The Master and Margarita is a masterpiece of Russian literature, where the present and the past are intertwined. The author worked on his creation most of his life and ultimately gave readers a grandiose and unique work full of colors. A variety of heroes, attracting attention with their fantasticality and unusualness. This is Bulgakov's novel, where they rise different topics with all its problems, which is what we will write about.

The Master and Margarita problems

As we have already said, in his novel Bulgakov raises various problems, which, with the help of his characters, their images and actions, the writer reveals them and looks for solutions. Thus, the novel The Master and Margarita reveals such problems as the problem of choice, the problem of good and evil, the problem of love and loneliness, the problem of creativity and morality. Let's look at everything in more detail.

Reading Bulgakov's work, we notice the first problem that the writer raises and this is the problem of choice. Bulgakov constructs the plot in such a way that his fate and the laws by which life will develop depend on each character. The writer gives each of his heroes the opportunity to change their lives for the better, but not every one of them takes this chance. But everyone is faced with a choice. This is Margarita, who needs to choose a life with her husband in wealth, or live with a poor Master. This is also the choice that Pontius Pilate had to make. The choice that Ryukhin and Bezdomny had to make. Having finished reading Bulgakov’s work, we saw that each of the heroes still made his own personal choice and it was correct for each in its own way.

The key in the novel is moral problem, when each person must determine for himself what is good and what is bad, take the path of betrayal or remain true to his ideals, be a coward or take the just path. All heroes at some point in their lives decide for themselves moral issues, choosing one path or another. So Pontius must decide for himself whether to acquit the innocent or impose a death sentence. The master must make a choice either to abandon his work, submitting to censorship, or to defend his own novel. Margarita needs to decide to be with her husband or to share her fate with her beloved Master. At the same time, all the characters are faced with the moral side of the problem.

Another of the eternal problems that Bulgakov revealed was the problem of good and evil. This topic interested many writers and was relevant at all times. Bulgakov also did not stay away from the problem of good and evil and revealed it in his own way, using the lives and choices of his characters. The author embodies two different forces that must be in balance and cannot exist without one another in the images of Yeshua from Yershalaim and Woland. We saw that the two forces are equal and stand on the same level. Woland and Yeshua do not rule the world, but only coexist and confront, arranging disputes. At the same time, we can safely say that the struggle between good and evil is eternal, since there is not a single person in the world who has not committed a sin, just as there is no one who has never committed good in his life. The main thing is to be able to recognize these two forces and choose the right path. It is the novel that helps readers understand what is good and what is evil.

The author did not stand aside from the problem of creativity. Already from the first pages we notice the raised problem of false and real creativity. This topic was also exciting and painful for Bulgakov. Apparently this is why many readers and literary scholars see Bulgakov himself in the image of the Master.

Reading the work, we see members of MASSOLIT who care not about what to write, but about how to fill their pockets. The author portrays writers for whom the restaurant located on the ground floor has always been a temple of culture and its landmark at all times. But a true writer is a Master, in his image a real artist of the pen is depicted, who truly wrote Good work. But the mediocre Massolites did not appreciate her, and what’s more, they drove the character to madness. However, the author says that the time will come and the hack will be punished, higher powers will reward everyone for their deeds. The work emphasizes that manuscripts do not burn, which means that every person who has associated himself with literature must treat creativity responsibly. Justice was restored thanks to Woland and his retinue. The entire hotbed of lies and hackwork was on fire. And even if a new building is built, new hacks will come, but for a while the truth has triumphed. And real talents now have a little time to bring their masterpieces to the world.

Love is a feeling that worries everyone, and the problem of love was also revealed in the novel The Master and Margarita. Love is truly a strong feeling that pushes people to do different things. Bulgakov reveals the theme of love through the images of two heroes: Margarita and the Master. But there are obstacles to their common happiness. Firstly, the heroine’s marriage, secondly, the Master’s presence in psychiatric hospital. But the love of the heroes is so strong that Margarita decides to make a deal with the devil. She sells her soul to him, if only he would return her loved one. How do we see love in the novel? First of all, this is love, which does not make heroes worse or better, it simply makes them different. The writer's love is selfless, selfless, merciful, eternal and faithful.

The novel "The Master and Margarita" is one of the most interesting works which I have read. And the author of this work, Mikhail Bulgakov, certainly raises very important and relevant topics that are and will be encountered to this day in our world. The work shows two sides of the coin of our life, it exposes the evil that is hidden behind sycophancy, brings out clean water all liars, and shows us that evil is not something abstract and something that cannot be seen, but evil is done and it is hidden in people.

“The Master and Margarita” is not just a work about evil spirits, but a story of love, creativity, and the eternal struggle between good and evil. Every person on our planet is aware of this eternal war of two opposing forces. Just as the thinkers of previous generations realized it. Bulgakov is convinced that everything begins with faith. God is good, and the devil is evil. Which side a person will suddenly find himself on is decided by someone other than himself. These decisions are observed by Woland, one of the main characters of the novel. He punishes everything that has deviated from goodness with the help of his retinue. I think that punishment for the evil of people was carried out only for the sake of justice. Is Woland to blame, for example, for the death of Berlioz or for the fact that Ivan Bezdomny went crazy? It seems to me that people themselves are to blame for their failures. And the author warns the reader and leads him to Right way. The hell we created, in our hearts, in our souls, and in our homes. This is what contributes to the madness in our world. Nothing goes unpunished - the author proves to the reader. Woland, in a conversation with Levi Matvey, says interesting thing: “...what would do your good, if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it? By this, Bulgakov makes it clear that without darkness there will be no light - this is necessary for a full life. And, undoubtedly, these two forces must be in balance. Also, this work talks about such an eternal and probably immortal theme as: love. The Master's love for Margarita (and vice versa) makes me believe that it is real and true love will be able to survive all the terrible moments that come their way together. Also, I am (more likely proud than condemned) surprised by Margarita’s determination that she was able to leave her luxurious life, in money and endless wealth, to live with the Master - supporting him in all her endeavors, seeing talent in him and not giving in what Woland's tricks? I really liked her words when she told her husband that she was leaving him:

Forgive me for disturbing you, but I have to tell you terrible news... No, I don’t dare... My gloves whistled in the cafe today. So funny! I put them on the table and... I fell in love with someone else.

In his brilliant novel M.A. Bulgakov touched on a huge number of eternal topics and questions. The novel “The Master and Margarita” is a work that, from the very first pages, amazes the reader with its unusualness and depth. His work teaches not only that one should not succumb to all evil tricks, but also to love, create, dream, fight to be right and, most importantly, to believe that good can always defeat evil, but for this, each person must not let go hands.

"M. them." - the main, “sunset” novel of M. Bulgakov, which brought the author posthumous world fame and put him on a par with our brilliant writers - F. M. Dostoevsky, N. V. Gogol, A. P. Chekhov. Bulgakov would have been especially proud of being next to Gogol. He considered him his teacher; Bulgakov’s poetics were consonant with Gogol’s. He appealed to Gogol: “Teacher, cover me with your iron overcoat.” And how strange and sometimes miraculously fate has decreed: Gogol’s gravestone now lies on Bulgakov’s grave. (Aksakov brought a stone slab from Crimea to the Novodevichye cemetery for Gogol’s grave, but it was thrown into a ravine as unnecessary. Almost a century later, Elena Sergeevna, Bulgakov’s wife, turned to K. Simonov for help, and now the stone intended for Gogol’s grave is rests on Bulgakov's grave.

Let us turn to the novel, its creative history, main problems and heroes. M.A. Bulgakov did not prepare the novel for publication, because I didn’t hope that it would be published, but he had 8 versions, editions of the novel (according to Yanovskaya - 6 editions). Possible names - “Foreigner’s Horseshoe” (B. was very sensitive to biblical symbols, the magic of numbers and anagrams. He believed that the devil’s hoof kicked so hard across Moscow that the horseshoe just hit the Temple of the Savior, i.e. the foreigner’s horseshoe was like would be synonymous with Moscow, which has lost faith in ideals), “Satan”, “Black Theologian”, “Great Chancellor”, “Advent”, etc.

Bulgakov wrote “M. them." as a historically and psychologically reliable book about its time and its people, and therefore the novel became a unique human document of that remarkable era. And at the same time, B. shows human history over 2 thousand years, he explores the human spirit. Following Dostoevsky, he poses cardinal, essential questions: what is a person like, how does he live, why does he live, how does he relate to death, what is more in him - good or evil?

B. brought together people of various eras and ages, a huge number of characters. And besides people - Satan and devils of all stripes. The world is filled with a kaleidoscope of miracles and everyday realities. B., without any pressure, combined the high and low in the novel, the temporary and the eternal; through brilliant fiction, he gives an instructive picture of the most complex mechanics of current life, the eternal struggle in it of the forces of creation and decomposition, destruction.

It is difficult to establish the direct sources of the original philosophy of the novel. The most talented scientists saw in it echoes of the ancient Byzantine heresy of Bogomilism (or Manichaeism), whose adherents were firmly convinced that the evil spirit “at the instigation of God” received power over the earthly world and good itself would be unthinkable without the existence of evil equal to it. At the same time, the appearance of the Prince of Darkness in post-revolutionary Moscow becomes an integral part of the “style of the era” in the literature of the 20s and 30s (suffice it to recall the apocalyptic “Moscow” by Andrei Bely or “The Burning Bush” by M. Voloshin). For a long time, the reading world was fascinated by the very fact of the tragic loss of the manuscript of “The Burnt Novel” by Y. Golosovker, the plot of which so noticeably echoes Bulgakov’s “M. and M.”, which even caused a number of rumors and speculations. However, the publication of the manuscript restored by the author after being lost twice in a fire in one of the reputable journals dispelled all doubts about the originality of Bulgakov’s text.

B.'s novel is fundamentally distinguished from all works externally similar to it by its unusually complex architecture. It fully meets all the characteristics of the genre, which in modern literary criticism is called a myth novel or a novel within a novel.

The famous literary and art critic B.M. Gasparov notes that in “M. them." one and the same phenomenon, be it an object or a human character, or a situation, or an event, etc. exists simultaneously in different time slices and on different moral planes.

The three times of Bulgakov’s novel: the Moscow “present”, the Yershalaim historical “past” and the “universal”, which make it possible to show readers simultaneously the Yershalaim temple and Moscow engulfed in fire, are one, because the same, essentially the same events take place in them. And it is difficult to establish unambiguously which of them is more real: the events of the Jewish Passover of 29 or Woland’s Full Moon Ball, which, according to the author’s plan, takes place on the same Easter midnight, but already in the year 1929.

B. based his novel on an ancient biblical legend, but all the time he stubbornly overcomes it, even polemicizes with it. In his novel there are no 11 apostles and women mournfully frozen in the distance during the execution (according to Matthew, Mark, Luke) or crying at the foot of the cross (according to John). There is one and only one who curses God in despair, Matthew Levi. There are no crowds mocking and shouting, “If you are the son of God, come down from the cross!” From Bulgakov: “The sun burned the crowd and drove it back to Yershalaim.” There is no carrying of the cross - pillars with crossbars are carried on carts. There are no words “crucified”, “crucifixion”. B. transforms the names and names of cities that have become textbooks: Jerusalem - Yershalaim, Jesus - Yeshua, Matthew - Matthew, Judas from Kiriath - Iscariot.

The writer removes – “rips off” – the usual shell from the great legend, making it tangibly authentic. You can trace how the “grounding” of the Gospel tradition is progressing, the movement towards the defenselessly human, towards the immortal human in it, the artistic transformation of the hero from a god-man into a man...

The overlap between the Gospel Holy Week and the week (4 days) of Woland’s stay in Moscow is interesting.

Holy week before Easter

Moscow (chapter 29, part 2) Yershalaim (chapter 25, part 2)

Woland lived in Moscow for only 4 days. It was not by chance that he appeared on the Patriarch's Ponds. The ponds got their name from the Patriarchal Settlement, which was located here in the Middle Ages. In post-revolutionary Moscow by the 1920s, the very name - Patriarch's - sounded like a bitter mockery, because there was not a single functioning church nearby. Those. Satan appeared where the Lord's temples were destroyed, and he appeared in response to the voice of blasphemy.

Bulgakov seeks to prove the authenticity of Satan's Moscow visit. Satania clearly fits into the life of the 20s and the personal experience of the author. These 4 days are filled with everyday realities, the list of which can be increased to hundreds. In B., all sorts of accountants, writers, etc. can compete with evil spirits. Signs of 1937 appear unobtrusively in the novel. (The disappearance of people from bad apartment No. 50. When meeting with doctors, Ivan Bezdomny says: “Great, pest.” The money is planted by “enemies.” The police are looking for Woland, and in Armavir they brought to her a cat with its paws tied with a green tie (Yezhov wore a green tie on special days).

The novel is oversaturated with the vicissitudes of the literary life of Moscow in the 20s: in the poet Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev one can easily discern Demyan Bedny, the author of the “Gospel of Demyan”, and at the same time, in his image one can see the features of A. Bezymensky... There are no traditional prototypes in the novel, but there are "free association". (the poet Ryukhin outgrows Mayakovsky, who gave birth to him, and I. Bezdomny finds himself either in the role of Chatsky, falling from the “ship to the ball”, and from the ball into a madhouse, or in the role of the fairy-tale Ivan (fool, prince?), and sometimes he resembles with his torn “sweatshirt” and the disfigured face of Yeshua himself. “Thirty tetradrachms” pop up every now and then in real Moscow life (this is the amount the terminally ill Andrei Fokich is trying to pay for a visit to the professor), two five-candle lights equally brightly highlight both the execution in Yershalaim and the ball. in “Griboedov.” In a complex system of crooked mirrors, the real and the unreal, the genuine and the reflection, change places, and in such an inverted world, the devilish forces act together with the forces of Light, clearly outline the sphere of their activity, and cannot be compared with the demonic antics “ earthly Pilates."

Woland is the main thing actor in the figurative system of the novel, it came as if from a medieval German legend. Satan tirelessly sows temptations, destruction, and evil. But Bulgakov's Woland is something attractive and has a dark charm. Behemoth the cat, Azazello, Koroviev - all the evil spirits are shown in a human way, but the most attractive is Woland, not like Goethe's Mephistopheles. He is much closer to Faust (to know all the baseness and all the greatness). In Bulgakov's Woland one can discern a motive for action, a protest against stagnation and routine.

Traditional Satan is called upon to perform 2 tasks: to encourage a person to commit evil deeds and to punish a person for what he has done. Bulgakovsky Woland is different. He did not need to incite evil deeds, they (people) have already sinned, they are terribly piggy. But Woland is not an evil spirit. He returns the manuscript to the Master and just laughs at people’s lusts (he makes it rain money on them and makes sure that everything in the world remains the same).

But evil exists, and according to B., it has an earthly beginning, not a demonic one, and is embodied in man (Pontius Pilate). Pontius Pilate is not devoid of a subtle mind; after spending a day with the philosopher Yeshua, he fell in love with him, wanted to save him, but in return demanded that he renounce the teaching, the truth.

Truth is a transpersonal, superhuman manifestation of the spirit, it is God himself, and truth is an earthly manifestation of truth, according to Yeshua.

According to Pilate, the kingdom of truth will never come on earth, and he advises Yeshua to at least verbally renounce the teaching, the truth, but Yeshua is adamant. And Pilate is forced to pronounce sentence. True, Pilate tries to ease the fate of the executed man (the servant finishes him off with a spear), punishes Judas. But a terrible evil has happened, and Pilate’s punishment is a constant headache (sick conscience)

Nowadays main character- Master. The Master is the Yeshua of our days. The master is Bulgakov himself, his destiny. (B. had 298 negative reviews). The master in the 30s suffered from a traditional disease - longing, nostalgia for fair, pure, harmonious relations between people. He is unable to recover from nostalgia and dies. His death is given in two keys: the real everyday one (he died of a heart attack in the Stravinsky clinic) and the conventionally fantastic one - he takes the potion from the hands of Azazello together with Margarita and leaves this life for the other world.

But the Master is not the author. B. himself lived by different ethical standards: a writer must be persistent, no matter how difficult it may be for him; without this, literature does not exist. There is no guilt behind the Master, and therefore his theme is not one of redemption. But nevertheless, the Master is destined for peace, but not light. This incompleteness of the reward is especially acutely expressed in the latest edition: “He did not deserve light, he deserved peace,” says Matvey Levi. Why didn't the Master deserve light? Is it because he did not accomplish the feat of serving good, like Yeshua Ha-Nozri? Or because he sought help and protection from the devil? Maybe because he loved a woman who belonged to someone else? (“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife”). He was a master, not a hero. But did the master need light? What should a master do in the “bare light”?

In the very last layer edits, on the same page dictated at the end of his life, where Levi Matvey says that the Master did not deserve light, Woland’s monologue sounds menacingly: “...What would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if would the shadows disappear from it?.. Don't you want to peel off all Earth, having swept away all the trees and all living things because of your fantasy of enjoying the naked light?

The master receives exactly what he craves - unattainable harmony in life. The one that both Pushkin (“It’s time, my friend, it’s time! My heart asks for peace...”) and Lermontov (“I would like freedom and peace..”) desired. The “peace” of the Master is on the verge of light and darkness, at the junction of day and night, where the dawn burns and the candle is lit at dusk, light and darkness are combined in it.

Heroes of the novel

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Berlioz, Chairman of Massolit

Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev - poet Homeless

Members of Massolit: novelist Beskudnikov, poet Dvubratsky,

Nastasya Lukinichna Nepremenova, Moscow merchant orphan

"Navigator Georges", novelist

Hieronymus Poprikhin

Critic Ababkov

Poet Alexander Ryukhin

Stepan Bogdanovich Likhodeev, director of Variety (apartment No. 50)

Anna Frantsevna de Fougere, widow of a jeweler, former owner of kV. No. 50

Grigory Danilovich Rimsky, financial director of Variety

Ivan Savelyevich Varenukha, administrator of Variety

Professor Stravinsky

Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy, chairman of the housing association of the house

No. 302-bis on Sadovaya

Georges Bengalsky, entertainer of the Variety Show

Arkady Apollonovich Sempleyarov, Chairman of the Acoustic Commission

Moscow theaters

Vasily Stepanovich Lastochkin, accountant at Variety

Prokhor Petrovich (headless costume), Chairman of the Entertainment Commission

Anna Richardovna, secretary

Maximillian Andreevich Poplavsky, Berlioz's uncle

Andrey Fokich, bartender

Professors Kuzmin and Bure

Margarita Nikolaevna and Master

Critic Latunsky

Natasha, Margarita's housekeeper

Nikolai Ivanovich, Margarita's neighbor (hog)

Woland, Azazello, Koroviev (Bassoon)

Frida, Baron Mangel (spy)

Aloisy Mogarych

Yeshua, Pontius Pilate, Mark the Rat Killer, High Priest Caif

Judas of Kiriath, Matthew Levi

Problems of the novel “The Master and Margarita”

Literature and library science

Most of all, the theme of oppression and persecution of an extraordinary talented individual by the state is present in the fate of the Master. Margarita trashes the apartment of the critic Latunsky, who killed the Master, but rejects the offer to destroy her enemy. After the ball at Satan’s, the heroine first of all asks for the suffering Frida, forgetting about her own passionate desire to return the Master. It is Woland who brings the Master and his girlfriend to their eternal home, giving them peace.

8. Problems of the novel “The Master and Margarita”

The deepest philosophical problem problemrelationships between power and personality,power and the artist is reflected in several storylines. The novel contains an atmosphere of fear and political persecution of the 1930s, which the author himself faced. Most of all, the theme of oppression, persecution of an extraordinary, talented person by the state is present in the fate of the Master. It is not for nothing that this image is largely autobiographical. However, the theme of power, its deep impact on the psychology and soul of a person, is also manifested in the story of Yeshua and Pilate. The originality of the composition of the novel lies in the fact that the story of Yeshua Ha-Nozri and Pontius Pilate based on the Gospel plot is woven into the plot fabric of the story about the fate of the Moscow inhabitants. Here Bulgakov's subtle psychologism is revealed. Pilate is the bearer of power. This determines the duality of the hero, his spiritual drama. The power vested in the procurator conflicts with the impulse of his soul, which is not devoid of a sense of justice, good and evil. Yeshua, who wholeheartedly believes in the bright beginning in man, cannot understand and accept the actions of the authorities, their blind despotism. Faced with deaf power, the poor philosopher dies. However, Yeshua instilled doubt and repentance into Pilate’s soul, which tormented the procurator for many centuries. Thus, the idea of ​​power is connected in the novel with the problemmercy and forgiveness.

To understand these issues, the image of Margarita and the posthumous fate of two heroes who love each other are important. For Bulgakov, mercy is higher than revenge, higher than personal interests. Margarita trashes the apartment of the critic Latunsky, who killed the Master, but rejects the offer to destroy her enemy. After the ball at Satan's, the heroine first of all asks for the suffering Frida, forgetting about her own passionate desire to return the Master.Bulgakov shows his heroes the path of spiritual renewal and transformation.The novel, with its mysticism and fantastic episodes, challenges rationalism, philistinism, vulgarity and meanness, as well as pride and spiritual deafness. Thus, Berlioz with his smug confidence in tomorrow the writer ends up dead under the wheels of a tram. Ivan Bezdomny, on the contrary, turns out to be able to transform himself, abandoning past misconceptions. Another interesting motive arises herespiritual awakening motif, which comes with the loss of what is considered reason in an inert society. It is in a psychiatric hospital that Ivan Bezdomny decides not to write any more of his pathetic poems. Bulgakov condemns militant atheism, which has no true moral basis. An important idea of ​​the author, affirmed by his novel, is the idea of ​​​​the immortality of art. “Manuscripts don’t burn,” says Woland. But many bright ideas live among people thanks to students who continue the work of the teacher. This is Levi Matthew. Such is Ivanushka, whom the Master instructs to “write a sequel” to his novel. Thus, the author declares the continuity of ideas, their inheritance. Bulgakov's interpretation of the function " evil forces", the devil. Woland and his retinue, while in Moscow, brought decency and honesty back to life, punished evil and untruth. It is Woland who brings the Master and his girlfriend to their “eternal home”, giving them peace. Motif of peace also significant in Bulgakov's novel. We must not forget about the vivid pictures of Moscow life, remarkable for their expressiveness and satirical sharpness. There is a concept of “Bulgakov’s Moscow”, which appeared thanks to the writer’s talent for noticing the details of the surrounding world and recreating them on the pages of his works.

Bulgakov widely covers the problem of the relationship between the Master and society and facesloneliness of a creative personality.The Master's novel, the meaning of his whole life, is not accepted by society. Moreover, it was decisively 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 truth. Consonant with the loneliness of the Masterloneliness of Pontius Pilate. He seems to have everything for happy life: money, power, fame... This is exactly what should encourage the people around him to communicate with him. But even when we first meet Pilate, we notice some kind of yearning in his soul. He has not yet felt lonely, but it is no coincidence that Yeshua tells him: “The truth, first of all, is that you have a headache...” Yeshua sees Conscience in him, sees concern for people (after all, the expression “headache” also has a figurative meaning) . Pilate's loneliness is not only proof that he has moved away from everyday vanity and has come closer to understanding the truth. It's also a punishment. Punishment for the fact that he neglected his Conscience and chose to fulfill the law of Yershalaim, breaking the higher law.

Margarita in the novel is the bearerhuge, poetic and inspired love, which the author called “eternal”. And the more unattractive, “boring, crooked” the lane where this love arises appears before us, the more unusual this feeling turns out to be, flashing with “lightning”. Margarita fights for the Master. Having agreed to be the queen at the Great Full Moon Ball, she, with the help of Woland, returns the Master. Together with him, under the peals of a cleansing thunderstorm, she passes into eternity.

One of the most interesting problems of the novel “The Master and Margarita” isproblem of creativity.Bulgakov vividly and expressively described the world of literary conjuncture, which represented contemporary to the writer art of words. We can say that here too Bulgakov uses the technique of comparing types of writers. The master managed to rise above society, practically separating himself in the basement. He had practically no acquaintances in Moscow. This gave him the freedom to create what his conscience dictated. moral person, the pen of a free writer and the talent of a Master. And sooner or later he had to show his novel to the world. And then people like Latunsky began to judge him. Did they understand that they were raising their hand against creation about the eternal? Perhaps they understood, since from time to time fear came over them, like Berlioz. It was a hidden fear that besides the power that feeds them and sets them against someone, there are higher powers. But they are used to living without asking themselves questions. The main thing is that it is satisfying. It is no coincidence that the scenes in the restaurant are so similar to the scenes of Satan's Great Ball. The ironic image of the corridors and offices of the writers' union, where the inscriptions are completely far from creativity, leaves no doubt. This is a kind of distributor of material goods, and that’s all. This has nothing to do with creativity. So the irony of Behemoth and Koroviev, who think aloud about the talents of the Griboedov house, is entirely understandable. Real writers don't need proof of who they are; just read a few pages of their work. But they pretend to be great writers. Ivan Bezdomny fits into this circle quite successfully at first. But he is endowed with a living soul, although he has an undeveloped mind. It’s just that this young man was brought up in unbelief in an era when temples and souls were being destroyed. Faced with the incomprehensible, he loses, first of all, lies and refuses to write. He is young, and the author hopes that he will still understand the truth. Ivan Popyrev became a professor, however, he did not achieve the freedom without which creativity is impossible. Did the Master acquire it? Yes and no. After all, he could not fight for his novel. That's why he deserves peace. The fate of the master, like the fate of Ivan Bezdomny, is the fate of those who tried honestly and uncompromisingly to figure out where the truth is and where the lies are, and to know the truth. It is on them that G. Bulgakov himself places his hope.

In his novel, M. A. Bulgakov raises many topics that are not limited to the era. In one century or another, people have reasoned and will continue to reason about important topics. It is precisely such eternal problems that the author raises in the novel “The Master and Margarita” and, in contrast with the era, acquire acute and interesting meaning.

The fight between good and evil

We are all accustomed to separating evil and good as two forces that control a person. In religion there is God, who stands on the side of good, and the Devil, or Satan, who is considered a symbol of evil. Bulgakov attracts both in his work. But the author sees the concepts of “evil” and “good” somewhat differently. He is trying to convey to the reader that these forces balance each other, and only the person himself decides to be good or evil. Woland and his retinue seem to be evil, representing the Devil and his squad. But in the novel, they are rather the embodiment of justice, only punishing people for their misdeeds, giving them a choice, and not winning them over to their side. God is presented in the novel as a character named Yeshua. He is the incarnation of Jesus.

The master in his novel describes him as ordinary person With philosophical ideas and an unconventional outlook on life. He accepts all people and claims that there are no evil people - there are offended people. Pontius Pilate acts as judge. He has to make a difficult choice between truth and career. He chooses the latter, for which he is punished forever. In one of the conversations Woland asks interest Ask: “...what would your good be if evil did not exist?” This expresses Bulgakov’s thought about the confrontation between these two forces.

The value of real art

All members of MASSOLIT are presented by Bulgakov as mediocre people who care only about their wealth and filling their stomachs. They write to order, only about what the party needs. Berlioz, as the leader of this “gang,” ends up under a tram, having paid for all his charges and the corruption of his creativity. He can no longer be corrected, so his life ends under the tram. The second side is the Master. This is a real talent who raises true and deep themes in his work. This genius is rejected by the members of MASSOLIT, not understood and accepted due to their limitations. Only higher powers and Margarita understand and appreciate his work, and his contemporaries are too busy serving time to discern his talent. But “manuscripts don’t burn,” and real art has its place in the world under the protection higher powers. The bridge between art and mediocrity is a talented writer who still has the opportunity not to lose his talent, not to bend to the demands of time. This is Ivan Bezdomny. As a result, he ends up in a mental hospital, still having a chance to improve and reveal his true talent.

Love

An important eternal theme that will never subside in the hearts of people is love. True love between Margarita and the Master, for the sake of which you can go to great lengths and endure everything. Margarita leaves her husband, takes Woland’s side for the sake of life with the Master. It is noteworthy that the Devil did not deceive her, as is customary on the side of evil. He rewarded her for her honest work and dedication with eternal peace next to the Master. But against the backdrop of developing “civil marriages” and arranged marriages, real love The Master and Margarita are rare.