Chapter 4:
Firstly, we brought up the question of whether the Professor planned Berliov's death or whether he just predicted it. Ivan asks the very same question at the beginning of chapter 4, but we still get no answer, as Ivan just decides that he must find out. We also discussed the relevance of the sun and moon in the story (with the sun possibly representing truth or justice in Jerusalem). Here again, the moon is referred to as "always deceptive", which would be the antithesis of a sun that represents truth, which I think is good support for our hypothesis. We also get introduced to the tomcat, who seems at the moment to be a stealthy and sleazy type. A funny moment is when the cat is attempting to pay to board a bus, and Bulgakov points out the absurdity that people are amazed by the fact that the cat is trying to do THIS, rather than the fact that a CAT is trying to do this. Again, we have a bit of a time crisis on page 54-55, where Ivan is chasing the professor: the time seems to pass incredibly quickly, and no matter how hard Ivan tries, the exact same amount of distance is maintained between him and the Professor. Right after this, there is the first curious moment of realisation by Ivan, when he spontaneously decides that the professor must be in "No.13, and in no other apartment but 47." Later, Ivan decides that the Professor is IN a major river, and then at the MASSOLIT headquarters (although it seems he is at neither). We never know how Ivan gets these ideas from, and Bulgakov screws with the reader, asking the same question. Along the way, Ivan adopts a Tolstoy blouse, a candle, and an icon. The candle is a church candle (to light the way through the darkness that Ivan is hunting for?) and the icon has some random saint on it (to scare of evil?).
Chapter 5:
We start off with a description of the MASSOLIT headquarters in all its grandeur, but soon move on to describe the activities inside. The restaurant is often described as hell, and the buccaneer seems to be in charge of it, which would make him possibly one of the Devil's group. On page 67, there is a repetition of Pontius Pilate's phrase "oh gods, give me poison." This suggests that the buccaneer is in cohorts with the devil, but perhaps is not one of his "gang". Further down the page, Burgakov talks about the professor sticking curved needles into Berlioz's neck...this is confusing. BUT this is where we start getting into the link between The Death of Ivan Illych and The Master and Margarita: The artists at MASSOLIT are "upset" about the loss of Berlioz, but more than anything, are very happy that they are still alive themselves (which follows a theme from The Death of Ivan Illych. And soon this man, Zheldybin, arrives back from the morgue and immediately takes over Berlioz's post. This reminds me of the talk at the beginning of The Death of Ivan Illych, when the men are discussing who will get what promotion.
Chapter 6:
When Ivan is taken to the mental hospital, he seems perfectly fine (although he makes endless references to the devil, and mainly that people should go to him). It seems Ivan is going to be let free, but then he attacks Ryukhin by calling him a worthless kulak (peasant stock from Ukraine). The fight goes on, and it seems that Ivan is very convinced by the devil, which the doctor interprets as a sign of illness and locks him away. When Ryukhin returns, he is a battered man, and cannot handle what Ivan has said to him. He stays up drinking, and sees "tom cats slinking around the veranda" (another possible sign that the restaurant represents hell.)
-Powdered Whiskers
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