Ivan Turgenev belongs to the category of writers who made a significant contribution to the development of Russian literature. The most famous of his major works is the novel “Fathers and Sons,” which provoked heated controversy in society immediately after its publication. Turgenev foresaw such a reaction from the reading public and even desired it, specially dedicating a separate publication to Belinsky (thus challenging the liberal intelligentsia): “I don’t know what success will be, Sovremennik will probably shower me with contempt for Bazarov - and will not believe that “during the whole time I was writing, I felt an involuntary attraction to him,” the author wrote in his diary on July 30, 1861. It was the main character and his views that caused fierce debate among Turgenev's contemporaries.
The main idea of many of Turgenev's novels is the expression of the characteristics of time through typical characters. The focus is on the socio-historical type that represents the dynamic beginning of the era. The hero comes into a traditional conservative society and destroys its stereotypes, becoming a victim of the mission that is entrusted to him due to circumstances. Its historical task is to shake the established routine of life, introduce new trends and change the existing way of life. Bazarov is a commoner (from the family of an ordinary rural doctor) who rises up the social ladder thanks to his intellectual abilities and personal achievements, and not to title, origin or wealth. Thus, the conflict in the novel can be described as “a commoner in a noble’s nest,” that is, the opposition of a working man to an idle noble society. Such a hero is always alone, his path is gloomy and thorny, and the outcome is certainly tragic. He alone cannot turn the world upside down, so his good intentions are always doomed, he is seemingly helpless, inactive, even pitiful. But his mission is to snatch the next generation from the pool of indifference of their grandfathers, from their moral and mental stagnation, and not to change his generation overnight. This is a realistic novel, the plot develops according to the laws of life itself.
If Bazarov is the bearer of historical progress, why does he deny everything? Who is a nihilist? Nihilism is a worldview position that questions generally accepted values, ideals, moral and cultural norms. The hero denies even love, so his nihilism can be called grotesque. Turgenev deliberately exaggerates the colors in order to enhance the drama of the work and lead Bazarov through the “copper pipes” - a mutual feeling for Odintsova. This is how he tests the hero (this is his favorite technique) and evaluates the whole generation. Despite his total denial, Bazarov is capable of experiencing strong passion for a woman, he is real, his impulses and thoughts are natural. Unlike the secondary characters, who fake and hide behind nihilism in order to impress, Bazarov is sincere both in his hatred of the old order and in his love for Odintsova. He contradicts himself, falling in love, but discovers new facets of existence, learns its fullness. He passed the test. Even Turgenev (a nobleman, an official, a representative of a more conservative camp than Belinsky, for example) developed sympathy for his hero.
This is how the author wrote about Bazarov: “... if he is called a nihilist, then it should be read: a revolutionary.” That is, in Turgenev’s understanding, a nihilist is a revolutionary, a person who opposes himself to the existing social order. The hero really rejects the institutions and ideological concepts approved and sanctified by the state. He is a materialist who sets himself the goal of serving the progress of society and, to the best of his ability, clearing it of prejudices. Truly a revolutionary feat! Bazarov dooms himself to misunderstanding and loneliness, causes fear and alienation in people, and limits his life to service. The fact that he so persistently denies everything is just a desperate protest of a man who is “alone in the field.” Excessive radicalism is like a loud cry crying in the desert. This is the only way he will be heard, the only way the next generation will understand him. He will have to implement everything that Bazarov will not have time to do. As befits a mission, he will die young, leaving a kind of “apostles” to instill new ideas and lead people to the future.
Bazarov's life is like a bright flash of a signal flare. It illuminates the way for those who are lost, but is no longer visible from afar. It flares up instantly, burns for several seconds, illuminating the sky with an aggressive color, and goes out without even leaving behind ashes. But you can do without it, you can scream and wave your arms until they find you.
Can Bazarov be classified as superfluous people after Onegin, Pechorin and others like them? All superfluous people have a tragic fate, they are not recognized by society, they are not loved, and in general they find it difficult to live. But for them this is a consequence of spleen, Russian blues. Our hero is full of vigorous activity: he cuts up frogs, denies “principles,” visits here and there, and seems completely satisfied with himself. He thinks he is right, always and everywhere. It is very easy to deny everything and always remain right. He himself chose this path, he blindly believes in it, he lives this way, not noticing anything around him. And it is precisely because of this that at the end of the novel that tears come to the eyes from the tragedy of the situation, from the tragic (maybe even stupid) death of Bazarov and from the tragedy of his very figure.
In general, the word “tragic” is key in the entire work. The fate of Pavel Petrovich, Arkady, who became a “jackdaw,” and the parents of Bazarov and Odintsova are tragic. Probably only Kukshina and Sitnikov are happy, and even then only thanks to champagne. The tragedy of the figure of Bazarov lies, first of all, in the consciousness of the chosen path, and in the unwillingness to think about the future and the finitude of life. After all, he himself later, dying, will say: “And I also thought: I’ll screw up a lot of things, I won’t die, no matter what! There is a task, because I am a giant! And now the giant’s whole task is to die decently, although no one cares about this... All the same: I won’t wag my tail.”
And, nevertheless, the author, Turgenev, loves his hero very much, maybe that’s why he “kills” him in the end. After all, if Bazarov remains alive, what will happen to his nihilism? After all, the first signs of a cure for this “infection” are already evident: this is love, and a duel, and a rose taken from Fenechka. If he had not died, all this “romanticism” that he hated so much would not have remained in his life.
Throughout his short life he breaks himself, although he denies it, fights for the “common people” and he himself despises them. And how tragic are the words of Bazarov’s creator, spoken about him: “this self-confident Bazarov did not even suspect that in their eyes (in the eyes of ordinary people) he was still something like a clown...". But he himself is to blame for this. After all, he himself said that people “are similar to each other both in body and soul; each of us has the same brain, spleen, heart, and lungs; and the so-called moral qualities are the same for everyone: small modifications mean nothing.” “Test of Love,” Bazarov’s favorite Turgenev technique, also failed. For the first time in his life, he fell in love and was cruelly rejected. It’s cruel because I didn’t understand why this happened. However, Bazarov knew that he was not like others, and if he was not similar, then why should people with “identical spleens” love him?
Interesting in the sense of understanding the moral and historical origins of the novel, the epilogue of “Fathers and Sons”. We see a happy line of faces, satisfied with their existence. The appearance of Bazarov in their life did not change anything in it; they hardly even remember him. Anna Sergeevna married “not out of love, but out of conviction,” “The Kirsanovs, father and son, settled in Maryino,” Pavel Petrovich completely left the expanses of our Motherland. But is this really true? Is it true that Bazarov’s very existence did not affect their existence? And isn't it because I met them life path this nihilist, and Anna Sergeevna live with her husband “in great harmony with each other and will live, perhaps, to happiness... perhaps to love,” because she knows that love is all useless nonsense, and she is old already for love; and Pavel Petrovich, who lives abroad, “with Russians he is more cheeky, gives free rein to his bile, mocks himself and them; but he does it all very nicely, and casually, and decently.” Aren't echoes of Bazarov's nihilism heard here too?
But Bazarov himself came to terms with the world against which he fought so much during his lifetime. Death reconciles everyone and everything. That's why we need this final epilogue chapter. After all, otherwise, we would have thought for the rest of our lives that Bazarov is really a signal flare. But no, Bazarov is not a rocket; rather, he is a colorful fireworks display that evokes a feeling of childish delight and remains in the memory for many years. But Bazarov himself doesn’t know this, because “flying fish can stay in the air for a while, but soon they must splash into the water; let me plop down into my element,” he says, denying everyone and everything, denying even life itself.
"Fathers and Sons" by I. S.; Turgenev is a work that reflected all aspects of Russian life in the 50s of the 19th century, character traits previous decades. The backstory of any of the heroes of the novel, his portrait adds necessary details to the description of the era. However, not all characters make the same impression on the reader. Main character novel - Bazarov. It was this person who caused the most controversy in society and literary criticism of the 19th century. “Bazarov” is also the title of the article by D.I. Pisarev, who was the best at his time in understanding the complex character created by Turgenev. The definition given by the critic to the hero (“tragic face”) still remains one of the most used in articles about Bazarov. But the content of the tragedy is understood differently.
The first thing we pay attention to when reading a novel is the contrast between the hero and the surrounding society. Bazarov is a nihilist, that is, a person who bursts into the world of everyday life with views that are completely unusual for his interlocutors, for example for the Kirsanov brothers, with the desire to destroy the foundations of the existing world order. The positions of the commoner and the noble landowners are irreconcilable. Their difference is the source of constant disputes between Bazarov and Pavel Petrovich, the reason for Nikolai Petrovich’s unsuccessful attempts to understand young people.
But Evgeny is far from only the Kirsanovs. No less a gulf separates him from Kukshina and Sitnikov, those who shout about their commitment to nihilism. These are people who inevitably vulgarize any ideas preached for the sake of fashion. They are no match for Bazarov either in intelligence, or in spiritual depth, or in moral strength.
The “soft, liberal barich” Arkady did not become like-minded with Evgeniy either. Even at the beginning of the novel, speaking about nihilism, he more often evaluates Bazarov, and less often talks about his beliefs. The fate of young Kirsanov is the best confirmation that Arkady is just a copy of his father. He “made a nest”, abandoning the “bitter, tart, grassy life.”
Bazarov finds himself completely alone. At first glance, his participation in the social conflict of the era may serve as a sufficient reason to speak of him as a “tragic person”! But the hero himself does not feel unhappy. “There are not as few of us as you think,” he throws at Pavel Petrovich in an argument. In fact, Bazarov is pleased that he did not meet “a person who would not give up” in front of him. Evgeniy is self-confident. He understands the complexity of solving the problem (“to clear the place”), but he also considers his strength sufficient to “break down a lot of things.” He doesn't need understanding or support.
Bazarov's tragedy lies elsewhere. He is a really strong, extraordinary person. His philosophical views are not borrowed from a popular book. Refusing the experience of centuries, Eugene himself built his own theory, which explained the world and gave him the problem in life. He earned the right to unlimited faith in the universality of his concept. Among other things, Bazarov denied the existence of a “mysterious look,” love, “principles,” or moral standards, the human soul, the beauty of nature, and the value of art. But life did not fit into the framework proposed to it, and the depth of Bazarov’s personality lies in the fact that he could not help but notice this. Having met Odintsova, Bazarov saw a romantic in himself, noticed “something special” in the expression on Anna Sergeevna’s face, let a “dark, soft night” into the room, finally admitted that he loved her, and did not follow his slogan: “You like the lady ... - try to achieve some sense, but you can’t - well, don’t, turn away - the ground is not like a wedge.”
Eugene saw that nihilism could not explain real life. The hero was faced with the problem of revaluation of values, a difficult problem all the time, and especially when a person believed so much in what he now had to reject, when he had to give up the consciousness of being a “god”, to recognize the entire non-material side of life.
The tragedy of Bazarov’s personality lies in the fact that, being a nihilist and at the same time an extraordinary person, he inevitably had to come to the painful consciousness of the need to break much of what had been built over the years. A thoughtful supporter of any narrow theory sooner or later comes to disappointment in it. Such is the fate of Evgeniy.
This is just one of the hero's problems. Another one is no less tangible for him. Bazarov is ready to accomplish something extraordinary, but it turns out that there is no place for feat in the life around him. Realizing this, Evgeniy turns to practicing medicine on his father’s estate. But he himself did not intend to be a zemstvo doctor; Neither Arkady, nor Odintsova, nor his father saw him in this role. Bazarov languishes without a task that would completely captivate him and require him to use all his talents and knowledge. Having resigned himself to the everyday life, Eugene would not have shown himself, so Turgenev kills his hero. Bazarov wastes his strength only on dying with dignity, unable to find any other use for himself due to his inability to see the great in the small. But Turgenev did not set such a task for the character he created. The writer believed that Bazarov’s energy was unclaimed, since he was born too early.
A senseless death caused yet another tragedy. Shortly before blood poisoning, Bazarov began to listen to people, felt restless, and regretted that he did not have a family. This regret can be heard in his last conversation with Arkady.
The independent Bazarov could not have a wife and children, a “nest,” not only because there was no woman worthy of him, but also because he “was not created” for a family. He was not a husband, just as he was not a son. Love for parents
“I dreamed of a gloomy, wild, large figure, half grown out of the soil, strong, evil, honest - and yet doomed to death - because it still stands on the threshold of the future...” Ivan Sergeevich winced in annoyance and put down the pen. It was getting dark. Outside the window, some people in long greatcoats were hurrying from work. It was one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two. The central figure of the story is Evgeny Bazarov, no longer just a person, but a type of person of his time, outlined sharply and clearly.
At the end of the novel the hero dies. The attitude of readers to this ending was quite contradictory. Herzen wrote that ending Bazarov’s life with typhus was the worst service that the author could provide him. In his opinion, science could save Bazarov, give him what he was looking for. But, on the other hand, “Fathers and Sons” is more than just a novel, it is a reflection of the era, and Bazarov is not just a hero, but “a man of time." Only time can correctly complete his portrait. We must wait until Bazarov himself becomes a “father,” when a new generation of “children” comes. Dying, Bazarov says: “Russia needs me... No, apparently he doesn’t need me ... "On the one hand, this is annoyance at himself, at the fact that he decided to seek the truth, change the world and... died, and on the other hand, this question that tormented him is one of the main problems of Bazarov’s existence. Who does Russia need? : he or a butcher, shoemaker, artisan? Is his nihilism necessary? Turgenev does not answer this question. Instead, we see a small rural cemetery in one of the corners of Russia, we see that Turgenev, as a master of words, not only found the most powerful and a worthy conclusion to the novel (this is for readers), but also with a simple human gesture (and this is for himself) he gave Bazarov’s rebellious soul the opportunity for reconciliation, peace, warmth, eternity, which he was deprived of. The tragedy of Bazarov lies in his very existence, in the fact that he does not find “his” truth in life.
The action of I. S. Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons” takes place in one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine. This is the time when a new class - commoners - entered the public arena. The intensity of political passions on the eve of the peasant reform of 1861 was very great.
Turgenev in his work sets himself the task of showing as objectively as possible the weak and strengths representative of the new society. The main character of the novel is Bazarov, a young man who does not take anything for granted and denies any principles. "The hero expresses his views in disputes with Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, his friend’s uncle. This is Bazarov’s main opponent, endowed with the same “fighting” temperament as Evgeny himself, and in disputes with Pavel Petrovich Bazarov appears as a rationalist and materialist. And although the author admits, that there is a valuable principle in materialism, he endows Bazarov with vulgar materialistic, that is, the most extreme views (which were characteristic of many representatives of the younger generation).
Further, throughout the novel, Turgenev reveals weak sides this position. Bazarov does not see the differences between living beings (a person is “the same frog”) and tries to explain everything in a person from the point of view of physiology, without taking into account either psychology or mental abilities, ignoring the spiritual life of a person.
We can say that in general all truly human, from the author’s point of view, manifestations, the whole world of feelings, are perceived by Bazarov only as weakness.
Refuting the hero’s views, Turgenev resorts to his favorite technique - the “test of love.” Bazarov meets Odintsova, and it is from this moment that Evgenia takes a tragic turn. A conflict is emerging in Evgeniy’s soul. The feeling that he experiences for the first time collides with his worldview and beliefs, which have already become a part of him.
Gradually we see that Bazarov is not such an integral person as it seemed in the first part of the work. Before meeting Odintsova, he had no equal; no one could influence him or somehow convince him. And Bazarov himself knew and felt this. He lived, obeying only his will, his desires. But after meeting Odintsova, the hero questions each of his beliefs, and Turgenev never shows a person who could resist him.
The explanation with Odintsova is, as it were, the climax of the novel. After this scene, the hero’s slow path to a tragic denouement begins. In fact, Bazarov realizes the complete collapse of his worldview in a conversation with Arkady, when they are lying under a haystack on the estate of Bazarov’s parents.
The tragic contradiction in Bazarov's soul is resolved in the only way possible in tragedy - the death of the hero. There is some dark irony in the fact that a man who believes only in natural science and medicine dies from a cut during an autopsy. Before death, reconciliation occurs in Bazarov’s soul. He softens, opens up to love, becomes more tolerant towards his parents, asks his father to take care of his mother - to hide from her the full severity of his situation. He stops resisting his love for Odintsova.
So, the tragic contradiction is resolved by some kind of conciliatory chord. Turgenev refutes the views of his hero, contrasting his views not with some abstract theory, but with the laws by which man and nature exist. The hero believed that “first we need to clear the place,” and someone will build on this wasteland. The author reveals the absurdity of this belief in the words about “endless life.” Everything develops in society, as in nature, gradually, naturally. And the words about fathers and children in the mouth of Turgenev take on a new meaning. These concepts are not only opposed in life. No, in the life of mankind, communication goes precisely along the chain - from fathers to children.
Can Bazarov be called a “reflective nihilist”? Why? Justify your answer (based on the novel by I.S. Turgenev “Fathers and Sons”).
“I dreamed of a gloomy, wild, large figure, half grown out of the soil, strong, evil, honest - and yet doomed to death, because it still stands on the threshold of the future,” Turgenev wrote about his nihilist. The writer argued that the nihilist Bazarov is a “tragic face.” Indeed, Turgenev’s Bazarov is a “reflective nihilist.”
Bazarov reveals his views during disputes with Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov. The hero rejects traditional human and social values: religion, social system, principles. At the same time, Bazarov believes that nihilism is a manifestation of the national spirit and believes in the need for revolutionary changes in the country. He sees no benefit in art, music, poetry. Kirsanov talks about Schiller and Goethe, while Evgeniy Vasilyevich exclaims: “A decent chemist is twenty times more useful than any poet!” Bazarov laughs at Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov’s musical studies, Evgeniy Vasilyevich considers reading Pushkin “nonsense”, the need to dream is “a whim”. The hero's nihilism also manifests itself in his attitude towards nature. He is not interested in the beauty of nature, he views it only from a utilitarian point of view: “Nature is not a temple, but a workshop, and man is a worker in it.”
The views of the hero in the novel are refuted by life itself. Evgeny Vasilyevich's feelings change dramatically after his acquaintance with Odintsova. Love for Odintsova is the beginning of tragic retribution for this hero: it splits his soul into two halves. From now on, two people live and act in it. One of them is a staunch opponent of all kinds of romance. Another - passionately loving person, who for the first time discovered new feelings in his soul: “He could easily cope with his blood, but something else took possession of him, which he did not allow, which he always mocked, which outraged all his pride.” The lessons of love entailed grave consequences in the fate of Bazarov. They showed the complete inconsistency of all his views. Moreover, the hero discovered the romance in himself. He looked at the world, nature, and man differently.
The background against which the characters are explained is a poetic picture summer night. Nature here is given in Bazarov’s perception. It was the dark, soft night that looked at him; he heard its mysterious whispering. Thus, with the help of landscape, Turgenev reveals the inner world of his hero, the depth of his nature. In the scenes of Bazarov’s explanations with Anna Sergeevna, one is captivated by his characteristic directness, sincerity, and natural behavior.
Bazarov's internal conflict turned out to be insoluble: he could not come to terms with new life, with new feelings. The hero dies after contracting typhus during one of the operations. In the face of death they appear best qualities Bazarova: courage, tenderness for parents, poetic feeling for Odintsova, thirst for life, work, heroism. His speech becomes poetic, metaphorical: “Blow on the dying lamp and let it go out...”.
What is the author's position in the novel? Of course, Turgenev is interesting; his hero is very attractive for some of his qualities. Ability to true love the author considered it very important for the moral assessment of a person. Turgenev’s Bazarov is capable of loving deeply and strongly; in this area he is much higher than the “district aristocrats”, higher than Odintsova.
Describing the scene of the hero’s death, the writer sobbed bitterly. The pages depicting Bazarov's illness and death most clearly express the author's attitude towards his hero: admiration for his mental fortitude, sorrowful feelings caused by his death.
Why did the writer end the novel with the death of Bazarov? DI. Pisarev believed that Turgenev could not “complete a type that is just beginning to take shape and take shape and which can only be completed by time and events.” “Unable to show us how Bazarov lives and acts, Turgenev showed us how he dies,” the critic noted.
Thus, Bazarov in Turgenev’s novel is a “reflective nihilist.” He is characterized by those moral quests that many heroes of Russian literature went through - Onegin, Pechorin, Raskolnikov.
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