Fathers+and+Sons


 * Literary FIle:** //Fathers and Sons// by Ivan Turgenev


 * Authorial Background:** Ivan Turgenev (1818 - 1883) was a Russian poet, playwright, and author who wrote Fathers and Sons in 1862. He was born in the province of Orel in Russia. Ivans family were wealthy landowners and when their father died, Ivans abusive and domineering mother took over the overseeing of the farms and serfs. After Ivan had graduated from the University of St. Petersburg he continued his education at the University of Berlin. There he studied history and the philosophy of Hegel. After working for a time as a civil servant he met French singer Pauline Viradot, with whom he would continue to have a lifelong affair. He nestled himself in France and it was there that he began writing seriously. Turgenev traveled often between Russia and France - and was eventually imprisoned for "suspicious revolutionary activities". Unlike his contemporaries, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy who focused on matters of church and religion, Turgenev opted to write mostly about movement toward social reform. His depictions of 19th century Russian provincial life and it's turbulence - received the praise of many fellow authors. Turgenev died in exile in Paris on September 4th, 1883. He was buried back home in Russia per last request.


 * Literary Period/Country:** The Russian literature of the 1800's established a tradition of representing life in a more realistic and less romantic fashion. Russia's most notable authors all made their beginnings in this period - beginning with Gogol and including Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Solzhenttsyn, and of course Turgenev. All of whom wrote stories that were characteristic of attention to the realistic, detailed descriptions of everyday Russian life; the lifting of the taboo on describing the vulgar, unsightly side of life - and a satirical attitude toward mediocrity and routine. This was known as the Age of Realism - and is officially agreed to have begun near the 1850's. Authors novels during this period focused on sharp - even satirical - social commentary on real Russian life. This was highly controversial and was debated at length whether social commentary had a place in literature in censored Tsarist Russia. This age of realistic depictions of the meagerness of the Russian provincial life can even be said to have culminated in the communist revolution of the early 20th century.


 * Setting:** The setting of Fathers and Sons takes place in Russia. More specifically it takes place in the countryside outside of St. Petersburg and in the city. Arcady comes home from the university with his new nihilistic friend Barazov - to stay with his much more romantically inclined father and uncle in the country for a time.

__**Characters**__


 * Eugene Barazov:** A young nihilist, student of science, and a training doctor. As a nihilist he is a mentor to Arcady, and a challenger to the liberal ideas of the Kirsanov brothers and the traditional Russian Orthodox feelings of his own parents.


 * Arcady Kirsanov:** A recent graduate of St. Petersburg university and friend of Barazov. He is also a nihilist, although his belief seems to stem from his admiration of Barazov rather than his own conviction. Thus he is often conflicted between his friends more modern ideals and his father's more traditionally liberal - romantic ideals that he grew up knowing. He is more hesitant to laugh at his family's beliefs than Barazov is - and sometimes gets into argument with him.


 * Nikolai Kirsanov:** A landlord, a liberal democrat, and Arcady’s father. He tries to show tolerance towards his sons more modern beliefs and that of his friends - but can't help his old romantic and liberal tendencies. As much as he tries to fit in - he can't help but feel out of place and useless.


 * Paul Kirsanov:** Nikolai’s brother and a bourgeois with aristocratic attitude, who prides himself on his refinement but like his brother is reform minded. Although he is reluctantly tolerant of the nihilism, he cannot help hating Bazarov.


 * Anna Sergeevna Odintsova:** A wealthy widow who entertains the nihilist friends at her estate. Bazarov declares his love for her, but she is unable to reciprocate, both out of fear for the emotional chaos it could bring and an inability to recognize her own sentiments as love itself. Bazarov's love is a challenge to his nihilist ideal of rejection of all established order.


 * Katerina (Katya) Sergeevna:** A character similar to Arcady and the younger sister of Anna. She lives comfortably with her sister but lacks confidence, finding it hard to escape Anna Sergeevna's shadow. This shyness makes her and Arkady’s love slow to realize itself.

Originally content with her unattached life, Lady Odintsova finds herself increasingly attracted to the blunt, unorthodox, highly intelligent Bazarov. She almost unwittingly seduces Bazarov (a self-declared womanizer), luring him into revealing his love. In confidence, Odintsova confesses that she is very unhappy, and that she has no desire to “go on”. She longs for a “strong attachment” that is all or nothing and with no regret. And yet, as soon as Bazarov admits his love, Odintsova coldly rejects him. In the aftermath she is tortured - blaming and excusing herself while fearing she may have thrown away true love. Finally she decides, it was fate that she and Bazarov did not happen. Human emotion and love as redemption plays a major role in Bazarov's unrequited love for Lady Odintsova. In the face of his love, his nihilism falls apart, unable to account for the pain and despair he feels he cannot contend with. Afterwards Bazarov returns to his family and complains to Arcady that his parents are too occupied to realize their own insignificance while he is filled with "boredom and anger". Bazarov becomes very angsty due to his nihilisms failure to account for his emotions - thus sinking him deeper into his depression. Meanwhile Arcady finds happiness in marrying Odintsova's younger sister Katya and in the life of landowning - much like his father. Turgenev seems to suggest this as an answer to Barazovs cosmic despair and Lady Odintsovas unattached loveless comfort. Turgenev also refutes Barazov's idea of insignificance and the nihilist idea that nothing remains after death. Barazov dies of typhus and his parents visit his grave regularly to remember him and feel closer to him. Barazov transcends death only by the love of others for and their memory of him.
 * Themes:** Major themes of //Fathers and Sons// are both Transgression and Redemption. Bazarov (the nihilist) argues with Paul Kirsanov (the typical 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". Bazarov tells Paul that he will abandon nihilism when Paul 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." But despite his scorn for all things associated with traditional Russia, Bazarov still believes that there is purpose and value in science.


 * Plot Summary:** Turgenevs book is almost entirely driven by character - with almost little care for plot. The plot almost exclusively serves the development of the stories characters - and their conversations and debates seem to fuel the message of the novel. The novel begins when Arcady returns to his fathers country estate with his new nihilist friend with whom he copies out of some sort of admiration. Their is a clash between the younger generation (namely Barazov) and Arcady's father and uncle - over Barazov's modern belief in the rejection of all authority and the prevalence of nothingness - and Paul Kirsanov's liberal aristocratic beliefs. Nikolai feels more conflicted of whether to reject his sons nihilistic beliefs - and finds he cannot accept them as much as he may try - being an old "romantic". Arcady and Barazov then leave to the city to attend a ball one of Arcady's relatives is holding. There Arcady meets and falls in love with Lady Odintsov though she only seems to be interested in Barazov. She invites Arcady and his friend to visit her sometime at her estate. Arcady agrees but Barazov is much more reluctant. Once there We see Barazov begins to ironically fall in love with Lady Odintsov - a seemingly bourgeoisie woman yet very interested in Barazov's beliefs. Arcady slowly falls for Odintsova's younger sister Katya instead. Through much leading on, Odintsova convinces Barazov to admit his love for her - only to meet her brutal and unexpected rejection of him. Barazov's beliefs are then shaken and his demise begins - with his nihilism unable to explain his deep despair and longing for Odintsova. He returns home to his parents with Arcady only to fall deeper into depression over his parents continual orthodoxy beliefs and seeming obliviousness to boredom or anger - which wells up in Barazov. Shortly after Barazov dies of Typhus - miserable and Arcady finds peace living happily as a landowner with Katya as wife - following not too far from his fathers tree.

Turgenev uses Irony often and perhaps a prime example is when he writes of Arcady's somewhat paradoxical nihilistic beliefs: "He was not a nihilist for nothing," Aren't nihilists nihilists for just that reason?
 * Literary Devices:**

Turgenev is also very poetic in his use of alliteration or euphony: "Each bee takes it wee bribe from each wee flower," this quote from Arcady's older uncle perhaps shows the romanticism still prevalent in the older generation that Barazov seeks to reject - dismissing it as meaningless.

Another unique theme is constant natural imagery. In the beginning of the novel he describes a strutting chicken being stalked by a vicious cat ready to pounce. This imagery could also be seen as a metaphor for the entire novel - the cat representing Barazov ready to pounce and strike down the orthodoxy of the day - and also lady Odintsov ready inversly ready to kill Barazov's own unorthodox and partially flawed beliefs.

The overall tone of the novel is Realistic yet sympathetic. Many of the younger generation during Turgenev's time complained that his character of Barazov mocked them - but later in the novel we see a serious sympathy for the character especially in his death. He tries to portray the characters truthfully and not to judge or mock them. Turgenev sometimes injects himself into the narrative despite his goal of keeping it realistic and impersonal. This could be to mirror Barazovs inability to remain detached from his own self and own life.

It's a very careful character study - I think Turgenev is trying to warn against strong radicalism (shown in Barazov) and a strong adherence to aristocracy (shown in Barazov's parents and Arcady's uncle) Arcady and his father seem to find a common ground - allowing for a progressive mode of thought without excluding the importance and redemptive qualities of human emotion and love. Overall I felt it was a very enlightening little book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in reading Russian literature - without the heft of some of it's more famous books. It would perhaps make a good introduction to the genre and even a slightly different take on it's themes. It is said that Dostoevsky's theme of redemption in //Crime and Punishment// was inspired partly by this work by Turgenev.
 * Personal Review:** I very much enjoyed reading this book. It was not at all that difficult to grasp yet still made you ponder the message Turgenev is trying to convey about the younger and older generations. I like how he allowed the older generation's beliefs to seemingly triumph over Barazov's. Although I could relate well to some of Barazovs dilemmas - I found his absoluteness and disdain for the arts somewhat disconcerting. He was so far left that he almost came round as a dictator of sorts. I liked how he was proven wrong in death - and the theme of love conquering indifference. In this way Turgenev kind of breaks the mold of his contemporaries since he did not allow Barazov's savage realism conquer the day - but instead the sort of romanticism of Arcady's father.