Points of discussion

[Janine]

1.) Pechorin writes, “Passions are merely ideas in their initial stage. They are the property of youth, and anyone who expects to feel their thrill throughout his life is a fool”(103). Pechorin is wise beyond his years, and I think the latter statement explains (in part) some of the mystery surrounding his character. For example, he takes no pleasure in the enthusiasm of others. Anytime he notices a hint of passion coming from another character, he does whatever he can to dampen their spirit. Pechorin, himself, is extremely jaded. The only time he behaves passionately is when he seeks to attain a difficult goal- and instead of pursuing matters further, he immediately loses interest he soon as he accomplishes a task. In other words, he never gets beyond the initial stage of developing his goals.



2.) An extremely obvious connection between A Hero of Our Time and Eugene Onegin are similar personality traits of the two main characters. I think it’s safe to say they can both be classified as “Byronic heroes,” and throughout the novel, Lermontov references the writer Byron. Both Pechorin and Eugene are easily bored and apathetic to social life. They have contradictory natures, are self critical and simultaneously introspective. However, I personally think that Pechorin struggles with integrity more than Eugene does- based off of certain lowly actions he takes that Eugene refrains from. Neither character is easily impressed by rank. Both Pechorin and Eugene are loners and outcasts; the settings of each novel primarily take place apart from main society. They share dark attributes that are not usually associated with heroes, and are also (ultimately) self destructive.

[Gregg]

The book for me is about intensity. Russian characters are often extremists. They take everything to the max (passion, politics, insanity). That's what makes them so interesting. I've heard a typical Russian trait is 'to stake one's life on the turn of a card.' Pretty intense.