Book Report on “Fathers and Sons” by Ivan Turgenev Essay

Fathers and Sons is, perhaps, the most interesting book by the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, which gained international recognition. It has been first publi vagabond in 1862 and concurred with a complicated period of Russian history, cognise as the Great Reforms. Abolition of serfdom, reforms of administrational system, industrialization and raise of revolutionary ideas caused profound changes in the Russian high society and in the minds of people. Turgenevs book is devoted t this dramatic mental and psychological break.Fathers be r be generation who share conservative views and sons are youth, dreaming of revolution and demonstrating nihilism and disrespect towards traditional values. The fabricator of the story Nikolai Petrovitch Kirsanov, is a son of a general, who has been a hero of Napoleonic wars. His life is rather unremarkable. be unable to serve in the army because of the childhood trauma, he has married and lived happily with his wife cashbox her early close. After that he devoted all his life to his only son Arcady.The novel opens when the mavintime(a) Kirsanov stands before the door of his dominion waiting for his son returning from the university. Finally the son comes back, only he is non alone, he is accompanied by his new university friend Yevgeny Vasilevich Bazarov. Soon Nikolai Kirsanov finds out, that his son has completely locomote under influence of Bazarovs nihilistic and realistic views. He dreams of bloody revolutionary changes and disputes with Kirsanov most the time to come of Russia Aristocracy, liberalism, progress, principles, give voice Bazarov. Just think what a lot of foreign . . .and useless words To a Russian theyre no good for anything , says he. Further along the novel Bazarov continues to play a role of a revolutionary demon. He is pretty charismatic, so such miserable people as Sitnikov and Kukushkina give under his influence. Those two are represent a sort of progressive thinkers whose progrogressism come s to be reduced to absurd. They are ready to admire any new nihilistic ideas being completely unable to think of them critically and add any own actoring to them. Bazarov openly contemns Sitnikov and flirts with Kushkina to allay his boredom.What is really interesting for Bazarov are his disputes with Pavel Petrovitch Kirsanov, older brother of Nikolai Kirsanov They feel antipathy from the very first moment of their acquaintance. Pavel Kirsanov speaks of Bazarovs nihilism as of an gaga doctrine existing in vacuum. Bazarovs manner of thinking is purely utilitarian We act by virtue of what we recognize as useful, went on Bazarov. At present the most useful thing is denial, so we deny. Pavel strongly disagrees just now allow me, began Nikolai Petrovich. You deny everything, or to put it more precisely, you destroy everything .. . But one must construct, too, you know. 33 But Bazarov remains sure, that to construct something it is first necessary to Clean the ground. by chance thi s dispute between Pavel Kirsanov and Bazarov puts forth the basic idea of the book conflict of conservatism and revolutionary doctrine. In order to iron out the differences between Pavel Kirsanov and Bazarov Arcady tells Bazarov the story of Pavels life. Once Pavel was a luminous officer, but love to a woman, duchess R ruined his life and left him completely drained. Pavel only retained his advance(a) taste, fair manners and Anglomania.Although she is not present in the novel, duchess R seems to be one of the characters because even later years she continues to determine Pavels actions. He asks for satisfaction from Bazarov, when he sees him kissing Fenichka, but the real reason is not Bazarovs behavior, but that Fenichka somehow reminds Pavel duchess R. While men in the story are symbols of social classes and positions, women represent something, what can be called normal life, whether it is duchess R a symbol of Russian magnificent nobility, Fenichka a symbol of common sense, or Mme Odintsov.Mme Odintsov is a very special character. On the one hand she is perfectly educated and progressive woman, on the other she does not in any panache share Bazarovs enthusiasm about social cataclysms. She is sure, that society is to be bettered by bettering of human, but not by reconstruction of its formation. She asks Bazarov a question which he is unable to directly answer And you suppose, said Anna Sergeyevna, that when society is reformed there will be no longer any stupid or wicked people? 56 Bazarov starts explaining that a proper society will make no difference, but within he feels, that Odintsova is right. Love to a woman is so contrary to Bazarovs views, that he is unable to deliver it, putting cynicism on himself, and then leaving her house. He attempts to find some occupation for himself, flirts, fights at a duel and tries to speak about his ideas with peasants. The peasants are in fact those, who are to be enthusiastic about the revolution, at least as B azarov thinks. So he is unhappily surp emissiond to find out, that peasants do not want to understand complicated teaching and think of him as of a cheat.Bazarovs ideas collapse he finds no support both with educated and common people, so he has to recognize, that revolution is actually spare to anyone and that it is nothing more, than a fashionable game. Pavel Kirsanov is right doctrines of Bazarov exist in vacuum. It is not clear whether Bazarovs death was a suicide, but his behavior itself is suicidal, and he accepts the certainty of death calmly. The only thing he wants is to say farewell to Odintsova. At his deathbed he openly confessed, that all his prod ideas went down to the pan.He continues to speak of himself as of a giant, but now the only task he puts for himself is to die with dignity. Six month afterward his death the two couples married Nikolai Kirsanov to Fenichka and Arcady to Kate Odintsova younger sister. The normal life continues even after Bazarovs death, and Arcady, his agent confederate, becomes a wealthy landowner, representing an antithesis to Bazarovs views. Bazarovs grave is almost forgotten, and only his parents sometimes come to shed tears over it. Although Fathers and Sons is a novel about pre-revolutionary Russia, its lesson is useful for all generations.Sons always rise against their fathers, willing to change this world and create a totally new one for themselves. And Turgenev demonstrates how mental self-gratification and spiritual weakness can destroy even the most sharp-minded person. The whole revolutionary fervor of Bazarov is finished by romantic love the real motivation of the world. At the end of his life the demon feels addled and betrayed, while conservatism triumphs over his grave.Works cited Ivan Turgenev (1998) Fathers and Sons. Oxford Oxford University Press