Every reader has their own "bible". M. A. Bulgakov presented people with several works that can claim such a high title. First of all, the reader comes to mind the novel "The Master and Margarita".
Loneliness is like the air that heroes breathe
Loneliness is the primary reality of human existence. People are born alone, death is also a lonely affair. And speaking quite frankly, a person cannot truly share life with someone. You can successfully marry or get married, give birth to a bunch of children, but deep down remain completely alone.
It seems that this is exactly what M. A. Bulgakov expressed in his imperishable novel. Most of his main characters are invariably lonely: Woland, Pilate, Yeshua, Ivan Bezdomny, Master, Margarita. Loneliness is so natural for them that they do not even notice it.
To illustrate how the problem of loneliness is revealed in The Master and Margarita, we will move in our analysis from one character to another.
Woland
Can Satan have companions or partners? Or maybe friends? Of course not. He is doomed to be alone. At the very beginning of the novel, M. A. Berlioz asks the “Consultant”: “Professor, did you come to us alone or with your wife?” To which Woland replies: "One, one, I'm always alone." And at the same time, the “professor of black magic” may be the least lonely compared to other heroes, of course, because of his retinue. This strange company does not radiate a painful sense of hopelessness, probably because she arrived in Moscow not for entertainment, but in order to save the Master and give the Hundred Kings ball.
We have to insist on this particular order, since the annual holiday could take place in any city in the world, but Moscow in the 1930s was not chosen by chance, but precisely because the Master and his novel about Pontius Pilate were there. Such is the portrait of Woland in the context of the theme “The problem of loneliness in the novel “The Master and Margarita””.
Pontius Pilate
With Pilate, too, in this sense, everything becomes clear from the very beginning, Yershalaim is hated by him. He is alone. The only creature he is attached to is his dog Banga. The procurator wants to die because of an unbearable headache. He should have rested, but no, he had to interrogate some tramp. According to rumors, he persuaded the people to destroy the temple.
Then this vagabond miraculously heals the procurator and speaks to him in a way that few people allow themselves. Despite this, the hegemon is ready to let the "philosopher" go, but then it turns out that Yeshua is also guilty of a crime against state power. According to the law, the procurator must crucify his deliverer, because there is nothing worse than a crime against Caesar.
Pilate does everything possible to prevent the tragedy, but, unfortunately, his efforts are in vain. In the course of the story, a spiritual transformation happens to him. He changes beyond recognition and discovers that in fact the tramp, whom the Sanhedrin did not want to pardon, turns out to be as close to him as Banga, although there are no reasonable reasons for this. The problem of loneliness in the novel "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov is inconceivable without the image of Pontius Pilate.
He is perhaps the loneliest and most tragic figure in the novel. And without it, the work would have a completely different face and a different depth. All subsequent torment: moonlight, insomnia, immortality - nothing compared to the moment when Pilate lost his only friend - Yeshua.
So far, the theme "The problem of loneliness in the novel "The Master and Margarita"" is maintained in a sad tone. Unfortunately, nothing changes even when it comes to the fate of Ivan Bezdomny
Ivan Homeless
With characters representing the Soviet reality of the novel, everything is more complicated. Their loneliness becomes apparent only in borderline situations - points of human existence where life approaches its limits (death or madness).
This happened to the poet I. Bezdomny, who only realized in a mental hospital how wrong his life had been before. True, the figure of Ivan Bezdomny, one way or another, is tragic - life revealed to him the truth about his homelessness, but gave nothing in return. Ivan has no hope of finding salvation.
Main characters
The Master and Margarita are the only couple of characters whose story ends well, but not in this reality, but only in the “other world”. If you free this story from a romantic veil, it turns out that it was loneliness that pushed them into each other's arms.
Margarita's husband is not in the novel (he is present only in her words), but the reader understands that, most likely, her husband is boring, vulgarly practical and smart only in domestic or commercial matters, which is why the woman wanted to fly.
The master is also a lonely person. He has nothing but a cellar and a novel about Pontius Pilate, and he, like no one else, needs the love of a pretty woman. True, due to the fact that the couple has no money at all, only strong love keeps them together, or maybe fear of returning to their total and continuous loneliness. In general, it is difficult to say for sure whether there was love between them. If there was, then, probably, she was sick and lame, but the fear of being alone was definitely there. It turns out that the problem of loneliness in the novel "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov is hidden even where love lives at first glance.
The master changed his mind precisely because he could not cope with the load of unfulfilled hopes and aspirations. He really counted on the novel, on its publication, and the essay was met with criticism, which blocked his way to the world.
The master could no longer torment Margarita. "The boat of love crashed into everyday life." Or rather, the Master simply had a conscience, but then Woland came and fixed everything. True, even his power was not enough to give the couple salvation in this life, and not in another.
The novel by M. A. Bulgakov is a multi-layered work
Accordingly, the problems of the novel The Master and Margarita are not limited to the theme of loneliness. The writer's talent lies in the fact that the reader cannot say with certainty what the main theme of this mysterious novel is: whether it is the "Gospel of Mikhail Bulgakov" (the title of the book by Alexander Zerkalov), which means that religious issues occupy the main place in it. Or maybe the main thing is satire directed against Soviet reality?
A novel about everything at once, and in order not to violate the integrity of a work of art, it is better not to split it into molecules and components. This is probably the most general answer to the question of what problems exist in the novel The Master and Margarita.
Philosophy as a sign of high classics
It is generally accepted that philosophy is something boring and living somewhere within the walls of academies. To a mere mortal, all this is definitely inaccessible. This is a massive and fundamentally wrong idea about the "love of wisdom." In fact, in the life of every person (and even more so an artist) there comes a time when he thinks about God, fate, human loneliness. Usually such works are difficult to write, difficult to read, but they give an extraordinary amount to a person. There are a great many such creations both in Russian and in the world classics, therefore, hypothetically, the topic of the article could sound like this: "The problem of loneliness in ...". The Master and Margarita were not chosen by chance, because these characters and the book about them are incredibly popular among modern Russians.
Kurt Vonnegut and Mikhail Bulgakov: two views on the problem of loneliness
Kurt Vonnegut, just like our classic, all his life was “sick” with the problem of loneliness and tried to solve it in his own way. For example, in the novel "Balagan, or the End of Loneliness", he suggested that all people unite in families so that not a single person is left alone in the world (for details, the reader can refer to the original source). In some of his journalistic books, the American classic wrote something like this: a person's life is a constant struggle with loneliness.
It seems that Bulgakov would have fully agreed with this, but they would have disagreed on the issue of overcoming loneliness. According to our novel, loneliness (in The Master and Margarita this is clearly seen) is irresistible, tragic and inevitable for a person. K. Vonnegut, on the other hand, looks at a person and his prospects more optimistically, which cannot but rejoice. If suddenly people overcome their own egoism and understand that “we are all brothers”, then there is hope for victory over loneliness. However, to be honest, it looks like a miracle.
July 1, 2015Every reader has their own "bible". M. A. Bulgakov presented people with several works that can claim such a high title. First of all, the reader comes to mind the novel "The Master and Margarita".
Loneliness is like the air that heroes breathe
Loneliness is the primary reality of human existence. People are born alone, death is also a lonely affair. And speaking quite frankly, a person cannot truly share life with someone. You can successfully marry or get married, give birth to a bunch of children, but deep down remain completely alone.
It seems that this is exactly what M. A. Bulgakov expressed in his imperishable novel. Most of his main characters are invariably lonely: Woland, Pilate, Yeshua, Ivan Bezdomny, Master, Margarita. Loneliness is so natural for them that they do not even notice it.
To illustrate how the problem of loneliness is revealed in The Master and Margarita, we will move in our analysis from one character to another.
Woland
Can Satan have companions or partners? Or maybe friends? Of course not. He is doomed to be alone. At the very beginning of the novel, M. A. Berlioz asks the “Consultant”: “Professor, did you come to us alone or with your wife?” To which Woland replies: "One, one, I'm always alone." And at the same time, the “professor of black magic” may be the least lonely compared to other heroes, of course, because of his retinue. This strange company does not radiate a painful sense of hopelessness, probably because she arrived in Moscow not for entertainment, but in order to save the Master and give the Hundred Kings ball.
We have to insist on this particular order, since the annual holiday could take place in any city in the world, but Moscow in the 1930s was not chosen by chance, but precisely because the Master and his novel about Pontius Pilate were there. Such is the portrait of Woland in the context of the theme “The problem of loneliness in the novel “The Master and Margarita””.
Pontius Pilate
With Pilate, too, in this sense, everything becomes clear from the very beginning, Yershalaim is hated by him. He is alone. The only creature he is attached to is his dog Banga. The procurator wants to die because of an unbearable headache. He should have rested, but no, he had to interrogate some tramp. According to rumors, he persuaded the people to destroy the temple.
Then this vagabond miraculously heals the procurator and speaks to him in a way that few people allow themselves. Despite this, the hegemon is ready to let the "philosopher" go, but then it turns out that Yeshua is also guilty of a crime against state power. According to the law, the procurator must crucify his deliverer, because there is nothing worse than a crime against Caesar.
Pilate does everything possible to prevent the tragedy, but, unfortunately, his efforts are in vain. In the course of the story, a spiritual transformation happens to him. He changes beyond recognition and discovers that in fact the tramp, whom the Sanhedrin did not want to pardon, turns out to be as close to him as Banga, although there are no reasonable reasons for this. The problem of loneliness in the novel "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov is inconceivable without the image of Pontius Pilate.
He is perhaps the loneliest and most tragic figure in the novel. And without it, the work would have a completely different face and a different depth. All subsequent torment: moonlight, insomnia, immortality - nothing compared to the moment when Pilate lost his only friend - Yeshua.
So far, the theme "The problem of loneliness in the novel "The Master and Margarita"" is maintained in a sad tone. Unfortunately, nothing changes even when it comes to the fate of Ivan Bezdomny
Ivan Homeless
With characters representing the Soviet reality of the novel, everything is more complicated. Their loneliness becomes apparent only in borderline situations - points of human existence where life approaches its limits (death or madness).
This happened to the poet I. Bezdomny, who only realized in a mental hospital how wrong his life had been before. True, the figure of Ivan Bezdomny, one way or another, is tragic - life revealed to him the truth about his homelessness, but gave nothing in return. Ivan has no hope of finding salvation.
Main characters
The Master and Margarita are the only couple of characters whose story ends well, but not in this reality, but only in the “other world”. If you free this story from a romantic veil, it turns out that it was loneliness that pushed them into each other's arms.
Margarita's husband is not in the novel (he is present only in her words), but the reader understands that, most likely, her husband is boring, vulgarly practical and smart only in domestic or commercial matters, which is why the woman wanted to fly.
The master is also a lonely person. He has nothing but a cellar and a novel about Pontius Pilate, and he, like no one else, needs the love of a pretty woman. True, due to the fact that the couple has no money at all, only strong love keeps them together, or maybe fear of returning to their total and continuous loneliness. In general, it is difficult to say for sure whether there was love between them. If there was, then, probably, she was sick and lame, but the fear of being alone was definitely there. It turns out that the problem of loneliness in the novel "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov is hidden even where love lives at first glance.
The master changed his mind precisely because he could not cope with the load of unfulfilled hopes and aspirations. He really counted on the novel, on its publication, and the essay was met with criticism, which blocked his way to the world.
The master could no longer torment Margarita. "The boat of love crashed into everyday life." Or rather, the Master simply had a conscience, but then Woland came and fixed everything. True, even his power was not enough to give the couple salvation in this life, and not in another.
The novel by M. A. Bulgakov is a multi-layered work
Accordingly, the problems of the novel The Master and Margarita are not limited to the theme of loneliness. The writer's talent lies in the fact that the reader cannot say with certainty what the main theme of this mysterious novel is: whether it is the "Gospel of Mikhail Bulgakov" (the title of the book by Alexander Zerkalov), which means that religious issues occupy the main place in it. Or maybe the main thing is satire directed against Soviet reality?
A novel about everything at once, and in order not to violate the integrity of a work of art, it is better not to split it into molecules and components. This is probably the most general answer to the question of what problems exist in the novel The Master and Margarita.
Philosophy as a sign of high classics
It is generally accepted that philosophy is something boring and living somewhere within the walls of academies. To a mere mortal, all this is definitely inaccessible. This is a massive and fundamentally wrong idea about the "love of wisdom." In fact, in the life of every person (and even more so an artist) there comes a time when he thinks about God, fate, human loneliness. Usually such works are difficult to write, difficult to read, but they give an extraordinary amount to a person. There are a great many such creations both in Russian and in the world classics, therefore, hypothetically, the topic of the article could sound like this: "The problem of loneliness in ...". The Master and Margarita were not chosen by chance, because these characters and the book about them are incredibly popular among modern Russians.
Kurt Vonnegut and Mikhail Bulgakov: two views on the problem of loneliness
Kurt Vonnegut, just like our classic, all his life was “sick” with the problem of loneliness and tried to solve it in his own way. For example, in the novel "Balagan, or the End of Loneliness", he suggested that all people unite in families so that not a single person is left alone in the world (for details, the reader can refer to the original source). In some of his journalistic books, the American classic wrote something like this: a person's life is a constant struggle with loneliness.
It seems that Bulgakov would have fully agreed with this, but they would have disagreed on the issue of overcoming loneliness. According to our novel, loneliness (in The Master and Margarita this is clearly seen) is irresistible, tragic and inevitable for a person. K. Vonnegut, on the other hand, looks at a person and his prospects more optimistically, which cannot but rejoice. If suddenly people overcome their own egoism and understand that “we are all brothers”, then there is hope for victory over loneliness. However, to be honest, it looks like a miracle.
Truly the pearl of Bulgakov's work was his novel The Master and Margarita. It not only allows you to feel the atmosphere of everyday life of the twenties and thirties, not only, following Gogol's traditions, exposes the vices and shortcomings of Bulgakov's contemporaries, but also makes the reader think about the questions that worried the writer so much: good and evil, truth, justice, love, freedom. God... It is no coincidence that it was during the years of the "construction" of the atheistic state (which pleased Woland so much, as it was an excellent ground for his experiments) that Bulgakov turns to the Gospel. In it, the writer finds answers to the eternal questions of human existence. But will his attempt to bring the truth to the people be crowned with success? Will he be left alone in his quest?
In the novel, the writer deeply comprehends the problem of loneliness. It is no coincidence that the loneliness of the main characters (the Master, Margarita, Pontius Pilate) is obvious. What caused it?
Main character. The master, in his unexpected, sincere, bold novel about Pilate and Yeshua, expressed the author's understanding of the truth. Bulgakov widely covers the problem of the relationship between the Master and society and faces the loneliness of a creative person. The Master's novel, the meaning of his whole life, is not accepted by society. Moreover, it is strongly rejected by critics, even when unpublished. What did the Master want to tell people? He wanted to convey to them the need for faith, the need to seek the truth. But she (like himself) is rejected. Society is alien to thinking about the truth, about the truth - about those higher categories, the significance of which everyone must realize for himself. People are busy satisfying petty needs (but “not by bread alone…”), they do not struggle with their weaknesses and shortcomings, they easily succumb to temptations, which the black magic session speaks so eloquently about. It is not surprising that in such a society a creative, thinking person is lonely, but finds understanding, feedback.
There is a hero in the novel, whose path is repeated to a certain extent by the Master. This is Yeshua (Jesus), who, like the Master, is ardently rejected by people. The truth he preached to them was also rejected. But Yeshua does not feel alone, although he says: "I am alone in the world." Yeshua believes that God is always with him; he is ready to fight for his beliefs and even give his life for them. And the Master turns out to be incapable of fighting, he burns the MANUSCRIPT, thereby renouncing the truth. If the Master turned to God, he would not be alone. But the Master, moving away from people, becoming higher than them in his understanding of life, at the same time did not follow the truly right path, did not turn to God. And in this I see the reason for his loneliness.
The loneliness of the Master is consonant with the loneliness of Pontius Pilate. It would seem that he has everything for a happy life: money, power, fame ... This is exactly what should encourage the people around him to communicate with him. But already at the first acquaintance with Pilate, we notice some kind of languor in his soul. He has not yet felt lonely, but it is no coincidence that Yeshua tells him: “The truth is, first of all, that your head hurts ...” Yeshua sees in him Conscience, sees indifference to people (after all, the expression “headache” also has a figurative meaning) .
The meeting between Pilate and Yeshua was short-lived, but they managed to talk about the truth, Yeshua awakened Pilate's thought and soul, awakened the thirst for the search for truth. It is no coincidence that the author draws a parallel between today and the distant past. In the search for truth, Bulgakov sees the eternal aspiration of man, but for two millennia, mankind has not matured to understand the truth, and everyone who thinks about it, who comes close to understanding it, involuntarily rises above the crowd and becomes lonely.
Pilate's loneliness is not only proof that he moved away from everyday fuss and came closer to understanding the truth. It's also a punishment. Punishment for the fact that he neglected Conscience, preferred to fulfill the law of Yershalaim, breaking the highest law. Do not his pangs of conscience, his loneliness, Raskolnikov's state after the crime, remind him?! Pilate rose above the crowd, but at the same time he blocked his own path to God.
"... Unusual, no one has seen loneliness in the eyes" of Margarita at first glance has a completely different nature. Her heart demands love, sublime, pure, eternal love. And she finds her, she "fills herself" with the soul of the Master and is ready for anything for him. But the truth, in the understanding of Yeshua himself, is nothing but the realm of goodness, justice, for which Yeshua sacrifices himself. Love is also boundless kindness, readiness for self-sacrifice. Having given her soul to the devil, Margarita also made the greatest sacrifice in the name of saving her love.
The kingdom of truth, Yeshua sees its beginning precisely in love. And in order to “love your neighbor”, to love all of humanity, even greater strength is required than the spiritual strength of Margarita. The more people capable of all-consuming love, the sooner we will come closer to the "realm of truth and justice." The loneliness of Margarita speaks of how few such people Bulgakov met.
Speaking of loneliness, one cannot fail to mention Ivan Bezdomny. At the beginning of the novel, we see a poet who scribbles for the needs of an atheistic society. At the end of the novel, he refuses to "write"; we see a lonely person who, having understood the injustice and falsity of the world around him, is on the way to knowing the truth. Using the fate of this poet as an example, Bulgakov showed the inability of an unbelieving person to resist evil.
It is in the search for truth, in the struggle for justice, in the struggle between good and evil that Bulgakov sees the meaning of human life. But the author is concerned that people do not change, that for two thousand years they have not come a step closer to understanding the meaning of their lives (the author states this through Woland: “...People are like people. They love money, but it has always been ...") . The writer showed the tragedy of a creative person doomed to misunderstanding.
In the prohibition of the Master's novel, the fates of many works that did not see the light when they were especially needed are guessed, the fates of many poets and writers who have not received deserved recognition are guessed. But Bulgakov sees the loneliness of Conscience and Love, Sincerity and Kindness, on which the “kingdom of truth and justice” is based, as an even more terrible sign of the times. Only by knowing the truth and love, listening to the voice of conscience, a person, according to Bulgakov, finds peace. And at the end of the novel, the author expresses the hope that people will still find peace and meet understanding. I hope that people who have comprehended eternal values, the highest categories of being, the inviolability of which the Gospel affirms, will not be alone.
"Master and Margarita". It not only allows you to feel the atmosphere of everyday life of the twenties and thirties, not only, following the Gogol traditions, exposes the vices and shortcomings of contemporaries
Bulgakov, but also makes the reader think about the issues that worried the writer so much: good and evil, truth, justice, love, freedom. God... It is no coincidence that it was during the years of the "construction" of the atheistic state (which pleased Woland so much, as it was an excellent ground for his experiments) that Bulgakov turns to the Gospel. It finds answers to the eternal questions of human existence. But will his attempt to convey the truth to people be crowned with success? Will he be left alone in his quest? In the novel, the writer deeply comprehends the problem of loneliness. It is no coincidence that the loneliness of the main characters (the Master, Margarita, Pontius Pilate) is obvious. What caused it?
Main character. The master, in his unexpected, sincere, bold novel about Pilate and Yeshua, expressed the author's understanding of the truth. Bulgakov widely covers the problem of the relationship between the Master and the public! and faces the loneliness of a creative person. The Master's novel, the meaning of his whole life, is not accepted by society. Moreover, it is strongly rejected by critics, even when unpublished. What did the Master want to tell people? He wanted to convey to them the need for faith, the need to seek the truth. But she (like himself) is rejected. Society is alien to thinking about the truth, about the truth - about those higher categories, the significance of which everyone must realize for himself. People are busy satisfying petty needs (but “not by bread alone…”), they do not struggle with their weaknesses and shortcomings, they easily succumb to temptations, which the black magic session speaks so eloquently about. It is not surprising that in such a society a creative, thinking person is lonely, but finds understanding, feedback.
There is a hero in the novel, whose path is repeated to a certain extent by the Master. This is Yeshua (Jesus), who, like the Master, is ardently rejected by people. The truth he preached to them was also rejected. But Yeshua does not feel alone, although he says: "I am alone in the world." Yeshua believes that God is always with him; he is ready to fight for his beliefs and even give his life for them. And the Master is unable to fight, he burns the manuscript, thereby renouncing the truth. If the Master turned to God, he would not be alone. But the Master, moving away from people, becoming higher than them in his understanding of life, at the same time did not follow the really right path, did not turn to
God. And in this I see the reason for his loneliness.
The loneliness of the Master is consonant with the loneliness of Pontius Pilate. It would seem that he has everything for a happy life: money, power, fame ... This is exactly what should encourage the people around him to communicate with him. But already at the first acquaintance with Pilate, we notice some kind of languor in his soul. He has not yet felt lonely, but it is no coincidence that Yeshua tells him: “The truth is, first of all, that your head hurts ...” Yeshua sees in him Conscience, sees indifference to people (after all, the expression “headache” also has a figurative meaning) .
The meeting between Pilate and Yeshua was short-lived, but they managed to talk about the truth, Yeshua awakened Pilate's thought and soul, awakened the thirst for the search for truth. It is no coincidence that he draws a parallel between today and the distant past. In the search for truth, Bulgakov sees the eternal aspiration of man, but for two millennia, mankind has not matured to understand the truth, and everyone who thinks about it, who comes close to understanding it, involuntarily rises above the crowd and becomes lonely.
Pilate's loneliness is not only proof that he moved away from everyday fuss and came closer to understanding the truth. This is also . Punishment for the fact that he neglected Conscience, preferred to fulfill the law of Yershalaim, breaking the highest law. Do not his pangs of conscience, his loneliness after the crime remind him?! Pilate rose above the crowd, but at the same time he blocked his own path to God.
"... Unusual, no one has seen loneliness in the eyes" of Margarita at first glance has a completely different nature. Her heart demands love, sublime, pure, eternal love. And she finds her, she "fills herself" with the soul of the Master and is ready for anything for him. But the truth, in the understanding of Yeshua himself, is nothing but the realm of goodness, justice, for which Yeshua sacrifices himself. Love is also boundless kindness, readiness for self-sacrifice. Having given her soul to the devil, Margarita also made the greatest sacrifice in the name of saving her love.
The kingdom of truth, Yeshua sees its beginning precisely in love. And in order to “love your neighbor”, to love all of humanity, even greater strength is required than the spiritual strength of Margarita. The more people capable of all-consuming love, the sooner we will come closer to the "realm of truth and justice." The loneliness of Margarita speaks of how few such people Bulgakov met.
Speaking of loneliness, one cannot fail to mention Ivan Bezdomny. At the beginning of the novel, we see a poet slandering for the needs of an atheistic society. At the end of the novel, he refuses to "write"; we see a lonely person who, having understood the injustice and falsity of the world around him, is on the way to knowing the truth. Using the fate of this poet as an example, Bulgakov showed the inability of an unbelieving person to resist evil.
It is in the search for truth, in the struggle for justice, in the struggle between good and evil that Bulgakov sees the meaning of human life. But the author is concerned that people do not change, that for two thousand years they have not come a step closer to understanding the meaning of their lives (the author states this through Woland: “...People are like people. They love money, but it has always been ...") . The writer showed the tragedy of a creative person doomed to misunderstanding.
In the prohibition of the Master's novel, the fates of many works that did not see the light when they were especially needed are guessed, the fates of many poets and writers who have not received deserved recognition are guessed. But Bulgakov sees the loneliness of Conscience and Love, Sincerity and Kindness, on which the “kingdom of truth and justice” is based, as an even more terrible sign of the times. Only after knowing the truth and love, listening to the voice of conscience, according to Bulgakov, does he find peace. And at the end of the novel, the author expresses the hope that people will still find peace and meet understanding. I hope that people who have comprehended eternal values, the highest categories of being, the inviolability of which the Gospel affirms, will not be alone.
Need a cheat sheet? Then save - " THE PROBLEM OF LONELINESS IN M. A. BULGAKOV'S NOVEL "MASTER AND MARGARITA" . Literary writings!Every reader has their own "bible". M. A. Bulgakov presented people with several works that can claim such a high title. First of all, the reader comes to mind the novel "The Master and Margarita".
Loneliness is like the air that heroes breathe
Loneliness is the primary reality of human existence. People are born alone, death is also a lonely affair. And speaking quite frankly, a person cannot truly share life with someone. You can successfully marry or get married, give birth to a bunch of children, but deep down remain completely alone.
It seems that this is exactly what M. A. Bulgakov expressed in his imperishable novel. Most of his main characters are invariably lonely: Woland, Pilate, Yeshua, Ivan Bezdomny, Master, Margarita. Loneliness is so natural for them that they do not even notice it.
To illustrate how the Master and Margarita unfolds, we will move in our analysis from one character to another.
Woland
Can Satan have companions or partners? Or maybe friends? Of course not. He is doomed to be alone. At the very beginning of the novel, M. A. Berlioz asks the “Consultant”: “Professor, did you come to us alone or with your wife?” To which Woland replies: "One, one, I'm always alone." And at the same time, the “professor of black magic” may be the least lonely compared to other heroes, of course, because of his retinue. This strange company does not radiate a painful sense of hopelessness, probably because she arrived in Moscow not for entertainment, but in order to save the Master and give the Hundred Kings ball.
We have to insist on this particular order, since the annual holiday could take place in any city in the world, but Moscow in the 1930s was not chosen by chance, but precisely because the Master and his novel about Pontius Pilate were there. Such is the portrait of Woland in the context of the theme “The problem of loneliness in the novel “The Master and Margarita””.
Pontius Pilate
With Pilate, too, in this sense, everything becomes clear from the very beginning, Yershalaim is hated by him. He is alone. The only creature he is attached to is his dog Banga. The procurator wants to die because of an unbearable headache. He should have rested, but no, he had to interrogate some tramp. According to rumors, he persuaded the people to destroy the temple.
Then this vagabond miraculously heals the procurator and speaks to him in a way that few people allow themselves. Despite this, the hegemon is already ready to let the “philosopher” go, but then it turns out that Yeshua is also guilty of. According to the law, the procurator must crucify his deliverer, because there is nothing worse than a crime against Caesar.
Pilate does everything possible to prevent the tragedy, but, unfortunately, his efforts are in vain. In the course of the story, a spiritual transformation happens to him. He changes beyond recognition and discovers that in fact the tramp, whom the Sanhedrin did not want to pardon, turns out to be as close to him as Banga, although there are no reasonable reasons for this. The problem of loneliness in the novel "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov is inconceivable without the image of Pontius Pilate.
He is perhaps the loneliest and most tragic figure in the novel. And without it, the work would have a completely different face and a different depth. All subsequent torment: moonlight, insomnia, immortality - nothing compared to the moment when Pilate lost his only friend - Yeshua.
So far, the theme "The problem of loneliness in the novel "The Master and Margarita"" is maintained in a sad tone. Unfortunately, nothing changes even when it comes to the fate of Ivan Bezdomny
Ivan Homeless
With characters representing the Soviet reality of the novel, everything is more complicated. Their loneliness becomes apparent only in borderline situations - points of human existence where life approaches its limits (death or madness).
This happened to the poet I. Bezdomny, who only realized in a mental hospital how wrong his life had been before. True, the figure of Ivan Bezdomny, one way or another, is tragic - life revealed to him the truth about his homelessness, but gave nothing in return. Ivan has no hope of finding salvation.
Main characters
The Master and Margarita are the only couple of characters whose story ends well, but not in this reality, but only in the “other world”. If you free this story from a romantic veil, it turns out that it was loneliness that pushed them into each other's arms.
Margarita's husband is not in the novel (he is present only in her words), but the reader understands that, most likely, her husband is boring, vulgarly practical and smart only in domestic or commercial matters, which is why the woman wanted to fly.
The Master too He has nothing but a cellar and a novel about Pontius Pilate, and he, like no one else, needs the love of a pretty woman. True, due to the fact that the couple has no money at all, only strong love keeps them together, or maybe fear of returning to their total and continuous loneliness. In general, it is difficult to say for sure whether there was love between them. If there was, then, probably, she was sick and lame, but the fear of being alone was definitely there. It turns out that the problem of loneliness in the novel "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov is hidden even where love lives at first glance.
The master changed his mind precisely because he could not cope with the load of unfulfilled hopes and aspirations. He really counted on the novel, on its publication, and the essay was met with criticism, which blocked his way to the world.
The master could no longer torment Margarita. "The boat of love crashed into everyday life." Or rather, the Master simply had a conscience, but then Woland came and fixed everything. True, even his power was not enough to give the couple salvation in this life, and not in another.
The novel by M. A. Bulgakov is a multi-layered work
Accordingly, the problems of the novel The Master and Margarita are not limited to the theme of loneliness. The writer's talent lies in the fact that the reader cannot say with certainty what the main theme of this mysterious novel is: whether it is the "Gospel of Mikhail Bulgakov" (the title of the book by Alexander Zerkalov), which means that religious issues occupy the main place in it. Or maybe the main thing is satire directed against Soviet reality?
A novel about everything at once, and in order not to violate the integrity of it, it is better not to split it into molecules and components. This is probably the most general answer to the question of what problems exist in the novel The Master and Margarita.
Philosophy as a sign of high classics
It is generally accepted that philosophy is something boring and living somewhere within the walls of academies. To a mere mortal, all this is definitely inaccessible. This is a massive and fundamentally wrong idea about the "love of wisdom." In fact, in the life of every person (and even more so an artist) there comes a time when he thinks about God, fate, human loneliness. Usually such works are difficult to write, difficult to read, but they give an extraordinary amount to a person. There are a great many such creations both in Russian and in the world classics, therefore, hypothetically, the topic of the article could sound like this: "The problem of loneliness in ...". The Master and Margarita were not chosen by chance, because these characters and the book about them are incredibly popular among modern Russians.
Kurt Vonnegut and Mikhail Bulgakov: two views on the problem of loneliness
Just like our classic, all his life he was “sick” with the problem of loneliness and tried to solve it in his own way. For example, in the novel "Balagan, or the End of Loneliness", he suggested that all people unite in families so that not a single person is left alone in the world (for details, the reader can refer to the original source). In some of his journalistic books, the American classic wrote something like this: a person's life is a constant struggle with loneliness.
It seems that Bulgakov would have fully agreed with this, but they would have disagreed on the issue of overcoming loneliness. According to our novel, loneliness (in The Master and Margarita this is clearly seen) is irresistible, tragic and inevitable for a person. K. Vonnegut, on the other hand, looks at a person and his prospects more optimistically, which cannot but rejoice. If suddenly people overcome their own egoism and understand that “we are all brothers”, then there is hope for victory over loneliness. However, to be honest, it looks like a miracle.
