Fathers and Children · Chapter
Chapter XXII explained
Arkady, restless and longing to return to Nikolskoe, convinces Bazarov to make a detour to visit Madame Odintsov.
What happens
Arkady, restless and longing to return to Nikolskoe, convinces Bazarov to make a detour to visit Madame Odintsov. Their visit is brief and awkward; they are not warmly received. They return to Maryino, where Nikolai Petrovitch is struggling with farm difficulties. Arkady remains preoccupied with thoughts of Katya and Anna Sergyevna, while Bazarov immerses himself in scientific work.
Themes in this chapter
Loneliness and Alienation
Arkady feels a causeless melancholy and longs to escape Maryino, while Bazarov isolates himself in his work, highlighting their emotional distance.
Social Class and Change
Nikolai Petrovitch's struggles with hired laborers, peasant disputes, and farm mismanagement illustrate the tensions of a changing social order.
Love and Romanticism
Arkady's impulsive decision to visit Nikolskoe and his preoccupation with Katya and Anna Sergyevna reveal his romantic yearnings.
Characters to notice
- Arkady Kirsanov
Feels restless and dull at Maryino, longs to return to Nikolskoe; impulsively decides to visit Odintsov; after the awkward visit, returns home preoccupied with thoughts of Katya.
- Yevgeny Bazarov
Reluctantly agrees to the detour to Nikolskoe; remains silent and irritated during the visit; upon returning to Maryino, immerses himself in scientific experiments with frogs and chemicals.
- Anna Sergyevna Odintsov
Receives Bazarov and Arkady with polite surprise but not warmth; mentions she has an attack of spleen; invites them to visit again before long.
- Katya
Meets Arkady in the garden upon his arrival at Nikolskoe; leads him to her sister; is not well and does not leave her room during the visit.
- Nikolai Petrovitch Kirsanov
Delighted by his son's return; struggles with numerous farm difficulties including lazy laborers, broken equipment, and peasant disputes.
- Pavel Petrovitch Kirsanov
Shows some agreeable excitement at the return of the young men; offers calm advice to Nikolai about farm troubles.
- Fenitchka
Runs to Nikolai with sparkling eyes to announce the arrival of the young gentlemen.
- Dunyasha
Runs up and down like one possessed, slamming doors in the general gaiety of the homecoming.
Key passages
“But having resolved on the folly, the friends were even more obstinately silent than before, and seemed positively ill-humoured.”
After deciding to make the foolish detour, Bazarov and Arkady became even more stubbornly quiet and appeared genuinely annoyed.
Highlights the tension and regret following their impulsive decision to visit Odintsov.
“Difficulties on the farm sprang up every day—senseless, distressing difficulties.”
Each day brought new, pointless, and upsetting problems on the estate.
Summarizes Nikolai Petrovitch's ongoing struggles with farm management.
“Arkady, to his own astonishment, thought incessantly of Nikolskoe; in former days he would simply have shrugged his shoulders if anyone had told him that he could ever feel dull under the same roof as Bazarov—and that roof his father's!”
Arkady was surprised to find himself constantly thinking about Nikolskoe, as he never imagined he could feel bored living with Bazarov, especially in his own father's house.
Reveals Arkady's changing priorities and emotional attachment to the Odintsov household.
