I could be completely wrong with this assertion, but I thought that in chapter 26 Pilate came to symbolize the Devil (meaning that Yeshua would be God). This assertion, though, is entirely based on the idea that God and the Devil are both part of one greater power working towards good (meaning that the Devil uses evil for the broader purposes of good). It is quite clear that Pilate was not happy executing Yeshua. In fact, Pilate seems to hate the city because he was forced to execute Yeshua, and Pilate seems to genuinely admire Yeshua. In his dreams he imagines walking and talking with “the wandering philosopher” (Yeshua) as though he had never died, and he seems to wish his dream were reality (page 334). In his dream, “[he and Yeshua] did not agree on any point, and this made their dispute interminable and particularly interesting,” suggesting that he thoroughly enjoyed his dreamed conversation with Yeshua (page 334). It is also interesting that in this dreamed conversation, Pilate and Yeshua are moving “up and up, directly towards the moon,” as if they are walking up a mountain (page 334). In class we talked about the idea of ascending a mountain towards the heavens, and the fact that both Yeshua and Pilate (Yeshua’s executioner) are walking towards the heavens together further suggests that they are part of the one good power.
Later on in the dream, Yeshua says to Pilate that “ ‘If one is here, the other shall be too! Whenever [he] is remembered, you shall be remembered!’” (page 335). I think that this demonstrates how intertwined the Devil (Pilate) and God (Yeshua) are. In essence, Yeshua is saying that one exists because the other exists; in other words, in order for God and good to exist, the Devil and evil must exist.
In addition, Pilate’s claim that he killed Yehudah further suggests that he is part of (and cares for) Yeshua. Initially, I thought one of the greatest arguments against Pilate being the Devil was that he did not seem to know enough. In other words, he did seem to be aware that Aphanius killed Yehudah, and therefore I thought it was impossible that he was the Devil. But his claim in the end of the chapter seems to suggest that he did know what Aphanius was doing, and since he was aware of it all, he was really responsible for the murder of Yehudah. I took this to mean that he does know enough to be the Devil, and that if he is the Devil, he is evil not by choice but my necessity. In other words, he really cares for Yeshua (which is why he had Yehudah killed). As Pilate says to Levi, “This [murder], of course, is not much, but nevertheless I did it” (page 343). In short, he killed Yehudah out of a love for Yeshua that he must keep hidden.
To summarize my ideas, I thought that Pilate represented the devil. If you believe that Pilate is the devil, the fact that he does not want to execute Yeshua (but rather feels obligated to do so) demonstrates that the Devil and God are working together. I could be completely off on this, but it was just what I took from the reading.
I also noticed many more references to the themes of the “eyes”, and understanding peoples’ characters through their eyes. For instance, the narrator says that since “it was clear from [Kitaitsev’s] eyes,” that “[he] was pure as crystal,” it was essentially a fact that he was “pure as crystal” (page 346). Why is it that eyes are so trustworthy in this book? This is especially interesting when related to Woland who has two different eyes…could his having two different eyes be another sign that he is both good and evil?
-Cracked Wristwatch
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