The main problems in the novel are fathers and sons. The problem of fathers and children in the image of Turgenev

The novel "Fathers and Sons" was created by Turgenev in a hot time for Russia. The growth of peasant uprisings and the crisis of the serf system forced the government in 1861 to cancel serfdom. In Russia, it was necessary to carry out a peasant reform. The society split into two camps: in one there were revolutionary democrats, ideologists of the peasant masses, in the other - the liberal nobility, who stood for the reformist path. The liberal nobility did not put up with serfdom, but feared a peasant revolution.

The great Russian writer shows in his novel the struggle between the worldviews of these two political trends. The plot of the novel is built on the opposition of the views of Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov and Evgeny Bazarov, which are prominent representatives these directions. Other questions are also raised in the novel: how one should treat the people, work, science, art, what transformations are necessary for the Russian countryside.

The title already reflects one of these problems - the relationship between two generations, fathers and children. Disagreements on various issues have always existed between the youth and the older generation. So here, a representative of the younger generation, Evgeny Vasilyevich Bazarov, cannot, and does not want to understand the "fathers", their life credo, principles. He is convinced that their views on the world, on life, on relations between people are hopelessly outdated. “Yes, I will spoil them ... After all, this is all pride, lion's habits, foppery ...”. In his opinion, the main purpose of life is to work, to produce something material. That is why Bazarov has a disrespectful attitude to art, to sciences that do not have a practical basis; to "useless" nature. He believes that it is much more useful to deny what, from his point of view, deserves to be denied, than to watch indifferently from the side, not daring to do anything. “At the present time, denial is most useful - we deny,” says Bazarov.

For his part, Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov is sure that there are things that cannot be doubted (“Aristocracy ... liberalism, progress, principles ... art ...”). He values ​​habits and traditions more and does not want to notice the changes taking place in society.

Disputes Kirsanov and Bazarov reveal ideological concept novel.

These characters have a lot in common. Both in Kirsanov and in Bazarov pride is highly developed. Sometimes they can not calmly argue. Both of them are not subject to other people's influences, and only experienced and felt by them themselves makes the heroes change their views on some issues. Both the commoner democrat Bazarov and the aristocrat Kirsanov have a huge influence on those around them, and neither one nor the other can be denied strength of character. And yet, despite such a similarity of natures, these people are very different, due to the difference in origin, upbringing and way of thinking.

Differences already appear in the portraits of the heroes. The face of Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov is "unusually correct and clean, as if drawn with a thin and light chisel." And in general, the whole appearance of Uncle Arkady "... was graceful and thoroughbred, his hands were beautiful, with long pink nails." Bazarov's appearance is the complete opposite of Kirsanov. He is dressed in a long hoodie with tassels, he has red hands, his face is long and thin , with a wide forehead and not at all aristocratic nose. The portrait of Pavel Petrovich is a portrait of a "secular lion", whose manners match his appearance. The portrait of Bazarov undoubtedly belongs to "a democrat to the end of his nails", which is also confirmed by the behavior of the hero, independent and self-confident.

Eugene's life is full of vigorous activity, he devotes every free minute of his time to natural science studies. In the second half of the 19th century, the natural sciences were on the rise; there appeared materialistic scientists who, through numerous experiments and experiments, developed these sciences, for which there was a future. And Bazarov is the prototype of such a scientist. Pavel Petrovich, on the contrary, spends all his days in idleness and groundless, aimless reflections-memories.

The views of those arguing on art and nature are opposite. Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov admires works of art. He is able to love starry sky, enjoy music, poetry, painting. Bazarov, on the other hand, denies art (“Rafael is not worth a penny”), approaches nature with utilitarian standards (“Nature is not a temple, but a workshop, and man is a worker in it”). Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov also does not agree that art, music, nature are nonsense. Coming out onto the porch, "... he looked around, as if wanting to understand how one can not sympathize with nature." And here we can feel how Turgenev expresses his own thoughts through his hero. A beautiful evening landscape leads Nikolai Petrovich to "the sad and gratifying game of lonely thoughts", brings back pleasant memories, reveals to him " Magic world dreams." The author shows that by denying admiring nature, Bazarov impoverishes his spiritual life.

But the main difference between a raznochint-democrat, who ended up on the estate of a hereditary nobleman, and a liberal lies in his views on society and the people. Kirsanov believes that aristocrats - driving force community development. Their ideal is "English freedom", i.e. a constitutional monarchy. The path to the ideal lies through reforms, publicity, and progress. Bazarov is sure that aristocrats are not capable of action and there is no use from them. He rejects liberalism, denies the ability of the nobility to lead Russia to the future.

Controversy arises over nihilism and the role of nihilists in public life. Pavel Petrovich condemns the nihilists because they "respect no one", live without "principles", considers them unnecessary and powerless: "There are only 4-5 of you people." To this, Bazarov replies: "Moscow burned down from a penny candle." Speaking of the denial of everything, Bazarov has in mind religion, the autocratic-feudal system, and generally accepted morality. What do nihilists want? First of all, revolutionary action. And the criterion is the benefit to the people.

Pavel Petrovich glorifies the peasant community, family, religiosity, patriarchy of the Russian peasant. He claims that "the Russian people cannot live without faith." Bazarov, on the other hand, says that the people do not understand their own interests, are obscure and ignorant, that there is no honest people that "a man is glad to rob himself, just to get drunk on dope in a tavern." However, he considers it necessary to distinguish between popular interests and popular prejudices; he argues that the people are revolutionary in spirit, therefore nihilism is a manifestation of precisely the people's spirit.

Turgenev shows that, despite tenderness, Pavel Petrovich does not know how to talk with ordinary people, "grimaces and sniffs cologne." In a word, he is a real gentleman. And Bazarov proudly declares: "My grandfather plowed the land." And he can win over the peasants, although he teases them. The servants feel "that he is still his brother, not a gentleman."

This is precisely because Bazarov possessed the ability and desire to work. In Maryino, on the Kirsanov estate, Yevgeny worked because he could not sit idle, “some kind of medical and surgical smell” was established in his room.

Unlike him, representatives of the older generation did not differ in their ability to work. So, Nikolai Petrovich tries to manage in a new way, but nothing works out for him. He says about himself: "I am a soft, weak person, I spent my life in the wilderness." But, according to Turgenev, this cannot serve as an excuse. If you can't work, don't take it. And the biggest thing that Pavel Petrovich did was to help his brother with money, not daring to give advice, and "not jokingly imagined himself to be a practical person."

Of course, most of all a person is manifested not in conversations, but in deeds and in his life. Therefore, Turgenev, as it were, leads his heroes through various trials. And the strongest of them is the test of love. After all, it is in love that the soul of a person is revealed fully and sincerely.

And then hot and passionate nature Bazarova swept away all his theories. He fell in love, like a boy, with a woman whom he highly valued. “In conversations with Anna Sergeevna, he expressed even more than before his indifferent contempt for everything romantic, and left alone, he indignantly recognized the romance in himself.” The hero is going through a severe mental breakdown. "...Something...was possessed in him, which he never allowed, over which he always mocked, which revolted all his pride." Anna Sergeevna Odintsova rejected him. But Bazarov found the strength to accept defeat with honor, without losing his dignity.

And Pavel Petrovich, who also loved very much, could not leave with dignity when he became convinced of the woman’s indifference to him: “.. he spent four years in foreign lands, either chasing her, or with the intention of losing sight of her ... and already couldn't get in the right track." And in general, the fact that he seriously fell in love with a frivolous and empty secular lady says a lot.

Bazarov is a strong nature, this new person in Russian society. And the writer carefully considers this type of character. The last test he offers his hero is death.

Anyone can pretend to be whoever they want. Some people do this all their lives. But in any case, before death, a person becomes what he really is. All pretense disappears, and the time has come to think, maybe for the first and last time, about the meaning of life, about what good he did, whether they will remember or forget as soon as they are buried. And this is natural, because in the face of the unknown, a person discovers something that he may not have seen during his lifetime.

It is a pity, of course, that Turgenev "kills" Bazarov. So brave strong man to live and live. But, perhaps, the writer, having shown that such people exist, did not know what to do with his hero further ... The way Bazarov dies could do honor to anyone. He does not pity himself, but his parents. He is sorry to leave life so early. Dying, Bazarov admits that he "fell under the wheel", "but still bristles." And bitterly says to Odintsova: “And now the whole task of the giant is how to die decently, I won’t wag my tail.”

Bazarov is a tragic figure. It cannot be said that he defeats Kirsanov in a dispute. Even when Pavel Petrovich is ready to admit his defeat, Bazarov suddenly loses faith in his teaching and doubts his personal need for society. "Does Russia need me? No, apparently I don't," he reflects. Only the proximity of death restores Bazarov's self-confidence.

Whose side is the author of the novel on? It is definitely impossible to answer this question. Being a liberal by conviction, Turgenev felt the superiority of Bazarov, moreover, he claimed; "My whole story is directed against the nobility as an advanced class." And further: "I wanted to show the cream of society, but if cream is bad, then what is milk?"

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev loves his new hero and in the epilogue gives him a high rating: "... a passionate, sinful, rebellious heart." He says he doesn't ordinary person lies in the grave, but really a man, needed by Russia, smart, strong, possessing non-stereotypical thinking.

It is known that I.S. Turgenev dedicated the novel to Belinsky and argued: "If the reader does not fall in love with Bazarov with all his rudeness, heartlessness, ruthless dryness and harshness, it is my fault that I did not achieve my goal. Bazarov is my favorite brainchild."

Turgenev wrote the novel "Fathers and Sons" in the last century, but the problems raised in it are relevant in our time. What to choose: contemplation or action? How to relate to art, to love? Is the generation of fathers right? These questions must be addressed by each new generation. And, perhaps, it is the impossibility of solving them once and for all that drives life.

The problem of fathers and children can be called eternal. But it is especially aggravated at critical moments in the development of society, when the older and younger generations become spokesmen for the ideas of two different eras. It is precisely such a time in the history of Russia - the 60s of the XIX century - that is shown in the novel by I. S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons". The conflict of fathers and children depicted in it goes far beyond the family framework - it is public conflict the old nobility and aristocracy and the young revolutionary-democratic intelligentsia.

The problem of fathers and children is revealed in the novel in the relationship of the young nihilist Bazarov with the representative of the nobility Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, Bazarov with his parents, as well as on the example of relations within the Kirsanov family.

Two generations are contrasted in the novel even external description. Yevgeny Bazarov appears before us as rejected from outside world a man, gloomy and at the same time possessing a huge inner strength and energy. Describing Bazarov, Turgenev focuses on his mind. The description of Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, on the contrary, consists mainly of external characteristics. Pavel Petrovich is an outwardly attractive man, he wears starched white shirts and patent leather ankle boots. A former secular lion, once noisy in the society of the capital, he retained his habits, living with his brother in the village. Pavel Petrovich is always impeccable and elegant.

Pavel Petrovich leads the life of a typical representative of an aristocratic society - he spends time in idleness and idleness. In contrast, Bazarov brings real benefits to people, deals with specific problems. In my opinion, the problem of fathers and children is most deeply shown in the novel precisely in the relationship of these two characters, despite the fact that they are not connected by direct family relations. The conflict that arose between Bazarov and Kirsanov proves that the problem of fathers and children in Turgenev's novel is both a problem of two generations and a problem of a clash of two different socio-political camps.

These heroes of the novel occupy directly opposite positions in life. In the frequent disputes between Bazarov and Pavel Petrovich, almost all the main issues on which the democrats-raznochintsy and liberals differed in their views (about the ways of the country's further development, about materialism and idealism, about knowledge of science, understanding of art and about the attitude towards the people). At the same time, Pavel Petrovich actively defends the old foundations, while Bazarov, on the contrary, advocates their destruction. And to Kirsanov's reproach that you, they say, are destroying everything ("But you need to build"), Bazarov replies that "first you need to clear the place."

We also see the conflict of generations in the relationship between Bazarov and his parents. The protagonist has very conflicting feelings towards them: on the one hand, he admits that he loves his parents, on the other hand, he despises "the stupid life of fathers." First of all, his convictions are alienated from Bazarov's parents. If in Arkady we see superficial contempt for the older generation, caused more by a desire to imitate a friend, and not coming from within, then with Bazarov everything is different. This is his position in life.

With all this, we see that it was to the parents that their son Eugene was truly dear. The old Bazarovs love Yevgeny very much, and this love softens their relationship with their son, the lack of mutual understanding. It is stronger than other feelings and lives even when main character dies.

As for the problem of fathers and children within the Kirsanov family, it seems to me that it is not deep. Arkady is like his father. He has essentially the same values ​​- home, family, peace. He prefers such simple happiness to concern for the world's good. Arkady is only trying to imitate Bazarov, and this is precisely the cause of contention within the Kirsanov family. The older generation of the Kirsanovs doubts "the usefulness of his influence on Arkady." But Bazarov leaves the life of Arkady, and everything falls into place.

At the same time, he so fully reveals the life positions of the main characters of the novel, shows their positive and negative sides, which gives the reader the opportunity to decide for himself who was right. It is not surprising that Turgenev's contemporaries reacted sharply to the appearance of the work. The reactionary press accused the writer of currying favor with the youth, while the democratic press reproached the author for slandering the younger generation.

The new movement in the minds of young people was called nihilism. The problem of "Fathers and Sons" of the novel by I. Turgenev is based on the understanding of nihilistic positions. The conflict of fathers and children is at the heart of the plot.

Nihilism or protest

The new philosophy of youth is based on the rejection of everything on which not a single generation has grown. Nihilism denies the existence of love between people as a feeling, the need for a family and the relationship between a woman and a man, sealed by marriage. Such a worldview goes against the spiritual foundations of the Russian people. Family, children have always been a priority for the nation, emphasizing its character. The Bazarovs are trying to undermine these positions, but they themselves fall for love and die.

Eugene opens up to Odintsova. The woman remains calm and unresponsive, for her the main feeling is in another. The stone breaks on a stronger material. The lack of love theory gets no life. The nihilist approach to kindred feelings is amazing. Bazarov is trying to "uproot him." Eugene does not understand why the man does not blame his brother for stealing handkerchiefs, but looks for an excuse and tries to help him. Family ties for him are prejudices.

Eugene kills in himself filial affection, denies love for his mother. As a result, spiritual devastation occurs, the tragedy of a child left aside from the family. Reading the pages of grief of Bazarov's parents is scary, they stand before their eyes for a long time, causing inconsolable tears.

Science and art

What is the problem of fathers and children? In the perception of the surrounding world and its history. The new generation is trying to deny the significance of art. Poems, novels are one of the manifestations of sensuality from which the Bazarovs hide. Nihilism is a kind of wall through which beautiful poetry praising nature, man, and culture cannot break through. Nihilists argue that society needs scientists. A chemist is 20 times more useful than a poet. It is important for Bazarov that twice two is four, everything else is "nothing". Nature for people is not a place of rest and inspiration. Nature is a workshop in which to work.

The conflict of generations led to ideological dispute two cultures. Aristocratic culture has a rich experience, a huge heritage. There are many positive things in culture: discipline, impeccability appearance, slowness, accuracy of form and content. Democratic culture, according to Bazarov's philosophy, is opposite in its main positions. It makes no sense to follow the rules at the table, art becomes nonsense, poetry becomes romantic nonsense.

The attitude towards God is of particular controversy. The atheism of the nihilists is categorical, they do not recognize any faith in their souls, they deprive a person even of the opportunity to believe in the possibility of the Higher powers. The Bazarovs explain everything by the laws of the natural sciences.

Youth problem

Every time there is a dispute between fathers and children. New generations are trying to oppose themselves to the "old people". In the novel, there is a confrontation between aristocrats (clean, pompous, but knowing the rules communication cultures) and democrats (bold, introducing new forms of communication and government); between liberals (soft, calm) and revolutionaries - raznochintsy (who seek to change everything at once). Family conflicts move to another level. The dispute between two generations requires a solution. How to preserve the best of the past, go further without destroying the foundations of morality and humanity. The cruelty of the nihilists causes at first rejection. The patience of the elders is more humane. Fathers are ready to forgive their children for mistakes and mistakes. Everything is built on love, wisdom and reason.

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

"Fathers and Sons" can be safely called a new novel, since it first appears in it new type hero, a new man - a raznochinets-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 to the historical arena a new hero, a new force that marked the offensive new era. In the face of social change, noble culture had to be tested.

All sharp social problems Russian life in the 50s of the 19th century was 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 pea 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 desk he has a silver ashtray in the form of a peasant's bast shoes.

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 arbor.

Turgenev very carefully approached the description of the duel scene, which is presented in the novel as if on behalf of the author, 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 Russia is not understood, they do not hear each other. Their trouble is that no one wants to make concessions. Turgenev mourns 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 author's position close to Bazarov's position. 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 problem of fathers and children

The problem of fathers and children can be called eternal, because its relevance never fades. younger generation often comes into conflict with the elder because of the divergence of ideas and worldviews. This problem is especially well depicted in the novel by I. S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons", which was published in the second half of the 19th century. He became a symbol of the era, and the relationship between the nihilist Bazarov and the aristocrat Pavel Kirsanov became an undesirable model for many.

These two characters are by no means negative. However, their intransigence and intolerance of other people's opinions forced critics to take a fresh look at the two social classes. Pavel Petrovich, although a man of the old school, tried to adhere to progressive trends. He is always well-groomed, well-dressed and neatly dressed. Kirsanov Sr. respects the peasants, speaks well of them, but at the same time he frowns at the sight of them and "smells perfume", which already speaks of his controversial character.

His younger brother Nikolai Petrovich, on the contrary, is trying to smooth out all the conflicts that arise. He sees perfectly well that their views differ from the younger generation, but he does everything possible to keep friendly relations with son Arkady. We also observe the problem of fathers and children in Bazarov's relationship with his own parents - people brought up on the old foundations, believing in the power of one god and loving their only son to unconsciousness.

Being a nihilist, Eugene denies the existence of God and does not accept any frank manifestations of love. Vasily Ivanovich and Arina Vlasyevna know about this and therefore try not to show their love. The author emphasizes that these people would have been born a century earlier, since their views on life are too outdated. However, he does not detract from their merits and breadth of soul. Eugene himself, being dying, admits that people like his parents cannot be found among today's people, they are so decent and complacent towards others.

Despite all the efforts of Nikolai Petrovich, a conflict still flares up between Bazarov and Kirsanov Sr. These two are involved in a secret duel, where Evgeny inadvertently wounds Pavel Petrovich, then he himself is the first to give him a helping hand. The problem of fathers and children has been and remains one of the most important in Russian classical literature. Many authors reflected it in their works, among them Griboyedov, Pushkin, Ostrovsky. However, Turgenev's work most fully reflected the collision of the "past century" with the "present century".