Woland: The Devil as Gentleman Woland is the devil. He is not evil. He is a gentleman. He speaks politely. He wears a suit. He carries a cane. He exposes evil. He does not create it. He says, “I am part of that power which eternally wills evil and eternally works good.” The Soviet regime had banned religion. It claimed that evil was caused by capitalism. Woland shows that evil is in the human heart. The reader is shocked. The reader is also relieved.
Berlioz and Ivan: The Atheists Berlioz is the editor of a literary magazine. He is an atheist. He believes in nothing. He tells a poet, Ivan, that Jesus did not exist. Woland appears. He predicts Berlioz’s death. Berlioz is decapitated by a streetcar. Ivan goes mad. He tries to chase Woland. He fails. He ends in a mental hospital. He meets the Master. He learns the truth. Berlioz represents the Soviet intelligentsia. Ivan represents the artist who is destroyed by the system.
The Master: The Writer Who Burned His Novel The Master is a writer. He has written a novel about Pontius Pilate. The literary establishment rejects it. They mock it. They persecute him. He burns the manuscript. He goes mad. He ends in the mental hospital. He is rescued by Margarita. He is given peace. The Master represents Bulgakov. He burned his novel. He went mad. He was rescued by his wife. He was given peace only after death.
Margarita: The Faithful Lover Margarita is the Master’s lover. She is married to a wealthy man. She leaves him. She sells her soul to Woland. She becomes a witch. She hosts Satan’s ball. She flies naked over Moscow. She smashes windows. She is free. She rescues the Master. She dies with him. She is given peace. Margarita represents Bulgakov’s wife, Elena. She preserved his manuscripts. She kept his memory alive. She is the novel’s hero.
Pontius Pilate: The Coward The Master’s novel is about Pontius Pilate. Pilate is the Roman governor of Judea. He knows that Jesus is innocent. He is afraid of the crowd. He condemns him. He washes his hands. He is guilty. He suffers for two thousand years. He is forgiven by Yeshua (Jesus). He is freed. Pilate represents the cowardice of the Soviet intelligentsia. They knew that Stalin was a murderer. They were afraid. They collaborated. They are guilty.
The Ball: The Grotesque Satan’s ball is the novel’s center. A thousand guests arrive: murderers, adulterers, and traitors. They are all dead. They are all damned. Margarita greets them. She is naked. She is bleeding. She is kind. She asks for mercy for one woman. The woman is forgiven. The ball is a parody of Soviet society. The guests are the elites. They are damned. Margarita is the exception. She is kind.
The Ending: Peace, Not Light The Master and Margarita die. They do not go to heaven. They do not go to hell. They go to a place of peace. Woland grants them a small house. They will live forever. They will write. They will love. The ending is ambiguous. Bulgakov did not believe in heaven. He did not believe in hell. He believed in art. Art is peace.
Conclusion: “The Master and Margarita” is a novel about the Soviet Union. It is also a novel about every tyranny. The devil comes. He exposes the truth. The writer burns his novel. He is saved. The lover sells her soul. She is saved. The reader reads. The reader is saved.
