First Love - Ivan Turgenev: An Epitome of Brotherzone

The story took place In a cottage near Neskuchny gardens, a suburb area of Moscow in 1833, where a 16 years old boy; Vladimir Petrovich, who was on a trip there, fell in love with a 21 years old girl; Zinaida Alexandrovna Zasyekina (Zinaida). Zinaida portrayed as a mid-low class princess with a lovely feminine look, charming style, soft golden hair, kind and dear whim to other people, she was successfully captivated a bunch of her male friends made all of them admire her even fell in love with her, and Moniser Vladimir included.

On his short trip, Vladimir entered his adolescent life, through the way Zinaida treated him, he learned to feel emotions that he never felt before, the ecstasy of delight after the smooch given by Zinaida, jealousy whenever someone shows kindness to her, the impulse to possess someone, the feeling of having someone seizing the mind, and the curiosity that rose every time he saw Zinaida. The amorous princess treated Vladimir peculiarly than her other men’s friends but turned out she, after all, saw him just like a 16 years old boy who’s fun enough to be her brother. And through that, he learned about the risk of love itself, poignancy, that love could be unhealthy, sometimes. At his very young age what happened to him and his family was too much to bear. He had discovered that Zinaida had stolen his heart but did not want to have it all, she might prefer Vladimir, another closest person. Just like today’s popular culture reality people will call Zinaida and Vladimir love story as a Brother Zone, take it from urbandictionary.com it is the zone that ranges further out then the ‘friend zone’, it’s when your significant other simply said “Pretty much like my brother!”.

Ouch,

Doesn't that sound hurt? I know.. I know. Well, turns out Vladimir woes did not stop there.

After Vladimir and his family move back to town, he thought he shall never meet her again. It turned out he was destined to see Zinaida once more, only this time in a jaw-dropping discovery that successfully slashed my heart. A discovery that not only questioned Vladimir but also me, why?!. Why does it have to be like that?. By that time, Vladimir was 2 months prior to a university life, enough to know about love, only the love that he had was already stolen when he was 16 years old, to a girl that he continued to adore even until the path decided not to let him meet her, ever again. He was brave enough to accept reality that some things are not meant to be for us, even if that is hurt.

Maybe it’s true that True Love. whether it is the first or second, could never be consumed with time, even until the path decided not to cross them again. The book has an implicit meaning of always use your time wisely before at the end everything will evaporate from you, because the happiness that you feel, the misery, the sorrow all will only last a while. I was fascinated by the way Turgenev describes feelings, all felt subtle yet clear. Clear enough that my heart was pounding and felt stabbed in some scenes. Compared to today’s love story Turgenev’s First Love was simple yet very complicated at the same time.

Maybe that’s love after all, from time to time, always simple in the head, complicated in the heart.

So, if you are wondering how a 1833 brother zone looks like, find a nearest book store or your favorite online book apps and search for this publication!