THEMES

Major

Father-son relationship theme

The prominent theme in Turgenev’s ‘Fathers and Sons’ is the relationship between the two generations one of the fathers and the other of the sons. When a conflict does break out between the two generations, we find that the reader’s sympathies goes to the older generation. This conflict is further ignited by the very presence of Bazarov.

Minor

Theme of impact of main character on other characters

Along with the major theme we see a minor theme, almost correlated to the major one. This is the sheer impact that an individual like Bazarov can make on all the individuals around him. Turgenev was a writer of characters and his interest lay in people. So we can see how beautifully he has managed to link one Supreme Being to the other lesser-thinking people around him.

The mood in the entire novel varies from scene to scene and from situation to situation. However, the main thing is that there is no frivolity or light heartedness in the novel. The love between the fathers and sons is somber and heavy with emotions. There is hardly any tomfoolery to be seen.

The typical behavior of the Russian aristocracy as against the peasant class has been displayed. The mood therefore throughout is mostly serious and somber.

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