To some extent, Pechorin is unquestionably a Byronic hero, for he exhibits many traits commonly associated with Byronism. Several of the Byronic hero’s characteristics which are prevalent in Pechorin are his arrogance, cunning, and isolation from society. Pechorin’s arrogance is shown in his contempt of Maxim Maximich when they met for the last time. Pechorin did not “come running” (43) as Maxim Maximich predicted, instead choosing to come in his …show more content…
His character is derived also from the Russian superfluous man, a variant of the Byronic hero who is morally ambiguous and struggles with existential discontent. Pechorin claims that his life “becomes emptier day by day” (33), as he attempted various activities but is still unable to find meaning in existence. He is aimlessly destructive, ruining the lives of those around him – from having “shattered” (61) the peace of honest smugglers to bringing a princess to a “sickly” (130) state – and his moral ambiguity is displayed in “but if I like her?” (21), his desire being enough justification to proceed with the kidnap of Bela, with no consideration for her thoughts. His ennui also manifests itself in “I like to doubt everything” (140), for he occupies his boredom by turning over abstract questions, a further affirmation of his metaphysical discontent which resulted from a sense of existential boredom. While similar to the Byronic hero in many aspects – for instance, both depict aristocratic and socially isolated men – the superfluous man is unique to Russia and embodies its society’s metaphysical discontent, which is then echoed in