7-9 (Golden Horseshoe)

Here are some questions to consider:
Who is threatening to shoot Styopa in the beginning of Chapter 7 and why? Are we to assume it is the Professor Woland or someone from Styopa’s dream world? Next, why do people “disappear” from apartment Number 50, and why is it only wives that do so (84)? Why does the Woland only accept Styopa’s offer of drink and not food? What does this reflect of our perception of evil and power, as one and as separate entities? What was this “somewhat dubious conversation” on April 24 between Styopa and Berlioz and did it have anything to do with religion (Easter Sunday could have been this day) (89)? What is the meaning of the Evil Trinity’s entrance through the mirror? Who is this Azazello fellow and how does he fit into the former Evil Trinity? Why and how is Styopa sent to Yalta?

In Chapter 8, what is the importance of Ivan’s “old habit of touching things without need” (94)? Why does the hospital have such a spectacular bathroom? Why does Ivan call the place a “‘factory kitchen’ ” (96)? How does Ivan not recognize that he sounds insane? Why are we introduced to yet another composer, Stravinsky, but this time of Russian and not French decent? Why do the doctors speak Latin? Who is the man with the goatee and what does he do once Professor Stravinsky leaves the room after suggesting “oxygen” and “ baths” (104)? When Stravinsky states “people will tell you all sorts of stories! We cannot believe everything we hear,” are we, the readers, supposed to pick up on another message (103)?

As for Chapter 9, is there a reason the word “frivolous” pops up twice in the span of two pages (105 and 107)? Does it suggest that Nikanor does not like “frivolous” people? Why does Koroviev denounce foreign tourists so passionately (109)? Why does Koroviev count his money in German (110)? How do the dollars Koroviev forces on Nikanor change to rubles in front of Nikanor and then back to dollars for the authorities? If we are to assume all of appearances and disappearances of money and the proper documents are the work of the devil, then why are they done? What does the devil gain from it all? Who is it that pulls Tomofey Kondratievich Kvastsov from the kitchen? And where do they go?

Chapters 7 and 9 are remarkably similar. First of all Styopa and Nikanor are each set up one on one with a member of the evil retinue. Both men are made to feel as if they have forgotten something and must scramble to pull things together. Food is considered in each; however it is Nikanor who refuses food in Chapter 9 and not the member of the evil retinue as in Chapter 7. That said, Nikanor does go home to his wife’s soup. In the end of Chapter 9, when a pair of “citizens” comes to investigate the tip they received and Nikanor is found to be guilty, Nikanor is described to have “swayed like a drunkard,” which his foil, Styopa , is (114). Both men also end up in undesirable situations, Styopa in alone in Yalta, Nikanor taken away by the citizens.
-Golden Horseshoe