart of Russian society.
