Fathers and Sons

Written as a response to the growing cultural schism between liberals of the 1830s/1840s & the growing nihilist movement, Fathers & Sons parallels both the nihilists (the "sons") & the 1830s liberals who sought Western-based social change in Russia. Additionally, these two modes of thought were contrasted with the conservative Slavophiles, who believed that Russia's path lay in its traditional spirituality.