Fathers And Sons Figurative Language

Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons follows two young nihilists finding their place in the Russian society after having just graduated in St. Petersburg, while Russia is in an unstable political situation with a desire to move towards a free-market economy and away from the feudalistic economy. Turgenev uses the multiple opposing views embodied by various characters to portray the political unrest in Russia after the Crimean War. Through the use of figurative language, natural symbolism and transitional setting, Turgenev indirectly suggests a moderate and open-minded view will eventually prevail within the new Russian political system.

Yevgeny Vassilyich Bazarov is a self-proclaimed nihilist, who rejects emotional connections and focuses on the factual aspects of the world. Bazarov is the embodiment of nihilism, the new outlook on life adopted by the Russian youth who idolize western Europe and rejected the Russian traditions of their parents. His arrogance and conceitedness is shown when he is speaking about Sitnikov and states, “You’ve got to understand I absolutely need idiots like that. The gods need someone to do the dirty work!” (106). Bazarov considers himself god-like, which could be a result from the constant adoration he received from a young age from his parents, transcending to others around him, such as Arkady. Thus, his ego stems, not from what he has achieved, but what he is yet to accomplish and his belief that this will have a monumental influence on the Russian society. Despite his character flaws, Bazarov has a magnetic personality, likely resulting from

He expresses the Russian reformation and social reconstruction by juxtaposing the evolution of his characters and their political stances. He carefully constructs the outcome of each character to communicate his stance on the unstable post-war