After the discussion about the “nihilists,” Nikolai realizes that despite all his efforts he is more alienated from his son than ever before. He muses on the beauty of nature and poetry and is disappointed that the younger generation has rejected all of this. He dreams of his past happiness and of his wife; he further laments that he can’t relive these individual happy moments; that they cannot be extended for an eternal, immortal life.
Suddenly, Fenichka brings him back to reality by calling to him to come to the house. On his way back he meets Pavel who also seems preoccupied. Pavel, not born a romantic, is not capable of dreaming like Nikolai, and thus lives in a more barren world.
The same night, Bazarov suggests that they take up Nikolai’s suggestion and go visit Arkady’s uncle who is a privy-counselor for a neighboring town. They leave the next day, and “the younger people at Marino were sorry to see them go . . . but the elders breathed more easily.”
