Master and Margarita

Among the annals of protest literature, one can hardly find a more peculiar work than "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov. Penned during the Soviet crackdown of the 1930s, a time when Bulgakov's works were effectively banned, the novel ingeniously conceals its anti-Stalinist message within a complex allegory of good and evil. The central character is Satan himself, appearing as the enigmatic foreigner and self-proclaimed sorcerer, Woland. Accompanied by a talking black tomcat and a "translator" sporting a jockey's cap and cracked pince-nez, Woland unleashes chaos upon literary Moscow.

Predicting the beheading of the prominent editor Berlioz, Woland moves into his vacated apartment. The devil and his minions proceed to meddle with bureaucrats, sending one to Yalta and making another vanish, leaving only his suit behind. Frightened officials flock to psychiatric hospitals seeking refuge in locked cells.

Meanwhile, in the same hospital resides the true target of Woland's visit: the Master, an author whose unpublished novel revolves around Pontius Pilate. The Master's soul appears broken by rejection and political persecution, but his tale intertwines as a parallel narrative throughout Bulgakov's work. We encounter Pilate's story in multiple forms: read by the indefatigable love Margarita, dreamed by the poet Ivan Homeless, and recounted by Woland himself. The question of who truly authored this narrative becomes elusive, as the Master's novel and the overall story appear to converge.

Bulgakov artfully presents his devil as both entertaining and indispensable, raising profound questions about the nature of good and evil. The novel, like a series of nested Russian dolls, offers layers of narratives within narratives, provoking readers with intriguing complexities. Due to its implicit references to interrogation and terror, "The Master and Margarita" was not published until 1967, long after the author's death. The book's shocking, touching, and satirical qualities make it truly unique, with each reading offering a different perspective.