The common problem is fathers and children. Actual problems of fathers and children (according to the novel Fathers and children by Turgenev I.S.)

The most important feature of the amazing talent of I.S. Turgenev - a keen sense of his time, which is the best test for the artist. The images created by him continue to live, but in a different world, whose name is the grateful memory of the descendants who learned love, dreams and wisdom from the writer.

The clash of two political forces, liberal nobles and raznochintsy revolutionaries, has found artistic embodiment in a new work, which is being created in a difficult period of social confrontation.

The idea of ​​"Fathers and Sons" is the result of communication with the staff of the Sovremennik magazine, where the writer worked for a long time. The writer was very worried about leaving the magazine, because the memory of Belinsky was associated with him. Dobrolyubov's articles, with whom Ivan Sergeevich constantly argued and sometimes disagreed, served as a real basis for depicting ideological differences. The radical young man was not on the side of gradual reforms, like the author of Fathers and Sons, but firmly believed in the path of revolutionary transformation of Russia. The editor of the magazine, Nikolai Nekrasov, supported this point of view, so the classics of fiction - Tolstoy and Turgenev - left the editorial office.

The first sketches for the future novel were made at the end of July 1860 on the English Isle of Wight. The image of Bazarov was defined by the author as the character of a self-confident, hard-working, nihilist who does not recognize compromises and authorities. Working on the novel, Turgenev involuntarily imbued with sympathy for his character. In this he is helped by the diary of the protagonist, which is kept by the writer himself.

In May 1861, the writer returns from Paris to his Spasskoe estate and makes the last entry in the manuscripts. In February 1862, the novel was published in Russkiy Vestnik.

Main problems

After reading the novel, you understand its true value, created by the "genius of measure" (D. Merezhkovsky). What did Turgenev like? What did you doubt? What did you dream about?

1. Central to the book is the moral problem of relationships between generations. "Fathers" or "children"? The fate of everyone is connected with the search for an answer to the question: what is the meaning of life? For the new people, it consists in work, but the old guard sees it in reasoning and contemplation, because crowds of peasants work for them. In this principled position there is a place for an irreconcilable conflict: fathers and children live differently. In this divergence we see the problem of misunderstanding of opposites. The antagonists cannot and do not want to accept each other, especially this impasse can be traced in the relationship between Pavel Kirsanov and Evgeny Bazarov.
2. Just as acute is the problem of moral choice: on whose side is the truth? Turgenev believed that the past cannot be denied, because only thanks to it the future is being built. In the image of Bazarov, he expressed the need to preserve the continuity of generations. The hero is unhappy because he is lonely and understood, because he himself did not strive for anyone and did not want to understand. However, changes, whether the people of the past like it or not, will come anyway, and we must be ready for them. This is evidenced by the ironic image of Pavel Kirsanov, who lost his sense of reality, putting on ceremonial tailcoats in the village. The writer urges to be sensitive to changes and try to understand them, and not indiscriminately scold, like Uncle Arkady. Thus, the solution to the problem lies in the tolerant attitude of different people to each other and the attempt to learn the opposite concept of life. In this sense, the position of Nikolai Kirsanov won, who was tolerant of new trends and was never in a hurry to judge them. His son also found a compromise solution.
3. However, the author made it clear that there is a high purpose behind the tragedy of Bazarov. It is precisely such desperate and self-confident pioneers who pave the way for the world forward, so the problem of recognizing this mission in society also occupies an important place. Eugene repents on his deathbed that he feels unnecessary, this realization destroys him, and he could become a great scientist or a skilled doctor. But the cruel mores of the conservative world push him out, because they feel threatened in him.
4. The problems of the "new" people, the raznochintsy intelligentsia, difficult relationships in society, with parents, in the family are also obvious. Raznochintsy do not have profitable estates and position in society, therefore they are forced to work and become hardened, seeing social injustice: they work hard for a piece of bread, and the nobles, stupid and mediocre, do nothing and occupy all the upper floors of the social hierarchy, where the elevator simply does not reach . Hence the revolutionary sentiments and the moral crisis of an entire generation.
5. Problems of eternal human values: love, friendship, art, attitude to nature. Turgenev knew how to reveal the depths of human nature in love, to test the true essence of a person with love. But not everyone passes this test, an example of this is Bazarov, who breaks down under the onslaught of feelings.

All the interests and ideas of the writer were entirely focused on the most important tasks of the time, went towards the most burning problems of everyday life.

Characteristics of the heroes of the novel

Evgeny Vasilyevich Bazarov- comes from the people. The son of a regimental doctor. Grandfather from the father's side "plowed the land." Eugene himself makes his way in life, receives a good education. Therefore, the hero is careless in clothes and manners, no one brought him up. Bazarov is a representative of the new revolutionary-democratic generation, whose task is to destroy the old way of life, to fight against those who hinder social development. A complex, doubting person, but proud and adamant. How to fix society, Yevgeny Vasilyevich is very vague. Denies the old world, accepts only what is confirmed by practice.

• The writer displayed in Bazarov the type of a young man who believes exclusively in scientific activity and denies religion. The hero has a deep interest in the natural sciences. From childhood, his parents instilled in him a love of work.
• He condemns the people for illiteracy and ignorance, but is proud of his origin. The views and beliefs of Bazarov do not find like-minded people. Sitnikov, a talker and a phrase-monger, and the "emancipated" Kukshina are useless "followers".
• In Yevgeny Vasilyevich, a soul unknown to him rushes about. What should a physiologist and an anatomist do with it? It is not visible under a microscope. But the soul hurts, although it - a scientific fact - does not exist!
• Turgenev spends most of the novel exploring the "temptations" of his hero. He torments him with the love of old people - parents - what to do with them? And love for Odintsova? Principles are in no way compatible with life, with the living movements of people. What remains for Bazarov? Only die. Death is his last test. He accepts her heroically, does not comfort himself with the spells of a materialist, but calls for his beloved.
• The spirit conquers the enraged mind, overcomes the delusions of the schemes and postulates of the new teaching.

Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov - bearer of noble culture. Bazarov is disgusted by Pavel Petrovich's "starched collars", "long nails". But the hero's aristocratic manners are an inner weakness, a secret consciousness of his inferiority.

• Kirsanov believes that self-respect means taking care of your appearance and never losing your dignity, even in the countryside. He composes his daily routine in the English manner.
• Pavel Petrovich retired, indulging in love experiences. This decision of his became a "resignation" from life. Love does not bring joy to a person if he lives only by its interests and whims.
• The hero is guided by principles taken "on faith" that correspond to his position as a feudal lord. Honors the Russian people for patriarchy and obedience.
• In relation to a woman, the strength and passion of feelings are manifested, but he does not understand them.
• Pavel Petrovich is indifferent to nature. The denial of her beauty speaks of his spiritual limitations.
• This man is deeply unhappy.

Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov- father of Arkady and brother of Pavel Petrovich. It was not possible to make a military career, but he did not despair and entered the university. After the death of his wife, he devoted himself to his son and the improvement of the estate.

• The characteristic features of the character are gentleness, humility. The intelligence of the hero causes sympathy and respect. Nikolai Petrovich is a romantic at heart, loves music, recites poetry.
• He is an opponent of nihilism, he tries to smooth out any emerging differences. Live in harmony with your heart and conscience.

Arkady Nikolaevich Kirsanov- a person who is not independent, deprived of his life principles. He is completely subordinate to his friend. He joined Bazarov only out of youthful enthusiasm, since he did not have his own views, so in the final there was a gap between them.

• Subsequently, he became a zealous owner and started a family.
• “A nice fellow,” but “a soft, liberal barich,” Bazarov says about him.
• All Kirsanovs are "more children of events than fathers of their own actions."

Odintsova Anna Sergeevna- an "element" "related" to Bazarov's personality. On what basis can such a conclusion be drawn? The firmness of the outlook on life, "proud loneliness, intelligence - make it" close "to the protagonist of the novel. She, like Eugene, sacrificed personal happiness, so her heart is cold and fearful of feelings. She herself trampled on them, having married by calculation.

The conflict of "fathers" and "children"

Conflict - “collision”, “serious disagreement”, “dispute”. To say that these concepts have only a "negative connotation" means to completely misunderstand the processes of development of society. “Truth is born in a dispute” - this axiom can be considered a “key” that opens the veil on the problems posed by Turgenev in the novel.

Disputes are the main compositional technique that allows the reader to determine his point of view and take a certain position in his views on a particular social phenomenon, area of ​​development, nature, art, moral concepts. Using the "reception of disputes" between "youth" and "old age", the author affirms the idea that life does not stand still, it is multifaceted and many-sided.

The conflict between "fathers" and "children" will never be resolved, it can be described as a "constant". However, it is the conflict of generations that is the engine of development of everything earthly. On the pages of the novel, there is a burning controversy caused by the struggle of the revolutionary democratic forces with the liberal nobility.

Main Topics

Turgenev managed to saturate the novel with progressive thought: protest against violence, hatred for legalized slavery, pain for the suffering of the people, the desire to found their happiness.

The main themes in the novel "Fathers and Sons":

1. Ideological contradictions of the intelligentsia during the preparation of the reform on the abolition of serfdom;
2. "Fathers" and "children": relationships between generations and the theme of the family;
3. "New" type of man at the turn of two epochs;
4. Immeasurable love for the motherland, parents, woman;
5. Human and nature. The world around: workshop or temple?

What is the meaning of the book?

Turgenev's work sounds like an alarming tocsin over all of Russia, calling on fellow citizens to unite, to reason, to fruitful activity for the good of the Motherland.

The book explains to us not only the past, but also the present day, reminds us of eternal values. The title of the novel does not mean the older and younger generations, not family relationships, but people of new and old views. "Fathers and Sons" is valuable not so much as an illustration to history, many moral problems are raised in the work.

The basis of the existence of the human race is the family, where everyone has their own duties: the elders (“fathers”) take care of the younger ones (“children”), pass on the experience and traditions accumulated by their ancestors, educate them in moral feelings; the younger ones honor adults, adopt from them everything important and best that is necessary for the formation of a person of a new formation. However, their task is also the creation of fundamental innovations, which is impossible without some denial of past delusions. The harmony of the world order lies in the fact that these “ties” do not break, but not in the fact that everything remains the same.

The book has great educational value. To read it at the time of the formation of one's character means to think about important life problems. "Fathers and Sons" teaches a serious attitude to the world, an active position, patriotism. They teach from a young age to develop firm principles, engaging in self-education, but at the same time honor the memory of their ancestors, even if it does not always turn out to be right.

Criticism about the novel

• After the publication of Fathers and Sons, a fierce controversy erupted. M.A. Antonovich in the Sovremennik magazine interpreted the novel as "merciless" and "destructive criticism of the younger generation."
• D. Pisarev in the "Russian Word" highly appreciated the work and the image of the nihilist created by the master. The critic emphasized the tragedy of character and noted the firmness of a person who does not back down before trials. He agrees with other critiques that "new" people can be resented, but "sincerity" cannot be denied. The appearance of Bazarov in Russian literature is a new step in the coverage of the social and public life of the country.

Is it possible to agree with the critic on everything? Probably no. He calls Pavel Petrovich "Pechorin of small sizes." But the dispute between the two characters gives reason to doubt this. Pisarev claims that Turgenev does not sympathize with any of his heroes. The writer considers Bazarov to be his "favorite brainchild."

What is "nihilism"?

For the first time the word "nihilist" sounds in the novel from the lips of Arkady and immediately attracts attention. However, the concept of "nihilist" is in no way connected with Kirsanov Jr.

The word "nihilist" was taken by Turgenev from N. Dobrolyubov's review of a book by the Kazan philosopher, conservative-minded professor V. Bervi. However, Dobrolyubov interpreted it in a positive sense and assigned it to the younger generation. Ivan Sergeevich introduced the word into wide use, which became synonymous with the word "revolutionary".

The "nihilist" in the novel is Bazarov, who does not recognize authorities and denies everything. The writer did not accept the extremes of nihilism, caricatured Kukshina and Sitnikov, but sympathized with the main character.

Evgeny Vasilyevich Bazarov still teaches us about his destiny. Any person has a unique spiritual image, whether he is a nihilist or a simple layman. Respect and reverence for another person is made up of respect for the fact that in him there is the same secret flicker of a living soul as in you.

A feature of the work of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was the topicality of the problems raised by the author, he very sensitively understood and felt the problems of the time and dedicated his textbook novels to them. So it happened with the novel "Fathers and Sons". Contemporaries saw in him a topical conflict between democrats and liberals. And although the book raises many problems important both for that time and for today, the most important problem is the relationship between the two generations. The confrontation between two characters - Evgeny Bazarov and Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov - is not only a confrontation between two generations, it is also a clash of two worldviews, two different philosophical concepts. The confrontation makes itself felt from the first pages of the novel: the meeting of future opponents becomes the spark from which the flame of future irreconcilable disputes ignites. Emphasized sophistication in P.P. Kirsanov’s dress, his hand framed from a snow-white cuff with an opal cufflink, and the red-tied and unkempt hand of a young student. Even in the dialogue, they pronounce the word principle differently: Bazarov roughly - “Principles”, and Pavel Petrovich softly - “Principes”. Their disputes touch upon almost all the fundamental problems of our time: culture and education, church and politics, family and legality - with Pavel Petrovich representing idealism, and Bazarov representing materialism. But Bazarov's materialism is too vulgar. He is young and maximalist, therefore he does not recognize anything but practical use. If Pavel Petrovich believes that a person should improve himself for the sake of self-improvement and always maintain an internal culture, then for Bazarov there is only a question of practical benefit.

In the same simplified way, Bazarov perceives the beauty of nature and art. “Nature is not a temple, but a workshop,” and “a decent chemist is twenty times more useful than any poet,” says Bazarov. The materialist democrat denies everything that goes beyond reason, everything that relates to spiritual life, but his own soul rises up against him - and he falls in love.

The irony of Turgenev is especially evident when the characters argue about their attitude towards the Russian people. Bazarov claims that the people are ignorant and need to be enlightened, Pavel Petrovich objects to this that Bazarov, they say, despises the people. And peasant peasants perceive both Bazarov and Kirsanov as masters who understand little in this life.

After the novel was published, the word "Bazarovism" became especially popular. So, the author poses problems - what is Bazarovism? What are its origins? What are its consequences?

Moreover, in this case (unlike "Oblomovism") the hero is not equal to the phenomenon. Bazarov, of course, is infected with Bazarovism and infects others with it, but he does not personify it. Bazarovism is the worldview of Sitnikov and Kukshina, Buchner's materialism thrice simplified by Bazarov (Bazarov's favorite book is "Matter and Force"). This is the denial of everything that goes beyond the five senses, the rejection of art, love and beauty. A purely practical, utilitarian view of life, and most importantly - the desire for destruction. But even if the order of things is bad, destroying it does not mean doing good. People infected with Bazarovism do not know how to create, they only deny and destroy. It is impossible to deny everything - this is the main idea of ​​I.S. Turgenev. He sympathizes with his hero and describes him with obvious sympathy, but throughout the novel he proves that it is impossible to deny everything, that this leads to death.

As we remember, in the previous two novels, Turgenev convinces both himself and the reader that the nobility in Russia is doomed to quietly and ingloriously leave the stage, since he bears great guilt before the people. Therefore, even the best representatives of the nobility are doomed to personal misfortune and to the inability to do anything for the Motherland. But the question remains open: where can we find a hero-doer capable of carrying out cardinal transformations in Russia? In the novel "On the Eve" Turgenev tried to find such a hero. This is not a nobleman and not a Russian. This is a Bulgarian student Dmitry Nikanorovich Insarov, who is vastly different from the previous heroes: Rudin and Lavretsky.

Rice. 2. Elena and Insarov (Ill. G.G. Filippovsky) ()

He will never live at the expense of others, he is resolute, efficient, not inclined to chatter, speaks with enthusiasm only when he talks about the fate of his unfortunate homeland. Insarov is still a student, but the goal of his life is to lead an uprising against Turkish rule. It would seem that the ideal hero has been found, but this is not quite the right hero, because he is Bulgarian and will fight against the enemies of Bulgaria. At the very end of the novel, when many people die, including Insarov and his beloved Elena (Fig. 2), some of the characters wonder if there will be such Insarovs in Russia.

Now let's turn to Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons", written in the period from 1860 to 1861. (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Title page of the second edition of the novel "Fathers and Sons", 1880 ()

At the very beginning of the work, we see the question of one of the characters: "What, Peter, can't you see yet?" Of course, the situation in the novel is quite specific: Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov (Fig. 4)

Rice. 4. Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov (Artist D. Borovsky) ()

is waiting for her son Arkasha, a candidate who has just graduated from the university. But readers understand: the search for a hero continues. « No way, sir, you can’t see it”, the servant answers. Then the same question and the same answer follow. And now, for three pages, we are waiting not just for Arkasha the candidate, but for a hero, significant, intelligent, active. Thus, we are faced with a certain author's technique, which is easy to read. Finally the hero appears. Together with Arkady, Evgeny Bazarov arrives, (Fig. 5)

Rice. 5. Bazarov (Artist D. Borovsky, 1980) ()

who is distinguished by honesty, clarity, masculinity, he despises ordinary prejudices: he comes to a noble family, but is dressed in a completely different way, as it should be on such occasions. At the first meeting, we learn that Bazarov is a nihilist. Recall that in the first three novels, Turgenev persistently searches for a hero-doer, but new people from the nobility and intelligentsia did not fit this role. Not suitable for this role and Insarov. Bazarov, in turn, is also not quite suitable, since he is not a hero-doer, but a destroyer hero who preaches all-round destruction.

« Nihilist- This is from the Latin word nihil, nothing; this is a person who does not bow before any authorities, does not take a single principle on faith, no matter how respect this principle is surrounded by ... "

Bazarov's nihilism is impressive. He denies God, because he is a convinced atheist, he denies all the laws of contemporary Russia, the customs of the people, he also treats the people nihilistically, because he is convinced that the people are at a low stage of development and are the object of actions of people like Bazarov. Bazarov is skeptical about art, does not know how to appreciate nature and its beauty, for him “Nature is not a temple, but a workshop, and man is a worker in it”. Bazarov is also skeptical about friendship. His devoted, albeit a little narrow-minded friend is Arkady. But as soon as Arkady tries to talk to Bazarov about something sincere, Bazarov cuts him off quite harshly: "AboutI ask you one thing: do not speak beautifully ...» . Bazarov loves his parents, but he is rather ashamed of this love, because he is afraid of “getting wet”, therefore he repels them too. And finally, love, the world of feelings. Bazarov believes that if you can get some sense from a woman, then you need to act, and if not, then you should look elsewhere. He completely denies the possibility of a mysterious look: « We physiologists know […] the anatomy of the eye: where does the […] mysterious look come from?» Thus, Bazarov's nihilism is striking in its scale, it is comprehensive.

Modern researchers point out that Bazarov's nihilism is not like the real manifestations of the nihilists, contemporaries of Bazarov, because the nihilists did not even recognize themselves in this portrait. There were angry responses. Young critic Antonovich (Fig. 6)

Rice. 6. M.A. Antonovich ()

even wrote an article "Asmodeus of our time", Bazarov seemed to him a petty devil. Nihilists in life denied a lot, but not everything. Turgenev objected to his young opponents and said that he wanted to portray the figure in all its scale. Indeed, Bazarov is such a significant person that he has neither friends nor enemies in the novel. He is tragically alone. Can we seriously talk about his friendship with Arkady? Arkady is a kind, affable, handsome man, but he is small and not independent, he literally glows with the reflected light of Bazarov. However, as soon as he has a more serious authority, the young and determined girl Katya, (Fig. 7)

Rice. 7. "Fathers and sons." Chapter 25. Arkady and Katya (Artist D. Borovsky, 1980). ()

Arkady leaves from under the influence of Bazarov. Bazarov, in turn, seeing this, he himself breaks off their friendly relations.

There are two people in the novel, Sitnikov and Kukshina, who consider themselves students of Bazarov. These are anecdotal personalities: stupid, fashion-conscious, nihilism for them is fashionable entertainment. Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov can be considered an enemy of Bazarov (Fig. 8),

Rice. 8. Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov (Artist E. Rudakov, 1946-1947) ()

he is the only person who objects to Bazarov. As we remember, Nikolai Petrovich does not always agree with Bazarov, but he is afraid to object, he is embarrassed or does not consider it necessary. And Pavel Petrovich from the first minutes felt a sharp antipathy for Bazarov, and quarrels flare up almost from the very beginning of their acquaintance (Fig. 9).

Rice. 9. "Fathers and sons." Chapter 10. Dispute between Bazarov and Pavel Petrovich (Artist D. Borovsky) ()

If you do not delve into the essence of the dispute, then you can see that Pavel Petrovich fusses, swears, quickly turns to anger, while Bazarov is calm and self-confident. But if you delve into it, it turns out that Kirsanov is not so wrong. He accuses Bazarov of denying everything moral, but meanwhile the people are conservative, they live by these principles. Is it possible in a country inhabited by a huge number of illiterate serfs to call for violent action? Wouldn't that be the death of the country? These thoughts were nurtured by Turgenev himself. Bazarov, in response, says rather strange things: at first we only wanted to criticize, then we realized that it was useless to criticize, we need to change the whole system. They accepted the idea of ​​total destruction of everything that is. But who will build? Bazarov is not thinking about this yet, his job is to destroy. This is precisely the tragedy of the novel. Bazarov is most likely wrong. We already have historical experience: we remember what a catastrophe the desire to destroy turned out to be in 1905, 1917.

But Pavel Petrovich himself cannot compete ideologically with Bazarov, if only because he wasted his life: he lives in the countryside, professes the principles of liberalism, aristocracy, but does nothing. Kirsanov devoted his whole life to insane love for Princess R. (Fig. 10),

Rice. 10. Princess R. (Artist I. Arkhipov) ()

who died, and Pavel Petrovich shut himself up in the village.

How did Turgenev himself relate to nihilistic youth? He was familiar with such people in whom he was struck by a certain untidiness, their type of education, and most importantly, their attitude towards the fate of Russia. Turgenev was against the revolution, which, he believed, could lead to disaster. An objective attitude towards such youth, the author's disagreement with their position formed the basis of the image of Bazarov.

This is how Turgenev himself defines the idea of ​​the novel: "If the reader does not fall in love with Bazarov with all his rudeness, dryness, harshness, then I, as a writer, have not achieved my goal." That is, the hero is ideologically alien to the author, but at the same time he is a very serious personality and worthy of respect.

Now let's see if there is a dynamic in the image of Bazarov. At first, he is absolutely confident in himself, he is a total nihilist and he considers himself above all those phenomena that he denies. But then Turgenev puts tests before the hero, and this is how he passes them. The first test is love. Bazarov does not immediately understand that he has fallen in love with Odintsova (Fig. 11),

Rice. 11. Anna Sergeevna Odintsova (Artist D. Borovsky) ()

smart, beautiful, deeply significant woman. The hero does not understand what is happening to him: he loses sleep, appetite, he is restless, pale. When Bazarov realizes that this is love, but love that is not destined to come true, he receives a heavy blow. Thus, Bazarov, who denied love, laughed at Pavel Petrovich, himself found himself in a similar situation. And the unshakable wall of nihilism begins to crumble a little. Suddenly, Bazarov feels a general melancholy, he does not understand why he is busy, denies himself everything, lives a strict life, depriving himself of all kinds of pleasures. He doubts the meaning of his own activity, and these doubts corrode him more and more. He is surprised by the carefree life of his parents, who live without thinking (Fig. 12).

Rice. 12. Bazarov's parents - Arina Vlasyevna and Vasily Ivanovich (Artist D. Borovsky) ()

And Bazarov feels that his life is passing, that his great ideas will turn into nothing and he himself will disappear without a trace. This is what Bazarov's nihilism leads to.

Modern researchers have an opinion that not only students and raznochintsy of that time served as the prototype of Bazarov, but also to some extent L.N. Tolstoy (Fig. 13),

Rice. 13. L.N. Tolstoy ()

who in his youth was a nihilist, which infuriated Turgenev. But in 10 years Tolstoy will also experience the horror of the fact that life is finite and death is inevitable. In his novel, Turgenev seems to predict what nihilism can lead to.

Thus, Bazarov's nihilism does not stand up to scrutiny; the very first test of life begins to destroy this theory. The second test is the nearness of death. In a difficult state of mind, Bazarov lives with old parents, helps his father, and one day they go to open the body of a peasant who died of typhus. Bazarov inflicts a cut on himself, there is no iodine, and the hero decides to rely on fate: there will be blood poisoning or not. When Bazarov finds out that the infection has occurred, then the question of death arises before him. Now we see that, as a personality, Bazarov survives this test. He does not lose courage, does not change his basic convictions, but before death he turns out to be more humane, more gentle than before. He knows that if he dies without communion, it will bring suffering to his parents. And he agrees: when he loses consciousness, let the parents do what they think is right. Before his death, he is not ashamed to show love and care for his parents, not ashamed to admit that he loved Odintsova, not ashamed to call her and say goodbye to her. Thus, if at the beginning of the novel we had a nihilist hero, similar to Lermontov's demon, then at the end of the work Bazarov becomes a real person. His death is reminiscent of the departure of Shakespeare's Hamlet, who also accepts it courageously.

Why did Turgenev doom his hero to death? On the one hand, as Turgenev said: "Where I write 'nihilist', I mean 'revolutionary'." And Turgenev could not portray a revolutionary both because of censorship and because of ignorance of this circle of people. On the other hand, doubts, torment and heroic death enormously increase the figure of Bazarov in the mind of the reader. Turgenev wanted to say that he categorically disagrees with what the new young generation is trying to offer as salvation for their country. But at the same time, he pays tribute to these people who have high spiritual qualities, who are selfless and ready to give their lives for their beliefs. It was in this that Turgenev's high writing skills, his high spiritual freedom, were manifested.

Bibliography

1. Sakharov V.I., Zinin S.A. Russian language and literature. Literature (basic and advanced levels) 10. - M.: Russian word.
2. Arkhangelsky A.N. etc. Russian language and literature. Literature (advanced level) 10. - M.: Bustard.
3. Lanin B.A., Ustinova L.Yu., Shamchikova V.M. / ed. Lanina B.A. Russian language and literature. Literature (basic and advanced levels) 10. - M.: VENTANA-GRAF.

1. Litra.ru ().
   
2. Online store of the publishing house "Lyceum" ().
3. Turgenev.net.ru ().

Homework

1. Expand the author's attitude to Bazarov.
2. Make a comparative description of the images of Insarov and Bazarov
3. * After analyzing the images of Rudin, Lavretsky, Insarov and Bazarov, derive the ideal image of a new hero-actor.

The problems of the novel by I. S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons"

"Fathers and Sons" can be safely called a new novel, since for the first time a new type of hero appears in it, a new person - a common democrat Yevgeny Bazarov.

In the title of the novel, the author sought to reflect not just the relationship of two generations, but the confrontation between two social camps. Showing the clash of two different social forces, Turgenev brought a new hero to the historical arena, a new force that marked the onset of a new era. In the face of social change, noble culture had to be tested.

All the acute social problems of Russian life in the 50s of the XIX century were reflected in the disputes between Bazarov and the Kirsanovs. Turgenev believed that "a poet must be a psychologist, but secret." He must know and feel the roots of a phenomenon, but imagine only the phenomena themselves in their flourishing or fading. “To accurately and strongly reproduce the truth, the reality of life, is the highest happiness for a writer, even if this truth does not coincide with his own sympathies,” Turgenev wrote in his article “On Fathers and Children,” setting this reproduction as his task. Therefore, he sought to comprehensively show his heroes and their belief systems, without leaning towards any of the points of view.

And this principle he observes throughout the novel. Turgenev shows the clash between Bazarov and Pavel Petrovich, who rigidly oppose each other and do not agree on anything. Pavel Petrovich does not accept anything that is in Bazarov, and vice versa. When Arkady tries to explain to his father and uncle who the nihilists are, he says that nihilists are those who do not take a single principle on faith, doubt everything, deny love. His uncle replies to this that “there were Hegelists before, and now there are nihilists,” but in essence everything is the same. This moment is very revealing, it says that Pavel Petrovich does not want to come to terms with the fact that time and views are changing.

Turgenev is a master of detail. Through such a stroke as a knife with butter, Turgenev shows Pavel Petrovich's dislike for Bazarov. The episode with the frogs has exactly the same role.

Bazarov, with his characteristic youthful maximalism, denies everything: he understands a person like a frog. Bazarov believes that “first you need to clear the place”, and then build something, he believes only in science. Paul

Petrovich is indignant, and Nikolai Petrovich is ready to think, perhaps, indeed, he and his brother are backward people.

In Chapter X, Bazarov and Pavel Petrovich approach the most important thing - the question of who has the right to speak on behalf of the people, who knows the people better. The most interesting thing is that each of them thinks that the opponent has no idea about how things really are. “I do not want to believe that you, gentlemen, know the Russian people exactly, that you are representatives of their needs, their aspirations! No, the Russian people are not what you imagine,” says Pavel Petrovich, who insisted that the Russian people are “patriarchal” and “cannot live without faith.” Bazarov, in turn, believed that “the freedom that the government is fussing about will hardly work for us, because our peasant is happy to rob himself just to get dope in a tavern.” Thus, it turns out that one embellishes, and the other denigrates, and in this contrast Turgenev seeks to show the farce and absurdity of the situation.

Bazarov is too pessimistic about the current state of the people: he talks about superstitions, about underdevelopment, about the lack of enlightenment of the people. He grandiloquently declares: "My grandfather plowed the land," thus trying to show closeness to the people, to prove to Pavel Petrovich that he better understands the peasants and their needs. But in fact, this phrase is an exaggeration, since Bazarov's father was poor, but still a landowner, and "was formerly a regimental doctor." Turgenev writes that, despite the fact that Bazarov was a commoner and considered himself close to the people, he "did not even suspect that in their eyes he was still something like a jester."

The attitude towards the people of Pavel Petrovich is also described in the novel rather ironically. He idealized the people, believed that he loved and knew them, but at the same time, speaking with a peasant, he "wrinkles his face and sniffs cologne." At the end of the novel, Turgenev writes that Pavel Petrovich went to live in Germany, “he doesn’t read anything Russian, but he has a silver ashtray in the form of a peasant’s bast shoes on his desk.”

The history of the relationship of these irreconcilable debaters ends with a duel. This happens after Pavel Petrovich sees that Bazarov is kissing Fenechka in the gazebo.

Turgenev very carefully approached the description of the duel scene, which is presented in the novel as if from the author's point of view, but it is clear from everything that this episode is shown through the eyes of Bazarov. Before the duel, a verbal duel takes place, where there is one ambiguous symbolic detail: in response to the French phrase of Pavel Petrovich, Bazarov inserts an expression in Latin into his speech. Thus, Turgenev emphasizes that his heroes really speak different languages. Latin is the language of science, reason, logic, progress, but it is a dead language. French, in turn, is the language of the Russian aristocracy of the 18th-19th centuries, it implies a huge cultural layer. Two cultures stand on the historical arena, but together they have no place on it - and a duel takes place between them.

All the pathos of the author's position regretfully states that the best people of Russia do not understand, do not hear each other. Their trouble is that no one wants to make concessions. Turgenev grieves that they speak different languages, cannot agree and understand each other.

The secret psychologism of the novel lies in the fact that the narration is conducted on behalf of the author, but it still seems that the author's position is close to that of Bazarov. Due to the fact that the description of the duel is given as if on behalf of Bazarov, it has a mundane character. Bazarov is not close to this noble tradition, he is a man of a different culture, a physician, and for him this is doubly unnatural.

The duel produces a certain coup in Pavel Petrovich. He now looks differently at the civil marriage of Nikolai Petrovich and Fenechka - he blesses his brother for marriage with her.

Turgenev masterfully combines the comic and the serious. This is especially well manifested in the description of the duel, or rather the commandant Peter, who turned green, then turned pale, and after the shot he hid somewhere. The wounded Pavel Petrovich, seeing Peter appear, says: “What a stupid physiognomy!”, Which is also, of course, an element of the comic.

In Chapter XXIV, Turgenev allows himself a direct authorial word: “Yes, he was a dead man,” in relation to Pavel Petrovich. This should be understood as a statement that a “change” has already taken place: it is clear that the era of Pavel Petrovich is ending. But the author resorted to a direct expression of his own views only once, and usually Turgenev used hidden or indirect ways to show his attitude, which, undoubtedly, is one of the types of Turgenev's psychologism.

Working on the novel "Fathers and Sons", Turgenev strives to be objective, therefore he is ambiguous in relation to his heroes. On the one hand, Turgenev shows the inconsistency of the nobility, and on the other hand, he says about Bazarov that he cannot accurately answer the question of why he killed him. “I dreamed of a gloomy, wild, large figure, half grown out of the soil, strong, vicious, honest - and yet doomed to death, because she still stands on the eve of the future.” - Turgenev wrote in a letter to K. K. Sluchevsky.

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The novel "Fathers and Sons" was written by I. S. Turgenev during the revolutionary situation in Russia (1859-1862) and

the abolition of serfdom. The writer revealed in the novel a turning point in the public consciousness of Russia, when a nobleman

liberalism was supplanted by revolutionary democratic thought. This division of society is reflected in

novel in the person of Bazarov, a raznochinets-democrat (“children”) and the Kirsanov brothers, the best of the liberal nobles (“fathers”).

Turgenev himself ambivalently perceived the image he created. He wrote to A. A. Fet: “Did I want to scold Bazarov or exalt him? I don’t know this myself, for I don’t know whether I love him or hate him!” And in a note about "Fathers and Sons" Turgenev writes: "Bazarov is my favorite brainchild ... This is the prettiest of all my figures."

The personality of Bazarov, the spokesman for the ideas of revolutionary democracy, is of interest to Turgenev, because he is a hero of the time, who has absorbed the distinctive features of the era of social change. Turgenev singles out democracy in Bazarov, manifested in the noble habit of work, which is developed from childhood. On the one hand, the example of parents, on the other - a harsh school of life, studying at the university for copper pennies. This feature distinguishes him from the Kirsanovs and for Bazarov is the main criterion for evaluating a person. The Kirsanovs are the best of the nobles, but they do nothing, they do not know how to get down to business. Nikolai Petrovich plays the cello, reads Pushkin. Pavel Petrovich carefully monitors his appearance, changes clothes for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Arriving to his father, Bazarov says: "I want to work." And Turgenev constantly. emphasizes that the "fever of work" is characteristic of the hero's active nature. A feature of the generation of Democrats of the 60s is a passion for the natural sciences. After graduating from the Faculty of Medicine, Bazarov, instead of rest, “cuts frogs”, preparing himself for scientific activity. Bazarov does not confine himself only to those sciences that are directly related to medicine, but reveals extensive knowledge in botany, and in agricultural technology, and in geology. Realizing the limitations of his abilities due to the deplorable state of medicine in Russia, Bazarov still never refuses to help those in need, regardless of his employment: he treats both Fenichka's son and the peasants of the surrounding villages, helps his father. And even his death was due to infection at autopsy. Bazarov's humanism is manifested in his desire to benefit the people, Russia.

Bazarov is a man with a great sense of his own dignity, in no way inferior to aristocrats in this respect, and in some ways even surpasses them. In the story of the duel, Bazarov showed not only common sense and intelligence, but nobility and fearlessness, even the ability to make fun of himself at the moment of mortal danger. Even Pavel Petrovich appreciated his nobility: “You acted nobly ...” But there are things that Turgenev denies in his hero - this is Bazarov’s nihilism in relation to nature, music, literature, painting, love - everything that makes up the poetry of life that elevates a person. Everything that is devoid of a materialistic explanation, Bazarov denies.

He considers the entire political system of Russia to be rotten, therefore he denies "everything": autocracy, serfdom, religion - and what is generated by the "ugly state of society": national poverty, lack of rights, darkness, ignorance, patriarchal antiquity, family. However, Bazarov does not put forward a positive program. When P.P. Kirsanov tells him: “... You are destroying everything ... Why, you need to build,” Bazarov replies: “This is no longer our business ... First we need to clear the place.”

When Bazarov stigmatizes exaggerated, abstract "principles" with mockery, he wins. And the author shares his position. But when Bazarov enters the sphere of refined experiences, which he never accepted, not a trace remains of his confidence. The harder it is for Bazarov, the more tangible is the author's empathy for him.

In love for Odintsova, Bazarov’s ability to have a strong feeling and respect for a woman, her mind and character were expressed - after all, he shared his most cherished thoughts with Odintsova, filling his feeling with reasonable content.

Love for Odintsova helped Bazarov reconsider his views, rethink his convictions. There is a complex reassessment of values. Boundless Russia with its dark, dirty villages becomes the subject of his close attention. But he never acquires the ability to "talk about the affairs and needs" of the peasants and only helps the rural population in the medical practice of his father. Turgenev showed the greatness of Bazarov during his illness, in the face of death. In the speech of the dying, pain from the consciousness of the near inevitable end. Each remark addressed to Odintsova is a clot of spiritual suffering: “Look, what an ugly sight: a half-crushed worm” and also bristles. And after all, I would also think: I’ll break off my grandfather a lot, I won’t die, where! There is a task, because I am a giant!.. Russia needs me... No, apparently, it is not needed. And who is needed? Knowing that he will die, he comforts his parents, shows sensitivity to his mother, hiding the danger threatening him from her, makes a dying request to Odintsova to take care of the old people: “After all, people like them cannot be found in your big world during the day with fire. ..” The courage and steadfastness of his materialistic and atheistic views manifested itself in his refusal to confess, when, yielding to the entreaties of his parents, he agreed to take communion, but only in an unconscious state, when a person is not responsible for his actions. Pisarev noted that in the face of death "Bazarov becomes better, more humane, which is proof of the integrity, completeness and natural richness of nature." Having not had time to realize himself in life, Bazarov only in the face of death gets rid of his intolerance and for the first time truly feels that real life is much wider and more diverse than his ideas about it. This is the main point of the ending. Turgenev himself wrote about this:

“I dreamed of a gloomy, wild, large figure, half grown out of the soil, strong, vicious, honest - still doomed to death - because it still stands on the eve of the future.”

The events that I. S. Turgenev describes in the novel take place in the middle of the 19th century. This is the time when Russia was going through another era of reforms. The idea contained in the title of the novel is revealed very widely, since it is not only about the originality of different generations, but also about the confrontation between the nobility, leaving the historical stage, and the democratic intelligentsia, moving into the center of the social and spiritual life of Russia, representing its future.

Philosophical reflections on the change of generations, on the eternal movement of life and the eternal struggle of the old and the new sounded more than once in the works of Russian writers before Turgenev (“Woe from Wit” by A. S. Griboyedov). Similar thoughts and feelings, along with disputes about the peasant community, about nihilism, about art, about aristocracy, about the Russian people, sound in Turgenev's novel. But there are also universal human problems that the author reflects on.

In the center of the novel is the figure of the commoner Bazarov, embodying the type of a person of the newest generation. "Fathers" are represented by the Kirsanov brothers and Bazarov's parents.

The antagonism of the views of Pavel Petrovich and Bazarov is revealed in heated disputes between them. But in disputes with Bazarov, Pavel Petrovich cannot defeat the nihilist, cannot shake his moral foundations, and then he resorts to the last means of resolving the conflict - to a duel.

39. The genre of the novel in the work of I.S. Turgenev. Features of the artistic structure and problems of the writer's novels. Analysis of one novel of your choice. Analysis of the novel "Fathers and Sons". Turgenev 1817-1883. T. created and developed a special kind of novel, which reflected the new and special trends of the era. A characteristic feature of the writer's appearance of T: the more acutely he perceives the world in the individual uniqueness of transient phenomena, the more disturbing and tragic becomes his love for life, for its fleeting beauty. T-artist is endowed with a special sense of time. His inexorable and rapid pace. After all, he lived in an era of intensive, accelerated development of Russia, when "in a few decades, transformations took place that took whole centuries in some old European countries." The writer had a chance to witness the crisis of the noble revolutionary spirit of the 1920s and 1930s, he saw the struggle of two generations of the revolutionary democratic intelligentsia of the 1960s and 1970s, a struggle that each time brought not the joy of victory, but the bitterness of defeat. All six novels of T not only fell into the "present moment" of the life of society, but also anticipated it in their own way. The writer was especially sensitive to what stood "on the eve", what was still in the air. His novels turned into a kind of chronicle of the change of various mental currents in the cultural stratum of Russian society: an idealist-dreamer, an “extra person” of the 30s and 40s in the novel RUDIN; nobleman Lavretsky striving to merge with the people in The Noble Nest; the "new man" revolutionary raznochinets - first Dmitry Insarov in "ON THE EVE", and then Yevgeny Bazarov in "O i d"; the era of ideological off-road in "SMOKE"; a new wave of public upsurge of the 70s in NOVI. “The physiognomy of Russian people of the cultural layer” in the era of T changed very quickly - and this introduced a special shade of drama into novels that are distinguished by a swift plot and unexpected denouement, “tragic, as a rule, finals.” The novels of T are strictly confined to a narrow period of historical time, and precise chronology plays an essential role in them. The life of the hero is extremely limited compared to the heroes of the novels of Pushkin, Lermontov, Goncharov. The characters of Onegin, Pechorin, Oblomov "reflected a century", in Rudin, in Lavretsky or Bazarov - the mental currents of several years. The life of Turgenev's heroes is like a brightly flashing, but quickly fading spark. History, in its inexorable movement, measures out to them a tense, but too short fate. All Turgenev's novels are subject to the rigid rhythm of the annual natural cycle. The action in them starts, as a rule, in early spring, culminates in the hot days of summer, and ends under the “whistle of the autumn wind” or “in the cloudless silence of the January frosts.” T shows his heroes in the happy moments of the maximum rise and flowering of their vitality. But these moments turn out to be tragic: Rudin dies on the Prague barricades, Insarov's life suddenly ends on a heroic rise, and then Bazarov, Nezhdanov. The heroes were "superfluous" and "new" people, i.e. noble and raznochinskaya-democratic intelligentsia, which predetermined the moral and ideological and political level of the Russian. society. The heroes differed not only in their belonging to different social types, but also in their inclination to a certain type of relationship with the surrounding world. 3 types of heroes in the novels of T. 1) "lower" - the relationship of man and society. Represented by various types of opportunists and careerists (Pandonevsky, Ibasov). 2) "medium" - honest and decent people, hostile to the world of self-interest and vanity, endowed with a high idea of ​​​​duty, limited by ready-made norms and traditions, moderate in desires (Valintsev, Basistov, Mikhalevich, Kirsanov brothers). 3) "higher" - spiritually free people whose goal is to rebuild the world. The national meaning of the life and activity of the human person is concentrated. T.'s love has many faces. The “lower” type experiences a passion that can capture a person as a whole. With T, not only in literature, but also in life, the poetic image of the companion of the Russian hero, the Turgenev girl - Natalia Lasunskaya, Liza Kalitina, Elena Stakhova, Marianna entered. The writer depicts in his novels and short stories the most flourishing period in women's destiny, when the female soul blossoms in anticipation of the chosen one, all its potentialities awaken to a temporary triumph. The "medium" type carries high aspirations. The condition for the realization of love is reciprocity. Mutual love and happiness compensate for spiritual narrowness. “Testing with love replaces social practice in novels with epic. Testing love in relation to nature is associated with the specifics of the philosophy of T., which goes back to the philosophy of Schopenhauer and Pascal. For T. nature is eternal, and human life is a brief moment among the infinite and eternal nature . The plot of the works of T.: the hero arrives somewhere, enters a circle of people new to him, whom he does not know, with whom he has different relationships. With the departure or death of the hero, the novel ends. The philosophical tone enlarges the characters and brings the problems of the works beyond the limits of narrow interests. Fathers and Sons was begun in 1860, in early August, and completed in July 1861. The novel takes place in 1869, and the epilogue tells about the actions of 1861, those. after the fall of serfdom. The disputes of "fathers" and "children", representatives of two cultures - the old, outgoing noble, and the new, democratic, are vividly conveyed. The bleak fate of the serfs, the darkness and ignorance of the people are shown. The deep basis of the content was the question of the fate of Russia, the Russian people, the ways of its further development. In P.P. Kirsanov T. portrays a gentleman-aristocrat. His life has been reduced to love for a woman and regret about the past. Uselessness and inability to live is also shown in Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov. This is also a type of outgoing nobility. Arkady Kirsanov, a representative of the young noble generation, is also critically outlined in the novel, quickly turning into an ordinary landowner, busy with his family and his household. The positive hero of the novel is Bazarov. T. wanted to understand and truthfully show the features of a new person, to get used to his image, and therefore kept a diary on behalf of Bazarov. Bazarov is a representative of a diverse democratic youth, an independent nature, not bowing to any authorities. With him, everything is subject to the judgment of thoughts. In this regard, Bazarov was a typical representative of the commoners of the sixties. In nihilism (nihilism is a complete denial of everything, complete skepticism; nihilist - in the 60s of the 19th century in Russia: a supporter of the democratic movement, denying the foundations and traditions of a noble society, serfdom) Bazarova T. saw manifestations of revolutionism. Depicting the clash of "fathers" and "children", the writer showed the triumph of democracy over the aristocracy, but the mental and moral superiority of the democrat and materialist Bazarov over Pavel Petrovich meant the defeat of those principles and foundations on which the life of the "fathers" was based. Among the contradictory features are contradictory statements about love and a great feeling that flared up in him for Odintsova. T. assigns a secondary place to the love plot. Bazarov carries in himself more positive than negative features, and this brings him closer to that part of the raznochinno-democratic youth of the 60s, which then embodied the progress of science. The novel "Fathers and Sons" is the pinnacle of T.'s artistic creativity. Two environments appear here with their established ideas and interests as two compositional centers. The very composition of the novel reflects Russian reality during the period of the fall of serfdom, the struggle of two historical trends, two possible ways of social development. The action of the novel is led by Bazarov; he appears in almost all scenes of the novel in the foreground, and not the noble environment and its heroes. With the death of Bazarov, "O and D" ends. In the composition and in the plot conflicts and situations, the peculiarity of the time of exacerbation of the class struggle was reflected. In the mentality and character of Turgenev's hero, the features and appearance of all the progressive democratic youth of the 60s were reflected. But in the physiology of Bazarov, in his passion for natural science, the features of the youth of the 60s were reflected. The attitude of Bazarov to the issues of art and aesthetics is connected with the direction of materialistic thought of the 60s. T. portrayed the type of young man who believes exclusively in science and is contemptuous of art and religion. Bazarov, with his views and interests, represented that part of the democratic youth of the 60s who followed the Russian Word, Pisarev. An inevitable blow of fate is read in the final episode of the novel: there is, no doubt, something symbolic in the fact that the brave "anatomist" and "physiologist" of Russian life destroys himself when opening the corpse of a peasant. In the face of death, the pillars that once supported Bazarov's self-confidence turned out to be weak: medicine and the natural sciences, having discovered their impotence, retreated, leaving B. alone with himself. And then the forces came to the aid of the hero, once denied by him, but stored at the bottom of his soul. It is they who he mobilizes to fight death, and they restore the integrity and stamina of his spirit in the last test. Dying B is simple and humane: there is no need to hide his "romanticism", and now the hero's soul is freed from the flesh, boils and foams like a full-flowing river. Love for a woman, love of sons for father and mother merge in the consciousness of the dying B with love for the motherland, for the mysterious Russia, which remained an unsolved mystery for B. T created the image of a man who did not exist in life, but ideally possible and alive. B is a hero on a grand scale, who by his fate paid all the costs of nihilistic theories. T showed what consequences the righteous force of anger, contempt and destruction can bring to a revolutionary if it takes nihilistic forms, if the class struggle is not based on the foundation of a living theory that takes into account the real complexity of life. The creation of such an image of a nihilist revolutionary can be considered the creative discovery of a great artist who did not stand guard over culture.