Pisarev's article "Bazarov": a summary and analysis

In the main hero of the novel "Fathers and Sons" by Turgenev, the critic Pisarev saw something that he himself liked. This is an embodiment of his own ideal. Pisarev's article "Bazarov," which will be summarized below, was published in March 1862. In it, the author determines and details the character of the novel's hero. He portrayed him as the proclaimer of selfishness and a self-liberated person. Pisarev and then continued to write about Bazarov. In 1864, in the article "Realists", he points out that this hero from the first minutes of his appearance in the novel became his favorite. And then for a long time he continued to stay with them.

Pisarev's article "Bazarov": a summary of the chapters

Pisarev in the chapter of the first wrote that Bazarov does not recognize any authority, regulator, any moral laws and principles, because he lives by himself: how he knows how, knows how he wants and regardless of his face.

The author also pointed out that Bazarov placed himself above the crowds of the masses. He tried in every possible way to distance himself from them and in no way wanted to be at least something similar to them.

People like Bazarov really behave very sharply, sometimes brazenly and fearlessly. Their nature is manifested in actions, habits and way of life. Such people are not interested in whether the people will follow them and whether their society will be accepted. Before that, they do not care.

Pisarev's article "Bazarov": content and analysis

The Bazarovs are filled with their own lives and do not want to let anyone in. But we will continue to develop the topic further, consider what Pisarev's article "Bazarov" tells us yet. The summary of the work of the famous critic also indicates that at first, perhaps, the main character felt quite confident and comfortable, but then, as time showed, he did not find himself happy in his nihilistic image, except for "inner life".

Pisarev writes that Bazarov with his principles and ideas live on the world is not so good. After all, where there is no activity, there is no love, no pleasure. What to do then? To this question Pisarev, who did not share revolutionary views, gives an interesting answer. He writes that in this case it is necessary "to live while living, if there is no roast beef, eat dry bread, and be with women, since you can not love a woman." In general, do not dream of something like orange trees and palms, but realistically content with snowdrifts and cold tundra, not wanting more.

What to do?

A short article by Pisarev "Bazarov" tells that the critic himself perfectly understands that all representatives of the contemporary young generation in their views and aspirations can absolutely accurately recognize themselves in the image of the hero Turgenev. But this applies not only to them. In Bazarov, those who followed Pisarev could also recognize themselves. But those who followed such a leader of the revolution, as Chernyshevsky, hardly. They Bazarov would be the spokesman of ideas, but no more. The whole point is that revolutionary democracy to the people and the political struggle was coming in exactly the opposite way.

That is why the criticism of "Contemporary" was very sharply related to the novel "Fathers and Sons", and to Pisarev's interpretation of the image of the hero Bazarov. Those images in which the then revolutionary democracy recognized itself were in Chernyshevsky's novel What Is To Be Done? It was in this work that another answer was given to the main question, different from the one Pisarev proposed at the end of his article. After all, the critic continued to pay much attention to Bazarov in other articles: "Realists" (1864), "Thinking the Proletariat" (1865), "Let's see!" (1865).

In addition to all the material that Pisarev's article "Bazarov" presented, the short content of it continues with the idea of the appearance in society of new people with a forgivable and understandable extreme.

New people

Pisarev speaks of Bazarov as a new type of person, but, indeed, further, over time, his interpretation has already begun to change, in accordance with changes in the socio-political views of the author. In the article "Realists" he is already differently considering the Bazaar egoism. He says that such consistent realists live "the highest guiding idea." It gives them immense strength in the struggle. Such egoists have their own "personal calculation", not hindering their struggle for high goals. And they at that time were to destroy the poverty of the working people. The critic already writes about the fact that it is this selfishness that finds satisfaction in this activity leading to the realization of the set goal.

What ends the article Pisarev "Bazarov"? A brief account of her tells that Turgenev himself does not really sympathize with his hero. Affected and loving nature, it warps and corrodes realism, and subtle aesthetic flair insults the slightest manifestations of cynicism. Without showing us how he lived, the author paints a picture of how his hero dies. This is enough to understand what kind of power this person possessed. However, unfortunately, she did not find her application for a useful and worthy life.