Fathers and Sons: Chapter 26 Summary & Analysis

The next day Arkady asks Katya to join him in her favorite spot in the portico. Katya had been hesitant, as Anna had warned her to avoid solitary talks with Arkady, and she is preoccupied as Arkady bashfully begins to speak. Arkady tells Katya that he owes to her the transformation he’s undergone since coming to Nikolskoye. He is no longer a “conceited boy,” he tells her; although he still wishes to live “a useful life,” he has begun to look for truth “closer to hand.” His eyes have been opened, thanks to “a certain emotion.” He stammers for a while, and Katya seems unsure where he is going.

Suddenly, they hear Anna and Bazarov talking on the other side of the shrubbery. They are talking frankly about their feelings for one another. Anna says that they had simply made a mistake—their curiosity was roused, and then Bazarov’s interest “petered out.” Anna says that is not why they fell out with each other, but it doesn’t matter. She also admits that she has begun to take an interest in Arkady’s “fresh youthful sentiments.” Bazarov calls this a “fascination.” Soon their voices drift away, and they disappear from view.

Arkady turns back to Katya; her head is bent low. He tells her, “I love you for ever, irrevocably, and I love only you.” He assures her that “everything else has long ago melted into thin air.” Katya regards him gravely for a while and finally says, faintly, “Yes.” Arkady jumps up and presses her hands to his heart, finally believing that she shares his feelings. Katya weeps for joy.

The next morning, Bazarov can’t help feeling “a malicious pleasure” when Anna shows him Arkady’s letter requesting Katya’s hand. Anna laughs at her failure to notice what was unfolding between the two. She prevails upon Bazarov to stay a while, but Bazarov says that, like a flying-fish that spends too much time in the air, he must “flop back into my natural element.” Anna says she is sure they are not saying goodbye for the last time. “Anything can happen in this world,” Bazarov replies as he leaves.

Arkady and Bazarov talk while Bazarov packs his trunk. Arkady tells Bazarov that he needn’t be a “humbug,” praising Arkady’s marriage while holding the institution in disdain. Bazarov says that Arkady wasn’t made for a “bitter, harsh, lonely existence”; he is of the gentry, “a good little liberal gentleman,” who will never venture beyond “well-bred indignation.” Arkady is tearful as he embraces “his former mentor and friend” and says goodbye, while Bazarov is matter-of-fact.

By that evening, Arkady has indeed forgotten about Bazarov; he is “surrendering to [Katya’s] influence.” Even Anna is won over by their love for one another. She concludes from this that her feelings for Bazarov stemmed from mere curiosity, and this sets her mind at rest. She asks the young couple if love is indeed “an imaginary feeling.” But they don’t even understand what she means.