It’s special in a good way.

The ultimate confirmation of the important role that Turgenev assigned to birds. Only birds are allowed to sit on the grave of one of the greatest heroes of Russian literature… Legend has it that the original last page of Fathers and Sons was full of Turgenev’s tear stains.

When Bazarov gets ill they remove a noisy cockerel from the yard. Bazarov’s fighting spirit has left him too, he is going to die…

Bazarov has returned home again and his mother is in all states. Turgenev uses the visual image of a hen partridge to bring the scene to life. We can certainly imagine her running about like a wee hen partridge.

Here Bazarov even explains the symbolic meaning to us; jackdaws are indeed mates for life and in some cultures a pair sitting on a roof predicts a new arrival. Jackdaws looking at a traveller (Bazarov is already in the carriage!) is, however, a very bad omen indeed…

Arkady wants to propose to Katya, and a carefree chaffinch starts to sing. The male birds sing to attract a mate, but Arkady is feeling anything but carefree. Chaffinches are monogamous birds.

I mean, the people who are close to him, and so I… I mean to…”

Arkady is sitting in the garden with Katya, about to declare his love for her. She is feeding sparrows, widely associated with marriage in Russian folk tradition. This scene clearly suggests she is ready to get married.

#FathersAndSons #Turgenev25 #TurgenevsBirds 🧵

Mushrooms on a tree stump

In a way this quote summarises the whole novel, capturing the difference between the generations. In Russian fairytales the falcon stands for a young man: fearless, courageous and fast. It also symbolises the boundless energy of the youth, often bordering on madness.

But Ill stay the same for you, now and forever, as you will for me.” Vasily Ivanovich took his hands from his face and hugged his wife, his friend, harder than he had ever hugged her before, even when they were young. She had consoled him in his grief.

An aggressive person can be referred to as a hawk, and cocks are also known for their aggression. Is this a forebode that the friends are drifting apart?

Bazarov and Arkady are lying in a haystack, talking and in the background you can hear a hawk and also cocks crying at each other. Their talk ends in a quarrel.

Bazarov’s father thinks that Arkady is a spoiled youth, accustomed to luxury, Arkady denies that, but clearly the father doesn’t believe him. This is the second time that Vasily uses an expression with a bird.

and feed those clever nightingales. Nightingales are always considered a good omen.