The narrators provide insight into a character with how he is described and what events are highlighted. In Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin and A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov, both have engaged voices, which add a more personal element to the novels, perhaps a bias, in the reader's understanding of the characters.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The personal element is the relationship the narrators have with the characters. This forces the reader to evaluate the characters as companions rather than characters. The narrative voice of Eugene Onegin comes from a narrator speaking as a friend. Because the narrator is a friend of Eugene Onegin, he is much more compassionate and less critical. He portrays Onegin in a negative light, but makes excuses for him. When he confronts Tatiana about her letter, the narrator explains that Onegin was deeply moved, but he coldly rejects her because “Eugene did not want to betray / such an innocent, so trusting soul” (Pushkin 4, X1, 11 -12). It is difficult to believe that these are truly Eugene's thoughts, and not the narrator's interpretation, because Eugene is a superfluous man; he thinks of his own needs and desires before others. If he had really tried to be sensitive to Tatiana's feelings, he would have been more sensitive when talking to her. Yet he still talks about himself – “But I was simply not destined for happiness – for this foreign role”, explaining why he does not want to marry her (Pushkin 4, xv, 1-2). Here, the narrator explains Eugene's actions and words, and does not chastise Eugene's selfish behavior, and then directs the narration towards Tatiana's reaction of embarrassment. The narrator connects the hurtful words to Tatiana's reaction. This partial evaluation is the fruit of blind friendship. It is interesting to note, however, that the narrator changes his tone depending on the character he is describing. He uses words like “dear” to refer to Tatiana and the reader. It seems that the narrator is speaking directly to the reader, rather than through text, evoking the reader's emotion. When discussing Tatiana's absorption of the neighbor's gossip about her potential match with Eugene, the narrator "weeps," "for [Tatyana is],/at this early date,/in the custody of a tyrant modern/resigned to dispose of your fate” (Pushkin 3, XV, 1-3). The narrator is very upset by the direction Tatiana's life is taking because he cares about her. Seeing her compassion for Tatiana, the reader cannot help but feel bad for Tatiana's trap falling into societal expectations of love. However, at the same time, the narrator sees the problem in the fate of Tatiana, and not in how Eugene responds to her. Out of pity for Tatiana and friendship toward Onegin, the narrator blames outside powers, rather than the character's behavior, for protecting his beloved character from harsh judgment. Unlike the narrator of Onegin, the narrator of A Hero of Our Time speaks as a critical observer. It presents the reader's understanding of Pechorin in a negative light. He criticizes all of Pechorin's physical attributes, then acknowledges his bias when he says, "All these thoughts may have been suggested to me simply because I knew something about his life," but that doesn't change the opinion that the reader hears and understands (Lermontov 49). After this negative introduction of physical characteristics and recognition of prejudices, we hear a friend's point of view, but we observe how Pechorin offends the speaker, a few pages later,.