18-21

In these chapters, I became increasingly curious about the character of the narrator. It is clearly an interrupting narrator, and in our past encounters with interrupting narrators (particularly with Gogol’s works) the narrator could not be trusted. Is this the case with The Master and Margarita narrator? He or she tells the reader flat out that he is “an honest narrator,” but seeing as the truth in this book is incredibly subjective, can we trust him? As Mrs. Larson pointed out in class, he uses almost Jesus’ exact words in commanding the reader to follow him (“Follow me, reader!”), and the fact that he is likening himself to Jesus...(read more)
-Cracked Wristwatch

The narrator in this section of the Master and Margarita resumes the personal style of communicating that he/she has employed haphazardly in earlier portions of the book, using the first person in his speech. This has led to speculation on his identity. He is omniscient; he reports that “the Master was mistaken” about Margarita’s attitude towards him post-separation. He also recognizes that there is a reader, and refers to it frequently, advising his audience to “follow [him]… and only [him]”. This implies that there is an opposing identity to whom the reader may cling throughout the story. This elucidates the possibility that there are multiple narrators for this novel; it is only in the occasional chapter that the narrator demonstrates personality and subjectivity. It seems as though the narrator may be a character in the book, for he advises “anyone” to come speak to him if they wish to know Margarita’s address”.
However, he states that “the house still there” ; he is of the novel’s world, but is recounting the story long after its occurrence.
-Runaway Knight


This section of The Master and Margarita provides greater insight into the nature of the relationship of the novel’s titular characters. Their love was “true, eternal and faithful”. Contrary to the belief of the master, “she had not forgotten him”. She wants to forget him or to find him - those are the only two possibilities. And yet she thinks it “impossible” to forget him, leaving only the one possibility. It is for this reason that she jumps at the opportunity presented to her by Azazello. ...(read more)
-Primus Stove


These three chapters were incredibly weird through and through. I don't know what to make of it as it's own piece...why Margarita is turned into a witch almost immediately after she is introduced. But this section of the story does first into some of the overarching themes of the novel. First of all, we see very clearly now how the sun and moon signify good versus evil. In daylight, when Azazello comes to greet Margarita, she is still very rational and constantly questioning Azazello's motives and information. Thus, Azazello struggles to convince her to carry out some of his orders, which seems to be a first. However, by nighttime, bathing in the rays of moonlight, Margarita no longer questions orders, transforms into a witch, and wreaks havoc. ...(read more)
-Black Poodle


Whoa.
Here goes nothing:
As we move into the second section of this book, the narrator is taking a much more prominent role; an almost godly role? (different to the role of Jesus, whom I believe to be "the master"). Anyway, the narrator really starts to talk like god with things like...(read more)
-Powdered Whiskers


Hmm, I'm not sure what to say about these chapters. Ironically, the story seemed much more real...or less absurd than before. She's well woven into the story because she's heard of the chaos going about from the black magic performance, she confirms the love story between the Master and her, and she was somewhat in love with the manuscript about Pontius Pilate. Because she's kind of been on the outside of all the events happening in part I, it was nice to see that she knew of it, too. I don't know if that's clear, but I mean to say that her knowing about Berlioz's death and the magic performance shows that they did actually happen, and that everything isn't happening in a small closed off bubble...(read more)
-Apricot Soda

This reading made me think that this novel was not completed at the time of the author’s death. I won’t assume that Bulgakov didn’t intend to write of a magic cream that turns Margarita and her maid into witches who ride naked through the sky, but the story gets even weirder than it has before and seems to go nowhere. We have always said the symbolism of the sun and the moon is prevalent in The Master and Margarita, and I now see how powerful the moon can be. Near the end of her ride, Margarita passes “a pool of quivering electric lights” (260). She seems to have slipped on her broom and then righted herself, but by then the pool has disappeared. Within just a few sentences Margarita is “alone with the moon” and “the moonlight washed over her body.” The fact that the body of lights was first described as a pool, that Margarita eventually reaches a pool and goes for a swim, and that the moonlight is described in a liquid-manner remind of Ivan Nikolayevich’s “baptism” when he randomly jumps in the Moskva River (57). If we are assuming that sunlight is good and moonlight evil, what does it mean for Margarita to baptized by evil? We know she has turned into a witch, literally, but when she helps to comfort the child left in the building she has ransacked, one must recognize that she retains some good qualities (259).
-Golden Horseshoe

We finally get to meet Margarita! According to the narrator, she is beautiful, intelligent, and a wife of a prominent specialist who has made a huge contribution to the country (which is unknown to the readers). Her house occupies an entire floor and is surrounded by gardens. Nevertheless, she is not happy for a moment! Interestingly, Bulgakov says, "Gods, gods! What did this woman need?" If you reverse the order of the two sentences, it could mean she needs God. That is an extrapolation, but could work. The readers get to hear her version of the love story, and it is pretty much the same as the Master's. She loved him very much and never forgot him ever since he disappeared....(read more)
-Spanish Boot