The destruction of tradition in the name of progress exists in "A View of the Woods" by Flannery O'Connor and in that of Ivan Turgenev. Fathers and Sons through the main protagonists of each work. Bazarov is the central character of Fathers and Sons: he is a young nihilist who challenges the traditional Russian aristocracy and the older generation of Russians. Mr. Fortune, the protagonist of O'Connor's "A View of the Woods", is particularly different from the characters in Fathers and Sons in that he is both part of the older generation and also advocates progress in his little town. . Bazarov and Mr. Fortune create the conditions for progress by destroying not only the traditions of their cultures, but also by destroying nature itself. Through this theme of change and progress, tensions are created, both internal and external. As this conflict escalates, Bazarov and Mr. Fortune reveal themselves as iconoclasts in their respective societies due to their relationships with their surroundings and the thematic ideologies behind their actions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayBazarov and Mr. Fortune's relationships with their environment are important to understanding their actions and beliefs, because, for the destruction occurs, an inherent tension must first exist in these relationships. In Fathers and Sons, Bazarov is presented as a nihilist: in Arkady's words, he is "a man who does not bow to any authority, who does not take any principles on faith, regardless of the respect in which this principle can be enshrined” (17). Nihilism is in direct conflict with romanticism, a concept supported by Pavel Petrovich, Arkady's uncle, but also by most of traditional Russian society. Romanticism is expressed in Fathers and Sons through the imagery and figurative language used to describe the various settings and, more importantly, Nicholas's estate: "Fields upon fields stretched to the horizon , sometimes gently sloping upwards, then descending; [...] And the pitiful state of the weak and hungry animals, in the middle of the beautiful spring day, evoked, like a white ghost, the endless and comfortless winter, with its storms, its frosts and its snows » (8 -9). Turgenev uses figurative language in this passage to present a traditional view of Russia, one that is quickly destroyed by Bazarov when he sees Nikolai's domain only for its usefulness. Bazarov does not support science in an abstract sense, because he, as a nihilist, cannot support such authority; however, he is still able to remove the romanticism from Nicholas' estate by using nature solely for utilitarian purposes: “'You study the anatomy of the eye; where does the enigmatic look you speak of come from? All this is romantic and absurd aesthetic rot. We'd better go see the beetle'” (26). The scarab represents, in this case, an example of Bazarov taking a creature out of the natural world and literally killing it; in his nihilism he destroys every romantic vision of Russia, even destroying life itself. In Flannery O'Connor's "A View of the Woods," the tension between tradition and progress also exists between the protagonist, Mr. Fortune, and the setting. Although he is not a nihilist, Mr. Fortune destroys his environment, plots of land in rural Georgia, in the name of progress: "He could never have sold any land without progress, which was always his goal . ally” (337). The main conflict of the story arises in Mr. Fortune's plan to destroy aland that is close to her granddaughter's heart. Like Bazarov, Mr. Fortune seeks pragmatic uses of nature and, on this ground, Mr. Fortune envisions the construction of a gas station. He is unable to understand his granddaughter, Mary Fortune's, romantic view of nature and the woods. They are, for him, "an uncomfortable mystery that he had not before apprehended" (348). Mr. Fortune believes that because nature is not useful, it can be destroyed to create a clearing for progress. Furthermore, Mr. Fortune is a practical man in his dealings with his family; he “has no use” for his own daughter, who lives on his land and stands in the way of progress (336). He views his daughter's family, the Pitts, as "the sort who would let a cow pasture interfere with the future" (338), and so it is with his own family that the tension between tradition and progress resurfaces. The symbol of Mr. The Destruction of Fortune is the bulldozer that extracts clay from the earth. The bulldozer is described in terms of disease and monstrosity: "She [Mary Fortune] sat on the hood, looking down into the red pit, watching the great disembodied gullet gorge itself on the clay, then, with the sound of 'a deep sustained nausea and a slow mechanical repulsion, turn it over and spit it out' (335). This motif is used by O'Connor to present an unnatural creature that comes into direct conflict with the natural environment, much like Mr. Fortune. When Mr. Fortune dies at the end of the story, he is left alone with his tool of destruction: "He was desperate for someone to help him but the place was deserted except for a huge yellow monster sitting on his side, as if stationary as he was, gorging himself with clay” (356). This final irony of Mr. Fortune's death with the bulldozer reveals his alienation by his family or the traditionalists and calls into question the cost of destruction in the name of progress. Bazarov and Mr. Fortune clearly differ in their visions of destruction and progress. For Bazarov, progress is just another abstract ideal for which he has no use: “'Aristocracy, liberalism, progress, principles,' Bazarov said in the meantime; 'if you think about it, what foreign words... and useless!' » (39). Although Bazarov does not believe in progress in the abstract, his ideas on nihilism carry an implicit form of progress. Bazarov instead chooses to focus more on destruction than advancement of his nihilistic views, as Nikolai Petrovich points out: “'You deny everything; or, more precisely, you destroy everything... But you also have to build, you know” (39). Bazarov does not “build” anything, because to build, he would have to have a vision of the future, as Arkady has a vision for the succession of Nicholas (9). Bazarov has no vision because he believes in nothing, and therefore, as a nihilist, he can only destroy and never create. Unlike Bazarov's nihilism, Mr. Fortune focuses on the progress of his actions, and he sees destruction simply as a means to an end. Unlike Bazarov, Mr. Fortune is "a man of advanced vision" who hopes that in the future the town he lives in will be renamed Fortune, Georgia (338). He believes in progress as an ideal to which he can devote his life, and he is not "one of those old people who fight against improvement, who oppose everything that is new and shrink from every change" ( 337). All his actions correspond to his vision of destruction as a method of progress; even the murder of his granddaughter, Mary Fortune, is intended to prove to him that his romantic views are false (355). He is determined to impose progress in his traditional environment, whatever the cost. Ivan Turgenev and Flannery O'Connor both comment on the,., 1998.