Character and Theme in "Fathers and Sons"
Author(s): Gary R. Jahn
Source: College Literature, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Winter, 1977), pp. 80-91
Published by: College Literature
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25111152 .
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80
CHARACTER AND THEME INFATHERS AND SONS
Gary
R. Jahn
and Sons was first published
Fathers
in 1862,
I. S. Turgenev's
When
Russian
intellectual
life was marked by open antagonism
between genera
tions. Not unnaturally,
the majority of those who first read the novel under
stood its title to be suggestive of that antagonism. Readers of our own time
and place, having recently passed through a period of similar bitterness
the generations,
easily reach the same conclusion,
supported by
between
Bazarov
and Pavel Petrovich
of
the
sharpness
polemic
Kirsanov
which
the novel contains.
between
the
The impression that the work concerns a younger generation
presenting
a united front of opposition
to its predecessor
becomes, however, weakened
as the novel develops.
and confused
The
careful
reader will,
there
aware
be
that the theme of the novel is, instead of
of
the possibility
fore,
being implied at the beginning and confirmed
by what follows, developed
as
a
the
work
made completely
whole
and
gradually throughout
apparent
at
the
end.
only
The purpose of the present paper
and organization
in order
characters
ment
which
they
is to offer an analysis of the novel's
to illuminate
the thematic develop
represent.
Just as the title of the novel suggests its theme, so it also suggests
the
artistic method by which the theme is to be realized, a comparison
between
the fathers and the children. Taking
the title literally, the reader is con
fronted with two primary character pairs: the fathers in Nikolay Petrovich
and the sons in Arkady
and
Kirsanov
and old Bazarov
Nikolaevich
Bazarov. By taking the title in the broader sense as indicating a genera
tional rather than a parental and filial comparison,
Pavel Petrovich,
the
uncle of Arkady, may be added to the group of the "fathers."1 This is clear
ly justifiable
the younger
most
it is in the relationship
Pavel Petrovich
between
and
that
the
between
the
is
generation
antagonism
generations
since
evident.
the following
If we begin with these two groups of characters,
speci
are immediately
to Bazarov
fic comparisons
Pavel Petrovich
suggested:
to Bazarov and Arkady,
and Arkady, Nikolay Petrovich
and old Bazarov
to Bazarov
and
Arkady.
a large group of supplemental
these comparisons
Beyond
comparisons
are offered
in the novel. These are of two sorts: comparison
of the fathers
and comparison
with
and the sons within rather than across generations
other
in the novel, most
importantly Mme.
R. (with whom
the
Princess
and
Kukshina,
characters
Sitnikov,
Odintsova,
Katya,
in
Pavel Petrovich
CHARACTER AND THEME INFA THERS AND SONS
81
his youth carried on a destructive
love affair). Thus many new compari
sons are introduced
to Bazarov and
into the novel: Arkady
is compared
to Pavel Petrovich; Bazar ov and Arkady are matched
to
Nikolay Petrovich
to the
is compared
Mme. Odintsova, Katya, and Sitnikov; Pavel Petrovich
to Mme. Odintsova,
and Mme. Odintsova
Princess R., Nikolay Petrovich
to Kukshina.
is effected
in such a way that
of these comparisons
presentation
are
Bazarov
and
the
focus
of
the
novel. The novel
organizational
Arkady
falls into two main parts; the first is roughly twice the length of the second.
In the first part of the novel Arkady and Bazarov journey together to the
four main settings of the novel; chapters 1-11 find them at Marino,
the es
tate of Nikolay Petrovich;
12-15
a
describe
in
their
chapters
stay
provin
16-19 are set at Nikolskoe,
cial town; chapters
the estate of Mme. Odint
sova; and chapters 20 & 21 cover the visit of the two young men to the
The
It is through these visits that comparisons
of Bazarov's
parents.
are
the
In fact, since the development
made
characters
of
among
possible.
action in the traditional sense is almost non-existent
in the novel, one may
that the traveling of the two young men from place
justifiably conclude
to place occurs chiefly to provide action and the interaction
that make
home
these comparisons
possible.
In a transitional
and Bazarov
(22) Arkady
chapter
then throughout the remainder of the novel are studied
the reader has
the same backgrounds
before which
are separated
and
individually against
already seen them
at
Marino,
standing together. Chapters 23-24 show Bazarov
chapters 25-26
at Nikolskoe,
and chapter 27 describes
the last days of
present Arkady
Bazarov at home with his mother and father. The novel ends with an epilog
are described.
the fates of the main characters
(chapter 28) in which
In exploring
the thematic development
of the novel, this paper will be
limited to consideration
of a restricted number of the character
pairs
I have selected the relationships
which might be discussed.
between Niko
and Arkady, Pavel Petrovich
and Nikolay Petrovich,
Pavel
lay Petrovich
Petrovich and Bazarov, and Arkady and Bazarov for detailed
investigation,
for two reasons. First, they are the character pairs with the most direct
to the title of the novel. Second,
thematic relevance
they are the four
characters
with
Mme.
receive
the greatest
who,
Odintsova,
together
amount of attention
in the novel (and the role of Mme. Odintsova will be
seen to play an important part in the understanding
of the relations among
them).
The fact about the relationships
represented
by the four major pairs
of characters which
is most immediately
evident is that the nature of the
relationship has in each case reversed itself, by the end of the novel, from
what it was in the beginning.
82
As
COLLEGE LITERATURE
the novel
the relationship
between Nikolay
Petrovich
and
opens,
are
contains
of
strain
elements
and
uneasiness
which
occasioned
Arkady
concern that communication
and affection between
by Nikolay Petrovich's
to generations
his son and himself have been impaired by their belonging
one
another.
On
other
which are contending
the
hand, the affec
against
feels for his father is blunted by his resolve to follow
in the rejection of the sentimental
and by an attitude
of the
toward his father as a representative
of gratifying condescension
older generation.
the
end
of
the
novel
this
strain
in
their
relations
By
in the epilog.
has been completely
removed, as shown by their portrayal
tion which
his mentor
Arkady
Bazarov
The
relations between Nikolay Petrovich
and his brother Pavel are ex
at
close
the
the
of
novel.
tremely
beginning
They have resided together at
for many years in harmony.
In the epilog, however,
it is learned
Marino
that Pavel Petrovich,
request to the contrary, has depart
despite Nikolay's
to live abroad, thus severing the close relations between
ed from Marino
them.
The relationship between Pavel Petrovich and Bazarov is cool from their
first meeting
and rapidly develops
into open hostility. By the end of the
come
to
have
share
what may well be regarded as the
novel, however, they
same fate in that both have been withdrawn
from the action of the novel,
in his removal to Germany and Bazarov
Pavel Petrovich
in death.2
as fast friends and intellectual
Arkady and Bazarov are first presented
comrades, but by the end of the novel they have been separated, not alone
by the death of Bazarov but previously
by Arkady's rejection of Bazarov
as
a model.
the relations existing among Bazarov, Arkady, Pavel Petrovich,
and
are developed
from a position of solidarity within gen
Nikolay Petrovich
and
erations to a position of solidarity, for Arkady and Nikolay Petrovich,
of similarity, for Pavel Petrovich
and Bazarov, between
This
generations.
for understanding
reversal of positions has important consequences
the way
in the novel.
in which the theme of "fathers and sons" is developed
Thus
The pattern of development
by which each of these four relationships
is reversed in the novel remains identical. They begin in clarity, elements
are resolved, and they end in
of ambiguity are introduced,
the ambiguities
new clarification.
The first two stages of the pattern are recounted
in chap
ters 1-21, which recount the travels of Arkady and Bazarov
together to the
as Arkady
four major settings of the novel. The third stage is accomplished
and Bazarov
revisit separately
and respectively
and Marino,
Nikolskoe
and the last stage is reached in chapter 27 (Bazarov's death) and the epilog.
This pattern is evident in summaries of the relations among the four main
characters.
Nikolay
and Arkady.
The relations
between
them are shown
to be un
CHARACTER AND THEME INFA THERS AND SONS
83
to Marino.
The uneasi
easy during the first visit of Arkady and Bazarov
ness is the result of Arkady's
attitude of condescension
toward his father
as portrayed in his disdain of his father's reluctance
to reveal the true posi
to Arkady,
in the household,
the existence of a half-brother
tion of Fenichka
and in the scene where Arkady removes the copy of Pushkin's works from
his father's hands and replaces
it with Buchner's
"Stoff und Kraft" [sic].3
two
strain
the
between
the
Nikolay compounds
by the temerity of his con
duct. Fearing to widen the gap which he detects between his own thoughts
and ideals and those of his son, he retreats into a state of passivity
from
which he emerges only to intervene to prevent the quarrel between Pavel
from reaching ugly proportions.
fears that the close
and Bazarov
Nikolay
so
son
he
between
and
which
his
himself,
fervently desires,
relationship
of the differences
because
has become
inevitably
dividing
impossible
with Pavel:
This fear is clearly expressed
in conversation
the generations.
"So
Nikolai
it seems,"
as he
sat
in his
study,
"you
well. Perhaps Bazarov
now,
precisely
I'm left behind,
other."
said
Petrovich
and
I are
the same
behind
day
the
after
dinner
times,
our
to his brother,
over.
days
is right; but one thing hurts, I confess;
terms with
to get on close,
intimate
and we
and he has gone
forward,
and
Arkady,
can't
Well,
I did hope,
understand
it turns
out
one
an
(p. 35)
the same time, elements of ambiguity are present. The first meeting
and
between Nikolay and Arkady brings forth a burst of natural affection
a
of
them
uni
sentiments
between
which
the
of
presence
suggest
similarity
the superficial
uneasiness
of their relations.
These
fying bond beneath
are twice repeated, once in the carriage on the way from the
moments
station to the manor house and later in the manor house itself. Significantly,
in the first
each of these scenes is brought to an embarrassed
conclusion,
At
instance by Bazarov and in the second by Pavel. In the first instance Ark
to his father about the fineness of the air and scenery of
ady's exclamations
are
cut
his native place
short by "a stealthy look behind him" where Bazarov
is following in a separate conveyance
(p. 7). Later we read the following:
Nikolai
Petrovich
his arms. Arkady
"What's
this,
tried
to articulate
tried
something,
to get
up
and
open
flung himself on his neck.
embracing
again?"
sounded
the
voice
of
Pavel
Petrovich
behind them. (p. 16)
in the relations between Nikolay
and Ark
The cause of the uneasiness
of
in
of
their
their
is
result
the
consciousness
ady
evidently
membership
sense
an
with
of
closeness
different
underlying
generations
interfering
is finally resolved when Arkady visits Nikols
and affection. The ambiguity
koe by himself and, under the influence of his growing affection
for Katya,
it is implied that he has abandoned
his desire to view himself as a replica
of
Bazarov.
84
"My
sister
was
under
his
influence
then,
just
COLLEGE LITERATURE
as you
were."
"As I was? Do you find that I've shaken off his influence now?" Katya
did not speak, (p. 135)
the two young men is openly acknowledged
Later, the rift between
by both
(p. 148).
of the priority of solidarity among the younger gen
This renunciation
and Arkady as
eration clears the way for the ultimate portrait of Nikolay
sense
to
of
the
affection which unites them. They settle
having given way
in which
down to live and work together at Marino
following the ceremony
un
has
married
The
married
and
has
Fenichka.
Katya
Nikolay
Arkady
in
between
them has disappeared
and they have been united
easiness
of entering
and
into happy, successful,
shared capability
their mutually
permanent
love relationships.
Pavel
and Nikolay.
The close bond which unites
them at the begin
common
to
of
the
novel
is
be
the
result
their
of
ning
implied
membership
this closeness,
in the older generation. Underlying
however, are differences
sketches of the two brothers we
of several kinds. From the biographical
learn that from their youth they had been of quite different natures: Pavel
and successful, Nikolay retiring and introspective.4 While Pavel
extroverted
makes a brilliant career in the capital, Nikolay marries beneath himself and
in
in the country. While Pavel fails abjectly
retires to a life of contentment
success in his marriage.
his love for Princess R., Nikolay enjoys exceptional
comes to
in the country Nikolay
Furthermore,
during their life together
great
attaching
adopt toward his brother the attitude of pupil to master,
to Pavel's advice, striving to conduct himself
in a way which Pavel
weight
as in
and feeling guilty when he does not succeed,
will find acceptable,
his relationship with Fenichka.
into the con
forced withdrawal
is resolved by Nikolay's
This ambiguity
fol
into himself, especially
cerns of his estate, and by Pavel's withdrawal
hours
which
he
This
is
the
Bazarov.
with
the
duel
by
symbolized
lowing
to
room
and
its
turned
back
on
his
in
with
face
his
the
divan
spends lying
to live out his life in a self-imposed
in his departure from Marino
culminates
is disrupted
a
which
exile.
Thus,
began in closeness
relationship
European
it began is in the process
and ends in distance. The closeness with which
shown to have been artificial, the result perhaps of a sense of shared mis
rather than genuine attraction. When genuine and open affection
it is as though there is no longer a
for Nikolay,
becomes
possible
again
and so he departs.
place for Pavel at Marino
seem to
these two characters
Pavel and Bazarov. The relations between
the
novel.
Besides
the
of
the
in
clear
open
be exceptionally
early stages
views, they are separated by their styles of
animosity of their intellectual
of speech. Yet, these
and even their manners
life, their social conduct,
fortune
CHARACTER AND THEME INFA THERS AND SONS
85
are themselves ambiguous.
The intellectual
debate
apparent dissimilarities
an in
between
them is wrongly perceived
by Pavel as a contest between
an
a
a
set of principles and
lack of principle
insistence upon
sistence upon
is the con
is in fact the crux of the dispute
(the nihilism of Bazarov). What
sets of principles,
two different
each supported by a charac
test between
ter fully convinced of the absolute validity of the principles which he holds.
Pavel's reserved form
In manners,
also, they are diametrically
opposed:
are contrasted
to Bazarov's
off-hand
and even
ality and icy politeness
coarse
daintiness
Pavel's
casualness;
at
contrasts
table
with
Bazarov's
robust appetite. Yet, here too we are dealing with a certain
similarity
forms
them in that they both hold to their somewhat exaggerated
between
In short, the proverbial
of conduct absolutely.
oppo
similarity between
Several other details support this suggestion.
sites is obliquely
suggested.
are marked
and Pavel Petrovich
Both Bazarov
by a pride which reveals
a
to shake hands, for instance. At their arrival at the
reluctance
itself in
are greeted by Nikolay
near
and Bazarov
Marino
way station
Arkady
we
and
read:
Petrovich
Nikolai
out
of
the
turned around quickly,
Petrovich
in a
[Bazarov]
loose,
long,
carriage,
rough
he warmly
coat
pressed
with
the
and going up to a tall man
tassels,
bare
red
who
hand,
had
just got
only
which
the latter
did not at once hold out to him. (p. 4)
to
him [Pavel Petrovich]
Later we read "Nikolay Petrovich
presented
of his
Pavel Petrovich
Bazarov;
greeted him with a slight inclination
supple figure, and a slight smile, but he did not give him his hand, and
even put it back into his pocket"
(p. 11).
it is too much to say that the first part of the novel suggests
However,
that they are more
like than unlike. So far it is clear only that they are
The resolu
similar in the degree to which they uphold their dissimilarity.
to show that the
tion of the ambiguity must wait upon further evidence
or accidental
and
conventional
between
them are merely
dissimilarities
is essential.
that underlying
them is a similarity which
to
is forthcoming
in the first visit of Arkady and Bazarov
This evidence
and in Bazarov's
Nikolskoe
second visit to Marino. At Nikolskoe
Bazarov,
to his surprise and chagrin, falls in love with Mme. Odintsova.
The mock
on a
ery which he had earlier heaped upon Pavel for "staking everything
so
many other fish in the sea" (p. 25), after
single card" when "there were
love affair with the Princess
hearing from Arkady about Pavel's unhappy
of
R,, now turns upon himself with bitter irony. Indeed, in the materialism
Bazarov and the social brilliance and Casanovian
expertise of Pavel there is
attraction. Yet both fall victim to love.
little room for genuine emotional
The
circumstances
are
nearly
identical.
ered reputation,
both are encouraged
rejected by them. Following
ultimately
Both
encounter
a woman
of
check
by them, fall in love, and then are
the termination of the relationship
86
COLLEGE LITERATURE
strive to return to what
both
they had been before (Pavel makes a few new
throws himself into feverish scientific work at Marino)
accepts his brother's invitation to retire to the country
and Bazarov returns to the home of his father, where he dies. In their in
in love and the effect which
this has upon them, the
ability to succeed
between
for
the
them
first time to supercede
underlying
identity
begins
conquests, Bazarov
and both fail. Pavel
their superficial dissimilarities.
The central scene of Bazarov's
second visit to Marino
is the duel which
he fights with Pavel. It has been pointed out that the duel represents
the
over the older, and this is certainly
triumph of the younger generation
true. It is doubtful, however,
that in the pattern of disintegrating
solidarity
within
and increasing similarity between generations which
is
generations
in the novel that such a resolution of the theme of fathers
being developed
in the duel
and sons is here primarily at issue. Other points of significance
are
not
far
to
seek.
in the duel is in itself exceedingly
Bazarov's participation
strange. With
terms
what
of
he
"romanticism"
his initially consistent
rejection
nothing
to submit himself
to that
than his agreeing
could be more
surprising
the
duel.
His
the
the
code
of
of
romantic,
very participation
sug
epitome
of his principles and implies that he has come to regard
gests a weakening
to whom we
himself as something other than the self-assured materialist
were introduced at the beginning
of the novel.
for the main
is also surprising,
function of the duel
Pavel's challenge
was to provide a means of settling disputes between equals. Since he views
it would be
and Bazarov as a low-born upstart,
himself as an aristocrat
to have beaten Bazarov with the cane,
more in accord with his principles
refuse the
should Bazarov
that purpose
which he carried for precisely
challenge.
It would
is more pertinent
to the de
seem, in fact, that the challenge
and
its out
them
than
the
duel
itself
relations
between
of
the
velopment
come.
in issuing the challenge,
In effect, Pavel,
recognizes
implicitly
as his equal, and Bazarov
in accepting
Pavel as his.
Bazarov
recognizes
at the expense of the prin
them is achieved
Since this equality between
it is justifiable to con
ciples both have previously adhered to so absolutely,
between them have to be regarded
clude that at this point the dissimilarities
as accidental
them as essential. This conclusion
and the similarity between
is, of course, reinforced by the ending of the novel where both Pavel and
Bazarov have departed, each in his own way, from the sphere of the novel.
and Bazarov.
Pavel and Bazarov,
Like the relations between
Arkady
seem eminently
clear in the first
and Bazarov
those between Arkady
one
be
of animosity
is
the
relation
of
the
but
where
novel,
portion
is one of
and Bazarov
that between Arkady
tween Pavel and Bazarov,
CHARACTER AND THEME INFA THERS AND SONS
87
am
here discussed,
however,
solidarity. As with the other relationships
soon appear.
biguities
The first is that the relation between Arkady
and Bazarov
is not wholly
one of identity, for it soon becomes
clear that Arkady
regards himself
as the pupil and Bazarov
the master. This is reminiscent
atti
of Nikolay's
is to be seen in Arkady's
sense of
tude to Pavel and a further similarity
at
not
to
which
set
the
has
for him.
Bazarov
guilt
always living up
example
as to the attitude which
and Bazarov
it is
Second, Arkady
disagree
to
to
the
love
of
affair
R.
Pavel's
with
Princess
proper
story
adopt
Arkady
cannot bring himself
to feel the harshness
ex
and scorn which Bazarov
the guilt
presses, and already here he differs from his "teacher" without
a com
which would seem to be a logical consequence
of what ismanifestly
in favor of sentiment. Third, the statement which
promise from principle
offers
of
the
of the "nihilists" does not meet with the
Arkady
principles
full approval of Bazarov.
"Allow
me,
though,"
Nikolay
began
more
you destroy
precisely,
you know."
or
speaking
struct
too,
not
"That's
"The
dignity;
yield
This
our
present
"we are
to the
last
philosophy,
too
ophy,
business
condition
bound
satisfaction
phrase
that
of
people
out
these
to carry
of our
personal
but
he
did
"You
everything,
deny
. . But
one must
con
everything.
ground
the
has
to be
it,"
requires
requirements,
first."
cleared
added
we
with
Arkady
no right
have
to
egoism."
apparently
displeased
is to say, romanticism,
romanticism,
young disciple,
. .The
now.
Petrovich.
not
Bazarov;
about
think
there
it, for Bazarov
it necessary
was
a
flavor
of
called
to
phillos
correct
his
(p. 39)
his displeasure,
Bazarov
Despite
says nothing,
leaving the reader to
as
to
this
should
even
be.
Bazarov
needs an idealis
speculate
why
Perhaps
tic defense,
such as that offered
even
for
his
materialism,
by Arkady,
though it smacks rather strongly of that vague romanticism which he op
poses.
The
lack of solidarity between Arkady
and Bazarov
grows stronger
as they visit Nikolskoe
and compete
for the affections of Mme. Odintsova.
on the estate of Bazarov's
This phase culminates
it is only
father, where
the old man's chance arrival that prevents
their coming to blows (p. 105).
When Arkady visits Nikolskoe
alone he abandons himself to his love for
so
and
in
abandons
also the teaching of his master.
Katya
doing implicitly
an
then
to
leads
him
of the character
he had
Katya
implied forswearing
tried to assume in the imitation of his former mentor
(see above, p. 76).
too, comes more and more clearly to recognize
Bazarov,
the gulf be
tween himself and Arkady. Mme. Odintsova
tells him that the two of them
COLLEGE LITERATURE
88
are old by comparison with Arkady and Katya and by his silence he seems
to agree. He tells Arkady straight out his view of those who follow the lead
er and of the essential selfishness and lack of idealism of the true material
at an earlier opportunity
he had refrained.
ist, whereas
at
Bazarov
"You're
still
first
a
I need
understand?
of
At
least,
"Yes,"
in his
then
bed,
the following:
I?do
you
indispensable.
to bake bricks,
in fact."
the gods
pronounced
are
thought to himself, and then in a flash all the fathomless
Bazarov's
conceit
a god;
you're
little
I see.
Sitnikovs
boy,
like him.
It's not for
my
dolts
"Oho!" Arkady
depths
a
stirred
fool,
dawned
am
Bazarov
repeated
not
him.
upon
I a dolt
gloomily;
"Are
and
you
I gods
then?
then?"
"you're
still
a
fool."5
sends not for Arkady, who began
Finally, at his death, Bazarov
as his closest friend and comrade,
but for Mme. Odintsova.
the novel
and Bazarov. Arkady
The epilog confirms
the break between Arkady
to the life of the scientist and social critic
has abandoned
all pretensions
and has taken his place beside his father without much thought for Bazarov
or his former ideals.
The analysis of the relations among Arkady, Bazarov, Pavel, and Nikolay
suggests that insofar as these relations are the medium
through
uniformly
which the theme represented
the reader's percep
by the title is developed,
tion of the significance
of the title is guided through two phases. The reader
"fathers
is first offered what he may, in fact, quite probably be expecting,
is
and sons" in the sense of "fathers against sons." This initial impression
as the novel develops
and the work concludes
rendered ambiguous
having
of the
probably unexpected,
perception
guided the reader to the opposite,
sense
in
the
of
united
of
"fathers
and
sons"
the
title:
"fathers
meaning
sons."
with
sentially
essentially
The
novel
in conflict
the
begins
and
with
ends with
the
assumption
the conclusion
that
generations
that generations
are
es
are
same.
the way to a yet deeper thematic line in the novel.
While
the work has proved to be an illustration of the error in dividing hu
man beings arbitrarily by _.ge, it does not suggest that all divisions of people
as material
are erroneous. The novel may be approached
into categories
on the proper categorization
of basic human types, a system
for meditation
of
is implicitly justified by its being unaffected
which
by the succession
to in
In short, "fathers and sons" may be taken broadly
the generations.
This
conclusion
clude mankind
opens
as a whole.
of the title transfers the attention of the reader
This suggested meaning
from concern with the process of man's development
through time (shown
on the es
to
concentration
in the novel to be of secondary
importance)
in successive
in appearing
sential qualities of the human character which,
to be an essential part of the human condi
are suggested
generations,
tion.
CHARACTER AND THEME INFA THERS AND SONS
89
as arranged along a linear con
The novel offers a view of humanity
between
extremes.
tinuum extending
antinomical
The qualities
repre
are various but consistently
sented by each of the extremes
associated,
in the novel may be thought of as occupying
and the characters
positions
a
the extremes.
scale
stretching between
along
seems to have collected
One of the extremes
around it such concepts
as will and intellect, the systematic,
that which changes;
the other is repre
sented by the emotional or sentimental
(in a non-pejorative
sense), the ran
dom, and that which remains the same. All of these are, of course, positive
human characteristics
and it is typical of Turgenev's
with re
pessimism
are incom
of human felicity that the extremes
gard to the achievement
patible with one another. Thus true happiness,
represented
by a union of
all of
the positive human characteristics
in
It is an impossibility
that
logically impossible.
a full measure
of man's
possess
potential
As
the level of will
strength simultaneously.
emotion and sentiment will be low.
full degree,
is shown to be
a person could, for instance,
emotional
and intellectual
and intellect
is high, that of
and Sons fit with exquisite balance
The characters of Fathers
into the
continuum described above. Using just one set of antinomies,
intellect and
to emotion and sentiment,
will opposed
the novel shows us inMme. Odint
of the intellect and will, the self
sova, a character perfectly
representative
an
to
subordinated
in her case a desire for physi
abstraction,
completely
cal comfort, which
is, in effect, the same as the materialism
espoused
by
Bazarov. All her arrangements,
not to fall in love
including her decision
are designed
to insure an unbroken
with Bazarov,
com
state of material
One need only compare
fort. And she succeeds!
the smooth efficiency
and material
comfort
of Nikolskoe
with
the ramshackle Marino.
Yet,
she confesses
herself piqued by a desire to look behind the screen which
intellect and will have erected before her emotions.
She goes so far as to
visit the dying Bazarov,
at his request, but does not neglect
to wear her
white
At
gloves.
the
other
extreme
no
are
Bazarov's
parents?especially
his
mother
sort of pretensions
to intellect,
but seeming
to be
of
emotional
attachment.
Thus, their life after the death
endlessly capable
of their son is suggested,in
the epilog, to be spent at his graveside.
toward the intellect from the extreme of emotion
the charac
Moving
ters of Arkady and his father are encountered.
Both of them prove in the
course of the novel to be genuinely
emotion
in
capable of experiencing
their respective
affairs of the heart: Nikolay with his beloved wife
Mariya
and later with Fenichka,
and Arkady with Katya. Yet both are attracted
also by the intellect. The reader notes in them a respect for the intellect
and a desire to form themselves
to the dictates of the progres
according
sive intellectualism
of the day. Thus Nikolay's
to keep abreast
desire
characters
with
90
COLLEGE LITERATURE
re
of the intellectual
of his son, his institution of modern
development
forms on his estate, and his respect for the counsel of his brother. So too
for Bazarov and his evident desire to pattern his own
Arkady's admiration
life after that of this mentor. The novel, however,
shows that Arkady and
Nikolay
really have no place in the sphere to which they aspire. Nikolay's
reforms are ineptly carried through and do not bring the desired results,
renounces
while Arkady
Bazarov and his ways to become
in
ultimately
volved in just such a life as he had at first opposed. The reason for this
is the same in both cases; neither of them is able to
failure of aspiration
to allow them to achieve
sacrifice the emotional
their intellec
sufficiently
tual goals. Nikolay
lacks the firmness of will to contend with the recalci
trance of his peasants. Arkady falls in love with Katya and, facing a choice
between Katya and Bazarov, must choose
love over intellect.
is pri
finds a place on the scale of human types which
but marred
emo
the
uncontrollable
of
by
vestige
to the intellectual
extreme are both very clear and
tional. His aspirations
is shown most
the mark
nearly realized in the novel. His failure to meet
to
to
control
his
emotional
Mme. Odint
his
response
inability
clearly by
sova. It is clearly indicated in the text that this response
is something other
Bazarov himself
intellectual
marily
than acute
His
easily
physical
[Bazarov's]
have
desire.
was
blood
mastered
his
on
blood,
fire
but
as
soon
as he
of her; he could
thought
was
root
in him,
taking
at which
had always
jeered,
else
something
at which
he
he had never
admitted,
something
with Anna
In his conversations
all his pride
revolted.
ed more
when
strongly
he was alone,
than
with
ever
his
calm
indignation
he express
Sergeyevna
for
but
romantic;
contempt
everything
he recognized
the romantic
in himself,
(p. 73)
the physical
the materialist
considers
himself able to control
to
is
unable
that
which
underlies
his
he
control
but
of
response,
aspect
"romantic."
it, a genuine emotion which is at the same time impermissibly
Bazarov
his intel
is faced with a choice between
Bazarov
like Arkady,
Thus,
in his nature.
of genuine
emotions
and the presence
lectual aspirations
he is not able to make a decision. He is close
Unlike Arkady,
however,
enough to the intellectual extreme that he cannot renounce his aspirations,
his goal rather than to be
himself to have achieved
indeed he considers
to Mme. Odint
response
aspiring to it. At the same time, his emotional
from
sova is so strong that it cannot be denied. He is left in a position
or death. He is un
of antitheses
which the only exits are a harmonization
able to achieve the former, possibly even unaware of the true nature of his
and so he falls willing victim to the latter. His death, while not
difficulty,
is clearly permitted by him to occur, and the reason
perhaps self-inflicted
allows himself to suffer this worst of
the
that
formerly assured materialist
in terms of the irresolvable mixture
best
is
calamities
material
explained
in
the
character
inherent
of opposites
assigned to him by the author.6
CHARACTER AND THEME INFA THERS AND SONS
91
NOTES
1 The Russian title of the novel isOtcy i deti; literally translated it isFathers and
Children. Although it is best known in English-speaking countries as Fathers
and
we
Sons,
must
sense
generic
2 The
idea that
that
in any
form
within
and
between
remember
of
relationships
the understanding
that
each
of
it should
a
to signify
continue
generations.
the major
of
characters
the novel
has of himself is superficial and faulty and that this results in a character like
Pavel Petrovich mistakenly considering himself to be diametrically opposed to
in fact
when
Bazarov,
are
they
rather
pressed by Charles R. Bachman
and
Fathers
Turgenev's
3 Ivan Turgenev,
Fathers
Reactions,
W.W.
text.
Co.,
numbers
Page
checked
against
Polnoe
sobranie
des Langues
Revue
Sons,"
and Sons:
The Author
in Criticism,
Essays
and
Norton
1966),
to
refer
the
one
similar
latest
sochinenii
to the other,
has
been
ex
well
in his article "Tragedy and Self-deception
Ralph
p. 35.
the
E. Matlaw,
Further
cited
edition
edition
complete
i pisem
34
Vivantes,
on the Novel,
v 28
ed.
and
quotations
and all
in
269-276.
(1968),
Contemporary
trans.
(New York:
are
indicated
translations
in the
been
have
of Turgenev's
I. S. Turgenev,
works,
tomax
Izdatel'
(Moskva-Leningrad:
stvo AN SSSR, 1960-68). Fathers and Sons is contained
in volume eight of this
edition.
4 The character of the young Nikolay Petrovich
Pavel Petrovich in Chapter VII.
5 P.
86.
Cf
above
statement
6 Much
the
same
condemns
genev
meaningless
cess
R.),
ingless
while
death
Bazarov's
the mission
of
can
his
be
of
said
unwillingness
the nihilists.
of Pavel,
representative
life (in contrast
the would-be
(in contrast
of
but
to
with
is described
correct
the
a neat-handed
the generation
of
the
in Chapter
idealism
of
ironic
1830's
I, that of
Arkady's
twist
Tur
to a lingering,
to the suitably romantic, early death of the Prin
an
in Bazarov
suffers
pure materialist
to the
success
material
of Mme.
continuing
early,
mean
Odintsova).