Fathers and Children · Chapter
Chapter XXVII explained
Bazarov, having contracted typhus from a dissection, lies dying at his parents' home.
What happens
Bazarov, having contracted typhus from a dissection, lies dying at his parents' home. His father Vassily Ivanovitch and mother Arina Vlasyevna care for him in desperation. Bazarov sends a message to Madame Odintsov, who arrives with a doctor. Bazarov asks to see her, but his condition worsens rapidly, and he ultimately succumbs to the infection.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Mortality
Bazarov's confrontation with his own death dominates the chapter, as he grapples with the finality of life and the failure of his nihilistic philosophy.
Family and Filial Duty
Vassily Ivanovitch and Arina Vlasyevna's desperate care for their son highlights the theme of parental love and duty in the face of tragedy.
Nihilism and Ideology
Bazarov's rejection of religious comfort and his bitter reflections on words and death underscore the limits of his nihilistic worldview.
Characters to notice
- Yevgeny Bazarov
Dying of typhus contracted during a dissection; he struggles with mortality, sends for Odintsov, and refuses religious consolation until the end.
- Vassily Ivanovitch
Bazarov's father, desperate and grieving; he begs his son to accept Christian rites, burns the cut, and welcomes Odintsov as a 'benefactress.'
- Arina Vlasyevna
Bazarov's mother, praying and weeping; she breaks a mirror as an omen and falls at Odintsov's feet in gratitude.
- Anna Sergyevna Odintsov
Arrives with a doctor in response to Bazarov's message; she shows compassion despite their past estrangement.
Key passages
“There's strength, there's strength,' he murmured; 'everything's here still, and I must die!... An old man at least has time to be weaned from life, but I... Well, go and try to disprove death. Death will disprove you, and that's all!'”
Bazarov laments that he still has vitality but must die, noting that death ultimately defeats any attempt to deny it.
Bazarov's final struggle with his own mortality, revealing the impotence of his rationalism.
“I won't refuse, if that can be any comfort to you,' he brought out at last; 'but it seems to me there's no need to be in a hurry.”
Bazarov agrees to consider religious rites only to comfort his father, but insists there is no urgency.
Bazarov's reluctant concession to his father's pleas for Christian duty, showing a flicker of filial consideration.