Critiquing the Details in Fathers and Sons by Turgenev

An authors voice is never non-existent in his work. No matter what someone is writing. it is processed through their experiences and beliefs. This follows through With Turgenev and his Fathers and Sons. Through all of his main characters. Turgenev highlights the importance of finding love and purpose in life through selfrspeculation. He also shows With two characters: Evgeny Vasilish (Bazarov) and Anna Sergeevna Odintsova. the effect of building Walls to shut out the World, love and even deep soulrsearching. These walls are illustrated by Turgenev through symbols such as frogs, trees, and Windows, who projects his ideas on the book.

Bazarov. being a nihilist supports nothing that cannot be proved through soience and this, as Turgenev shows, is his downfall. In the book. Bazarovs inability to understand himself as an indiViduaI leads him to reiect love and in turn leads him to reject lifet Annas life is organized on rails which do not stray from their busy paths. Anna constantly has something to do so that she does not have time to think about her individual feelings or about what life should be.

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Turgenev expresses himself as a romantic by taking his two characters who reject love by not knowing themselves and giving them both powerful ending of death in order to show that one cannot live Without love and no one can find love if they dont fully understand themselves Turgenev makes it clear to the reader that Bazarov does not know himself and has no interest in learning about the indiVIdual.

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As a scientist, Bazarov is only interested in a species and that would include human beings. lll cut the frogs open and look inside to see what is going on, since you and I are JLISI like frogs, except that we walk on two legs, Ill find whats going on inside us as well. This quote demonstrates how Bazarov is able to acquire information about humans. While he could find physical resemblance in frogs and humans, he could never use a frog to understand human feelings and even his own feelings. He equates frogs with humans in saying since you and I are just like frogs and in doing this, he shows that he thinks that all humans are the same in every aspect, This puts a Wall in between him and everyone else because he lives by the idea that feelings are romantic. a creation of the generation before him and something he refuses to live by. Bazarov also talks about trees and by saying that one tree is enough to understand the whole species he also shows how he feels about humans. His idea of nature and humans suggest that physically and psychologically, all humans are the same. Because of his beliefs, when Bazarov falls in love With Anna and admits to it, he feels trapped.

Odinstova stretched out both her arms, While Bazarov pressed his forehead against the Window. Throughout the entire book, Turgenev plays With the idea of a Window. He uses it to express the idea of the border in between self-exploration and feelings and screntific reality. Bazarov, at this time in the book, is boxed in and cannot seem to decide whether he should open the window to his heart and give in to romanticism or if he should return to his natural beliefs, Bazarov returns to his original beliefs, however, he does not return to his original self, He begins to become more romantic in his thought and actions, With his work, he becomes veiy sloppy and unsafe which is surprising because his belief in science was based on precision and careful accuracy. The denial of acting upon his love for Anna drives him to become unlike himself and leads to his selfrdestruction. What do you mean, yours? HoW so? What cut? Where? Right here on my finger. Today I went to the Village you know, the one from which they brought the man With typhus. For some reason they wanted to have an autopsy performed, and I hadnt done one in a long time.Well? Well, I asked the local doctor if I could; and well, I cut myself. In losing his love for Anna, Bazarov becomes more careless with his life and because of this he makes a careless mistake that could have been avoided if he had been more attentive, Bazarov kills himself scientifically and this parallels the Walls he built around himself. By being a nihilist and only believing in what science can prove Bazarov builds Walls around himself as to reject anyone including himself from getting to know him as an indiVIdual. Turgenev allows this to happen to his most controversial character because he is shoWing that you cannot properly express love while being oblivious to yourself and your feelings; and if you cannot find love then there is nothing to live for so you self destruct. Anna Sergeevna Odintsova is also guilty of shutting herself off from the world and from even herself.

She wasnt loved in the province; there was a great deal of fuss over her marriage to Odinstov, and all sorts of unbelievable stories circulated about her (Turgenev 60)These rumors about Anna begin to arise and spread as a result of her keeping to herself and not allowing anyone to get close to her, Because of this, stories that are unbelievable are able fuel peoples thoughts about her because she wont let anyone in, With Anna. Turgenev especially uses the symbol of a window and the wind from it to express hoW open she is with herself. Sometimes, upon emerging from a fragrant bath, all Warm and soft, shed fall to musing about the insignificance of life, its sadness, travail, and evrl Her soul would be filled With unexpected boldness and seethe with noble aspirations; but a draught of wind would blow in from a half-opened Window and Anna Sergeevna would retreat into herself, complain, and feel almost angry; the only thing she needed at that moment was for the nasty wind to stop blowing on her. This signifies how Anna slips into deep thought and exploration of herself momentarily but when she notices that her Window is open and she is vulnerable and others can be let in from that crack in her window, she quickly becomes irritated and draws back any visible feelings that she may have. Youve organized your life With such infallible precrsion, theres no room in it for boredom or depression no painful feelings. You think lm infallible that is, Ive organized my life in such away? I say! Heres an example: in a few minutes itll be ten o clock and I know full Well youll chase me out. In this conversation between Bazarov and Anna. the reader can see that Anna lives a life in Which she structures her schedule in order to avoid deep contemplation of herself or of anything else. This distance Anna created from herself disenables her to accept love because she does not know how to be open with anyone, including herself, and stay open. Turgenev shows this in a scene with both Anna and Bazarov, Anna tells Bazarov to open awindow but to lower the curtain, In this the fact that she can never be fully open is expressed because the opening of the window signifies the letting down of the wall Anna has built around herself, In the book, Turgenev equates Anna with her aunt Princess Kh. Turgenev shows that the two characters are equivalent because they are both considered to be old Within different groups and they are both utterly lonely. Princess Kh. is a representation of What Anna Will become if she does not let her Walls down and allow herself to fully submerge into love With Bazarov. It turns out that the walls Anna built Were too strong and as a result of this, she was unable to fall into a fullrfledged and so her aunt, her equivalent, dies in the end. Princess Kh. passed away, forgotten the day she died. In givrng Anna this ending through a reflection of herself, Turgenev affirms his ideologies that one who cannot find love cannot live and one who also cannot break down hrs/her walls cannot find love. Turgenev, being very opinionated, projects his thoughts on all of his characters. With two characters specifically, he expresses his pure romanticism, In showing that life without love is pointless, Turgenev shows himself to be a strong believer in individuality also because he puts stress on the idea that only when a person knows him/her self can he/she find love, In order to illustrate this to his readers, Turgenev brings both characters to death in different ways. He shows that building walls leads to self destruction with Bazarov because the same method he used to build his walls cause his death and With Anna he allows her to liguratively drive herself into the ground by showmg that her inability to open herself up drives her only true love away and In consequence to this, she loses her life in the loss of her aunts.

Updated: May 03, 2023
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Critiquing the Details in Fathers and Sons by Turgenev. (2022, Jul 14). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/a-critique-on-the-ideas-on-the-details-of-the-story-in-fathers-and-sons-by-ivan-turgenev-essay

Critiquing the Details in Fathers and Sons by Turgenev essay
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