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Essay / Major Themes of Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
The novel Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev follows the stories of several characters in mid-19th century Russia. The novel addresses some of the most important themes that happened in Russia during this time. At the beginning of the story, we meet Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov and his servant Pyotr. Noble by birth, Nikolai Petrovich was the son of a Russian general who distinguished himself in the war against Napoleon in 1812. Like his father, he obtained a commission in the army but shortly after suffered a wound to his head. leg forced him to abandon service. Injured in the leg, his father sent him to university where he graduated and married the daughter of a landlord and had a son named Arkady Nikolayevich Kirsanov. Currently we ask her how she is and ask to see the child. We have a little story about how Nikolai and Fenichka meet. They meet in a remote provincial town where he had a conversation with the owner Arina Sa-vishna who he asked if she would come and work for him. She agreed and came to work for him until his death. It was then that he took Fenichka as his mistress. Later the same day, Bazarov introduces himself to her under Arkady's protest. After that, Bazarov asks Arkady if he is comfortable with his father's relationship with her. He replies that they should both get married. This makes Bazarov confused as he cannot believe that his friend still has faith in marriage. Chapters 8 and 9 have the themes of memory and nihilism. Pavel's meeting with Fenichka shows that he has feelings for her because she reminds him of a person from his past. Bazarov continues to ridicule Arkady because he believes his father and Fenichka should get married. He calls the status of his father's estate. This upset Arkady and we began to see a division in their friendship when he said, "I'm starting to agree with my uncle," Arkady said. "You really have a bad opinion of Bazarov kissing Fenichka, which Pavel observes and considers it his duty to defend his brother's honor, and he challenges Bazarov to a duel. Pavel is slightly injured and Bazarov leaves Marino .Bazarov returns home and contracts typhus after performing an autopsy on a body. Arkady and Katya get married as does his father and Fenichka begins to manage her father's estate. There are many themes in the latter part of the book. .for the first time, seeing Bazarov in an uncomfortable situation around Madame Odintsova This shocks Arkady because he has never seen his friend act like this before Continuing in chapter 17, Bazarov begins to develop feelings for Madame Odintsova with. he struggles because it conflicts with his ideology of nihilism. This conflict is noticed by Arkady who begins to lose confidence in his friend. In chapter 20, Bazarov makes everyone uncomfortable. Like Nikolai, Vassily Ivanovich Bazarov tried to follow current events in the field of medicine to impress. his son. This doesn't impress him, saying "I'm going to say this to console you", "Today, we make fun of medicine in general and we don't bow to anyone." "How is that possible? Don't you want to become a doctor?" "Yes, but one thing doesn't preclude the other." (p.93) This shows how disconnected his father is from his father's ideology. son This resembles to some extent the moment when Nikolai learns that.