Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Fathers and Sons, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Tradition and Progress
Nature vs. Materialism
Love vs. Nihilism
Generational Conflict
Summary
Analysis
That day, Bazarov meets Fenichka while strolling in the garden with Arkady. He introduces himself to Fenichka and admires Mitya. Fenichka is impressed by Mitya’s calm with Bazarov, since he rarely lets other people hold him. As Bazarov and Arkady walk on, Bazarov is surprised when Arkady remarks that his father and Fenichka should marry; he didn’t think Arkady would “still attach importance to marriage.”
Bazarov and Fenichka befriend one another. Bazarov’s forwardness in introducing himself would seem quite bold at the time, but the baby’s ease with him does much to win over Fenichka. Arkady still holds onto some traditional structures like marriage, showing he’s slower to reject all authorities and isn’t completely in step with his mentor Bazarov.
Themes
As they continue their walk, Bazarov criticizes Nikolai’s property, observing that his peasants are taking advantage of him. When Arkady says that Bazarov has a low opinion of Russians, Bazarov says that the only good thing about Russians is their poor opinion of themselves—“what is important is that two and two make four, and the rest is just trivial.” Arkady, admiring the surrounding fields in the setting sun, asks if nature is “trivial,” too. Bazarov says yes, that “nature is not a temple, but a workshop, and man’s the workman in it.”
Bazarov doesn’t have an inherent respect for Russian cultural identity; the only thing that matters is mechanical principles. Arkady is having a hard time with this. Witnessing beauty, he’s inclined to believe that there must be something meaningful about it. However, Bazarov rejects this—nature, in his view, is there for human beings to manipulate at will. It’s not there to be revered. This is a clear statement of his materialist viewpoint.
Themes
Then they hear the sounds of Schubert being played on a cello. When Arkady tells Bazarov that Nikolai is playing, Bazarov “[roars] with laughter” at the thought of a 44-year-old man playing the cello in a remote province. “Much as he revered his mentor […] Arkady did not even smile.”
This exchange shows another crack in Arkady’s and Bazarov’s relationship. Bazarov trivializes and mocks what he sees as Nikolai’s pretensions, but Arkady ultimately loves his father more than he reveres Bazarov, and the mockery hurts him. Arkady is not a thoroughgoing nihilist.
Themes
