The hero of our time: "Fatalist." Summary

Completes Lermontov's novel "Hero of Our Time" chapter entitled "Fatalist." The summary of the work requires a description of the place of action of the picture. Near the Cossack village, in which Pechorin lived for some time, stood an infantry battalion. In the evenings, officers often gathered in an apartment for one, then for the other one to play cards.

Bet on death

One day, resting from bored playing, they started a philosophical dispute. The subject was the belief of Muslims that the fate of each is written in heaven, and as it turned out, many Christians share this judgment. There was a man among those playing, who had a special passion for the game, the Serbian lieutenant Vulich. Being by nature a man of bravery and sharp enough, he suggests not to argue for nothing, but in fact to check whether a person can dispose of his life and fate. Officer Vulich is a fatalist. The brief content of his speech has a unique meaning: if he is not destined to die today, then the gun pointed to his forehead will not fire. To conclude with him a bet from all those present was agreed only by Pechorin, who believes that it is impossible to predetermine fate in advance.

The Inevitability of Destiny

The lieutenant removes the first gun from the wall, charges it and presents it to the head. At this time, it seems to Pechorin that he sees the seal of death on the face of the Serb, and he warns Vulich that he will die now. To which the philosophical answer hears: "Maybe, yes, maybe not ...". Shot sounds, the gun misfires. Raising the trigger again, Vulich takes another shot at the hat hanging on the wall, and this time, after the smoke has cleared, a gaping hole opens. Pechorin already doubts his visions and, returning home, he talks about his ancestors, the rulers of fate in heaven, and about the fact that this Serbian fatalist may not be so wrong. The summary of the chapter will nevertheless reveal the correctness of Pechorin's visions. In the morning it becomes known about Vulich's death: he was slaughtered by a drunken Cossack on his way home. And on the lieutenant's question to the fluent Cossack about whom he is looking for as a sentence, mysteriously the answer was: "You!".

Test your fate by Pechorin

Another, not less revealing, stage will end our brief content. The fatalist is a person convinced of the inevitability, and when Pechorin opens the prospect of experiencing his own destiny, he does not think long. The murderer Vulich hid in the house on the outskirts, and it was almost impossible to rescue him alive. Then rises in Pechorin's head his mad plan. A young man, hiding behind a shutter, climbs through the window and disarms the Cossack. But he first manages to shoot, the bullet flies by. After such events you involuntarily begin to understand that somewhere deep down in your soul you are also a bit of a fatalist. The summary is continued by Pechorin's arguments that, not knowing what awaits you, you are much bolder in going ahead, that there is nothing worse than death, but it is inevitable. When he returns to the fortress and talks to Maxim Maksimych about the incident, the captain expresses the idea that, apparently, Vulich had written so on the family, but he is still sorry.

Under mysterious circumstances, returning from Persia, the hero of our time also perishes. "Fatalist," a brief chapter, dullly conveys all the thoughts and arguments of the main characters, in fact, this part is very capacious and deep, making us think that the person is the master of his own destiny.