Father and Sons

Reviewed by Joe Porter

(This review is based on the translation by Richard Freeborn)

Fathers and Sons, the best know work of Ivan Turgenev, was published in 1862. Turgenev wrote the novel as his response to the social, political and cultural differences between liberalism and nihilism. In Fathers and Sons the difference in these two ideologies is between successive generations. The fathers are the liberals. Liberalism was popular in Russia in the 1830s and the 1840s. The sons are the nihilists. Nihilism became popular in the 1860s.

Put simply, liberalism is about individual rights, equality of opportunity, freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market or mixed economy, and a transparent system of government. On the other hand, the Russian brand of nihilism favoured the figurative and literal destruction of the past and present in the belief that the annihilation of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement. The nihilists rejected authority and tradition. They believed in reason, materialism, and radical change in society and government. The term 'nihilism' became more widely used after the publication of Fathers and Sons.

The fathers referred to in the title are Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov and Vasily Ivanovich Bazarov. Their sons are Arkady Nikolaevich Kirsanov and Evgeny Vassilievitch Bazarov. Bazarov is, in Arkady's estimation, an intellectual. He is commited to nihilism. Arkady appears to be commited to nihilism, but as the narrative unfolds the reader sees that he is merely obsequious to Bazarov. Arkady seems to care for many of the things the nihilists despise.

The novel begins with Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov awaiting the arrival of his son at the post-station. Arkady arrives by tarantass (a Russian horse-drawn vehicle) and after being greeted by his father. He introduces his friend Bazarov. Arkady and Bazarov are returning from the University of Petersburg. They are going to stay for a short time at Marino, the estate owned by Arkady's father.

Nikolai's brother, Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, asks Arkady about Bazarov. Arkady tells his uncle that Bazarov is a nihilist. Pavel assumes, since nihil is Latin for nothing, Bazarov is someone who respects nothing. Pavel and Bazarov do not get on well together. Pavel is very perturbed when he hears what Bazarov's new ideology is in reality. Bazarov thinks Pavel suffers from affectations and has a European demeanour.

The bad blood between Pavel and Bazarov causes Arkady to be caught between two loyalties. Should he defend his family against Bazarov's opprobrious remarks, or should he side with his friend and his belief in nihilism?

Later in the novel Bazarov also has a moral dilemma. Anna Sergeevna Odintsova is a young wealthy widow. She entertains Basarov and Arkady on her estate. Odintsova and Bazarov fall in love. Arkady is also enamoured of Odintsova, but he comes slowly to realise that he prefers her sister Katya. Odintsova is frightened to admit her love for Bazarov, because she knows it will cause him emotional turmoil. Bazarov's love for Odintsova is already causing great conflict in his mind. His emotions are clashing with his intellectual beliefs. Being a nihilst means he should reject the romantic notion of love. Bazarov is beginning to change:

'The real cause of this 'change' was the feeling in Bazarov evoked by Odintsova, a feeling which tormented him and drove him mad and which he'd have instantly denied with a contemptuous laugh and cynical abuse had anyone hinted to him, even remotely, what was happening to him. Bazarov was a great admirer of women and women's beauty, but love in an ideal- or as he expressed it- a romantic sense he described as rubbish, unforgivable stupidity, and he considered chivalrous feelings something freakish or diseased and more expressed surprise why Toggenburg* along with all the minnesingers hadn't been locked up in a madhouse. 'If you like a woman', he was fond of saying, 'the try and get what you can. If you can't, well, no matter, give her up- there are plenty of fish in the sea.''

(*Toggenburg is the romantic hero in a ballad by Schiller.)

Bazarov eventually tells Odintsova he loves her, but she rejects him out of hand. Bazarov goes to his parents. Arkady accompanies him. Odintsova regrets her rejection of Bazarov think she has thrown away her chance of true love. She is determined that they will meet again.

Bazarov's father, Vasily Ivanovich Bazarov, is a retired army doctor who now runs a farm. He tells his son he has been keeping up with medical developments, particularly the works of Schönlein and Rademacher. Bazorov rejects what his father saying by replying 'It'll be a comfort to you to know, that nowadays in general we laugh at medicine and worship nobody.' Is this an example of Bazaov clinging to his nihilist philosophy, or is he angry at his rejection by Odintsova?

Bazarov soon gets bored of being at his parent's and announces he wishes to return to Marino. The two friends depart and on the journey the coach comes to a junction. The coachman asks whether he should turn to the right or to the left. The road to the right leads to town and then to Marino, and the road on the left leads to Nikolskoe, Madame Odintsova's estate. Arkady asks Bazarov if they should go to the left. Bazarov tells Arkady to decide. The latter orders the coachman to turn left.

Fathers and Sons was the first Russian novel to gain prominence in the west. It was hailed by Henry James, Guy de Maupassant and Gustave Flaubert as a being a great novel.

Recommended further reading:

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

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