About desires and fears in times of transition. Why cling to ideals and values? It's all just false romance, so let's get rid of it! Basarow, a medical student from Petersburg, is a nihilist and as such part of a radical-liberal youth movement. When he accompanies his friend Arkadij on his journey home to his father's estate, he falls in love with the young widow Anna, which shakes him to his core. Should the old truths, the truths of the fathers, still hold any weight? To find this out, Basarow sees only one reasonable path: first confrontation, then collision.