Parents and sons

The novel "Parents and Children" was written by its author Ivan Turgenev between 1860 and 1861 and published in one of the Russian magazines in 1862. It depicts the intellectual and social conflict between the young and the old, in Russia, on the eve of the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, going to the idea that this conflict, in that context, is similar to the conflict between ideals and customs, and must continue without interruption. The novel "Parents and Children" is considered today one of Turgenev's most powerful and magnificent works. This novel is based on a comparison in appearance between two worlds: the cities, representing civilization and progress, focusing on two characters and what they represent in terms of the principle of rejection in general, namely Bazarov and Arkady, and the countryside, representing myths, legends, and various human feelings, with an emphasis on aristocratic customs, represented by the remaining characters. It is a conflict between what is scientific and what is moral and emotional. The principle of rejection among the youth is based on nihilism, with no alternative ideas to the prevailing ones.