Fathers and Sons

Fathers and Sons is an 1862 novel by Ivan Turgenev, his best known work. The title of this work in Russian is ???? ? ???? (Ottsy i Deti), which literally means "Fathers and Children"; the work is often translated to Fathers and Sons in English for reasons of euphony.

Themes

Transgression and redemption

Bazarov (the prototypical nihilist) argues with Pavel Kirsanov (the prototypical liberal of the 1840s generation) about the nature of nihilism and usefulness to Russia in an episode which personifies the struggle between the fathers ? i.e., the liberals of the 1840s ? and their nihilist ?sons?. ?Aristocratism, liberalism, progress, principles,? Bazarov says on page 38. ?Just think, how many foreign... and useless words!?

Related Topics:
Aristocratism - Liberalism - Progress - Principles

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Bazarov tells Pavel that he will abandon nihilism when Pavel can show him ?...a single institution of contemporary life, either in the family or in the social sphere, that doesn?t deserve absolute and merciless rejection,? (F&S, 42). But despite this utter scorn for all things associated with traditional Russia, Bazarov still believes that there is a purpose and a value in pure science.

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Human emotion; love as redemption

Bazarov?s nihilism falls apart in the face of human emotions, specifically his love for Anna Odintsova. His nihilism does not account for the pain that his unrequited love causes him, and this introduces a despair that he is not capable of contending with.

Related Topics:
Human emotions - Love - Unrequited love

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Bazarov returns to his family after Odintsova rejects him. Bazarov complains to Arkady that ?...they, that is, my parents, are occupied, and don?t worry in the least about their own insignificance; they don?t give a damn about it... While I... I feel only boredom and anger,? (F&S, 98). His theory?s inability to account for his emotions frustrates him and he sinks deep into boredom and ennui (F&S, 142-143). Conversely, Turgenev shows us Arkady and Nikolai?s traditional happiness in marriage and estate management as the solution to Bazarov?s despair. Finally, Turgenev also refutes Bazarov?s ?insignificance principle? ? i.e., the nihilist idea that life is utterly insignificant and that nothing remains after death: the final passage of the book portrays Bazarov?s parents visiting his grave.

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They walk with a heavy step, supporting each other; when they approach the

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railing, they fall on their knees and remain there for a long time, weeping bitterly, gazing attentively at the headstone under which their son lies buried: they exchange a few words, brush the dust off the stone, move a branch of the pine tree, and pray once again; they can?t forsake this place where they seem to feel closer to their son, to their memories of him... Can it really be that their prayers and tears are futile? Can it really be that love, sacred, devoted love is not all powerful? Oh, no! (F&S, 156-7)

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Their love causes them to remember Bazarov: he has transcended death, but only through the love of other people. Dostoyevsky, who read Fathers and Sons and apparently appreciated Bazarov as a character, explores a similar theme with Raskolnikov's religious redemption (via the love of Christ) in Crime and Punishment.

Related Topics:
Dostoyevsky - Raskolnikov - Redemption - Christ - Crime and Punishment

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