The Theme of Violence. Part I.
“But there is still
God’s Judgment…
There is a fearful Court…
It knows both thoughts and deeds
ahead of time.”
M. Yu. Lermontov.
The
theme of violence against human dignity is very strong in Bulgakov. It can be
distinctly followed in several storylines in Master and Margarita. The most interesting among them are the
stories of Frieda, Varenukha, Rimsky, and Master.
As
an illustration of the relationship between Woland and Azazello, we have one of
the best stories in Master and Margarita,
that of Varenukha, Variety Theater’s administrator
turned into a vampire on Azazello’s bidding just because the poor man had been
performing his duties. (He had been instructed by his superior Rimsky to
deliver Stepa Likhodeev’s telegrams to the proper higher authorities.)
Let
us start Varenukha’s story with his appearance before the devil’s company after
the famous ball. Here is Bulgakov’s exact wording:
“Nikolai Ivanovich [Natasha’s ‘hog’]
disappeared without a trace and in his place there appeared a new, unexpected [underlining is mine!] man. [This is of course Varenukha.]”
When
Varenukha unexpectedly for all appears before Woland on the verge of Woland’s
group departure from Moscow, Woland has no idea of who Varenukha is. Azazello’s
behavior in this scene demonstrates that he does not want Woland to know
anything about it, because what was done to Varenukha was purely evil. And now,
most importantly, Azazello understands how Varenukha could all of a sudden,
wholly uninvited (Azazello never brought him in, why should he?) materialize in
front of them. God Himself must have had something to do with it. Naturally,
this is a fact instantly recognized by Woland as well.
To
cover up his own evil deed, Azazello starts yelling at Varenukha, tries to
confuse him, and then lets him go back to “his former existence.”
And
now let us get back to the beginning of Varenukha’s supernatural adventure.
Here is Bulgakov again:
The desire to expose the evildoers was suffocating the
administrator… In the garden, a wind blew into [his] face and filled his eyes
with sand, as if blocking his way, as if warning him… There was an alarming
noise in the tops of the maple trees and the linden. It grew dark and fresh…”
Bulgakov
thus thickens the suspense to show that something incredible, something
unimaginable is about to happen. But nothing can stop Varenukha: his cause is
right…
A historical footnote:
The story of Varenukha’s warning is written under the influence
of a similar legend from Russian history. According to Kostomarov,---“A legend is left of how when [Prince] Alexander Mikhailovich [Tverskoy] was sailing down the Volga [toward the Golden Horde of the Tatars, to report to the Khan], a contrarian wind started blowing pushing his boat back, as if giving the wretched Prince a warning that trouble lay ahead where he was going. [However], as soon as Alexander Mikhailovich had sailed with great difficulty through the Russian lands, the wind stopped pushing back [allowing him to sail on to his doom].
I will be writing more about Prince Alexander Mikhailovich
Tverskoy later in this chapter. Meanwhile, we cannot fail to notice certain similarities
between the two stories of Varenukha and Prince Tverskoy, which shows that
Bulgakov knew his Russian history well and used it in his fictional works.
Incidentally, the historical quotation above comes, as elsewhere indicated from
Kostomarov, who was professor at the University of Kiev and author of the
monumental work Russian History Through
the Lives of Its Principal Movers (see above).
…Returning
to Varenukha, when his assailants start beating him up, something incredible happens.---
After the fat man’s blow, the whole outhouse as though lit up for a
moment with a quivering light and from the sky a clap of thunder responded.
Next came another burst of light and in front of the administrator the second
assailant appeared; he was small but with athletic shoulders, red-haired like
fire, wall-eyed on one eye and a fang in the mouth. This other one, obviously a
left-hander, punched the administrator in his other ear. In response to that,
once again there was a boom in the sky, and a downpour of heavy rain crashed on
the wooden roof…
They both picked up the administrator under the arms, hauled him
outside the garden and rushed with him down the Sadovaya Street, the water
crashing and howling was pouring down, bubbling, in swelling waves, torrents
came down from the roofs missing the eaves, foamy streams came out from under
the gateways. Jumping through the turbid rivers and lit up by lightnings, it
took the bandits a second to carry the half-dead administrator [to their
destination]… and Varenukha, being close to insanity, was thrown on the floor.
…Here the two ruffians disappeared and a completely nude girl
appeared, red-haired with burning phosphorous eyes. Varenukha realized that
this was the greatest horror now, and groaning backed to the wall… Varenukha’s
hair stood up… “Now let me give you a
kiss…” Next, Varenukha fainted and did not feel the kiss…
Pure evil, pure horror. No other words…
(To
be continued…)
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