Wonderful essay themes are offered to today's students! Very interesting and thought-provoking.
Good to be young
About twenty to thirty years ago, the usual themes of essays in the school were numerous “typical representatives” with a predetermined, approved and ideologically verified interpretation of images.
The great writers, having risen, would be horrified to learn that in their characters someone saw the harbingers of the proletarian revolution … And today the young generation can freely talk about whether Oblomov was smart and how he would fit into the realities of the 21st century, whether he could turn into Ionich is a modern local therapist and whether the Bazarovs of modern Russia are needed, boldly drawing historical parallels. No one will reproach for the incorrectness of reasoning. The main thing is that they are justified. You do not like Mayakovsky, and all right, just explain - for what.
Disputes of children and fathers in the time of Turgenev and today
The Turgenev essay, which caused much controversy, was published in the February issue of Russky Vestnik for 1862. “Do Bazarovs of Russia Need?” - readers asked each other this question and answered sometimes positively, but often negatively.
There has not yet been a generation that, moving into the category of an older one, would not have complained that "the youth went wrong." The completely natural aging process provokes an internal protest, reinforced by defiant behavior of young people seeking to express themselves, but, as a rule, not having sufficient knowledge and experience for this. Modern young people often try to stand out with fashionable clothes and expensive things; in the nineteenth century, unusual judgments about the world and its structure served this purpose.
But in fact, does Russia need Bazarov? Those who write an essay on this subject may have at least two opinions that are directly opposite.
Bazarov Russia is not needed
Evgeny Bazarov proclaims the goal of improving life through revolutionary transformations. The modern reader has the opportunity to judge the results of such bold experiments based on the historical experience of previous generations who lived during the overthrow of the foundations, clearing the place for "new people", as well as other interesting, but very tiring and dangerous activities. Our contemporaries (although not all) realized that when creating a new one, one should not rush to break the old, otherwise there is a serious risk of being left homeless.
Bazarov does not know what the crushing of the foundations of society can turn into, and this justifies him to some extent. However, a demonstrative disrespect for older people, the desire at every opportunity to express their very controversial ideas, a complete rejection of the opportunity to listen to someone else's opinion is hardly excusable even to a young person. The desire to think independently is a laudable trait, but an attempt to impose one's own convictions with tactless perseverance can hardly serve as a role model. However, part of the youth of the second half of the XIX century liked Bazarov. Many copied his cynicism and nihilism, and sympathized with the hero himself.
He himself, the protagonist, gave a negative answer to the question “Does Russia need Bazarov?”
However, it is possible that Eugene got a little excited.
Bazarov needs Russia
Eugene is always dissatisfied with everything. He does not like the landlord's inertness, the ignorance of the peasants and empty talk. Art, in his opinion, is an unnecessary thing, but the natural sciences that have applied value are power. Even before his death, concluding his own inappropriateness in his native country, he declares the value of people of productive labor: a shoemaker, a butcher, a tailor. In some ways, these considerations resemble a theory familiar to the older generation about the progressive significance of the proletariat, but you cannot deny self-criticism to the hero, and this is a sign of an analytical mindset.
If we take into account other positive character traits, such as erudition, the desire to acquire knowledge, think independently and learn from other peoples, then many people will answer the question "Do the Bazarovs of Russia": "Yes, they need it!" In the end, youth is naturally characterized by protest moods, and it is wonderful if a young man believes that he has come to the world in order to improve it. And nihilism, well, there is also a rational kernel in it. A person who is held captive by established beliefs and who firmly believes in authority will never find a new one, make discoveries, or dare to resist stereotypes.
In addition, despite the defiant manners, talking with Eugene would be more interesting than with Kirsanov.
Bazarovshchina - a children's disease of gifted young people
The question in the essay can be posed in another way: “Will Bazarov need Russia after it has finally matured?” Youthful rebellion, nihilism, and even cynicism pass with age with the acquisition of life experience. “Young people must go wild, ” says the French proverb. After that, she becomes an adult and even (what a horror!) Old, if she survives, of course. Evgeny Bazarov was not able to reach advanced years, but it is a pity. After all, he could learn not only to crush, but also to create: to become a doctor, chemist or someone else necessary and useful.
