Analysis of the episode “The Death of Bazarov” helps to see the inner world of the main character of the novel “Fathers and Sons” Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. The author demonstrates the real Bazarov in the death scene. The main character bravely meets his death. Only now is he showing his true attitude towards his parents, towards Odintsova. Love for Odintsova shook his worldview, a strong position in life based on nihilism - the denial of generally accepted values such as love, kindness, faith. His death shows the failure of nihilistic beliefs.
The material was prepared jointly with a teacher of the highest category, Kuchmina Nadezhda Vladimirovna.
Experience as a teacher of Russian language and literature - 27 years.
Trial by Death
The author of the novel “Fathers and Sons” takes the central character through various trials throughout the novel, resulting in the debunking of Bazarov’s nihilistic theory. The very last and most important thing for understanding the true character of Evgeny Bazarov is the test of death.
The main character faces the approach of death with honor. Bazarov becomes infected when he tries to cure a sick man. His death is not accidental; he receives it in the hope of being needed by the people, to be needed by all of Russia.
The hero does not blame anyone but himself for the tragic fate. Bazarov does not want to die, but recognizes the power of death. Evgeniy understands that his time has come, but he fights to the end. The hero analyzes his own life and comes to the conclusion that his theory was wrong.
To see the real face of the main character of I. S. Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons,” it is necessary to analyze in detail the scene of Bazarov’s death. This episode reveals all the best qualities of the hero, which were previously questioned and denied by Bazarov himself. Only when he is between life and death does the hero allow himself to be real. He renounces the beliefs that shackled his life. Bazarov, finding himself on the verge of death, met her courageously. The hero showed tremendous willpower. I. S. Turgenev shows what kind of evolution Bazarov went through. Only by expecting death does the hero understand the meaning of life.
“Bazarov in the face of death (episode analysis)”
Every writer, when creating his work, be it a science fiction short story or a multi-volume novel, is responsible for the fate of the heroes. The author tries not only to talk about a person’s life, depicting its most striking moments, but also to show how the character of his hero was formed, under what conditions it developed, what features of the psychology and worldview of a particular character led to a happy or tragic ending. The ending of any work in which the author draws a peculiar line under a certain stage or the entire life of the hero in general is a direct reflection of the writer’s position in relation to the character, the result of reflections on the fate of his contemporaries. The main character of I. S. Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons” - Evgeny Vasilyevich Bazarov - dies at the end of the work. Why does the author act this way with the central character? Why is the description of Bazarov's death so important for understanding the meaning of the novel as a whole? The answers to these and many other questions can be found by analyzing the episode of the work, which tells about the death of the main character.
Bazarov is the son of a poor district doctor, continuing the work of his father. Following the author's description, we imagine him as an intelligent, reasonable, rather cynical, but somewhere deep down in his soul a sensitive, attentive and kind person. The specificity of Eugene’s life position lies in the fact that he denies everything: moral ideals and values, moral principles, as well as painting, literature and other forms of art. Bazarov also does not accept the love sung by poets, considering it only “physiology.” There are no authorities for her. He believes that every person should educate himself, without depending on anyone or anything.
Bazarov is a nihilist. But not like Sitnikov and Kukshina, who consider themselves to be nihilists, for whom denial is just a mask that allows them to hide their inner vulgarity and inconsistency. Unlike them, Bazarov does not grimace; with all the ardor of a spiritually rich and passionate nature, he defends views close to him. His main goal is “work for the benefit of society,” his main task is “to live for the great goal of renewing the world.”
It can be said that Bazarov treated those around him with a significant amount of condescension and even contempt, placing them below himself (let us recall his statements addressed to Arkady’s relatives and himself), he considers unacceptable the manifestation of such feelings as sympathy, mutual understanding, affection, tenderness, sympathy.
But life makes its own adjustments to his worldview. Fate brings Evgeny together with a smart, beautiful, calm and surprisingly unhappy woman, Anna Sergeevna Odintsova. Bazarov falls in love, and, having fallen in love, he understands that his beliefs are at odds with the simple truths of life. Love appears before him no longer as “physiology,” but as a real, sincere feeling. This insight for Bazarov, who lives and “breathes” his nihilism, cannot pass without a trace. Along with the destruction of his beliefs, his whole life collapses, losing its meaning. Turgenev could have shown how Bazarov would gradually abandon his views; he did not do this, but simply “dead” his main character.
Bazarov's death is an unfortunate and stupid accident. It was the result of a small cut he received while opening the body of a peasant who had died of typhus. The death of the hero was not sudden: on the contrary, it gave Bazarov time, the opportunity to evaluate what had been done and realize the extent of what had not been accomplished. In the face of death, Bazarov is stoic, strong, unusually calm and unperturbed. Thanks to the author’s description of the hero’s condition, we feel respect for Bazarov, not pity. And at the same time, we constantly remember that before us is an ordinary person with his inherent weaknesses.
No one can calmly perceive the approach of the end, and Eugene, despite all his self-confidence, is not able to treat this with complete indifference. He regrets his unspent strength, his unfulfilled task. The “giant,” which Bazarov always considered himself to be, cannot oppose anything to death: “Yes, go ahead, try to deny death. She denies you, and that’s it!” Behind the irony of the hero, one can clearly see the bitter regret of the passing minutes.
In the last days of his life, Evgeniy becomes kinder and more gentle. He longs to meet his beloved woman in order to once again confess his love to her. He becomes softer with his parents, deep down, probably still understanding that they have always occupied a significant place in his life and deserve a much more attentive and sincere attitude.
Bazarov devoted his entire life to the desire to benefit the country and science. And death for him is not just the cessation of existence, but also a sign that he is “apparently not needed” by Russia. The realization of this “uselessness” comes to Eugene at the very last moment and becomes the final stage in the death of his views, as well as his own death.
The reader understands that Bazarov has no one to convey what little, but the most precious thing he has is his beliefs. He has no near and dear person, and therefore no future. He does not imagine himself as a district doctor, but he also cannot be reborn, become like Arkady. There is no place for him in Russia, and, perhaps, abroad too. Bazarov dies, and with him his genius, his wonderful, strong character, his ideas and beliefs die. But true life is endless, the flowers on Eugene’s grave confirm this. Life is endless, but only true...
Attitude towards love
Realizing that he will soon die, Bazarov asks his father to call Odintsova in order to confess his feelings to her. He understands that now is exactly the case. Denying all manifestations of love, Bazarov understands that he was wrong all this time. The central character is only now saying everything that he has felt for a long time. After declaring his love, Evgeny says goodbye to Odintsova and wishes her a happy life. In parting, Bazarov asks Odintsova to kiss him - “to blow on the dying lamp.” The main character realized that he gave in to love too late.
How the image of Bazarov is revealed in love and death
Pisarev says that Bazarov’s death is an accident, that this event is not connected with the general thread of the novel. But is that really the case with Turgenev? But this is, first of all, that the love drama did not pass without a trace for Bazarov: “... the fever of work disappeared from him and was replaced by dreary boredom and dull anxiety.” In such and such a state, having reached the point of complete indifference to himself, Bazarov did not take basic precautions when opening the corpse, and did not cauterize the wound, even if he heated the same lancet that he used. A strange negligence, in which one can suspect a cruel game with one’s own destiny. But the point is not only this: isn’t Bazarov’s death inevitably prepared by the entire course of the novel, by the hero’s ever-increasing loneliness (which Pisarev also notes), by the gradual severance of ties with everyone around him?
It is unlikely that everyone will agree with Pisarev’s idea that Bazarov’s illness and death reveal the son’s indifference to his parents. The text of the novel says otherwise (although, as always with Turgenev, through the means of “secret psychology”). And Pisarev himself later, in the article “Realists,” will reconsider this opinion and write about Bazarov, who is tormented by his spiritual disunity with his parents. Turgenev is not a dialectician, not a sophist; he cannot prove a preconceived idea with his images, no matter how abstractly true or practically useful this idea may seem to him. He is first of all an artist, a person unconsciously, involuntarily sincere; his images live their own lives; he loves them, he is carried away by them, he becomes attached to them during the creative process, and it becomes impossible for him to push them around at his whim and turn the picture of life into an allegory with a moral purpose and a virtuous outcome. The honest, pure nature of the artist takes its toll, breaks down theoretical barriers, triumphs over the delusions of the mind and with its instincts redeems everything: the infidelity of the main idea, the one-sidedness of development, and the obsolescence of concepts. Peering at his Bazarov, Turgenev as a person and as an artist grows in his novel, grows before our eyes and grows to a correct understanding, to a fair assessment of the created type
At the same time, Pisarev is sure that the author of the novel had an unkind bias: “When creating Bazarov, Turgenev “wanted to smash him into dust and instead paid him full tribute of fair respect.” But students can argue with this opinion, relying on the novel and on the testimony of Turgenev himself.
The critic’s thought, like his personality itself, fascinated many researchers. Acquaintance with Pisarev affected one way or another in the final essays. Let us present one of them, interesting in the sense that it characterizes the individual’s view of Turgenev at the time of completion of work on the topic. The work is not quite ordinary in style and laconicism.
Does Russia need Bazarovs? Let's explore the topic. In my opinion, it contains three questions. First: does Russia need revolutionary democrats of the 60s of the 19th century? (Pisarev strictly proved that Bazarov is a typical sixties man.) History answered this question: the raznochintsy revolutionaries continued the work of the Decembrists and prepared the first onslaught of the revolutionary storm. They participated in the development of Russian science, especially natural science. Second: does Russia need Bazarov, the hero of Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons”? And history gave the answer to this question. Even the populist revolutionaries proved that Turgenev’s images have historical significance; advanced youth imitated them. II today Bazarov is interesting, like everything written by Turgenev.
Third: why does Bazarov think before his death that Russia doesn’t need him? Because he dies before he can do his job. “Russia needs me... No, apparently I don’t,” said the dying Bazarov. He believed that he had not done anything that would help Russia. But Pisarev proved that dying the way Bazarov died is the same as accomplishing a great feat. Not everyone is capable of such a death, only a strong and convinced person. There is no doubt that, if he had to, Bazarov would have been able to die, like Sotnikov (V. Bykov “Sotnikov”), like Jordan (E. Hemingway “For Whom the Bell Tolls”).
Brief retelling
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