Fathers and Sons 1079After Bazarov falls terminally ill with typhus,
she responds immediately to his wish to see her one
last time. Their last moments together are colored
by her unexpressed but deeply felt guilt that she
is in some way responsible for his death by failing
to acknowledge her own love for him, and by not
responding to his confession of his love for her at
their previous meeting: “She was starkly frightened
with a certain chill and agonizing fright; the thought
that she would have felt otherwise if she truly loved
him flashed in an instant through her head.” Tur-
genev suggests that this guilt will remain with her
even in the future.
Following Bazarov’s death, his old father, racked
by guilt at his inability as a father and as a medical
professional to save his son’s life, screams out that
he will “rebel,” although it is never clear whether he
is regretting his failure to join and support his son’s
nihilistic ideals or whether his desire was to rebel
against the class structures and traditions of old
Russia and he had somehow bequeathed his rebel-
liousness to Bazarov. The old parents are left alone,
sacrificing what remains of their lives on the altar
of their private guilt at failing to understand their
mercurial son: “Side by side . . . that’s how they fell;
and they let their poor heads droop, like little lambs
at noonday.” Perhaps Turgenev is making the point
that an excess of innocence, like ignorance and inac-
tion, is also a reason for guilt and futile repentance
after the opportunities are lost.
Even where love is rewarded with consummation
and relationships emerge from under the shadow of
secrecy or inadequacy, feelings of guilt still lin-
ger. Fenechka, established as wife and mother of
Nikolai’s “second heir,” appears a different woman.
Her new position is an indirect result of Bazarov’s
duel with Pavel over her honor. However, under
her “immobility that denoted respect,” her smile
is apologetic, “as though she would say: ‘You must
excuse me; I’m not to blame’ ” because she cannot
help feeling she has usurped the position that ought
by right to be Katya’s as Arkady’s wife. She is not
alone in feeling guilt, for all the others in the fam-
ily “seemed to be apologizing; . . . They all helped
one another with amusing solicitude, as if they had
agreed to play out some sort of artless comedy.” The
shade of Bazarov’s memory makes its presence felt
even in this moment of family togetherness, a final
moment, as it turns out, for Pavel Petrovich is leav-
ing for Europe and already adopting the “English
flourish” in his manners, turning his back on the old
Russian tradition he had once defended so hotly
against Bazarov’s nihilism. It seems guilt in one
form is merely replaced by another.
Divya SaksenaILLneSS in Fathers and Sons
In Fathers and Sons Ivan Turgenev presents a realis-
tic view of his time, depicting the social unrest that
was present in Russia just prior to the historic 1861
emancipation of the serfs by Alexander II, as well
as the various reforms that were taking place at the
time. One of the quieter reforms taking place amid
the outcry for political and social emancipation and
equality was in the field of medicine and the way
illness was perceived and treated.
The complex interplay and changing roles of
the novel’s two main characters, Arkady Kirsanov
and Yevgeny Bazarov, throughout the novel, sug-
gest different concepts of illness. For Bazarov, love
is an illness contaminating the soul, and he rejects
its emotional aspects while accepting its physi-
cal basis of attraction (as in the case of Nikolai
and his peasant mistress Fenechka). After spend-
ing a few days at Maryino, the two friends visit
a relative of Arkady’s in a neighboring province.
There they meet the beautiful and independent
Madame Odintsova and accept her invitation
to spend a few days at her estate, Nikolskoe. At
Nikolskoe, Arkady swiftly falls in love with Katya,
Madame Odintsova’s sister, while Bazarov feels
increasingly attracted toward Madame Odintsova.
When he finally declares his love to her, she gives
no response and allows him to leave for his par-
ents’ home unsatisfied. Though his parents receive
them enthusiastically, Bazarov remains morose and
resentful. More hurt by his rejection than he will
admit, he tries to bring his scientific training to
bear on the illness of love that he sees corrupting
his friend Arkady and his own life. His petulant
behavior almost brings him to blows with Arkady.
After a brief stay, the young men return to Mary-
ino, via Nikolskoye, where Odintsova still gives
Bazarov a cool reception.