Is it possible to unequivocally say that ideological differences lie at the heart of the conflict between Pavel Petrovich and Bazarov? based on the novel Fathers and Sons (Turgenev I. S.)


Work on the novel “Fathers and Sons” took I.S. Turgenev less than a year. He began it in August 1860 and completed it in July 1861. The basis of the plot was the conflict between secular liberalism and revolutionary democracy during the period of the abolition of serfdom.

Disagreements between generations - eternal theme. This is explained by the passage of time, along with which the surrounding reality changes.

Progress influences worldview and character formation. Older people do not always welcome changes in lifestyle and do not want to understand new views. Misunderstanding turns into a contradiction of eras.

It is precisely this confrontation between the views of the old and the new that is presented on the pages of the novel. Pavel Kirsanov is a typical representative of aristocratic liberalism. He is handsome, honest, smart and noble in his own way. Pavel Petrovich is about 45 years old, he is somewhat self-confident, but he respects established foundations, is spiritually rich and always adheres to his principles.

Bazarov is a completely different type of personality. He personifies the generation of revolutionary democrats. Evgeny is young, smart, educated, gravitates towards natural sciences, has an integral character, amazing will and hard work. A full-strength intellectual is bored with inaction; his soul demands change. At the same time, he is devoid of romance, demonstratively indifferent to aesthetics and art.

Any conversation between Kirsanov and Bazarov ends in an argument. Everyone defends their own views and is confident that they are right, so opponents fail to find a common language. They have different attitudes towards the Russian people, culture and philosophy. These disagreements show how wide the gap is between the opponents. Turgenev presents Bazarov as a self-confident, cold-blooded and daring person who denies any canons.

However, the hero’s character is fully revealed only after trials of love. At the beginning of the novel, Bazarov considers love stupid, but nature takes its toll - feelings for Odintsova awaken in him. Passion inspired Eugene and awakened tenderness and kindness in him.

I cannot agree with Bazarov with the need to deny feelings and the entire past. You cannot give up romance, art, literature, but otherwise, for me, the views of Turgenev’s nihilist are closer than the conservative judgments of Pavel Petrovich.

The main difference between Bazarov and Kirsanov is that one is active, the other is passive. If Russia followed only the laws of the liberal nobility, it would never achieve progress. For prosperity we need people like Bazarov.

Updated: 2017-01-12

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The meaning of the conflict between Bazarov and the Kirsanov brothers. In the novel “Fathers and Sons,” the clash does not occur between the older and younger generations of the Kirsanovs and Bazarovs. Neither Arkady Kirsanov nor Evgeny Bazarov comes into conflict with their fathers. By “fathers” or “older generation” we mean people of outdated social views. And the “children”, or “younger generation”, are supporters of new, revolutionary democratic ideas. The struggle between these two worldviews is the main meaning of the conflict of the novel.

The plot is built on gradually increasing ideological disputes between two warring groups. The conflict between them ends, as it did in life, with a complete break.

The noble group in the novel is represented by the Kirsanov brothers. The democrat commoner Evgeniy Bazarov belongs to the “children” camp.

Turgenev called Bazarov his “favorite brainchild,” “an expression of our newest modernity.” His origins are reported very sparingly: his father was a military doctor who led a “wandering life,” and his grandfather once “ploughed the land.” Evgeniy grew up in an environment of labor and hardship; there was no one to educate him and teach him manners. Bazarov's democracy is clearly manifested in his speech; it is full of proverbs and sayings: “Grandma said two more”; “You can’t find it during the day,” “ Dead to the living not a comrade." He speaks without any evasiveness, without forcing himself into feigned politeness. Bazarov sees his purpose in breaking down old orders, concepts and ideas. “First we need to clear the place,” “We want to fight!” - these are his slogans. Perhaps Arkady is right when he believes that Evgeny “will be famous,” but “not in the medical field.”

“A democrat to the core,” Bazarov hates the nobility and, in turn, evokes a feeling of reciprocal hostility on the part of the masters. His “fights” with Pavel Petrovich are a reflection of mutual class hatred. The aristocracy of Pavel Petrovich, his habits, manners, and lordly idleness are alien and hostile to Bazarov. In turn, Pavel Petrovich “hated Bazarov with all the strength of his soul: he considered him proud, impudent, cynic, plebeian; he suspected that Bazarov did not respect him, that he almost despised him.”

Once upon a time a brilliant life awaited Pavel Petrovich military career But his unsuccessful love for a woman “with a mysterious look” turned his whole life upside down. He retired, wandered in foreign lands, then returned to Russia, was bored, doing nothing, and so ten “colorless, fruitless, fast years” passed. This is an aristocrat so alien to the people that he “doesn’t even know how to talk to them.” Talking to the peasants, he “winces his face and sniffs the cologne.” He only reads english books and newspapers, dresses in the English manner, and maintains in the village the aristocratic habit of changing clothes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He speaks in an emphatically refined, old-fashioned way. There is a lot in his speech foreign words, which, according to Bazarov’s remark, “Russians don’t even need them for nothing.”

Hatred for Bazarov deprives him of the necessary restraint in disputes; he often gets lost and, instead of convincing arguments, throws caustic remarks at his opponent and experiences “secret irritation.”

Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov strives to “get up to par with modern requirements”; he fusses and fusses a lot. He is elected as a peace mediator and is called “red.” On his estate, he introduces innovations: he has not an estate, but a farm, not serfs, but hired workers. However, the kind and gentle master turns out to be a helpless owner: “the newly established household creaked like an unoiled wheel, crackled like homemade furniture made of raw wood.”

Arkady Kirsanov is passionate about the ideas of the common democrats, but by birth, upbringing and habits he was drawn to the environment of his “father”, in noble nests where he felt great. Bazarov understands this. They cannot be true friends and like-minded people. Parting with Arkady, Bazarov gives him an accurate description: “You were not created for our bitter, tart, bean life. You have neither insolence nor anger. You are a nice fellow; but you’re still a soft, liberal gentleman.”

Bazarov’s victory over the “feudal lords” the Kirsanov brothers, the debunking of Arkady and the break with him are emphasized main idea novel, which, according to Turgenev, lies “in the triumph of democracy over aristocracy.”

The conflict between fathers and children is an eternal and universal problem, but in specific historical conditions it acquires special facets. Roman I.S. Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons", written during a period of profound historical changes associated with the reform of 1861, shows that in Russia at that time the problem of fathers and sons was embodied in the confrontation between old and new ideological, socio-political and moral-philosophical positions. On the one hand, this is the generation of “fathers”, to which the noble liberals belonged, on the other hand, the generation of “children” that is replacing it, that is, new, democratically minded youth who denied everything that was connected with the old world. A dispute of socio-historical generations is unfolding before us.

The novel “Fathers and Sons” exposes the social antagonism of the positions of the democrat, nihilist Bazarov and the aristocrat, liberal Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov. The liberal program, the main defender of which is Kirsanov Sr., is based on the ideas of dignity and integrity, self-respect, and honor. The nihilist Bazarov, proclaiming the idea of ​​“complete and merciless negation,” believes that the existing world must be destroyed in order to then carry out radical transformations. Nihilism, according to Turgenev, challenges the eternal values ​​of the spirit and the natural foundations of life, and this cannot but cause concern.

From this point of view, the generational conflict takes on a completely different semantic connotation. Turgenev shows not only the differences, but also certain similarities between the antagonistic heroes, revealing the destructive sides of both Kirsanov’s conservatism and Bazarov’s nihilism. With a tie love line Bazarov - Odintsov, the problem of fathers and children moves to the moral and philosophical level. The former Bazarov, a convinced denier of the “secrets of existence,” no longer exists. Like Pavel Petrovich, who also failed in love, Bazarov is immersed in reflection on these secrets and also turns out to be a stranger to ordinary life, “ extra person" Now the socio-historical positions of the antagonist heroes are tested by eternal values: love, friendship, family, death.

Turgenev clearly demonstrates the idea that any extremes are destructive. Having lost all life connections, lost friendship, failed to find love, to restore a truly filial relationship with his parents, Bazarov dies. Pavel Petrovich also lives out his life alone. But the ending of the novel is open: the picture depicting Bazarov’s death is followed by a short epilogue, which reports on how the fates of other heroes work out. It turns out that life goes on where there is no gap between fathers and children, where different generations find a way to mutual understanding. These are the families of Arkady and Katya, Nikolai Petrovich and Fenechka. This means that the eternal conflict between fathers and children can still have a positive solution.

Why did the relationship between Bazarov and Odintsova end tragically? (based on the novel by I.S. Turgenev “Fathers and Sons”)

Turgenev always believed that it is love that tests a person, and therefore the love line between Bazarov and Odintsov is very important for understanding the novel as a whole. From the moment of its emergence, the concrete historical line of plot development is transformed into a moral and philosophical one, replacing ideological disputes questions posed by life itself come, and the character of the hero becomes more complex and contradictory. He, who denied the romance of love, himself fell romantically, hopelessly in love. His feelings and previous beliefs come into conflict, which makes the relationship with Odintsova complex and sometimes painful for the hero.

The beautiful Anna Sergeevna Odintsova is a strong, deep, independent person, endowed with a developed mind, but at the same time she is cold and selfish. In some ways she is similar to Bazarov: like him, she treats other people condescendingly, feeling her superiority over them. She is the only one in the novel who correctly understood the complex and contradictory character of Bazarov, appreciated him, and understood the depth and strength of the feeling that arose in him. It would seem that all this could lead to a strong alliance of heroes. After all, both of them are, in fact, very lonely. Odintsova, like Bazarov, feels that the powers of her rich nature remain unrealized.

But what awaits her and Bazarov? The scene of the hero's declaration of love shows that there is no harmony in their relationship and cannot be. It is not for nothing that Anna Sergeevna is so frightened by some hidden, but sometimes breaking out, formidable force hidden in Bazarov. He has the courage to admit that he is in love, like a real romantic, but the consciousness of this makes him angry - either at himself or at Odintsova. On the other hand, she herself does not have enough courage and determination to connect her fate with him. Instead of a busy, unpredictable, but extremely difficult life with this extraordinary man, she prefers a somewhat boring, but very comfortable existence in the familiar conditions of a wealthy aristocratic circle. At the end of the novel we learn that Anna Sergeevna married very successfully and is quite satisfied with her life. So the responsibility for the unfulfilled relationship with Bazarov lies with her.

The title of Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons" very accurately reflects the main conflict of the work. The writer raises a layer of cultural, family, romantic, platonic and friendly themes, but the relationship between two generations - the older and the younger - comes to the fore. The dispute between Bazarov and Kirsanov is a vivid example of this confrontation. The historical background for ideological conflicts was the mid-19th century, the time before the abolition of serfdom in Russian Empire. At the same time, liberals and revolutionary democrats clashed head-on. Let's look at the details and outcome of the controversy using the example of our heroes.

The central conflict of the novel “Fathers and Sons” is the dispute between Bazarov and Kirsanov

It is a mistake to believe that the essence of the work “Fathers and Sons” comes down to just a change in the ideology of generations, which has socio-political implications. Turgenev endowed this novel with deep psychologism and a multi-layered plot. With a superficial reading, the reader’s focus is only on the conflict between the aristocracy and commoners. The dispute helps to identify the views held by Bazarov and Kirsanov. The table below shows the essence of these contradictions. And if we dig deeper, we can notice that there is an idyll of family happiness, and intrigue, and emancipation, and grotesqueness, and the eternity of nature, and reflections on the future.

Evgeny Bazarov finds himself in the midst of a conflict between fathers and sons when he agrees to come and visit Maryino with his university friend Arkady. The atmosphere in my friend’s house did not immediately go well. Manners, appearance, difference of views - all this provokes mutual antipathy with Uncle Arkady. The further dispute between Bazarov and Kirsanov flares up due to many topics: art, politics, philosophy, the Russian people.

Portrait of Evgeny Bazarov

Evgeny Bazarov is a representative of the generation of “children” in the novel. He is a young student with progressive views, but at the same time prone to nihilism, which the “fathers” condemn. Turgenev seemed to deliberately dress the hero absurdly and carelessly. The details of his portrait emphasize the rudeness and spontaneity of the young man: wide forehead, red hands, self-confident behavior. Bazarov, in principle, is outwardly unattractive, but has a deep mind.

The dispute between Bazarov and Kirsanov is aggravated by the fact that the former does not recognize any dogmas or authorities. Evgeniy is convinced that any truth begins with doubt. The hero also believes that everything can be verified experimentally and does not take judgments on faith. The situation is aggravated by Bazarov’s intolerance towards opposing opinions. He is deliberately harsh in his statements.

Portrait of Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov

Pavel Kirsanov is a typical nobleman, a representative of the “fathers” generation. He is a pampered aristocrat and a staunch conservative who adheres to liberal political views. He dresses elegantly and neatly, wears formal suits in the English style and starches his collars. Bazarov's opponent is very well-groomed in appearance and elegant in manners. He shows his “breed” with all his appearance.

From his point of view, established traditions and principles must remain unshakable. The dispute between Bazarov and Kirsanov is reinforced by the fact that Pavel Petrovich perceives everything new negatively and even hostilely. Here innate conservatism makes itself felt. Kirsanov bows to the old authorities, only they are true for him.

Dispute between Bazarov and Kirsanov: table of disagreements

The most main problem already voiced by Turgenev in the title of the novel - the difference between generations. The line of argument between the main characters can be traced from this table.

"Fathers and Sons": conflict of generations

Evgeny Bazarov

Pavel Kirsanov

Manners and portrait of heroes

Careless in his statements and behavior. A self-confident but smart young man.

Smart, sophisticated aristocrat. Despite his venerable age, he retained his slim and presentable appearance.

Political Views

Promotes nihilistic ideas, which Arkady also follows. Has no authority. Recognizes only what he considers useful for society.

Adheres to liberal views. Main value considers personality and self-esteem.

Attitude towards the common people

He despises commoners, although he is proud of his grandfather, who worked on the land all his life.

He comes to the defense of the peasantry, but keeps his distance from them.

Philosophical and aesthetic views

Convinced materialist. Doesn't consider philosophy to be something important.

Believes in the existence of God.

Motto for life

Has no principles, is guided by sensations. Respects people who are either listened to or hated.

He considers aristocracy to be the main principle. And he equates unprincipled people with spiritual emptiness and immorality.

Attitude to art

Denies the aesthetic component of life. Does not recognize poetry or any other manifestation of art.

He considers art important, but is not interested in it himself. The person is dry and unromantic.

Love and women

Voluntarily gives up love. Considers it only from the point of view of human physiology.

He treats women with reverence, reverence, and respect. In love - a real knight.

Who are nihilists

The ideas of nihilism are clearly manifested in the confrontation between opponents, who are Pavel Kirsanov and Bazarov. The dispute reveals the rebellious spirit of Yevgeny Bazarov. He does not bow to authority, and this unites him with the revolutionary democrats. The hero questions and denies everything he sees in society. This is precisely the trait that nihilists have.

Storyline outcome

In general, Bazarov belongs to the category of people of action. He does not accept conventions and feigned aristocratic etiquette. The hero is in a daily search for truth. One of such searches is the dispute between Bazarov and Kirsanov. The table clearly shows the contradictions between them.

Kirsanov is good at polemics, but things don’t go beyond talking. He talks about the life of the common people, but only the ashtray in the shape of a bast shoe on his desktop speaks of his true connection with them. Pavel Petrovich talks with pathos about serving for the good of the Motherland, while he himself lives a well-fed and calm life.

Because of the uncompromising nature of the heroes, the truth is not born in the novel "Fathers and Sons." The dispute between Bazarov and Kirsanov ends in a duel, which demonstrates the emptiness of noble knighthood. The collapse of the ideas of nihilism is identified with the death of Eugene from blood poisoning. And the passivity of the liberals is confirmed by Pavel Petrovich, since he remains to live in Dresden, although life away from his homeland is difficult for him.

The conflict between fathers and children is an eternal and universal problem, but in specific historical conditions it acquires special facets. Roman I.S. Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons", written during a period of profound historical changes associated with the reform of 1861, shows that in Russia at that time the problem of fathers and sons was embodied in the confrontation between old and new ideological, socio-political and moral-philosophical positions. On the one hand, this is the generation of “fathers”, to which the noble liberals belonged, on the other hand, the generation of “children” that is replacing it, that is, new, democratically minded youth who denied everything that was connected with the old world. A dispute of socio-historical generations is unfolding before us.

The novel “Fathers and Sons” exposes the social antagonism of the positions of the democrat, nihilist Bazarov and the aristocrat, liberal Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov. The liberal program, the main defender of which is Kirsanov Sr., is based on the ideas of dignity and integrity, self-respect, and honor. The nihilist Bazarov, proclaiming the idea of ​​“complete and merciless negation,” believes that the existing world must be destroyed in order to then carry out radical transformations. Nihilism, according to Turgenev, challenges the eternal values ​​of the spirit and the natural foundations of life, and this cannot but cause concern.

From this point of view, the generational conflict takes on a completely different semantic connotation. Turgenev shows not only the differences, but also certain similarities between the antagonistic heroes, revealing the destructive sides of both Kirsanov’s conservatism and Bazarov’s nihilism. With the beginning of the Bazarov-Odintsov love line, the problem of fathers and children moves to the moral and philosophical level. The former Bazarov, a convinced denier of the “secrets of existence,” no longer exists. Like Pavel Petrovich, who also failed in love, Bazarov is immersed in reflection on these secrets and also turns out to be a stranger to ordinary life, an “extra person.” Now the socio-historical positions of the antagonist heroes are tested by eternal values: love, friendship, family, death.

Turgenev clearly demonstrates the idea that any extremes are destructive. Having lost all life connections, lost friendship, failed to find love, to restore a truly filial relationship with his parents, Bazarov dies. Pavel Petrovich also lives out his life alone. But the ending of the novel is open: the picture depicting Bazarov’s death is followed by a short epilogue, which reports on how the fates of other heroes work out. It turns out that life goes on where there is no gap between fathers and children, where different generations find a way to mutual understanding. These are the families of Arkady and Katya, Nikolai Petrovich and Fenechka. This means that the eternal conflict between fathers and children can still have a positive solution.